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Put your order into the universe & watch what comes your way. Have faith and it will be.

The universe, our wants & desires all exist in the power of intention and positive thinking.

This weekend was proof of this for me. I wanted fun. I needed a place to go dancing. I have been eagerly searching for awesome, nice, FUN people to hang out with. Through a series of serendipitous events, I found all of these things & more. the tools are laid out for me now & provided I continue on, I will get exactly what I asked for. life seriously rocks.

let's go dancing!

Never again will i take for granted chocolate, eggs, bread, crackers, cheese or ice cream as these items are not standard fare at the Sivananda Hall buffet line.

But, let me tell ya, ashramites are the most fun at a Halloween party! Oh, and the male Swami (monk) ballerina… whoa. So, if you really want to see some creative & fun costumes?? go to an ashram next Halloween.

I am wondering how they find time to meditate for 90 minutes a day. oh, yea. we wake up at 5:30. Lights out at 10!!! So, never again will i take for granted sleeping in until 7:30. (yes, after 3 weeks, that IS sleeping in to me!)

However, in the "real world" i wouldn't be able to go to a shrine that was built with earth from sacred places from around the world and chant because it's a full moon. In the real world I won't be eating 100% organic vegetarian food that is magically prepared 3 times a day. Nor will everyone be loving, accepting & genuinely kind to everyone else all the time. Next Sunday, when I go back to my life in the "real world," there is I will probably realize that I took the ashram for granted. Luckily for me, I can come back anytime.

I'm in Buckingham, Virginia on a 700 acre ashram called Yogaville… and it is a bit of heaven on earth. Just bring your own chocolate. J

cheesy flyer:

Reason 1!
Happy Summer Solstice!
Today, the sun is farthest northern point of the year, which makes it the longest day of the year of the northern hemisphere. Lucky for me, because I have to work late tonight & it will still be light when I leave!

Reason 2!
I hired a programmer for my big & final work project!
After giving him a simple yet clever test, I determined that his competency & eagerness to help made him the right person for the job. I have never been so excited about a work-related project! This new system will make all my co-workers jobs more efficient and allow for future growth. Woo-hoo!

Reason 3!
I am officially accepted to my month-long resident Yoga Teacher Training program at the Swami Satchidananda Ashram (aka Yogaville) in Buckingham, Virginia!
I received a phone call from the Teacher Training coordinator who gave him the required phone interview. After we talked, he said he could tell me that my application was straightforward & that I was in fact, accepted. I did not doubt this would be that case, as it is one of those perfectly aligned meant to be life events, however, it is AWESOME to know for sure!

Reason 4!
I was able to see Mariel (yoga teacher extraordinaire) before she left Sarasota today (for good) and share my awesome news, hear her plans, and set the intention to cross paths in the future. This awesome lady has inspired me infinitely. To engage with her one last time is priceless to me.

Reason 5!
My boyfriend is home!!! We had a super cute breakfast date & cuddled endlessly last night. Hes only been gone for 4 days, but I have missed him so. To be with him feels like home. <3

Fear is that little dark room where negatives are developed.

Fear is the most incapacitating human emotion. don't let it happen to you.

thanks to my friend jamie love for posting this:


thoughts from Paul Ferrini

Romance may open the door to love, but it does not help us walkthrough it. Something else is needed. Something deeper. Something ultimately more real. Challenging times must be weathered. Love must be strengthened beyond neediness and self-interest. It must die a thousand deaths to learn to rise like the phoenix beyond adversity of any kind.
Love is not a fragile, shiny thing, kept separate from the pain and misery of life. It is born of our willingness to learn from our mistakes and encounter the depth of our pain, as well as our partner's pain. That is the way it is.
In time we learn that all pain is the same pain. And we have compassion for the other people who inadvertently step on our toes as they learn to find the inner rhythms of the dance. Like us, they will stumble and fall hundreds of times until that moment of profound aceptance when grace comes and the beloved takes their hand in the circle."

Excerpt from Dancing with the Beloved

A relationship is a covenant between two people. It defines what both people are willing to do. It honestly states what each person feels s/he can give freely.

It is not a call for mutual sacrifice.

It must not be about what people give up to be together. It must be about what people bring willingly to each other. It must be about what they take pleasure in giving and receiving.

A relationship is not about demands. Once one person begins to demand from the other, the relationship ceases to be. There is no more covenant. A covenant is not just made once for all time. It is made week by week, day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. In this moment, we are either willing or we are not. And if we are not willing to give what we promised to give, then the promise has no meaning.

