Dreams Come True~ Sometimes It's Just a Matter of Time...

As a child, I always wanted to have a parrot.  I was so attracted to these beautiful birds.  I collected parrots, I wore parrots on my clothes and I actually hung stuffed parrots from my ceiling.  I even went so far as to draw one on my vision board from 1987.  Perhaps it was their colorful nature and ability to fly free I was subconsciously attracted to.  I never did get a real parrot.

This morning something magical happened.  Real parrots came to me.  It has been 25 years since I had the idea of owning a parrot.  This incident inspired me to remind you of the importance of the Law of Gestation in exercising the Law of Attraction.

Just yesterday, I was looking back at a Vision Board that I created in July 2011.  I could not help but to smile from my heart as I realized that in less than one year, my entire life has transformed to reflect everything my heart envisioned.  Although, I could not see the 'how' it didn't really matter.  I knew what my Best Life would look like: Passion, Love and Adventure.

When I saw the parrots this morning, I looked back to my first vision board and was not at all surprised to see a parrot there.  The Law of Attraction states that you will magnetically attract what you become.  Like attracts Like and Life attracts Life.  The Law of Gestation just means that you cannot control the time frame in which it takes for your thoughts or seeds to manifest into fruition.  In some cases it takes 20 or 25 years before dreams come true.

You cannot rush a baby from the embryo and you cannot rush a flower from the seed.  Chasing after what you want or forcing your will, will only send it running from you.  Plant the seeds today by visualizing what you want tomorrow.  Apply the Law of Action by creating a vision board.  You may be surprised to learn what your soul is attracted to.   Then, be patient.  Believe that Dreams do come true.

You must trust that sometimes things don't work out, because there is something bigger and better in the works.  I had no idea that when I decided to plant sunflowers in April, I was on my way to fulfilling my quarter-century dream in a greater way than I could have ever imagined.  Fresh sunflower seeds attract free-spirited parrots and I wouldn't want them any other way.

Dreams are not too big or too small.  Dreams are free from Time and Space.  You are never too old to apply the Law of Attraction.  What do you dream?  Follow the simple 5 steps to attract Love, Health, Wealth and Happiness.

1. Visualize 
2. Act       
3. Wait
4. Believe
5. Experience

Being Happy Healthy and Fit means knowing the Secret to the Law of Attraction:
Law of Action + Law of Gestation = Law of Attraction.
May All of Your Dreams Come True!

Aunt Jemima Evicted! Kids Kick Her to the Curb!

I was stunned when an 8-year old asked for 'real' maple syrup to go with her pancakes this past weekend.  Very much an everyday kid who enjoys everyday kid foods like Goldfish and Go-Gurt (yogurt packaged for kids and marketed by Sponge Bob Square Pants and iCarly.)

She had no interest in covering her pancakes with the traditional Aunt Jemima syrup.  She had tried organic pure maple syrup with her grandparents and recognized that it tastes much better.  When I suggested that we read the list of ingredients on the two bottles, she quickly corrected me as she read the first one.  "It says ingredient, NOT ingredients."  Pure Maple syrup contains only pure maple syrup.  When we got over to Aunt Jemima, she did her best to sound out some of the words that sounded like a chemistry experiment.

It was clear to her at 8, that there was anything but maple syrup behind Aunt Jemima's apron.  The challenge for parents is that the major food manufacturers have done an excellent job of marketing to children.

It was so refreshing to hear her tell the truth.  The real maple syrup simply tastes better.  Giving children the opportunity to experience healthy eating and make their own choices creates an opportunity to share the benefits with them.

A huge part of feeling better is eating better.  After all, the body is a transportation system fueled by food.  The higher the octane, the better the performance translates into the cleaner the food intake, the more optimal brain and body performance.

Try for yourself first.  Spend a week eating organic as much as possible.  Notice how you feel when you are putting clean fuel into your fuel tank.  You won't have to sell yourself or your children on making healthier choices, you will simply be drawn to feeling Happy Healthy and Fit.  Yes, you may spend a little bit more money for cleaner food as you would for cleaner fuel, but can you put a price tag on your health?  Consider healthy eating an investment.

