Author Archives: sorellaaglio

what you give in yoga, you get back in life.

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I’ve gone to yoga twice this week, chicken, trying to use up my classes that expire in a month.

And, of course, right on queue, I got sick, too, because of course I did. I’ve been sick three times this month, and I finally scheduled an appointment at an ENT because if I get sick one more time my boss is going to walk me to the ENT herself, because as she says, no one should get sick as much as you do.

If you’ve known me for any amount of time, you’d know that I’ve always gotten sick a lot, and I’ve always just accepted it as fact. But in the past couple of years, I’ve realized there are some things I can do differently when I am sick, like do more yoga (with twists!) and take some homeopathic remedies (garlic, lemon in tea, oregano oil, and cumin oil are just a few of my tricks, plus zinc.)

So when I started to feel sick this week, I headed for the yoga studio the first chance I got. And not just any class, either, but a level 2-3 yoga flow class. Over twenty vinyasas later, I was sweating so much I couldn’t see, pushing ever so slightly to get deeper in the twist, deeper into my muscles, deeper into the toxins to get them out, out, out.

I’ve learned over the past few years that when I feel a cold coming on, exercise helps me heal faster and in the moment feels like the right thing to be doing. Whether it’s a flow class, or a walk, or a run, I always feel better after moving my body, helping it along to heal. And of course, drinking all the water.

The title of this post is something a yoga teacher said to us once when we were in a twist that I thought was going to end me. As I shook and sweat and willed myself to stay in the pose, breathing deeply, he said, “what you give in yoga, you get back in life.”

What a way to live, chicks. Have a happy, healthy Wednesday. Namaste.

let us love // like we were children

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Today is my birthday, chickens, and I am pretty excited to be celebrating another year around these parts!

The sun is shining out here in Los Angeles, and yesterday I had just an amazing day with all my friends out at Angel City Brewery, having delicious beer, enjoying each other’s company, holding a pretty adorable baby, and playing some awesome games. I am so lucky to have a fiance who was willing to put that all together and so many friends to enjoy the day with!

As I celebrate this 28th year, I hope you guys can oblige me five things that I’d love for my birthday. What I’d really like for my birthday is if you could:

1. Sign up for Be the Match. Be the Match is a bone marrow registry committed to matching bone marrow donors to patients; you could help save a life, and signing up is free and takes only a few minutes.

2. Register to vote. This is an election year, and voting does make a difference. Along with this one goes ACTUALLY voting.

3. Get healthy! This is one I always am working on…doing more yoga, exercising more in general, and eating more whole foods, more fruits, more veggies, etc. The big things for this one are alleviating stress, eating better, and moving your body – guaranteed to make you happier along the way, too!

4. Do something that makes you happy. You know we all comisterate every day about something – our jobs, our roommates, our cars, our commutes, etc., etc. Today, just take an hour and do something HAPPY and then share about it, talk about THAT, and start trying to be full of gratitude instead of anger/etc. I am guilty of this too, but what a perfect day to remember how awesome my life is??

5. Unplug. Something I’m trying to do more of…put the phone down, and the blog, and the laptop, and just be in the moment. Talk to people, look them in the eyes, swim and frolick and climb and dance and enjoy life, and worry about the digital world later. Unplugging will you help you unwind, too!

I hope to follow all of these along with you, and wish everyone a great day, birthday or not!

xo

been gone for miles but heart still driving

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Last night Ryan and I saw Needtobreathe at the Wiltern. This is one of the first concerts were I realized…we’re old…er. We stood in the back to see the whole band. We discussed how happy we were that the band hadn’t gotten so large that they outgrow great venues like the Wiltern. We hoped they’d play the older stuff, and were ecstatic when they did. We did show our true colors when they went on to their second encore and I scoffed at all those that had left before the first one, when they came out to play The Heart and The Outsiders.

I love seeing shows with Ryan because he loves the bands just as much as I do. When I moved to LA, I was worried that the bands I liked wouldn’t come to LA…that they’d stay up in Boston in places like the Roxy and I’d lose out on my mildly famous band loves that had one really big hits in the mid-2000s and still tour but no one knows that they still tour, and I prefer it that way.

But I moved to LA and found Ryan, and Paul, and then Traci moved here, and I got Corelyn and can con her into most shows, too. And there is the Wiltern, and El Rey Theatre, and the Fonda Theater. I am thankful the music scene in LA, because it’s one of those things that I really, really enjoying seeing live – and Needtobreathe is one of the best live shows, hands down.

