Team Circle Tribe

May 3, 2012 at 1:28 pm (Inspiration, The Journey, Uncategorized)
Tags: , , , ,

A short while ago, March 20th to be exact, my soul sister posted this quote on her facebook wall: ”Surround yourself with a team of people who are 110% on your side and can provide you with the counsel and wisdom to get you through all the challenges you’ll face.” ~ Lea Woodward.  Someone commented on her post, wondering out loud, if such a “team” exists.  This started me thinking.  If we are truly going to achieve our goals and reach the stars that we have hung our dreams upon, it is vital that this team exist and it is our responsibility to create and cultivate it.

This quote, link, and thought process ultimately lead me to finally purchase a few issues of Wild Sister Magazine.  I can’t believe I waited this long to enjoy this wonderful online publication!  I purchased seven issues including Issue #09, The Women We Admire Issue:http://ow.ly/9xImc .  I wanted to read the whole article and discover the context in which the quote was written.  The article is called Discover Your Superpowers / An Interview with Lea Woodward by Amy Palko.  Between the time I read the post and the whole article, I took a good amount of time considering who was already a part of my team and thinking about which positions might still be available.

My COO Team.  My main men:  The Illustrious T to the Double D, Bear, and the X-Man.  They keep my Modus Operandi in check.  Everything I do and say, I bounce it off the idea of how it will ultimately affect them.  Their happiness is my Mission Statement.

I have a couple of CAOs.  That’s Chief Awesomeness Officers to you.  The regal and radiant, Ruby.  I check in with her on items big and small, frequently.  She reminds me of my awesomeness when I have forgotten and helps me locate it when I have misplaced it.  Ruby also sidelines as my Editor-in-Chief.  She is a real Dymond in the rough that one!  My brilliant brother Brom advises me and keeps me apprised of and attuned to my highest.  He is a Maestro of Mudita!

I have two people that share the role of CEO.  My Chief Energy Officer Team consists of my acupuncturist, Warrior Goddess Mama Joy, who assists me in the care and keeping of my internal energy.  There is also Prime Minister P, who is the Proprietor of Positivity as well as the Facilitator of all things Feng Shui.

A CFO in my Tribe is referred to as a “Chief Fun Officer”.  Everyone deserves to have people with whom they can be completely themselves.  I have a few of those too.

Some organizations have a Board of Trustees.  I have a “Sounding Board”; my three Crown Jewels.  I also have my Sassy Soul Sister S, the Benevolent B, and the Magnanimous M.  Then I have the elders of my tribe, the matriarchs, who nurture the very essence of who I am; The Mystical Mrs. M. and Kindred K.

I also have an Executive Board of Chief Information Officers.  These are the people that provide me with the information I rely on to inspire me.  Writers, Teachers, Musicians, Artists, etc.  There are far too many to list here.

As you can see, the list could go on and on.  The possibilities are endless!

In the article, Lea also states:  ”It’s important to know your super power because it’s the foundation on which you can build the life you want – it helps you identify what value you have to offer in the world, upon which you can build a business.”  I believe identifying your super power enables you to create an outstanding existence, a life that you cherish sharing with others.  She goes on to say: “It helps you operate in the world, knowing the value you have to exchange with others – and in this way you can begin to create your own economy. Exchanging your value for money or other things which are valuable to you.”

We should surround ourselves with those who help us discover our super power.  Our circle should consist of individuals who are not afraid of introducing our super power, for fear that it diminishes theirs.  Play off of and even delight in each other’s strengths.  This is Mudita at it’s finest.  Altruistic, vicarious joy.

Another author from Wild Sister Mag, Erica Staab, wrote these words: ”you will find people who see your light, your radiance, your sparkle and who flock to be with you, who want to lift you up, who add something to your life…These friends will offer peace, stability, compassion, love and true friendship.”

