No Day But Today

Do you ever have days where you are lacking enthusiasm for the "to do's" in your life? I know I have lately. I even found myself with the excuse, "I just don't have time". Of course I know that's not true. We all have the same amount of time in a day. Some move mountains in that time and some move from the bed to the couch. 

Through meditation I realized my lack of enthusiasm was coming from my lack of connection. Connection to my community, friends and purpose. I have been surrounded by wonderful people and opportunity but my resistance to being in a place "I don't want" to be has gotten in my way. My theme for the year is Trust. I repeat this mantra in my head whenever I am challenged. I repeat it in my yoga practice and in meditation. There are times I can surrender to it and times I cannot but either way I continue to do the work. 

I have been performing in a production of my favorite musical, Rent. It's been a long time coming and am so grateful to be a part of such a great cast. We opened on Friday. I was greeted before the show by two of my favorite people who surprised me with the biggest bouquet of flowers and lots of supporting hugs. After the show I was surprised by two more beautiful familiar faces to support me along with my husband who has been by my side through it all. To top it off, text messages and voice mails poured in from my family and friends from afar with their loving words of encouragement. I had forgotten how loved and supported I am. 

After the show my hubby and I went out with the cast to celebrate. I was able to connect further to these wonderfully talented spirits I have been rehearsing with for the last two months. They have been so accepting and loving as they have greeted me as a new face to the theater and are so sweet with one another. By being out with each of them I was able to fill up with love again and reconnect to my surroundings. 

It was my lack of connection to my passions, friends, and community that had me running on empty. Now, I'm inspired and excited for life and new projects. Interesting how simple human connection can change everything and funny that this is what Rent is all about. It took opening night for me to feel it in my core. If you are feeling uninspired, lost or disarrayed, pause for a moment, breathe and spend some time with the people in your life. Forget about "to do's" for a moment and reconnect to life with life. 

Food Is Love

While I was in Italy I took the time to observe the act of love that is food every day. From the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed, the art of eating was either in action or in conversation.

At 8 am I would wake up to the sound of family in the kitchen, making the morning espresso and preparing for lunch. My husband and I would come down from our bedroom to be greeted with a small table setting for us. Our Cappuccino mugs set on a small plate with a spoon. Both of which rested upon an individual place mat per seat. There would be bags of cookies to choose from or a heated croissant waiting to be eaten on a separate plate. In the center, a small heated tin pitcher of milk and espresso were ready to pour along with a bowl of sugar to prepare our cappuccino to our liking.


Lunch was always served promptly at 2 pm. Most of the food had been prepared prior to lunch so that it's easy to have the table set according to schedule. The table cloth is laid out and each seat at the table is set with an empty bowl sitting on an empty plate. Forks and knives are carefully placed beside the dinner-ware along with a glass for your water and/or wine. Pasta is always served as a first course, then comes the meat, vegetable and salad. There is always bread and cheese to choose from to add to your meal. And if that wasn't enough already, we finish off with some fruit, dessert and an espresso. I find I have to pace myself and eat small portions as to not turn away food. You see, in Italy, "No thank you. I'm full", is not an acceptable answer. During lunch we usually talk a bit and watch the news and talk a bit more of what we will be eating for dinner that night or what we would like for lunch tomorrow. After everyone has had their espresso it is safe to clean up and like clockwork the plates are cleared and  the table is reset back to neutral. The dishes are done and preparation for dinner begins. For those that have come home for lunch from work usually take an hour nap before heading back to work since lunch is a 2-3 hour break for most people.

At 8 pm dinner is served. Once again a clean table cloth is covering the once bare table. The dishes are set ready for food to be served upon them and not a chair at the table is left behind. You see, even if someone isn't coming to dinner their place is set for them in case they change their mind. Talk about feeling welcomed at the dinner table! Dinner is very similar to lunch in the sense that it is balanced with pasta, meat, vegetable, bread, cheese and fruit. Being mindful no to forget dessert, coffee and a shot of Limoncello or Sambuca to top off, not only the dinner but the day.

Eat, rinse and repeat. The art of setting a table and preparing a meal for everyone to come home to it seems like a special occasion but in Italy this is everyday life. So much love and thoughtfulness goes into each meal with everyone's considerations, special needs, requests and well, just needing to eat.