You cannot make someone do what s/he said s/he was going to do. Coercion is not an aspect of relationship. Coercion is a sign of lack of relationship.

So what do we do when one person is unwilling? Do we say, Its okay. I release you from the commitment you made?" Or do we say, I have relied on our commitment to each other. Please try to fulfill the agreement you made with me?

It seems to me that you do not want to be with a person who is unable to be committed to you, regardless of what words s/he uttered in the past. You do not want to hold onto someone in pain, or you will share in that pain. You do not want to keep someone against his or her will or you will spend your life battling that resistance.

You cannot make a relationship happen.

A relationship is a covenant. It is an agreement between two people about what they are willing to do. If only one person is willing, it is not a relationship. It is a form of trespass.

Real love has no possibility to come into its fullness without a true and firm commitment from both people. It doesnt happen between two skittish people. It doesnt happen when two people keep running away from each other. It happens only when two people learn to stand together. And sometimes that is hard.

Sometimes two people do not know how to stand together. Sometimes, they arent even sure they want to be together. This happens in every relationship. Highs become lows. Energy and interest wanes.

Sex is no longer emotionally fulfilling. Talking to each other seems difficult.

Within every relationship, there are moments of non-relationship. Smart couples use these moments to take time alone to reconnect with self and to recharge.

They dont end their relationship when the energy gets low. They dont have an affair. They give each other room to breathe.

It might be for an hour or two, for a day or twoperhaps even for a month or two. Each person must find ways back into Self and that means disentangling from other. Each person must find time to ask the question Who am I now?

The answer to this question changes from time to time. That is why we must not forget to ask the question.

Relationship is both a journey into intimacy with another and a journey into intimacy with Self. We forget that. We think its all about other, but that is not true. Indeed, if our journey into anothers heart does not take us into our own, then our progress on the path is interrupted.

We need time to internalize. We need time to breathe and be alone. It is part of the cycle. We move together and apart. If we do not move apart, we cannot come back together.

You cant have a relationship with all highs and no lows. You cant have a relationship that is all together. Every relationship must fall apart, not just once but many times. That is how it grows. That is how new intimacy is achieved.

Our models of relationship dont allow for this kind of interpersonal transformation within the context of a committed relationship. In our models, people either stay together in a frozen state, or they remain distant and uncommitted.

People who stay together no matter what stop growing. They cannot even look at each other any more. Life energy leaves the relationship. It cannot abide the limiting patterns and structures.

People who fear intimacy take a rocketship out of the relationship at the first sign of trouble. They move from lover to lover, never breaking through to the source of love, in themselves or in the other person.

Some relationships have no staying power. Others have no transforming power.

Real relationships require both. They require commitment to each other and freedom to be ourselves. They ask us to keep telling the truth as we move together through our sadness and pain.

Successful relationships require that we have the strength to stand our ground when it is necessary and the flexibility to adapt when circumstances change. Sometimes they ask us to wait patiently. Sometimes they ask us to move forward energetically, even though we arent sure where we are going.

No relationship is easy. Every intimate relationship tests the depth of our commitment to ourselves and others. Gradually, in the crucible of relationship, selfish love dies and is reborn as love without conditions.

This transcendent, agape love that remains throughout the highs and lows of our emotional experience does not blossom all at once. It is a gradual ripening. It unfolds more deeply each time we meet our partner in the circle.

Greeting and letting go, embracing and releasing: these are the tides of love. There is no heart that does not know them.

The beauty of the dance reveals itself to us when we realize that the very act of letting go of our partners hand is an invitation to take it once again.

When we meet again in the circle it will be with a greater sense of appreciation and reverence. Our hearts will be more open and welcoming. Our defensiveness will diminish and we will gaze more deeply than ever before into each others eyes.

Ahhh. Miami. Land of horrible drivers and shallow, fragile egos. In actuality, Miami is a dislocated Latin America city. Great authentic food, lots of youthful energy & a vibe like no other city in America. It truly is like taking a trip to another country without having to leave the states. And the beaches… ahhh, that's the whole reason to go. Why spend money at a strip club when you can go to South Beach??

I was in Miami to attend a yoga workshop lead by Anusara founder John Friend. Who would have though that a simple yoga retreat would end up being such a diverse experience?

I had my first yoga-related emotional breakthrough. (thanks Vasisthasana!) I realized "if you can't beat 'em – join 'em" applied very well to driving in Miami. I learned that sometimes the unexplained might just best be left that way. I also further acquainted myself with the love I feel for a most special individual. And how nice it was to see a populous with a median age LESS than 50.

in my oh-so humble opinion.

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