Give your kids a chance to evict Aunt Jemima and let this be the gateway to a healthier nation.  Being Happy Healthy and Fit means making kicking overly processed and highly manufactured food to the curb!  Life is Short.  Make yours Magical!

Turn Difficult Situations, People and Poses into Great Teachers

Do you avoid company picnics, ex-wives or pigeon pose?  Find out why!

It is human nature to avoid things that are uncomfortable or difficult.  Creatures of habit are creatures of comfort.  Often that 'comfort' really is quite uncomfortable, but the at least the mind recognizes it and in that lies comfort.

The brain is a constant hive of activity.  It has been programmed in response to situations that have occurred in this lifetime, the womb and quite possibly previous lifetimes.  This programming creates prejudices of right and wrong.  These prejudices develop into attitudes and shape the way you see the world, judge yourself and judge others.  These patterns and prejudices dictate your joy or discontent.

Basically, you embrace what you recognize and like, and avoid what you don't.  For me, I have been blessed with an amazing opportunity for personal growth and expansion.  My life situation has gifted me a relationship involving an ex-wife.  Upon much self-reflection, I realize that I hold a lot of tension around this situation.  I have been unable to pinpoint the emotion.  It is not anger, jealousy, anxiety, insecurity, hatred or fear.  It certainly is not love, peace or joy.  It is just a nagging, physical sensation that has been tugging at my heart strings until this morning.

In my heart of heart's I know there is much I can learn from this situation.  I know that this is an excellent opportunity to exercise true love and compassion, which has nothing to do with her and everything to do with the peace in my own heart.

This situation is uncomfortable for me, because I do not have a program in my mind to process it.  My parents are still married and both sets of grandparents were married until death do them part.  Today, I have peace in knowing that I simply need to update my conscious software and change my mental programming.  I need to open my mind further and expand my heart.

It is normal to avoid, people and situations that make you uncomfortable.  I see the same thing in teaching yoga.  It is common to come to child's pose and avoid the discomfort of working through tight hips, hamstrings, backs, quads or shoulders.  It's also easy to avoid difficult conversations and speaking your truth.  It is natural to try to associate only with people, places and poses that are easy, comfortable and in tune with your own vibrational frequency.  The downside of feeding your patterns is limited growth.  If you are not expanding, you are contracting.  When the mind isn't opening, it is closing.

The reason it is desirable to avoid the undesirable is that anything that does not fit into your preconceived patterns or boxes creates stress.  Even positive things such as relaxation, affection and loving relationships can be stressful when your brain does not recognize them.  A narrow mind is a breeding ground for tension. It immediately transforms anything that it does not recognize into stress.  This explains why even a massage, yoga class or first date can be stressful to someone who has never had this experience.

Relaxation opens the mind to self awareness allowing you to see your patterns.  Patterns are like a cookie cutter.  They will continue to create the same limited results.  In order to reach your greatest potential, you must break free of your patterns and recognize your prejudices.  Open your mind to the infinite possibilities and greatest good in every difficult situation, person and yoga pose.

Avoiding situations because they are uncomfortable will shrink your world; limiting your range of motion, emotion and connection to your greatest self.  Create self-awareness around difficult situations.  Substitute compassion for judgment.  See them as teachers.  You will learn more from transforming your uncomfortable into your comfortable then you will ever learn from reading a book, watching a webinar, going to counseling or taking a class.

Being Happy, Healthy and Fit means knowing that you may never do the full splits and I may never invite her over for dinner, but I am grateful for the awakening and challenge to truly 'love thy neighbor.'  Next time you feel tension or notice it in someone else, realize that it is not personal.  It just may be an indication that it is time for you to update your old software and tune into higher vibrations.  Life is Short.  Make yours Magical!

Angels Deliver Confirmation ~ Tap into Your Dreams!

Are your Beliefs Sabotaging your Happiness!

Last night I had a very vivid dream.  I was enjoying conversation and laughter with my grandfather.  His eyes danced with magic and his playful spirit was true to form.  I awoke with a warm feeling in my heart and a question as to what he was trying to tell me.

As an avid reader and student of spirituality, I believe you are receiving messages all the time.  The trick is learning to tune into them and translate the highest good. Messages and ideas come in many forms.  The more you elevate your consciousness, the more clear they become.  You notice signs and synchronicity.

