A glimpse of Africa

I enjoy my life here in LA. And sometimes I get too caught up with the city life here, that I forget how much I love being connected to nature. Luckily I get to travel to places like Sedona, New Mexico, Joshua Tree, and Ojai. And every time I arrive on one of these enchanted playgrounds, I get reminded of the deep love I have for it. Growing up in Africa gave me the privilege and the understanding of the value nature has to offer to life and its people. I remember we used to go to school barefoot with not a care in the world! Imagine that here in LA! I believe there are rules against it here. My feet was one with the earth. I used to run barefoot on the farmhouse grounds, walked through mud, water and whatever else showed up in front of me. On rare occasions a painful thorn would cut through my foot. It would hurt so much that my dad would have to come get me and carry me back home on his shoulders. Even that pain didn't stop me from connecting with her. I could not imagine separating myself from her, wearing shoes, creating a barrier between the soles of my feet and the soil of her rich earth.

Africa represents something very special to me. It's called freedom. The smell of grass, the wet soil after a thunder storm, the smell in the air after our first Summers rain, and the sound of the river next to the house was hypnotic. Of course as most humans we only appreciate these elements when it's absent in our lives. I didn't care much for it then. Or perhaps I did as much as I could at such a young age. I had a very strong desire to move to the US for most my young life, and that caused me to miss some of Africa's beauty then, but I can still recall everything about it, as if I've lived there just yesterday.

Being deeply connected to the earth like that, has left an imprint deep inside, that has gifted me with something very special. And that makes me who I am today. I believe I can find my sanity in a city like LA as I'm able to exchange with nature in this way. I can still find my ground within all the craziness this city comes with. This by remembering a love that runs deep within my veins. It gave me a sense of adventure that I will carry with me till my last day on this earth. I am a kid at heart, and believe I will always be one no matter my age. Being connected to the earth ushers in a purity of heart and brings an appreciation for the cycle of life. I just get it. I've witnessed it intimately, over and over again growing up. The cycle of life and death. Impermanence. Not just in nature, this too in the loss of numerous significant people in my life, passing over to the other side. Africa ushers in many experiences where we get to truly learn the impermanence of life. And it brings the gift of living each day to the fullest. I find that most South Africans have that sense of aliveness and adventure. “Why wait for tomorrow? Lets do it today!”

Everywhere you look in Africa, you will find ample space, beautiful nature, and untouched earth all around. A vast panoramic vision everywhere you look, reminding you that there's so much more to life than the concrete buildings we live in, and what we do or pursue as a career. Who we are and what we are connected to, is what's most important. The Kruger Park is the biggest game farm in South Africa. It has many entrances. We lived closed to one of the gates of this particular park. So we would spend almost every weekend in the park.

Tracing footprints of animals, listening to the sounds of birds and learning which is which. Counting shooting stars and getting lost in the cosmos gazing at the milky way on a cloudless night. For most nights it was shining brightly down at us. The Southern Cross and all the other heavenly bodies showed up in their full presence, and lets not forget the open vanilla skies. No wonder I have a very special connection with the stars and the planets. I feel there energies pulsing through my body. I've seen some of the most spectacular sunsets to date in Africa. It's mesmerizing and captivating, and just too beautiful to capture with a camera. Instead I would capture it with my heart, now stored in my memory.

Then as you lie on your back, and watch the sun go down, you begin to hear the sound of the animals spiraling louder and louder around you. Many nights we'd camp out, and it would feel as if there is no separation between you and nature. You hear the predators walking around your tent, smelling you sleeping on the inside. Or should I say, trying to sleep, while your shivering from fear, waiting for their attack, and you becoming a midnight snack!

I feel blessed to have had the privilege to experience life in this way. I walked away from it for a long time. I cursed it when everything around me in my family life came crashing down. When things beyond my control were happening, and all I had to do was go along with what was happening. And I think I got bitter at God and nature for taking away all I loved so dearly and dropped me into environments with the lack of love. And so I disconnected from it for a long time. I didn't realize I did, until one fine morning a few years back, sitting in New Mexico. This, my first trip to that particular part of the country. I felt the wind blowing against my skin, and it spoke to me. It came to remind me of its existence, and how much I used to love it. In that moment I remembered a part of myself I've lost or gave up when I was very little. And the memories of Africa started filtering back in. The love I have for it and the longing to connect with it, was palpable. I started waking up, and remembering the child who used to love nature and who lived with an unwavering trust and open heart! I missed that part of myself tremendously.

Africa is inside of me. I disconnected to a very big part of myself, because I was bitter. I trusted life and everything in my life. I loved unconditionally, with a purity of a child's heart. And when life took a turn for the worse, it left me in a space of shock. And I turned my back on life, thinking that life turned its back on me. I swallowed myself, and went inward, escaping what was uncomfortable on the outside. I disconnected from the ground under me, and everything I trusted and knew that I called my so called life, and I went silent and numb.

And on this beautiful day in NM a new journey started, one taking me back into nature and into myself. Allowing a feeling of support and trust to filter back in. I needed to heal and let go of resentments, and walls I built around myself, and the illusion that life is not to be trusted. Blaming life for my circumstances was not really getting me anywhere anyhow. The sensations under the soles of my feet continued to change year in and year out since this wake up call. The sensitivity of it started to come back and I gave in to the support underneath it, opening bit by bit. Beginning to receive the earth and its support I used to trust unconditionally like any child should.

Every day I'm dropping veil after veil, letting go of resentments and painful memories. Things that just don't deserve the value of my time in the present moment anymore. Life is waiting. The beauty of life keeps knocking. There is just too much magic around to hold to to anything from the past. I can allow it to co-exist in the present, as it sculpted me in this way. As long as it's not being used to excuse myself from my purpose and life that is meant to be lived today.

