We have been speaking a lot lately about the power of our thoughts and their impact on our choices, and in turn our life. As we awaken to & embrace the idea that we are responsible for our life, we can’t help to look at the choices we have made to get us where we are. Doubtful?
Perhaps this video by Dr. Emoto on the effect of emotions on water will challenge your beliefs.
After viewing it you might just say, “If our thoughts can do that to water, imagine what our thoughts can do to US.”
Spring is here! What a great time to stop & catch your breath!
Consider the garden you want to plant this season with the following 2 questions:
1. What is it you want / need to let go of? It could be a habit, situation, or relationship that no longer serves you and is preventing you from feeling peace.
2. What do you want to cultivate instead?
For example, while on vacation last week Steph decided she wants to let go of “controlling outcomes”. Instead, she wants to cultivate deeper trust in the process…that all will unfold as it is meant to.
Lately much of my reading has centered around “what is the deeper purpose of my life”? Being in a healing profession, it is clear I am here to teach, inspire, support…SERVE. And while this is indeed part of my purpose, it seems I am being drawn closer and deeper into my life’s work. And when I say work, I don’t mean what I do for income. I mean what I do, whether I am paid or not, simply because I love it. Some examples: making tasty treats for 
the Sanctuary, taking pictures of my cats doing yoga, calling a friend to listen. In addition to this, I simply love sharing what my sister, Christine (pictured right) is up to.
Some of you know Christine, the pet lady, who rescues cats, pit bulls, and yes, even turtles. Over the years I have watched Christine hone her skill in service to helping animals. Anyone who knows Christine can see how much she loves being in service to animals, whether her own, a neighbors, or even a strangers! Her love of animals knows no boundaries. It is pure unconditional love in action. Christine has left money on the table in other careers to focus fully on her love of animals. Whether Christine is cooking meals for the animals of her clients, writing a cookbook (check out her book preview here) or rescuing kittens from the side of the Cross Island Parkway, Christine is fully engaged in the work of her life. It is indeed the work of her soul and she is simply the vehicle.
Most recently Christine started volunteering with her rescue pit bull Krsytal through an organization called “Paws for Friendship” to visit people in nursing homes. On any given Friday you will find Christine and Krystal, visiting people who need some love. You can see 
how much joy Krystal brings to people in this picture.
It literally brings tears of joy and gratitude to my eyes when I look at this picture. Christine is doing her souls work, living her purpose, following here calling, her dharma. What a gift! Some may say what a small life, that is what you do, all you do? I would say, what a magnificent, full life! To be in total service is to be in total love. The self disappears and all that remains is pure bliss.I often wonder what the world would be like if more of us had the courage to commit fully to our life’s work without regard for what “other people might say”.
So, what’s your bliss? Are you living it? How can you have more of it in your life? How can you be in service to what makes your heart sing? The answer might be simpler than you think and it might be right under your nose. Pay attention.
Thank you Christine for always having the courage to follow your bliss. I am your #1 Fan. Xo, S
Click here to learn more about Christine’s Holistic Pet Health Company BowMeowRow.
Most of my life people have told me, “Stephanie, you are SO strong”. Usually this statement comes after I share some “bold” move I have made like leave a safe job, marriage or after I give feedback on how I set boundaries, say no, etc.
For many years I took this statement as a compliment of sorts…almost like an acknowledgement from the outside world for my “hard” work. Then, as I began to deepen my level of awareness, my view of this statement and how it made me feel started to shift. And shift pretty dramatically. How so?
Today when someone says, “Stephanie you are SO strong”, it almost feels like a burden. Like in some way, I am the “responsible” one. It feels as if I am expected to be the strong one, as if it comes easy, as if it doesn’t take work. It also feels somewhat like the person saying these words to me is in some way saying, they are NOT strong and perhaps they are giving themselves a pass or even justification to stay stuck. Maybe they are even playing victim. As you read this, you might be feeling, wow, that’s harsh! Perhaps to some. Yet this is not my intention.
When I peel back the layers of “being so strong”, what I see really is courage. To go a step further, I feel it boils down to authenticity. My intention to live authentically, both in my personal life and in my professional life, has given me (and will continue to give me) countless opportunities to practice being courageous. My decision to live authentically, by being true to myself, is perhaps the most courageous act I will ever undertake in this lifetime. How magnificent. How freeing. And it is available to everyone. So, it’s really not about strong or weak for me. It’s about embracing who you are, fully. Owning it, being exactly you.
The next time someone says to you or you say to them “you are so strong” consider if that is what you really mean? Is strong what you are noticing? Or perhaps you are noticing the incredible gift of living authentically by being real, speaking your voice and doing the work of living your own life. Powerful stuff. May the truth set you free. Xo, S
A few years ago I committed to the ritual of deep reflection as the last few weeks of the year come to an end. As part of this ritual I reflect on what went well, what didn’t go so well and what I have learned. With this in mind I also begin to fine tune my vision for 2013. I commit to this ritual because it helps me stay grounded, grateful, positive, and exuberant for the New Year. As I spend time in reflection, I often experience a full range of intense emotions from deep joy to profound sadness and then a theme emerges. This theme is generally what I will focus on exploring the following year. This year, my theme is this: We Must Stay Open to Love.
