DIVINE YOGA & Dance

BELLA STELLA

2012-03-07T17:30:00.001-06:00

BELLA STELLA by lolabeg featuring black jewelry

Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child O'Mine (Music and lyrics)

2012-01-09T19:23:00.000-06:00

9/11 Inside/Out

2011-09-11T21:14:00.007-06:00

'Are' ~ 'We' living in an age where true enlightenment is possible ...

SEPTEMBER 11, 2011 I remember it so clearly ... Pregnant with 2 'little' babies watching as Mommy sat totally still, crying, watching in 'terror' as planes 'crashed', buildings 'crumbled', people "DIED" and the WORLD I knew ... changed forever.

"Mommy, why are you crying?" What do I say? that bad guys just like in Spiderman or Carebears had just hurt thousands of people ... that the WORLD to me seemed to have finally gone crazy and that the fight to control all the WORLD'S resources was up for grabs or that, maybe, people had become so disparaged within their 'own' lives that innocent people had to bear the suffering & the pain of 'their' actions ... What do I say? ... So ... I said NOTHING and cried some more...I cried on and off for several days, grieving, worrying & contemplating what was instore for our future...THEIR FUTURE.

CHAPTER 10 'TERROR' March/05

In the first years following 9/11, many things changed and yet as is true of many major occurances in this World & in one's life, "life goes on", never the same, changed in many ways ... left with the wondering if the circumstances that led to 9/11 held within the future further unforseen, unforwarned tragedies. Several years later, now, with a baby who has grown into a toddler & two toddlers who have grown into children I still feel remnants of the sadness, fear and hopelessness that that day imprinted on my body, mind & soul.
For all 'Man'kind & for those of us who have never encountered bodily harm & the severe emotional & spiritual sufferings at the hands of war, this should be a day that resonates in our hearts, always, as a reminder to be grateful for our freedoms and our good fortune and to aspire to strive to create a WORLD in which 'all' know these freedoms and good fortune.

Excerpt CHAPTER 11 'THE COLLECTIVE MIND' MARCH/05

September 11, 2011

This poem is dedicated to the 'many' who suffered the loss & pain of the events of September 11, 2001

"NEVER FORGET HOW STRONG YOU ARE, HOW BEAUTIFUL & BRIGHT ... NAMASTE

LOST

Today I feel so lost

The pain was too intense

I wondered what I'm doing here

Nothing made any sense

Why do I feel so insecure

So naked to the world

Why do I feel the need to try

To stop the tears I cry

Go deep within the anger

Go deep within the pain

Go beneath the surface

To truly start again

Don't allow the fear to win

Don't be afraid to feel

Don't be afraid to face your fear

As you will find within

Who and why you have come

To touch upon this world

Who and why you have come

upon which you have been hurled

Your time has come to see yourself

for who you really are

within your dreams

You'll find yourself

And how you've come so far

DO NOT FORGET HOW STRONG YOU ARE

HOW BEAUTIFUL & BRIGHT

DO NOT FORGET WHO GAVE YOU LIFE

A STAR SHINING EVER BRIGHT

Dec/05

Signs of Light I

2011-06-10T11:49:00.002-06:00

Untitled by LolaBeG featuring cowboy hats

Signs of Light II

2011-06-10T10:44:00.001-06:00

Signs of Light II by LolaBeG featuring a silver chain necklace

Heart of Confucius

2011-06-10T09:29:00.001-06:00

Heart of Confucius by LolaBeG featuring sequin dresses

BOYtoy

2011-06-10T08:46:00.001-06:00

BOYtoy by LolaBeG featuring leather shoes

Blond Bombshell

2011-05-19T14:54:00.001-06:00

Blond Bombshell by LolaBeG featuring a low rise swimwear

Sparks Fly

2011-05-19T12:17:00.001-06:00

Sparks Fly by LolaBeG featuring a chain necklace

itsybitsyteenyweenyyellowpolkadotbikini

2011-05-06T11:08:00.001-06:00

itsybitsyteenyweenyyellowpolkadotbikini by LolaBeG featuring printed tops

It takes 2 2 Tango

2011-04-28T08:56:00.002-06:00

It takes 2 2 Tango by LolaBeG featuring feather earrings

You Take 'my' Breath Away...Namaste

2011-04-06T13:33:00.002-06:00

'I am Breath'

During a recent personal practice I came to the 'deep' realization that I am no longer deeply immersed in my own deep, full, natural, rhythmic breath which I worked so hard to 'BE' present in...breathing has once again become a little difficult due to living in and through a long period of ongoing, chronic stress and tension which have made it difficult to completely relax, release and let 'all' go (so easily) and relax not only into the moment but as well my own breath.

The last year has been the most 'painful and stressfull' of 'my life' and only recently I re-gave up a 'breath taking' old habit that I had beaten & conquered for over 10 years, but once again found myself indulging in...smoking.

I realize now as my Mom was losing her breath, her life...I too was 'un-consciously&consciously' losing it with her. In the last months of her life I tried so to HELP her get her breath back 'begging' her to breathe, deep, full breaths, in and out through her 'nose'...she would breathe the breath in but the breath would always come rushing, labourously back out her mouth...that is when it started to settle into my 'Body, Mind & Spirit.'

My mother smoked her entire adult life (until the day she forgot she smoked...) dealing with the ongoing chronich stress, tension, anxiety and dis-ease of Alzheimers with which she had been struggling for many years and of which the last 2 had been 'deeply' distressing for her and my entire family...slowly it was 'taking' her life away from her and us...literally her 'breath', 'prana' & 'life'force were slipping away from us all.

We spent our last times together holding hands, hugging, walking, smiling and I trying to get her to breathe in and out as much as I could as I was not ready to 'let go' of her...I tried to encourage her to breathe and move, trying chair and bed yoga, to no avail...as I have learned through yoga...I had to 'let it go' and 'BE' with her in the 'moment'...it 'all' was what it was and there was no way for me to force or change the situation.

One of my last days with my Mom, I tried again to do some yoga with her, she slowly mimicked me...
as she lifted one arm above her head, 'smiling' at me she told me that her and my Dad had done some yoga on the weekend (this a women diagnosed as 'clinically' un-cognitive)... in moments... 'yes'... she may not have been able to tell you the time or find her way back to her own room or remember many things from the past...but, I know as she looked at me through those eyes that she was there, she 'REMEMBERED'
me and although I am not sure whether it was true that she had practiced yoga or not...I am sure that she told me she did because she was proud that I was doing it and she really wanted me to know that....we both smiled at eachother and began to take our walk together as we always did...unfortunately, this day she was highly anxious and restless ...as she had increasingly become in many 'moments' over the last several months and on this particular day just prior to Christmas nothing I 'tried' to do 'with' or 'for' her was of comfort to her
(not even decorating the tiny tree with her favourite angels which I had brought to decorate with her).

I left that day as I had many times before in the months leading up to her passing...giving my Mom as many hugs and kisses as I could, telling her I loved her & would see her soon and waiting till I had turned and walked away before allowing the tears to stream down my face...just far enough away till I could 'let go' and nobody would know. When I was able to turn back she was waving and blowing kisses, as I drove away and as I waved back hiding beneath my sunglasses, the tears remained to fall.

Looking back now, I understand that at Christmas time (my Mom's favourite of the year) she knew that 'something' was about to change.

I realize I lost a little of my own breath, not when I was told my Mom had passed, but long before that...I see now that as she was slipping away from me in my life...I was losing a bit of my own breath each day...the breath I had worked years to find, my own inner source of peace, calm...my own rhythmic breath so vital to living a whole, happy & healthy life...in my pain & suffering and inability to release and let my Mom go, because I 'loved' her so... and she was such a big part of who and what I am today and have always been... I realize how much she was truly a part of my balance, my strength... and without her I was sure I would not know who I would 'BE'.

Miss Me, But Let Me Go

When I come to the end of the road
When the sun has set for me
I want no rites in a gloom filled room
Why cry for a soul set free
Miss me a little, but not too long
Remember the love we once shared
Miss me, but let me go
For this is a journey we all must take,
And each must go alone
It's all part of the masters plan
A step on the road home
when you are lonely and sick at heart
Go to the friends we know
And busy your sorrow in doing good deeds
Miss me, but let me go

I have lived through other experiences of stress, strain, pain through my journey along with many wonderful, peaceful, joyfull ' moments in my life...but none took my breath away as much as the 'letting go' of my Mom.

As I have recently quit smoking, instead of holding onto it as a source of 'failure'...through yoga I understand that for whatever reasons, perceived stress reduction, anger, fear, angst...although it was unhealthy for me... it somehow was where I was at and got me through the 'moment'...that along with the understanding that yoga has taught me MUCH about breath, life and the fullness there of of both...I am doing what I did 10 years ago when yoga first came into my life...I am 'softening' back into my 'self', looking 'forward' to the journey ahead and refinding my 'own' breath...'living' my life in this 'moment' and letting it 'all' go...

'I am Breath'

I am and always will 'BE' my Mother's Daughter.

You breathed me into life
You love me beyond death
You watch over me from afar
'Forever' my 'shining star' lab
44 - 43 = me (HA) ♥ NAMASTE

IQ in a Box

2011-01-10T14:45:00.010-06:00

Change the colour of my hair, instantly 81% smarter...wondering where this is coming from...what this 'Blonde' is talking about...this...that somehow, someway...male perception would have it that Blondes are less intelligent than their Brunette

coun·ter·part (kountr-pärt) n.

a. One that closely resembles another.

b. One that has the same functions and characteristics as another; a corresponding person or thing

Having donned (dn) tr.v. don·ning, dons

1. To put on (clothing).
2. To assume or take on:

both colours in 'my' years I can

at·test (-tst) KEY
VERB: at·test·ed, at·test·ing, at·tests
To affirm to be correct, true, or genuine:

to the fact that 'I am' no more or less intelligent with brown or red hair than blonde.

how do I go about comprehending this mind baffling; perception or is it due to my 'lack of intelligence' or my hair colour, by which I do not understand this?

So...how then to
gar·ner (gärnr)
tr.v. gar·nered, gar·ner·ing, gar·ners
1. To amass; acquire. See Synonyms at reap.
2. An accumulation or collection of something.

the answer to this
di·chot·o·my (d-kt-m)
n. pl. di·chot·o·mies
1. Division into two usually contradictory parts or opinions:

"the dichotomy of the one and the many"

(Louis Auchincloss).

A little experiment; IQ in a box...

So...I go brunette and ask 100 men to ask me 100 questions to devise my knowledge...

then head out into the world as a blonde and again ask 100 men to test my
sen·si·bil·i·ty (sns-bl-t)
n. pl. sen·si·bil·i·ties
1. The ability to feel or perceive.
a. Keen intellectual perception
b. Mental or emotional responsiveness toward something
2. Refined awareness and appreciation in matters of feeling.

Would they ask me easier questions cause they believe I am less intelligent?

that would 'FOIL' my plan (no pun)...Don't ya think?

What do you think?
on that note;
Do women think brunette men are smarter than blond men?

Another 'moment' in the RUDE awakening; of equality...out there, in this `moment`exist a perception that I am not equal to my 'own' brunette counterpart.

Where to go from here?...if I remain Blonde...
must I work 81% harder to prove myself?...
live in the misconception of less intelligence?
left wondering how intelligent or non-intelligent one can be...
if IQ level is determined by the colour in a box...

and having been born a blonde; not sure how the higher intelligence would rule in on this one.

If the colour isn't exactly right?
how smart or dumb may I then 'BE'...

Not I, you see

for I've just recently

gone a shade lighter, to be
even a little bit 'StrawBErry'

Wonder what the perception of that may be.....'TTROUBLEE'

with a double T and E

that is how you spell it, right?

To all fellow female counterparts Brunette, Auburn, Jet Black, Pink, Blue, Grey, Platinum Blond

I know you have brains

each and every one

I see who you are

and who you've become

Your beauty, your grace

your intelligence and charm

should be major cause for alarm

For when you set your mind to anything you do you accomplish it because you are 'you'.

Stay strong in your femininity

Hold true to your own 'ROOTS'

Cause Next thing you know

They'll be talking about your BOOTs!

Footnote: this blog was 'en-lightened' by a FB post featuring Victoria secret models and a few HOW TO; HAIR TIPS...
not sure how, the HOW TO fact; that stated 81% of males believe brunettes to be smarter than blondes is a
HOW TO; hair tip...then again...I am a StrawBErry blond, SO WHAT DO i KNOW...

one thing I am sure of; is that any male counterpart viewing the Victoria Secret photos on the same page weren't
as·sess (ing) (-ss) KEY TRANSITIVE VERB:

as·sessed, as·sess·ing, as·sess·es
To determine the value, significance, or extent of; appraise

the INTELLIGENCE of the 'Angels' in that 'moment'...
I perceive only 19% of them would KNOW...and that they must be Grey... Namaste

Ate Prayed Loved

2010-12-22T19:56:00.001-06:00

I have ate, prayed and loved...not in Italy, India and Bali...still, the journey has been, in the end I found my 'SELF', that's what the journey is for...

Wishing all a Wonderful

Holiday Season,

a Very Merry Christmas,

Peace, Love, Joy 2011!

Namaste

The demise of the Femme Fatale or the Fatal demise of la Femme

2010-10-26T09:40:00.029-06:00

Is the 21st century...
to be the demise of the Femme Fatale or a Fatal demise to la Femme?

In search of answers, first to find a few 'meanings' to WORDS...
Femme fatale
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Femme-fatale)

A femme fatale (pronounced /ˌfɛm fəˈtæl/ or /ˌfɛm fəˈtɑːl/; French: [fam faˈtal], with all [a]'s)
is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype or stock character of literature and art. Her ability to entrance and hypnotize her victim was in the earliest stories seen as being literally supernatural, hence the most prosaic femme fatale today is still described as having a power akin to an enchantress, vampire, female monster. The phrase is French for "deadly woman". A femme fatale tries to achieve her hidden purpose by using feminine wiles such as beauty, charm, and allure. Typically, she is exceptionally well-endowed in addition to possessing these qualities. In some situations, she uses lying or coercion rather than charm. Although typically villainous, femmes fatales have also appeared as antiheroines in some stories, and some even repent and become heroines by the end of the tale.

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femme_fatale

Does this long standing definition mean that any female to possess beauty, charm and allure is a
'Femme fatale'; does lying and co-ercion allude to her 'inner' knowledge..
Are beauty and brains truly 'deadly'?...

Definition of la femme
A:
wife
woman

Definition of fa·tal (ftl) adj.

Causing or capable of causing death

Of decisive importance; fateful: came through at the fatal moment.

Concerning or determining one's fate: the fatal thread of life.

Synonyms: fatal, deadly, mortal, lethal
These adjectives apply to what is or is likely to cause death. Fatal describes conditions, circumstances, or events that have caused or are destined to cause death or dire consequences: a fatal illness.

Definition of Demise

de·mise (d-mz) KEY NOUN: Death.

The end of existence or activity; termination:

Obsolete Having been destined; fated.

In the 21st century will we see the demise of the Femme Fatale or the fatal demise of la Femme?...as we continue to learn, grow, excel..what will become of 'la Femme' and as we continue to give, share, love...what will become of the beauty, charm and allure of the 'Femme Fatale'...

Could balance lie within the fine line of being the creatures; we were 'CREATED' to 'BE'... and loving the

fem·i·nine (fm-nn) ADJ: Characterized by or possessing qualities generally attributed to a woman. Of or relating to women or girls.

for what she is; as an integral part, without which; this world would stop spinning round and round...looking to find solid ground...the ground beneath her feet which can be found as she retains her 'feminity' to which she has been born and been bound...Namaste

Beauty is a great gift of heaven; not for the purpose of female vanity, but a great gift for one who loves, and wishes to be beloved. Quotes by

Maria Edgeworth

Into the Zone....the zone where all that people 'want' you to be and all that you 'are' become collectively intertwined.

You are 'life', you are the 'wave'...

LISTEN to the roar of it's thunder, feel how fast it pulls you along,

take control of it and ride...

once you've accomplished that nothing can stop you...

'NOT EVEN YOURSELF'...

Who Am I?

'ME'...la FEMME IN THE 21ST CENTURY...