And today I feel deeply connected to her, like I used to feel when I was little, roaming around on the African soil. She speaks to me. She nurtures. She supports. She validates. She gives life. She protects. She pulls me out of my ego and reminds me of the true meaning of life. She guides me into my eternal beating heart. A heart that can never be silenced. The force that it is, is just too powerful to be taken down by life. The challenges only makes her beating louder and with more conviction. She is a native African woman. We are durable goods and can handle a lot. In some ways perhaps even welcome the challenges of life, as it keeps life interesting. And it brings out the best in me. Especially when I bring the purity of my innocent heart to meet life, heart first.

Africa has taught me so much about life and I can't wait to give back to her what she has given me.

Full Circle

A new sense of pleasure is bursting through the gates of heaven.
Igniting the world on fire. Painted with the sounds of innocent laughter.
 
Coloring the sky with scarlet red and indigo.  
Painting a new heaven and earth.
 
A playground for the innocent and fearless.
Creating a gateway for sublime joy and uncontrollable laughter.
 
A caravan of possibilities makes their arrival from a long journey at last.
Carrying with it broken pieces of memory.
 
Pieces lost in a memory woven through shockwaves from the past.
Re-uniting child and innocence once more.
 
Child innocence with an immense desire to live with an unwavering purpose.
A drive force directed and experienced through the purity of a child’s heart
 
A life dipped in a dark chocolate coating, rich in sugar sweet fulfillment.
A life in service. Leaving traces of sweetness through each act of expression.
 
A life of clarity and precision.  Steered by the impulses of a child’s senses.  
A drive force directing age-old wisdom through playful existence.
 
Discovering a journey, footprints underneath the layers of this world.
Hidden beneath, exists another world now open for discovery.
 
An old world with messengers for this life is arriving with the rain.
A journey, this I see. Walking a full circle of eternal discovery.
 
A child chasing the sun, jumping fully into life.
Experiencing a sensitized adventure of belonging.
 
A playground of innocent wonder.
Toes in the mud.  Ponytails in the wind.
 
Sounds of a familiar song echoing from above. A lullaby ancient, yet timeless.
The scratching of the needle seems to vanish with the melody of song.
 
A song about purpose, passion and power.
All covered in strawberry innocence and beauty.
 
A child returning home, remembering the innocence.
A soul revealing itself, remembering the journey.
 
A soul child walking along a path towards the now.
Collecting the past in a butterfly net.
 
Embracing what was. Loving what is.
Anticipating and endless supply of fulfilling existence.
 
A messenger of the wind.
Discovering the undiscovered.
 
Celebrating the freedom of being alive.
The world is hers to entertain.
 
A child surrendering into the simplicity of life.
And here, a message from your own inner child.  
 
Live through feeling. Express through being.
Love passionately. Open fearlessly.
 
Give endlessly. Be fully.
Surrender beyond possibility.
 
Speak truthfully.
Trust eternally.
 
Walk where no one has ever walked.
Create. Create. Create the life you TRULY are!!!!
 
Claim your child.
Surrender deeper into yourself.

Connections from long ago

Life brings us people we are meant to connect with. And every now and then you crash into one that you know intimately, yet, meeting for the first time. In your search in finding yourself in this big world, life brings you people that come to remind you of who you are.

You can see it shining back from within their eyes. You recognize. It wakes up memories from long ago. What does that mean for today? That is the question the mind wants to confuse one with. Does it matter what it means? Not really. Can I sit with the feeling and savor it instead of trying to figure out its meaning?

The alchemy already happened the moment the energy stirred up from within. A glimpse from the past to light the way into the future. Strong connections from past lives can be just that. A connection and a memory filtering back up again. It's beautiful. It's special. And it's a recognition from a soul level. No one else can see or feel it. And that makes it even more special. A gift onto me.

A mirror in front of me, showing me parts of myself I haven't fully recognized in this life. Waking something up inside me. A feeling of belonging, all unspoken, yet profoundly powerful. We walk along our journey here on earth, and as we stare into the eyes of one we know, we feel we belong. We belong to something so much bigger than the surface of this life. I see you!

The order of this life is so precise and woven into the most beautiful web, divinely inspired. It's just too much for the mind to comprehend. And then there is this new energy stirring from within. A waking up to more parts of myself that I missed, and been disconnected from, for a very long time. Thank you for showing up here today, to remind me of something forgotten. I missed it.

From the outside life looks a certain way, and from the inside it's all so very different. You simply drop under the verbal communications, and communicate with the energy of life and its people. That's where the truth lies. Not in the verbal communications we distract ourselves with. Those are on the surface.

When you look closely, you see everyone is acting out life in a certain way. And then there is the truth. Underneath all that you can see on the surface. And those are sometimes so profoundly different, it's amusing. I so enjoy life in this way. It keeps my day very interesting.

No need to act on this feeling. No need to point it out. No need to do anything about it. Other than just to receive it. To enjoy it. And feel the energy it creates within my body. It puts me on a high. I see you. I know you. I feel you. I remember you. I see myself in you. I remember us both in another form. And it's beautiful. Thank you for showing up here today, so I get to smile, just sitting here thinking about it.

The power of our awareness is infinite. I am aware of what I'm feeling and what you bring out in me by showing up here in front of me. And I'm choosing to bathe in it for a little while. I am aware.

The less I try to control my life, and allow it to move me, the more magical moments present itself. The more I recognize you, from another time a space. I love these magical surprises. And those only come in when I stop trying to control life. And trusts it knows the way better than I do. What else do you have in store for me life? I can't wait to be surprised!

