It's time to love yourself

Hi again- So I was flipping through the channels the other day and stumbled upon the latest Oprah episode. I should mention that i am not a religious Oprah watcher, in fact I have only seen one entire episode (when Author Elizabeth Gilbert sat down to talk about her epic story- Eat, Love, Pray). I was about to continue my search for something to watch when I something caught my attention. Oprah called out an audience member, asking her why she was crying. The woman replied "I'm doing this to my daughter", I continued to listen to this woman explain that her young daughter (7?) had told her that she didn't want to wear tights because she had fat thighs. Oprah turned to the lady she was interviewing (Author Ganeed Roth- Women, Food, and God) and waited to hear her response...I listened. Ganeen began talking about how unkind we are to ourselves. How we often spend the better part of our lives obsessing over those "last ___pounds". She continued talking about our relationship with food, rather than being the curse, and rather than being the thing that you want to get rid of, is, itself, the doorway to the life you most want. She added comments about loving yourself, and accepting todays version of you rather than the vision of what you should or could be that sits and taunts you day in and day out.

This brought me to an epiphany this morning while talking to my manager at Lululemon, she mentioned that she wanted to do something really outrageous in the community, something that would really get people talking. At that moment this little Oprah snippet pooped back into my head. I quickly collected my thoughts and came up with the idea of having a "festival" of sorts, one that celebrates the person you are today (which includes- but is not limited to- all of the failures, successes, dreams and flaws that make you you). I quickly grabbed a scrap of paper and let the vision start flowing from my heart through my pen..., I started thinking of what I would like to see on a day just celebrating me! Yoga was a natural first (perhaps one catered to men! or a yoga trance dance!), from there ideas of having a speaker introduce goal setting (goaltender portion of the Lululemon website), live local music, chair/thai massage, naturopaths, a nutritional cooking demonstration, selected books for sale/trade, vision boards for children and adults, facials from lush, mani/pedi's from local businesses, a new take on a photo booth celebrating who you are today! (similar to the Dove campaign- thanks Jenny), burlesque demo's and lessons, something with flowers (this one's sort of a blur...i just really love flowers)...too many ideas to list!! i want this to be a day to nourish the spirit. A day to silence the little voice...the judgment. It was Elizabeth Kubler Ross who said "People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within". I want this day to be about that inner light.

So what i am asking from you...my most beautiful friends and family members is for your support and ideas! I am setting a goal of doing this in July and would love to enroll as much of my Lululemon and Ivviva family as possible.





Want to see what got me stoked???

http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Geneen-Roth-Talks-About-Women-Food-and-God/3

Life and learning...

so here we are again, I took a little detour in life (and from running) to get my head on straight, I've had to make some hard decisions in the past month, including deciding on what path is really right for me (at this point in my life). The first things I addressed were things that I am passionate about in my life, things like teaching yoga, my personal fitness goals, my career etc. While I was pressing the pause button on my life 3 major things happened. The most important person in my life emailed me telling me that she was diagnosed with cancer, one of my favorite people is moving out of my life (temporarily but still a little soon for my liking) to pursue one of his big goals and a great friend and co-worker took me aside to knock some sense into me. I mention this because I find it ironic how often when opportunities come flying at you and life is so chaotic and you've created this internal stress and 'disconnect' that stops you from REALLY living (and sleeping!) you can not only miss what's actually going on in the present moment but something like these 3 events can rock you so hard that it freezes you in every sense of the word. It also seems to automatically make all the answers (that were covered in mud a week ago) appear clearer than they've ever been, and on top of that adds a perspective that was waiting to be discovered.

In the past week I have let my body and mind let 'me' back in. I see more clearly than ever that Yin is what I am most passionate about teaching, I see that building a real community though my work is where I feel the most satisfaction. I feel confident in my ability to be a powerful leader and coach to many people including myself. I am optimistic in my growth as a professional and a partner. I feel bigger and have cleared away the limits I was putting on myself.

Expect to see more rants and funny stories to come as a pursue another goal of being a published adventure/travel writer. Thank you so much to everyone who continue to push me to move beyond mediocrity.



I learned there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead, others come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready, you see. Now my troubles are going to have trouble with me.
Dr. Seuss