september is a great month to ....

1. get started on the goals you set for yourself in august (or maybe back in january? remember them?)
2. practice a completely new yoga pose (how about hummingbird pose? see picture (found on fitsugar.com), video of me giving you directions on how to make this happen is coming!!)
3. buy something for your fall/winter wardrobe. somebody has to keep stimulating the economy
4. increase your home cooking repertoire. make 4 new recipes (one each week of the month)
5. let go of some old baggage on the full moon on friday september 4th
6. start something new on the new moon on friday september 18th
7. celebrate international day of peace on monday september 21st
8. celebrate autumn equinox on tuesday september 22nd
9. do something that makes you reeeeally happy :-) (maybe hummingbird pose??)

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]

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 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 :-)