35×35

I am officially one week away from the big 3-5. Every year, I think about what I’ve accomplished since the previous year. Have I done the 35 things I wanted to do by the time I turned 35? Well, I have one week to do it.

35×35 List

1. Find soulmate
2. Get married to said soulmate
3. Have/adopt/create child/ren with #2

4. Go on a yoga retreat (I’m going to squeak that one in!) ✓
5. Write a book (ok, I think writing a blog is pretty close) ✓

6. Volunteer with kids ✓ www.newimageshelter.org and www.unitedinharmony.org
7. Get a toned butt and triceps (halfway there, I’ll put it on next year’s list too) ✓
8. Spend time with Nieces ✓
9. Do everything possible to have happy, healthy pets (see this blog post) ✓

10. Get a Restoration Hardware Leather Sectional
11. Get a stamp in my passport (squeaking in that too) ✓
12. Hit all my work goals (I one-upped that and got myself promoted!) ✓
13. Have an amazing walk-in closet (it’s getting there, thanks Megs)
14. Improve yoga practice (I took a teacher training course, so that qualifies!) ✓
15. Learn Spanish
16. Work on creative side (this blog, duh!)✓
17. Organize wine mini-collection (it’s getting there) ✓
18. Hang out with friends more ✓
19. Open up schedule more (work in progress… I was voted Most Involved in high school, so I think it’s just in me)

20. Cook an entire organic Thanksgiving dinner from scratch on my own ✓
21. Cardio 3 days a week (need to get on this!!)

22. Go to Alaska ✓
23. Go to the Iditarod (didn’t quite make it, thanks to my promotion)
24. Go to Africa
25. Go to Tahiti on a honeymoon with #1
26. Be more flexible (literally and figuratively I have succeeded!) ✓
27. Be thankful for something/someone every day ✓
28. Read a book a month (thanks Book club and work!) ✓
29. Buy a house
30. Stay healthy (damn cholesterol!)
31. Drink 6-8 glasses of water daily (still working on that)
32. Feel like I can say, “I know who I am” (with confidence, I can say YES) ✓
33. Earn $x annually
34. Maintain Zero Debt ✓
35. Smile ✓

Ok, so I hit 20 out of 35. Not exactly an A+, but it’s a dent. That’s just 15 things I can add to my 36×36 list.

This year is a mini-milestone birthday (milestone birthdays include: 1, 13, 16, 18, 21, 30, 40, 50, 75 and 100). I would consider a mini-milestone birthday to be 5, 10, 12, 25, 35, 60, 80 and 95. Okay, so the last few on there are a bit arbitrary. Major reflection and introspection time. The best yoga pose for introspection? Seated Forward Fold.

Warning: Unlike every 80’s movie and what every athletic coach in junior high has told you, only perform Seated Forward Bend AFTER a workout/at the end of our yoga class. This deep bend requires that your muscles be nice and warm to minimize muscle damage.

Paschimottanasana – Seated Forward Bend – Courtesy http://www.yogajournal.com

Step by Step

Sit on the floor legs straight in front of you. Press actively through heels. Rock slightly onto your left buttock, and pull your right sitting bone away from the heel with your right hand. Repeat on the other side. Turn the top thighs in slightly and press them down into the floor. Press through your palms or finger tips on the floor beside your hips and lift the top of the sternum toward the ceiling as the top thighs descend.

Draw the inner groins deep into the pelvis. Inhale, and keeping the front torso long, lean forward from the hip joints, not the waist. Lengthen the tailbone away from the back of your pelvis. If possible take the sides of the feet with your hands, thumbs on the soles, elbows fully extended; if this isn’t possible, loop a strap around the foot soles, and hold the strap firmly. Be sure your elbows are straight, not bent.

When you are ready to go further, don’t forcefully pull yourself into the forward bend. Always lengthen the front torso into the pose, keeping your head raised. If you are holding the feet, bend the elbows out to the sides and lift them away from the floor; if holding the strap, lighten your grip and walk the hands forward, keeping the arms long. The lower belly should touch the thighs first, then the upper belly, then the ribs, and the head last.

With each inhalation, lift and lengthen the front torso just slightly; with each exhalation release a little more fully into the forward bend. In this way the torso oscillates and lengthens almost imperceptibly with the breath. Eventually you may be able to stretch the arms out beyond the feet on the floor.

Stay in the pose anywhere from 1 to 3 minutes. To come up, first lift the torso away from the thighs and straighten the elbows again if they are bent. Then inhale and lift the torso up by pulling the tailbone down and into the pelvis.

Here’s to 35 and hoping I can still do this pose at my mini-milestone of 80.