Let it be messy

Sitting at the airport, waiting for my flight, I can't help but feel like I'm in a different reality. I watch as people walk me by. And I realize there is so much more to life than what our minds can digest and comprehend. We all live in a space unique to our capacity to perceive. Each time I leave a retreat, after retreating from life for 10 some days, life is different. And of course it's not life that has changed, its the lens I look through into life that has changed. Fine tuned and cleared of any confusion from the smaller part of me, my mind. Clarity has arrived. A deeper dimension of existence, that I didn't know existed, now visible for my seeing. A space in which I can choose to live, whenever I remember to wake up to the reality of it.

And then there is this truth, this shift stays. It is here for good. I am different. This for me is what I love most about what I participate in. The work we put in, the energy, the time, the presence, the sweat, the tears, the laughter, the vulnerable exposures, the risking by reaching through the fear and what scares one, brings this. Something new. Something that uplifts and frees and opens. A space for my soul to breathe. To expand, to soar like an eagle. Connecting the heavens with our reality on earth. Bringing the magic that which we are connected to, into a physical form. So we as teachers can go out in the world, and be that we want to experience in this life. Open-hearted, fully exposed, and deeply in love with self. To experience life through our senses, vibrating with energy, feeling fully alive.

Trusting the spaces between the mind to guide me into the mystery where creation thrives. Where we all birth a new world. One where we don't have to grow through pain, but one where we get to grow through the experience of love. I am doing my work, so I get to teach about love. I can't teach about love, if I haven't fully experience its energy inside me. And so this work I do with my teacher is all about uncoiling that which doesn't belong inside this vessel. The unconscious stories and belief systems that make us belief we are not safe to open to love. That it's not safe to stand in full vulnerability. That we might be abandoned if we show up in an unwavering intimate experience with life and its people. This work is a waking up to my own truth. My own philosophy that makes me act from a place of integrity, respect, appreciation, honesty and of course the energy of the heart. It teaches that we are the creation of our own life. We are magnets of life. We magnify towards us what we are. And if we aren't able to see our unconscious belief systems, life will continue to bring us mirrors to wake us up to that reality. Connecting the dots from past experiences.

The work is self study. What keeps showing up in my life? What challenges do I see over and over in my life? And why do I keep attracting these things into my life? What are they trying to teach me, or wake me up to? A part of myself I am numb to, or can't confront... I can't blame anybody in front of me for an unhappy experience. They are a reflection of what I am inside. This wisdom is so valuable. It has changed my life and the way I view life. It forces me to take responsibility for everything in my life. EVERYTHING. It's all ME. Who I am and what I have is an effect from deep within. No one can make me happy or unhappy. No one can live my life for me. No one can choose for me. I am responsible for me. Every action, every word, every though and every manifestation.

It's about finding clarity within, so I can be more conscious with my energy. And create less confusion or mixed messages outwardly into this world. If we always look for something to fix we will always find something wrong. So it's not about fixing ourselves. It's about becoming present enough to understand how my energy effects the world. How my actions effect the world. And to study how do I show up in this world. Am I creating more chaos, and drama, or am I creating more balance and peace? What message do I send out? And it has very little to do with verbal communications. That is only a small part of it.

Can I love myself enough to show up in respect, no matter what I do? Can I love myself in the face of projections and judgements, especially from those who hold importance in my life? Can I love my insecurities? Can I stop trying to perfect life?

CAN I ALLOW IT TO BE MESSY? That's my message this week. Stop trying to make it look pretty. Perfection is so yesterday. I can stand tall in my nervousness. I can express my insecurity. I can show my feelings to someone. I can make mistakes. I can create conflict by speaking my truth. I can be a leader and teacher, and not know it all. I can be me, fully, in the presence of this world. Let it be MESSY. I don't have to hide that part of myself. It's worth the love that I have to give.

I sometimes forget how valuable the teachings are. I would find myself at times in situations where there is lack of respect, or unconscious behaviors around me in this world. Not that any of those people are doing anything wrong. It's just a reminder of the wisdom I have earned in this process! The valuable teachings that I am learning and now practice. We gather a few times a year in community, brothers and sisters together in one happy family. My toolbox is getting fuller and fuller with ways to meet this life. I am forever grateful for gathering the wisdom I am, to show up for life, my life, in this way. It's life changing, life altering, and purely magic.

I get to judge less, and instead see myself in each one of you. I get to bathe in the true essence of you in front of me, instead of the false perceptions in my ego mind of you. I get to feel more alive. It's quite contagious. So watch out! Life is what you make of it. Do you like what you see around you?

Non-doing

I sat in my car today, before getting out to go and enjoy the day. And for some reason I couldn't move.

I paused and asked myself “what do I feel like doing right now?” I have the rest of the day off! It's magical to have these non-work pockets in my week. I realize more and more how much I need the space to just be. To feel free. To honor what I want, instead of what others want. And let me get this straight, I love being of service to others! And, can I 'serve' myself too?

I couldn't think of a single thing to do! I have been in such an interesting energetic space since the beginning of the year. I am not myself. I'm the type of person that loves being busy, and doing things, and running errands, and planning, and DOING, period.

It's taken me till today, to realize, something has massively shifted, and that part of me is gone. And I still run my life as if I am still that. And then I keep pushing against things that just aren't meant to be.

I have changed. I have this strong desire to be in a place of non-doing. To just let go and savor life. To take a walk to the beach, and then go nap under the sun. To sit with a cup of coffee and watch people move around me. To lie on the grass and watching my cats play around me. To step into a homeless persons body, and feel their longings. To listening to the birds singing their hearts out above me on the traffic pole. To feel the wind dropping kisses on my skin. To enjoy watching people interacting with each other.

I find myself dropping deep into the present moment. Bliss.

I am letting go of the need to stay busy, the need to always DOING life. And I'm allowing for the essence of life to penetrate my being. I'm bringing in the energy of RECEIVING life instead.

