One

The most beautiful thing about life is that it changes so quickly. Nothing is permanent which is unarguably the most beautiful and also the most terrifying thing about it. 

I had an amazing experience a couple days ago, I had just finished the most difficult month of my life and although there were people all around me I still felt alone. When the month was officially over I went out for coffee at the Tibetan cafe across the street from the Hindu temple I used to visit frequently with my mom. That evening I met a woman there that knew my dad in Michigan, by chance she sat down beside me at the precise time I needed her most. I didn't even realize how much I needed a friend, someone to talk to that understood me and what I was going through but somehow I think God knew we both needed each other.

I am so thankful for the blessings of the Universe, gifts that are so unexpected and surreal I would never even think of asking for them but they're given anyway. It only takes One second, One person, One experience to change your life forever. Wait for it, look for it, expect it! It's coming...    

The Blessings of Mold

The sound of thunder rolls in and the clouds move over the mountains like a white blanket covering the Himalayas as far as the eye can see. It's 4pm on the dot and the rain begins as it does every day, washing the streets clean and forcing the rivers onward and upward. As the rain's fury dies down the rainbow shines brightly over the mountain tops and the clouds disperse leaving behind an array of slugs, warms and insects.

It has been a difficult task making sure the mold doesn't take over my life and attach itself to all of my belongings but I have also seen the blessings in the situation. I spent a month in a room that was infested with mold, before arriving I wasn't aware of the distinct smell mold brings with it but now I will never forget it. I'm in a well ventilated room now but the mold still finds a way into every dark space that has been forgotten for more than a couple of days. Mold has taught me a valuable lesson, however, less is more. Less possessions I have, the more peace I have because in this weather it's a must to clean and touch everything on a daily basis if I want to keep them.

Letting go has been a form of worship I have adapted since making peace with the weather here. I let go, clean my space and touch my things every day- I move them, wash them and put them in the sun to dry. Every day I let go, am aware of what is serving me and what's important in my life. There is a piece of me in each object in my room, in my space and I have a relationship with each of them. I take care of them, love them and let them go when our time together is through.

Hawan Ceremony

The first day of yoga we began with a Hawan ceremony, in the Hindu tradition the beginning of a new venture begins with this type of ceremony to ask for guidance and protection. 

Everyone was told to wear white which represented "purity". We sat in a circle inside the dining hall and a small fire was lit on the floor. They chanted in Sandskrit and threw different spices and oils into the fire. The women wore scarfs on their heads, the men had a piece of red string on their heads and they tied a piece of red and yellow string to each person’s wrist. I was told this was symbolic of giving blessings to each person. They we were all given some spices and herbs to throw into the fire and we chanted “OM” (The sound of the Universe) together. 

Soon the ceremony was over and we all met in to yoga room to meet our teachers and have a short introduction to the course and what would be expected of us. One thing I thought was interesting is that we were told sitting with feet straight out, pointing at the teacher is considered disrespectful so we could sit cross legged or with our knees up but never with our feet out in a relaxed position. 

Dharmshala

The plane ride here was easy, by the time we were landing we could look over the landscape and see how everything had changed drastically down below since leaving New Delhi.

Once we arrived we got in the taxi to drive up the mountain and I was pretty sure we weren't going to make it! The roads were small with tight turns, people were walking, cows were crossing, goats were eating by the side of the road, many times you could look out over the hills and valleys below without any barriers between the car and the steep plummet down. I was sure only one car could drive on the road at a time but the driver proved me wrong! At one point we fit two cars and a cow on this small path, I still have no idea how that was even possible!

Then, we were half way up the mountain and the skies opened up and the rain came pouring down. A police car had stopped in front of us and began backing down the mountain in front of us- our driver was angry but we had to obey. The tires were slipping and we were all backing down one bye one, keeping the windows open so the windshield wouldn't fog over, everyone was getting wet and with each passing minute I was more and more convinced we wouldn't make it or we would have to end up pushing the car up the rest of the way. Finally our driver got out of the car in the pouring rain, opened the car door in front of us and told him where to stick it. The car promptly moved over to the side and we passed.

It was quite the adventure. Then we got out of the car and the trek up the stairs to our rooms in the rain seemed more like swimming up a waterfall than walking up stairs but we did in fact survive the adventure up here and the view from up here is absolutely breath taking. The scenery is beautiful, the weather is perfect, it rains every day and we are able to watch from our yoga room as the clouds cover the mountains and uncover them, like a blanket protecting and keeping them warm.

