The past several months have been a whirlwind of activity for me. The 40 Days to Personal Revolution wrapped up and within the same week I started teaching (along with other great teachers) Yoga One's 200 hour Yoga of Thriving Teacher Training. In between weekends spent teaching regular yoga classes and visiting family I've managed to get to the beach, the mountains, Chapel Hill, Charleston, Asheville, drumStrong, slacklining, rollerderby(ing), and enjoying life to it's fullest. 

Despite the busyness, I've not been inspired to post much to the blog. Reading some other blogs, I came across a question though that got me wondering, if I could only say ONE thing here today, what would it be?

From Trent:

Today is really the only day that matters. You can’t make your past self do anything. You can’t make your future self do anything, either. Your only freedom of choice is right now, and thus today is your one chance to paint your masterpiece.

So today, I want to say THANK YOU!

Thank you to all of my friends and family for being exactly who you are. I wouldn't be who I am without you being there for me in the exact way you were.

Thank you to my workplace, Yoga One, and to all of the teachers and staff that make it the most amazing place to be.

Thank you to the students who continue to show up and shine for themselves and in doing so keep me employed in a career that I could never have dreamed up on my own.

Thank you to the technology that allows me to stay in touch with everyone in my life.

Thank you to friends near and far, and those near who are about to be far (and thank you in advance for letting me crash on your couch when I visit far). 

Thank you Thank you thank you thank you!

I went through the checkout line at Healthy Home Market today and the cashier asked for a closer look at my wrist tattoo. I had it done right after my Level 2 teacher training with Baron Baptiste. It was the theme for the week, and now that it's permanently etched into my skin, the theme of my life: Defy the Lie.

She was taken aback because she was having a conversation with another customer about tellin the truth versus telling lies and asked me if there were every any exceptions or circumstances in which telling a lie was better than telling the truth. My immediate response was no, no good effect can come from lying. I could see the wheels in her heard turning and as I sat down for a quick lunch, she sat beside me with some more questions.

"Okay, so my friend really wants to go on American Idol but she can't sing. Do I tell her?" she asked.

I had to think about it for a minute until I figured out what sue was really asking me. Is it okay to hurt someone's feelings with the truth, or should feelings be spared with a little lie? I remembered back to when I was first learning about the yamas and niyamas. The first code of conduct that yoga teaches is ahimsa, mostly translated as non-harming. Second is truth. At a discourse with Blair Lewis, he said that they are taught in that order specifically so that we will put non-harming before the truth. His idea is that we tell the truth always, but we should always, "grease our words with love."

The cashier seemed a little lighter at this prospect, so I felt we could take it one step farther. I reminder her that ultimately love is truth, and that if she's torn between telling a lie or telling the truth, that there is probably some deeper fear or problem underpinning the situation.

This is the everyday work of a yogi. To live is to bump up against tough choices where we might lose something or someone. The practice though, is to sit with these situations long enough for the truth to become apparent. All events in life can be boiled down to a choice between love and fear. It is our work to not leave any situation until we can choose love and truth and be behind that decision fully.

*Excuse any typos or formatting issues. This post was composed entirely on an iPhone.

A few years ago some fellow yoga teachers in training and I decided to host weekly meet ups to teach our selves the art of Acroyoga. It was an amazing and sometimes bruise filled summer. We had the official Acroyoga Flight Manual, lots of videos and even found a couple of workshops to attend. By the end of the summer we were comfortable flying, stacking and spinning each other in the air in a combination of yoga, massage and dance. 

Fellow yogi & dancer Tai and I have decided to bring back the flying fun in an intro to partner yoga playshop. I emphasize play because we work enough as it is, and this is going to be fun! It's for all levels and we don't expect anyone to know anything. Actually, it's much easier to teach people who don't know anything. You don't even have to have a partner, but you get a discount when two or more people sign up together. We'll be working in threes for the acrobatics (a base, a flyer and a spotter) and twos for the partner asana. 

To sign up, call Yoga One (704.332.9911) or click here!

Time to dust off the mighty written word, or typed word, as it is, and tell you about my post holiday Vipassana meditation course. After Christmas, I took refuge with about 60 other people in an old (as in no heat and bad plumbing) Catholic summer camp to learn the teaching of Gotama the Buddha. It's a technique dating back around 2500 years and it is still being taught all over the world as a remedy for all ills.

From the website: www.dhamma.org

Vipassana, which means to see things as they really are, is one of India's most ancient techniques of meditation. It was rediscovered by Gotama Buddha more than 2500 years ago and was taught by him as a universal remedy for universal ills, i.e., an Art Of Living.