The most beautiful things happen when we receive life. When we are in a constant space of doing, we block ourselves from receiving what is. When we stop doing, we receive. The doing, or staying busy, blocks the space to open and receive.

To receive the day, the sun, and the present moment. Intuition only filters in when we are open to receiving it. We can't receive intuition when we are constantly 'doing'.

We have masculine and feminine energies that reside within us. They co-exist.

Masculine energy is all about action, doing, thinking, talking, drive force, acting, busy...

Feminine energy is all about allowing, being, feeling, watching, surrendering, trusting, non-doing...

Most people live from a more masculine driven energy, both male and female. It blocks the deeper parts of life from filtering in. For most my life I lived in that place. And it seems as though life has given me this new playground to play on lately. I feel, oh so very different. It's very new to me. I feel like a young girl, who is learning how to walk for the first time, and being in the world for the first time.

I get to experience the beauty of life. It's not passing me by unnoticed anymore. Such a gift. When I practice yoga, I allow myself to receive the pose and what it has to offer. I'm taking out the 'doing' in the pose, and bringing in the 'being'

In that place we are unlimited. Anything is possible. We are infinite. In that place we get to create a deeper way of being in the world.

In this wide open, empty space, I find ample time for work, and play. This because I'm not filling my day with things, just because.

And so, it's taken me till this moment, to open my eyes to this shift. I am just not that of yesterday anymore. She has left the building. I am this. And she understands the value of her time, and the value of existence. And she is not willing to fill the empty spaces with junk anymore. She is now filling it will beauty, dissolving into life, and receiving it.

So what does she feels like 'doing' today. As little as possible please! Even when I am teaching, I am not doing, anymore. I am watching. There's just nothing to DO! We allow. I allow my heart so speak and teach. That is the feminine energy. The mind is the one who still feels like it needs to DO something.

There is nothing wrong with using the masculine energies inside us. But it's 'wrong' when it's all we are using. It's all about finding balance. Use the masculine energy for basic practicality of life. And then using the feminine energies to make life sweeter.

So all in all, I'm stepping away from the mind more and more, and allow the heart to lead the way! So I'm going to stop pushing against what I should be doing. And I'm going to allow my heart to show me what it feels like, I need to be receiving and enjoying.

Femine Power

I did something really important for myself and my own evolution today. I held on to a painful experience for about a year, and today I finally allowed it to open and move on.

I fell down a flight of stairs 14 years ago. I hurt my back in the process. It took about a year to heal.

In 2005 I hurt it again in a yoga class. It took quite some time to heal. And about a year ago I was in a yoga class with a master yoga teacher and hurt it again. I would classify him as one of the best yoga teachers in todays day and age. He brought yoga from india to LA. He taught Chuck Miller and Maty Ezraty yoga, who ended up opening Yoga Works and started the whole Yoga movement here in LA. He is a fantastic teacher. One of a kind. And I've always felt blessed to study under him.

On the other hand, his hand is quite heavy on the hands-on-adjustments. Typical ashtanga adjustments where they use their whole body weight or even sometimes stand on you to adjust! I did not know this. One fine morning in his class, he came over, and gave me the strongest adjustment ever, and my back went out. I was in a gentle forward fold, and the intensity he used for it was way out of line.

I wasn't even able to stand upright. My pelvis was stuck in a anterior tilt. Nothing took the pain away. I was down on my back for weeks. I was furious at him and my circumstances. As a yoga teacher we only get paid when we actually teach yoga! After a few weeks of not being able to move much, I started limping to class and taught leaning against the wall. I was in a tremendous amount of pain.

Of course in the past year I would randomly ran into women who have had a similar experience with this same teacher! And then to hear they haven't gone back to say anything, caused me to be more upset.

Needles to say, I knew I needed to go back to his class and have a conversation with him.

I knew it is something important to do for myself. To say. Hey, that was NOT so COOL. You hurt me. You were unconscious and hurt me. Are you aware of the fact that you do this to students? Can you be more conscious and aware so others don't get hurt like me? Can it be that if I voice how I feel to him, I might protect another person from having a similar experience like me? Can I help protect students by shedding light on his weakness, just like he shed light on my weakness in my body?

I wasn't ready to speak to him right after. I knew that I would attack him, probably rip his head of at the time! Wow, where did that anger came from? I felt so righteous at the time. To hold on to the anger, and feeling victimized. I was furious. “HE did that to me!” “It's all HIS fault!” I stayed stuck in that energy for a whole year!! I can't believe it, but its been a year since that incident happened. And today, on this fine day, he walked past me in the yoga studio. I looked at him, and said.. “Can I talk to you?” I knew it was time to heal.

He didn't expect to see me there. I took him by surprise. I felt OK to talk to him, yet a lil nervous. I told him my experience, and what happened on that day, and after that day. That it hurt me tremendously. I told him that I know I have an injury I am working with. I know accidents do happen. And I just really needed to express how I feel. It felt important to do so. He acknowledged that he did what he did. Now that I didn't expect at all!! I didn't expect him to take responsibility for that! Sometimes the other person can be in a lot of resistance or have an inability to hear, which I was preparing myself with, and would be OK with.

He stood there. He was present. He listened. I didn't blame him. I just shared what happened for me.

I also thanked him for showing me a weak spot in my body. A place I am checked out, or numb. I know now I need to bring more awareness into that area anyway. So the gift of this experience is to now focus on a part of my body that has been screaming for my attention.

And then there is this simple truth. Why did I wait so long? Why did I chose to stay in the pain for so long? Why did I hold on to it for so long? What was that all about? I had to sit with that today. And here it is.

