04:44

That's the time I woke up this morning, couldn't go back to sleep (but tried til 5:45) and so then got up to take some photos of all the snow outside!  What a treat!  This is the first snow that I have been here for this winter (and I believe only the 2nd time it really snowed in the city). 

I wish I could get up more often like this, at least before it's really light outside, even a stroll around our neighborhood becomes a new place to discover at this hour.  We have the English Garden and 'Friedensengel' (Peace Angel, one of my favorite Munich landmarks) just a block away, on our very own street we call home, Prinzregentenstrasse.  There's gourmet Kaefer right across the street (warning:  leave your wallet at home for this place!  Just browse and sample the freebies!)  And so much more, but I'll save that for another post!

Hope you enjoy a few of my snowy morning shots, time for me to go back to bed:

6:30 a.m.  These car lights are kinda my thang lately..

Car lights mean there were others out and about at this ungodly hour!?!

Europaplatz with Russian Embassy behind (just a block from us)

The light was perfectly shining upon the monument for this shot at 7:10 am..but I blurred the little angel!
(my remedy:  don't zoom in, maybe you won't notice)!

Below the Angel of Peace

6:53 a.m.  ISO 200, f/20, 8 sec... I kinda liked this better! 
Happy Accidents.

@6:52 a.m.  ISO 200, f/4, 1/15 sec.

07:05, and the day has dawned.

In Search of Yoga: Yoga Expo München 2012

Come get your dog down at this year's YogaExpo, here in Munich.  This is a great chance to explore many different styles of yoga by many expert yoga teachers.  Just pay one entrance fee (either 13€ per day on Saturday/Sunday or 2 days for 22€, or all 3 days for 30€).  There is enough to do, see and experience each day to get your money's worth, some suggestions I can recommend firsthand:

• German-American Patrick Broome is teaching a jivamutki class each day - GO!  He will leave you feeling like you've been to Samadhi and back.  He brought the Jivamutki style to Germany from New York, which has become quite popular here as well.
  
• Susanne Giesse is a fun, soothing, spirited teacher who gives the gift of a deeply rooted yet uplifting practice.  You can't help but smile in her class.   She will be teaching some YogaWorks classes which is the teacher training I did in 2010 at her beautiful studio, Yogalounge in Pullach (just outside of Munich central).  If you can't make a workshop, get to her studio sometime soon!  Susanne teaches Sat, Sun.
  
• Jasmin Kirstein, owner of MySportLady in Munich and a heartfelt teacher, will lead a unique type of yoga class, Hormone Yoga and Meditation (and I will assist!).  She learned from the pioneer of Hormone Yoga, Dinah Rodriguez who founded this method.  Even if your hormones don't need balancing it's a calming and relaxing class.  Depending on how many attendees are there, you'll even receive a mini massage!  The meditation will leave you...well & happy!

I think the Handstand workshop sounds like fun and I highly recommend trying an Iyengar style class.  This style is so valueable for a safe, precise method of practicing yoga (which seems more and more to fall by the wayside these days).  Their teacher trainings are much more rigorous and take a lot longer than most to accomplish.  Strong focus on technique, sequence and timing separate this from other yoga styles.

At this YogaExpo one can dabble in the whole yogi lifestyle without committing by making the rounds:  Ayurveda methods, vegetarian foods, kirtan concerts, yoga for kids, accessories/equipment/clothing, lectures, meditation workshops.  As the popular Yoga Journal puts it, "Eine Messe für Körper, Geist und Seele" or "A Tradeshow for Body, Mind and Soul."
Hope to see you there!