Developing and nourishing relationships with individuals who see what makes you shine and thrive on reflecting it back to you.  Enjoying the rich depth, texture, and color of weaving these precious people into the fabric of your life.  Most importantly, utilizing your time and energy being the type of person you want on your team.  Cultivate this tribe of kindred spirits and indulge in a delicious relationship of reciprocity.

Who is on your team?  A part of your circle?  A member of your Tribe?

Circles

3 Comments

Let the Rain

April 24, 2012 at 6:39 pm (Music, Passages, The Journey, Uncategorized)
Tags: ,

On the Other Side

     When I sustained a serious wrist injury during a yoga workshop, it was a hard lesson to learn.  It required surgery and months of rehabilitation.  Students would arrive at my classes and upon realizing that the person in the cast/brace was the instructor, they would inquire if they were in the right place.  I found this question mildly amusing due to the fact that during the whole process, from injury, to surgery, to healing, I would frequently ask myself the same question.
     The forecast for this entire week was, originally, all rain.  Even though the earth desperately needed this forecast, I did not.  I was not happy.  Saturday morning I began to feel a bit “under the weather” (pun intended).  By Sunday I had a full-blown cold and my mood continued to deteriorate.  I was sullen about the rain, my cold made me irritable, and I was downright furious that I was grumpy.  This morning, I decided to try a different tactic and to just let everything be as it is.  I stopped trying to resist my mood and gave myself permission to get a little rough-and-tumble with my dark side.  I also began to entertain the idea that a low-key week with plenty of precipitation might be just what I needed.  Ironically enough, both my disposition and the sky began to lighten as I made this shift.
Rumi’s Poem “The Guest House” says it all so eloquently:
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

     The inability to get into a certain posture, the injury, the illness, the weather, the bad mood…these things are not the problem.  It is our resistance to them that creates the problem.  Our struggle with the the things that we have the inability to change or control simply stand to make matters worse.  When we are in the middle of these circumstances, it can be challenging to find the switch, to change our sign from “closed” to “open”.  The illnesses can be severe and the storms can be devastating.  The clearing out process can be painful and finding gratitude for that discomfort can be difficult.
My Grandmother use to say: “Let go and let God.”  I say, let the rain.
 

2 Comments

It’s Easy Being Green

April 20, 2012 at 12:06 pm (Food for Thought, Uncategorized)
Tags: , , , ,

As some of you know, I am a bit of a foodie.  I am fortunate that my love also has an adventurous spirit, as well as, a voracious appetite for delectable nourishment.  Our little ones, who are not so little anymore, have grown up sampling all of the various concoctions I create in my kitchen and have developed a culinary palette that makes me very proud.  Our food journey has taken us in many different directions.  There are times when we started off on a particular path and discovered or decided that it wasn’t the best direction for us.  If I were writing a book instead of a blog, the chapter we are currently enjoying is, what we like to refer to, as the Qualitarian Localvore Chapter.

Over the past couple of years we have participated in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  We purchase a share from a local farm and we enjoy fresh, local, organic produce for the season.  It has been fun, exciting, and challenging!  It has required a bit of imagination and a lot of flexibility.

My most recent trick is googling the ingredients we receive and seeing what links and recipes pop up.  Mark Bittman recently wrote an article in New York Times Magazine called: Spinach is a Dish Best Served Cooked.  Originally, when I saw the title, I assumed that the article had to do with food safety.  Instead, it contained a variety of ways to prepare spinach cooked.  Typically I just mix the raw spinach we receive in with the salad greens, make a homemade dressing and we are all set.  This week, having read Bittman’s article and not receiving any salad greens, the wheels started turning.  I also decided it was too cold for raw spinach.

Then I found this recipe for Emeril’s Spinach Cheddar Baked Potato With Avocado Puree.  It seemed a bit daunting initially, due to the minute size of the potatoes we received from the farm and I was missing a couple of ingredients but I decided to proceed anyway.