Here in America we tend to eat when we're hungry. It's usually something quick and on the go since we don't allow ourselves 2-3 hours to rest during the day from our work. We barely set the table and tend to talk more of the weather than what our next meal will be.

In yoga we practice being mindful. So taking this on inside of the food we eat and how we prepare and eat may become complete game changer. When is the last time you prepared your meals? When is the last time you cooked from scratch? When is the last time you prepared the table even if it is just you?

Food is love, from the way we think about it and prepare it, to set the table and how we eat it. Love your body, love your life. Eat well and fall in love.

Never Talk About It Again!

I recently found myself getting upset at an old issue I thought I had put behind me. I'm not going to discuss it here because I no longer need to feed it energy. If you have an issue that bothers you and doesn't align with what you want in your life, here is the solution... Never talk about it again! By talking about it it stirs up emotions and energy that are unnecessary to the alignment of your happiness.

At first my thought was, "Isn't it healthy to talk it through if I need to vent?". Maybe in some cases but then I thought about it further. Every time I talk about this subject I feel angry and sad. I also feel guilty after I vent about it. Talking about this subject in no way helps me align to my greatness. So I have let it go and that's the end of that.

Do you have an issue that is hard for you to swallow and want to put it behind you but find yourself slipping down the slope of upset  and gluttonous gossip?

Check out this video by Abraham Hicks (it's about 9 minutes and totally worth it!) on this subject for more clarity. It helped me and I hope it can help you or someone you know.

"Do you know why you feel so bad when you think about it? Because you go there and your inner being doesn't" - Abraham Hicks

Courage... One Step at a Time

What does courage look like to you? I know for a lot of  people, including myself at times, we can relate to courage as being a big heroic act to accomplish something great. Some may relate to being brave and some may not. I've been told many times that I am courageous all the while not relating to it.

Today I want us to get related to being courageous because we all are. It doesn't have to take running into a burning building to safe a child to become courageous. There are many times inside of a day we are courageous without even recognizing it at courage.

What about the last time you spoke to someone you didn't know or went to a party you didn't know anyone at or stood up for yourself or for someone else. What about when you did something new or traveled somewhere foreign (this doesn't have to be a different country, it can be a few towns over) What about when you tried a new food or cooked a meal you've never made. What about when you went on a job interview or asked someone for their advice or asked for help.These are all things we may face on a regular basis that take a certain amount of surrender and courage to achieve.

I recently was in Italy with my husband visiting family and as wonderful as it is to be there, a certain amount of courage is required. As many of you may know, when getting related to your married family it takes  a lot of quality time and many conversations. This is a courageous act all on it's own but how do you do this without speaking the same language? This is my challenge as my Italian is not very good. It requires a lot of patience with myself and is humbling time and time again. Self expression has never been my problem in life but it is here. It requires me to be quiet and listen, not only to the words they are saying but how they are saying it. It requires me soak it in and learn. Lastly, it requires me to be willing to fall on my face so to speak over and over again as I try to put sentences together to communicate with them. I'm not going to lie, this is a huge challenge for me. Sometimes it's really fun and sometimes it makes me cry. Not only am I in my own struggle to speak and learn the language but I also have to trust my husband completely to guide me through a conversation and because he likes to joke around a lot this becomes a difficult task. ;) Never the less I made myself a part of conversations and had an amazing time.

One of the ways I choose to relate to my new family is by doing something with them that they enjoyed. I went to Zumba with his mom and ballroom dancing with his grandpa. Let me just tell you, I have never ballroom danced in my life! But, there I was in a room filled with ballroom regulars and no English speakers. Talk about a new and slightly scary circumstance. I let all my fears of looking bad  go and allowed myself to just be silly. This was one of the highlights of my trip and I got to connect to his grandpa and his grandpas friends effortlessly.

In this trip I got related to what courage really is. It's those moments we aren't necessarily comfortable in but step through the resistance or fear  anyway. Courage is moving forward no matter how big or small the circumstances and we are always moving forward.

"Small things matter. What may look like a small act of courage is courage nevertheless. The important thing is to be willing to take a step forward."