This non-sectarian technique aims for the total eradication of mental impurities and the resultant highest happiness of full liberation. Healing, not merely the curing of diseases, but the essential healing of human suffering, is its purpose.

If you read nothing more about my experience there, know this-- it was the most transformative experience of my life! Coming from someone who makes it his business to experience and teach transformation, I do not say those words lightly. I've been through many yoga trainings, even taught them, but nothing has allowed me to go so deep into my own being as the 10 day vipassana course.

The Experience

Just signing up for the program is a test of mental preparedness. After deciding that I wanted to do this for ten days, I had to fill out a questionnaire the plumbed the histories of my mental health and family life. Each step of the way is met with the recurring question Do you really want to meditate for 10 days? and Can you stay the entire length of the program?

The first night there, I took the vows of a monk, which are not really all that hard, especially the big ones like I will not kill anyone or anything or  I will not steal. It is slightly more difficult to take the vow of noble silence. For the duration of the course, I was to cultivate the sense that I was working alone, meditating in seclusion. Not talking to anyone was easy, but the vow extends to all forms of communication, including eye contact. I also adopted the schedule of a monk, which involves waking at 4am and meditating for 1-2 hour blocks until 9pm. Each day was about 11 hours total sitting in meditation.

Aren't there alligators in Florida?

The predominant thought for the first three days was Dear God, Please let a rabid alligator bite my leg so I can go home! I formulated plan after plan for escape the first few days. Every time I sat to meditate, either alone or with the group, I felt the urgent need to be doing something somewhere else. Or I would gain some amazing insight on some project I was working on back home and want to act on it. Since writing and reading materials were contraband, my only option was to continue meditating and hope that the thoughts would subside (and maybe that I would remember the good ideas in the New Year).

It got easier as the days went by. They blended together into a sludgy blur, as if time decided it really didn't have anywhere to be and could just take a little rest before getting on. My body was wracked with the most physical sensation I have ever experienced, even at the Baron bootcamps. After day three though, it just stopped. I could sit without pain for one or two hours. Around day six, I stopped worrying that zombie reindeer would ambush the camp and I realized that when I sit still, the mind keeps churning up thoughts and I usually miss out on the benefits of being silent.

There is no spoon.

The best stuff doesn't really show up until day eight or so, and I know now why they ask you to commit to the whole course. It takes nothing less that a total commitment to the process to reap the benefits or vipassana. The technique is simple, but not always easy. To sit and be still, on the inside as well as the outside takes a strong determination. The reward for such actions is clarity. I'm not talking about the clarity that comes with a good nights sleep or a cup of coffee, I mean the "this is the matrix and no, there really isn't a spoon" types clarity. Every bad sensation that arises, every negative (or positive) emotion that comes up and into the awareness has a cause--and I could see it. It was like having a magic xray machine into my own being. Thoughts would happen and I would see how they actually changed my body, either by pulling some muscles tighter here, say across the chest, or by releasing some new hormone into my bloodstream making me feel giddy and light.

Each emotional event disintegrated into all of its constituent parts. There was cause, action, reaction, new event, new cause, new reaction. Like the sense of time that slowed, each biological process revealed itself to me like stop-motion movie of how my mind was working. Even more exciting was that there were no blind spots. Everything I looked at came apart and revealed its history to me. It was easy to see the truth that we create the reality we see. What's hard is keeping  that awareness open and flowing while moving through life and making a living. Coming from 11 hours of meditation a day to maybe 1/2 an hour to an hour means that a lot more thoughts are churning throughout the day, clouding up that pristine sight that made everything so simple and clear.

The memory of all of that clarity is preserved, however, and it serves as a reminder that seeing things clearly is possible and more and more possible every time I sit and be still. 

Check out the not-so-silent ride home!

This is post nineteen in the Best of 2009 Blog Challenge. Read them all!

There are people that you immediately distrust. They send up a red flag before a word escapes their mouth and you just know that they're not a person you want to be around at that moment. This is about the exact opposite of that person. I had just returned from Montana and was about to embark on meeting this year's round of teacher trainees when Susie, a regular at the studio, but not one I had talked to frequently, asked if I want to go to the beach with her.

She was in teacher training, so I knew that if she murdered me people would at least know who I had been with, and I decided the beach was worth the gamble. We left early morning a few days before the Fourth of July. I figured if we didn't get along we could both just practice meditating for a few days and forget the conversation thing all together. It was only a few minutes before I was raiding her ipod to see what she had and I realized...we are going to be BEST friends. It's was all there in one album, significant and irreverent, the soundtrack to RENT.