HANG ON FOR THE RIDE OF YOUR 'LIFE'

Namaste

Excerpt from

ECHOES OF A SOUL,

A yogini's journey from the heart to the heart

February 2005

HarmonysWell Online Yoga Studios: DIVINE YOGA & Dance

2010-10-20T14:13:00.002-06:00

Need a NEW Yoga Bag? Become a member at DIVINE YOGA & Dance "New" Online studio and HarmonysWell.com will give away Yoga In The Bag each week...Namaste

HarmonysWell Online Yoga Studios: DIVINE YOGA & Dance

HarmonysWell Online Yoga Studios: DIVINE YOGA & Dance

2010-10-19T12:49:00.000-06:00

Yoga and the Cold
HarmonysWell Online Yoga Studios: DIVINE YOGA & Dance

HarmonysWell Online Yoga Studios: DIVINE YOGA & Dance

2010-09-23T12:42:00.000-06:00

HarmonysWell Online Yoga Studios: DIVINE YOGA & Dance

Back to the Mat

2010-09-13T12:26:00.003-06:00

Tomorrow I get back to the Mat with all my Yogini friends after an extended period of rest and relaxation during the Summer months (which was 'much' needed) after a long period of being pushed both physically and emotionally to my limits during the 'Spring'...this period of rest helped me to relax, release and re-define what exactly it is I am looking to 'achieve' in the moment...when your practice becomes your 'work' it is sometimes hard to navigate between the lines of what works to help others achieve balance, while maintaining your own...last Spring taught me much about 'myself', my motivations and my ultimate goals as is the 'way' of Yoga, Dance or any other discipline that keeps you present and aware in the moment. With each new opportunity and each 'transition' I grow to learn and understand more and more how what we think we want, need or understand is always up to change at a 'moments' notice...and if we learn to grow to understand and accept this than the inevitable 'change' in the moment is that much easier to accept...leaving you truly open to an undefined acceptance of what it is you truly want but more importantly what you need. Once again I am brought back to two sayings that are very relevant to me in the moment: "I seek only to reveal my true self, which may or may not be the same tomorrow, if I should learn something new that changes me." and You can't always get what you want But if you try sometimes you might find You get what you need...So tomorrow I go back to the Mat with a 'new' perspective...no better nor worse than the previous one, just slightly changed...as have I...reminded once again of how Yoga and Dance have changed my 'existance'...Namaste Tomorrow I get back to the Mat with all my Yogini friends after an extended period of rest and relaxation during the Summer months (which was 'much' needed) after a long period of being pushed both physically and emotionally to my limits during the 'Spring'...this period of rest helped me to relax, release and re-define what exactly it is I am looking to 'achieve' in the moment...when your practice becomes your 'work' it is sometimes hard to navigate between the lines of what works to help others achieve balance, while maintaining your own...last Spring taught me much about 'myself', my motivations and my ultimate goals as is the 'way' of Yoga, Dance or any other discipline that keeps you present and aware in the moment. With each new opportunity and each 'transition' I grow to learn and understand more and more how what we think we want, need or understand is always up to change at a 'moments' notice...and if we learn to grow to understand and accept this than the inevitable 'change' in the moment is that much easier to accept...leaving you truly open to an undefined acceptance of what it is you truly want but more importantly what you need. Once again I am brought back to two sayings that are very relevant to me in the moment: "I seek only to reveal my true self, which may or may not be the same tomorrow, if I should learn something new that changes me." and You can't always get what you want But if you try sometimes you might find You get what you need...So tomorrow I go back to the Mat with a 'new' perspective...no better nor worse than the previous one, just slightly changed...as have I...reminded once again of how Yoga and Dance have changed my 'existance'...Namaste

'Saving' a Bird

2010-06-16T09:23:00.003-06:00

Today not unlike many other days my life has come to clarity......through a 'bird'....yep, again.....this morning my little one's called me to the back door to show me a bird who is trapped in our neighbors Berry patch......come to think of it, he was there yesterday....I just didn't realize he was trapped....I went to the neighbors, no one home....I went to see if I could get the bird out and for the life of me I can't figure out how he got himself into this 'situation'......as soon as he felt my presence and heard my voice which to him apparently didn't sound like 'singing', he began to squawk and unsuccessfully flail himself against the 'chicken wire' fence that has him confined....all because he wanted a wonderful, juicy, god given gift of the 'Berry'....I 'informed' the bird your only choice at this moment is to calm down, lie down, rest and wait until the neighbors arrive home and I make sure you get out and are 'Free' once again...........I know now you are wondering how this brings clarity to me........well I am not too unlike that 'Bird' and neither are we all............we are free and soaring, singing our song one moment and then we go for something, well, wonderful, juicy and God given........unfortunately sometimes we don't see all the trappings that may be lying in wait.......if both the bird and ourselves could stop, look, wait.....we might find that we sense or even see the folly that lies before us....but alas like most we are impatient....for many reasons....we are hungry,,,,,starved,,,,,,,sometimes just plain glutenous.........I too at some points feel trapped inside my own 'chicken wire'........and feel as if I am trying to bang my way out of situations that are, with no pun intended 'fruitless'.....so I am learning...just like the bird in the backyard that sometimes all we can do is become calm and patient and wait....there is 'help'......it is there, for this bird anyway.....call it a Yogic lesson.....call it a 'bird trapped in my neighbors backyard'......or call me crazy...........it is amazing to me how some of the simplest of events in our existence can give us a clarity about all things...........and when I get to the neighbors this evening.....I know there will be more than one 'bird' being set free............Namaste

Footnote: ...........that 'FreeBird' is flying high once again........Namaste

Olympic 'moment'

2010-03-04T09:34:00.002-06:00

A little prologue to this blog: I am not an avid hockey fan these days.......Oh, there once was a time like alot of Candian boys and girls....that I admired David Keon (he bore the No.14) that was his claim to fame, Lanny McDonald, Darryl Sittler, Tiger Williams and Eddy Shack to name a few....I have shared a 'moment with at least 3 out of 5 and actually, come to think of it I have a 'very' recent autograph from 'Darryl' saying only 'Keep Smiling'....the good 'old' days....Where is that autograph? that will be worth much to me one day.....I did however catch the beginning of the Canadian womens hockey game and was happy to see they are as competative today as ever; Geraldine, I am sure is very proud......there you have your proloque, now here we go...I havn't felt much like writing these days but today I got the 'itch' and here's what came out;

What happened to 'All for One and One for All'.....I somehow thought the Olympics was about bringing the best of the world together in the 'moment' and respecting eachother in good sportsmanship...if 'not' for anything else.....what I saw this Olympics was people coming together in a 'moment' and then being seperated in the next by words or actions that diminished accomplishments, this may have always been how it was....maybe I am just more aware.

Here's the thing; what is accomplishment for any if within the next breath you pull away all celebration of the achievement?

This comes on the tail of an article I read regarding Canada's 'Crosby' and USA's 'Miller'; for those of us who do not follow the NHL...they both play for the Pittsburgh Penquins and were both at the Olympics under what I believe must have been very extrenuating circumstances considering they both play for the same NHL team and 'Crosby' scored the winning 'Gold' goal on 'Miller'. Got the scoop?......as everyone get's back into their normal NHL season 'Crosby' gets boo-ed by many in Pittsburgh and 'Miller' gets a standing O......I understand that 'Crosby' is a Canadian and that re-playing the winning goal must have felt like salt in the wound, as I know it would have for many Canadians had the coin tossed the other way.......but come on if you are truly a 'sportsman' that involves sportsmanship, "it's about the achievement of sport"..........sorry, I thought I had lost all of my niavate.

Both Crosby and Miller deserve praise and admiration, despite all odds they both made it to a place in history and both did their best so in my bypartisan thoughts..........

Congratulations to both Miller and Crosby for both achieving the opportunity to share in an 'Olympic' moment.

Namaste

Footnote: I found my autograph and I 'Keep Smiling'

All that I am

2009-11-10T09:47:00.008-06:00

All that I am
and all that I shall be
is the resounding prescence of the Divine in me

you can take me
or leave me
you can judge what you see
still all that I am
is all that I should be

If I left here tomorrow
you would still only see
that all that I am
is all that I should be

When I wake in the morning
with the light in my eyes
I wake with a wonder of my thin disguise
for all that you see is not as it seems
all that I wake for is only in my dreams

The illusion so fragile
so frought with misconception
when I look in the mirror
and see my own reflection
for all that I am
is all that I should be
that reflection in the mirror
will always be me

Deep beneath the body
deep within the mind
is the loving kind nature of all of mankind

I continue to struggle
to fight the good fight
as I lay in the comfort of the sleep of the night

I wake once again
and what do I find
a body, a spirit
I create in my mind

I drift through the illusion
so familiar to me now
and wonder if I can let go of it
and I wonder how?

Time knows no prescence
Space is infinate in it's whole
and the only thing resounding
is the divinity of my soul

All that I am
and all that I shall be
is the resounding prescense of the Divine in me

- Laura Burke Giustizia

excerpt from 'Journey of a Yogini from the heart to the heart'/Nov 09

'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'

2009-09-28T12:33:00.018-06:00

I re-posted this article yesterday and today decided to share it for a special friend.......whom I have had the pleasure of having several walks down memory lane with over the past while.

A musician friend......whom has shared many wonderful stories of the good old days..of which I am eager to listen.......one day I may discover 'a' connection.

The inspiration for 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' (LSD) has been often eluded too .........'this' story is a heartwarming one amongst the much mysterious and mystical 'illusions' of the music world.....an enlightening story about friendship, compassion and 'truth'........

May "PEACE" be found within the memories...Namaste

Lucy of 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' dies at age 46
By Gregory Katz, The Associated Press http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090928/entertainment/eu_britain_beatles_lucy

Since re-posting this article yesterday the associated press has removed much of the wonderful information that they had originally posted.....like expanding on Julian's re-connection with 'Lucy' and his gifts to her over her last remaining years....gifts to help her discover more of the 'beautiful' in her passion...gardening...along with John's insistance of the legacy to Julien, insisting 'Lucy' was inspired by his young son's drawing and the backdrop to this whole story the valiant strength of Lucy Vodden who worked despite her own illness to educate and help search in the cure for Lupus...I wonder now if we can just 'Let it BE' for Lucy, Julien and John...Namaste

To read full articles: http://www.thestar.com/article/702111

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/beatles/article6852494.ece

09 09 09

2009-09-09T14:18:00.009-06:00

Is there and what, if any, significance is there to 09 09 09......this was the question running through my mind after a dance in the cornfield (yes, you read that right) that led to this blog.

The first significance I discovered was that 09 09 09 will be the last set of repeating digits in the calender until January 1, 2101 or if your a real stickler not until January 1, 3001.

A numerologist who works outside the realm of science would bring your attention to the significance to the special vibration or rank that the Number 9 holds and that is that the number 9 is associated with forgiveness, compassion and success, on the flip side (and there is always a flip side) it is associated with arrogance and self-righteousness......positive and negative, yin and yang.....the fine balance of the universe.

Pythagoras (a mathematician) noted for example that the sum of the 2 digits resulting from 9 multiplied by any other single digit number will equal 9...(took me a while)...here are some examples....9 x 3 = 27 and 2 + 7 = 9, 9 x 2 = 18 and 1 + 8 = 9, 9 x 62 = 558 and 5 + 5 + 8 = 18 and 1 + 8 = 9.....those of you with a mathematicians mind will figure it out quickly.

September 9 is also the 252 day of the year and.......2 + 5 + 2 = 9, as well 09 09 09 falls on a Wednesday in September and both have, of course, 9 letters.

Both the Japanese and the Chinese have special associations for the number 9, one positive and the other negative...

I am intrigued, although I have still found no solid evidence that this day has any special significance to the universe, maybe 09 09 09 will only be of significance to those individuals who experience an event on this day............if you get married, have a child, lose a loved one, get a promotion, lose your job or experience any other significant occurrence on 09 09 09 then I presume that this day will stand out in your existence.....to me it was just an ordinary day dancing in the cornfield.......and a day that reminded me that each day we are given is special....we are alive and here, able to experience all that life has to offer including the unknown significances going on in the universe around us.

So there you have it, not sure if my curiosity about 09 09 09 is satiated........now I am left to occasionally ponder on the significance of my own special number -3 and the significant date of
September 27, 2008, on which, during a solitary moment my body, mind and spirit took me on a journey through which my entire existence seemed to play together through very significant dates and numbers in my life weaving a connection and comprehension to many of the events in my existence, this is another blog.

MAYBE, we all have a special date (besides our birthday) and/or number associated with our existence.....there I go again......if I didn't have to get some sleep I might just go on a deeper search........I'll leave that up to you.

As I go to sleep tonight in anticipation of a brand new day tomorrow, I'll end the day hoping that the 3 9's of 09 09 09 shift the balance of the universe a little more to the positive side and bring about more compassion and forgiveness in the world, we can always use more of that.....Namaste

Just a little note I completed this blog at 9:39pm..................

Practice With a Purpose

2009-08-24T16:25:00.004-06:00

Yoga Fundraiser in the Park
Fairylake Park, Main & Water St, Newmarket

Daily Practice Schedule

Tuesday, August 25th
4pm - 6pm - 5-10 minute Thai Yoga Massage for individuals
6pm – Yoga – Collective Compassion - Laura Guistizia
7:15pm - Lynn Duncan Smith
8:30pm – Belly Dancing with Laura Guistizia

Wednesday, August 26th
5pm - Amanda McFadyen - Family Yoga Class
6pm - Jenn Pike
7:15pm - Emilie Closs
8:30pm Kirtan led by Amanda McFadyen

Thursday, August 27th
6pm - Alanna & Corrine
7:15pm - Melissa Williams
8:30pm - Guided Meditation with Dr. Asha Frost

Sunday, August 30th
9:30am – Savasanahhh! Sunday with lululemon athletica
Upper Canada Mall w/ Melissa Williams and Lynn Duncan-Smith
(Complimentary Sunday morning practice to be held at Fairylake Park)

Just BE!

Practice with a Purpose

2009-08-20T12:07:00.021-06:00

Be' change, create awareness

Melissa Williams of Hot Yoga Aurora is inspiring community awareness and compassion with an event at Fairylake bringing together many from the Yogic community including lululemon and a host of Yoga instructors including myself......

Practice With A Purpose

Yoga Fundraiser in the Park
When: August 25-27th
Where: Fairylake Park, Main & Water Street Newmarket, ON

This exciting practice in the park is a fundraising effort to empower young girls and women living in rural impoverished Africa. Practice with a Purpose has a goal to raise awareness and funds to support this important initiative through this week long yoga event in our Community.

To become involved with this event and obtain more information contact Melissa Williams at: melwilliams10@hotmail.com

I am grateful to have the opportunity to share 2 charitable sessions during this week long event:

'Collective Compassion' Yoga Practice

Tuesday August 25th 6-7pm - Laura Giustizia
'Women 4 Women' Bellydance Practice

Tuesday August 25th 8:30-9:30pm - Laura Giustizia

'Be' change.....create awareness.....Namaste

See you at the Park

Bellydance - Women 4 Women

2009-07-21T13:48:00.025-06:00

Bellydance.....what is it?
Despite many pre-conceived notions of what it is, where it comes from and what it means to be a bellydancer.....I thought I would share with you the origins of bellydance as I have learned about and come to know them........

Many conjure up fantasies of exotic women dressed to seduce and entertain men, right?.....the truth is this was only but a 'moment' in the life of bellydance.

As perhaps, one of the oldest forms of dance, no one can truly pinpoint the beginnings of this ancient rhythmic movement.....my own personal belief, it stems from the very creation of the female entity; an ancient, beautiful, mystical, mysterious form of feminine movement ingrained in the feminine to strengthen, heal and connect her with the DIVINE.

Think "TRIBAL"

As documented by many, no one has truly been able to pinpoint the exact origins of bellydance or pinpointed exactly where it all started. What is fascinating about this ancient practice is it's connection to feminine rituals practiced in the stone age, in fact, there are more artifacts depicting women deities (than images of men) from this age, which had led archaeologists to speculate that women were dominant and considered sacred in Stone Age society.

Bellydance has taken shape in many cultures, with many different styles cultivating out of different regions, what they all have in common is women's 'freedom to be' through rhythmic movement and dance.

Like many ancient practices, bellydance is a ritual passed down through the ages...creating the "feminine circle" in which we give and share with eachother the courage, strength, confidence, love and caring to 'be' woMeN.

In times when women were kept seperate, cast out from (male) dominated arenas of existance, unable to participate in their rituals, their circles...women had their own way to show reverence and pay homage for their appreciation of life, to express their joys and sorrows through living, loving, sharing, supporting and teaching eachother the rhythmic movements of the 'cirlce of life'.....and so they danced together.

Women danced together to honor Mother Earth and were taught to dance as a way to celebrate and worship themselves (the Goddess) as well as all women, they danced for sexual fertility and in preperation for child birth. This ritualistic dancing formed the foundation for Modern Day bellydance.

The tradition of women dancing for women continues into more recent history .
In the harems of the mid-1400's, female gypsy bellydancers where hired to entertain women, not the Sultan. In Egypt, a tribe of gypsys incorporated showy props such as veils, candles and swords that are still used in Bellydance today.

In Cairo in the 18oo's bellydance was forced underground due to religious restrictions, it
re-emerged again in and around the 1850's. It is said that it was only in the beginning of the 19th century that men caught their first glimpses of bellydance. Europeans travelling to Africa and the Middle East became more and more enticed by Bellydance. Renoir and Matisse painted harem women, Oscar Wilde staged the "Dance of the seven veils" (1893) and it was after this that bellydancers began to make appearances in Hollywood's earliest silent films, thus the love affair with bellydancing began.

In the turn of the century, in the Middle East and North America, bellydancers dressed in ornate costumes danced flowingy on their toes, performing subtle hip movements along with graceful arm and hand gestures much like the modern day Egyptian bellydance.

Society' attitude toward bellydance began to change and once again it became a form of liberation and empowerment for women and the tradition continues. Today women continue to bellydance together continuing to give depth and meaning to the circle of life, they continue to strengthen and soften through rhythmic movement. Bellydance is less about the stage or the costume and more about the rhythmic movement and the story unfolding......in order to be to see, hear and understand that story one needs to loosen from inhibitions, let the rhythmic flow of life itself move through...as the belldance speaks, expresses and let's go from a heart that dance's to the rhythm of it's own beat.....to move through innate wisdom by which the 'true' self is revealed...

