Last night I, along with many others from my community, went to the local DMV office to vote. While there, a very interesting dynamic was playing out. There was a daughter that had just turned 18 four days earlier and her mother. The mother had already done the mail in ballot and was there in support of her child. Once the child was called up to the electronic booth the mom went with her. The people working at the polls told the mom…

"Together we rise together we fall" is a common saying that most of us have heard.  I challenge you to explore if this is actually true?  Is it that together we are rising or together we are falling?  In my experience this is not true.  There are a few people that are falling, that are bringing more terror, and fear, and a sense of lack and not enough-ness and they are driving that energy into our culture. What about the rest of us?  

One of the things I was taught to do when growing up was to compare myself to others. Whether it was the typical thing at the dinner table to eat and appreciate food because not everyone had enough or whether it was within the family dynamic in which I was the only girl and so the comparison was between males and females (and appropriate behavior). 

I think that most of us were taught to compare…..

We are all told stories.

We are told stories about who we are. We are told stories about the ways of the world. We are told stories of who we can be when we grow up. We are told the stories through the media of the state of the world and our country. Stories. Constantly told stories.

How do we know if they are true?

We do everything because of how we feel.  When I say everything, I literally mean E V E R Y T H I N G.  Although most of us are actually super disconnected to how we feel.  In fact, we have been taught since a very early age that feeling is not a safe thing to do.  This comes in the the form of phrases such as

How much of your life have you spent comparing yourself to others?  Your family, your looks, your intelligence, etc.  However much time that has been, it is too much.  We do not need to compete with others so much, we need to start to collaborate. Why?  So we all can have a place in this world, live out our purpose in this world, and be filled by the collective energy of community.

When we believe there is not enough

May this inspire & encourage you today.  This is for you. Maybe you say this to yourself.... from yourself. Perhaps a way to let there be the light ignited within you. Maybe this is a way for you to meditate. Repeat after me.

Have you ever had a moment when suddenly everything felt effortless? Full contentment, enjoyment, child like awe and wonderment? That's what I'm talking about when I say your world stands still - times slows, and all is magical - if only for a moment.  Do you remember the last time your world stood still?  When I am in moments like this my eyes become glittery (teary) and I feel overwhelmed with purity, joy, happiness, bliss. This feeling comes over my body that is feels airy, satisfyingly still and empty with tiny bubbles of joy floating around.  Have you felt this before?  Would you like more moments like that in your life?

Some clues to know if this is happening in your system would be thinks like digestive issues, sleep disturbance, difficulty concentrating, being defensive, or feeling anxious.  Have you noticed that our bodies and our minds are not actually separate?  Perhaps you were concerned about something at work and it effected your sleep?  Or maybe when you've struggled with a relationship you also have struggled staying on task and focused throughout your day?  

Whether we remember in our minds or not, the body knows.  The body holds our traumas and fears.  These can show up by someone not feeling their body at all or by feeling it all of the time and further down the road it leads to serious illnesses/diseases.

The secret to healing is

A big question I have is this - Why are we so stingy with love?  There are so many sayings everywhere that talk about great gifts like hope, and laughter, and that the greatest is love - is love the greatest because it is the most difficult for us or because it can truly save and heal us on the deepest most intimate level?  

 In a relationship we must be able to mutually effect each other [super scary because you might get HURT.... you also could be deeply fulfilled] - 

I was recently reading when I came across a quote that struck me.  This is what it said, "It is very important to transcend the places that hold us...."  I stopped.  Just like that, I stopped reading and I began to think to myself, what has been holding me?  The answer - many things and the bottom line was myself.

Here are some of the tools I use

As we begin this week with our clocks set back an hour we might have a shift happening internally.  Perhaps we are going to choose to get out of bed when the sun rises and begin a morning workout routine, maybe we will go to sleep earlier each evening because it's been dark longer outside and it's beginning to get cold.  Perhaps we want to eat warm soothing foods and stay inside more often?  As we are in fall we are in transition.  There is always some sort of transitioning happening, today we can talk about our "ode to fall."

Fall has a lot to teach us about transition and impermanence.