Everybody knows the signature song Seasons of Love, so I played a lesser mainstream track to determine her level of fandom. As the intro tunes started up she looked at me, then started belting out every, single, word! It was instant recognition between the two of us. We knew each other's histories, past relationships, family and friends. We knew what each of us liked and hated and we knew that tis weekend was going to be fun. Three days of kayaking, shell hunting, slacklining and sunburn later we made our way back home in time for the 4th fireworks. It kicked off a great summer with all of the other teacher trainees as well. I have never seen a group so committed to making a training good. In the off weekends they would hike and swim together, carrying on the bonds that naturally form during such an intense time.

This is post eighteen in the Best of 2009 Blog Challenge. Read them all!

A few years ago I was fortunate enough to get to work at a small boutique in Plaza-Midwood called Pura Vida Worldly Art. I was coming from a high-end retail job in a swanky mall, but I always felt there was something special about this little shop, and it was in my favorite neighborhood in Charlotte. While I left the store in 2006 to pursue my yoga teaching career, I still drop by frequently to grab a cup of tea and incense. While I didn't spend mad money there in 2009, it was only this May that I realized how truly important this store is to Charlotte.

It was on my trip to Austin, Texas, very close to Pura Vida owner Teresa Hernandez's motherland and source of inspiration, that I realized what was so special about this place. In Austin, there are boutiques every twenty feet, and while they may all sell similar things, they contribute greatly toward a culture of appreciation and diversity. Tibetan Prayer flags sold alongside Dia de los Muertos dolls eschew selling to a niche customer based on religion of nationality. In my short tenure behind the cash register I met drummers, psychics, spiritual leaders and spiritual healers, yogis, mothers, tattoo artists and a plethora of individuals that make up the community I love.

Leaving Austin and returning to Charlotte I realized the importance of local gems like Pura Vida. They may be far fewer and far smaller here, but they are convergence points for the medley of human beings that make me love this city. A business like this thriving is the sign of a vibrant culture, and because of their inclusion of fair trade and local pieces, can be instrumental in educating people in ethical local and global consumer practices. If you live in or around Charlotte and think that it's only a banking city, please go visit Pura Vida. Order a maté and check out a drum circle in the Gypsy Lounge, or buy a skirt that will have everyone asking where you got it.

This is post seventeen in the Best of 2009 Blog Challenge. Read them all!

2008 was significant. I quit managing to become a full time yoga teacher, traveled to the Dominican Republic and Japan, started teaching workshops and trainings. There were quite a few significant events that made it a busy and life changing year. New Year's Eve was spent with a yoga practice and kirtan, and meditating into the 2009. I remember wondering, "Is this as good as it gets?" How can I top a year of travel and yoga, working through old relationships and making new friends.

It was not as good as it gets, because 2009 has been better than I could ever imagine. I didn't leave the country this year, but I got to spend an amazing time in Austin, Boston and Montana. I forged stronger relationships with my family and ended up visiting them frequently. I helped birth a new generation of yoga teachers in Yoga One's Yoga of Thriving Teacher Training. Many of those new teachers are now my best friends. Over the summer's many hikes and swims we added a significant dose of love and friendship to the Charlotte yoga community.

Thanks to Yoga One I've also had the chance to study under some amazing teachers. Gregor Singleton and Rod Stryker both hosted workshops at our studio. I got to study raw and living foods with Hollace twice at her amazing retreats. I raised money for great causes with two amazing workshops, including the Big Gay Music Class!

As I wrap up my memories of 2009, I am sure I've missed some great moments. This Sunday I am leaving for a 10 Day Vipassana meditation. I can't imagine a better way to end the year. I'm sure that a few days will be spent reviewing the past year, as memories flood up from the stillness. Once cleared though, I'll have a clean slate for an even more impressive 2010.

This is post sixteen in the Best of 2009 Blog Challenge. Read them all!

So I've always been a vegetarian friendly eater, adding in just little bits of meat here and there. The vegan agenda though???? A little harder. I just love breads, cheeses and milk. I've tried many milk alternatives through the years, completely disliking soy milk, and being okay with almond milk. (I make my own raw almond milk on occasion now and it's fantastic!)

When I gave up coffee, my main intake of milk also went out the window with that extra-hot extra-shot latte! I've been drinking up the teas ever since and have not missed coffee yet. With winter setting in though, I like to have a nice spiced chai on a dreary day. As I said earlier I never liked the taste of soy milk, but a few weeks ago I made a tea run to the local coffee shop for some of the yogs teachers. They all wanted vanilla-soy lattes or soy chai.