While this year has been filled with many joys in the way of new friendships, closer relationships with loved ones, more fun and a thriving business, I have also felt my share of sadness, loss and grief. The loss of human life both in our own families and in our extended families from old age to illness is heart wrenching. To this we add the trauma of Hurricane Sandy and the recent events of Newtown, CT, and life can seem quite unbearable. It is easy for our mind to make the case to close our hearts, to become negative, to feel anger and hatred. In his book, “The Seat of the Soul”, Gary Zukav asks the simple question of our time here on earth, “How will you choose to learn? Will you learn from fear and doubt? Or will you learn from love?” Hmmmmm.
When tragedy strikes, this question becomes so important for our own survival and the survival of humanity. If we choose fear and doubt, we begin to close off our heart. We operate from a place of negativity where anger, hatred and disconnectedness grows. This heavy energy only creates obstacles and puts increasingly more distance between us.
If, on the other hand, we choose love, our heart remains open. We operate from a place of acceptance, appreciation, compassion…love. From this place, we unite and constructive change can emerge. This lighter energy lifts us up and moves us forward to a place where peace and harmony are the only answer.
Is it easy? NO! Must we work hard at keeping our mind in check so it does not allow our heart to close? YES! My daily yoga and meditation practice keeps my mind disciplined and my heart open. I am disciplined about my yoga & meditation practice…even when “I don’t feel like it”, because I am deeply committed to Staying Open to Love. Without these practices I surely would have died by now of a broken heart. Or I would be medicated with food, drink, sex or drugs. Meditate or medicate. You get to choose.
In closing, I hope you will please consider these words, from “The Untethered Soul” by Michael Singer, “The KEY is to learn to keep your mind disciplined enough so that it doesn’t trick you into thinking that this time it’s worth closing. Things are going to happen to you and you’re going to feel the tendency to close. But you have the choice to either go with it or let it go. Your mind will tell you that it’s not reasonable to stay open when these things happen. But you have limited time left in your life, and what’s really not reasonable is to not enjoy life.”
May all of us choose to learn from love, with an open heart.
Namaste.
There is no doubt the past few weeks have been challenging for those of us in the Tri-State area in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Whether you are directly affected or “know people” who are, it affects ALL of us. When we see others who are suffering, our own suffering is triggered. We are mirrors for one another whether we are conscious of it or not. Recognizing we are all connected, and that energetically we can feel another persons pain, it makes sense how we can forget all the abundance that still surrounds us, even in the midst of great loss and suffering. And when we forget all the abundance, we suffer even more.
This “forgetfulness” is precisely what I have been experiencing over the past few weeks. As a result, my moods have been up and down resulting in suffering: sadness, poor choices, negativity, doubting, judging, blaming, and fatigue. I simply forgot about the good. And yes, I experienced this suffering while still meditating twice per day, doing yoga, walking, writing, eating well, etc. I started to beat myself up thinking I should (one of my least favorite words) not feel this way. Surely my wellness routines would buoy me and protect me from all the pain! Not so. In fact, these practices can bring up even more pain.
So, without the ability to both feel the pain AND recognize that abundance is still everywhere, I continued to suffer. Today I finally realized this. And I also realized it is not productive to beat myself up for forgetting the abundance that surrounds me at any given moment. Rather, it is up to me to remember that sometimes the only thing that gets me to remember the abundance is the pain…
Years ago while attending a class led by Deepak Chopra on how to deepen our connection to our self and others he said something that forever changed my perspective on “who we are” and “how we connect”.
Very simply, he challenged us to start asking different questions when meeting someone for the first time.
Instead of asking the traditional get to know you questions:
1. What do you do (for a living)?
2. Where do you live?
Ask these 2 questions instead:
1. Who are you?
2. What do you want?
Try doing this at your next cocktail party / mixer and see what happens. Be prepared to experience a whole new world as you deepen your connection with other people. All this, simply by asking different questions. Hmm…what about applying similar thought provoking questions to other areas of life you are curious about 
On Saturday I had the privilege of taking a 3 hour yoga workshop with 94 year old Tao Porchon-Lynch. Amazing yogi & inspiring woman, to say the least. One of the things she says is, “There is nothing you cannot do.” She encourages us to follow our heart and not let fear stop us from living our life. Her words got me thinking about a letter I wrote to my fellow yogi’s in 2011 after I received my yoga teacher certification. The title, “Let No One Stop You” is a reminder for me each and every day to follow my vision.