Because you mostly weren’t there last night, I’ll leave you with one of the best live songs that Needtobreathe does…and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

 

they can talk talk talk // but they’d better come correct

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15 years ago today, my family drove from Connecticut to Michigan (well, most of us, and a couple animals thrown in for good measure) to move to Camp Waterloo for good. Or, you know, so my twelve year old brain thought. It has been more days since then than all the days I had been on earth on that day. That was a really convoluted of saying I was young, I was dramatic, and oh by the way, have I said I’m sorry Mom and Dad, like a thousand times?

80bc9712c11d11e3bce10002c99a8830_8At the time, it was the worst thing ever. We had just moved three years earlier to Clinton, where I had found some really great friends who I’d never see again (which I now scoff at, as I am in contact with all the ones who mattered all these years later.) I was nearly 13. It was the middle of the school year. Did I mention we were headed to MICHIGAN?

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Lauren and I a few years back. We managed to stand the test of time by writing many, many letters to each other.

Looking back, I think moving to Michigan made me more of who I am than I really cared to admit for many years. I learned a lot about many things; what it was like to be different (when your parents are the ones with the weird accent); what it was like to maybe not know everything (like how actually, deer hunting isn’t the worst thing in the world); what it was like to stick to your guns (when you write columns for the town paper about how, wasn’t Michigan part of the north, so why are these confederate flags around?).

I got to live in Michigan, which is really one of the most beautiful states around – if not sometimes terrifyingly dark. I made some really excellently wonderful friends who I am still in contact with to this day, and who I can’t even imagine my life without – they are rocks to me, people who always get me, who always calm me, who are some of my truest true friends. I went from hating Michigan, to trying to explain how I grew up when people ask me where I am from (I say Chicago and it gives me away…but then ask me to say quarter.) I went from leaving Michigan off my history (a few years in college I was trying to play it as a cool Connecticut girl…) to being so proud to have lived there a short time – and defending Michigan, the midwest, and anything about country living to ANYONE who will listen.

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And you guys, I was thinking about it the other day. And this is super sappy and so I am sorry, but here goes: YOU GUYS, if we hadn’t moved to Michigan, we wouldn’t have Theo! I haven’t written about my little nephew yet as much as I have wanted to, but you guys. If we hadn’t moved to Michigan, Nikki would have never met Jon, we wouldn’t have ever gone to that Dairy Queen (they both know what I am referring to, a memory I will forever treasure as hilarious), they wouldn’t have dated/not dated/dated again/got married.

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And I wouldn’t have the perfect and wonderful nephew I have now. Among the many wonderful and great things about living in Michigan, I think that hindsight makes me so incredibly happy. I can see how living in Michigan has affected everything about who I am and who I am becoming and who I want to be. But that probably is the most tangible one I can see, one that will serve as a reminder of that great state for all my years to come. So, thanks Mom and Dad. Sorry again, we were losers and brats and the worst kind of kids for a patch there.

I love you, Michigan. (And, I love you, Theo.)

the longing of the soul

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Hey, all. I am doing this in a backwards manner because today is Ash Wednesday which means the beginning of Lent, so before I bore y’all with photos of my adorable nephew that I got to meet and spend time with this past weekend, I am going to tell you about my plans for Lent.

A few years back, I started using Lent as a focus point in my life, helping me get back on track to something that I believe is important to me. It may not be “religious” for me any more, but it is certainly a spiritual act. Last year, I used Lent to focus my exercise, vowing to move my body for 40 days.

This year, in keeping with my wants for myself this year, I am going to make time to read. I have reconnected to reading this year through my New  Year’s Resolution to read 52 books in 2014, and I think spending just 30 minutes a day will help me reach that goal.

When I was in college, I read all the time; I read on trains, on planes, on the way to and from work and class. When I moved to LA, my commute became king, and I now tend to drive everywhere. Although I sometimes listen to books on tape CD, I usually am focused on traffic after work so I listen to NPR or music.

But I’ve been trying to listen to spoken word more, by listening to podcasts (mostly RadioLab) when I run, and I have been trying to get to bed in time to read a book, not Facebook or Twitter or the millions of blogs I read.

I’ve really enjoyed reconnecting to my love of books, and I hope these 40 days, a mere 20 hours of my life, can really remind me to pick up where I left off in that novel rather than that TV show or that feed.

Do you guys do anything for Lent? Share it with me and we can help each other out these 40 days!

Happy (Ash) Wednesday, y’all.