As women today move more and more through previously male dominated arena's,
nourishing strength and wisdom through Self-empowermment as they re-define their place in this world...Bellydance and other ancient practices continue to allow the feminine entity to hold onto 'her' ability to live, love, express, share and retain femininity and softness of Body, Mind and Spirit. ..it is 'her' calling...Namaste

"I dance not because I want to, I dance because I have to"

To learn more: Bellydance; orgins; Link :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belly_dance#General

'FOOTNOTE'

The Bellydance (feminine) influence: Mick Jagger and Robert Plant both of whom took on a slightly femine persona (personal observation) and shared it with the world, would be sure to admit that the female entity and her rhythmic and exotic movement have influenced everything and everyone along the way...

For a little more 'insight' into this theory...take a look at this recent article from
The New Yorker on Jagger prepping in Toronto for his upcoming Tour:
article taken from newyorker.com/archive/2002/09/09
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2002/09/09/020909fa_fact?currentPage=all

This blog on bellydance has been floating around in my head for many months.....it never quite made it's importance to me evident until a few weeks ago.....now I know why it was so important for 'me' to share it........this blog is dedicated to the

'Women of the Congo.'

I want to share what I just discovered is taking place at this very 'moment' in the Congo in Africa. An area which is said to be no longer at war and working towards peace......this seem hard to believe when you consider the conditions that the women, girls, children and men of the Congo are faced with.......women and young girls are being raped, mutilated and ostracized from their community as rape and demoralization are used as a war tactic.
The state of the conditions in the Congo was referred to by Eve Ensler, V-Day founder and playwright "nothing I ever experienced felt as ghastly, terrifying and complete as the sexual torture and attempted destruction of the female species here. The violence is a threat to all; young girls and village elders alike are at risk. It is not too strong to call this a femicide, to say that the future of the Congo’s women is in serious jeopardy." quote taken from www.womenofthecongo.com

how can we work to create a greener world when the world in which we live turns a blind eye to an atrocity of such enormity.........

Learn more: 'Women of the Congo':
Link : http://www.womenofthecongo.com/

Link :http://www.womenforwomen.org/global-initiatives-helping-women/help-women-congo.php

Support and solutions:
Link :http://www.congowomen.org/stand-with-the-women-and-girls-of-the-drc/

Nothing we do can change the past, but everything we do changes the future.’
— Ashleigh Brilliant

Be a part of

Women4Women

proceeds to Raise Hope for the Congo

Link: http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/dialogue

For further information on the Women4Women
Contact yogadivine@hotmail.com

Subject: Raise Hope for the Congo

Start where you Stand

2009-06-26T12:24:00.003-06:00

Start where you stand and never mind the past,

The past won't help you in beginning anew,

If you have left it all behind at last

Why, that's enough, you're done with it, you're through;

This is another chapter in the book,

This is another race that you have planned,

Don't give the vanished days a backward look,

Start where you stand.

The world won't care about your old defeats

If you can start anew and win success,

The future is your time, and time is fleeting,

There is much of work and strain and stress;

Forget the buried woes and dead despairs,

Here is a brand new trial right at hand,

The future is for him who does and dares,

Start where you stand.

Old failures will not halt, old triumphs aid,

Today's the thing, tomorrow will soon be,

Get in the fight and face it unafraid,

And leave the past to history;

What has been, has been; yesterday is dead

And by it you are neither blessed nor banned,

Take courage, be brave and drive ahead,

Start where you stand.

Berton Braley

FreeBird - an update

2009-06-08T13:21:00.007-06:00

Strange, that the backdrop to this blog is that of my last blog "Free Bird", not really........I do not find it strange that today I came into the open garage to find a lone bird trapped inside. I frightened it and as it flew around the top of the garage trying to find it's way out, it bumped and banged into the walls. I tried to calm it, talk to it and assist it in finding it's way back to freedom (not a little unlike what I do for myself everyday). This was another sign for me (I know, how many can there be?) Many and many more where that came from...nothing is of coincidence to me......I can see within that experience in the moment, my own struggle at banging my head against walls of places where I don't belong.....finally and apparently for no reason at all the bird came down to a lower elevation and flew out the garage door, not before quickly flying by my head in a quick good-bye as it flew off into freedom on my front lawn to find a worm.......as far as omens go.......I believe this was just a little reminder to me that while we are all free, we can sometimes get lost within that freedom, losing our way, after a little while of banging into things somehow we find our way back to the place we belong...........a little banged up but happy and content to be back in flight in the right direction..........Namaste

Free Bird

2009-06-05T08:41:00.011-06:00

I dwell in a tiny little part of the universe that has a backyard with well established, nourished trees and amongst those trees the birds love to sing and play...............................................

Bluejays, Robins, Crows, Love Birds and a multitude of others.

I love to sit and listen and watch as this reminds me of what it truly means to

"SING YOUR OWN SONG" and 'FREE FALL"............

if you never spread your own wings how will you know if you can 'FLY'?

Nature shows us in every moment of every day that even through change you can still 'BE' free.

Stick to the basics, the laws of nature...... 'BE TRUE TO YOURSELF'

Sing, dance and fly to the beat of your own rhythm.

Take the chance that if you "Let go" the wind will be beneath your wings to support you.

Take flight in the inevitable wisdom of God's creation.........Namaste

Yoga in the city.........

2009-04-29T10:12:00.008-06:00

Yoga in the city..........

During Savasana of my last Yoga session, we all went from being in the stillness of the moment to wait a moment, Led Zeppelin?...........now for me it was a personal sign........ask me how I know this (it was the song that got me shakin' it all over the place again, and is a big part of where I am at this moment)........for all the other Yogis and Yoginis in the class it was a distraction in the moment...........as we were finishing up our class late, an Arena staff member decided it was time to get his 'groove on'.........and lo' and behold to one of my favourite songs............so as everyone lay in the dark, in their breath, deepening into themselves and as I was working towards leading everyone back to the present moment........there was music to our ears or for many just a distraction...now what was I to do? I know what I wanted to do in the moment.........of course "shake it off" and so I did what any good instructor would do........I slowly worked to get everyone to their feet and had them all "shake it off".....some participated, some were amused, but what we all got out of that moment was that there may be distractions that throw you off or interfere with your moments..........it is not that you are distracted that should concern you, it is how you react to those distractions that you should be concerned with........are you able to remain within.........are you able to react in a manner that takes that distraction and incorporates it into the existing moment......and go with the flow........this seems simple enough for some, for others it is a true task. Learning to continue to be 'within' and allow for the unexpected is a true gift.........when we learn this gift it applies to every situation in our life..........leaving us with the ability to 'be' in the moment, even if that moment distracts us from our current activity........there will always be something, someone that can sway or shift our attention from the moment.........the question is whether we are able to stay in the moment, focused and balanced..........remembering that sometimes when we are pulled from our inner moments of peace and quiet back into the world of our own realities, there is a purpose, far beyond that which we may understand in that moment..........lulling us back into the reality of our existence, giving us the opportunity to reach beyond what is expected of a moment and giving way to the unexpected, to change and to truly living in the moment..........Namaste

Listen and Learn

2009-03-30T08:56:00.007-06:00

I used to believe I found Yoga now I know Yoga found me.......listen and learn.......what was coming in my life, the storms I would face was I ready.........through infinite wisdom I was taught....not an easy task for under that hard exterior was fear and anger I was afraid to connect with.........so after getting back into shape physically (the easy part) after that, that's when it really all went down........rising up with the issues, pushing boundaries of my beliefs, stepping outside my own box having all my expectations blasted to tiny bits and pieces.......you could call it a bit of my own BANG!!!!!! and it has been as influential and impacting on my existence as a meteor falling to earth with it's shattering effect.......just like survivors of an event of such catastrophic proportions........I now get to rebuild, reconfigure and reasses all that I believe, perceive and think........'what a beautiful opportunity'.........a rough journey, but a brand 'NEW' journey...just like recreating an existence from nothingness, that is what I have to begin with.......recreating my world according to who I am in this very moment.......'the old me is dead & gone'.........I have been given the ability to look straight ahead, at this 'moment' more focused and strong than I have ever been........life will continue to throw it's circumstances my way....this is the way of life. Birth, renewal, death..........as Spring approaches I am more aware of this evidence than any other time of the year.....a time of renewal after a dormant state, everything and everyone shifting through a rebirth, blossoming in new found energy within the light of grace upon the Earth......as the rains replenish from the sky and the earth brings forth regenerated life........I too become one with this process.....I have weathered many a cold dark storm, remained strong through dormancy and am blessed with the ability to sprout forth in an infancy of new found growth, unsure of quite what this blossom will become.....fully grounded in the knowledge that it will become......for this knowledge......Yoga was brought to me.

To those in the midst of the dark, those in the warmth of the light and those who have become...........Namaste

International Womens's Day March 8, 2009.....

2009-03-09T07:16:00.005-06:00

Yesterday was International Women's Day, observed since the early 1900's which was a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world, a time of booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.

1908 was a time of great unrest and a time when critical debate was occurring amongst women. Women's oppression and inequality was spurring women to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change and in 1908 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.

In 1909 in accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's Day (NWD) was observed across the United States on 28 February.
Women continued to celebrate NWD on the last Sunday of February until 1913.

In 1910 a second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen.
Clara Zetkin (Leader of the 'Women's Office' for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) tabled the idea of an International Women's Day. She proposed that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day - a Women's Day - to press for their demands. Over a 100 women from 17 countries attended the conference, representing unions, socialist parties, working women's clubs, and included three of the first women elected to the Finnish parliament, Zetkin's suggestion were greeted with unanimous approval and thus International Women's Day was the result.

On March 19, 1911 following the decision agreed at Copenhagen, International Women's Day (IWD) was honoured for the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women's rights to hold public office, work, vote and be trained and end discrimination. Less than a week later on March 25,a tragic event, the 'Triangle Fire' in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working women, most of whom were Italian and Jewish immigrants. This disastrous event drew significant attention to working conditions and labour legislation in the United States which became the focus of subsequent International Women's Day events.
1911 also gave rise to the women's 'Bread and Roses' campaign.

In 1913 on the eve of the World War I campaign for peace, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February also in 1913, following discussions, International Women's Day was transferred to March 8th and this day has remained the global date for IWD ever since.

In 1914 women across Europe held rallies to campaign against the war and to express women's solidarity.

In 1917 on the last Sunday of February, Russian women began a strike for "bread and peace" in response to the death over 2 million Russian soldiers in the war. Opposed by political leaders the women continued to strike until four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote. The date the women's strike commenced was Sunday 23 February.

Since its birth in the socialist movement, International Women's Day has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across developed and developing countries alike. For decades, IWD has grown annually. For many years the United Nations has held an annual IWD conference to coordinate international efforts for women's rights and participation in social, political and economic processes. 1975 was designated as 'International Women's Year' by the United Nations and Women's organisations and governments around the world have also observed IWD annually on March 8th, by holding large-scale events that honour women's advancement while reminding us of the continued vigilance and action required to ensure that women's equality is gained and maintained in all aspects of life.

In 2000 and beyond IWD is now an official holiday in China, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The tradition sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

The new millennium has witnessed a significant shift in attitutudes to both women's and society's thoughts about women's equality and emancipation. With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women's visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.

excerpts taken from www.internationalwomensday.com

I would like to take this moment to thank all those women who came before me and sacrificed, suffered, stood strong and gave women not only a voice but a true confidence and ability to believe that she is strong enough, capable enough and more importatly enabled to be a defining factor, in that she can stand up for her beliefs, stay the coarse, and 'be' the change..........in respect to Mother's, in support of ourselves, in hope for the future of daughters, sisters, friends...let's continue to work to give voice to and to stand up for that which we believe to be ultimate equality in each and every moment through all our future endeavours allowing for the right of everyone to be independant, self sufficient and able to be.........................To all of you who have given me support, encouragement, hope and belief along the way............Namaste

Spiritual Lessons

2009-02-05T10:48:00.019-06:00

Do we only see and hear that which we believe to be real and doubt that which we cannot see or understand? If love could be seen would we feel it? If sorrow could not be felt would we hear it? The spirit so luminous, so bright, so real and yet we do not see it. We see, hear and believe in perceived images, houses, cars, children, jobs, clothes these are what we believe in. In times of crisis, we see the good in others.
Rarely do we see or accept the good in ourselves.

Has the light gone out or are we afraid to feel the tremendous power the spirit invokes?

Spirit is immune to our overindulgent, over saturated, conditioned minds, it speaks only to our soul.

Listen quietly, hear the soft, gentle whisper as pleasantly your soul is roused awake and your question is answered. Who Am I?

“ Notes from my life”

Becoming a Butterfly

Knowledge is an obscure footnote to the “Notes of my life” for I believe it is just when we feel that we have it all figured out, that it all seems to fall apart and when we think that we have absolutely no idea what we are doing that we achieve some of the most meaningful experiences in life.

“Notes from my life”... How many there are? Where to start...In the beginning, middle... the here and now....life is sometimes inconspicuous. All life’s experiences converge into one and yet they are all still separate occurrences that shape and define our journey. The journey has seemed long and yet at times I feel life is short and I will not accomplish whatever it is I feel needs to be experienced, achieved, lived before I transition from this life to the beyond.

The Essence

As a girl, I was remember being very spontaneous an yet very serious. Raised without a 'religious' background, I was left to life’s experiences to guide my learning's in all things spiritual and mortal. From as I can remember, maybe 5, I walks on my own on beautiful, sunny days and experiencing feelings and thoughts of such enormity. Who am I? How did I get here? Why am I here? All at the age of 5 if I 'remember' correctly. Today I ask myself these same questions and yet the wonderment with which I ask the questions ha changed to a 'true' longing for an answer. Why? Is this a sign of my age? A sign of the most recent 'footnotes of my life' or is that how it is for everyone at some stage in their life? I do not know and this is why I ask?

Life happens and then what? Does it matter why? What if the answer is just "You are who you are" you are here for whatever purpose YOU choose in this life. What do you do with all those incidences that you cannot reconcile in your life (are they your purpose?). If 'nothing' has a purpose beyond an experience itself, if there is no meaning, if everything just is what it is. Why do so many struggle so hard? Why do so many of us have such a hard time letting things be? or is that just me?

Save for my sanity, I search to find 'purpose' in my life, there have been too many footnotes along the way, to many experiences that have me asking..to what purpose? a true and reverent need to understand 'my' life.

What is a butterflies purpose if it is here for only such a short time? What happens to the caterpillar who works and struggles so valiantly to arrive at the day of transition? Are they one in the same?

When all the questioning is done, is that when the transition is complete and the butterfly appears, only to stay for brief 'moment' and then pass away leaving an ethereal remnant of it's existence, it's beauty, it's softness and it's strength like a gentle caress of a soft breeze on our lives through it's dance like movement of it's wings of freedom.

It's time to sit and quietly listen...Namaste

Time for change.....A New Beginning

2009-01-20T13:02:00.009-06:00

My eyes were tear stained as I became a part of a generation sharing in this historic 'moment' of change in civilization........'A New Beginning' for not only the United States but the planet as a whole. As a person embarking on my own 'new beginnings', I was truly inspired.

As I watched the historic event of the inauguration of Barack Obama becoming the 44th president of the United States it occurred to me that this man appeared to be the same as you and me, a human being....and this I believe is why so many people were overwhelmed at this tremendous 'moment' in history. What drives a being to become president? My hope and belief is that Obama was destined in this life to be the face of change, along the way I am sure he endured many struggles both personal and professional, faced many obstacles and self doubts......as all of us would...but what is meant to be shall always come to pass....and I hope and believe that what drove Obama to become the president was the same dream many of us hold, his passion for change and a dream for a better world.

The world needs that 'moment'......a new experience to bring about necessary change.

Martin Luther King called for 'equality for all men'.....I believe we are at a point where we can call for equality for all beings.

Watching all the people who came together and thinking of the many around the world, black, white, men, women, old, young, famous and unknown I once again felt that we all hold the same hope and dream in our hearts....that the change we all hope, wish and dream for .....is at hand.

What a 'moment'...to be part of the collective dream for peace, equality and freedom for all.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world" Mahatma Gandhi

For all who dare to dream the dream, we must take along with our faith, hope and dreams in one 'moment' the realization of the changes that we all need to make as individuals to promote peace, equality and change.

I believe in the collective as a whole....
I believe in the innate good of humanity....
I believe in you and me.....I BELIEVE.

Another year

2009-01-13T18:40:00.003-06:00

Just as I ring in a New Year, I am also celebrating the end of another year with a birthday....yep another year, past 40 to 41.....WOW....41....sorry I had to say it again, for I almost don't believe it........well at least I am out of the valley, now where to go from here?..........I guess I should just jump off the rim's edge and see where that takes me. I thought by the time I hit 40 I would have it all figured out.......really......I mean who knew life could throw such curve balls? I should have known....I should have seen it coming...I mean big, hard white balls are usually pretty easy to pick off.....but smack, I guess I didn't have my bat ready. My initial inclination is to pack it all in and leave the field, but that little fighter in me keeps telling me to pick up my bat and bring it on home, for posterity sake. So as I await to wake tomorrow morning and begin another whole new year.....I am taking my glove to bed with me....just in case of any more flying balls.

They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger? Who said that? My mother? your mother? Mother's everywhere......I guess they should know....if anyone would know it has to be a mother. A mother who's been there and done that.....all I know is that I hope when my children turn 40 I am still here to tell them....."What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger"...........Oh ya, and "Time heals all wounds." They say that too, don't they?

Words of wisdom I can literally pass on to my own.........for I am not dead and with enough time I will finally have it all figured out, won't I? Let's say by 60......I'll get back to you on that...and with all that said I have one more thing to say......Happy Birthday! One more for the long and winding road...............Namaste

HAPPY 2009! NEW BEGINNINGS......

