Last Year To New Year

I am so blessed to have this day to contemplate all that has happened this year. I turn inward and reflect upon all that has happened in the last year. I lost myself, my sense of who I was and until that was challenged to the core I never knew who I was. But I know that you will always be in that cycle of finding out more, growing and becoming a better, more vibrant person.
Last year was all about finding myself, learning to be alone, to be confident and to define who I am, what I want and how I am going to get there. 
This year is all about knowing who I am and growing through that knowledge. 

1. Eat Clean, Healthy Food. I am doing 21 days of Raw in January and I will continue to eat as clean and as healthy as I can throughout the year. Splurging at times and especially when my body craves something sweet but everything in moderation and with conscious thought of how that is promoting a healthy, more energetic version of myself.

2. Take time out for me everyday. Take a class, read a book, go for a walk alone but everyday I must take 15 minutes, at the minimum out for myself.

3. Listen. Open up my ears and my eyes not just to people but to my surroundings. I live so close to amazing parks, beaches and museums and I rarely ever go. I will be devoting time off to this and if you would like to join me I would love to have field trips with friends at any time.

4. Give Back. As much as I already do this I want to really make it a point to give of myself, my talents and my knowledge more. I want to train people that are unable to afford it and show people that you can work out anywhere, anyplace and at anytime.

5. Surf. I want to devote time to surfing more. Just like yoga it connects me to this raw feeling of being with nature. Being patient, watchful and ready for anything that will come my way. It is my goal to surf as much as I can both here in LA as well as abroad.

6. Walk. Walk as much as I can, walk my dog, walk to the store, to the beach and just take the time to see all that I miss if I was in my car. Ed, you inspired this one and while I am not as ambitious as you once were I will try my best!

7. Read. I am someone who thrives on education and learning. When I stop learning I feel irritated, stagnant and stuck. I want to read as much as I can and I challenge myself to write about that more in my blogs. To educate, to inspire and to lead!

The Fight to be Right, Is Really Wrong!

Perspective

I see this constant fight over being right, over having the upper hand. This struggle in life to be right and to prove yourself to be validated. Lawyers are required to look at all angles on a case, to argue each side and try to make their argument more valid than the other. What do you really win when you argue with someone else? We will all be right, all be wrong and yet it will not get us any further in life. We are all different in how we were raised, how we learn or communicate. Understand that in each relationship that you have. Be forgiving of each other as we stumble and loving, full of praise when someone succeeds.

So much of our suffering in this world is caused from a lack of perspective. As we enter new phases of life, our perspective changes, we feel pain in a different way, we feel joy never felt. When I was a teenager I started coaching gymnastics. I saw these girls so eager to learn and I loved watching them over the years get stronger, more agile and eventually move up through the levels of competition. Some of them grew tired of doing the same thing. In reality, we are never doing the same thing, each moment is a chance to grow, to learn more. I love yoga because there is no ceiling, you can never arrive. All through life, experiences and moments happen that make you see life differently. We all want to be right, to win people over to our team. But really there is no team, no one wins at the end of their life, we pass on.

Perspective is never about being right. When ego gets in the way of your decision making, you will always lose. When you can see life through the eyes of another, their pain, their past and look into their eyes in the present and understand each word that comes out of their mouth, the actions that pour forth from their hands. Then you can truly understand why that person is the way they are. As a society we love labels, not just on our clothing but on people as well. Anorexic, over-indulgent, successful, depressed, workaholics, etc., we give these labels to people all day without putting much thought into it but we never look into why people are the way they are. How did they get to this point?

I have been judged so much in life. In grade school I was always called anorexic. I had to go home and ask my mom what it meant and even after I knew I never understood how these girls knew what that meant. It hurt my feelings and I tried to eat to prove to them that I was not anorexic at 7 years old. This is the culture that I was raised in. It is horrible, awful and toxic to our self-esteem. As a woman I have dealt with jealous women that just want to hurt me and win a race. It is horrible to think that there is a race, that we are not in this whole race together. To lift someone up when they are down and to celebrate beauty, success and love. Instead we have to cheat, lie and steal to get ahead. Ahead of what?

The tragedy that we faced on Friday will never be forgotten. We ask questions such as, why children? Why them? How can we prevent this? All I can say and from the bottom of my heart is that this is life. Death is a part of life and you will never know when your last breath will be. Change your perspective on life, on death, on your yoga practice, on your spouse, on your best friend. Open up your eyes to this beautiful world that is all around you! The key is to understanding that in reality we know nothing. The truth is what we believe it to be.

