Season’s greetings, friends!

May you be well and live with ease this holiday season and beyond.

I just spent a weekend in Austin taking 4 workshops with David “Yeah Dave” Romanelli. David is a fabulous yoga teacher from  California and he teaches us that ecstacy is no further away than a good glass of wine, a tasty bite of chocolate, or a great tune on our iPod. He reminds us that livin’ in the moment is as easy as noticing one beautiful moment, one delicious moment, and one funny moment each day. He’s funny and real and I really liked him as a teacher.

I was inspired by David’s classes in many ways.  I’m inspired to put away my cell phone and computer more often, to remember to slow life down and enjoy those little moments that might otherwise fly by while I have my head down over my laptop. And I will definitely enjoy a good bite of chocolate, if not each day, at least several times a week.  And more wine will flow in my life.

As a teacher, I learned lots of new ways to flow poses together, so my own students may notice some new things happening in class. One of the biggest things Dave has inspired me to do as a teacher is  to actually be myself while I teach, rather than put on a yoga teacher costume and read a yoga teacher script. I’m inspired to make more of my own playlists with my own favorite music.

Another thing I learned this weekend is that I need to shut up.

I traveled with a friend who began as my student, became my friend, and is now also a fellow yoga teacher. She said something incredibly profound to me this weekend. Saturday morning, after a day of driving with me and an evening in a hotel room together, we were having some conversation about something, or nothing, while we got ready for class. I kept getting words wrong or mispronouncing words as I spoke, and I acknowledged this to her. “Maybe today is your day to just listen,” she said.

She didn’t say it in a way that was mean, but it was just a suggestion, like, “Hey, consider this.” It really struck me. The subject of me talking came up again that same morning, in the context of my teaching. I tend to talk a lot during class, cueing poses, giving information about why we do things the way we do, what’s happening in our bodies, what chakras are being activated by certain poses, etc. It wasn’t brought up in a mean way, but it’s obviously a thing. And it’s something I have acknowledged. Maybe it’s time for me to consciously shut up and let my students consciously move and flow and  feel.

Looking back, I realize that I finish people’s sentences a lot. What’s that about? Trying to prove how smart I am? How in tune we are? How much they should like me? How insane is that? Something else happened during the weekend. I thought maybe I had said too much during a conversation with someone. I asked my friend if she thought I had, and she answered very honestly, “Yeah, you may have pushed that a little hard.”

After I told him the story, my husband, Weldon, who knows how I get and who is also a good, good man, told me, “You were just excited this weekend. It’s OK to be passionate.” And yes, he’s right. I was excited and passionate. I was spending a weekend in a city I love with a great friend doing my favorite thing in the world. And along the way got a wake up call and a lesson. Not the one I expected to get either. I guess that’s how they come, isn’t it?

So my challenge is to shut up. I’ll do my best this week to be aware of how I’m communicating. I’ll see if I can communicate effectively with fewer words, and when I’ve completed a thought, I’ll do my best to stop. Wish me luck.

Last night, I took my sister Meredith to the Miley Cyrus concert for her birthday. It was a HUGE show at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. We had a great time, in spite of the two hours we spent in the Problem Resolution line.

This was the first show the AA Center has done with paperless ticketing. There were lots of issues to get worked out and lots of problems to resolve, probably more than the Box Office was prepared for. Scanner equipment wasn’t working right, re-issued paper tickets were showing up on scanners as invalid, etc. Everything sending people back to the Problem Resolution line. We ended up there twice.  The staff was as helpful as they could be and was very apologetic about all the issues. I understood, even after our second 45 minutes in line, that everyone was doing the best job they could.

Many of the people around me were not as understanding. It was embarassing to me how rude and mean some of these people were: yelling at the Box Office staff through the closed blinds to open the windows, calling the Box Office from their cell phone while in line to complain about how long the lines were (and not nicely), and when not actively directing their negativity at the staff, grumbling to each other about how stupid this system is, and that they should let us go in a special door.

What a drain.

I thought I was going to witness an ugly concert mob during my first wait in the line when one lady walked up to the front of the line while we were waiting for the windows to open and announced that she was going to start a new line since there were 4 windows. All the ladies around me started yelling at her! One lady behind me even sidled up to me, I guess because I was being noticeably quiet, and said, “You’re with us, right? We’ll take her.”  Maybe that line-cutter was in the wrong, but was it worth all that? I just shook my head in amazement. I have never experienced adults acting in such a way. Maybe they were just doing the best job they knew how to do, too.