2009-01-07T13:47:00.007-06:00

Well, we've gone and done it again, slipped into a New Year! Wow........2009! Wher'd all the rest of 2000 go? Time seems to be moving in leaps and bounds these days.....so it was nice to spend the end of the year in a more Yogic fashion........keep it simple, slow down, relax, breath and let it all go......and as for the reflective tradition, I have that covered too. Now I need only work on setting those goals........their, there. I haven't made New Years resolutions since I don't know when, but that does not mean that I don't resolve to continue learning, growing, healing and changing and all the while learning how to accept that change.......this year Yoga helped teach me many things.....and as usual, I learned most......the hard way....this year was no exception....(it`s an old habit), One thing I did learn is that I have been a giver and a taker, a shower and an observer......as I partook in all aspects of my passion and business this year.....I taught and learned, pushed forward and pulled back, struggled and surrendered, gained and lost, laughed and cried along with everyone........I have been lifted and humbled.....and I have definitely grown and that has been what it is all about....learning, growing, uplifting, challenging, believing, giving, surrendering through life.

So here's to New Beginnings, Big and Small......sometimes the smallest steps we take or even when we think we are moving backwards, we just might find we have taken the largest leap forward. Namaste

Six degrees of seperation

2008-12-11T13:24:00.014-06:00

Six degrees of separation refers to the idea that, if a person is one step away from each person they know and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people they know, then everyone is an average of six "steps" away from each person on Earth.

This has never been more apparent in my life as it seems to be....right now.....it would seem to appear to me that those whom you know, know so and so, who would seem to know so and so that you may have never even have thought you knew until, you find out that so and so, knows so and so and so on and so on and so on........and it keeps going until you are six "steps" away from each person on Earth.

So here's to the six degrees of seperation and to those of you that I am only six "steps" away from on this Earth..........................................Peace be unto you..................Namaste

40 days and 40 nights...........

2008-11-24T09:59:00.005-06:00

We have all heard the biblical stories of 40 days and 40 nights, haven't we? Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights in the desert while tempted by the devil.........Moses fasted during his 40 day, 40 night stay on Mt. Sinai and Noah was to save the whole world in a 'boat' during his 40 days and 40 nights in the rain...........40? what is it's significance? as a number? as an age?

It appears that the number 40 'is' of great significance and has been found to have had significance in the ancient calender........ in the early tracking of 40 days it was found to be a very effective method of measuring and metering out each passing solar year. Ancient writings and artifacts (including certain monuments) make it clear that a cycle of 40 days was once carefully time tracked. Early astronomers appear to have once time tracked a cycle of 40 days for calendric purposes and also appear to have revered and celebrated this cycle in the practice of religion.

40 as an number
Forty denotes that time is on your side. It is a period of cleansing, preparation and growth.

Can I just reiterate that......cleansing, preparation and growth.....

Wow......well that explains my 40th year, amazing......and if I hadn't of lived through all that I had in the past 39 years I would have never been prepared......the growth factor seems to be beyond scalable and now coming into the last stretch.....after all the trials and tribulations, joys and sorrows, ups and downs I am truly able to say that all that came before this 40th year is behind me....I have come to beleive that a woman is no longer the same 'being' after turning 40 (or is that just me), everything from the age of 0-40 is just the 'preparation', her 40th year is her 'cleansing' and from there on in it is all an opportunity at 'growth'.
Real growth.....everything I thought I believed, perceived, needed and wanted has changed because I have changed.....I no longer see life, love and happiness through the eyes of a child.....who cannot let go...I see them through the eyes of this woman, who 'let it all go'....she let go of demands, expectations and limitations....existing only in the realm of the 'moment'.....this 'moment'....the here and now, in which she has been blessed to cross over to another side of her existence.....as I move forward into a period of life I have never experienced before....with a little less uncertainty about who and what I am....I find myself feeling more and more grateful for this year......this year that taught me more about me than I thought I would figure out in one lifetime, let alone one year....as I prepare to step into that 41st year.....that's what 40 as a number and
as an age represents to me...........Namaste

Homework the ProsVsCons

2008-11-13T12:16:00.005-06:00

Little did I realize as the inspiration for this blog was swirling through my subconscious mind, I would find myself relaxing, releasing, letting go of it all and sleeping in? LATE! great for me not so great for the kids who needed to be at school at 9:05am and it was 8:40............so with that said I'm sure that my tardiness would not fit in with the required curriculum......and my stand on homework may not either..........

I have 3 children in elementary school and all of them have more homework than I feel should be required....reading, writing, arithmetic....here I find myself again at those 3 R's. Now, don't get me wrong as I stated before I understand that learning the basic concept of these 3 subjects is pretty much the basis of all learning and as such is the basis of life growth itself...for without the ability to learn in all capacities...we are stunted.

But, is all this homework necessary???????? kids are at school a minimum of 61/2 hours a day for a minimum of 340 days a year.......that's a lot of time, alot of life, alot of learning.....so why? then the need to impose additional homework on them during what used to be free time.....their life. Not only does it impose on the children by demanding more of their precious, valuable and personal time, it is also an imposition on the parent's. I work evening's and am unable to give them the required attention and assistance they need, leaving me feeling unproductive and guilty.....is that necessary.......considering the amount of time spent in a system that is set up to teach our children the exact studies which they are bringing home? This homework also interferes with outside interests and has been implicated as creating stress for many children.

Now I am not saying that the occasional assignment or special project does not encourage and teach children discipline, Independence and good studying habits and I also believe that if a child does not or is not able to finish their school work at school that it should be sent home. I also must state that if a child is falling behind in any subject or requires additional studying to keep them on track then as a parent we should be willing to play our part in helping our children to be competent and able in their studies. My concern is for the everyday child who is being overwhelmed by study and is losing interest and may even drop in their grades due to the overwhelming burden to always be learning.

On the flip side of learning my kids attended Italian summer school 2 years in a row at their own request. They attended classes for 2 1/2 hours a day 5 days a week for 1 month and everyday they fit in recess and a snack. They learned the Italian national anthem, all their numbers, the ABC's and even learned 2 major productions that they presented at the end of the summer session. How is that possible? no homework there?........because it was new, it was fun....they played Bingo in Italian...they learned through the arts by learning a play.....need I say more....

Children don't need more homework....we need a new system and a new curriculum......in this day in age it must be apparent that not everyone learns the same way and although there has been a slow shift in the schooling system it is not enough.....we need to speed things up and bring things into the 21st century......we need to begin teaching our children through mentorship, inspiring and motivating them to take that which they learn and use it to become mentors and teachers themselves in the future....everyone has at least one special talent that they can share.....why let anyone fall through the cracks......who knows what insight, knowledge, inspiration we may be missing.......we need to teach the children as they learn, some children learn through hearing, some through the written word, some through action.......but all need to be inspired.

Writers, Dancers, Artists, Scientists, Athletes, Motivational speakers all these and many more are the teachers we should be exposing our children to, not only occasionally but as part of the curriculum.....see how fast they learn....then they will not need additional homework for they will be putting their lessons to action.......that is learning.

My belief is that unbenounced to all of us the system is setting our children up not only to work 9 to 5 but to become accustomed to the fact their time is not their own and that in the future they will be more and more intertwined in the industrial world....as we supposedly go GREEN......is this what we want for our children?

I remember a Christmas holiday a few years back when one of my little one's was only in grade 1, she brought home her reading schedule and informed me that her teacher required her to read everyday during the break.........I immediately informed her that if she wanted to read then by all means read as many books a day as she liked, as for the required reading curriculum I informed her that this was our holiday, our family time together to relax and enjoy and that she was not required to do any reading at all if she did not want to. I told her I would speak to the teacher as soon as the break was over......she stuck to the curriculum as her fear of disappointing her teacher and feeling as if she had not done what was required of her was more impacting on her than her mother's words. Her choice and it is everyone's choice to decide whether homework builds more productive children? Unfortunately for those of us who are not happy with homework, we would seem to have no choice in the present moment.

I am not alone in this dilemma, not by a long shot, I distinctly remember several parent's discussing with me how when they went on their family holiday to Hawaii and Aruba, their children were required to take homework...........WAIT, STOP......DID YOU HEAR THE SKID MARKS.....now I would never say never because you know what happens as soon as you say never........NEVER happens.......but I see it to be highly unlikely that my family would be taking school work along with us to Hawaii........come on? am I crazy? Now that doesn't mean that their would be no reading or learning......I could see myself lying on the beach reading one of my many books on Yoga, Buddhism, Life..........and learning all the while.....I can see my children taking in the culture of another country.....their traditions, teachings..........all while enjoying the beauty and relaxation of much needed rest from school, work...and the everyday schedule....isn't that why people take vacations???????? to relax, unwind, let go and remember that their is life outside the everyday, their life........

This brings me back to the moment of inspiration of this story as my subconscious was imagining all of us on the beach, reading or just resting, lying in Savasana (flat out on our backs), on a beautiful beach, letting it all go.....I must of actually have gone there.........hence my early morning tardiness........Do you think it is because I never did enough homework?????

I think it's called required rest..........which everyone needs and I am sure that our children need it? What do you think?

Thanksgiving

2008-10-20T10:30:00.014-06:00

This Thanksgiving was not traditional for me at all........it still got me to thinking, though...about thanks and gratitude..........I try to live every day, every moment in thanks (it is not always easy, even when we think we are living in thanks it is very easy for the mind, the body, the spirit to be lifted out of that state and into another.......with stress, daily life issues and the speed of light, which would all seem to be working against our ability to create balance within our existence.

It has been a long time since I have written down the things I am grateful for, so here it is my Thankful list for the moment............

I am thankful for God........He has taught me forgiveness, grace and surrender.
I am thankful for my kids....they have taught me patience, compassion and surrender.
I am thankful for my husband....he has taught me Independence, strength and surrender.
I am thankful for Yoga.....it has taught me balance, wisdom and surrender.
I am thankful for Dance....it has taught me freedom, flexibility and surrender.
I am thankful for my family...they have taught me perseverance, hope and surrender.
I am thankful for God.........He has taught me forgiveness, grace and surrender.

I thank God first and last as without him there would be nothing else to be grateful for.

God, Jesus, Brahma, Yahweh, OM, it is not so important exactly who or what, for the entity exists omnipresent. I believe God takes the shape of many forms in our life through, nature, people, material abundance, even getting as close enough as touching, talking and teaching us in very close proximity through family, friends (Angels) with messages and support.

The 3 T's? Touching, Talking, Teaching............when I was in school it was the 3 R's

Reading (which I get and love to do)
Writing (that doesn't even start with R?)
Arithmetic (again, where's the logic in that?)
I didn't know how to spell it, so, so much for learning writing. It is my understanding that I am not the first nor will I be the last to not understanding how these 3 things came together to be the 3R's but, I do understand their concept in the basis of learning.

There was a time when it was said that girls didn't do as well in Math as boys. This may have been true, and if so, once again it would have been the order of the universe that made it so.

There may have been a time when women didn't need to know math, we were not in charge of things that required such thought processes to be utilized. We were the caregivers; taking care of babies, children, the food, the house and the community. Those responsibilities requiring such knowledge fell upon another.

Now, this doesn't mean that just because I have written this, that it is fact at all, this is just my perception of a certain moment in time. I realize this theory or my assumption may be incomplete in any given moment within that time. A woman who lost her husband, a woman who was what would have been called a Spinster (an independent woman), these women surely must have been able to understand math to have been involved in their day to day finances and to have understood the complexities of such goings on? No?

So.....where is all this going? I had to ask myself.........?

'our' perception is defined by our personal life experiences and does not necessarily make them......... a definate....... thus everything then becomes infinate possibility, allowing us to step outside real numbers and math theory........to open and expand our perceptions, concepts and visions of what we believe Thankfulness, God, this life and the universe to be............

I have been truly blessed (through pleasant and not so pleasant experiences) many times over........learning once again that I have more things to be thankful for......

The 3 T's......touch, talking and teaching......they have given me life, love and laughter
and in this moment, 3 more things I am grateful for.

'What the eyes see is knowledge.

What the heart knows is Certainty.'

Dhun'nun, 9th century Egyptian mystic.

Namaste

Link: 'Don't give up' yogajournal daily insight October 10/2008

www.yogajournal.com/dailyinsight/yjnl_20081008.html

Footprints

2008-10-03T10:39:00.001-06:00

One night a man had a dream.
He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Scenes from his life flashed across the skyand he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,

one belonging to him and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of his life had flashed before him, he recalled that at the lowest and saddest times of his life there was only one set of footprints.
Dismayed, he asked, "Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,you'd walk with me all the way.I don't understand why, when I needed you most,you would leave me."
The Lord replied, "My precious child.I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and sufferingwhen you saw only one set of footprints...
That was when I carried you."

Carolyn Joyce Carty ©

Blogging as a Fetish

2008-09-17T12:19:00.009-06:00

Is blogging my fetish? Find your FETISH!!!!and run with it....that was the advice.

Is Yoga my fetish? God, these are questions I've never asked before............

Today I was privy to a radio program talking on the subject of blogging. The host was given advice on how to best represent herself through her blog (this goes for anyone, for that matter)

The advice was, if you are going to have a blog make sure that the subject of your blog is your fetish and then blog on.......always on the same subject.......and with passion.

Well, now that I have your attention the first thing I needed to do was acquire the definition of FETISH.....

so here it goes;

1. An object that is believed to have magical or spiritual power.......
2. An object of unreasonably excessive attention or reverence.......
3. An abnormally obsessive preoccupation or attachment.......
4. Something such as a material object or part of the body which arouses.......well.......you know....which arouses......

Yes....Yes.......Yes.....Yes.....Sorry..........,but my fetish, it appears is ME and my journey......
shhhh, don't tell anyone.....

Now if I do say so myself, I'm assuming at this point, that not only is the subject of my blog but my journey itself which has become my fetish.......so glad I got it out............

Now it is up to you to decide; Do you believe in anything strongly enough to say it has magical or spiritual powers, do you believe in anything strongly enough to pay unreasonably excessive attention and reverence to it, do you have an abnormally obsessive preoccupation or attachment to it, does it arouse you....WELL I DO..........and here it is a part of my blogging experience.........

To all you Yogis out there, please be patient with me, I'm working on my preoccupations and attachments, as I speak.........God, I love how he teaches us........right before my own eyes,
Oh ya and everyone else's................Namaste

You have to become your own teacher and your own disciple.

Jiddu Krishnamurti, 20th century spiritual leader

Shopping 101

2008-09-04T16:57:00.003-06:00

Okay, so I am thinking, if I need to look for full time employment...I am going to add Personal Shopper to my resume.......now that is not to say I haven't had my brush with credit and debt..... 3 kids and one income (I'll let that speak for itself).....but even prior to that.... I have always been....what others would call a frugal shopper........just now, I have learned my lesson and even though I now have my own income, I would dare to say I am even more frugal than before........my motto is nothing over $10, $20 if it is unique or if you just can't find anything else as cute and cheaper and more than $20.......more than $20.......only if it is the only one on the planet and no one else will ever have it.......okay this may seem overboard, but with all the malls, big retail giants and yes, even second hand stores, why spend what you don't need to? The people in the mall know me as the sale rack lady.....I have no shame.....okay, some, but it definitely has nothing to do with shopping well, it may lead me to shop............. so, every day there is a need for a need........and every once in a while a need for a want..........but lets face it, material fancies usually only last a moment and even if the item lasts longer we usually grow out of it either physically or emotionally or both, pretty fast...... plus.....and there is a plus....when we don't spend the whole bag of loot on one item we are left with the opportunity to pass this item on when we are done with it to someone who will love it just as much as we did and then we can feel good about replacing it with a new love.....(if only.....oh forget it)..........now this to me is what I would consider along the lines of Yogic shopping.......of course when we get onto that subject it does make it a bit harder....we then must start thinking green, about what the product is made from....where the product came from, whom it was made by, is it fair trade, was there child labour involved and usually things of this nature tend to be of more expense, but I see that trend also evolving to come on line with what the consumer is looking for and my hope would be that soon we will be able to acquire all items at a reasonable and fair market value.........my days of (and believe me they were few and far between and go back to the days when I was only responsible (or not) for myself) my days of $150 jeans, $700 leather jackets and the like were over long ago....and the truth is I don't miss them...........today I spent the day at the mall, I got 5 items, 3 dresses, one evening dress for myself and 2 little girls dresses and not 1 item out of the 5 I bought was over $10, I would love to know if you could pick us out from the crowd as the low budget group.......and beyond that I was happier than a pig in ...........well you know..........so here are some tips for shopping on a budget....
always head straight to the sale racks first......... buy out of season...........don't buy what you don't need based solely on low price....... and first and foremost don't buy it, if you don't love it.....

I know, the same advice over and over again.......like they say if it ain't broke, don't fix it....... and if we ain't broke.........hopefully we won't need a fixing..........here's to abundance and happiness in every one's life as well as a little life's savings for the future....you know when all that shopping will be for you........or according to my sister (she's gonna kill me, or maybe just not invite me to dinner for a while), who just had her first grandchild and shops in Buffalo like she is just going up the street to Wall Mart.....this one is from Nana and Grandpa....this one from Auntie ......this one from.....you get the picture...baby's, who can help it........by the way that was one of my five items.......and I don't even have a little one of my own....I know look out if I become a grandmother.....I may never see retirement........anyway the point for those who care.......
a penny saved is a penny to spend another day........and that day will come, tomorrow........
don't let all your pennies go to the tax man......I'm just not sure if they know what to do with them......or if they are as frugal......

