I finally made it here to blog. Wow, it's been busy since I returned from L.A. I'm grateful for all the opportunities, and also, for this day which is allowing me time to rest. Phhewww...

I haven't mentioned my partner and I are in the process of buying a condominium. We are "planning" to move in two weeks. However, today we have a meeting to see if we can change our closing date as it appears the condo will be ready sooner. This will be my first time to own a home. I'm very excited and it's such a beautiful place. It's been a dream of mine to have a space in my home especially intended for Yoga and massage. In our new condo, we will have a studio room on the first floor with it's own private bath and entrance from the rest of the house. It will be an awesome space for my own practice, as well as, for private Yoga instruction and for giving Thai Yoga Massages to my clients. Needless to say, however, this process has definitely been keeping me busy...

Now, about L.A. It was incredible. I'm not sure if my words can give it justice, but I will do my best. The friend I went out there to visit is someone I met in one of my classes I teach at Natural Trends in Frisco. She is such an inspiring woman. She had lived in California for a few years, when, a little over a year ago she quit her job to travel around the world. She began her travels early last year and was in South Africa at the time, when she found out her mother was ill with stage 4 cancer. So she returned to Texas last September to be with her mom and was here until this past January, when her mom passed on. She will be returning to her travels to complete her around the world trip, but beforehand, she was in L.A. to spend some nurturing time with her friends. So, she invited me out there to spend time with her, meet her friends or "the tribe" as she calls it, and to experience Yoga at the Exhale Center for Sacred Movement, where she practiced Yoga when she lived there.

I went with no expectations. The only thing I had planned to attend was Shiva Rea's Yoga Trance Dance on Saturday evening. Shiva Rea teaches at Exhale, although she is often away holding workshops, trainings and retreats, so it is rare when she is actually teaching her classes on the schedule. I arrived Friday and after a quick lunch, we headed out for a Friday afternoon class with a teacher named Jo Tastula. It was a beautiful class, nice and mellow, which was exactly what I needed after my travels. That night we went to a dinner gathering at one of Kate's friend's house. A bunch of her friends were there and it ended up turning into a Friday night dance party. One of the things I noticed in California is everybody is dancing. Maybe it's the whole Dancing with the Stars phenomenon, but I think it has more to due with people celebrating life.

On Saturday we went hiking in Topanga Canyon. It was beautiful. This is one of the aspects which makes living in California so nice. It's possible to live in one of the biggest cities in the world, yet with just a short 15 minute drive, one can be up in the mountains surrounded by nature and feel completely removed and cleansed of the city. Afterward, we went to Exhale Santa Monica to sit in the healing waters and soothe our bodies, and to steam. It felt so good. Then, we got ready for Yoga Trance Dance.

Yoga Trance Dance was awesome. I had so much resistance to going. What I really wanted was to experience one of Shiva Rea's Yoga classes, not get all sweaty and dance with a bunch of people I don't know. But, I got to take a look at my resistance and let it go. Which I did. And, because I did, my experience was amazing. It was one of the most cleansing and freeing experiences I've had in a long time. I felt like I got to "let my hair down" and let go. It was life changing and opened me up to experiencing the Shakti, the flow of the feminine energy within me. I think most women, including myself, are not fully embracing their Shakti, perhaps because of what's been a more masculine world we were raised in, or because of sexual issues in our past, which taught us that feeling the flow of that energy could be painful or harmful to ourselves.

After the Yoga Trance Dance, I attended a small gathering at Micheline Berry's place, a very well-known Yoga instructor in the L.A. area. I was fortunate to get to hang out with these wonderful people, including Craig Kohland, who is the musician and producer of Shaman's Dream, music I've been listening to since I began practicing Yoga six years ago. Here I was at a party and he's giving me a leg and foot massage. (My legs were sore after all the dancing.) What I haven't mentioned yet, is the most incredible part of my trip, was the heart-connectedness I experienced with every person I met. L.A. is often stereotyped as being "superficial", image-conscious", or "pretentious", but my experience there was anything but that. It was the most heart-connected experience I've ever had, other than being at an Anthony Robbins seminar which is designed to be that way. Not once did I feel judgment or superficial analysis toward me from anyone, even the people working in retail stores in Venice. Every person I met connected with me at the heart level, beyond all the superficial nonsense of the mind. This was also one of the most liberating parts of my trip. No one cared what anyone was wearing, how anyone looked, what anyone did, how much money anyone had, etc. It was all about connecting to the Essence of the person, seeing their Being within.

On Sunday morning I attended Saul David Raye's class at Exhale. Again, it was awesome. I had taken a class with him one time when he was here in Dallas. His style is so grounded and spiritual. And, on Sunday afternoon we were blessed with the opportunity to attend Shiva Rea's surprise 40th birthday party. Kate had told me we had been invited, but we weren't exactly sure of the details until that day. That afternoon, we drove to downtown L.A. to Shiva's party which was held poolside on the top of downtown condominiums overlooking the L.A. skyline. Her party happened to be the night of the Oscars, and it just so happened Kate had also been invited by one of her friend's to attend an Oscar party at Leonardo Dicaprio's parent's house. But, we opted to not go and to attend the Yoga surprise party instead. In order to surprise Shiva, they told her she was going to an Oscar party where Al Gore was going to be. She arrived around 6:30 and was completely surprised. (And, also relieved to find out it was her Yoga friends there to greet and celebrate with her.)

The party was incredible. Again, I met amazing people, about 100 of us were there, all of whom connected with me from their heart. The whole party was catered with raw food cuisine. And, Shiva's birthday cake was completely raw...and delicious! It's amazing what can be prepared with raw food. I loved this raw coconut and vanilla pudding I had. Young Coconut is considered to be a super food and it's amazing because you can actually feel uplifted and high when you eat these foods. So there was this energy present at the party unlike anything I've ever experienced before. Again, we all danced and celebrated. I had the opportunity to meet Shiva and at the end of the night, she invited us to attend the morning session of her teacher training she was holding at Exhale.

So, on Monday, Kate and I woke up early and made it to Exhale by 6:30 am for Shiva's morning class. I was able to experience a two hour class with her before we had to head out to the airport to catch my flight. She's a wonderfully gifted teacher. I look forward to experiencing more classes with her in the future.

So, that's my trip to L.A. I don't think it could have been any better and the most incredible part is everything which opened up while I was there, was completely unexpected. I've done my best to describe it, but it still feels as though there is no way to express the immense and indescribable Goodness of Life, no words to give homage to this Creator of the Universe moving everything in life, including this very breath we breathe...