I felt hurt by someone outside myself. I was in a vulnerable space. I trusted him. I was open. He came and hurt me. In an effort to protect myself from this happening again, I chose to hide under this pain. See, if I can hold on to this story, then I get to keep my heart closed. I get to hide under this story and pain. And so I can use it and say, hey, this happened. I'm not letting anybody close to me again. So it was my escape route. It was my way of staying closed of to the world and the people in it.

And in this process I hurt myself by sitting in the discomfort and the pain for so long. Wow. Is this pain really worth feeling 'safe'?

What does it mean to be a woman in this world? We are strong and wise. We can protect ourselves. We can stand up for ourselves in a loving way. We can express to another how we feel, even when it may cause conflict. It's our birthright. We simply must. It's not about blaming. It's about honoring our feelings enough to give them a voice. To say I am worth speaking up for. The alchemy already happens the minute you speak. Whether they receive or not. That part is not important. The magic happened the moment you choose to express.

As I was talking to this teacher, I felt an opening in my low back. Energy started poring down my left leg. Vibrations and heat. Underneath the energy I felt the sadness and the anger that got stuck there. Can it be that simple? I can let it go now. I'm letting it go...

The process of coming into my power as a women has been so very interesting. My soul re-incarnated into this world, asking for power. I have earned wisdom and ecstasy/samadhi in other lives already. This one is power. So at birth I was stripped of my power and my identity. I got dropped into a environment where I felt invisible, and powerless. It's been a beautiful process to walk myself whole. To remember who I am, and feeling my power within me, and it growing bigger year in and year out.

A power that scares me sometimes. I'm learning what it means to carry power, light, wisdom, and intuition. And balancing all those with the heart energy. Knowing the power I have will not hurt, manipulate or abuse another. The power I have will not take over and spiral out of control.

The most difficult realization is knowing the more I stand in my power, the more I will attract people. Being in authority, being a teacher, and leader comes with a lot of responsibility. It will take me in directions and places I can't control. I can't hide or be small in that place. The place I'm so familiar with. And so it's been an interesting study to watch myself grow into the women I have always been, remembering that part of myself in this life.

Love

A love so greatly enhanced by what you become.

A love intertwined with divinity and expressing itself through nature.

A desire for love to enrich and consume all of my existence. I allow.

I am alive. I exists in and through you. I act on your behalf.

You sustain and validate my every act of faith. I trust.

Please reveal yourself in a form I can recognize.

The illusions of you still tease me, and lure me in. I forget.

I give you away freely, and abundantly. Please accept my offer.

I receive your eternal flow back towards me, savoring the grace you've become. I receive.

I open myself in the direction of you. I experience your fragrance as truth. I remember.

I open more widely for you to enter into mine, and watch as I gather more trust. I allow.

Streaming in so strong, the momentum picks me up and I vanish into you.

Disappearing in the love and grace that you are. I surrender.

You I have become.

Grace is how I move.

Love is what I am.

I only exist in the now. In this moment the past has never been.

I am pure. I am clean. I am new. I am forever beginning. I am never ending.

Eternal I am, alive in the now.

Untainted. Free. Unlimited. I am the whole universe in a glimpse of you. I know.

This breath is the essence of existence carried through me, it sustains. I am alive.

It captures. It fuels. It creates. It reveals the truth about life.

The truth that exists without illusion.

The truth that you are. The only thing that is real. You.

I bow down to the power of LOVE.

Power to Influence

A couple of days ago I was working with one of the most influential people in todays music industry. I sat down next to him, discussing meditation and yoga philosophy to a group of philanthropists. Interesting questions came up and it made me realize how strong the longing is inside people for the healing effects of yoga and meditation. In my experience the powerful influence and healing potential of these tools are immeasurable. It's undeniably necessary for every person wanting to free themselves from their shadowy past.

The practice of yoga is the ability to focus the mind on something active, so it can eventually quiet down by surrendering control to its higher self. It's meditation in motion. A moving into stillness. By quieting the mind you gets to merge deeper with your authentic, untainted self. Recycling the illusions back to where they came from. Illusions or unconscious emotions that control our perception and take it hostage, controlling our existence, and resulting in us living in fear. Allowing for borrowed stories from the past to consume our reality of today, painting life with confusion. So much fear and confusion, we can't handle it, so we step out of our bodies, and spiraling upward, ungrounded and far away from the present moment.

For so many of us, we tend to live in the past, and so we bring the past pains with us, projecting those into the future, creating anxiety and fear. What if we will create the scary stuff from the past again in our future!

I came to realize in this sitting, whom this powerful person next to me was in an earlier stage of his life. He came from a past filled with deeply ingrained addictions, empty pursuits, and obsessions that ran him unconsciously. He needed help. He pursued yoga and meditation to heal. We all have work to do in this lifetime, otherwise we won't be here. The sooner we can wake up to the things we are meant to learn, the sooner those painful experiences move on. They will stop repeating themselves once you learn what you are meant to learn from them.

If we stay in a space of being unconscious, and numb, those painful experiencing linger, and they keep coming back again and again to wake us up. It's always so refreshing listening to someone in power speak about the imperfections of his life. The mistakes, the longings, and the waking-up-moments. It gives hope to people who are stuck, or feeling helpless.

As teachers we are responsible to share our story, our wisdom and the teachings.

Where would the world be without art? It paints the world with color. It creates music, play, dance, and stories for people to get lost in, escaping from the hardships of life. Stepping into another persons body, while watching a heartfelt movie, allows for suppressed emotions inside yourself to move. Giving ourselves permission to cry for someone else's painful experience on a screen can be a lot easier than, allowing ourselves to cry for our own painful experiences.

It gives our feelings a voice. It allows our hearts to feel through another persons experience. And so we heal, as these artists heal by expressing their deepest longings, pains, and joys. A world filled with fantasy, and make belief, yet filled with realness in each make belief moment. The beauty of creativity is priceless.