Namaste

The long and winding road

2008-08-22T14:05:00.009-06:00

Are we all on a spiritual journey? Whether I came to do Yoga or not would I still be on the same journey? There 'are' answers to my questions, aren't there? What I have just recently realized is that no matter whether Yoga has quickened or haltered or maybe a bit of both of my understanding of self on this journey, I guess I would have been here all the same just with a bit of a different perspective. What we perceive and expect from others and ourselves can leave us unopen to a full experience of life...through the projection of those desires and beliefs to be met...unable to grow, expand, understand and live freely in a 'moment'......if it is not what we had desired or perceived it 'would' or 'should' be...one thing Yoga has taught me, a concept that is not always easy to adhere to...the saying "no one said it would be easy, just that it would be worth it" comes to mind......that is why I continue with my Yogic journey and a quest for personal understanding, truth and enlightenment. There are many paths that can be taken which lead to the same place but what I have found in Yoga is a greater balance of physical and mental strength...Yoga is helping to keep me strong, centered, balanced and GROUNDED and like many others there are times when I truly need that on this journey.......these days there are 'moments' for me which are a bit ethereal, lifting me higher and then the feeling of having fallen...it is imperative for me that I bring my feet back to the ground so I do Yoga.....then I dance.........lightening my heart and my spirit, lifting me to a space of no limits or boundaries, free falling, flying and then I do Yoga, grounding my feet back into the Earth, bringing my awareness of body and breath back into the moment, the here and now, reshaping both the physical and mental aspects of my 'Self'...finally meditation.....emptying out all that was and is.......leaving me open to becoming.....renewed....back to 'a' beginning...a 'divine' inner spark...an essence of being.

I have experienced many experiences since my Yogic journey began, not all of which I thought I would have wanted to experience, but yet another aspect of Yoga is that we learn that everything happens for a reason, an un-defined definition of what is either good or bad, just action and reaction...assisting in learning the art of truly 'letting go'...all that is shall fade away....just as we cannot hold a star within our hand, we learn that every 'moment' is a gift to be breathed in...then the breath must be let go...it is the way of life...the nature of being...Namaste

Yoga Journal Pose of the Day 8

2008-08-21T17:34:00.001-06:00

Yoga Journal Pose of the Daygreat free widgetsWidgetbox

Back to School

2008-08-19T12:23:00.005-06:00

Well the countdown has begun, 13 days to go...........I am usually anticipating the beginning of the school year, it takes a lot of planning and work to keep the kids busy for the summer and keep your sanity............but this year is different........this year my little one starts school full time and I will be completely alone for the first time in 10 years...........10 years.........although I have taken steps to make sure I am busy once they are in school (I've subconsciously been preparing since last year).........I will miss the mom and tot skating.......dragging them around shopping and our little lunch dates, that at this moment leaves me with a sinking feeling that I may not have taken full advantage of the time I had to spend with them? They have been lucky and I only hope one day they realize that the sacrifices made to be able to stay home with them, keep them safe and not drag them around too much in this life should be something they come to appreciate in the future.....right now they believe that that's what Mommies are made for.....well we are, aren't we?......I guess now it's time to teach them about skipping school(yah, yah!!!I know I may regret it in the future...) but.........taking a couple of days off to spend individual time with each of them.....which they haven't received since they were tiny.......is my new plan........I have to.....I think it's called dependency. Well call it what you will, all I know is this year September is looming and as much as I am looking forward to seeing them all find their place in the new school year........my life as I have known it is about to change...........change is good......change is inevitable...........change is the only thing we can count on.........too all you parent's who can't wait to see those little rug rats get back to a regular routine...........may your time be filled with new adventures, open doors and the mystery of the great unknown.....Namaste

Wasting time or taking a break from the stress and overload.......

2008-08-07T06:35:00.004-06:00

Wasting time online? You might be mentally ill
By Chris Null
"It's always there. Waiting and calling to you. Fark. Reddit. Facebook. Dolphin Olympics. It may take only a couple minutes out of your day, but you know you're wasting time on this stuff whether you should be working on that spreadsheet or washing the dishes.
Time-wasting, or rather "chronic procrastination," is hardly a laughing matter, according to Professor Joseph Ferrari of Chicago's DePaul University. According to an insightful story in UK's Observer, it's a profound "social and economic" problem and, thanks to technology, it's far worse than you could ever imagine."

Okay I may be biast in this situation considering I spend a tremendous amount of time online on my email, my blog and yes......even Facebook......but I also manage a home, 3 children and a business, run classes 4 nights a week, as well slipping in a couple of free classes to give back for all that I am blessed with .......should I be doing more? I guess it depends on who's perspective you look at it from.....some think my job is hard, while others feel it is sooooo........laid back...........
I just finished telling one of my ladies that my new, take it slow and easy attitude could be seen by some as laziness.......for me I see it as living in active meditation....enjoying the moment....slowing down to smell the roses.....

I used to work for a large government employer and I can imagine what it would be like to try and garner a moment online to reconnect with a relative or long lost friend, catch a smile from a quick witted joke a friend sent or even be inspired by an email, just letting you know you are not alone out there..............come on let's face it, this report is not about mental illness.....this is about money.....time is money in the "real world" and employers don't want you or I wasting any of theirs, but their lack of respect for the camel's broken back that garnished them their business success is bad business. People need a moment to sit back and take a breath....now I am not saying online chatter is the best way to achieve that, but too insinuate that people who do are mentally ill and social outcasts is a bold statement..........on that note if I am mentally ill..............and believe me there are times I worry about the state of not only mine but others metal health everyday.............working online is not going to be what pushes me over the edge.........it will be lack of understanding....lack of social contact..........drugs...... and being written off by the system that will be my demise.......so don't let others dictate to you as to your sense of commitment and drive.....decide for yourself, you know when too much is too much.........and if you are in need of some assistance in maintaining both your physical and mental health issues...as we all are.......why not shut off that computer and try some Yoga in between.........maybe you should pitch your employer to start provinding free classes during lunch hour....................see I got my job done.........Namaste

Dolce Vita

2008-07-31T12:49:00.010-06:00

Okay so here I go again with eat, pray, love.

Elizabeth is truly getting into my psyche.....maybe there was a reason one of my ladies gave me this book to read.......pg.47 and already she is giving me fantasies of running off to Italy.

Here's the thing, considering my children are half Italian and are just today finishing Italian Summer school for the second year in a row, finishing off the sessions speaking a 2nd language in a production that could be taken on the road....I might add, (it's amazing what children are able to pick up in 2 hours a day for a month with recess and a snack snuck in), leaves me ashamed to say the only words I know in this beautiful language are well.......you know.....I'm sure someone could appreciate them....when taken into consideration that they would be said with great passion......that is the Italian way.....No? On that note I would like to share (thanks to Elizabeth's study and passion for the language), a little bit about the language of love and how it came to be as I learned through her words;

Here is why Italian is the most seductive language in the world:

While France, Portugal and Spain took their languages from their most prominent cities, Italy was different.....Italy did not become unified until 1861 and was still susceptible to being overpowered by local princes and other European powers. Parts of Italy were owned by France, parts by Spain, parts by the Church and some parts where even up for grabs to whomever could nab a fortress or palace. Elizabeth writes that "The Italian people, although mildly humiliated chose to be more cavalier to this domination," (kinda like a woman......, sorry)

The italian motto of the day was "Franzo o Spagna, purche se magna," translated
"France or Spain, as long as we eat."

Elizabeth continues to elegantly inform us that for centuries Italians spoke their own local dialect (as I am aware, a lot still do today). So here's what happened........ some Italian intellectuals decided that they must come up with a pure Italian language, especially in the written form that everyone could agree upon. Unprecendentedly they proceeded to do something that had never before been done in the history of Europe; they chose what they determined to be the most beautiful of all the local dialects and dubbed it Italian.......going back over 200 years to 14th century Florence to what has been dubbed the most beautiful dialect ever spoken in Italian, Dantean.....a language created by the great Florentine poet Dante Alighieri, who published a work callled Divine Comedy in 1321 which detailed the visionary progression through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven shocking the literate world when he did not write the work in Latin. Elizabeth continues to elegantly inform us that Dante felt that writing the work in Latin would have made the work corrupt by leaving it unaccesable to anyone other than the elite. So instead, Dante turned to the street (a man ahead of his time?), Dante picked up the real Florentine language as spoken by the residents. Residents such as Boccaccio the italian poet who's works included "On Famous Women" a collection of one hundred and six biographies(which I noted) was one of the first examples of literature devoted solely to women as well as Petrach an Italian scholar and poet who on April 6, 1327 (Good Friday) gave up his vocation as a priest after taking sight of a woman named Laura in the Church of Sainte-Claire d'avignon awakening in him a lasting passion for the already betrothed woman (we all know how that story goes......or do we?) Dante used this language to complete his work.

Now I know I can make a connnection; DIVINE comedies, works devoted solely to women and priests who turn from their vocation for a women named Laura, I mean come on........is Elizabeth or someone else......trying to teach me something........?

Getting back to it....Elizabeth teaches me more by informing me that Dante wrote his work in what he termed "il dolce stil nuovo", the "sweet new style", his writing was personally affected just like Shakespeare affected Elizabethan English. It is phenomenal to think that a small group of Italian intellectuals was able at that point in history to decide that Dante's Italian would be it's official language, as Elizabeth likens it, it was very much like a group of Oxford dons deciding everybody in England would take on the language of Shakespeare and speak pure Shakespearian from that day forward, somehow they actually did it!!! and hence, this is why the Italian, even of today is essentially Dantean.

Elizabeth continues to point out that no other European language was born from such artistic pedigree and no other language more perfectly expresses human emotions than Dantean's 14th century Florentine Italian (Oh, the things we learn....).

It was also interesting to realize that Dante's Divine Comedy was written in terza rima
(triple rhyme), a chain of rhymes which repeat themself three times every five lines
(I will need to look into the significance of the five line meaning, but I am fully aware of the
Divine number 3), giving the language what was termed "a cascading rhythm", which is still heard in Italy to this day.

In the last line of Dante's Divine comedy, in which he is faced with the vision of God, Dante writes that God is merely a blinding vision of glorious light, but that HE is, most of all,
l'amor che move il sole e l'atre stelle........."The love that moves the sun and the other stars." and so I have just figured out why Dante, his work and his lovely language have stirred such emotion and intrigue in me.....must find myself a copy of Dante's work and delve deep within.......

I am ending this rather long writing with thanks to Elizabeth and with the dream that one day
"il mio amore ed io" (my love and I) see.....already learning.......one day will wine and dine and take in the bountiful atmosphere of a country so willing to be cavalier enough to allow everyone to love and share in it's beauty, while asking so little in return except that we savour and enjoy in all life's pleasures....Here's to looking forward to dolce vita (the sweet life).....and I'm thinking since Elizabeth's passion for the language brought so much inspiration, maybe I should start taking Italian lessons and maybe that penchant I have for those words (Italian or otherwise) will be tamed by the sweet, flowing language of love......

Footnote: all this writing took place prior to the freezie incident which got those oh not so pretty words flowing from my lips, No...... these words did not come out in Italian but they were said with a mixture of passion and fury......just as the Europeans would have it......ahh........the fine balance of the moment........dolce vita to la vida loca (the crazy life).

To those of you whom I love and share my passion, in you God showed me

"l'amor che move il sole e l'atre stelle"

Namaste

Footnote-Sex In The City

2008-07-31T11:14:00.008-06:00

This blog is in response to an email from a friend after she read my (as she put it - long email).

Here was her take; thanks to her and some other lovely ladies not afraid to speak their mind......

Feminism is the freedom to choose anything we want; sex, motherhood - kids, career, wife, friends, fashion, men, whatever!

Famous Quotes

Barbara Jordan:All my growth and development led me to believe that if you really do the right thing, and if you play by the rules, and if you've got good enough, solid judgment and common sense, that you're going to be able to do whatever you want to do with your life.

Bernadette Devlin:Yesterday I dared to struggle. Today I dare to win.

Elaine Heffner:Women do not have to sacrifice personhood if they are mothers. They do not have to sacrifice motherhood in order to be persons. Liberation was meant to expand women's opportunities, not to limit them. The self-esteem that has been found in new pursuits can also be found in mothering.

George Carlin:Here's all you have to know about men and women: women are crazy, men are stupid. And the main reason women are crazy is that men are stupid.

Mohandas K. Gandhi: Woman is the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacity

Mohandas K. Gandhi:There is no occasion for women to consider themselves subordinate or inferior to men.

I'm tough, I'm ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay. ~Madonna Ciccone

You don't have to be anti-man to be pro-woman. ~Jane Galvin Lewis

The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it. ~Roseanne Barr

Nobody objects to a woman being a good writer or sculptor or geneticist if at the same time she manages to be a good wife, a good mother, good-looking, good-tempered, well-dressed,
well-groomed, and unaggressive. ~Marya Mannes

I ask no favors for my sex.... All I ask of our brethren is that they will take their feet from off our necks. ~Sarah Moore Grimké

There are very few jobs that actually require a penis or vagina. All other jobs should be open to everybody. ~Florynce Kennedy

Taught from infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison. ~Mary Wollstonecraft

There you go, everyone has their take on the subject. Feminism can be misconstrued when we speak our mind. I don't think I ever considered myself a feminist, except for that fact that I am feminine...I grew up in a time when they told us you can be whatever you want to be and yet at the same time raised on the story of Cinderella (you are no one until a man comes to take you away, make you his bride and give you a wonderful life) are these two sides of the story not conflicting, and yet...somehow, subtly I believe in a little of both, maybe that's why as a modern day women I struggle with both sides of the fence....it would be nice if gender no longer played such a role in my existence.....as much as the fact that we are all human beings with the right to give, receive and just be......So I don't want to burn my bra....mostly I need it.....nor do I wish to spend all my life scrubbing floors behind the scene.... I want to garner as much respect and equality for the fact of being a stay at home mom of 10 years, who made her children, her home and her family the most important aspect of her being as I do for moving forward and working to build a life as a dynamic entrepreneur, who wants the best of both worlds. I remember once saying it was not easy but also not impossible, so I dare to dream.....just like Cinderella with a little dash of Captain Cook floating around in my veins........

As for where I stand at this moment on issues feminist or otherwise; I just want to know why there is no such word as Manist?

Thank you Jo.......as a successful illustrator and work at home mother of 2 you alas, are one of the women who continue to inspire me to believe in the best of both worlds....even on those days when conflict of interests arise.........Namaste

eat pray love

2008-07-29T12:51:00.006-06:00

eat..pray...love by Elizabeth Gilbert is a #1 New York Times Bestseller........For those of you staying away from the book due to it's commercialism, as myself I tend to do...I was totally surprised when only 10 pages in I had smiled....laughed out loud......held back tears...and yes.....then as my children would say looking on....waiting....mommies going to cry again....this is their favorite thing to watch......especially when we watch animated movies that always seem to get me right were it counts........and there you go.....only 10 pages in and just the thought of sharing such an intimate journey with another soul who has also been on her knees leaves me comforted, afraid and a little overwhelmed with where will I be at at the end of this book?.......
Liz went looking for her answers........and found some of them in Italy, India and Indonesia...........
I am still looking, listening, learning.....thank you Liz, in a world where it is so hard to find personal meaning and balance...it is not totally crazy to me that I should find a connection with another unknown to me soul who was unafraid to tell her story....Namaste

Sex In The City

2008-07-25T07:06:00.004-06:00

So what does being in a car for 2 hours alone with a fashion magazine inspire in a woman's mind.....well here it goes.......In the dawn of time when Eve was shamed into sewing leaves to cover her assets, fashion came to be......so what is it's role in the ongoing journey of women's existence? Well one things for sure as divine, godly and beautiful as I am sure Eve was I am positive she did not step out in a potato sack.....so on that note, here is my take on fashion, Sex In The City and the ongoing evolution of women and the universe.

I have not seen the Sex in the City movie nor was I an original and avid fan of the show. I did catch the occasional re-run after my little ones started sleeping through the night and as my hormones kept me up late into the evening........my life did not resemble Carrie's or any of the other ladies characters, in that moment......but it did bring me back to the day's when I was only responsible for myself..........I found it encouraging and inspiring to see sexy, feminine, charismatic characters allowing themselves to delve into and flirt with their personal freedom and allowing themselves the same rights as men (we all know what I'm talking about) whether those choices turned out to be right or wrong.

Why is this of importance to me.......... equality = balance.

It appears that many men have children with a woman and their life is enriched and mainly(and I say mainly) it stays the same, in alot of cases (and I stress again) in alot of cases the woman takes on the majority of the daily responsibility for caring for dependants and in alot of cases this is even if she is also a contributor on the financial front. Women's lives are also enriched with the addition of children, although in alot of cases she is forced to put off or even sacrifice her career which can lead to her feeling a loss of freedom. As the children grow many of these women are then expected to become Wonderwoman, finding a job with a suitable enough income to justify going to work in the first place, finding an employer who is even willing to hire her over some younger counterpart, who just finished being fully educated and is willing to work for much less than she and who has no family issues that interfere with their on the job performance. This is when and where, I am happy to say women shine through, necessity is the mother of all invention and women become imaginiative, inventive and even bold enough to strike out on their own, not leaving their fate to chance, but take the bull by the horn and overcome against all odds. Having said that, there are those who then project that these women are taking away from their motherhood (selfishness) or from their feminine(turning feminine wisdom, strength and intuition into, well let's just not use it the Big "B" word.)

