Happy Thanksgiving!

We're hanging out in Kauai catching some rays and waves! It has been quite the crazy month/year...! This year I got married, switched careers from engineering to yoga and photography, and met some amazing fellow yoga teachers and students too. Then we made a bitter sweet move from Seattle to Visalia (I didn't think I was going to be sad about it, but it was harder to leave than I expected.) In fact, we moved last week and then had Joey and Danielles wedding this past weekend and then took off for Thanksgiving in Kauai.

I love Thanksgiving because it is a time that encourages us to think about the things that we are thankful for. I wish that I remembered to make my "I'm grateful for list" every day. I wish I remembered to be more grateful for everything that I have. I wish, I wish... why don't I just do it? Do I not have control over how and what I think about? Isn't that why I am doing this yoga stuff?!!

Tame the mind. This is the greatest challenge before you. It rushes here and there, swifter than the wind, more slippery than water. If you can arrest the flights of the mind to your will, happiness will be assured to you.

The wise man takes great care to guard his thoughts. They are very subtle, very difficult to perceive and slip out of control at the tinniest opportunity. A well guarded mind brings happiness.

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.

To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks oracts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.

-Buddha

Moving and Goodbyes

I've been preparing to move to California and as I sit here now I realize that I've probably gone beyond preparing and entered the phase of moving. We leave tomorrow morning when the sun comes up. I've been teaching all of my yoga classes this week. It's been a lot as I'm overwhelmingly busy with the move, however, it has also been a blessing because I've been able to get out of the house, step away from packing and cleaning, in order to do something I love.

Teaching my classes this week has also been a blessing because I've been able to say goodbye to my students and I have been able to feel the sadness that comes with leaving. Yes, I cried after I left the VA where I taught my last class to some amazing guys! I have some amazing students that I will really miss because of all that they have taught me. I thought that my excitement for the new phase would overpower my sadness of leaving much like it seemed to when I left home for collage or left collage for my new career in Seattle. Perhaps its different because those things were bound to happen or I had planned on them happening way in advance. Perhaps it is different because of the amazing year that this one has been for me, all of the life changes and new friends... or perhaps its just different because it's different... after all, the more I learn the less I know!

Farewell Seattle, here goes nothing....

My brothers from another mother!

Their words, not mine, my "brothers from another mother" have been a huge blessing in my life. I teach at the VA and it is often the best day of the week. As a person who wants to know my dharma, who wants to feel like I am making a difference in there world, you can imagine that there is nothing like hearing about how yoga is helping my students deal with their various life challenges.

One of my favorite (am I allowed to have favorites? what if they are all my favorites?!) students showed up to class and it was immediately apparent to me that he was having a bad day. (We all have some of those...) By the end of class it seemed like he was feeling a bit better. We discussed for a moment the benefit of showing up even when you don't feel like it and then just allowing yourself to be in the group.

I can toast to that! Cheers to "showing up!" And cheers to partnership, the group, the people that help us out just by being around!

Inside Out!

Lately I've been thinking/talking in my classes about this idea of reaching for our potential, striving to be our better selves, searching far and wide for our true and best self. Sound familiar? It does to me. It reminds me of the constant battle to be the best, to be more like Mike, to work hard to become something else.

I realized that all of that is reaching OUTWARD, searching outside of ourselves. We forget that our true self exists in here (pointing to my heart!) We forget that who we are and the potential of who we could be already exists within us. We can stop searching, I know where the answer is, I've just been so busy looking in the wrong places.

I think that yoga and perhaps more specifically, meditation, helps us to come internal and focus on who we already are mentally, physically, spiritually. Then we can recognize the strengths that already exist, and yes the weaknesses too, and cultivate who we want to be from within.

I am reminded of my eight grade teacher who told me that people loved listening to me (I was quite the talker back then) but that maybe if I listened once in awhile I would hear what the world is trying to tell me. He also told me to smile more, even if I wasn't happy, because my smile did wonders for others. Sometimes we have to let others see the light in us and remind us that it's there. I know that teaching yoga can be hard because I want to share with my students and I hope that I am making a difference. When I have a student tell me that something I said resonated with them or helped them it helps to remind me that I am giving a gift when I teach. Yes, perhaps they are pumping my ego... but would you rather have a bunch of people walking around feeling great about themselves or feeling lousy about themselves?

