Be Happiness

The renewal of spring is a ideal time to change your mind, change your life. I’m actively choosing happiness over the alternative. 

One of my current inspirations is Bronnie Ware, of Inspiration and Chai and an Australian nurse who cares for the dying. She blogs about the top five regrets people have at the end of their lives. 

One regret is the realization that happiness is a choice. Bronnie writes,

Many had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again. 

Bronnie’s powerful list of death bed regrets includes:

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. 

2. I wish I hadn't worked so hard. 

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings. 

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. 

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

I’m reminded of one tool from yogini and author Sara Avant Stover -- her book The Way of the Happy Woman, Living the Best Year of Your Life. Sara Avant is helping me season-by-season to simplify, slow down, turn inward to consult the source and witness happiness bloom. 

Dites moi, SVP, how many of the regrets listed above resonate with you and what are going to do about it?

Thank You for Your Service

I’ve posted almost nothing about my 200-hour yoga teacher training and how I’m now applying it in my life. It’s still a lot to process and live. I plan to sift through the journal I kept over the nine-week program and reflect and write some more about the experience. 

Meanwhile, I’d like to tell you about my day yesterday. 

Daniel Hickman, founder of Silk Road Yoga, generously welcomed me to his bi-weekly yoga class at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. 

Daniel has been teaching veterans -- wounded warriors -- their care givers and civilian staff for five years. He brings a blend of yoga, breath + mind/body work to make a significant difference in the lives of so many people. And, now me.

The hour-long class was small: two physical therapists, Michael, a 22-year-old Marine  from Tampa, Florida, his care giver, Daniel’s lovely friend and fellow yoga teacher Anna, and moi.

We warmed up the spine, all six movements. We then worked through seated and supine poses and focused on upper body strength with modified dolphin pose and upward facing dog. 

Near the end of class Daniel encouraged Michael to try a few additional poses. Before he could finish talking him through headstand, Michael rose on his own. 

What’s remarkable is that Michael is missing his left arm from the elbow down. He used a short stack of yoga blocks to steady the left side of his body. 

Michael also had to rely on core strength to pull himself into headstand, since he lost both of his legs in an explosion in Afghanistan. With Daniel’s guidance, Michael pushed himself up into scorpion. I wish you could have seen the look on his face when he came out of the pose.

I’m still awed and moved by Michael’s exhibition of sheer determination. OO-RAH, Michael, it was an honor to bear witness. 

And thanks, Daniel, for making a difference one soldier at a time.

Dites moi, SVP, how are you making a difference?

Photo: Not Michael, but fellow noble vets participating in the Wounded Warrior Foundation’s Soldier Ride in Washington, D.C., last year. 

Play the Hand You Were Dealt

On my walk to the neighborhood yoga studio yesterday I spied a red and white playing card facedown on the sidewalk. It begged me to turn it over. 

Ace of Diamonds.

Then, further down the street I noticed a second card. I picked it up. Queen of Clubs. 

And then, a third. A Jack of Hearts.

Twenty-one. Vingt-et-un. Blackjack.

Dites moi, SVP, feeling lucky?

Blossom

Spring blooms beautifully here, in shades of fuchsia to the palest of pinks to a touch of coral. I'm blooming, too, with the launch of another endeavor. Unrelated to yoga (or so it would seem!). Details to come.


Dites moi, SVP, how are you blossoming?

Inspiration for Blossoming Sutra -- The Mala

One hundred eight pearls on a nylon thread with a lump of turquoise as the guru bead captured my imagination. 

It was a simple strand of prayer beads on display in a Tibetan shop in my neighborhood, standing out from the others made of seeds and stones and bones. So different; beautiful in an incredible simple way.

In a moment of inspiration, I thought of transforming another strand by slipping a knot in between each pearl, like this super long strand of glass pearls. 

A few days later by coincidence, I ran into a crafty friend. When I mentioned my new found interest in hand-knotting, she directed me to all the resources I needed. I ordered a knotting tool and bunches of glass pearls. And began.

Piles of pearls remind me of Gabrielle Coco Chanel. As I knotted I also wondered, if she was alive today -- and a yogini! -- what sort of mala might she own? Fabulous faux pearls, bien sur! Perhaps several, comme ca. 

Flash forward to today. I’m delighted my new etsy shop is open and available via the Shop! tab above or through this link: www.etsy.com/shop/blossomingsutra.

Dites Moi, SVP, WWCoCoD?

Creative Entrepreneurs

A year ago I sat in my windowless office at my old job dreaming entrepreneurial dreams. Jennifer Lee, Artizen Coaching, sustained me for an hour a day over two weeks with her 2011 Right-Brainers in Business Video Summit for creative entrepreneurs. 

Jenn, a brilliant life coach, is hosting the video summit again this year from February 27 through March 2 and I’m viewing it from a very different place. I’m attending from my sunny home office/studio and again reveling in every moment.  

Each session is broadcast live via a private Livestream channel and is also available afterwards for 48 hours. Featured guests cover a range of topics including heart-centered selling, social media, legal basics, the art of earning, spread your message and more! 

While the Summit officially kicked off yesterday, there’s still time to catch up and indulge in some creative right brain business planning. 

I’m paying special attention now as I relaunch my yoga-inspired line of jewels -- Blossoming Sutra. Did you notice the new Shop! page on my blog?

Dites moi, SVP, what’s your creative next step?

A Working Artist's Date

One of my favorite things about this new life is living in eco-luxe TranquilliT, a line of layers of rayon made from bamboo. Fabulously comfortable, the clothing is created in Washington, D.C., by the talented designer/yogini/entrepreneur Kimberly Wilson.

Another favorite thing is indulging in creative endeavors large and small. I was thrilled to spend Friday afternoon with stylist/make up artist/beauty blogger Julia Coney as an extra pair of eyes and hands for the photo shoot of TranquiliT’s spring 2012 collection. With the Jay-Z Pandora station for inspiration.

I snapped these shots of the beautiful Lesley Ware, who was in town from Brooklyn to model new pieces. Doesn’t she look fabulous? 

See how photographer Patrick Onofre captured the fall 2011 collection. 

Looking forward to seeing new pieces in Tangerine and Ink soon.

Dites moi, SVP, how do you inject your day with creativity?