The past several weeks have been extremely full. Yoga Teacher Training, My grandmother’s passing, visiting with family, my daughter’s tenth birthday, my anniversary, my grandmother’s memorial service…

My grandmother died a few weeks ago. She was 99 years old. For most of her life, she was filled with such a dynamic vitality and heartfelt joy for living that it seemed like she might just live forever.

It was one of those magical classes where all the students seemed to breathe as one and I was simply following in the wake of Shakti as she led us where to go next.  

 The universe doesn't make mistakes and so all of your idiosynchrosies, "imperfections", lumps, bumps, scars, and grooves are exactly as they are meant to be.  They make you who you are, and you are Well Made. 

Every day you get to choose the people in your company.  Every day you have the opportunity to become Great company yourself.

Curiosity about your concealment partnered with seeking out solutions is the curriculum for your Awakening

The story of how I accidentally ended up having my own practice space. It is a story of going against my habit and saying YES every time an opportunity came along.  

It is so easy to let your entire life be kidnapped by an over active mind.  But what is really needed is the willingness to let your heart lead the way.

To truly live from the heart, we must engage the great work of learning to BELIEVE people when they genuinely express Love.  

True connection includes actual realtime interaction  - hearing people breathe, listening to their words, feeling their energy.

As a householder/practitioner the goal is not to try to escape life, or to discipline life in anyway.  The goal instead is to meet Life on Life's terms

To recognize abundance is to know it as a flow, an experience, and energetic signature - not a number on a bank account.  Anyone can experience the flow of abundance at any moment.  

An awakened heart is one that lives and breathes.  To awaken your heart means that you can connect with a stream of wisdom that resides inside of you.

Celebration can be extremely elaborate or exceedingly simple.  The important thing is that it takes you out of the mundane into a more expansive mental and emotional space.

To be in Nothing Extra mode means no elaborate meals with long cooking times, no over thinking, no obsessing over trivial details, no cute, clever yoga sequences.  Nothing Extra means get to the point, get the job done and get it done with clarity and precision.

In the Bhagavad Gita, we’re taught that of all the paths, the Heart is the highest.  This teaching is a permission slip to do as Rumi says, "Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.” 

Wholeness isn't separating out all of the parts of ourselves into tiny individual packages.  Wholeness is weaving all the parts back together into meaningful relationship.  Wholeness is who we are at the deepest level.

Is it really possible that more ease and balance could come from just paying attention to how I am feeding my body, mind, and Heart?  It seems too simple.  

Goal is about accomplishment, meeting expectations or achieving something.  Intention has more to do with the HOW I will meet my goals, and WHO I will be during that process.

Upon reflection:  Why was I given this year?

How do I want to begin the next one?