SON SALUTATION, Happy Birthday, Son

On this day, December 24th at 10:57 PM, twelve years ago, you came into this world. This day represents your birth as well as mine. I have learned so much from you. My life is rich with joy and happiness watching you grow into a young man, witnessing your achievements and accomplishments as well as your challenges and obstacles. 

You flow through your day infusing it with the things you love: reading, skate-boarding, biking, family, friends, music, sports . . . You teach me the importance of doing what we love, staying true and committed to ourselves and living/loving life to the fullest. Your ability to always make time in your day to do what is important to you reminds me to stay present, embracing the moment.

You demonstrate that happiness comes from within by not letting things around you bring your spirits down. You are a living example that happiness is not what we do or what we have,  it is who we choose to be. Through the brightness of your eyes and the shine of your smile, you are a beautiful reflection of inner peace, radiating kindness and compassion, the way the Sun radiates rays of Light.

I am so proud of you.

I love you always.

Mom.

HOLDING SPACE

Street Yoga is a non-profit organization that brings yoga to the “streets,” to those indivudals who might not otherwise have exposure to the practice.  I attended the Teacher Training program because I wanted to learn how to share yoga with adults and children living with adversity.

The Street Yoga based class I teach in Newark is a yoga program designed specifically for children who have been abused. Holding to the ideology that yoga is for everyone, I want to teach yoga safely and conscientiously to children who have suffered from abuse and trauma. Sensitivity, compassion and understanding are paramount in helping these children develop a yoga practice of their own. Yoga helps reconnect the mind & body (through breath and mindful movement) where abuse may have severed that connection. Often victims of abuse disconnect from their body as a coping mechanism, essentially, they stop “feeling.”

Kids’ yoga classes can differ greatly from adult classes and even more so with heightened sensitivity to past trauma. For example, the lights in the room always remain on. The children position their mats wherever they choose: facing the door, in front of the wall, in the middle of the room. Poses that may elicit feelings of vulnerability and insecurity are avoided. Part of the healing process is redefining boundaries, therefore physical assists in poses are not appropriate, only verbal cues. What is of most importance is that each child feels safe, secure and in control. 

I learn so much from these children:

They remind me to be 

happy, strong, hopeful & grateful.

They remind me to cherish 

safety, beauty, peace & blessings. 

They remind me to Hold Space 

In that space I pray, I cry, I mourn 

for them and others just like them 

so on the mat I can 

be and cherish

A Warrior

 NAMASTE

LEARN TO LET GO (earlier this year, around mid-February)

. . . so read the words across the 12" x 12" tile . . little did I know what was to come!

Within a couple of weeks of bringing home the decorative tile, I found myself surfing through Craig's List researching space to rent if I were to open my own business. A few weeks later, I signed a lease for a business suite in Verona (the first one I had inquired about on C's List), and so came SILK STUDIO, LLC.

Before the ink had dried on the newly signed lease, I received a letter from my apartment landlord stating "I had 3O days to vacate my apartment or (and I quote) get rid of the dog."

OMG, back on Craig's List! Luckily for me, the Universe makes things very clear: the first apartment I looked up was the same street address as the new business studio (only in Montclair).

The challenge of moving (aside from the obvious):

1)   to find a place that does not disrupt the kids' daily routine (school, transportation, friends . . . to name a few)

2)   to find a place that is comfortable for our family of 3, but not too large, as 1 is off to college in a year.

3)   to find a place that allows pets.

4)   $$$$$

This period of transition was a test of Faith, Prayer & Meditation . . . and we passed.

Within a 4 week period, I was able to "let go" of work at a place I had been for nearly 9 years. I was able to "let go" of an apartment I had thought was perfect.

My work was not done, all these amazing gifts & shifts and yet I was still holding on to something . . .

ANGER

Anger was the last to go . . .

A friend told me "through adversity comes change." Yes, I got it! All of these gift & shifts would not have come about without the adversity that initiated the change, Anger turned into Gratitude. In the same way that Anger can snow-ball and become huge, so too can Gratitude and I have a lot to be grateful for.

Thank you

: D

THE EARTH IS MY GYM . . .

Getting back into a routine of waking up before the sun and heading outside for a jog has been amazing for me. I throw on a pair of sweats, a sweatshirt, lace up the shoes and I'm out the door in less than 10 minutes. The air is refreshingly cool, clean and clear.

The peace and privacy I experience outside so early in the morning is the perfect setting for meditation and reflection. After 45 minutes I feel a sense of organization and structure. What previously felt overwhelming, now feels manageable and I look forward to the tasks and challenges ahead.

Every morning I say "wow!" loud enough to be heard if there were someone else present. Wow to the magenta glow of the rising sun, wow to the fox shirting across the street, wow to the beautifully illuminated NYC skyline.

The Earth Is My Gym . . .