Just before bed, I was reading about the true purpose of yoga.  Yes, it is about a healthy mind and body, but that is only to remove them as distractions from elevating consciousness.  The body contains psychic energy centers.  The more these areas are able to be in a state of relaxation, the more open you become as a channel for the divine.

Considering Papa left his body in 1997 and was non-coherent for sometime before that, I knew that I had ascended time and space and received wisdom from him.  After spending the weekend looking at some 20-year old photographs, it would be easy to think that I had done some subliminal programming by stirring up memories.

It was more than just a coincidence.  It was confirmation.  Last year, I would have said absolutely not to a relationship involving a child.  I didn't have any experience with this, I just made it my belief.  If my grandfather shared this belief, he never would have married my grandmother, who lost her first husband in the war and was left widowed with a small child.  Had that been the case, my mother would never have been born and obviously, I wouldn't be here today.

I never gave any of that any thought until this morning.  Today, I am grateful for the knowledge and wisdom to tune into the divine.  Everything is perfect.  I am grateful to have my life enriched by sharing it with a witty, clever, fun-loving, spirited 8-year old.

I also share this with you as a reminder, to all who have lost a loved one, you have only lost them in mind and body.  The soul is unborn and undying.  You can ask for wisdom at any time.  In fact this is exactly the technology people wearing WWJD bracelets are tapping into.  Ask for Wisdom, Listen for Inspiration.  I have seen Angel as A + n+ Gel + L to mean A = Ask, L = Listen and 'gel' them together.

I encourage all of you seeking more love in your life, to check back in with the limitations you may have placed on yourself or current or future partner.   Simply ask through prayer for the clarity to see the highest and best.  Then Listen and find gratitude for the opportunity to lift your limitations.  Step out of your own way and stop sabotaging your Happiness.

Being Happy Healthy and Fit means being an open channel to receive divine love and wisdom.  Practice yoga and breath with purpose.  Life is short.  Make yours Magical!

Create Tranquility! Turtle Techniques to Winning Everyday

A body full of tension is like a car stuck running in high gear.  Quickly faults will appear and both will burn out.  Remember the story of the turtle and the hare?

Yesterday when I saw a turtle slowly and methodically crossing the street, it reminded me of the importance of slo-oooooowing down.  It is no secret that turtles live so long, because they breathe and move slowly.

Racing breath and jarring movements cause unnecessary stress and dis-ease to the body.  The simple act of lengthening the breath brings a sense of tranquility to the mind.  This can be practiced anywhere. In the Far East, there is a practice of slow mindful walking, it is a form of moving meditation done to slow down the central nervous system.

In the practice of yoga, Kurmasana, or tortoise pose is known to be sacred.  Essentially, it brings out the qualities of one who is of stable mind.  The Bhagavad Gita states, "When, again as a tortoise draws its limbs in on all sides, he withdraws his senses from the objects of sense, and then his understanding is well-poised."

Practicing moving like a tortoise will bring calmness and composure whether in sorrow or joy.  This is the path to equanimity.  Whether you can get to the full of expression of Kurmasana or not does not matter.  Practicing with good intention and awareness will heed great benefits.  Emotionally, you will feel freedom from anxiety and anger.  Physically, you will lengthen and tone your spine, activate your abdominal organs and soothe the nerves of your brain.

On a higher level, observing and imitating the tortoise prepares you for Pratyahara, the fifth limb of Patajanli's Eight Limbs of Yoga: withdrawal of the senses from outside objects.

When it comes to winning in life, remember the turtle and the hare....

Being Happy Healthy and Fit means looking to nature and slowing everything down to release tension and enjoy the moment like a tranquil turtle.  Life is Short.  Make yours Magical!  Ahhhhhh Kurmasana!  Namaste~

Yoga-Aahhhhhhh! Expand your Inhale, Exhale, Lungs and Life!

Stop fearing death and start loving life.  The difference between life and death is simply the breath.  You come into this world with an inhale and leave with an exhale.  

One of the first things you learn in yoga is the Ujjayi Pranayama, otherwise known as the Victorious Breath.  It makes perfect sense that the victor is the last one standing.  Proper breathing expands your lungs and expands your life.