I know a few people (I won't name names but you know who you are) that have a hard time letting themselves have a vacation or a break. Some people love buying gifts for others but struggle buying gifts for themselves. They... ok me too.... We tend to be hard on ourselves and disappointed that we are not better. What would it take to remember and notice and recognize once in while how great we already are? Or notice that the reason we think we should be better is because we already have that potential to be better within us?

Then maybe we could allow ourselves that trip to the beach, literally or maybe just in our imagination!


We just got back from my cousins wedding in Miami! You can see some of the wedding photography on our website.

Less Serious

Man oh man I sure have taken myself far too seriously for far too long! Trying to be good at things, trying to succeed, trying to impress... I mean I'm not saying I should work hard but I took myself so seriously that even my play-time started to feel like work.

If I am going to get old and if I am going to have wrinkles, maybe that age and those wrinkles should come from smiles, laughter, fun...



Interestingly enough, when I started my push to take myself less seriously, I included that demand even in my teaching. I began to try to have more fun while teaching, have more fun while doing yoga. Somehow I think that my students are having fun too... even if they're just laughing at my cheesy jokes. As I tell people to move into harder and harder poses that sometimes are not possible for our bodies at the current moment, I remind them that it is sometimes enough to just imagine the pose. It kind of reminds me of the expectations I have of myself. I expect myself to do everything and always succeed... when we're trying to push right up into a handstand from standing splits or find a tricky arm balance that we've never done before, I start to appreciate the possibility rather than the outcome, the journey rather than the destination, the route rather than the summit. In fact, the humbling nature of doing something that is quite a bit out of our reach takes some of the pressure off of the failure... after all, we don't actually expect ourselves to be able to do it. Then maybe, just maybe, we can have fun just trying!

Tea Time

I've been thinking about tea a lot lately. I have always wanted to learn more about tea. I mean... well really learning anything at all would be more than I currently know. What I do know is that when I take the time to enjoy a cup... like really take the time... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

For a long time I've had a paragraph printed out from Tara Bennett-Goleman's book Emotional Alchemy. I don't remember where I got it, who gave it to me, or why. All I know is I have had it for a long time, for awhile it was even framed and hung on the wall. It's not even a nice print or visually appealing in any way. It does however speak to "tea mind," awareness, simplicity, and subtlety.

Here's a brief excerpt: "In the tearoom no one wears a watch. You forget about time as you settle into the present moment. There's nothing to discuss except what pertains directly to the tea experience at hand. There is nowhere else to be but the present."

I think I've held onto it all this time because I always wanted that feeling, I wanted to cultivate the qualities inspired by tea. All this wanting and not enough doing... how hard is it to sit down and have a cup?

Rewards of Teaching

I just got done teaching my Thursday morning community class at The Samarya Center. (FREE) I had quite a day yesterday. Let me just say that it wasn't my favorite. When I woke up this morning, I was pretty tired and not excited about getting out of bed. At the same time, I also was too tired to even try and fight it. It sort of felt mechanical. Getting up, washing, driving to the studio... but when I got there I let go a little and came into the present moment. Preparing myself to teach I started thinking about my class and my students. It was just what I needed, something positive and beautiful to focus on. Now I am sitting here post class feeling alive and awake. Little do my students know that they just made my day!

Ever since I started teaching yoga I have been reflecting on the swim teams or basketball teams that I've coached. I remember how strange it was that after practice I would often have endless energy as though my kids just charged me up. There were also a few days when I felt drained, as though I gave all my energy away. It is funny how people can have that effect on me, on my energy levels. It'd be awesome to learn how to control that and feel the energized part but not the drained part. I would also like to be able to control the effect I have on others. Mostly so that I can give positive energy to people that I love... I won't tell you what my other motive is...

We recently returned from California where we were shooting some wedding photography, climbing some Yosemite rocks, and seeing some very amazing friends. Meet my new friend, Emma. (Emma was the name of my flour baby when I was in 8th grade. It's a good name!) She is pretty much adorable! But really, my toes were never that small were they?!?!