So, my question began as what's with all the guns and shootings... and I ended up diving in on a deeper level.

This is a bit of a continuation of my last post, The Struggle is Real.  What I have for you today is a little poem that I put together about the beauty of the breakdown, of being ripped open and raw, and slowly beginning to put yourself back together ... so you can be a stronger and more inspiring you. 

Have you ever been told to keep a record of you thoughts or feelings? That it would help you to journal?  Did you nod because that's something you've heard before but your response is empty in the fact that you do not actually plan to journal?  Are you unsure of how to write to yourself?  Does it feel uncomfortable?

What I recently learned was the profound power of freely writing in a journal.

Have you ever wanted more clarity and perspective?  To feel re-energized and appreciate the people in your life more?  Spending more time with YOU might just be the answer!d

How can you go from being overwhelmed or underwhelmed to feeling alive and free and creating a life you desire?  The first step is to move towards a state of happiness within ourselves.  Once we do this, we are able to relax a little bit, settle in to who we are internally, and begin to hear that inner voice and allow it to guide us.

So, I've create a list of 5 steps to help you!  These techniques will help you begin to feel your power and strength and step into a state of more happiness - to live more out of love than fear, and to start to listen to that inner voice that wants to lead you towards healing and triumph and love. <3

All throughout my life I had been considered a highly competitive person, and for this I was exalted and celebrated.  Being a competitive person was seemingly referred to as though I was part of a club that was a notch about the rest - I "got" things other people didn't, I was smart and talented and driven, and I was "good enough" to be considered in competition for a top spot in whatever it was I was doing.  Because there was so much positive reinforcement and praise for being a "competitive person" I became really attached to it and let competitiveness become something that defined me. Have you ever felt like this or know someone else who does? 

Ever felt like this before?  When you're not happy you radiate such a mood/aura that you do your best to not allow others to feel happy.  Or perhaps you've been around others that lived in this way and it affected you?  Although we tend to not want to believe or see the worst in ourselves, for most of us this is has been the case for us either in the past or presently.  If we are not happy then we do our best to make sure others are also not happy.  When this happens so many things fall to the wayside...our relationships, our careers, the animals, the environment, basically the planet as a whole.  Sound like I am drawing too big of conclusions?

Taking trips and traveling is a wonderful thing that I encourage everyone to do.  The distance of travel, the destination of choice, the length of the trip and amount of trips taken in a lifetime can vary of course but the important thing is that we take trips throughout our life.  Why, you ask?

Today some of my friends from yoga school started a conversation in the comments section of a friends post on facebook.  Her post was about how she feels like she is getting her butt kicked and how she is working on balance & staying connected and that by keeping a good attitude through adversity will help and how important it is to maintain her yoga/meditation practice.  Her journey was that she did the 6 week course in Rishikesh, India for her yoga teacher training certification, then went to a vipassa meditation in nepal, and then studyed aurveda in a different part of India.  The conversation we [friends from the yoga teacher training, YTT, program]  started on her post was about the struggle of coming back to the western world after having spent time in India working on ourselves, our perspective, and how living in the laws of nature flourishes everything.  The question has been then, whey are we struggling being back in our daily lives?

I am so appreciate to live where I do - in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in a town called Evergreen, Colorado.  For the first time in my life I choose where I wanted to live because I wanted to live there not because I wanted a job that was there.  After doing my fair share of moving after high school (I think 11 total moves and 7 moves between states/countries), I decided that it was time for me to live in a place that I would love and thrive in, and no matter what I was "doing" this was where I wanted to be.  After two years of living here, I'm still in love with Evergreen.  The visitors we had today are one of the things I love about it so much here.

As you know, I was a gymnast for basically all my life.  I was competitively involved in the sport from age 5-28 and currently I still teach classes here and there, but at a more recreational level.  As a gymnast I had AMAZING control of my body and was in FANTASTIC shape.  My balance and coordination were impeccable and I was super quick and powerful not to mention that I was really strong and could maneuver my body well.  While I was no longer a gymnast and by no means in gymnastics shape, I still have some heightened body awareness. So you would think I would be great at skiing, right?  Wrong.