Having lived both sides of the spectrum, I know that having it all is hard (not completely impossible) but hard. My feeling though is that there are alot of misconceptions regarding what the SITC women and maybe even ourselves are trying to achieve......we are not trying overpower the masculine or become so free and independant as to change the rules of nature or for our own selfishness for that matter....we are actually trying to do our job to maintain the balance.....assist in helping in the growth, nourishment and enablement of society in furthering it's acceptance in the value of everyone's right to selfreliance. Women are working daily to balance the scales by maintaining our right to be the equal, opposing, feminine energy.

The universal law of Yin (female/dark/passive) and Yang (male/light/strong) is working constantly to maintain harmony and balance in the world, so.....what I am trying to say is........... if what is considered fashionable or even cheesy to some, helps us to move that much closer to the feminine goal, along with reminding us that taking things too seriously can lead to ........ inbalance, why not allow for slipping on a frilly dress for softness and a pair of gladiator heels and allowing ourselves to be free, bold and true to our own inner divine feminine spark. Let the trends blend with the tides and who knows maybe equality will be the trend we will push forward, bringing about radical changes in the universe, bringing a greater existance of peace, harmony and balance to all.

Maybe Carrie and the girls are making much more of a statement than we see on the surface. Women have long fought for, struggled for, used patience and yes even flirted in order to achieve equality.

As we expand our own boundaries and push forward working to acquire respect and equality of the feminine no matter what stage of life we are in....We find, we may not be represented by the gals from SITC, but what we are is a mix, a blend of all their and all our own most beautiful adornments, both externally and internally.

Women is what we are.......feminine beings ...so take out that drop dead gorgeous dress, slip that heel into a sexy slingback shoe, dab a spot of color on those already sparkling eyes and go out and save the world.....okay, nab that job, rock that date.. mostly be true to and never lose site of your feminine entity, for it is her purpose to maintain equality and balance in every way....it is the way of nature and the natural evolution of life...for us to strive to bring and maintain harmony and peace for all and we should celebrate and enjoy it.

Here's just a little tidbit for all you Mister Big's out there in the "Man's world"....the next time you see a beautiful, confident woman walk by and you are taken by the outside...look deeper, that women is a loving mother, compassionate lover, cherished friend and beneath the clothing, she is projecting her beauty, love and commitment in continuing to make the world go round.......and think of how it would be to live in this world without the other side, without the "the dark side of the moon", always light, no dark; No rest, no peace, no harmony, no balance...need I go on.......

And ladies, my hope is we will continue to strive for and partake in this beautiful quest for harmony, peace and balance, all the while continuing to cherish the "light", the spark that keeps the flame aglow for generations to come and if we get a sexy new dress or sparkly shoe along the way wear them with the universe in mind............

Enough said;...Thank you to the rain.....In Style magazine and SITC for inspiring me to maintain the quest for balance........Man..........if 2 hours in a car with a magazine can inspire all this rhetoric, imagine what can be achieved in a day, a week, a lifetime...........now I have to put on my track pants and do the laundry and the dishes.........Namaste

My date with Batman

2008-07-17T11:08:00.005-06:00

Okay so this was a first, which I don't get many of these days.

Sharing space with a bat during meditation............we were nearing the the end of the evening's first class and looking to hit the mat for some relaxation, to focus in on the body, mind and spirit connection, when from out of nowhere (just like the comic books) along came Batman. Although I was told to stay low, I rose to get some assistance from the local Arena staff and the bat let me know in no uncertain terms that I still had issues with my fear of the creatures big and small......to my dismay the only way to try and get rid of the bat was to swat at him with a broom, this was distressing to all involved and was confusing to the yogis who were filing in to attend the next class........ as I continued to duck and run for cover I was inclined to let the broom dweller know that one of the laws of Yoga is non-harm to either the bat (or to humans -I was hoping this creature would take that into consideration and he did). After being tuckered out from being accosted he landed on the ceiling, we all decided it was better to pull the curtains and let him remain on the other side of the room while we began our evening practice. I quickly forgot his presence (not sure about the other yogis, but my aim is to help relax, release and let go....and that was what I set out to do.) Starting with some deep breathing, before we knew it we were immersed in our practice, by the time it came to relaxation/meditation I had all but forgotten the incident. It was a deeply moving meditation (for myself) I sank deeper and deeper into the process, letting go and finding myself not only giving the guided meditation but partaking in the whole process deeper than I had in my classes for a long time, this was not only about guiding others through the process this was about sharing in the process. As the session came to an end, I was surprised when the ladies informed me that our friend batman had been in our presence the entire time, weaving in and out and through and over all of us. I had not heard or noticed a thing, I can't say as much for the others. What I truly found astonishing was every one's calm and acceptance of the whole ordeal, I mean let's face it this is not Muskoka... I am thinking I should ask them to keep the bat and I can start billing the sessions as the Great Rural Retreat.

Now all this would seem just an unusual incident, except as we all know I am on my journey to enlightenment and just the day before had visited a place of knowledge to find clarity, direction, focus.... what I was shown was that I needed to deepen into listening to my own inner intuition, go on my own vibes, listen to my soul and let go off old ideas and perceptions that are holding me back from further growth. Letting go of long held beliefs or familiar behaviour patterns is never and easy task.......and on my drive to the class I specifically looked up and surrendered, admitting I needed help, some assistance, a sign...........Batman......

On my drive home I realized that this was somehow significant......I was compelled to look up the significance of Animal symbolism....here it goes.........

Bats symbolise: Death and Rebirth on a personal, spiritual level.
They are the guardians of the night, the cleaners, messengers, they represent happiness, longevity and good luck.
Shaman initiates undergo a ritual death in which they face their fears (did I say I was initially freaked) and are reborn without their old identities. Bat medicine teaches us to release fear and any patterns which no longer fit in with our pattern of growth. A new beginning, trusting one's instinct, the bat is powerful medicine.

He flew through and over all of us during meditation, who knew he was there to serve his purpose............Coincidence?.............for me it was just the sign that I had asked for and was looking for to keep me going.....to help me to believe that all the hard work, all the effort, all my questioning and delving, releasing and opening up, sacrificing is not in vain......and that I am on my right path.....allowing me to open up to letting go of fear and doubt and truly listen to my own inner voice..........the one that is telling me to express gratitude for small, seemingly insignificant events that can change everything in a moment......

I seek only to reveal my true self, which may or may not be the same tomorrow should I learn something new which changes me......

I feel honored by the presence of the bat and as always by the openess, compassion and wisdom of those whom with I share all my practices.

Namaste

Remaining impermanent by aitaining the permanent - Tattoos and Piercings

2008-06-15T22:09:00.014-06:00

I haven't taken the plunge yet, but I am, Oh so close. I have admired many a people's tattoos and piercings. The farthest I took it was adding a second ear piercing back about, oh.... hang on...do I really have to say it, 26 years ago. First I did it the hard way, a friend, ice, a potato and a needle, let's just say infection. Then, after my parents calmed down I begged to get the second holes in my ears , again......
(which I only used once or twice, but still have the holes, in rememberance).
All my father could ask was when was I going to dye my hair pink? Imagine what he will have to say after my latest commemoration on this life's journey? I never did do the pink thing, maybe I should give him a real shock and do it now? A tattoo, belly piercing and pink hair......too far?
I have never gotten a tattoo before for several reasons ; 1) I am totally afraid of needles and
Oh Yah....pain ; although I gave birth to 3 babies au-natural 2) I have never felt that any tattoo I had envisioned depicted the whole story for me..... ; 3) others have made their opinion fully known - do not do anything to your body that cannot be erased. Birthing cannot be erased, nor would I want it too be and when I think of it, both the physical and emotional imprints left on my body, mind and soul from those experiences are not unlike permanent tattoos. A tattoo for me at this point represents my life in full; who I was, who I am and who I am becoming and all that I have lived and loved through.........In buddhist tradition the body is impermanent, where as the flame of existance continues.....we transition from body to body, endlessly. Once our body is no longer of use to us physically and spiritually we move on..... this process of rebirth is called 'samsara' (endless wandering) all connected to Karma, we come back in another body or move up the spiritual ladder and come back in a more enlightened form........till eventually the flame is extinguished and we are released from the rebirthing cycle when we attain Nirvana......I am not sure how many times I may have been around, but from the way I lived this life I have started to believe this is my first time around, may be my last and I still have much to learn.......hence, this is why I feel so intent on adding a permanent commemoration to this body which one day will become impermanent.......I have learned to love this Body, this Mind and this Spirit...she has kept me strong, blessed me with offspring, keeps me grounded, compassionate and has healed me beyond my own ability, but one day she will no longer be. While I am still here in this body I feel the need to make sacred all that which I have learned, lived and loved in this lifetime and by doing so I set myself free to continue to grow, move forward and release my clinging to the attachment of the physical body, elevating me to the inner connection of that which is my true self.

"I seek only to reveal my true self, which may or may not be the same tomorrow should I learn something new which changes me"

The next step or should I say leap in my journey towards acceptance and to non-attachment.

Namaste

Becoming

2008-05-28T06:53:00.004-06:00

A journal entry from June 12, 2005 - all things shall be in time.........

I don't know how it was that who I really am washed over me, but it was as I was brushing my teeth on what would seem to be an ordinary Sunday morning in my life. Discord with my spouse, constant aruging with the kids about getting dressed, cleaning rooms, breakfast and me yearning to run off into the refuge of my bathroom for five minutes of peace and quiet and aloneness. AND.....that's when it happened, subtally, all my life experiences, mistakes, dreams, strengths and weaknessess washing over me in a 'moment...all the WORK, all the anticipation, preperation voula, there you have it...this is me, while I brush my teeth. After breathing through the 'moment' what came after was the 'need' to write. A huge insight into to who I am and what I need to do in order to grow, heal and look forward into the future. I felt in that 'moment that I was looking forward to a whole new way of living life, I also knew, that 'letting go' would not be easy. I likened it to taking candy from a baby, removing the security blanket, like my 31/2 year old (at the time) who dependance and security of always being prepared and ready in her pull up was being removed and she was having to put herself out there to an unexpected experience, maybe discomfort, as well as maybe embarrassment, but most importantly and ultimately to the achievement of leaving perceived security to go it on her own. Wow, potty trained, all by herself. I felt a little like her in that 'moment, a feeling of having to let go of my own security, having had pulled out from underneath myself all that I thought I perceived and knew to be 'true'?, a feeling of needing to let go of what I thought I had known to take on a direction of discomfort, as well as achievement? Can we really truly become who we are if we stay within the 'confines' of what our minds condition us to believe, if we do not take off the training pants and go it on our own? fear, apprehension and all. In that 'moment' I decided to take mine off, already I felt free'r, more comfortable and ready to move into a whole new development stage...like my daughter who realized once she reached her goal I became a little more confident and secure of my 'self'. Every stage of life is a stage of becoming... becoming more aware, more competent and more able... how similar to our childhood stages of growth are our spiritual stages of growth...feeling a little like a child again as I stand and brush my teeth I am aware that once again I will be taking things one step at a time, like I did when I was a child and learned to ride my bike..I will 'cry' the tears should I fall and feel the fear of getting back on...but then as I did, once a long time ago I will 'let it go' get back on and soar through the wind, allowing myself to be overcome by the intertwined flow of the abilities it takes to ride, feet moving in proper timing, eyes focused on where your going and spirit flowing in the rhythm of the movement...jumping back on my bike each time to face the challenge ahead while basking more in the rhythm of the ride as everything is in flow, the body, mind and spirit know where they must go, the hard part is learning to let go... and enjoy the ride.

Namaste

The Awful Pain of Survival

2008-05-15T15:06:00.002-06:00

That was the headline on the front page of the Toronto Star but it was not the headline but the photo of an unknown to me Mother holding the lifeless, plastic wrapped body of her daughter after the tragic earthquake in China and reading on to learn the story of 34yr old Zhu Rong who in one brief moment lost both his parents and his 4yr old son when the school he attended kindergarden in collapsed, that brought the uncontrolable tears of grief and guilt streaming down my face in the public library.

"Being in the moment". I try to live in it every moment of every day so........

It is unimaginable to me to believe that in a moment you can lose all that you hold dear to an event that is beyond your control. Even more, it is unfathomable to me how you can go on bearing such pain and devastation of body, mind and spirit.

I cringe every time one of my children walks out the door, rides their bike or these days wants to assert their Independence and head out to the park or the library on their own. We don't like to live in fear but things do happen.

It seems so unfair to realize that in one fleeting moment so many innocent lives where cut short due to no negligence or undo diligence of their own. It is also hard to comprehend that some of these people lost their only child as China adheres to a one child policy. Why? Why? This is a question I believe can never be answered, but must be asked?

What can we do?
We can make a monetary donation and let it go...
We can offer our compassion and sympathy.....
We can pray on their behalf, that the death toll doesn't rise and that the support, kindness and effort of others helps them to rebuild their homes, their lives, their spirits....

What we must do is "LIVE".

No one knows what lies ahead of them moment to moment. It is in times like these that we should see we are obligated to live in gratitude for all we have, for all those we love, live and laugh with everyday! We must remember that love is eternally free and it is ours to give.

To those in China who have lost so deeply, I offer my deepest sympathy and heartfelt condolences and am grateful that the lesson of learning to truly live, here , now, today has been shown to me once again.......

Namaste

Celebrating the light within

2008-05-05T07:15:00.005-06:00

This weekend we celebrated my daughters first communion, a joyous moment in which she opened her heart to the lord and offered her belief, honor and faith to her connection and relationship to the Lord. Not that her understanding of that momentous moment has hit her yet, she was much more impressed with the princess dresses, the princess hair and the gifts. She's 8!

Having never been baptised and having lived a life with no religious denomination it brought me to thinking of my reason for finding my way to Yoga.

Generally people start to exercise to maintain their physique or more reasonably than not due to some risky health issues, obesity, heart health, mobility. People turn to the medical profession for mental health issues, depression, anxiety, fatigue. People turn to their church or religion for their spiritual health and growth.

The trinity of three; the Body, the Mind and the Spirit.
I came to Yoga for all three.

Physically out of shape after giving birth to and breastfeeding 3 babies for 6 years.
Going from being an independent, self-sufficient working women to being stay at home mom, 24/7, 365 days a year for 9 years, and having no church or religious faith to lean on I was flailing in the wind. A tree that was trying to stand tall, being violently thrashed about by everyday events and was afraid that the roots where not strong enough to keep me grounded.

Coming into Yoga was a slow process for me. I was physically, emotionally and spiritually out of shape, unconnected and my time frame for even a few moments of calm and introspection, let alone a workout for myself were few and far between. I was still breastfeeding and still had 3 little ones who required constant loving, attention and care for almost their every need. This is hard on even the best of days and I had those, but on those days when your energy is just about to give out, when you are feeling alone, overburdened and just plain empty it can be overwhelming. Anyone who is a parent or has been a caregiver for any other understands exactly what I mean.

At first the Yoga was a physical exercise I turned to to help regain core strength, regain the mobility of my back and hips and shed the excess pounds that I could not get rid of due to improper eating habits and lack of sleep. As I said it was a slow process, I passed up a $5 yoga book the first time around and then upon seeing it again I took it home, waited for everyone to go to sleep and then in the middle of the night, in the middle of my stairwell foyer I began to try to wrap myself into a pretzel, unsuccessfully I might add. But I was determined and just like my stubbornness (which would eventually be dealt with on my mat) once I set my mind to something, generally there is no turning back. I would practice for a couple of weeks then there would be a few weeks of nothing, then I would find myself back at it and it went on this way for a while, especially as my kids where still young and everyone else`s needs seemed to be of priority over my own.

Then my family experienced a move and along with that move many other changes and some stressful family dynamics. Soon after the move I became increasingly despondent, emotional and disconnected. I saw it happening, I realized I was on a downward spiral, but my hormones where freaking out, as after 6 years of birthing and breastfeeding my body was finally coming back to being my own and I thought it was just a phase. At the same time I experienced some challenging events that even the stablest of individuals would find overwhelming and here I was still responsible for saving the world (at least that was my vision of myself as I saw it through the eyes of my children, spouse and everyone else in the world). I could not admit that my ship was sinking, but even worse was that the whole time I wasn't sure if there was anyone or anything that could help. In my attempt to stay afloat, my decision making process became questionable. I continued to take care of my children, but the happiness of spirit with which I had brought them into the world was fading. I tried to put on a good face but they saw the cracks, they felt the hurt and they saw that I was barely staying afloat. A hard place for any child to be, I know I've been there.

I finally realized it was time I did something about it before it was too late. It came in the mail box, out of the blue and I contacted her right away, a timely opportunity presented just at the right time. She came into work with me in my home one and one and it was then and there, down on my Yoga mat where I did some of the hardest work, working to bring my physical, mental and spiritual well being back on board that I finally broke through. There were moments of bliss that healed my body, nourished my mind and soothed my soul as it had never experienced before. I experienced true connection of the trinity; union of body, mind and spirit and gained an understanding of their connection not only to each other and within but also externally to the universe around us and our connection to our higher purpose, the Divine.

I have always believed in a higher purpose, a beacon of light watching over us, that there are way too many beautiful, wondrous and uplifting experiences within our lives to not feel the presence and warmth of a loving, kind and gracious force that watches over us and pulls us through even our darkest of days. I am always brought back to the poem Footprint's in which a follower asks the Lord. "Lord why when I am at my lowest and loneliest point are there only one set of footprints?" feeling the Lord has left him to carry the burden on his own only to be told "My son, that was when I carried you."