During my second time throug the line, I was behind a group with that same mindset of “they should treat me special because I have to wait,” but the lady behind me was much more easy-going. She kept telling her daughter, “We’re going to be fine.  We’ll be in our seats by 7. And even if we’re not, we’ll just miss a little of the opening band. We’ll be fine. No need to panic.” Some of my faith in humanity had been restored.  There were still people around that could go with the flow.

My sister and I also had some additional issues to creatively solve. She’s diabetic and had to do her insulin shot and eat by a certain time. Fortunately, she had packed a peanut butter sandwich in her purse in case of emergency (a smart diabetic move), so I knew we had that as a back-up plan. We just kept gently modifying our plan as the situation changed. Ultimately, we were in our seats by 6:40, she did her shot and ate her sandwich in her seat by the time the show started, and we had an awesome time being in a Miley State of Mind.

So here’s my hope. My hope is that next time you find yourself in what could be a stressful situation, you stop and think about the ones you might percieve as making it stressful. Are they doing the best job they can? Is it really worth throwing a fit? Maybe it’s the universe giving you the gift of an opportunity to practice patience and kindness. Maybe it’s an opportunity to learn that things really do work out, even when they seem impossible.  I was just glad to be there with my sister. And in the end, this is what it was really all about for me:

Meredith, after the show.

For those of you finding your way here from the Girls Inc. luncheon, thank you so much for your support of Girls Inc. of Tarrant County and for helping to inspire all girls to be strong, smart, and bold! Have a look around my site and learn about what I do and the services I offer, sign up to recieve my monthly  newsletter, and be sure to leave your comments and thoughts.

And those of you making your weekly or daily trip here, let’s welcome our new friends!

My best friend’s father died on Saturday. I’ve known her and her family since I was 13 years old, so her family feels like my family.

Weldon and I went to see them yesterday afternoon and took what seemed like 10 pounds of chicken salad and a loaf of sourdough bread. While we were there, other friends brought a ton of cold cuts and bread, enough to make about a million sandwiches. There were already lots of cookies and donuts there.

I spoke to my friend, her sisters, and their mother. Her mother told me it was so nice to see my sweet face, which touched my heart deeply. And we visited with all the other relatives, the ones that we usually see at birthday parties.

There was much sadness in the house, but  plenty of laughter also. All the kids were running around, enjoying all the people and all the cookies. I finally told my friend I would be on call for her all week and I would be keeping in touch, and Weldon and I left after lots more hugs.

On our way home, Weldon and I had a long conversation. He said he never knows what to see in those situations, that he always has to fight the urge to ask, “How are you?” He said it doesn’t feel completely right to him to ask that, since he already knows the answer.

I think it’s an OK question to ask. It’s what I asked my friend, her sisters, and their mother. It gave each of them a chance to say out loud, I’m doing awful. Not good. I don’t know yet. This sucks. And it gave us a chance to cry together and to share a moment of human connection through strong emotion.

I was grateful that Weldon and I had this conversation. It helped me see that this kind of presence and connection is what makes life beautiful. And I will watch for opportunities to experience it. It obviously doesn’t have to be connection through sadness. It could be connection through joy and laughter or complete presence through conscious gratitude for a particular person in my life. But now that Weldon has helped me open up this awareness, I’ll be on the lookout for it everywhere.

I was listening to Fresh Air on NPR the other night on my way home from teaching a class. The guests were Toni Frohoff, a behavorial and wildlife biologist, and journalist Charles Siebert.

They were talking about a group of gray whales off the coast of Baja California in Mexico that are actively seeking out human interaction. Their stories were amazing! Mr. Siebert talked about a baby gray whale that popped out of the water an arm’s length from him and stared at him! How amazing that a whale was watching us! Mr. Siebert said that this experience of being watched by a whale changed him.

I came home and looked up Charles Siebert’s full article in the New York Times Magazine. (You can read it  here.) I was completely spellbound by the research he reports on and the world of whales. Could a creature so different from us really be so similar to us? It looks like the answer,  and with scientific backup, is yes!

I don’t know why this fills me with such joy, but it does. I don’t know why this fills me with such hope, but it does. 

May all creatures everywhere be happy and free, and may the thoughts and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and freedom for all.