My teacher finally got through to me, after four years of working with him. He said, as an artists we simply must create. It's not always something we want to do. It is something we have to do, to move the energy from the past that still walks alongside us, our shadow. Sometimes overshadowing the reality of the day, seeing life as it's not truly. And other times it's barely noticeable.

Especially on the days consumed with our shadow, we must create. It's then when we feel most stuck, and have the least desire to create. If we choose to stay in that place, we stay in the uncomfortable emotions. We get so used to our own intensity that we forget life can be sweet and easy. Unconsciously we choose to sit in our emotions longer than what is necessary. Until we wake up and learn we don't have too. Until the day we wake up and push through the resistance and rebellion we so like to hide under. This all through the practice of yoga, art and meditation.

And so each artist that brings their life story, and share it through creativity, not only heal themselves, but heal each person who resonates with their story, their song or their dance. They bring life, color, and sound to the world. Imagine a world without art? Where would we be? No poetry and no philosophy. It will be a life lived from our minds and our senses would die an awful death.

Can we bow down to each artist, for enduring the challenges in their lives, and having the courage to express through the pain, liberating themselves from their own suffering. An industry so starved and undervalued. So many artists don't have the courage to share their work. Brilliance collecting dust on the shelves. Never to be admired and enjoyed. Some do face the fear of death, and express through it, sharing themselves in their most vulnerable states. Through the fear of rejection and abandonment. Artists are their own worse critics, as they can't see through the veil of their own illusions. Fogging up what's true and create false vision. And lets not forget a lack in seeing their own worth.

And so when you walk in this world, and happens to stand in front of a powerful and influential person, don't envy or judge them. Admire them. They've earned the energy they embody and radiate. The strong convictions and commitments towards themselves are honorable. It's not an easy road, but it comes with immense gifts and rewards. Artists sometimes wake up at four am, filled with inspiration, when the mind is most settled, and they create. They open to a deeper dimension and allow the energy from a higher place to guide them. Steer them into the beauty of their hearts. Where they feel most at home.

And so sitting next to this friend today, listening to a brief description of his life, where he came from, how he used yoga, meditation and music to build himself up from the inside, walking himself back whole again, was magnificent. Does it mean he is perfect and healed? No. It means he is a teacher, filled with life experience that can give courage, and hope to those who are in need.

Each time we endure a tough time in our lives, we receive an energy that brings power, wisdom, love and prosperity. And the more we have to walk through these experiences, the more we get gifted these magical energies. We keep standing a little taller, speaking a little louder, expanding more and more of our own healing energy, and so we become a magnet for those who needs a little encouragement. Does it mean we know everything? Does it mean I can heal you or take your pain away? No.

It gives me an opportunity to tell my story. And as I tell my story, and you have a similar story, your heart feels mine. And it opens. And we heal together.

Powerful people earn the energy they embody. Wise people earn the wisdom they share. Influential people earn the ability to influence others. When you are in the presence of a powerful, heartfelt person, remember, they have worked hard for where they are at.

And so I am deeply grateful to meet people all around that influence me, that inspire me, that makes me feel I am on the right path. I am where I am meant to be. Broken, unbalanced, or sometimes even a little crazy. And that's all ok. We are all walking ourselves whole. We might as well give each person their own personal space to do so, at their own time. And not get involved. Staying true to the road under you. Sharing life with many others, on a similar road, with a similar goal, all heading in the same direction. Here is celebrating YOU and your hard work till now. Your commitment to your own evolution, to speaking your truth, to living with an open heart, and saying yes to life.

Show up for it. All of it. It has a lot to offer and teach you. Just like this man I shared space with today. Thank you for reminding me that it's OK for me to be all of me.

Not just parts of me. ALL OF ME.

I exist

I took a yoga class today, something I haven't done in quite some time. My body thanked me. I've used the past three years to meditate, heal and study energy. Cultivating a deeper sense of being. It's a journey I desperately needed to take. Before I started meditating I used to practice yoga daily, exercise daily, and my focus on my body was out of balance, comparing to the rest of me. The bigger part of my existence lacked my attention. The obsession came from a need to look perfect for someone outside myself. My mother, my boyfriend, my friend, my teacher, and whomever else crossed my path. I held them responsible to love me, to validate me, to support me, and felt I needed to show up perfectly for such an exchange.

And as I stepped onto this healing journey, moving inward, I discovered a lot of personal pursuits that just didn't fit so well with me anymore. Like this pursuit for perfection, with the hope I can be loved in return. Instead I'd rather do things because I wanted to enjoy them. Now that was a great epiphany! This, specifically speaking about exercise...

Sadly I realized going through this new paradigm shift, I had a huge lack in commitment to do anything for myself! Looking good for myself seemed ridiculous at the time. I didn't see the value in it. I didn't see my value!! I lacked the desire to make an effort, or work hard for myself!

I needed something outside myself... what was THAT all about?

In my study around women and the lineages we were born into, I found a pattern. So many of us feel we simply must obey someone outside ourselves, we simply must give up parts of ourselves, our dreams, our hopes, our truths, even our homes, to be loved. In other lifetimes we weren't looked upon as equal. Our voices hold little or no importance. Our feelings warranted no attention. Our bodies were looked upon as just an object to be used and enjoyed for simple pleasures. Who we were inside, didn't exist in that world. Those dark times left an imprint on our soul's journey. Karmic patterns ingrained so deep, it may take many incarnations to eradicate such strong energies out of our existences.