It is hard for us to feel or believe in moments that are stressful, painful or in any way not pleasurable that we are being carried through, there is a wonderful poem by the essestial Rumhi called `The Guest House`;

``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 it`s furniture still treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight.``

The essential Rhumi

It seems hard to believe that in our worst moments of despair, pain, fear, anger when we most want to close our heart that there is a love so light, kind and full of grace that can keep us from fading away into the darkness and that in those moments we are not alone.

My work on my mat is not done, staying fully in union(Yoga) is a ongoing commitment to the body, mind and spirit, just as in anything we need to continue to exercise to stay fit and strong, we need to continue to bring moments of quiet and introspection to our lives to remain focused, centered and balanced and we need to honor and offer gratitude for the blessing of our life. `Practice makes perfect` and although the illusion of perfection is only and illusion, practice brings strength, clarity and peace to the body, mind and spirit!

So now my effort will be to make sure that my daughter is aware of the presence of the Lord, of the light within and my hope is that she will always know that. And if one day she should be in need, she will know that she is never alone and that all she needs to find herself, to carry herself through, to believe and live and love is within her, ever present in every moment, even those in which we believe we cannot make it through.

Love and Light
Namaste

Spring the eternal new beginning

2008-03-19T12:03:00.002-06:00

Ahhh....Spring....warmth in the air, the gentle smells of the newly growing green grass and the bloom of nature abounds all around us. Since the dawn of time, after every long cold winter we are graced and blessed with this ever eternal season that brings our full awareness and senses back to this New Beginning..........

As we take stock of the season that is about to unfold around us, are we too not continually waking from dormant sleep, blooming anew and forging foward into the vast unknown with the potential for new growth? I for one believe we are. How blessed are we to be given a new opportunity with each season to delve within the body, mind and soul, to furage and continue with this process of life. No matter what kind of Summer, Fall, Winter nature has experienced she adjusts and moves forward to adapt to the new environment. Are we as adaptable? For most of us, spring is one of the seasons very easy for us all to fall into, the weather is warm, bright and lends the ability to start shedding weight both literally and figuratively speeking. We feel lighter, more agile and brimming with that feeling of freedom we all long to posses. Freedom is more than a state of mind, it is attained through the ability to relax, let go and allow the full force of our own nature to grow and be......just as nature itself moves with the ebb and flow of seasons coming and going we once again are being given this eternal opportunity to flow into spring open, free and filled with a sense of optimism that life itself will provide the answer to our growth, potential and ultimate freedom to be..............

Let this Spring be the time of renewal that your spirit yearns to bask in. With a renewed sense of commitment to the ongoing growth of your Body, Mind and Spirit connection, allow your self to bloom with nature and be inspired by the beauty that abounds within and all around you.

Namaste

Something that changes Me

2008-02-21T14:08:00.009-06:00

"I seek only to reveal my true self, which may or may not be the same tomorrow, should I learn something new that changes me"

We all experience things that change us whether they are subtle or life changing sometimes depends on our willingness to accept the change or the scope of the event.

Learning to accept that change is inevitable isn't always easy, especially when those changes create a major shift in our lives. Our inability to flow with the change can make it hard to learn, grow and shift our understanding and meaning of our own life to a greater level. The above quote resonates so true within who I've been, who I am and who I will become......we are constantly learning new things about ourselves and our environment around us, adding and subtracting, expanding and contracting just as the universe would have it. We seem to forget that the natural flow is to concieve, grow, blossom and then..... completion and RENEWAL.

To help us to learn to accept and intigrate these ideas into our own reality it helps to slow down, relax and let go. Meditation can help us to achieve this. Why not give it a try?

Become comfortable, close your eyes, deepen into your own breath and then inhale and expand and open your awareness to all the things that are occuring that expand and renew your perception in Body, Mind and Spirit. Now exhale and release, letting go of all the things that no longer pertain to who you were, who you are and who you are becoming.

All it takes is some quiet, your own breath and your own openess to the shifts and changes that are ebbing through your life to realize that you are learning something new every moment of every day, that which helps us to reveal our true self.

Namaste

A letter to my loved ones and friends

2008-02-11T13:50:00.000-06:00

For every time you shed a tear and felt alone,
I'm sorry I wasn`t there,
For everytime you asked for someone to help you through,
I`m sorry I wasn`t there,
For everytime you laughed in joy and wished you had someone to share it with,
I`m sorry I wasn`t there,
For every moment of happiness, sadness, lonliness and joy,
I`m sorry I wasn`t there,
If this is what all my tears and fears, sorrows and joys has taught me then they were all worth it,
In future when you are sad and feel alone, when you need someone by your side, when you wish for someone to share your joy and success, you know I am here, I have always been and will always be here with you.
Don`t ever believe you are alone, for I will always be here.

Namaste
Laura

Bliss for a Cause - World Yoga Day

2008-02-03T11:03:00.001-06:00

February 3, 2008 11:00am - 1:00pm

Today is World Yoga Day, commencing 11:00am until 1:00pm Yogis will hit the mat for 2 hours of Yoga, Meditation and prayer. This year we will come together on behalf of Amnesty International. This 2 hour session will set off the 24 hours of sessions around the world.

This is the first time I participated in World Yoga Day and I did so on my own mat in my own special place, home. Each time we come to the Mat we come for a different reason, to build stength, become more flexible, relax, let go....and we try to do so with intent and purpose. This was the first time I hit the mat with a truly more global wide intention set in mind. Prior to starting the practice I was struck by the theme, Human rights, personal freedom. We may have all felt unheard, unable to express ourselves at times, but we still retain the ability and freedom to express ourselves in our spiritual and/or religious beliefs, artistic expression and personal liberties. It is hard then for us to comprehend the persecution and sacrifice of others for their spiritual and/or religious beliefs, for being born of the wrong gender, for self expression through art and/or many other smaller civil liberties we take for granted daily.

As a Yoga instructor it brought my understanding of Union, prayer, meditation and commitment to myself as well as the world around me to an enlightened level.

My practice became about the gratitude I feel for all that I am able to believe, achieve and give, it also brought me to quiet contemplation of the sufferings I have needlesly caused myself and others by not allowing for true freedom of self and to take with me into the future that new found inspiration.

"We have a duty as those who are of free will to ensure we use our freedom to strengthen, inspire and uplift and assist others"

If we take for granted that which we posses, but don't see, all those who are suffering for and working towards Human Rights will do so in vain.

Not everyone will get down on the mat today for the cause, but, if we take just one moment, this moment, to realize our own true personal freedom and our gratitude for it. We have made a difference.

Thank you to the global community for strengthening my practice, deepening my knowledge and helping me to follow my path.

Namaste

To find out more visit

World Yoga Day : Home
http://www.world-

Out in the Cold

2008-01-31T12:46:00.000-06:00

It's not hard to understand why the animals and nature within itself wants to hide away and hibernate during this season. Finding their way out of the cold. Well, we ourselves are not outside this natural process of the season. Do you find yourself wishing you could stay in bed just a little bit longer, get to bed just a little bit sooner and stay inside, no matter what the reason is for you to venture out. Listen to your natural instinct, if your body, mind and soul are telling you it's time to rest, than listen. Not all days are that cold and soon enough you will have regained your energy and will be back at it with new gusto. Look for some comfort food, foods that nourish but don't add that extra lag once eaten. Try homemade soups or chili, warm breads with fresh vegetables and add a little something small and decadent on at the end just to satisfy. Curl up with your favorite movie, book or pull out that hobby that you have not had the time too allow yourself to enjoy or sit down with the kids and play go fish or monopoly, these small yet seemingly unaventful moments do much to nourishing everyone's body, mind and soul. Remember the words nourish, relax, rejuvenate. Keeping up with a fast pace and always having something to attend too does not always mean we are on top of everything. Slowing down to enjoy those moments, especially when the natural state of the season is calling to you, will lend to the enjoyment of the season. Remember, soon enough there will be tons of snowagain and out come the tobogans, sleds, skates and a stronger, rested and rejuvenated YOU!

Keep the internal fire burning!! Slow down, enjoy the embers.

Namaste

The "Big 40"

2008-01-11T07:56:00.000-06:00

In the present realm we live in, our age is defined by a birthday we celebrate each year. This year I will celebrate the "Big 40". What does this number represent to me? When I was 6 and I knew someone 40 they were 'old', when I was 20 and I knew someone 40 they were 'middle-aged', now that I am turning 40 I feel as young now as I ever did. Well, in those moments when I'm not being run ragged by the kids, or overburdened by responsibilities, bills or the constant birage of media shaming me into ridding myself of my newly deepening wrinkles, my new gray strand of hair or the new body I now posses, after bearing 3 children and living half a lifetime in. I feel younger and more alive now than ever before. I am definately wiser, stronger and believe in myself more and this to me is what keeps the body, the mind and the spirit alive. What is most important for me is those moments when I am in a pose and I am in breath, my mind, body and spirit are at one when I relax into my meditation release, let go... and become empty, when I truly become undefined by age, gender and/or any other preconcieved notions of who and what I am or should be, I am free. It is after these moments when my mind, body and spirit are at their most creative and are capable of things I wasn't even aware of in my younger days. When I dance in these moments there is no inibition, discomfort, aches or pains, when I practice in these moments there is no resistance, inability to move or lack of flexibility, when I love and let go there is no holding onto or holding back it is truthful, open, honest and 'in the moment'. There is no past, present or future just the 'moment', leaving me free to be....Peaceful, Content, Alive. If we define ourselves by our beliefs from past experiences, if we allow others to define us by preconcieved notions of who, what and how we should be, we stop living, our spirit is dead, we no longer have any reason to learn, grow, move forward, for we are what others and our own limited beliefs have made us to be. If we let it all go, become undefined and become open to the possiblity that there is more to us than meets the eye, that age, gender, the past, others, the present, the future, family, friends, spouses, children do not define who we are but are a blessing of those who are here to share this life with us, we automatically allow ourselves to become more than we believed we could be and we in return allow others the opportunity to do so in their lives. So come Monday January 14th, with this latest milestone upon me, I look at this as a time of renewal. I believe that I have lived through enough, battled enough and have experienced enough, more importantly loved enough to allow myself to be undefined, to not underestimate my desire or ability to love, live and give and to not roll over and die. There is something to be said for the innocence and energy of what is defined as youth, but if you look within you will see that that energy, that spirit is always there, lying dormant at times when we become too afraid or too conditioned, too tired or too defined to let it be free. It is there, waiting, hoping to be rediscovered and allowed the opportunity to shine and reclaim the right to free the body, the mind and the spirit.

Happy "Big 40" to ME.

Namaste

New Year's Resolutions?

2008-01-02T09:10:00.001-06:00

Well we've all done it. Taken another great leap into a New Year. Whether you whooped it up or had a more quiet and introspective evening, it's all the same and we are here now. In this new moment, January 2008. I have been asked if I have any New Year's resolutions. I prefer to look at the coming year and the future through focused intention. Instead of giving my self ultimatums and specific issues to define myself and my year by. I instead will try to look at the big picture, the long haul. What are my long term goals, who and where do I truly desire to be? And with that, set in motion the actions required to achieve that goal, whether that be tomorrow, next week, next year or next decade. I have come to learn that even though time feels it is passing us by at the speed of lighting (which it just may be) the journey is long and Rome was not built in a day. If we wish for our life to be a certain way and we are far from it, we must then do the work, take action, conquer like a warrior and build our way to our dream. This is my New Years Plan. What is yours? Remembering that 'being in the moment' is the best way to truly realize how you feel, at any given moment. Take stock, right here, right now? Are you happy with the direction you are headed in? Are you living your own truth? If you are, set your sights on deepening into the fabric of your own being. If you're not, then looking within will help you to define where it is you really want to be. For who knows you more than you know yourself? So if you are not sure whether or not you are at where you want to be, take the time to get to know yourself. Slow down, look within. Bring union to the Body, Mind and Spirit and watch yourself soar into the unknown, what do you say? Is it worth it? Only you know.

Wishing Peace, Joy and Harmony.
HAPPY 2008!!!!!

Thank you to all of you who helped me slow down, look within and find my heart's desire. Here's to looking forward to a New Year filled with Peace, Joy, Harmony and oh ya some challenges. Bring on the New Year.

Namaste

Class schedule : www.yogadivine.wetpaint.com/page/Schedule

I'm Invisible

2007-12-26T15:04:00.002-06:00

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response,the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phoneand ask to be taken to the store.Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not;no one can see if I'm on the phone,or cooking, or sweeping the floor,or even standing on my head in the corner,because no one can see me at all.

I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer,'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude- but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone! One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. M y unwashed hair was pulled up in a hair clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this. ' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe.

I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees. 'In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, afterwhich I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything. A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it. 'And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.' I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. Isee the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.
No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.' At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction . But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my ownself-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime, because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree. When I reallly think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and dresses all the linens for the table. 'That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it there.' As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Great Job, MOM!

Author UNKNOWN

Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know...

I just did
Namaste

Seasons Greetings

2007-12-13T13:45:00.000-06:00

A special wish for peace at this beautiful season from my family to yours

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Namaste

The Buddhist teaching of Non-attachment and Relationships

2007-11-21T12:23:00.001-06:00

Right from the start in this life we are bound by relationships. First our relationship to world then to our relationship to others who eventually find there way into the fabric of our lives. Relationships are tricky business and require true skill to navigate through the mirky waters, to weather the storms and survive should the ship sink. Many of us love and hurt and love and hurt over and over again until we are lucky enough to find a way to navigate through the boundaries of relationships. I like many have issues with attachment.

Buddhist teachings from 2,500 years ago say that Buddha (Siddharta Gautama) victoriously overcame the suffering of his own mind. One aspect of that spiritual revolution puts forth that the cause of all our sufferings, confusion and delusions lies in our inability to remain unattached. Unattached to experiences both of pleasure and pain as well as from eachother in both the material and unmaterial worlds.

By remaining unattached it is said we can find true enlightment to serve the truth through generosity, kindness, appreciation. Achieving this state of non-attachment is created through meditation, prayer and by living the 4 noble truths, and the eightfold path to enlightment.

The First Truth:
Life by it's very nature is unsatisfactory, some level of difficuly exists for all unenlightened beings in creation. We face sickness, old age, and death; the sense of pleasures we do experience don't last; and physical and perhaps emotional pain is a given in life.

The two levels to this truth, the first, the pain we can do nothing about and the second is the suffering and unhappiness we create for ourselves due to our lack of wisdom and in attempts to control the uncontrollable. Change is constant. Everything is dyeing. Our need to become attached to impermanent experiences is what causes us sorrow, lamentation and grief because eventually we are separated from everything and everyone we love.

Buddha's teaching say it is our lack of acceptance and understanding of these facts that make life unsatisfactory. Hence pain is unavoidable and suffering is self-created.

The Second Truth

The cause for all our dissatisfaction and suffering is our craving for life to be filled exclusively with pleasure. This truth is seen as a lack of acceptance, our unwillingness to accept the pleasure and pains as they are, clinging to the experiences we like and trying to get rid of the one's we don't. Desires are natural, but craving - which brings pain - is the extreme of desire.

The Third Truth
Freedom from suffering is possible. There are ways to relate to all experiences that are in harmony with the reality of constant change. When we can let go of greed, hatred and delusion, a state of peace and happiness are all that remains. This state of freedom from suffering is referred to as Nirvana.

The Fourth Truth
The path to freedom consists of eight factors (the eightfold path). These eight important areas of comprehension and practice, can be broken down into three sections:

Wisdom
1.Understanding
2.Intention
Conduct
3.Speech
4.Action
5.Livelihood
Meditation
6.Effort
7.Mindfulness
8.Concentration

Studying and contemplating on these eight factors, is said to bring about enlightment and freedom.

Buddha's journey to enlightment was not done without what some of us would call a cost, as this he believed was his destiny. On a quest to put an end to human pain and suffering, this is a man who left his wife, child, family and existance as it was known to go off on his own personal journey, through his journey he found freedom through non-attachment and enlightment. He found Nirvana.

The question being if these steps are required to find true enlightment and if non-attachment is absolutely necessary to find freedom and bliss? How can we as Mother's, Wife's, Husband's, Father's, Sister's, Brother's, Friend's, Human beings within our own live's as well as within our earthly relationships obtain and live in true freedom?

Buddha's belief that our attachment to what was in any relationship and our inability to accept change, especially if that change is painful or unwanted is truly a cause for suffering for many of us. We see it with our partners, our children, our parents. Love changes, children grow and loved ones pass on.

If I was to say that like Buddha I had come to enlightment regarding non-attachment and life at this point, I would be deluding myself. My life is as wrapped up as ever in the fabric of my existance with those whom I live and love on a daily basis. I look within to find answers and I work daily to work toward peace and harmony within myself and my life and my relationships. The question for me remains, how do we as human beings continue to live with passion, faith, love and hope if we release ourselves from the attachment to those who are so intricatly bound within the fabric of our bodies, minds and souls? I will continue to search, my hope is one day I will have an answer and maybe even...Nirvana.
NamasteFor more information on Buddha and his teachings go to www.aboutbuddha.org

Forging Forward

2007-09-04T09:58:00.000-06:00

The summer has come and gone and we are literally (Fall)ing back into a whole new rhythm. It has been almost a year since I first started the DIVINE YOGA & Dance blog and as much as I have experienced a world of change in my own personal and professional practices, I am still yet to break through some old blocks and mental patterns. The journey takes alot of work, never must we become complacent, comfortable or believe that we have finally got there. This will only lead us right back to the spot we started from. You must continue to learn, grow, challenge whether it be the Mind, the Body or the Spirit. We must continue to nurture, rejuvenate and revitalize, lest we become to complacent and before you know it you have stopped creating, giving, experiencing, enjoying.....LIVING......