The difference between a yogi and a gymnast or contortionist is the breath.  Although breathing happens naturally, it is known that without any mind, the average person breaths only one-eighth of their capacity.  This results in fast, short breaths.  The quicker the inhale, the less fresh-oxygenated blood that can enter the blood stream.  The quicker the exhale, the less poisonous carbon dioxide can leave.  This means the blood and body are not as pure as they could be.

The breath can be broken down into 3 types: Abdominal, Middle or Rib, and Chest.  Yogic breath combines all three into one harmonious breath taking the lungs to maximum capacity on the inhale and contracting to expel optimally on the exhale.  

Practicing conscious breathing for ten minutes a day will increase your vitality and energy levels.  Simply practice sitting up nice and tall with a long spin.  Begin with abdominal breathing and then middle breathing before trying chest breathing and then combine all three.  

To begin, place one hand on your lower belly and inhale through your nose to feel your belly expand like a balloon.  As you exhale, feel your belly draw back toward your spine.  Next, contract your belly and breathe into feel your ribcage expand, exhale and notice it contract.  Finally, breath only into your collarbones to feel the short and uncomfortable inhale and exhale here.  Now combine all three.  Breathe into the nose and feel the air go down to expand the chest, ribcage and belly  Then exhale and like you are squeezing the last bit out of a tube of toothpaste and feel the belly collapse, the ribs contract and the collarbones relax.  

At first, this breath requires mind, but with daily practice you will develop muscle memory and this will become natural.  The health, wealth and happiness rewards are infinite.  Keeping the body lubricated with freshly-oxygenated breath will keep you dis-ease and disease free.  Yoga-ahhhhhhhhh!

Enjoy your victorious breathing time.  It can be done anywhere anytime.  Consider adding your daily mantra~ I am Happy Healthy and Fit as your practice your breath.  Being Happy Healthy and Fit means living each day as a warrior enjoying beautiful Victorious Ujjayi Pranayama!

Namaste~

Kids These Days~ So Inspiring!

Recently, I had a young woman take my yoga class.  After class, she quietly asked me if I was from Arizona. She must have heard me mention I brought the lizard pose from the desert.  It turns out that she is from Arizona and is visiting Florida this summer to take the Yoga Teacher Training program being offered at White Orchid.

She said she was from Tucson, so I assumed she must attend University of Arizona.  No, she softly told me that she has one more year of high school left.  Wow.  My mind was already going a million different directions seeking to understand what this young woman was doing here.  She went on to explain that she didn't want to have to work in a restaurant when she got to college.  I wasn't sure if she didn't think she would have the time or if she didn't see that kind of service work as adequate.  Neither.

"I just have a real problem with serving food to other people that I wouldn't eat myself," she said with complete sincerity.

I was totally inspired.  I am fairly certain that I saw the gates of Heaven open in her true belief of 'love thy neighbor as thyself.'

After spending the better part of this year learning about things like raw food, organic food and sprouting, I knew this young woman was wise beyond her years.  She wanted to feed herself by feeding her soul.

Remember it only takes one person to make a difference in this world.  That person is you.  You don't need to seek fame and fortune to make a difference.  Simply by raising your vibrations and levels of consciousness, you are elevating the vibration of the planet.  Jesus and Buddha did not set out to become household names.  They simply knew the Truth and shared it with others.


 Your reason for wanting to practice yoga or desiring to teach it does not matter.  When you purify your body of toxins, you are purifying your mind as well.  With a pure mind and elevated state of consciousness, you can see that we are all one.  You can see that it does matter if you are serving and feeding someone toxic food, because their illness will have an adverse effect on the entire planet.  What is the true cost of cancer?  Not just on a financial level, but on an emotional level and spiritual level of all those affected directly and indirectly.  You are what you eat in body and mind.

I couldn't resist sharing this inspiring story of true selfless spirit.  Today's youth are tomorrow's leaders. Until then, tap into your own power to change the world for good.  As Gandhi said~ be the change you wish to see in the world.

Being Happy Healthy and Fit means recognizing your own divine spirit and honoring that in others.
Namaste~

In Tune with the New Moon

If the New Moon can cause high tides and earthquakes, it certainly can make souls shake!  

