goa challenge - 4th and last week!!

the goa challenge was a challenge, that is for sure.
i am so glad i put myself on the challenge, but i am so happy that the month is over :-)

i have decided that i will make the goa challenge an annual occasion. every august i will put myself on a new challenge and next year i will invite you to join me!!

this month i worked on a lot of the things i had on my list, and i got myself out of a rut i've felt i've been in for some time.
it is very important for me to exercise and practice yoga, if not 7 days a week, 5-6 days a week. i have a lot of pitta (fire) in me, but i am very much a vata (air)person so i tend to get very airy, and just want to roam around aimlessly. so exercising and practicing yoga is a must for me to stay focused and remind myself of the strengths and possibilites that are within me.

i am very aware of my weaknesses, but i might not always be so willing to change them. a huge epiphany happened this month in that i realized that the reason i end up in a stuck place is that i have not been willing to let go and change something that i know is not moving me forward.
when we are afraid of letting go and we hang on to stuff that we know are not going to move us forward, we are bound to end up feeling stuck.

this is why it is important for me to practice yoga, run, dance, do weights, to release stuck energy and harness energy to move forward.
it is extremely important to me to move forward. i need to feel i'm progressing.

life is nothing but interesting. there is always an opportunity to learn, and i feel that by being on the path of yoga the sky is the limit.

life is exactly the way we see it. it's about making the most out of it.

carpe diem!

goa challenge - 2nd & 3rd week

helen keller:
"when one door of happiness closes, another opens. we look so long at the closed door, that we do not look at the one opened for us"

being on the Goa Challenge has been such a positive experience for me. i am a true believer in when we push outselves physically, we get huge realisations mentally.
challenging myself abit more has given me clarity in what i WANT to do and what i NEED to do to move forward.

it has become clear to me in my profession that i have to move forward in a more yoga inspired fitness way. one evening in the bathroom after i had showered i was by the sink brushing my teeth and a soft, but clear voice tells me out of the blue: "go for the fusion!"

it's happened to me many times before. one time, when my literary agent and i was shopping for a book contract, we got one offer. i wasn't so sure i was crazy about the offer, but at the same time i was so happy to have gotten an offer! one night in the bathroom brushing my teeth by the sink, a voice comes out of the blue: "you will get a better offer, let this one go!" i let it go and later got a better book offer.

the point is: the voice that talks to me is my intuition, it's the voice that never argues. we all have it! i always listen to it! it's a bit scary to listen to it cause i know it's right. it's just funny that it seems to happen in the bathroom by the sink for me :-)
and it is so interesting that always in that moment the voice talks, i know that my mind is completely still, no chatter is going on, i'm in a state of meditation, and there the voice is very clear. i want to be in this kind of state all the time!! so maybe i need to be in the bathroom brushing my teeth all the time :-)

it has also become clear to me that i don't want to or have to work out every single day, even if the 6th or 7th day is restorative yoga. it's nice to just be OFF, to take a break and not have to think about doing anything other than reading, watching TV, spend time with family/friends, get a manicure/pedicure, surf the net, putter around the house - whatever.
so i now know i am happy with working out 5-6 days a week, but no matter how many days i work out, make every workout count!

from me to you, find your own flow and flow with it!
[carpe diem]

what is wrong with this?

{i'll get to this picture in a minute ...}

so the media is at it again. first it was wrong that our First Lady wore sleeveless dresses. how could she show off her arms? and they are too toned! she should be covering them up!

now it's all about her legs. this week on vacation in the sweltering heat, she wore short-shorts. oh, no, how could she show off her legs like this? she should be covering up those legs. she can't show off toned legs like this!

the chatter goes on ....
she is the First Lady of the United States! shouldn't she be covering up her body??? this is not appropriate, none of the other First Ladies has ever dressed like this, showing off their arms AND their legs.

my goodness, for Heavens Sake. what is wrong with the media? how puritanical can we get?
i am not against the media at all, but SERIOUSLY, no wonder we got body issues.
the reason i am "blaming" the media is, i have not heard anyone in my circle of friends or students or clients feeling that our First Lady should be covering up. on the blogs i have visited, all comments are positive. go for it, leave her along, she is gorgeous, she's got a gorgeous body she should show it off, the list goes on and it's a long list of positives.

