I Got Laid

OMG!  It’s been aaaaages!  Over a month to be exact!  I’ve been pretty busy…

Isn’t that always the excuse for everything?  Busy, busy, busy… too busy to even notice the smallest things…

…like when the last time you got laid or how my spell checker wouldn’t know that I meant “lei’d”

now where was your mind, eh?  (pssst sometimes that’s a good to place to be though  

Seriously though I’m losing my Maui glow and there’s only so many coconuts my poor chef’s knife can handle.   The only thing keeping my aloha spirit up has been planning my first island retreat… aka let’s find a way for me to get back there sooner rather than later because a month ago is just way too long!   Counting down the days before I leave on a jet plane again to my far away island to soak up the aloha… Stay tuned about the retreat…

My dearest Maui, until I see you again, I guess I’ll take getting lei’d anywhere.  The lululemon heads from Los Gatos came to lei me this morning at my 7am class, inviting me to become their ambassador!!!!   Yeah!  I’m beaming sunshines, rainbows and a whole lot of ALOHA!

Some of 7am power yogis at Breathe Yoga Studio in Los Gatos, CA

To me the lei reminds me not only of all things Maui, but it’s such a beautiful reminder that beauty and love is all around.  I mean how can you not be reminded when the fragrance of the flowers or the cool touch of kukui nut seeds or the scratchy feel of a vine that are often used to make a lei lay under your nose? Mostly though, I am reminded of the love that goes into making such a delicate piece.  Each blossom, each seed, each leaf, and each twine of a vine is an expression of the love the artist has carefully strung together.  I am reminded to give as much love today as I would if I were to string together a beautiful array of flowers and present my lei to everyone around me.   

Love!

E Lei aku ‘oe ku’u aloha
I ko’oula nou i kahi mehemeha

Wear my love as a lei
And as your companion in lonely places

P.S.  Happy St. Patty’s Day… who knows it might be your lucky day to get laid lei’d

Love Is In The Air

Love is in the air. Love is everywhere. Especially in the skies of Maui:

How many hearts do you see?

And my favorite one. Look closely. There’s a word in the clouds.



Love is everywhere. Just open your eyes but mostly your heart.

“We are all born for love. It is the principle of existence and it’s only end.” – Benjamin Disraeli

Divine Rhythm

I am in love.  In love.  In love with Bhakti yoga.  When I took my first ever Bhakti yoga class, I moved mindlessly through the class while I mentally resisted it because Bhakti yoga is the yoga of devotion (i.e. devotion to a God).  That G word brings up a lot of mental resistance, judgements and the like.  It’s a sore subject to say the least.  But lately, I’ve been drawn to it.  In the state of my life transition and feelings of emptiness, I feel my spirit being fulfilled by these classes.  The kirtan, the compassion, and the love engulfs me while I’m getting my butt kicked with the asanas.  

Last night I took a class by one of my favorites, Prajna and she really pinched a nerve in me by telling a story about the blue guy, Krishna, who plays the flute and attracts a bunch of love affairs (Prajna tells it much more eloquently).  The love affairs are not what we think love affairs really are… they are a form of personal devotion to him, Krishna, whom they see as their Guide.  

image: http://www.krishnasmercy.org/dotnetnuke/Worship/LordKrishna/tabid/60/Default.aspx

I’d have to be honest and say that I like to hear about these Hindu gods through stories like this, but I’m not interested in learning more about them… probably because I have this huge resistance to the G word.  I know that there are many interpretations of God and there are many deities whom people worship but I don’t have a specific deity to devote to so hence the resistance…. until I realize that the word “devotion” doesn’t have to be tied to worshiping a diety… it’s more like an expression of personal Love.  This expression can be similar to a human-human relationship.  It can also be like a soul and Super Soul(i.e. God, Universe, Higher Power, etc) connection, beloved and lover, parent and child.  Ok… I’m digging this devotion as an expression of personal Love.  So Prajna read to us some very inspiring love poems to God during class and at the end she invited us to write our own if we were moved to.  Here’s mine:

Divine Rhythm

I can’t touch You.
I can’t see You.
I can’t call you by any name.

But there is a rhythm that dances in me.

 In, I breathe You.
Out, I breathe gratitude. 

 You must be here.
Here in my Soul.

You must be here.
Here in my heart.

