5.3.14

openness

"... The 'shoulds' of expectations.  These are the prisons of life.  Trying to change how we actually feel by ordering ourselves to do so is a strategy that goes nowhere, fast.  Open awareness is about accepting what is and not being swept up by those judging activities.... Our effort to combat our actual experience creates internal tension, a kind of self-inflicted distress.  But rather than march into our inner world and say 'No - don't do that!' we can embrace what is and notice what happens.  Amazingly, time after time people discover that letting things be also allows them to change.  We can approach our inner world with openness ad acceptance rather than with judgments and preconceptions."

~ Daniel J. Siegel, Mindsight

4.30.14

 

morning ritual

today's schedule:

5:30 - yoga and meditation

6:30  - breakfast

7:30 - kayak to isla chora, snorkel, eat pineapples, kayak back

10:00 - thai yoga massage class

12:00 - lunch

1:00 - thai yoga massage class

4:00 - free for the rest of the day

4.29.14

double leg

A little over a year ago, Nikki and I were laying on the beach under the palm trees, about 1 minute from this classroom (which didn't exist then) talking about how we needed to manifest a retreat adventure that we could lead together.  It's happening now!  Everything about it is even better than I could have possibly imagined.

1.21.14

promos for paradise

i spent alot of time today working on promo's for holistic expeditions.  if anyone is interested in coming on a retreat to costa rica in april i'd love to see you there!  nikki will be teaching thai massage and i'll be helping out with daily yoga and meditation.  if you're a massage therapist you will receive continuing education credits, if you're a yoga teacher you will improve your assists and practice - no doubt, and if you're neither you'll be able to have some great adventures and experiences in paradise!

check out www.holisticexpeditions.com/workshops 

there are more details for this specific retreat on the april calender.  xx

1.2.14

manifestation station

it's so exciting to return to costa rica and see all the work that's gone on while we've been away.  months ago on our way to moab russ and i pulled over at a gas station and drew the plans for a new classroom on a napkin.  after some deliberations we decided we'd nailed our blueprint and took a photo with russ's phone, sending it off to be duplicated in real life.  
after much work, some problems, and lots of fine tuning the classroom is finally ALMOST done!  i couldn't resist jumping in for a triumphant warrior pose today when we were checking out what our napkin drawing had become.  master manifestation in action! i can't wait to see all the students in it in the coming week.

12.21.13

graduation day

i am so impressed with this class.  they always made their health a priority, focusing on yoga, studying, eating well, and exercise over the party scene that can be all too easy to fall into in samara.  i loved all the time i got to spend with this smart, fun, friendly, beautiful group of women.
congratulations mariposa class!  you're all going places.

12.10.13

hanumanasana

the following is a greatly abbreviated story of hanuman the monkey:

when hanuman was a young, little monkeygod, he thought the sun was a mango and went after it, meaning to swallow it.  the king of the devas, indra, was so enraged that the eclipse had been prevented by hanumans gluttony that he threw a thunderbolt at hanuman, smiting him.  as hanuman lay unconscious his father vayu, who was the god of air/wind, began to grieve, going into seclusion and taking all the air with him.  
in order to appease vayu the devas revived hanuman and each bestowed upon him an epic gift; shape-shifting, invincibility, amazing strength, and much more - essentially making him a super hero.  however he was also a young mischievous little monkey so they decided it best to place a curse on him so that he wouldn't be aware of his own powers and therefore couldn't use them against others.

fast-forward years down the road.  hanuman is devoted to lord rama, whose wife sita has been kidnapped and taken to a far away island.  it's so far away; impossible to get to. all seems lost, when hanuman's friend, the wise bear, jambavantha tells him, 'hanuman you have to go, you're the only one who can save her.  you have to jump to the island.'

hanuman says, 'there's no way.  i can't jump that far!  no one can jump that far.'

jambavantha tells hanuman that he is indeed the only one who can do it, he tells him that he is amazingly strong, incredibly brave, that he's invincible, protected, magical!  as hanuman listens to the words of his friend his belief in himself grows, breaking the curse.

hanuman takes a flying leap of faith, jumping all the way from india to the island of sri lanka, and rescues sita.  

this pose, hanumanasana, represents that great leap. it represents power that we all have if we just believe in ourselves, and the power that comes when others show their faith in us.