Below is a copy of the letter, from 2011
Dear Fellow Yogis’s,
Every now and then I must share something with you I experienced as a way to inspire you and also give my thanks to you. I will try my best to be as succinct as possible but the details are worth it.
Recently I decided to go for an interview to substitute teach Yoga at “a very high end gym”. I am currently a member of this “high end gym”. I have taken their Yoga classes. They range from Gentle Kripalu Yoga to Hot Vinyasa Yoga with an instructor who, while holding us in plank, says things like, “If you can’t bear it, don’t wear it”. And YES, I do love this tough talk too.
So, I went for the interview and the 1st thing the manager says to me is “how long have you been teaching?”. Uh-oh..well, less than 2 months! She then said to me, “We only hire Yoga teachers with at least 2 years experience, even subs”. I literally felt myself sinking in the chair….as these thoughts ran thru my head: “Why didn’t they tell me this before I came in?? What was I thinking? Of course they want to hire experienced people. They are high end and the people here will tear your head off if they don’t like you.” After noticing these negative thoughts, I decided I have nothing to lose. So, I began to sell myself anyway. I mentioned things like, “I am a member here. I understand what people”expect”. I also pointed out that because I was trained at Kripalu, I have a much more in depth knowledge base, etc etc.”. After about 15 minutes of me showing the manager “who I am”, she said, “OK, let’s see what you got. You have 30 minutes to do a demo for me.” So……..I practiced Breathe Relax Feel Watch Allow and did a 30 minute class that apparently knocked her socks off. She was impressed (I almost cried) and she decided to add me to the sub list!
I was excited!! And then the thoughts started– OMG- what if I am asked to really sub? These people expect ALOT..
Again, I came back to my breath and decided to be happy with my victory instead fearful about the future. And then guess what happened?
Literally the next day the manager emails me directly and asks if I can sub a Monday 6am, VINYASA class.
Me??? 6am VINYASA. HECK NO was what my fear said. That is THE last type of class I would ever imagine starting to teach as a newbie. As I have noticed in my life, I tend to dive head first….so I figured I the only answer was YES. I said YES.
And today was the day I taught the class. I was nervous— really nervous– but I was centered.
Do you know what I did to prep? I practiced the flow a few times, rehearsed it in my head, did alot of meditation. And I also watched a yoga video led by one of the Master Yogi’s. All of this reminded me that I have a gift to share. It reminded me of WHY I share yoga. And most of all, it reminded me that I do know alot. Watch out world
When I showed up at “high end gym” for my 6am Vinyasa class, I looked my fear in the face and I DID IT ANYWAY.
The moral of the story is to LET NO ONE STOP YOU. I didn’t let the manager stop me from advocating for what I wanted,which is to teach Yoga where I want. And I didn’t let my fear paralyze me when I taught my first class.
I hope this story inspires you to go AFTER WHAT YOU WANT. ADVOCATE. LET NO ONE STOP YOU, including yourself. EVER.
Namaste!
In an effort to encourage mindfulness, below are just a few tidbits of what we have found inspiring through reading and yoga this summer.
You may want to have a pen and paper ready as you ponder these questions:
1. How does this make me feel?
2. What are my thoughts on this?
3. How can I apply this to my life?
*We begin to seek when the options presented are unacceptable…(Inspired by Waking, Matthew Sanford)
*Being centered is not a place. We are centered when we are fully present in our experience of life…100% of our focus & attention is in the experience, good, bad or indifferent. (Inspired by Deepak Chopra)
*We give 110% in the Bikram Yoga Pose and we relax 110% in Savasana (resting pose). (Inspired by Bikram Yoga)
*What if meditation was mandatory in all schools? We see a future where this will be the norm. We LOVE this article on How Education Can Raise the Global Consciousness.
*Do you think people are searching to be happy…or to be free? LOVE THIS!
When I think about what drives me to live my own life, and not the life another person or society deems “appropriate” for me, I think of one word: inspiration.
Why inspiration? Our time here is short and precious. I much rather spend time doing what inspires me and connecting with people who inspire me, with apologies to no one.
My sister, Christine, has always inspired me, even in the moments when I have raised an eyebrow in “disbelief” about her choices. A few notables from the past: leaving a full time teaching job to start her Shaklee wellness business; moving out to the beach after our father died, leaving her family in Westchester; and most recently, rescuing pit bulls and giving them a home even when her home was “too small” by most people’s standards. 
Christine doesn’t do what others think she should. She is bold, courageous, passionate and TOTALLY INSPIRING. Her healing work with animals is simply beautiful. I am so proud of Christine and her AMAZING story that was featured this week on CBS, “Dogs in the City.” You can view the entire segment here. Get those tissues out!!
Thought: The next time you notice you are judging yourself or someone else, maybe you need a little more inspiration of your own to understand? I certainly did! With understanding we can let go of that harsh voice of judgment a bit easier. And let’s face it, life can be quite boring if not for those who inspire us to move beyond our comfort zone!!