Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

I picked this topic because honestly I stood in awe after the event we did on Mother’s Day for my non-profit, Girls Elevate. It came to me before the event … for days leading up to it actually. But I was preparing a thank you note to all the people who were there after the event, and I was in awe of the support that came so easily. And then when I looked at that list, I realized that all those people were there in service with their gift, their passion, their purpose, their love of …whatever it was they were offering up.

I haven’t even begun to try and process Prince’s death. I can’t seem to find the middle ground between dancing and crying. The day he passed, I listened to his music until I fell asleep. Before sleep came, I scrolled video after video, article after article … I couldn’t get enough. My eyes were bloodshot I was so tired.

I started thinking about this theme and remembered a quote from the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali Swami Satchidananda: You have all these things to equip yourself to serve others. You must have a bed to rest in to feel refreshed in the morning, to go out to serve others. You must eat to have enough energy to serve others. So you do everything with the idea that you are preparing yourself to serve others. So, even your Yogic meditation becomes a selfless action. That is what is meant by “Even with God do not have attachment”. This non-attachment alone is enough to change your entire life into a joyful one.

I love love... I mean I really love LOVE! I’ve been accused of overusing the word in some of my circles. Regardless of that, I continue to use it because it rolls off my tongue and feels good when I say it.

This week I looked up the word transmute again – just to see if that theme actually vibrated with what I have been feeling into. Because you see, when I “pick” a theme, I actually allow it to come to me. I look to see what’s happening in the planets and I feel into what’s “hot” out there. And then I see how and if it relates, so things make sense.

A grasshopper leaps only forward…it never leaps backward! When you think about it, that really makes so much sense.

All week I have been playing in the realm of intuitive guidance. In fact, one of my phrases for the year is intuitive guidance. Being open to it, as always, but more than that, actually following it. Really dropping in and listening … intently. Not questioning, not wondering, but actually following through.

I wrote this blog last night and then completely changed it this morning as the ultimate test of my own integrity came into play … as the themes always do.

I love this word, power. Powerful, powerless, powering through, empowered … it’s so versatile and strong and well, powerful.

Wow … wanna know the truth? This Mercury Retrograde and Full Moon in Sagittarius is kicking my ass! I’ve been tossed into amazing opportunities and yanked back into the past all in one week. I had to face my immobilizing fear of technology and fix every i-apparatus in my home, by myself. I have to buy a new computer, and I lost all my photos of my children from 2002. (yes, I heard that gasp)

I really liked this theme … sovereignty: having supreme authority over oneself. It was an interesting one to follow “connection” but yet, so timely and complimentary.

The theme courage came flying to me the moment I heard that the New Moon was in Aries and that Pluto had went into retrograde. Huh?

I’ve been thinking a lot about this week’s theme … transmutation. It’s divinely perfect as always. And in meditation all week, I’ve reviewed these last few years. You see transmutation is a change in form, appearance, structure or nature of something. It can be an alchemical shift of who you are and how you show up in the world energetically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. And in that alchemical shift that begins on the inside, we eventually take on a different form on the outside.

I’m sitting here writing my schedule for the next three to six months and I realize again, how fortunate I am. The last four years have been a whirlwind while I gather myself up and “re-align and re-design” my life. It’s such a wonderful place to be, in this life… contributing, dancing, working, laughing and BEing.

I’m not sure how alchemy landed in my lap this week as the theme, but it landed and it landed hard!

Devotion is defined as “love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity, or cause."

When I first came to yoga, I thought it was about body movement. Sweating, moving, breathing, standing on your hands, you know, the usual.

If you know me, you hear me say all the time, “I love my life. I GET to do this every single day. How flippin’ amazing is that? I get to connect with phenomenal people, invite DJs and musicians to my class, move my body, educate myself, work one-on-one with people, write for magazines and online publications, and travel to fun places if I’m lucky.

It’s amazing to me … this life, this body we walk around in, our thoughts, our dreams. This entire existence we call life. I slept through a good portion of mine, mainly because I was in pain and didn’t really know how to deal with it. Had no tools at all! I kept running into pain and after falling down over and over again, I began to numb, to stuff and ignore my pain. Traversing through life above my pain was my coping mechanism. Putting it away for another time was easier.

This thing called a yoga practice is not about the postures or even the sequencing. It could be about the playlist, but even that is questionable.

Sometimes I sit back and look at my life and I think, wow, I created this. This is a far cry from where I used to be which was, how did I get here? The difference between the two thoughts is simple. One comes from a highly awakened state and the other is from a very deep sleep.

I’ve had thousands of New Year’s wishes and “anthems” come into my awareness these last few days leading up to today. So many, it’s almost overwhelming. This whole instant access to information can be daunting and too much for one person to navigate honestly.

I am inspired to write about connection again at this time of the year for those of you who adore the holidays as much as I do. And for those of you who don’t – you may get something out of this as well so read on.

I am inspired to write about connection again at this time of the year for those of you who adore the holidays as much as I do. And for those of you who don’t – you may get something out of this as well so read on.