Hi…wow…so I’m catching up from my family having been in town for over a week.  It was really good to see them.  I’m grateful for all the time we got to spend together and the time I got to spend with my nieces and nephews, too.  They are really awesome.  They are 12, 13 and 15 and live in Columbus, OH.  I hadn’t seen them in a year. It was really powerful for me to realize they are a connection to my father, also.  It’s almost like I had forgotten he had made such an impact on their lives, as well, until I saw them this last week.  I felt like my father’s spirit was with us and very much alive in my connection with them.  I felt like my dad lives on in their hearts and minds simply through their rememberance of him.  They are the children of my sister who is my half-sister through our mother.  So, while they are not related to my father in blood, I realized this doesn’t matter, at all.  They are completely related to him in Spirit. 

This was something my father reminded me of before he passed away.  We were having a discussion one day about raising children and what my life might look like.  I talked about the possibility of having a child versus adopting a child and he said to me that whether you adopt a child or have a child, the child becomes your own either way.  It’s not the blood that connects us, ultimately.  It’s the spirit.  It’s the spirit that unites us whether that’s in our families, our friends, our country or our world.  And, technically, if we trace it back far enough, we are all connected and related one way or another, I’m sure, I believe that’s true. 

I feel like I have a lot of stuff to share with you, but let’s start here.  Besides the book I’ll most likely be writing…yea…(which will be published in Spring 2011) I’ll also be adding the membership section to the True Yoga Blog and website soon.  (And it will be really affordable…probably like $5/month.)  With the membership section you’ll have access to online Yoga videos with me, and, eventually, other inspiring instructors, as well, plus so much other awesome information, too.  I’m looking forward to bringing you an online store with awesome and inspiring products I love, plus, recipes, wellness coaching and more.  I hope you will find the True Yoga blog and website a community that supports and inspires you in growing well in body, mind, heart and spirit and being the best you can be in every way…physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. 

I mentioned I’ll be participating in a Yoga competition.  I didn’t ever think I would be involved in such a thing, but, I am going to participate in a way that’s healthy and balanced, rather than obsessive.  Sometimes I have the tendency to obsess about things, as I’m sure we all do.  When I decided to participate in the competition, I started thinking that meant I should practice Yoga everyday.  So, of course this week I was all inspired to get off the ground running with my Yoga regimen.  But, I realized that’s not healthy.  What’s healthy is to listen to my body and what it wants.  The attainment of perfection is an illusion.  None of us are perfect, that is why we are here.  To learn and grow and to understand how we can be healthier and better.  It’s an illusion to think we can reach some perfect destination.  I was reminded of this quote today while I was teaching Yoga class.  Although, I only knew the first part of this quote.  I didn’t realize there was more to it.  Apparently there is also a book called “Be Happy Without Being Perfect” by someone named Alice E. Domar.  That might be one to check out.  Anyhow, here is all of the quote:

“Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won’t have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren’t even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they’re doing it.”
— Anne Lamott (Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life)

In Yoga the intention and direction of one’s practice is to move inward into communion with our Self and Highest Self/the Atman, which means the spirit within.  In fact, Self-Realization Fellowship just wrote about this in their newsletter… Read the rest…

“We will make love an art and we will love like artists.” – Marianne Williamson

Hi   I’m glad I have a few minutes to write on the True Yoga Blog.  So many good things are happening and I love being able to share with you.  It’s amazing to feel all of the positive support from those of you I know and, also, those of you I don’t know or have yet to meet.

First of all, did you see that THE amazing Yogini goddess, Sharon Gannon, commented on the True Yoga Blog in the last post?  I’m so appreciative of and humbled by this gesture.  Thank you for your comment, Sharon, the Divinely inspired and sacred music you have created, and, for the blessings you offered.  Infinite blessings to you, all of us, and our planet, and the spiritually sacred work you are bringing into our world.  It’s amazing to feel connected to you and to feel your support, also.  I look forward to our paths crossing again, in person, in the not so distant future.  In the meantime, I’m grateful for the powerful energy and connection you have shared with all of us through your music, and also, your support of the True Yoga Blog and community.  We are all one…OM. Read the rest…

I could write a lot more, as usual, but I’m going to keep it short tonight.  My sister and her children are coming in a couple of days so I’m helping my mom get ready for their visit.  Her husband and three children will be here for about two weeks.  I’m really looking forward to them being here.  Although family can be stressful sometimes, all-in-all, it’s a blessing.    

What would it look like if every hour, on the hour, instead of worrying or lamenting, we turn out attention toward praying unceasingly for a resolution to the oil spill in the Gulf Coast?  The next time you have a conversation with someone about it, instead of talking about it, pray about it.  How often we talk about the world’s problems, but, how much more powerful it might be if we would simply pray for the resolve we wish to see.  In Yoga, the word Sankalpa means resolution.  The teaching is to ask for the resolution you are seeking and give thanks in advance for the already existant answer, knowing that whatever you have asked has been given in the best way it can be.  Parmahansa Yogananda, well and Jesus, too, and all the great saints and sages, say to pray unceasingly.  I hope you will join me in that. 

I was thrilled to find out that the beloved Yogini, Sharon Gannon, (a Yoga teacher to Sting), is releasing an album…how awesome and inspiring…she really is a goddess. 

