Keeping it in the Family

I Love my nieces! So, when I was asked to teach yoga at an indie music festival over Labor Day weekend that was close to my favorite little girls, I instantly booked a flight. The second day of the festival my nieces joined me in yoga fun. We spent the morning by the lake and played outdoors. They are natural yogis...not afraid to try new things and quick to learn. Reese, my 5 year old niece learned how to do her first backbend and Ryane, who is 7, is on her way to partner yoga and downdog handstands. So proud of them and love them beyond words. Seeing them do yoga was the highlight of my trip. Keeping it in the family, here are some pictures of our fun yoga morning. I sooooo love my nieces!!! :)

Broken Wrist

I broke my wrist! Hate to admit it but I was doing some partner yoga at this mini hippie festival and took a fall. Here is what I've learned:
- you can brake a bone & still move it
- broken bones hurt like hell!
- never trust a person who has been drinking and says they're also a yoga teacher... Never!
- never let another yogi practice partner yoga with you if any ounce of alcohol has been involved... Never ever!
- Acro yoga and alcohol do not mix
- when booking music festivals, only teach yoga poses where your feet are on the ground
- even if you are sober, it doesn't mean other practicing yogis around you are
- I'm way over trusting with others...must be more safe with my own body.

Stupid was I to allow another yoga teacher who had been drinking to be my base in acro-yoga. Our first stunt went perfect. The second sequence ended in me taking quite a fall. It was either going to be my neck or my wrist... My wrist is broken. I thought it was just a sprain and tried to teach a class on it right after but when I could not put any weight on it in downdog and sharp pain shot through my entire body I knew something was wrong. I'm lucky it's only a broken wrist. Now 6-8 weeks of recovery I will learn to be an excellent verbal yoga instructor. Sitting on the plane flying back to California with quite a souvenir from this trip... My first and hopefully last broken bone from careless yoga.

Stinky feet

The flight attendants must be having hot flashes! I've not been this cold on a plane maybe ever. It's 102 degrees where I'm headed but the temperature on the flight feels like minus-2. I'm drinking coffee trying to stay warm.
The man next to me smells like a combination of stinky feet and alcohol. Thank goodness he's so tipsy that all he can do is sleep.
My flight was 1 hour delayed and my connection flight already missed. On standby with hopes of returning back home so I can open the yoga studio tomorrow morning and teach my 7am yoga class. Fingers crossed I'll be off the hot-flash, drunk passenger plane soon... Coffee to keep me warm and hopes of a standby connection... And even with all this, I still love traveling. It's the journey and the unknown I find fascinating. Oh no, the passed out drunk man next to me has just started snoring!

I was not ready for this...

At Chicago Airport: headphones on, leaning against the wall, waiting for my connecting flight... Staring up at the sky - trying not to cry.
I just found out that one of my best friends was denied visa and access back to the US. I'm in shock. Just talked to him while at the airport, it's real... He's not coming back anytime soon. He's my closest guy pal. Most of my fun memories go back to Raj. I'm so sad. I'm sure we will stay in touch and meet somewhere on the globe, but it's not the same. I was expecting to see him next week for another season of laughs and fun nothing's... Now I wait. Knowing that everything happens for a reason but sometimes in the moment it hurts... Good friends are hard to come by; best friends are rare. I guess I'm blessed to have such good friends, even if they are 9 hours away. Headphones on, deep yoga breathing, getting ready to board my flight.

Flying

I'm jetting somewhere in the clouds. Flying makes me happy! This trip, yoga mixed with music and familiar faces. Teaching yoga at an outdoor indie music festival this Labor Day weekend. Heading East where friends and family will meet me for the fun. It's been too long since I've seen my nieces... excited that I get to mix work and family time.
Last night I finally unpacked from Europe, did a quick load of laundry and repacked for outdoor hippie music fun. Not sure what to expect but one thing is sure, I'll try my best to rock a fun weekend... Slumber party with my nieces, yoga, music festival and all. I'm flying high :)

Honestly Me

I find that as I'm getting ready to head back to the US, I'm Sad.  Every time I travel I leave a part of my heart on my journey.  To me traveling is living.  Traveling is loving; loving life and presently loving those whom are in your company.  Traveling keeps me open-minded and connected to the world.  It is important to me to always be a Citizen of the World.  I will continue to make sacrifices in my life in order to make sure that I keep the joy of traveling alive.
My goal is to enjoy life more, work less, save money and travel more - using the gift of yoga as I go.  To work hard 8-9 months a year and then spend my summers traveling and teaching international yoga.  This last year has been a year of non-stop working, sometimes 12 hours a day 6 or 7 days a week.  I was burnt-out.  I never want to go back to that crazy work work work all the time mentality, even if it is doing what I love.  I'm learning that having time to just be is so important.  I'm also realizing that living and working in Southern California is a blessing and a curse.  CA is its own beast.  Beautiful but the pressure to look and be a certain way is exhausting.  I find that working in yoga and fitness I'm expected to be/look a certain way.  I'm a size 4.  In CA a size 4 might as well be a size 10.  I'm constantly working out, watching what I eat, pushing my body too hard.  Every time I travel, I am reminded of how the world is different.  There is not always the pressure to be thin.  When abroad, I work out less, eat whatever I want, take long walks, drink plenty of wine and I always lose weight.  I'm happier.  I do not feel the pressure to look a certain image... I'm just me.  So this time as I pack to head back to LA, I'm going to try my hardest to not care about the CA image.  I'm not going to try and be a size 2 or an XS (extra small-that's the new size now).  I'm just going to be me...

Shopping in Paris

My pockets are empty but my hands are full (of shopping bags)!  As I am ending my holiday in Paris, I had to hit the stores one more time.  Amazing fashion finds are in Paris and London like no other.  I love both cities, especially the shopping.  For some reason, fashion in Europe is better.  The look.  The style.  The sexy/classy vibe.  I love it!  I'm going home with some cool pieces, some trendy, some classy, all super fun.  My friend Stephanie has shown me the best places.  She is a fashion diva - tres chic!  So when in Paris, I recommend shopping at Massimo Dutti and Kookai.  My favorite areas are Chatelet and the shopping on Rue des Rosiers... in my opinion they are the best locations for French fashion.  After 2 days of shopping, I'm beat.  Now trying to sort out how to pack all this back in my little suitcase... hummm - creativity is needed.  I'm so excited to start wearing some of my new looks - yeah to shopping in Paris!
Check out Massimo Dutti
Check out Kookai