Stepping onto the beach Sunday morning, it was obviously high tide.  The tide rolls in and out everyday, but it was too significantly high to ignore that something greater was going on.  Driving along the intracoastal waterway, it was apparent that some docks were actually submerged.

The New Moon was on its way and arrives today.  Whether you believe in the effects of the changing moon on the mind and body or not, the effects to the tide are undeniable.  Knowing that the body consists almost entirely of water, it only makes sense that gravity would effect humans and animals, as well as plants and the ocean.

Farmers and sailors have been planning by the effects of the moon since the beginning of time.  Considering they could not check the Internet, they had to tune into the frequency and vibrations of consciousness.  Knowledge is power.  The best way not to be subject to the effects of the moon is to be aware of them and the shifts they create.

History shows that some of the greatest earthquakes have occurred during the time of the New Moon.  This is a result of the extreme gravitational force, the same one that pulls the tide extra high.

If the effects of the New Moon have the power to create earthquakes and shift oceans, isn't it remotely possible that humans can feel slightly pulled off center and temperamentally short fused?

The influences of the Moon on human affairs has been documented back to the ancient Hindus.  It is known that the moon produces no light of its own and draw light by attracting it from the Sun.  The Light received by the moon is in the form of Light waves or vibrations.  The vibrations are then reflected or refracted from the moon to the earth.  Based on the distance the moon is from the sun, the vibrations vary.

To counter the effects of lunacy and New Moon energy, consider slowing down your thoughts and actions.  Spend some time in meditation.  Traditional ashtanga yoga practitioners will not even practice yoga on the New Moon or Full Moon.  If you are feeling subject to negative or low vibrational energy from other people, find compassion, they are just being affected by the New Moon.

Being Happy Healthy and Fit means tuning into the greater consciousness.  Get in tune with the New Moon.  Life is Short.  Make yours Magical!

Motivation becomes Momentum~ Be a Sunflower. Be Unstoppable!

It's hard to look at a sunflower and not smile.  It is Evidence of Growth and Transformation.

In April, I wrote a blog about Joyful planting Today reaping a Blissful tomorrow.  I had planted sunflower seeds into a plastic bin.  Just over two months have passed since these planted seeds have take on a life of their own, literally.  The amazing results inspired me to draw parallels to yoga, love and life. Believe in yourself and your dream.  Pour your heart into what you believe in and trust that the universe supports you.  Motivation turns into momentum and you will be like a sunflower: unstoppable.

When I looked at the picture on the package of seeds, I knew that if I followed the directions, I would be rewarded with similar results.  The same is true of anything you desire to grow or grow into.  If one person can start a business, write a book, have a loving relationship, be a speaker, artist, musician, golfer or experience a physical or spiritual transformation, so can you.  The formula is the same.

Your Dream + Discipline + Patience = Your Results Realized!

When it comes to losing weight and feeling great or replacing a bad habit with a good one, it is no secret that it can be discouraging to wait for results.

High-speed internet, plastic surgeons, automated phone systems and movies on demand have created a society seeking instant results, reduced attention spans and limited patience.   Although, this is wonderful in many ways to simplify things, it complicates others.  Infinite patience produces immediate results.

Certain things cannot be rushed.  They must be cultivated to blossom over time and fertilized with the lost magic of patience.  As a yoga teacher, it is common to see new students getting frustrated by tight hamstrings and lack of balance.  They want to rush twists and headstands, which ultimately lead to injury.  The body is like a flower and must open organically.  The same is true of relationships; personal and professional.  The bond between friends and lovers exists, but time and attention strengthens it from silver to gold.

Rushing relationships or entering into them with expectations leads to disappointment while missing out on the joy of transformation.  This is true of the relationship you have with your body and mind, as well as the relationships you have with others.  The biggest mistake you can make is to believe that nothing is happening, because you may not see instant results.

The greatest growth occurs in the darkness.  Seeds must be planted into the womb of the earth.  There, they will gestate, shed their shell and give birth to a sprout in due time.  This same is true for you.  Set goals and continue to work positively and powerfully in their direction everyday.  Maybe your heels will never touch the ground in downward dog and maybe you will never do a handstand, but as long as you are working in that direction, you are making significant changes on a cellular level.  Maybe you are not working in your dream job or experiencing your dream relationship, but as long as you show up with your heart everyday, you will be unstoppable.