With every beat and every breath
I feel the touch of divine oneness… called Love.

It’s Easier to Exist Than Live

Every now and then, I pull a book from my shelf, open to a random page and let those words inspire me.  This is what I re-read today:

“… you are the only person alive who has sole custody of your life.  Your particular life.  Your entire life.  Not just your life at your desk, or your life on the bus, or in the car, or at the computer.  Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart.  Not just your bank account, but your soul. People don’t talk abou the soul very much anymore.  It’s so much easier to write a resume than to craft a spirit.”

From Anna Quindlen's A Short Guide to a Happy Life

As I believe everything happens for a reason… every moment, every encounter, every challenge… this random page is no coincidence.  It’s so perfect for where I am right now… and NOW is where I’m suppose to be but I can’t help but want to tell the year to hurry up and end. I’m certain you can relate.  The end of the year is quite stressful for many different reasons for most of us and sometimes it’s just easier to just get up every morning and pray you’ll make it through the day.  The hum drum of the day’s activities are just enough to keep you alive in existence.  It’s even quite comfortable there.  By the end of the day, you know you’ll be successful.

Call me out!  I’m guilty as charged.  I’m very good at what I do day in and day out.  It’s very predictable.  Heck, I’m even happy doing it because I really don’t want any extra stress dumped on me.  I thought I was doing very well just existing and surviving each day until I was laying on the table getting my massage today.  I didn’t realize how tense my body was.  Oh the knots and compression in my lower back, upper back, neck to every little crevice.   I realized that in just trying to survive each day, I was slowly killing myself inside.  The more I relaxed into this dull state of being, of hiding, of resisting the people around me and the love of the season, I was cutting off a part of me that I often generously love to share… and that is of my heart.  My body knew.  She closed up.  tensed up. refused to expand.  And here I thought doing the minimum to get by would be better for my health.  

I don’t want an impressive resume… I want to start crafting my spirit again… I hope I bump into you cause I will run you over with love!

L O V E   E V E R Y D A Y…. It’s the part of your life the soul wants to write about. 

A Battle

“The human heart feels things the eyes cannot see, and knows what the mind cannot understand.” — Robert Valett

Think.  Think.  Think.  I’ve been thinking too much.  Some days my head takes over and leaves my heart to be nothing more than an organ that pumps blood and keeps me alive…. alive cause I’m still breathing, but dull cause I am not feeling.  Ok, truth is, I am feeling.  Feeling things I don’t want to feel.  So I suppress them.  The more I suppress them, the more I think.   The faint voice in my heart softens into a whisper that I can barely hear.  Little did I know that that voice was always a soft whisper…. She never screams.  She never yells.  She never bullies Her way in.  She waits.  patiently.  She whispers softly… waiting for the moment I am ready to hear Her…

One quiet day, I hear Her.  My mind doubts her.  But She never does.  The conversation continues.  It becomes a battle.  A struggle.  My head tells me one thing and my heart tells me another.  This time, before I did anything, I decided… which one is better?  My head or my heart?  

Today, I chose my heart.  I will let her lead.  I will begin the day with love in my heart.  Peace in my mind.  I will stretch and expand Her beyond what She can express, perceive, understand and feel.  She will touch not only those to whom she can give it easily, but also to those who need Her love so much. 

I am listening… I trust Her.  

image: http://weheartit.com/entry/17948292

I’m talking about Hugs

Everyone’s probably talking about Halloween today, but I’m gonna talk about hugs because today I’ve gotten more hugs than the number of hours I’ve been awake…. and it feels freakin’ amazing!  I must admit that I’ve been bumming quite a bit the last few weeks and haven’t been that lovable, huggable person.  Remember this post on hug quotas?  It’s time to bring it back.   It’s worth re-reading.

Be generous with your hugs today will you? 

Wrap your arms around your hugee, press them close, squeeze tightly, embrace the hug, linger, smile, squeeze a bit more and tuck your head in and rest it on their shoulder.  Mmmmmmm

Hugs heal!  Get your 12 hugs today!

Poem from Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends

 

Love Will Find A Way

Lately my tongue (see last post) has gotten me into some trouble… heart breaking trouble with some people I love and care deeply about.   I said things that I meant to say but it came out wrong and the other person interpreted it 10 times more further away from what I was trying to say.  