I AGREE. our First Lady is gorgeous and she should show off what's she's got. she is such a breath of fresh air.
i think the media just wants to create a stir, it gives them something to do. it's a yoga moment in there for us to "catch it" and chose for ourselves what we believe. it's a wonderful moment to create a strong center within ourselves.

so to the picture above. all over New York City i see the new Calvin Klein underwear ads. to me, these ads are AMAZING. the models Eva Mendes and Jamie Dornan are gorgeous. looking at their bodies makes me want to go to the gym every single day (which i happen to be doing these days!! part of my Goa challenge). it doesn't make me feel bad about myself, or make me feel like i want to be them, it just inspires me to work on the body i have and make it stronger and in better shape.

but it seems like there are issues out there with this ad campaign too, just google it. again, it's hard to know if it's just media stirring things up, or if actual people have been complaining.
the TV ad featuring Eva Mendes for Calvin Klein's perfume 'Obsession' got banned from TV (and YOUTUBE) for being too sensual!! google that too and you will see.

let's loosen up a bit and create self-esteem and a love for our bodies, so when we see advertisement around us, we don't automatically have to feel bad about ourselves, but try to look at it for what it is. (and remind ourselves that in any picture you see, allot of retouching is involved :-) it doesn't make me feel better or worse, it's just the reality).

but again, i don't know how much it is the public that is so against this, just like with the whole hoopla about the First Lady, or if it is the media that makes it into a big thing.

in my opinion i don't understand what the whole fuss is about ... just a few of my thoughts in the sweltering heat :-)

natural born yogis

being a witness to my son's development and what i think of as his 'natural abilities,' i am convinced we are all natural born yogis. my son, lars is the best Guru i could ever wish for. he teaches me so much about being a yogi on a daily basis. he is free, happy, present and just pure LIFE FORCE. it's all within us!

[i had to post these pictures, pardon me, but it's my blog and i can post whatever i want to :-)]

balance: he started stacking these containers. it got pretty tall but he didn't stop. the taller it got, the more careful he was in how he positioned the next container. intuitively he knew it would fall. i think that is pretty amazing for a 21 month old, but i'm biased obviously

balance takes practice. let me see how it will work with glass! he is a libra after all.
open hips: just another natural position to be in on the floor watching TV.
ready to get into prasarita padottanasana
supta virasana: look at my spine, mom. can you do this?
kapotasana: you can see the joy in this backbending. no resistance! the heart is open :-)

goa challenge - 1st week

if you listened to my first video log (vlog aug. 2nd) you now know that Goa (me!) is challenging herself in her Goa Challenge! i set out to exercise every day (for 30 days) and the first week i did 6 days. i'm honest! i felt bad about not excercising on friday, BUT i was soooo tired, i couldn't even do restorative yoga. a nap was more important!! i had been up at 4.45am every morning to train clients until noon, did my self-workout from noon-2pm and then mom-in-chief for the rest of the day. it's two full time jobs :-)

[not complaining at all.]
a challenge is a challenge! and a challenge it is! a good one.

i did not do this to lose weight, but more as a mental challenge. also august would give me more time to myself, which is something i was craving. being a mom i don't have 2 hours to workout every single day, and i miss that, i really miss that.
[maybe after this month i will not miss it as much :-) be careful what you wish for, you might get it - and not want it :-)]

for the first week i did not feel like making a plan. i basically wanted to do whatever i felt like doing on that particular day. it worked well, and was alot of fun, and different. i made sure i worked on different things.

i followed my energy. i thought alot about moving in waves, the way Gabrielle Roth describes. and because i listened and followed my energy, the waves changed, and the pattern changed. it's amazing.

i feel so fortunate to be able to put myself through this challenge. i am moving out of the rut i put myself in. and that is PRICELESS!

august video log 1 - inspiration

alright, so here we go: my first video log (vlog).
it took me forever to figure out how to convert the file to a smaller file that would upload to this blog. i finally figured it out, but the quality might not be as great as i would like it to be. i'll keep practicing and get someone to help me.
it's like i'm strengthening a muscle that has never been used :-)

enjoy!

August is a great month to ....

1 say to yourself: I have plenty of time (if I just stick to my priorities)
2 give yourself a physical challenge
3 take yourself out of a rut
4 clean out the physical clutter (a messy house, room, drawer, closet)
5 clean out the mental clutter (stop procrastinating, meditate on what you need in your life)
6 spend time with people you care about (if you don’t make the time, you will not have the time)
7 take a vacation, or a staycation (stay at home while exploring areas you've never visited before, do not work)
8 be serious about having some (or alot of) fun!! life is too short to be too busy to not have fun.

ENJOY THE MONTH :-)