I promise you that when you plant one seed today for a brighter tomorrow and sprinkle it with love and patience, you will produce a fascinating result.  Do not limit yourself with expectations.  Trust that all you have to do is keep moving slowly in the direction of your best life and one day you will wake up in amazement.

Being Happy Healthy and Fit means blossoming and opening up to the infinite possibilities of life, while enjoying the process.  Be a sunflower.  Be unstoppable.  Life is Short.  Make Yours Magical.

Yoga~ all you can eat buffet! Start Feeding your Soul!

Yoga is like a buffet.  Consider how a restaurant advertises for a buffet: Prime Rib & Shrimp, All you can eat BBQ, Shrimpfest.  There are Chinese buffets, dessert buffets and salad buffets.  The fun is discovering all the special side dishes that weren't advertised.

The downside of a food buffet is that post consumption, it tends to leave you slovenly and sedated, overloaded on fats and sugar only to be hungry again in a few hours.  Yoga feeds your soul.  Health, happiness and healing are just a few of the endless side dishes available at the Yoga buffet.

This is the beauty of yoga.  It is an infinite buffet of benefits.  Regardless of your initial attraction into the physical practice of yoga also known as asana, you will reap the other rewards as a byproduct.  More than a path to fitness and flexibility, yoga is the path to your soul.  It is the way to remove obstacles and distractions so you can see your soul clearly.

Through the physical poses you align your physical body.  You rejuvenate your body on a cellular level by bringing freshly-oxyganated blood to all of your extremities.  You find your limitations so you can lift them.

Yoga in its truest form is about liberation of soul or freedom from ego.  It is an elevation of consciousness by integrating the mind and body.  If you have ever felt the feeling of wanting to burst out of your skin, go ahead and burst out through the practice of yoga.  Try trading in your vice of excessive food, alcohol, television watching, yelling, disappearing or drugs (prescription or not) for something that will leave you feeling fulfilled.

Yoga feeds your soul, today, tomorrow and always.  Don't take my word for it.  Find a place to begin your practice.  If the first place or teacher doesn't resonate with you, try another.  If you had one bad restaurant experience, would you never eat in another restaurant again?

The regular practice of yoga has been elevating consciousness for thousands of years.  It is the best all you can eat buffet in town!  Start feeing your soul and enjoying the new side dishes of benefits as they appear.  Imagine a life of peace, tranquility, serenity, love, harmony and bliss, in addition to more energy, better relationships and overall health?  Stop looking outside and start looking inside.  Life is short.  Make yours Magical!


Namaste~

The New Little Black Dress~ HAPPY is SEXY

You can dress up your body, but you cannot disguise your soul.  Have you ever put on an outfit one day and felt like you could take on the world and then another day feel like it just isn't working for you?

The good news is that it isn't about the outfit, it is about your essence.  You are not dressing your body.  You are dressing your soul.  Your body is like the base layer or foundation covering your soul.  The most beautiful and extravagant garments cannot bring beauty to your soul.  The most beautiful souls do not need costumes to attract a crowd.

The idea behind the little black dress is one to make you feel sexy.  To be sexy is to be attractive.  To be attractive is to be attractable.  By definition, this means bringing energy to you like a magnet.  Happiness is the sexiest dress you can wear.  You cannot buy it and you cannot hide it.  When you are happy, you can show up on any dance floor and attract a crowd.  What you are wearing on the outside is of no significance.

Little black dresses will come and go.  Styles will change, but happiness is timeless.  You will not find it in your closet.  You will find it out in the world.  You will find it when you come to love and accept your body and mind.  You will find happiness when you stop looking for it in a catalogue and realize that it is inside of you just patiently waiting for your ego to quiet down.

Happiness comes when you realize that you don't need to try to attract anything, you simply need to be Happy.  True happiness comes from helping others to see the best in themselves.  The Law of Attraction will guarantee that others will see the same in you.

Today, instead of shopping for one more thing like you already have, look inside yourself.  Open your mind to your inner beauty and the infinite possibilities of right here right now.  Happiness is Now.

Being Happy Healthy and Fit means putting on your secret New little black dress everyday.  After all Happy is the new Sexy.  When you feel better, you look better.  Life is short.  Make yours Magical.