Never Mess With Sunday

Stumbled upon this song a few months ago on Pandora, and every time it comes on, I get soooo happy and relaxed...

findings from notcot

oh my. i want.

findings from notcot

demetriades + walker architecture: boardwalk house

Round Two

Last year, I did a cleanse that two of my yoga teachers in Boulder put together. It's called Conscious Cleanse, and they do them a few times a year. Honestly, this cleanse completely changed the way I look at food. I learned so much about myself, how food affects me, and the power of eating whole foods.

I have been struggling with trying to quit smoking for far too long now. Since I did my inversion challenge, I have significantly cut down, which is really inspiring. I started running again, practicing yoga (actually even started teaching private lessons twice a week), and continue to eat super healthy. So, I feel like the cleanse will only continue to push me in the right direction, and keep up this pace I've started. Falling back into bad habits can happen too easily, and I hope to finally put this vice to rest. So, if anyone feels so inclined to do the cleanse too, it starts on August 12th, but they start transitioning your eating habits a few days before, so sign up by Wednesday. The link is above.

Craving a sleek and quiet getaway. This will do.

And so, the research begins: diving into the relationship between humans and food, from culture to culture. I stumbled across an incredible project that has given me a lot of insight and inspiration: Food for 9 Billion.

from architectural digest to aubrey road to you are the river

I couldn't agree more: the open shelves are fantastic.

28 days later

Today is the last day of my inversion challenge. Can I say my life has changed solely because of the inversions? Most people would probably say that's debatable. Who's life doesn't change in 28 days? Can I say that I feel better, I think more clearly, and I have more motivation? Yes.

If we change one thing about our everyday, doesn't that cause a ripple effect? Whether it be inversions, sitting down for your meals instead of eating on the go, walking to work instead of driving, whatever it might be, it will gradually affect how you go about your life.

But, for something as simple as flipping upside-down for three minutes, I have noticed quite a difference in myself. I've tried to put into writing the exact results. In order to do so, the blog becomes far too personal or so vague that it's not worth mentioning. So, take it upon yourself.

Happy Summer

Having spent the last several years in hippie-central, Boulder, CO, summertime = folk and bluegrass music. I heard this song yesterday, and oh how it reminded me of college and Boulder summers!

Heading to Tahoe tomorrow to reunite with my dear college friends for the week. I had never seen this video until I looked it up today: it literally had me laughing out loud. We might not be doing a drum circle on the dock, but this song will definitely be blasting...

week two update.

"Yogas citta vrtti nirodhah." 

 - Patanjali, Sutra 1.2

"The restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff is Yoga."

-Sri Swami Satchidananda's Translation and Commentary of The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

When I did my yoga teacher training last year, I was meditating everyday, multiple times a day.  I was astounded by the positive outcome of quieting "the mind-stuff".  For me, meditation has always been terrifying; it still is.  It takes a lot of commitment. It can be frustrating and sometimes boring. But, I have not one ounce of disbelief in its powers.  It's a hard thing for me to talk about, especially when my dedication to it is lacking, I really don't know too much about it, and I haven't been doing it for very long.  Even with a sporadic practice, it has altered my mind drastically.  My teacher in Bali taught me that one of the most important parts of meditation is the act of returning: I would sit cross-legged, eyes closed, and focus on my breath grazing the skin just beneath my nose. If countless thoughts took over, which they usually did, my most important lesson was that I could notice that had occurred, and return my concentration back to the skin above my lip, and focus on my breath.  She said as long as you could bring yourself back to your breath, you were improving. And once you had been exposed to it, the realization of that present moment, when the thoughts had disappeared and you were simply left with your breath, you could never forget that exposure. Over time, the thoughts became less, the meditation was longer, and I felt more in control of what I allowed into my mind.  I had a completely different view of how I moved, how I observed, how I processed things, and how I responded.  How I breathed, how I lived, and functioned in my body, mind, and soul.  The present moment became clearer.  And, when I can recognize and simply be in the moment, I become completely overwhelmed with gratitude and peace.

For the last two weeks, I have been doing three minutes of inversions everyday, as an experiment/challenge.  My physical yoga and meditation practice had significantly diminished over the past month and a half. I wanted to see if the inversions would inspire me to get back to it.  It has.  And, the three minutes of inversions have become a sort of meditation in itself. I have noticed how much more aware of my breath I am throughout the day.  My breath will interrupt my chatting brain and calm me, if only for a moment, the moments appear more frequently than before.  I really believe that our thoughts cause most of our suffering.  The energy and time wasted worrying about the unknown, creating scenarios, judging ourselves and others with misconceptions and lies... So, if I can decrease the "mind-stuff," the chatter, I think I would appreciate each moment of life so much more. Like I said last week, are these inversions really the reason for these changes? Who knows.  But, there has been a shift.

"They don't realize the limitations of thought."

-Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth

Cheers: to whatever life throws our way.

"And I will show that there is no imperfection in the present, and 

can be none in the future, 

And I will show that whatever happens to anybody it may be turn'd to 

beautiful results..." 

Walt Whitman, Starting from Paumanok

Matthew Ward in charcoal. By the infamous and amazing, Matthew Ward.

week one update.

I started my inversion challenge a week ago. And, well, I have not reached enlightenment yet..., but!!!!!! I have seen some progress: I have definitely noticed an increase in my energy levels; I've had about 3 cups of coffee in the last week (which is much better than 12!); no cigarettes in the past three days, along with very few cravings; I've been working out a lot more; sleeping more soundly; and my body awareness and senses feel heightened.

Hmm... interesting. Is it because of the inversions, or did I just need some motivation? We'll see. Off to go stand on my head.

Yes. Premsela's upcoming exhibition.