Many native American cultures see animals as messengers. Similarly, I’m a big believer in watching for messages about our lives in the nature that surrounds us. For example, if you know the story of how I came to build Laughing Ladybug Yoga, you know the significance I place on natural messengers.

Over the last few days, 3 doves  have nearly flown straight into the windshield of my tiny little Smart car.

After the third one, I hollered, “OK! I get it!”

But what I was saying I “got,” I didn’t know. I had to do some research.

Here are some of the things I found: 

The Dove represents peace of the deepest kind. It soothes and quiets our worried and troubled thoughts, and enables us to find renewal in the silence of mind. In these moments of stillness we are able to appreciate the simple things in life.

Hmm. Almost crashing into my windshild was a bold move for a representative of peace. But I do tend to need a louder message than some people.

Doves are members of the pigeon family. Both symbolise the qualities of home, security and maternal instincts.

I have been doing a lot of “nesting” lately. Rearranging furniture and redecorating. I’ve been struggling a lot with quitting one of my yoga classes so that I have more time at home with my husband. I had a conversation with a client last week about the struggle to balance family and career, how we as women don’t really learn how to do that, but that we have to choose one or the other. 

If Dove flies into your life, you are being asked to go within and release your emotional disharmony, be it of the past or the present. Dove helps us to rid trauma stored within our cellular memory. Humming can help you with this release.

This really struck something in me when I read it, since it reminded me that trauma is stored in our cellular memory.

So I think that Dove is telling me that at this point in my life, and in the life of my marriage, it’s smart to direct so much energy to my home, homelife, and husband.  And that it’s time to cleanse my cellular memory of disharmony to make room for harmony.

I love that the natural world is so in tune with us, or that we’re so in tune with it. But really, neither is correct. We ARE nature, and nature IS us, so of course there is a natural flow of energy between the two.

What are your opinions about the struggle to balance home and career? How have you found it? Or have you? I’d love to hear from you.

I’m feeling really grateful this week. I have a wonderful life that’s filled with great friends and family. I’m married to the sweetest and most supportive man alive. And I have TWO jobs that I enjoy! Life is good.

My husband Weldon and I have some wonderful neighbors all up and down our street. We have become especially close to Scott and Dana, who live across the street from us. They are kind and quiet and always ready to lend a hand when something crazy happens (sofas stuck in doorways, car batteries giving out, etc.). Scott and Weldon also share a similar intolerance of speeders, traveling “salesmen,” and other neighborhood nuisances. We enjoy just talking with them in the front yard. I remember one hot day sharing root beer floats together in our front yard, just because it was fun.

The theme for my July newsletter is going to be Friends and Neighbors. For some reason, this time of year, when we’re all outside barbecuing and weedeating and sitting still drinking lemonade, always makes me think of neighbors and how important they are in our lives.

Our neighbors ultimately make up our community, and each of our communities makes up our city. So being a good neighbor helps us maintain a friendly city.

Send me a story about your favorite neighbor. Or if you have a favorite quote about neighbors or friends, please share it with me. I’m gathering things for my newsletter now and I love to have contributions from readers.

I’m reading a book right now called, My Stroke of Insight, by Jill Bolte Taylor. Dr. Taylor is a Harvard brain scientist that had a massive stroke in 1996, when she was 37 years old. Within four hours, she lost her entire left brain, which is the center of logic, language, and sequence. The constant chatter of her mind was completely silenced. This left her living only in her right brain, where she felt a sense of complete peace and oneness with the universe. She could no longer sense the boundary between her body and the rest of the energy in the world around her.

The book takes us through the morning of the stroke and through her 8-year recovery. This is a fascinating story on so many levels!  She, a brain scientist, got to study the stroke from the inside out, and her findings are astounding. To physicians, recovering stroke patients, their family members, and to us as a human family.

When we meditate, we try to achieve the quieting of this right brain chatter. We are searching for that moment when our true selves expand into the universe and we experience it not as a separate “I,” but as a collective and peaceful “we.” This is what Dr. Taylor experienced for weeks! And the impact on her is profound. It’s as if she died, went to heaven, and was sent back to tell us all about!

I encourage you to take a 20-minute break to watch this video of Jill Bolte Taylor talking about her “stroke of insight.” I promise, it will captivate you.

Jill Bolte Taylor, on how it feels to have a stroke. . .