morning meditation

inspiration

The theme for January is inspiration.  I thought this would be great to kick off the New Year.  Last year I worked really hard to get myself set up teaching as many hours a week as I could.  And the  hard work payed off.  I'm finally teaching a full (ish) schedule and not having to stress about it.  So for a couple of months now the question has been: "What's next?"

And I don't know.  I'm not sure if what I want is to keep growing my yoga practice and to start offering workshops and retreats, or if maybe it's time to start exploring other passions and see how they can fit in to my life and career.

Inspiration.  I have a Desire to Inspire.  But before I can go out into the world and inspire others, I need to find my own inspiration.

This month I have been working out of a book called Desire to Inspire.

It's a super fun, creative book filled with inspirational quotes and stories from a collaboration of artists and other creative souls.  At the end of each chapter there are exercises to help you to dig a little deeper.  Exercises to start to bring things to the surface.  What do you want to do?  What's holding you back?  How can you make a difference?  What makes you happy?  These are the types of questions that are to be answered through the exercises.

So far I've been having a ton of fun going through the book and am learning more about myself than I thought I would.

The book was kicked off with a battle cry and a letter.

It looked something like this:

Exercise ~ The Superhero in you

My Superhero Powers

Magic words: "move from your heart", "you are as strong as the wind", "you are enough"
Power move:  standing/sitting tall
Talisman:  meditation ring - gives me calm, creative courage
Theme song:  Between Two Lungs ~ Florence and the Machine

Exercise ~ Letter to your small self

You are free. You are free to choose—to choose the life that you want to live. You have the whole world before you and the unshakeable love and support of your family behind you. All you have to do is jump, and trust that the wind will carry you.

You’re young and smart and beautiful and live in a time and a place where anything is possible. Your path to freedom and happiness is yours for the taking.

It’s this spirit of freedom that makes you special; this sense of wonder that keeps you alive. Don’t cage yourself to suit others. Embrace who you are. Even if what you want and what you need seem scary a times.

Your free spirit will lead you to greatness if you just let it.

Believe in yourself. Don’t hold yourself back out of fear. Don’t let yourself be held back by others out of a sense of duty.

You’re light and loveable—let yourself soar.

Free yourself of judgment and expectations; of fear and worry. Let go and follow your heart. 

You are free. Never forget that. 

P.S. I love you.

~peace :)

are you happy?

Are you happy?  This is the question posed by Gretchen Rubin in her book The Happiness Project.  Or more specifically: could you be happier?

I devoured this book in a couple of days, not becuase the writing was so good (it was okay), but because I've become obssessed with the idea of being happier.

A couple of months ago during yoga, as the class winded down into savasana the instructor said to bring someone to mind that could use a little extra love.  And you know who came to mind: me.  Like a five year old version of me.  I started crying.  Luckily the class was online through www.myyogaonline.com and I was in the comfort of my own home enjoying a very nice pants off morning.  Nothing like a good cry in your undies.

This got me thinking: a) I need more friends, b) I need to start taking better care of myself, c) I love what yoga can do

This book came to me - recommended by a student of mine- at exactly the right time.  I was breaking down.

"When the student is ready the teacher will come".  This is a buddhist proverb that Rubin talks about in her book.  This book, this idea of a happiness project has become my teacher.

This is how my happiness project is going to work.  Or as I like to call it "the no shit experiment"  As in; eating healthy will make you happier.  Uh, no shit.  Or, taking better care of your finances will make you happier.  Uh, no shit.  Or, cherrishing and having more sex with your partner will make you happier.  Uh,  not shit.  Etc, etc...

Each month will have a theme, and then within that theme there will be resolutions to help me to stay on track.

This month is all about Energy.

My resolutions, and these are daily, are to:
Eat three servings of veg/day
Have a green smoothie
Listen to music while getting ready
Do yoga
Get outside for a walk
In bed by 10pm (M-F)
Out of bed by 7:30am (M-F)
Floss

She suggests making a resoluting chart to help to keep you on track and to have a constant reminder of what your resolutions are for the month.

Mine looks like this:

But for those of you who are artsy or have any sort of computer skills it may look a little different.

So, who's up for this 'no shit experiment'?  In the words of Jerry Maguire..."who's comin' with me"?  repeatedly.

Happiness project or not here's a great way to have some fun.

Put on your favourite album, leave your yoga mat in the corner and just start to move.  See what comes up.  The freedom that comes from moving outside the confines of your mat brings up some exciting new sequences/dance moves. 

In my mind I look something like this:

I probably look something like this:

Hopefully it's somewhere in between.  Album of choice for me:  Ceremonials by Florence and the Machine!

Amazing!!!!!

Cheers to happiness!

ps.... my homeboy is doing it too!!

pps...pass it on to anyone you think could use a little extra happiness  http://happiness-project.com/