Taking the lead of the season to which we now move forward. Allow the soft gentle breeze to rustle your senses and awaken you to the true depth of the Body, Mind and Spirit link. Gracefully allow the season to change the colors of your leaves and then let go and allow for the shedding. Back to the Basics, your bare necessities. Don't stress over the nakedness, be free, strong in your stance. You are preparing for a long, cold winter ahead, your stance in this season gives you the strength, stability and flexibility needed to not only sustain yourself through the next season but to stand strong and tall, grounded in your roots.

May the wind be gentle upon the tips of your branches as you gracefully dance through all space and time.

Namaste
Laura

To view FALL 2007 Class Schedule go to http://yogadivine.wetpaint.com/page/class+schedule

2007-02-21T13:58:00.000-06:00

YOGA IN THE PARK Presented by DIVINE YOGA & Dance
Sunday August 19th, 2007

Admission $20 donation at park
Park Admission 9:30 am

Nobleton Sports Park - Nobleton Arena

(behind CIBC on Hwy 27)

Join us for a fun filled day in the Park

Experience the bliss of Yoga, Dance and the Healing Arts

Honorary Guest MaryLynn Baran - Nia Technique

The Joy of Movement -Seeking Pleasurable Sensation for your Body

'Opening the Body, Mind and Spirit'

Portion of Net proceeds to benefit Special Invitation Guests

‘Rose of Sharon’
Event sponsored by:

King Township Parks, Recreation & Culture
Schomberg Brownsville Guardian Drug
WIN $50 NATURES EMPORIUM gift card or visit to Dr. Kate Wharton - Natural Balance

YOGIC RETREAT

2007-02-01T18:04:00.000-06:00

"It was a wonderful afternoon, hope you all enjoyed yourself ,

see you in the Spring."

Namaste

Laura

Relax and Rejuvenate

Look for Yoga in the Park coming soon.........

Spring 2007

2007-01-10T12:10:00.000-06:00

Monday 7:30-8:30 pm - Meditation Schomberg Arena
Tuesday 8:00-9:00 pm - Yogilates Schomberg Arena
Wednesday 8:00- 9:00 pm - Yogilates Schomberg Arena

There are two more weeks this session May 28,29,30 and June 4,5,6/07

Summer 2007

Program Schedule

Registration Starts: June 1, 2007

Monday 7-8pm Meditation Schomberg 10wks Start date: June 18, 2007

Monday 8-9 pm Yogilates Schomberg 10wks Start date: June 18, 2007

Tuesday 8-9pm Yogilates Schomberg 10wks Start date: June 19, 2007

Wednesday 8-9pm Yogilates Schomberg 10 wks Start date:June 20, 2007

Thursday 7-8pm Meditation Nobleton 10 wks Start date: June 21, 2007

Thusday 8-9pm Yogilates Nobleton 10 wks Start date: June 21, 2007

To Register Contact:

King Township Park, Recreation & Culture

Chris Fasciano 905-859-0056 Ext. 224

to participate in a class email yogadivine@hotmail.com

or drop in

Back To Basics

2007-01-02T14:15:00.000-06:00

If you are anything like me you are happy to be getting back to the regular routine of things. In yogic tradition the end of the year is a time to slowdown, be calm and look inward. Reflect, refresh, renew for the coming year. Stop there! What! Are you kidding? for at least the past month or so even though I kept it simple, simplifying as many of the yearly traditions as I possibly could, right down to buying less gifts, not stressing over what I think would make everything perfect and not trying to make sure that everyone is happy (cause let's face it, is that truly possible) and Oh! ya! my simple tree, small with hardly any trimmings. I only took out a fifth of the decorations in the basement and I must say it truly was easier, I didn't fuss, or stress and in approximately 1/2 hour everything was put away. I just removed the simple swag from the front porch and any and all remaining remnants of the season are gone, along with the fantasy of the perfect happy holiday's. The husband is back at work, the kids are next. Let's face it, being cooped up in a three bedroom bungalow, under renovation, completely a mess for even a week, with no time to practice any moments of introspection is nerve racking. But, this year was easier than previous years. Patience is a learned art. Not all things can be at all times. Peace, joy and harmony are found less now in the season than ever before because we are too busy consuming. Consuming things, food, alcohol. Even when done in moderation this can throw you off balance. Having said this, now that we have taken our first steps into the new Year, my goal is to re-establish my sense of inner calm. Only by practising the art of patience, meditation and self nurturing can we truly find our inner calm. Let all things be as they are, even when they are not in balance, knowing that what is today, will not be tomorrow.

"I seek only to reveal my true self, which may or may not be the same tomorrow, if I should learn something new that changes me."

What I have learned over this past holiday season is that no matter where you are at, no matter what situation you are dealing with, no matter how things conflict with your own agenda. If you don't go with the flow, even when that flow is out of balance, you will struggle. So I look toward next year's holiday's and think I have a year to refresh, rejuvenate and renew, working towards the balance within that will help me to make it through another year in a more joyous, peaceful and harmonious state.

Wishing you a joyous, peaceful and harmonious New Year !!

Namaste
Laura

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year

2006-12-19T15:31:00.000-06:00

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your kindness and support throughout the past year.

I have had many new opportunities this year and it is true as each door closes a new one open's as long a we let one close and keep our eyes and heart open for the next one.

With each new opportunity I have met many new friends and have truly learned to accept that success is not built alone, it is only with the help, support and openness of others that we can truly move forward and find our true place.

I want to wish each and every one of you the Very Merriest of Christmas's and to wish you peace, joy and harmony. Body, Mind and Spirit for the New Year.

Single Glowing Candle

A single candle glowing

makes the darkness fade away

and guides the traveler home

who sees its small and steady ray -

So let a light be kindled

by the peacefulness we show

and we'll change the world for others

with the welcome of its glow.

NAMASTE

"Selfless Gratitude"

2006-12-13T12:14:00.000-06:00

What better time to think of practicing gratitude than the upcoming Holiday Season.

The holiday's bring fond memories, fun, joy and usually some simultaneous stress. Time spent with family, friends and perhaps strangers. Time spent with others can bring out the best or worst in us. We smile, give gifts and good wishes, whilst inside we may be feeling obligated, even irritated at having to put forth the effort when that is not really what we are feeling inside.

If you stand in judgement you can always find something wrong, the weather, the food, people's clothing or choice of word's. Whatever it is you can't win with your inner judge, it even judges itself for judging. It is like driving a wedge into the gentle fabric of the unconscious mind. Any feelings of love, joy, relaxation that you may have been feeling disappear.

Whether you judge yourself or others, you cannot do so without aiming those judgements in your own direction. In fact it is those faults we judge most harshly in others that usually turn out to be our own negatives projected outward.

TOXIC JUDGE

Letting our inner judge out can give us a quick jolt of superiority. We feel smarter when we yield our insight or point out a parent's mistakes or the presumption of friends, teachers and bosses. Judgement gives us a sense of justice, sympathy for the underdog, righting a wrong. For many judgement is a kind of emotional caffeine, a way of waking our passive self.

We must move from judgement to discernment (viveka) which ultimately allows us to make decisions about what is truly important to us, what will really make us happy and which of our competing inner voices is important. So how do we discern discernment from judgement? How do we sense something wrong without disliking someone, without becoming negative? How do we change our own traits, fears, resistance without standing in judgement for having them?

EGO MANIA

Judgement and discernment are entirely different levels of the psyche. According to Yogic psychology discernment (buddhi-"intellect") is the higher mind, our inner self observing our own decision about what we do or do not value. It is the awareness, insight not thoughts or emotions. Judgement (ahamkara) is the ego, the psyche identifying "Me" with the body, personality and opinions. Ego has it's uses, it creates boundaries for the sense of "I" which enables us to live as individuals. But, it also steps outside that creating blocks that keep us distant from the connectedness of joy and freedom found in our core. Our natural self (which is like a snowflake, simply unique, our own personal expression of energy)

If we learn to practice "Selfless Gratitude", the mindful practice of gratitude, a powerful practice with the least sacrifice, we feel constantly connected to life and the bigger picture in which our life unfolds. Cultivating thankfulness for life is a constant feeling of being blessed, not like winning the lottery, but a real appreciation of the nature of life, building the capacity for forgiveness and clarity of mind, spiritual development. This does not deny life's difficulties. You will continue to experience many challenges, uncertainties and disappointments. It enables you to live life, allowing for access to the joy and wonderment of life, which is the antidote to feelings of loss and scarcity. Allowing you to greet life's challenges with an open heart.

Practicing gratitude frees you to meet life in each moment.
"In everything give thanks"-Paul, Bible,
even what seems unfortunate may turn out to be an unforeseen blessing.

SELFLESS GRATITUDE

Count your blessings, acknowledge appreciation of things going well in your life then the things for which your are grateful that have you contracted physically or emotionally. Respond to these difficult situations by saying "Yes this is terrible and I am grateful that I have a strong body and mind which knows that I can deal with it."

Reflect on time-based gratitude. What happened to gratitude you felt in the past? Where did it go? Is gratitude dependant on feeling good? Is your gratitude contingent upon exchange, as long as you feel good you are grateful? This is an emotional demand on the universe.

Practice gratefulness for family, friends, teachers those who help keep you comfortable, informed, empowered. Take a moment to note those who invisibly serve you by providing food, medicine, safety, information. The grocer, employer, security company, librarian, hairdresser. The list is endless.

Make a list of things you are grateful for. How long is it? 10, 20, 100, 500 items? you probably include health, family, friends, but do you include basics safe place to sleep, air, water, food? What about blue skies, child's laughter, warm touch, smell of spring, that morning cup of coffee?

Reflective meditation carries us beyond the superficial to a deeper experience of our life unfolding moment by moment.

The next step is being grateful throughout your regular day. Stuck in traffic? be grateful you have transportation. This may not help the bad mood, but it will help you to see the true situation of your life. This then gets you to the "gratitude ratio" Do you experience the good things in true proportion to the bad? Do bad things receive an undue amount of your attention? Are you defined by emotional reactions that are unimportant?

Real gratitude is the appreciation for all that which comes into your life. From this springs a natural, spontaneous emotion "Gratitude" which often leads to generosity.

Reflect on this: You with all your flaws, have been chosen to taste life, to know what it is and to make it your own. The gift of life is grace, even when you face great difficulty.
"This moment is like this" However you find life--kind or cruel, joyous or sorrowful, filled with love or indifferent, you have the privilege of knowing it.

Gratitude for the grace of conscious embodiment evolves to the practice of "Selfless Gratitude" , in which you shift your concern from yourself and loved ones to about all living beings, when this occurs, you judge less, you need less. It is not that you would not prefer good things, but your well being no longer depends on external circumstances. You can rejoice that there is joy amongst the sufferings.
"This is Grace"
When in grace, all things we found to be judgemental about, disappear. There is no judgement in grace.

Namaste
"Nama" means "bow"
" as " means " I "
" te " means " you"
"I bow to you"
"The divine in me bows to the divine in you"

Excerpts from columnist Phillip Moffit - Lifebalance

What is Yoga?

2006-12-06T12:09:00.000-06:00

Stop what you are doing. Stand up, take a deep breath and have a really good stretch. Standing on tiptoes, make yourself as tall as possible with your hands reaching up to the sky and your fingers splayed. Breathe out slowly, and slowly resume normal standing posture. Now doesn't that feel good? Can you feel the blood tingling in your hands and feet? Do the muscles in your arms and legs feel relaxed and yet energized? Does your mind, be it only for a fleeting moment, seem to have taken a breather from it's daily round of thoughts and worries? If your answer is yes, then you are feeling the benefits of yoga already.

Yoga is a system of physical and mental exercises designed to instill a sense of tranquility and wellbeing in the practitioner. Some believe it to have been inspired by the contemplation of animals, particularly cats, as they stretched. Observers noted that, after a good stretch and arch, the animal's energy and alertness was increased, and so they sought to utilise this knowledge for human benefit. To this day, many yoga positions are named after the creatures they were adapted from: the tortoise, the cobra, the butterfly.

Yoga is a technique of self-awareness that integrates the mind and the body. By uniting the two, yoga helps to control negative and destructive thought patterns and assist the mind to work with, rather than against, the body. Hatha yoga teaches techniques of physical control of the body through postures known as asanas (poses) and breathing techniques called pranayama.
('Prana' means 'Breath of life' and 'ayama' means 'interval' so combined it means 'the interruption of breath') The asanas make the body supple and benefit the neuromuscular system, each posture combining mental acuity with breathing techniques and a specific body movement. Pranayama builds up the body's energy.

Regular practice of the asanas and breathing exercises will induce a more positive frame of mind, not just during the exercises but throughout daily life. You will find that you are less prone to mood swings, and that you feel less at the mercy of external forces as you have developed an increased degree of inner strength.

Knowing yourself the yoga way is quite a different thing than knowing your habits, likes and dislikes. In fact having fixed ideas about yourself can often obscure your true nature, as you shut yourself off from experiences, or tell yourself, in advance, how you are going to react. For instance, if you believe that you are an impatient person who needs fast results, then you will become frustrated by the slow results of yoga, and perhaps give up without giving yourself a chance. If , instead, you try turning this assumption about yourself on it's head, and tell yourself that actually you have infinite reserves of patience, you will surprise yourself by having just such reserves. Bear this in mind when you practise your asanas too. If you believe that you are stiff an unsupple, the exercises will be tough. If, instead, you convince yourself that there is a super-supple person inside you just itching to get out, you will begin to feel a real difference. It is important to approach yoga with an open mind, and to shed feelings of pride and desire. This is called 'transcending the ego'. Far from being the self-abnegation that it sounds, transcending your ego is actually extremely liberating.

If you are still resistant to the idea of finding your true self, perhaps because you feel that your are already very well acquainted, thank you very much, then consider how many times in your life you have felt that you are acting 'out of character'. An occasion when you said things you didn't mean, or had unaccountable mood swings. We do this when we are unhappy and out of touch with ourselves, usually due to stress and being constantly bombarded by external pressures that give us no time or freedom to look into ourselves. Occasions like this often leave us feeling unworthy, and lacking in integrity. The impulse to behave this way generally arises from a lack of self-confidence and a lack of a sense of self.

Discovering your true self produces feelings of awareness and oneness. Some people feel afraid of uncovering their true selves regarding it as a sort of therapy process wherein they will be forced to confront aspects of their nature with which they are uncomfortable. This is not so. Rather it is tapping into the essence of your being, the spirit from which you sprang. Indeed, this realization of the inner self can provide enormous support when dealing with difficult personal problems, and a way of giving yourself temporary release from them.

Even when we are free of deep troubles and have sufficient confidence to be ourselves, we live in a very manic, busy world, which bombards us with multifarious messages about how we should live and what we should think. Women especially tend to feel that they are pulled this way and that by contradictory demands, to be feminine but independent, good mother's but also good workers, and so on. Sometimes we need a touchstone, a talisman, a place or even a person, towards which we can reach when we feel the need to 'touch base' and work things out. When we achieve self-knowledge we become our own touchstone, the person we can rely on.

Yoga is a means of seeing things as they really are rather than as they seem. In yoga, all body and mental tensions have to cease if this end is to be achieved. Accordingly, one of the basic techniques is meditation, which turns our consciousness towards the inner calm helping us to achieve samadhi, or pure consciousness. - Yoga & Meditation-Strathearn Books Limited 2001

"The Guest House"

2006-11-28T14:01:00.000-06:00

"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 it's furniture still treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight." - 'The Essential Rumi'

In the coming season we are looking back on the year that has passed and looking forward to the New Year to come. It is a time of reflection for ourselves, no matter what emotions pass through your door this year, great each one with open arms, they may not have been invited, but they have come and unless we take them in, give them an ear and nourish them, they will pass and the learning and inner awareness of growth will pass through with them unentertained.
It is in the entertaining of all these guests that we learn to be receptive, accepting and kind despite circumstances. May this coming season fill your soul with an eminating warmth that leaves all your guests welcome and entertained.

Namaste

Yoga Today

2006-11-22T12:39:00.000-06:00

Yoga today is what you want it to be, everyone is in a differnet stage and we are all on the search for greater harmony and peace in the body, mind and spirit. It has been my finding that most people in the West today, start a Yoga practice for the physical aspect of the poses, to create a healthier, stronger body. Once you start it quickly becomes clear that the mind and the spirit are right along for the ride. Not only the obvious, that you start to look better and feel more confident but you start to notice a change in your thoughts. Your thoughts on your practice, your thoughts on your life. Why am I doing this? where do I want to go? how can I put so much effort into learning the technique of such an old and wise practice and not take a deeper look within? But it is through this looking within that it all starts to unfold, what started as a physical practice becomes a physical, emotional and spiritual journey. And isn't that what life is all about. THE JOURNEY!!! No matter where we end up don't we at least want to know that we were the captain of our own ship? Well to me that's what Yoga has given me, the orr's to my own boat. And whether I set sail for a short and sweet row through the still, calm water's or I end up fighting the largest storm you can imagine. I am in control, and I will be in charge of my own destiny. No one can ask for more than that. So whether you find your way to Yoga to master the physical, tame the mind or to find your soul, be assured your ship will pass all these along the way and each time it does, you will come that much closer to your destination.
HARMONY within.