"the burden of all difficult tasks of the world become light with your kind grace." ~  hanuman chalisa

12.7.13

paramahamsa

"be kind to everyone; forgive everyone for everything."
- sri dharma mittra

.... i needed to remind myself of this today.

11.23.13

parsva bakasana

i went to a yoga class at intercultera, my spanish school, a few weeks ago.  i wasn't sure what to expect.  when i arrived i had to confirm that i was in the right place.  there didn't seem to be anywhere to practice.  it was an open air patio, fairly large, full of young (teenage) germans (mostly) lounging around in hammocks and on benches reading or on smart phones. when i asked though, 'yes' they told me, 'this is where the yoga class is'. 

i almost left.  i'd had the crappiest day.  that morning i taught my first really bad yoga class.  or at least in my mind it was really bad.  i'd been beating myself up all day about what a failure i was as a teacher and how certainly everyone had noticed that i hadn't really had a plan and winging it had sort of failed.  the last thing i wanted to do was cram into this incredibly public, humid patio with a bunch of aloof germans unabashedly watching and sweat it out for an hour.  but i'd promised my friend shinez that i would meet her there and bring her shorts to borrow, so i had to stay.

the teacher showed up, an american, sweet and sort of spacey and friendly in that yoga teachery way.  i liked her; i stayed.  a surprisingly large amount of the youth rolled out mats in an incredibly small space at the center of the patio.  it started pouring rain.  there we were; flanked on one side by picnic tables full of mostly dudes, on one side by hammocks with frowning teenage girls, and on one side by a sheet of water spraying off the roof into the end of my mat.  just me and shinez and several rows of german chicks wearing civilian clothing.

10.25.13

my backyard

just a few days more then i'm heading to america!  i'm looking forward to the fall, the light, the cold, the colors, the pumpkins, my birthday! my bathtub, sweaters and socks, mulled cider and whiskey, driving, hiking, putting the cozy blankets back on the bed, seeing my family and more.

as lovely as it is to swim in the warm ocean, you just can't get cozy in the tropics. 

10.23.13

terrible day day

some people let a bad day ruin a good sunset.  but not you.

10.22.13

esperar

"This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body."

 

~ W W

10.20.13

butterfly season

10.16.13

beach breakfast

10.14.13

back to school dayrosa, geidi prime, grimes

10.6.13

our bodies change our minds, our minds change our behaviors, our behaviors change our outcomes

if you were wondering why we do victory arms so much it's because we're winning.

(for a great life hack; click the link below and go conquer the world.)

10.3.13

isla chora parte dos

adventurer's credo:
to accept unexpected opportunities and adventures whenever they arrive, even when the timing's inconvenient.  to maintain a positive attitude and remember to savor every moment.  to release undue attachments to plans or preparedness, but instead to dive headfirst into this life experience.


who's with me!?!

9.30.13

isla chora

during part of this guided visualization the students are asked to go back in time to the moment when they decided to come to crsmt.  this epiphany took place for each of them in all different parts of the world under drastically different circumstances.  many different paths led to this island.  

i didn't even know about crsmt at the time but my epiphany came on the cliffs above shelter cove in northern california almost exactly a year ago.  i climbed up from the beach where everyone else was surfing; taking a narrow, steep, slippery route that led to a little makeshift gazebo.  i sat, staring at the sun sparkling on the water and decided that the trip to costa rica that nikki and i had been talking about needed to happen.  i wasn't sure why, or where it would lead but i knew in that moment that it was meant to happen.

i had no idea what i was in for.

9.27.13

stalker

this is just a reminder:  
if you don't want the animal to return, you must stop feeding it.

9.25.13

 

                                                                                  student feast day

radical gratitude challenge:

as you sit down to your next meal, take a moment, close your eyes and express gratitude for your food.  take it to the next level and have those you're eating with do the same.  it can be a silent expression, a verbal thanks, you can pray if you want or don't if that freaks you out.  but a little gratitude?  never hurt anyone.

namaste bitches, xx