The more I sit and wait for time to heal, the more I feel empty. lonely. terrible.  Hours have passed.  Days gone.  Weeks soon will go by.  Months will be long gone…

I know deep within me that it doesn’t have to be this way.  Someone doesn’t have to give in.  appear weak. or be the better person to step up.  fess up. or be in the wrong…

because if you really love a person and care deeply about them, the answer will be clear.  You’ll know what to do.  Love shows us.

image: http://weheartit.com/entry/16442803

Leading with Your Heart

It’s fall.  I feel it in my bones and change symbolically sweeps through the crisp chilly air.  It’s a time for reflection.  It’s also a time to fall in love… with change.  Over the summer, I blogged about how hearts make lousy followers. 

There’s two parts to this.  In my practice, simply dropping my shoulders and pulling my scapulae in and down my back is a sure way to pop my heart forward as if it would be the first thing to touch the finish line ribbon of a race.  That’s physically leading with my heart. However, that’s not enough… especially when it comes to matters of change, challenges, and those thought provoking life questions.

Drawing the shoulders down and shoulder blades back are just simply a pathway to really opening your heart.   You can say it’s a first step.  Feel what type of energy arises when you make this physical shift. 

Can you use it as a doorway to feel the other part of what it means to lead with your heart? 

I am certainly navigating what it truly means to lead with my heart during this time of change… literally in the season and in my life.  The pathway that opens when I physically lead with my heart is that every decision is created with intuition rather than hope.   When you hope things will work out or when you wait for things to happen, the heart stays closed no matter how far back your shoulders drop.

image credit: http://weheartit.com/entry/15226802

“Fall” in love with an open heart.  More importantly, lead with an open heart!

Italy: Hearts Make Lousy Followers

A few days ago, Debbie says “don’t follow your heart, lead with it” while we were in dancer’s pose.  I could feel my shoulders and their blades immediately shift down and into my back.  I feel much more open, much more taller, and much more confident in my posture.  I can breathe.  I can feel my heart beat.  From this space I can expand with much clarity.  But I think she meant something much more deeper than just a physical shift.  

If you ask me how I chose to marry the love of my life, I would say I followed my heart.  If you ask me how I choose my career as a software engineer, I would say I followed my heart.  If you ask me how I choose my career as a yoga teacher, I would say I followed my heart.  Or rather a more appropriate thing to ask is how I finally stopped following my heart and started to create how I wanted to live my life. 

I love my life as a yoga teacher and soon to be studio owner.  I get to travel the world and meet all sorts of interesting people.  I make my own schedule and I get to wear stretchy pants all day!!!  As I look back, if I continued to follow my heart while I was a software engineer, I would probably still be sitting behind a computer day dreaming about becoming a yoga teacher.  Now I sit behind a computer and write about my adventures!  As for the marriage… if I continued to follow my heart, we would’ve probably been divorced a long time ago, but just like any dream, a relationship needs both hearts to co-create their life together.

When faced with a life decision, your heart does one of two things:  it’s flushed with emotion and hopes of manifesting what you dream of or it stops gazing out the window, dreaming of what appears to be impractical little dreams and instead takes charge and creates the dream right before your eyes. 

Yoga Graffiti in Venezia, Italy

Leading with my heart and my body follows.  This is the first time I’ve ever gotten into this pose without a strap!

Photo by Linda of http://ravenpoweryoga.com/Home.html

 

Hoping eagles would scare away all the pigeons in San Marco Square, Venice

Photo by Linda of http://ravenpoweryoga.com/Home.html

 

Trying to fly in a skirt doesn’t fly very well!

Photo by Linda of http://ravenpoweryoga.com/Home.html

 

Walking the plank

Photo by Linda of http://ravenpoweryoga.com/Home.html

 

Do you follow your heart or do you lead with your heart?

 

Hand Hug

Did you get your hug quota met today?

Sometimes I want to hug every student after class.  I normally don’t care if they are sweaty but some would prefer not to hug me back because they feel they are stinky and sweaty.   So the solution?  A hand hug!

A hand hug is a unique expression of love.  Prepare for a high five, but as soon as your palms touch, wrap your thumb around the other hand and give a squeeze.  One rule:   no loosey goosey hugs!

Have a fantastic weekend… Hug your mom!