Goodnight Moon

Yoga is both the movement toward and the arrival at a point. There are three main components of your yoga practice that you may or may not be aware of, they are: tapas, svadhyaya and isvarapranidhana. Don't even worry about pronouncing those what is important is what they mean and how they incorporate our practice to our daily lives. Tapas is what we do in order to keep up our physical and mental health, a process of inner cleansing that will always show forth in our outer body as well. Svadhyaya is the process of finding out where we are, who we are and what we are. It is in this step that we slowly start to learn that we are constantly changing and so is the world around us. The last component of our practice is isvarapranidhana literally translates "to yield humbly to God," you all have the freewill to decide what you believe in, in yoga this translates more on placing value on the quality of your actions rather than on the fruits that can develop out of it.

From all that, I want to take you to something that is a little more simple yet for some of you so hard to do, and that is sleep. As the winter rolls our way it is so easy to stay in bed just 10 more minutes. I want to focus on the isvarapranidhana of our sleep. Making the quality of our sleep better not so much the quantity. Do you really need 8 hours? NOPE! What you need is the deep, deep rest that can only come when you literally turn everything OFF. I know you have all read studies and books on how to improve your sleep such as stop eating before 8 pm and yes that all helps but here are two things that many of you have never heard.

The key is to keep all electronics OFF and AWAY from you. Here is why--your body is a source of energy, that energy depletes during the day. It will take about a week of no sleep before the body starts to shut down. However, many of us suffer from lack of sleep causing our work to suffer, attention spans to shorten and craving caffeine all the more. When you are not getting enough sleep or not entering REM that healing process is not occurring, thus making you more susceptible to disease and sickness. When you get sick it is because your body is sending you a signal, you need to rest, you need more sleep because the it is not just about laying your head down for 8 hours it is about getting to that place where you can shut everything off.

"Sickness is the vengence of nature for the violation of her laws." --Charles Simmons    

I have learned that phones should not be allowed at dinner or in bed- EVER! I hate when you have your phone out at dinner but for the first time, in a long time, I started leaving my cell phone in the other room at night. It reduced my stress probably 50% because I would not be focused on work--rule of thumb, put your phone out of sight after 8 pm! Electronics (cell phone, computer, alarm clocks and televisions) should be turned off when you are sleeping or at least out of your bedroom. Electronics are not natural, they are not supposed to be near us while we sleep. They, like us, have an energy source, when we are around them our bodies are not allowed to heal, just like a radio interference when your body is near your phone, computer or television it is not getting the best quality that it can. Think of it like you want to enjoy that 4G speed but until those electronics are off you are a CAR PHONE (with the bag and all!) Enjoy the detachment from them, turn them off and put them in the other room!

Lastly, sleep NAKED!! Clothing produces static electricity-think pulling clothes out of the dryer. That static electricity is just like having your phone in bed with you---not good. So turn your phone off, take your clothes off and be HAPPY!

                                                                         

Are you wealthy?

What does it mean to be wealthy?
Do you need money, posessions or just a sense of security?
Write it out, think it but decide before reading this what wealth means to you.

I came across this article on yahoo! I was so appalled that we even care about this anymore that I had to read it. It goes on to say that the average person feels that if they make $161,000/year they are wealthy. I would say that one if I cared at all that sounds like a good amount of money but most importantly what does that buy me?!?

So, I sat around this week and literally googled what I could buy for that much money. Here is my list, I know there is literally an entire book I could write about this but just continue to read.

What you can buy for $161,000....
1. 2012 Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet (MSRP $149,000)
2. Rolex Oyster Cosmograph Daytona Watch ($104,125)
3. Diamond Studded Nike Boots ($218,000) -Ask Daddy for the extra $57,000.00
4. 1970 Enstrom 280C Helicopter ($120,000)
5. 42' Hunter 420 Sailboat ($128,500)
6. Hermes bracelet in rose gold and diamonds (4.73 carat), 2" diameter ($133,000)
7. A meal for 830,000 people @ $5 a person ($161,000)

Not being centered around money = ($PRICELESS)

I find that the more time I take out for myself to journal, take a yoga class or meditate the less I want to spend money on myself. It is nice to have things but it is better to be wealthy in quality friends, good quality food and a healthy body. This is my wealth, it is where I spend my money and why I talk so much about it.

What does wealth mean to you at the deepest level? Write it down and be honest with yourself. I wrote down a couple different options only to cross them all out and write down LOVE. In capital letters and with a big heart around it. I feel rich, wealthy, blessed and truly full of joy when I am loved. That feeling of no judgement, love that only comes out of time and respect for another person. It took me awhile to get where I am writing this article, it started on a purple yoga mat that has long been passed along. But that feeling of being loved has never left. Money cannot fill it up and knowing all the people will never compare to that one person that or even if you are blessed a couple of people that you can honestly say that you love.

I am teaching a donation yoga class at Lululemon-Santa Monica on December 16 @ 9:30am come out and donate what you would spend at lulu this month to Off the Mat, Into the World and amazing non-profit organization. You can learn more about them at offthematintotheworld.org