Spinach

We didn’t have any bacon and I wouldn’t have used it anyway.  I also omitted the lime zest due to the fact that I just can’t bring myself to shave pesticide laden citrus into my fabulous food.  I substituted veggie stock and I used fresh cilantro from our CSA Share in place of the scallions and sprinkled the finished product with some organic black beans.

The finished product!

Next time I will definitely use regular sized potatoes and save my farm potatoes for something else.  I will also entertain the idea of turning the black beans into a puree.

They were a huge hit and they were devoured with smiles!

The Bear & His Potato

5 Comments

A Bit Like Herding Cats

April 13, 2012 at 9:25 am (The Journey, Uncategorized)
Tags: , , , , , ,

Earlier this month, I was a chaperone for a number of children in my son’s second grade class.  It reminded me of a saying I had heard a while back: “It is a bit like herding cats.”  I had to account for them, occasionally reel them in, and yet allow them enough freedom to enjoy their experience.  I wanted to watch out for these little people as carefully as I would want someone to watch over my little one, if the roles were reversed.  This is a daunting responsibility.  I was exhausted at the end of the day.

The following week, I received an envelope.  The envelope contained four meticulously written letters by some of the children I had in my group, thanking me for attending their field trip with them.  Thanking me for keeping them safe.  One little girl wrote: “I think you are the best shaperoen in the world.”  These little notes, and the words contained within them, warmed my heart and brightened my whole day.

As I was gathering and generating some inspiration for my class that evening, I was reviewing the book “After the Ecstasy, the Laundry” by Jack Kornfield.  I have adorned my copy with a rainbow of highlighters, a multitude of post-it flags, and the random note in the margin.  On one of the bookmarked pages, I found the following quote highlighted:

“Suppose a person who was not blind beheld the many bubbles of the Ganges as they floated along, and after careful examination, saw how each appeared empty, unreal, insubstantial.  In exactly the same way we can carefully examine sense impressions, perceptions, feelings, and thought, all that we experience, and discover them to be empty, void, and without a self.”

It all of a sudden occurred to me that my meditation practice is “a bit like herding cats”.  It is my job to witness the thoughts that are racing around, however, it is not my job to contain them.  I should visualize them dissolving like a bubble on the Ganges.  I must let them go along, on their merry way, so that my experience is as it should be.  If I pause too long to attempt to restrict my thinking, I will spend unnecessary time and energy becoming frustrated and distracted.

All of this also applies to my work on my mat.  My practice involves fastidious attention to detail.  It is necessary for me to draw my awareness to my breath and to the details of my alignment.  Reeling in my thoughts from the external to the internal in order to keep my body safe can sometimes feel like a daunting and exhausting responsibility.  Ultimately, the whole process is worth the investment.  I receive thank you notes from my body, mind, and spirit.  The quality of my interactions with those in my sphere improves dramatically and I notice a shift in my relationship to self.

This week, I was practicing with Noah Maze via YogaGlo in a class called Kneessentials.  He began the class with a quote from Douglas Brooks: “Clear Boundaries, No Limits.”  If we define very clear parameters for the children in our care, they can be free.  If we delineate very precise boundaries for our bodies during our yoga practice and our minds during our meditation practice, we can be free!  Where are you feeling as though your work is “a bit like herding cats”?  Where are you feeling so free you can fly?

Sakhi Stretching
(which is a bit like flying)

Leave a Comment

Asana as an Embrace

February 22, 2012 at 1:49 am (Uncategorized)
Tags: , , ,

A very wise friend once told me that when you are embracing a small child, you should never be the one to let go first.  Her reason for this being, that you just never know how much they truly need.  This small and very important piece of advice has stuck with me.  I attempt to put it into action as much as I can.  With children and adults alike.  Think about it.  How often do we quickly rush through that precious moment of a greeting or a goodbye?  How often do we dismiss it as merely a formality?  Is it possible for us to slow down and be genuinely present in those moments of intimacy and connection?  Is it possible to be neutral and open to giving and receiving during these exchanges of energy?

Can we go one step further and tap into our own wells of energy in order for us to properly gauge how empty or full we are?