What does this mean for a woman living in these times? A constant reminder that we are not that anymore. Who we are today is vastly important. Our energies are not that which anyone can use or abuse. We don't have to be open, without boundaries, to allow any and all to take from us. To take that which belongs to us. Our light, our healing energy, our bodies, and our souls, to use it without respect or honor. It's a constant reminder that I don't need to change the way I walk, talk, teach, or move in this world, for love. We are of utmost importance. We are deeply valued by society. Can we begin to allow ourselves to see this truth? The energy we carry is part of that which forms this world. May we embrace the beauty of our existence and hold on to what is!

Remembering the energy that we carry inside, is oh so special. This has been such a trying journey for me, to remember I am so much more than what has been projected onto me since birth. I am not the truth of another person. I am not the projection of another person. Just because there was a lack of love growing up, doesn't mean I am unlovable. Just because someone don't see my value, doesn't mean I am not valuable. When are we going to wake up to these truths and embody them, deep deep within each cell in our bodies?

I used to be the greatest chameleon that lived on this planet. I became that which I thought I needed to be. Each moment I would show up differently. To impress, to be perfect, and to be loved. It has taken a better part of my life to realize I don't need to become something other than who I truly am. I gave up my identity at a very young age. Because my soul already knew then, it wasn't important to be identified by anything external. And yet my mind has been in pursuit to find myself through the chaos of this world. So I can belong somewhere. Resulting in energies polarizing within. I simply must belong somewhere to feel valued. What a sad sad pursuit. Thank God for a waking up from this nightmare, remembering I don't need to belong to something outside myself to exist.

I exist. I exist, and I belong to myself.

These questions kept me looking, and searching for the one I left behind so long ago.

Who am I? What do I like? What do I want to do? Where am I going?

The 'I AM' was missing. I didn't care much about the 'I AM', then. “I will be whoever you want me to be. Just love me and don't leave me!” And of course this would drop me into abusive environments. One after the other. Why? Because I saw so little value in who I am, that I didn't expect anything better.

The 'I AM' didn't exist without you...

Sometimes I would just sit in a daze, looking back at the choices I made. Can't believe how deeply buried I was underneath the illusions, away from the truth and vision of who I truly am. The preciousness of my being was hidden far away from my true perception.

Because I've walked this walk, I am seeing women all around me still believing they are of little, or no importance. And so I am here to teach you differently. I am here to teach you about empowerment. It's much more fun and freeing! Walking through the fire has given me a lot of gifts.

And so today, I am in love. I'm smiling without cause.

I am aware. I feel the wind blowing through my hair.

I am grounded. I feel myself sinking deep into the earth.

And oh, did I mention, I am in love? As I focus on this feeling it magnifies, and drops me into a state of pure bliss. This brings a desire to do what feels expansive within myself!

I've started taking better care of my body! Like this yoga class I took today.

I'm letting life in again. Letting the sun it. Letting the LOVE in. Streams of energy flows through my body while practicing yoga. Now the words I speak in my classes aren't empty words. They come from deep experience.

I embody.

Even when I don't speak those words in my classes, the energy I embody radiate out, and touches deeper parts of you. It's not about verbally communicating at all. It's about embodying the energy, becoming what you wish to communicate. And you communicate, without the need for words. A gift onto you.

I am being more present with the needs of my body. And today I am doing it for ME!!!! Because I am in love with how it feels. Not because I am obsessively trying to do this for something outside of myself. And I am letting go of this age old illusion that haunted me for most my life. Who I am is valuable. That includes my body, my energy, my time, and my wisdom. And so there is less of a need for someone outside myself, to remind me of my value. Less needing to give away my energy, my body, or my truth. Like we as women used to do in other lifetimes.

Today I am showing up for myself. And re-learning what it means to be a woman in this world. In the face of conflict and projections all around. Oh, and lets not forget the abuse of power. They are such great teachers. The projections are merely a sign of where others are at, in their lives.

And I'm learning it has nothing to do with me. I am only responsible for how I respond.

I am what I believe. Not what you believe of me.

Letting go of 'FEAR' of letting go

In my internal evolution I noticed the past two years has brought experiences of deep exposure. The bridge between the astral plane and physical plane keeps getting thinner and thinner for me. Feeling open and vulnerable in the world has never been an easy thing for me. I grew up in an environment where it wasn't safe to be open, exposed and loud. My work in this life has taken me through many avenues where I had to stare that fear straight in the face. And walk across that bridge, feeling the predators luring under me in the water. Death ready to consume me and end my physical existence.

“I am in the spotlight. Everyone can see me. I have to speak. What if my voice won't do the job.”

And so life brought me careers and jobs and hobbies that will require me to lean into this fear and conquer. The fear of speaking in front of groups has inhibited me from studying the art of yoga for three some years, till I took the plunge. It was the year 2005. I lied to myself intending to just take the training without ever wanting to teach. I desperately wanted to teach yoga. I admire the yogis in the classroom, walking around confidently, beautifully, expressing themselves in their brilliance. I wanted that. I wanted to be that. And I never thought it possible. Not me. That is simply not my path. Its a dream for another person that carry those skills.

I heard a beautiful saying from my spiritual teacher a while back. We can only see in another what we have in ourselves. If I see power, ease, and creativity in you, I see that through my own 'beingness' in this world. Perhaps hidden, locked down in some unconscious vault inside me, are those gifts yet to discover.

I loved the training. It changed my perception of life. I felt right at home. Still the fear of sharing my voice in a crowd was outweighing the desire to lead others. I am drawn to a career that will bring me experiences I dread, like death itself. Why can't life be easier and bring you a desire for something you're more comfortable with?

Well, why would a soul re-incarnate into a body, into this world, re-living, and re-learning qualities it's already a master of? We are here once more to study and learn the things we are in need of. To become more balanced, more whole and free, like never before. I do get that. If only it was less painful. I understand that through the pain and challenge we grow, we transform and become all we are inside flowering outward, becoming a gift onto this world. We simply must continue on our path. Without question.

