YOGA WOODSTOCK

Wanderlust 2011.  Lake Tahoe, California...  Here I come!!!
Getting ready to get my fun, funky, yoga hippie on for a weekend.
I call this event the closest thing I can find that's similar to Woodstock...  yoga-style.  :)
Driving up north with another yoga teacher I work with at Cal State Fullerton... Samantha and I are in for a journey.  People come from all over the world.  4 days in the beautiful mountains, with 4 stages of music and more yoga classes/workshops to choose from than one could imagine.  I am so happy to go and be a student not a teacher.  Excited to come back with new ideas for my classes and my private yoga clients. 

I have a feeling this is going to be a fun experience.  Neither Sam or I know how to pitch a tent... and we are camping... and we just found out the camp site does not have a shower... ummmm... this is going to be interesting as there are thousands of us attending this festival!
Check it out at Wanderlust 2011

Turning 32

July 26, 1979... I was born. 
This year I turned 32.
I love getting older.
The older I get - the happier I am.
There is a certainty, a peace, and a "who cares what others think of me" that just naturally comes with age.
I'm still young, yet my life has been full with many life experiences.
Grateful for another year.
Appreciative of the wonderful family and friends in my life both near and far.
Looking forward to my 30's and to what life has ahead...
From a Beach Party on Saturday with 40 of my friends to being celebrated at the Rooftop Bar last night in Laguna Beach with my closest crew... Happy Birthday to Me!  :-)

Still in love with NOLA

Six years of going to New Orleans to help rebuild after the 2005 hurricane and I'm still in love with this city.  The People, the Culture, the French Quarter, the Art, the JAZZ MUSIC... this feels like a home away from home.

This year for my 32nd birthday I told my family I wanted for us to fly to New Orleans and build together.  So that is what we did.  It was a great experience to have my family and friends working with me on something that is so dear to my heart.

I also visited my adopted grandma Mrs Martha.  I have a flower garden that I tend to every year in NOLA... it's Mrs Martha's.  She is so special to me.  Love our porch-sitting chats.

My trip this summer was one I will not forget.  My family and I stayed with my friend Tony at a volunteer headquarters called Operation Helping Hands.  I was able to see families of older homes I've worked on, stop in at my favorite non-profit called St Bernard Project, and even eat at my favorite spot grubbing on a po-boy at "Today's Ketch".  Even ran into my favorite artist (Reggie Bush) randomly in the French Quarter and he gave me one of his new pieces of art for free.  The energy in this place suits me!  This trip was also special in that I was able to meet up with friends who have moved to the city.  One couple announced they are expecting their first baby (Congrats Scott and Morgan).  Another couple (Dan and Amanda) has invited me back to stay with them for Mardi Gras... So, New Orleans - I will see you again soon - February to be exact... My first Mardi Gras awaits...

New Orleans Bound...

NOLA Bound and happy!  I'm going back to my second home - New Orleans.  If I did not live in California and had to pick another location in the US, I'd choose New Orleans, LA.  
It's the closest thing I can find to Europe without leaving America.  The culture, the amazing jazz music, the food, and the people make this one of my favorite cities on earth.

I've been blessed to travel the world and still NOLA is special to me.  It's been 6 years now since I've been going yearly and doing volunteer/rebuilding work and I keep going back for more. 
When I use to work at the university, I took my first group of college students down the year the hurricane hit.  It changed the way I look at volunteering.  So, I continue to go.  I continue to roll up my sleeves and work.  And I will do so until the I no longer can.  I've fallen in love with the families whose houses I worked on and continue to visit them.  This summer as I am getting ready to celebrate my birthday, I can think of nothing better to do than spend it with good friends and family in the city where Jazz began... I'm so excited to go back!

Mrs. Martha - I'll be there in 2 days!  Can't wait to sit on your porch, plant your flowers, and talk about life.  NOLA Bound and happy!!!

Private Yoga

My business is yoga.  I am one of the few who gets to do what they truly love for a living.  I am incredibly grateful.  And while I teach a lot of yoga classes, private yoga is my favorite.  I love my clients. 

To me, if one can do private yoga, that is the way to go.  It's time just for you.  No one else.  Time set aside to love yourself, de-stress your body, clear your mind, and make room for peace and relaxation (while getting proper technique and hands-on assists).  It's beautiful, really.

No private yoga session looks the same.  As everyone is different with different needs, so are the workouts designed.  I work to create a save place for the client.  I always say to them that what happens in private yoga, stays in private yoga. :) They have permission to be themselves, knowing that I am creating space and holding that space for them to just be.  We meditate, we flow, we workout, we sweat, we even do yogi push-ups and yogi crunches.  Sometimes we even chant!  I am so honored and blessed to get to work with people, creating space for them to connect the body and mind.  Making room for a little peace and zen... one private yoga session at a time.   - Namaste! 
Click here to learn more about Private Yoga with Katie

Love for a Friend

My best friend was just diagnosed with cancer.
She is 29.  She is fit, fun, and lovely.  We have traveled to some amazing places together.  Some of my favorite travel stories include her.

We've gotten lost in Italy, been searched for in Greece, majorly sunburned in Croatia, surfed in Hawaii, re-built homes in New Orleans, danced the night away on Burbon Street, went wine-tasting in Germany... and many other fun things... the list of traveling adventures with her could go on and on.  She is the closest thing I have to a sister.  Love her dearly.

Today Christine had surgery.  They went in to try and remove the cancerous tumor.  I'm in shock really.  How can someone so young and so amazing have this happen to them?  I feel for my best friend.  I wish that she did not have to go through this.  I have no idea the "why" in this... yet I do believe that one day I will be able to look back and see some good. 
Right now it just hurts... 
I'd give anything to be back with her in Venice...

Feeling Enlightened...

I met a Guru this week.  A Buddhist Lama.  Went to LA, off Santa Monica Blvd, to hear his teachings and lecture.  He talked for 3 hours.  Listened.  Learned.  We meditated.  The event went until 2AM!  The experience was quite enlightening.  Ever since I have met him, he gave me his blessing and then put his third-eye to my third-eye I have felt like I’m floating.  It’s been 4 days now and it’s like I’m still on cloud 9.  I don’t want it to end, yet I feel the spiritual/out of body experience hard to describe in words.  I feel a new sense of peace. 
When I went up to meet the Lama, even if you are not Buddhist you can go up and get a blessing from him, we had a connection.  It was personal.  It was real.  He said some amazing things to me.  Things that are not usually said…  When I think of our interaction and the words we exchanged with each other, it makes me teary-eyed.  Complete gratitude.  Utter peace.  I have a calm and a knowning about my life that I have not had.  I am grateful beyond words.  Thank you Lama Ole and my Buddhist friends in LA for a wonderful time of teaching and meditation.