Favorite Ways to Spend Spring in Cleveland

Source: Quotes Everyday

Finally, the ice is thawing, the birds are chirping, and the sun is shining in Cleveland. As Midwesterners know, the first weekend of spring is a sigh of relief. But, it doesn’t mean that winter is over. Fingers crossed that we only have one or two more snow storms before the beautiful spring and summer weather comes our way.

As we all start spring cleaning in Cleveland, I wanted to pass along ideas for us to have fun along the way. Also check out cleveland.com’s “365 things to do in Cleveland in 2015” for more spring inspiration!

• Cleveland International Film Festival – now until the end of March – Travel the world from the movie theater at Tower City. I had the opportunity to attend All Stars and meet the director, cast and crew with my colleagues!

All Stars Director: Lance Kinsey, Cast: Fred Willard and Miriam Flynn, Director of the Cleveland International Film Fest

• Ukrainian Museum-Archives Easter Bazaar – now until the end of March – Check out and shop for the famous Pysanky eggs! According to the museum website, “in the Ukrainian Easter tradition, it is customary to create beautiful art our of eggs – called Pysanky – that are known all over the world. You can buy these beautiful and delicate pieces of art as well as other Ukrainian artwork at our annual Easter bazaar.”
• Big Spring at the Cleveland Botanical Garden – now until the end of April – Missing green and flowers and looking for a whimsical experience? Check out Cleveland’s supersized indoor and outdoor springtime celebration. This year’s display is inspired by Alice in Wonderland, featuring the Ladybug Labyrinth hedge maze, larger-than-life flowers, the Mad Hatter Tea Party and more. I enjoyed the botanical garden in the winter and look forward to exploring it this spring!

Source: Cleveland Botanical Garden

• Indians Game – April through September – Clevelanders love their sports, and there is so much positive energy in the air during baseball season! This year’s home opener is against the Detroit Tigers on April 10. My heart strings will be pulled – my traditional favorite team against my new favorite team! Be sure to attend a game this season and explore all the exciting new developments in Downtown Cleveland.
• Cinco de Mayo Cleveland at Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds, Middleburg Heights – end of May – Celebrate Hispanic cultures at this festival, which highlights Cleveland’s connection to Latin American dances, arts, music and cuisine. There are live performances and a wrestling extravaganza.
• Cleveland Plays Co-Ed Sports – year round – Missing gym class? I know that growing up, kickball was one of my favorite parts of gym class. I joined a kickball team at Cleveland Plays last spring and had so much fun meeting great people who are now my best friends in Cleveland! I plan to continue as a kickball star (or so I think I am 🙂 this spring.
• Barbecue at the Cleveland Metroparks – year round, weather permitting – One of my favorite experiences last year was barbecuing at Edgewater Park. After a winter of indoor baking and cooking, there is nothing better than grilling hotdogs and hamburgers with sunset views of Lake Erie to celebrate spring and summer.

Barbecuing at Edgewater Park

• MIX at the Cleveland Museum of Art – year round – if you haven’t yet attended this event on the first Friday of every month, I highly recommend that you go! Every month you can explore the art museum, see the latest exhibits, watch live performances, and enjoy cocktails and food with friends and fellow Clevelanders.

I hope you all have a wonderful spring! Please let me know if you would like me to add any other fun spring activities in Cleveland.

What Can We Learn From Yoga?

Much more than you may think!

As a relatively new yoga practitioner, I have grown to love yoga. Over the past year, I have practiced yoga in more places than I ever would have imagined: a traditional yoga studio (Cleveland Yoga), an old ballroom at the Cleveland House of Blues (East 4th and Yoga), Summer Solstice at Edgewater Beach (ZENworks Yoga), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (BelieveInCLE), an apartment rooftop overlooking Downtown Cleveland and Lake Erie (Harness Cycle and Innerbliss Yoga), a Costa Rican bed and breakfast rooftop (Cariari Bed & Breakfast), and on a paddle board on the Kohala Coast (Fairmont Orchid Hawaii). At each location and with each new instructor, I have learned different yoga poses and inspirational messages, and have appreciated my surroundings from new angles (literally and figuratively). When you think about it, how often do we spend looking at the sky while posing upside down?! Yoga encourages us to do just that!

Paddle Board Yoga on the Kohala Coast, Hawaii

I have always heard about the physical and spiritual benefits of yoga, but it wasn’t until I started practicing regularly that I really understood the benefits. On Friday, my understanding expanded to a whole new level. I attended the MIX at the Cleveland Museum of Art (occurs the “first Friday evening of each month for an ever-changing mix of art, music, and mingling”), which featured Yoga: The Art of Transformation, the world’s first exhibition about yoga’s visual history. This opened my eyes to the incredible history of “yoga’s meaning and transformations over time, including its entry into the global arena; yoga’s goals of spiritual enlightenment, worldly power and health and well-being; and the beauty and profundity of Indian art.” I was fascinated to learn how the practice has transcended continental borders and has been passed on generation after generation, becoming a globally respected form of art and spirituality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exploring the exhibit about yoga’s history, I couldn’t help but reflect on the power of yoga and all I have learned by practicing yoga over the past year. Besides yoga’s more obvious benefits of increased flexibility, core strength, and meditation, I have found there to be three key lessons. Yoga teaches us:

1. Mindfulness. By practicing yoga, we are better able to understand ourselves and think internally. The meditative breathing and balancing poses encourage us to be aware of our senses and to live in the present. In a world of distractions and constant stimulation from connectivity (cell phones, Internet, social media, etc.), it is easy to forget about ourselves and how we truly feel. Yoga helps us slow down and spend time reflecting on who we are.
2. Unity. No matter where we practice yoga in the world, we will experience similar (if not the same) yoga poses. I was comforted by this realization when I took a yoga class in Costa Rica. This was my first experience taking a class in Spanish–and while I was in a completely different country and communicating in my second language, the course provided the same benefits. Yoga reminds us that we can all be united in spirituality
3. Empowerment. Yoga reminds us that we are capable of much more than we think, if we just focus and breathe. I have never felt more inspired from yoga until I attended Power Yoga classes at Cleveland Yoga. Yoga balances challenge and relaxation, allowing us to create our own practice and modify poses whenever we would like. Listening to uplifting music, hearing inspiring words from an instructor, and pushing our limits through new poses leaves us feeling empowered after each practice.

With each yoga practice, I leave with a new mindset and more inspiring life lessons. If you haven’t already, I encourage you try to yoga, as you will be able to learn more about yourself and a practice that has inspired others to find peace in their lives for hundreds of years.