Feeling the peer pressure I went ahead and ordered a spiced chai with soy milk for myself and was pleasantly surprised that I liked it! I don't think that I could use soy milk on everything, but steamed hot with just the right blend of black tea and cardamom makes it a yummy winter treat, and vegan friendly too.



This is post fifteen in the Best of 2009 Blog Challenge. Read them all!

Honestly I'm having a hard time finding something I've purchased this year in neat packaging. Instead, let's just admire that Mother Nature can fit an entire tree in this little acorn. Very nice package indeed!

This is post fourteen in the Best of 2009 Blog Challenge. Read them all!

How cold was it? Well, this picture was taken the morning before the big swing. I was in a sweat lodge for hours before, and after each round we would run out into the water and then come right back into the little canvas hut for another round of chanting and purification.

After the fourth round, cohort-in-crazy Michelle and I took off for the rope swing. It was an effort because the last swingers (probably the year before) caught the rope in a tree branch. After some monkeying we dislodged it and took off. Just a few weeks earlier there was ice in the water. It still felt that way.

I felt like I was crashing through ice rather than water, and the rope deposited me farther out that I estimated. The swim back was brief and daunting as I tried to suck in air against the shivers. The only thing as amazing as that experience was seeing Michelle swing out after me, in the buff, and resurface with the same look of shock and excitement that I felt.

This is post thirteen in the Best of 2009 Blog Challenge. Read them all!

When I first moved into my suite of rooms, it only took about half and hour to have everything unpacked. I didn't bring any furniture besides a desk chair that's been following me since high school, a small banana-leaf ottoman I bought when I worked at Pier 1, and...that's it. I considered this place temporary. I was moving into someone's house, very Euro style, and the rooms were furnished. With old stuff.

The four post bed was quaint, but the rest of the furniture exuded two things; a sense of oldness, but not quite antiqueness, and dust, lots and lots of dust. The first few months I didn't even care. I used the closets and the bed and the shower, but spent most of my time at my new job working the front desk of a yoga studio.

The best change I made came over a year after living there. I decided one day, that even if I was going to pack everything up and leave on no notice, I was going to live in my house. It seemed a subtle shift. I walked into my room without the feeling of this is temporary and things looked new. It became easier to hang a picture on the wall, or move some of the old furniture out to make the space my own.

I've now been in the same place for over three years. I love the location, you couldn't pay me to live in a different neighborhood. I can walk to work, which is still the yoga studio, although I'm teaching rather than working the front desk. I can walk to over a dozen different restaurants or take a 5 minute bus ride Uptown.

Shifting the way I viewed my home also shifted the way I viewed Charlotte. It was no longer just a city that I was in until I moved to a bigger, better city. I started to see all of the things that I loved about New York and DC here, the walking, the diversity, the hustle and bustle. I feel engaged here. Even though I'd still jump at the chance to live in another city, I know it's out of my love for adventure and not running away from a place.

photo by LollyKnit

This is post twelve in the Best of 2009 Blog Challenge. Read them all!

This is by far my new favorite food. It's spicy and flavorful, served with an amazing ethnic hospitality, and you can eat it with your hands! I was taken to Meskerem Ethiopian restaurant, barely a mile from my house, last Winter by Michael Gannon & Johnna Smith, two amazing Ashtanga yogis with extensive travel abroad experience. It was after a master class, so I of course was famished, and I remember seeing the food and thinking it looked bland and mushy. The bread that serves as platter and silverware is reminiscent of a Hannibal Lecter movie prop.

After the first spongy bite, I was hooked. What the food lacks in embellishment and decoration it more than makes up for in flavor. The novelty of using the carapace-like bread has not worn off either. Most amazingly, I have found the people who work at Meskerem gracious and generous. My brother and his fiancé and 1 year old spent a lunch hour there and the server entertained the child around the restaurant while we ate, showing him the masks and carvings from her native country.

photo from http://www.ameliesfrenchbakery.com

This is post eleven in the Best of 2009 Blog Challenge. Read them all!

I must say that I was reluctant when Amelie's French Bakery first opened. The space was small, the coffee wasn't spectacular (and I quit drinking coffee anyway) and it was not exactly right around the corner from me. All of my opinions changed when I tried their Salted Caramel Brownie. Heaven on my tongue!

In the year that Amelie's has been open they've expanded their seating, decided that since they were baking 24 hours they should be open round the clock as well, and made an amazing foreign-feeling haven in Charlotte. There soups are amazing and their desserts award winning.

The most amazing thing, however, is that I can go there at three in the morning and curl up on a couch with a good book and a hot tea. You don't get that at your local coffee shop. If you're looking for good eats, good decorations or good company, Amelie's is sure to provide.