“Produced by Ferenz Kallos, the album features eight epic tracks that swathe timeless, powerful mantras in sweeping widescreen settings. By eschewing traditional Indian instrumentation for a layered, ancient-to-the-future sound that crosses electric guitars, strings, electronics, flutes, woodwinds, Theremin, and exotic percussion with hip-hop beats, Sharanam (“refuge” in Sanskrit) offers a contemporary approach to the healing power of mantras— invoking a place of expansive awareness within the listener where the possibility of total acceptance, kindness and love arises, and is felt as totally possible. With Sharanam, Sharon Gannon shows that such a place is indeed real, that it exists within us all. And it sounds absolutely divine.

Sharon Gannon is an enchanting chantress with a celestial operatic soprano voice imbued with the kinetic, rock and roll grit of Siouxsie Sioux, as well as the elegance of Sarah McLachlan and Kate Bush with the experimentalism of Bjrok. Although she wouldn’t be comfortable saying it herself, some might call Sharon Gannon a rock star of the yoga world. The co-founder of the pivotal Jivamukti Yoga method, she’s known worldwide as an influential spiritual teacher. Sharon is a 21st-century Renaissance woman, one who excels in many disciplines, such as dance, writing, poetry, painting, cooking, and political activism. But before everything else—even yoga—her first medium is, and has always been, music.   

Creatively and musically Sharanam, her debut solo album is a milestone—the crossroads of kirtan and mainstream Pop where so many have tried to go—this record crosses the threshold appealing to both yoga practitioners and club DJs.  Sharon sings passionately and beautifully, with a deep, profound resonance that cuts across myriad genres; rock, trance/dance, electronica, New Age, underground/alternative, classical, experimental/avant-garde, world music, even opera. Sting calls the album “inspired, daring and essential.”-www.arielpublicity.com

Sting has this to say:

Of all human endeavors, music is perhaps closest to representing the world of the spirit. In music we attempt to render into form what is essentially formless, we attempt to describe what is beyond description, to frame silence, to measure infinity. This work has been Sharon’s mission not only in her practice of Yoga but also in the practice of music, where she applies the same dedication to the pursuit of the ineffable as she brings to her yoga practice, inspired, daring and essential.” – Sting, musician

I’ve been incredibly inspired by Sharon over the years and definitely consider her one of my teachers.  I’m friends with one of her dearest students, Deanna Andersen, who is an inspired and gifted Yoga teacher here in Dallas.  I’m so grateful to know her.  She has been a dear friend and an incredible teacher to me, as well.  I’ve been listening to some of the tracks from the album and I love them.  If you are a teacher, I highly recommend downloading this album.  And, if you are a practitioner or a lover of all things that are divinely inspired and spiritual, you will love this music.  Thank you, Sharon, for sharing your beautiful heart and spirit with us and for showing us how to live with that Divine Light of unconditional love, compassion and devotion in our hearts.  To listen to some of the tracks from Sharanam, please click here.

“Sharon Gannon has a heart that embraces the universe, and just as big. Emanating a boundless love and compassion for every living creature, she carries out her mission to heal the world every moment of every day through her yoga practice, her writing, her day to day living and through her music. Sharon believes in what she sings, and sings what she believes in-Love.” John Zorn, musician/ composer

The only life raft here is love and the Name.  Say it brother, O, say the divine Name, dear sister, silently as you walk. – Hafiz

I’ll be  back soon to share more with you on the True Yoga Blog.  Have a blessed rest of the week.  Om shanti, namaste~

(This pic of me was just taken last weekend at my friend Brianna’s going away party.  She will be managing the new exhale spa in Atlanta.  Yea Brianna.:)  I love that I’ve got a fork and a glass of wine in my hand…food and wine, in moderation, can also be helpful in spreading happiness, at times. )

Hi. How is everyone out there in the web of the wide world? So, I did indulge a little over 4th of July weekend and I spent the last week purifying myself from all of that. Can you believe I ate meat?  A big, smoked pork spare rib and some pork tenderloin.  I enjoyed it when I ate it but I felt really gross after.  I’ve been a vegetarian, basically, since 2003. I was inspired to go vegetarian by someone I was seeing at the time. My first ‘official’ boyfriend. Side note…I also didn’t have sex, officially, until I was 24. That’s also when I went to my first Tony Robbins seminar, perhaps these events are all connected in some way. I have a Tony Robbins story to share with you, but I’ll save that for another time.  I dated in high school and all that, and I had ‘experiences’ but I didn’t really have sex until just 8 years ago.  What a whirlwind it’s been in the last 8 years, too. I know being sexually involved with people definitely had a lot to do with that, some very healthy relationships and also some very dramatic relationship. I guess you gotta take the good, with all of it, to sort it all out and find out what’s best. A close friend of mine says he believes we all have to go through having that one, really bad, toxic relationship. By going through an experience like that it teaches us about what we really want and what is best for us. I agree with him. I had two really dramatic relationships. The rest were pretty balanced and healthy whether it was with a man or a woman, at the time. I’m committed to having only healthy, balanced relationships from this point forward, because life is too short for anything else.  I love that quote by Rev. Lee:

“Life is too short for drama and playing small.  So forgive quickly, laugh often and love deeply.” Read the rest…