We have a unique opportunity to practice this on our Yoga Mat.  Our Asanas, are, in essence, an embrace with ourselves.  There are times when we hold the forms and there are times when we allow ourselves to be held.  We dictate the extent of our embrace, we decide when to let go.  It would behoove us to authentically tune into what is happening for us in each moment, each pose, each practice.  Life is dynamic, our practice is dynamic.  It will fluctuate and be different every time.  Can we witness without judging and getting caught up in all that entails?  Somewhere, deep inside, underneath our to-do lists, our agendas, the sea of every day life, there is a deep and abiding wisdom.  Our breath and our movements are tools to help us excavate, to help us tap into that knowledge and ultimately allow us to create an embrace that is fine-tuned to our exact vibration.

“Any time you want

you can let yourself

pour out with the tide

and the rhythm of a Life

bigger than your life

a container that encompasses

without holding

a spirit that is light

beyond seeing

will bring you back” Miriam Dyak

I want my practice to be “a container that encompasses without holding” so that I may be “a spirit that is light beyond seeing”.  What would you like your practice to be for you?

Image

6 Comments

Yoga, Community, and New Beginnings

December 28, 2011 at 7:11 pm (Passages, The Journey)
Tags: , , ,

Our Practice Space

The word Sādhana can be translated as “practice” or a discipline undertaken in the pursuit of a goal.  Yogi Bhajan has said: “The strength of a community is directly proportional to the strength of their group Sādhana.”   The Sanskrit Word for Community is Sangha.  These past few months I have witnessed our Sangha, our community, flourish and expand in our new space.  Their dedication and enthusiasm is inspirational.  Their strength and grace is exquisite.

In the Anusara Teacher Training Manual, John Friend explains: “Our Attitude is what distinguishes us and transforms us.  The power of the heart that is the force behind every action or expression in an asana (posture) resides within Attitude.  Attitude is both the power behind your intention for practicing hatha yoga and the power that ultimately fulfills your intention.  You might do the practice of hatha yoga to improve the health or appearance of the physical body, or to clear blocked emotions and help balance your emotional state, or to promote mental clarity and balance, or any combination of these purposes.  Intertwined with Attitude and intention is willpower–a deep inner force that is a balance between self-effort and the ability to surrender.”

As 2011 draws to a close, we have the opportunity to make some decisions about what we will choose to let go of and what we will carry with us into the new year.  Through the practice of Yoga, we may be more capable of discerning where to apply effort and when to pull in the oars.  We also have the power to create intentions.  Intentions that can be cultivated with attitude, willpower, and practice.

“Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning…”

What are your intentions for 2012?

For a New Beginning

By John O’Donohue
(1956 – 2008)

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

Leave a Comment

Shake It Out

October 20, 2011 at 11:11 pm (Music, Passages, The Journey)
Tags: , , ,

“And I’m damned if I do and I’m damned if I don’t
So here’s to drinks in the dark at the end of my road
And I’m ready to suffer and I’m ready to hope
It’s a shot in the dark and right at my throat
Cause looking for heaven, for the devil in me
Looking for heaven, for the devil in me
Well what the hell I’m gonna let it happen to me…”

My Yoga Practice has changed my life in some very profound ways.  My Yoga Practice has transformed into a Life Practice.  It has rolled right off of my mat along with me and followed me into some rough and dark terrain.  It has remained faithful to me and held a candle up to light the path back when I have lost my way.  It has helped teach me how important it is to be fully present in every moment.  Yoga has shown me the how and the why and the way.  When you practice Yoga it is like cleaning house.  Eventually you get finished with the surface stuff and start to dig a little deeper.  Unearthing an experience, excavating a memory, confronting a habit, taking it out and dusting it off.  If it’s broken, taking a long hard look, deciding if it’s worth fixing, worth hanging on to.  Perhaps looking a little deeper and making the decision that it is time to let go and get rid of it altogether.  When you clear out the clutter of your body, you can’t help but clear out the clutter of your subconscious at the same time.