New Delhi

It has been a wonderful adventure to India. It took three days to arrive in New Delhi. I had the opportunity to spend a day in Newark, where I lived in 2011, and see some dear friends again.

Once I arrived in New Delhi I waited for Emily outside of the international arrivals, and started to settle into my new environment. We got a taxi to our hostel and drove on the opposite side of the street than what we’re used to and weaved between motorcycles, buses, cows and people walking while all the cars on the road were honking simultaneously. The traffic here had no understanding of this idea of “Patience” I had been practicing.

The people here have been very nice and we’ve only been cheated or ripped off a few times. We were expecting rain, since it is monsoon season in India, but it didn’t rain while we were in New Delhi- I walked around with rain boots none-the-less since they didn’t fit in the backpack I was carrying but the trip was short and sweet. I sat out on the balcony of our hostel the next morning and watched the children be walked to the bus stop and the vendors selling fruit on the side of the streets. The streets were alive with color, people wearing traditional Indian clothing and I watched as the people walked across the streets, they maneuvered swiftly through the traffic, a well-timed dance serenaded by honking horns and busy city life.

Today I travel with patience

It will take me three days to get to India. 

I arrived in Newark last night at 3am. I looked out the window before settling in for the night and watched the cleaning crew preparing for morning.











Today was the first time I had the opportunity to use the meditation room in the airport. It was quiet and serene; a nice way to begin the day.

On my way out of here to spend the day in New York City- See you soon!













Patience is, as Browning said, is the courage to change the things you can, the willingness to accept the things you cannot and the wisdom to know the difference. 

What's Your Super Power?

I'm getting packed and ready to go to India, which means I've been writing a lot and making videos in advance for my book club, to make sure they're uploaded before I leave. I hope I will be able to continue to make videos and upload pictures to this blog once I get there but I honestly don't know what the internet will be like so I've been busy preparing.

Creating the videos for the Napoleon Hill's A Year of Growing Rich has been very rewarding. It has forced me to step out of my comfort zone, yet again, and teach what I most desire to learn. 

Each chapter has within it hidden gems of information that I'm surprised to find as I dig and read and dig some more. It's one thing to read a book, it's another to read it with the intention of sharing it with others. 

It took me a week to finally make the video for the chapter "Hopefulness". I understood it intellectually but I've never put it into practice in my life with fervor and zeal. After I began reading and studying these two simple pages Mr. Hill wrote on "Hopefulness" all of the difficult situations and people from my past started showing up in my life and my emotions, needless to say, were a mess. 

Then, teachers began to appear in the form of books, audio CDs, email newsletters and youtube videos. I dove head first into Abraham Hick's teachings on the Law of Attraction, Eckhart Tolle's book The Power of Now and Dr. Bruce Lipton's recordings that came to my email inbox every day. They were all saying the same thing but with different words, essentially, YOU (and only you) are in control of your emotions- no matter what the outer circumstances are. They even went one step further to say, YOU are attracting life's events to you through the law of attraction whether you are aware of it or not. Dr. Bruce Lipton really helped me to finally understand the power of the mind and the part it plays in creating the life I'm living. He gave the example of harmonic resonance, our emotions are like the frequency that we are emitting and the energetic universe then delivers to us, people, places, situations and things that are in energetic resonance with us. This explains why and how we are creating this life we are experiencing. Napoleon Hill nailed it when he titled his best selling book, "THINK and Grow Rich".

Mr. Hill says that "Hope is the raw material with which you build success." First we must dream of a better tomorrow, then we must live it. By living with hope we are moving our attention from what is to what could be and then we can begin to attract what we desire into our lives. 

However, as I've recently learned and understood very clearly, we can't allow people, situations or events to dictate our inner emotional state. Since reading Napoleon Hill's A Year Of Growing Rich, I've become aware that I've lived too much of my life dependent on outer circumstances to make me feel a certain way. Someone says or does something nice, I feel good. Someone insults or betrays me, I feel bad. This is no way to live life- especially if you're interested in creating a life of peace, love and success. No one has the power to affect the way you feel unless you give them permission to do so.

Osho says it this way, "You feel good, you feel bad, and these feeling are bubbling from your own unconsciousness, from your own pas. Nobody is responsible except you. Nobody can make you angry, and no body can make you happy."

Practice feeling good no matter the outer circumstance and you will begin to create the life of your dreams-  THIS is your superpower. YOU have the power to give your imagination free rein to create HOPE and live the life you desire.