I started testing my voice in small groups out in nature, leading a few friends through yoga, exchanging by donation. It was scary. It took all of my energy to walk towards this moment to lead them through a class. I would sit in my car, sweat, shake, obsessing in my mind, listening to the voices in my head till my head spins out of control. Were I too quit, life would be simpler. We always have a choice. Yet something inside me pushed forward.

And each time after teaching a class I'd experience a bliss-like sensation I haven't felt before. A lightness, joy, and expansion. What was that??? Empowerment creeped each time I walked through the biggest fear of my life, realizing on the other side of it was success. I did it. I won. It took quite a while for those nerves to lessen. Some days it was almost unbearable, reminding me of my struggle with panic attacks in an earlier part of my life. Other days it would be almost effortless, my mind was quiet, and I felt more trust. It kept sneaking in bit by bit.

Each time I step up in life, risking more, I find myself back at square one. Anxious just like my first class, just now in an actual yoga studio. The nerves didn't go away and the judgments from my own critic inside stayed with me for weeks to follow. I would beat myself up internally for not showing up in perfection.

Such a shame as this pursuit of perfection is completely unattainable. We can never arrive at this destination. So it's a pursuit that will always leave us disappointed. At the time it seemed important. To be perfect and lovable. Because in this space of imperfection I am not that. Lovable. I simply must be perfect to experience the energy of love in my life. How sad, looking back, realizing I spilled so much energy outward because of it.

It took another 500 hours, and more, to start gaining confidence in my voice. More and more classes started to snuck in weekly. On one beautiful afternoon walking home after teaching, it struck me how much healing has occurred. I barely use any of my personal energy before class worrying about class, and I gain a whole universe of energy as an exchange. And each time I teach, being deeply consumed in the present moment, is in fact the deepest meditation I've ever experienced. How I feel prior to, after class, is radically different. Wow.

I am ruled by a fire sign, my rising a fire sign, and moon an earth sign. This fire and strong spirit inside this body seem to have kept pushing me upward, as if enjoying each challenge, each fear-given moment. I can't seem to relax after one accomplishment. Each time I feel victorious, I was looking for the next mountain to climb. A good addiction to have, I would say. And so I added workshops, immersions, yoga and meditation trainings. And lets not forget retreats.

In my study around energy and people, starting with myself, I begin to see patterns. Each new height in my life, must be reached through a similar painful experience. I would hit the same terror inside, and the fear of being exposed. The fear of being seen in the spotlight. The fear of not knowing if my voice will show up the way I want it too. And then the fear would spiral bigger in my mind, bringing all the judgements. What if people see the fear in me, and judge or reject me?

Especially now, after eight years of teaching. Being a veteran teacher brings more of my own judgements. “I must surely be over this fear by now,”

It is part of me. It makes me who I am. It is who I am.

As much as my constitution is strong, I am hyper sensitive. And highly intuitive. The energy of anxiety and intuition are only a few degrees different. It's a shift in perception. If I can love the energy of anxiety I feel it in my body, it becomes intuition. Then bring love and anxiety and mix them together. They turn into compassion, and the gift of seeing beyond the surface of life. A deeper way of feeling and residing in this world. And the more I meditate and do my spiritual work, the more I feel the energy of the world.

I feel everything. I feel you. I feel everything about you.

And as I continue to open to a deeper dimension of life, experiencing life in a more subtle, expanded way, its like I'm living in a another dimension, while residing in the physical, I feel more and more exposed. As they vail of the astral plane and physical plane gets thinner. I begin to see more, feel more, experience more. Things are brighter, more vivid. You are more beautiful. Ah, the heart is opening!

And as all these beautiful shifts occur, my mind seem to fear the old fear again.

I feel exposed. I am deeply exposed, open, and standing in full vulnerability!!

I am becoming more and more intimate with the world around me. This all in the face of this fear I know so intimately. I keep dancing, going back and forth, with feelings of high bliss states, and fearful anxiety filled moments. It's a switch in awareness. Its all how I like to direct my focus.

And then I remember that this journey is meant to be shared with you. This journey that I've walked till now. These painful, scary moments are all so worth it, when I can express the teachings I have learnt on the way with you. You, in desperate need to hear. To know there is hope. Anything is possible. With hard work, conviction and determination, all is reachable. We can all have the dream we once thought impossible.

We can be that which we admire in life. We already are that. We must simply trust the order of this life. We must not give in to the fear our mind holds, and remember its all a game this life we are in. Just watch it. Be part of it. Don't become the fear. Just allow it to be there. Let it have it's moment in the spotlight, then let it move.

I am not my fear. I feel it moving through me at times. I am not my emotions or my feelings. They are just something I experience for a moment in time. And if I give them a voice, a place to become a reality, and not push it away, it seem to stay small, exactly what they are. Small moments I get to experience on this journey. And lets not forget the bigger reason for them existing. They are there so I get to experience them, so I get to teach about them.

I am a teacher of life. My life. I experience. I teach. I learn. I teach. I heal. I teach.

So stop fighting against the order of life. Resistance can be, oh so painful at times. I will continue to stand tall in my imperfections, my fear, my joy, my expansion, my past, the present and what is yet to come. And I will continue to love, especially love those parts of myself I have given little or no love to in the past.

Each time I walk through the terror, my voice seem to hold more power. The ability to move energy with my voice has become obvious to me. They say our biggest obstacles become our biggest gifts. If everything you want in on the other side of this mountain, would you brave climbing over it? How much would you risk/work for the things you truly desire? In the face of judgements, rejections, and who knows, maybe even pushing you to stand alone in this big world?

Can you love yourself in the spaces of deep and vulnerable exposures?