Life can be chaotic.  We can get so caught up in getting through that we are perpetually in the surface realm of things.  Stuff piles up, we bury things, and tuck them away for a more convenient time.  Physical and emotional things.  Yoga gives you the strength and stamina to take on and tackle those things in life that scare you the most.  It provides you with the tools you need and the patience to try again when you don’t get it right the first time.  Your practice helps illuminate those corners that are the darkest and most frightening.  Rather than turning away from and avoiding discomfort, you will face it head on.  You will chase those things down that make you the most uncomfortable because you want to be free!

A short time ago Elena Brower shared a poem on her blog called “Shake the Dust”.  It was written by Anis Mojgani.  Elena’s teachings always seem particularly timely and poignant…

When I find myself becoming burdened or weighted down, I reread these words:

“Do not let one moment go by that doesn’t remind you that your heart beats 100,000 times a day and that there are enough gallons of blood to make every one of you oceans. Do not settle for letting these waves settle and the dust to collect in your veins.

Walk into it, breathe it in, let it crash through the halls of your arms at the millions of years of millions of poets coursing like blood pumping and pushing making you live, shaking the dust so when the world knocks at your front door, clutch the knob and open on up, running forward into its widespread greeting arms with your hands in front of you, fingertips trembling though they may be.”

Thank you Anis for writing these powerful words!  Thank you, Elena, for sharing them!  These words have become my mantra.  I am filled with gratitude for my teachers and for the practice of Yoga.

Be free!  Shake the dust!  Shake it out!

2 Comments

Fire

August 27, 2011 at 6:07 pm (Music, Passages, The Journey)
Tags: , , , , ,

“Fire burning me up
Desire taking me so much higher
And leaving me whole”~Augustana

It has been a particularly long month full of circumstances and situations that have been challenging and uncomfortable.  It has been sprinkled with difficult conversations that I simply could not put off any longer.  My Yoga Practice has allowed me to arrive, on the other side of these events and discussions, in a better place.

Ode Magazine recently published an article called “Championing difficult conversations: It’s not what you say, but how“.  The author, John Kinyon, states: “The human mind, I believe, often wants the peace and security of knowing – as much as possible and ahead of time – what to do.”  This, of course, is unrealistic.  The more time and energy we waste getting caught up in all of the different possibilities and outcomes, the less strength and integrity we possess when actually having the conversation or interaction.  He suggests that one way, perhaps a better way, to have a difficult conversation is to “focus on the how, the process through which knowing what to say and do next can arise out of the present moment, independent (but also inclusive) of one’s worldview, value system and role.”

This is what Yoga prepares us to do.  We learn that with breath, compassion, and honesty we can see ourselves through challenging practices with beauty and grace.  Our practice teaches us to “sit in the fire of the heart”.  Danny Arguetty talks about this In “nourishing the teacher”.  He writes:  “Giving ourselves permission to be present with uncomfortable and intense situations, though often difficult in the moment, is ultimately of tremendous value.”

If you are able to be present, you can place yourself in a less reactionary state of mind and being.  Take a few deep breaths as you witness what comes up for you.  In that pause we are often able to find clarity and we are able to decipher skillful action.

Danny also shares this powerful and pertinent poem from Rumi:

“A chickpea leaps almost over the rim of the pot

where it’s being boiled.

“Why are you doing this to me?”

The cook knocks him down with the ladle.

“Don’t you try to jump out.
You think I’m torturing you.
I’m giving you flavor,
so you can mix with spices and rice
and be the lovely vitality of a human being.

Remember when you drank rain in the garden.
That was for this.”

Grace first. Sexual pleasure,
then a boiling new life begins,
and the Friend has something good to eat.

Eventually the chickpea
will say to the cook,
“Boil me some more.
Hit me with the skimming spoon.
I can’t do this by myself.

