365 Yogini

I've learned that when I ask (or occasionally demand) for something, The Universe happily provides.

So as I'm looking at my schedule for the summer, I notice that I'm ready to teach a regular Tuesday/Thursday class. While I'm also intending to create regular community events at the Yoga Cottage, I'd also like to teach at a local studio like YogaCo, Yogis Anonymous, or Yoga Desa.

So I'm putting that intention out so that I can see what happens.

Yesterday was the completion of my second week, and my third weekend, of my 6 month 300 hour teacher training program with YogaWorks. I feel so blessed, and could not be more grateful, for my mentor, Kia Miller, and the wonderful group of yogis and yoginis I'm training with. It's been so nice to allow myself to dive deeply into this practice, philosophy, and pranayama; although I've had to let go of other activities and income generators in my life.

Yet, as you may know, sometimes you must say "no" to certain things in order to say "yes" to important opportunities. Right now I am saying "Yes! I am available to more good than previously thought, imagined, expressed, or manifested in my life." And in order to receive the goodness, you must be in the right place at the right time. So I am here, now...and loving it.

Often times I fill up my schedule with so much work and volunteering that I have no time to take care of myself, but now, I am my priority, and I like it. By putting myself before others, I can be of more service. Things are changing, but everything is moving in the right direction.

With that said, in the past two weeks I've taken classes with the following teachers at the corresponding studios:

Kia Miller (YogaWorks)
Lisa Walford (YogaWorks)
Jennifer Pastiloff (YogaCo)
Travis Eliot (SM Power Yoga)
Mia Togo (YogaWorks)
Andres (SM Power Yoga)
Govindas (Bhakti Yoga Shala)
Jeanne Heileman (YogaWorks)
Jasmine Lieb (YogaWorks)

Govindas...rock my world why don't ya. My Friday afternoon class at the Bhakti Yoga Shala was a truly awe inspiring experience that left me in a supreme physical and spiritual state. Together, we chanted phrases, including: "I am available to more good than previously thought, imagined, expressed or manifested in my life."

And then we visualized what "more good" would look like in our lives. My visualization was a fast forward through my world and included me walking home from the beach and into my home which was filled with my beloved friends. I was greeted with a kiss from my man and we picked fresh veggies from our garden to juice and cook together. People continued to come in and out of our Yoga Cottage as I hopped on and off planes in foreign lands dancing and laughing with unfamiliar faces filled with love. I practiced yoga and swam in unfamiliar waters. I was surrounded by circles of smiling children, hugging, laughing and doing yoga games with them and watching them grow...and ZOOM...back into the very spot I was sitting in; knowing that yoga and meditation are GOOD for me and that Life is FUNDAMENTALLY Good.

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At 4pm on Friday December 18th, we at www.theStream.tv embarked on a 24 hour cycling fundraiser for the Pablove Foundation, a nonprofit fighting childhood cancer with love. The organization was named after a boy named Pablo Castelaz who lost his battle with cancer in June, just 6 days after his 6th birthday. His family's story is an inspiration to us all.

In October, Jeff Castelaz, Pablo's father, rode his bike 3,100 miles across the U.S. to mourn his son's death and to raise funds/awareness about pediatric cancer. We, at theStream.tv, rode a stationary bikes for 24 hours to support Pablove, and I rode for at least 6 of those hours...probably more.

Luckily, I was able to ride side by side with Jeff Castelaz and we had the chance to talk about life after Pablo's death, the importance of art in treatment, the Children's Hospital Los Angeles, and the potential band name, "Phone Tree."

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Tara's Birthday was coming up and she was considering sky diving. I was willing to go with her but when she started to change her mind, I suggested that we climb to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite, CA.

Luckily, she agreed to tackle Half Dome with me and this is what our experience looked like:

My bike was stolen in the wee hours of October 12th. On October 13th, a bike with the same exact components (Black 20" Trek Hybrid FX 7.3 with 700 cc road tires) was for sale on Craigslist. However, I didn't find this posting until the 20th when I had finally filed my police report and an officer suggested I check CL.

When I saw my bike for sale my heart started beating out of my chest and I immediately called the seller saying that I was interested in buying the bike. I also emailed him. Then I flagged the message to have it removed so no one else could buy the bike before I had a chance to see it, which in hindsight, was probably a bad move, because then he never responded and the posting disappeared.

Luckily, I had noticed that this same person posted another bike for sale on CL and in the photo, my bike could be seen in the background. So I set up a new email account and contacted the seller about this different bike. He replied. We talked about meeting. I asked for an address and it was a residential neighborhood.

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I've been sick for 2+ weeks and last night I didn't feel like riding my bike home from the Taste of Abbot Kinney. So I locked it to a rack on the corner of Abbot Kinney and Venice, trusting that it would be safe until the morning, and got a ride home from a friend.

I woke up this morning at 4am coughing my brains out and arrived at the corner at 6am but unfortunately, my beloved bike was gone. Stolen.

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I was sitting at my kitchen table, working on my computer and about to start addressing a difficult problem when I had a fit of inspiration to practice yoga in my living room studio. With nothing on but pajama shorts and a sports bra, I unfolded my mat facing north east and turned on my 60 minute yoga flow music, skipping the first 10 minutes of meditation music and getting right to the good stuff.

I began by chanting OM once and approached the practice gently, but was eager to start flowing. So by the time Madonna started playing, I was into my dancing warrior series and I felt good. Incorporating twists and extra core work, I started to build a lot of heat and was sweating like crazy. During Erykah Badu I slowed down but kept the flow steady and strong. Eventually, for my inversions, I did a shoulder stand, head stands, and hand stands. Then I worked on my core until my abs hurt. My savasana was sweet.

Once I eventually got back to work, a text message popped up on my phone from a Soul Brother who I haven't talked to in a while: "Thought of you this morning as I was doing yoga under a sandstone arch in Utah, with the sun to my right and the moon to my left."

No wonder I had felt so inspired!

Thursday was interesting. It started with a first date with a guy who sounded like a great match: and intelligent yogi, runner, and family man. We had been trying to meet up for days but our schedules were conflicting. He was leaving for a 3 week family reunion, and while I was considering waiting until he returned, we both agreed that if we could make it work, we'd make it work. So we met for brunch Thursday morning and I took him to the airport. Strange first date, huh?!

Brunch was lovely. We had good conversation but the magnetic chemistry wasn't quite there. I had gotten myself far too excited about this guy and felt slightly disappointed.

After the date a few more things happened (which I won't elaborate on) before my friends and I went to Travis' 1:30 class where I felt a bit distracted. We were planning on going to the last free concert at the pier that night, but during class, I couldn't stop thinking about eating a turkey burger and going home to rest.

Luckily, after class I was easily able to talk my friends into going to the Counter for burgers, but talking them out of the concert wasn't happening. We agreed that I'd go home for a nap and try to meet up with them later. So when I got home at 5pm I had a headache and was in my bed by 5:15pm. I just wanted to close my eyes for a little bit so I left my front door wide open for some fresh air.

Next thing I knew my alarm was going off and it was 6:15am. WHAT!?!? I had slept all night?!?! I got up to pee and got back in bed until 7:45 am when my property manager called to tell me an electrician was on his way. So I got myself dressed and I realized my front door was still wide open and had been all night. So what started as a quick nap turned into 14.5 hours of sleep. Deep, dream filled sleep. Definitely the longest nap of my life.