I am back from the beach and I feel relaxed and renewed. I enjoy my daily schedule, yet, it's amazing that it's still challenging for me to get back into the swing of things after spending time away for a few days. It seems there is always a catch 22 to everything in life. It's essential to take time off every now and then for our well-being. But, after time off, getting going again is always an adjustment. Nonetheless, I am grateful for the time of rest I had which was at a beautiful place called Rosemary Beach in Florida. My best friend's partner rented two vacation homes there and a group of 10 of us vacationed at the beach from Thursday through Monday to celebrate her partner's 50th birthday. I had the opportunity to practice and teach Yoga while I was away. I actually taught two classes on this beautiful lawn of green grass which looks exactly like the picture here. It was gorgeous. We could see, hear and smell the ocean and the grass was so soft and felt amazing on our bodies...

My time at Rosemary Beach inspired me, even more, to organize my own Yoga retreat in a beautiful and peaceful place. I hope to hold my first retreat by 2008. Yoga retreats are an incredible way to spend time away from the regular routine, not only to relax and renew, but to continue to grow on the journey of health and wellness physically, mentallly, emotionally and spiritually amongst a group of like-minded friends. I would imagine that after a Yoga retreat, one would feel even healthier than befor the retreat. Often after a vacation, such as the one I just went on, I feel as though I need to cleanse out a bit from the food and drink I had. Even though I was still very health conscious on this vacation, eating well, running dailly and practicing Yoga, I still drank more than I normally do, and I can feel the excess weight of the alcohol on my body. As we grow healthier and healthier through Yoga, we become more aware of how the slightest bit of excess is affecting our body, mind and spirit. One of the fundamental teachings in Yoga is moderation, which we align deeper and deeper into as we grow on this path.

I also read my new favorite book while I was away called Do You! 12 Laws to Access the Power In You to Achieve Happiness and Success by Russell Simmons. Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons is a vegan and has practicing Yoga for 14 years. His book is based on the ancient and universal teachings of Yoga from the texts of The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the Bhagavad-Gita, both of which pre-date any major religion in the world and the teachings of which are present in every major faith.

I love this part of the book which I read while I was away. It is part of Law Number Three entitled Get Your Mind Right. In it, Russell writes about the power of Yoga, meditation, and breathing as essential elements to being able to achieve one's highest vision for oneself. All of these techniques allow us to be able to Be Present which according to Russell "the most powerful step in realizing your potential is simply to be present in the world." Russell then goes on to say we are capable of knowing the experience of joy or bliss in each moment. If we've experienced anything once, we can experience it indefinitely. Here is an excerpt from the book.

"I want people to understand that pure presence isn't elusive-it's something that we're all capable of, something that we actually encounter in life. Once you accept that, then you can set your sights on the ultimate goal of meditation, which is to be able to string these moments of presence together.

The goal is to be able to live your life the way Michael Jordan played basketball, or Marvin Gaye sang a song. To be able to feel the way you feel when you laught at a joke, but feel that way all of the time. To be able to feel the way you feel when you're having great sex, but all of the time. It really is possible. If you feel a certain way even if only for a second, that means you're capable of it. It's just that we're taught that we can only laugh when we hear something funny, or experience the joy of a climax when we're having sex.

Again, we're talking about car crashes, basketball, and sex, but at the end of the day all these things are rooted in a spiritual state, a state that every religion has a name for. The yogis call it "Samadhi," or "walking meditaiton," while Christians call it "Christ Consciousness," Buddhists call it "Nirvana," and Muslims call it "Taqwa." My brother Reverend Run, who's what I like to call a "Christian yogi," has his own term for it. He calls it a "State of Grace," that space where you can walk around and practice love in everything you do. The truth is, every religion has a name for that special moment when you're able to extend the experience of presence.

Of course, only very special people like Jesus or a Lord Buddha or a Muhammad are able to be totally present, all of the time. The rest of us mere mortals are just trying to be a little more present than we already are. We're just striving to be present enough to appreciate the godliness around us. Whether it's a mountaintop or a project rooftop, a sunset or a dark alley, a newborn baby or a corpse, the signs of God are posted all around us. We just have to be present enough to see them."