I’m like an elephant that dreams of gardens
back in Hindustan and doesn’t pay attention
to his driver. You’re my cook, my driver,
my way into existence. I love your cooking.”

The cook says,
“ I was once like you,
fresh from the ground. Then I boiled in time
and boiled in the body, two fierce boilings.

My animal soul grew powerful.
I controlled it with practices.
and boiled some more, and boiled
once beyond that,
and became your teacher.”

I am grateful for my practice, my teachers, boiling, and the fire.  I am also grateful for my discipleship, for being a chickpea : )

Fire

Leave a Comment

The Space Between

July 18, 2011 at 6:46 pm (Favorite Quotes, Uncategorized)
Tags:

As the summer season was approaching this year, I found myself unsuccessfully attempting to manage a schedule that was far too full.  I had committed to an unreasonable amount of appointments and items on my “to-do” list.  Having allowed myself and others to develop unrealistic expectations of what I was capable of accomplishing, I felt as though I had no room to breathe or move and I was miserable.  During a particularly Claustrophobic Moment, I thought of Dave Matthew’s Song “The Space Between” and I smiled.

“Love is all we need here
The Space Between
What’s wrong and right
Is where you’ll find me hiding, waiting for you
The Space Between
Your heart and mine
Is the space we’ll fill with time
The Space Between… ” ~ Dave Matthews

I was clearly craving more time and more space between all of the items on my agenda.  I set an intention to consciously schedule “spaces” that were open and recognize that open spaces didn’t necessarily “need” to be filled.

I challenged my students to do the same.  I assigned them homework that involved scheduling “space”, wide-open space, and then filling it with absolutely nothing except for permission to “just be”.  I have taught this theme frequently over the last few weeks.  We have worked on attempting to find a comfortable pause at the end of our exhalations before taking the next inhalation.  We talked about bringing that awareness to our practice and discovering the delightful spaces between the poses.  Developing a natural rhythm in our practice and then taking that off the mat and into our lives.  Creating a rhythm that allows us to slow down and savor our families, our friends, and even our plans.

Just like anything else, this takes practice.  Whether we come to our Yoga Mats or to our Agenda, we are stepping into an opportunity to better our experience.  Each time we do this, our practice and our lives are a beautiful blank canvas.  Color them sparingly, carefully, and leave space for unexpected spontaneity, creativity, and beauty.

Around this same time, I read that the spaces between our thoughts are, ultimately, our entire reality.

“It is the space between the notes that makes the music. Without that emptiness, that silence in between, there is no music, only a noise. You too are silent empty space at your center, surrounded by form. To break through that form and discover your very creative nature that is in the center, you must take the time to become silent each day, and enter that rapturous space between your thoughts.” Blaise Pascal

Wow!  I am working on that now too.

3 Comments

Falling in Love with Yoga

June 12, 2011 at 4:06 am (Music, The Journey, Uncategorized)
Tags: ,

Music fuels my practice.  Some of the songs I adore practicing to are, admittedly, “love” songs.  I am often reluctant to use these particular songs in my class playlists.  Then it occurred to me that the reason that these songs resonate with me in this way is because I am having a serious love affair with yoga!  My practice is a container for my life.  It holds the space for me to be as I am in that moment.  It does not judge.  I can laugh, cry, flawlessly stand on my head, or fall on my asana and it still beckons to me and welcomes me back for more.  And that isn’t even the best part!  The process of consistently showing up on the mat has taught me how to consistently show up in the world.  Yoga has held up a mirror to my soul and reflected back the parts that are authentically me.  It shows me the ugly pieces too and gives me permission to hold on to them and struggle with them until I am ready to bid them farewell.  Unconditional love.

I come to my mat with all of the pieces of myself that need sorting out; physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  I have learned patience, perseverance, strength, stillness, and grace.

I am absolutely smitten and I have fallen in love with the whole process.  I look forward to every opportunity with which I am blessed to practice on and off the mat.

Leave a Comment

« Older entries

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 275 other followers