Summer is almost over.

Summer is almost over.

This is my last official weekend of summer break, and I am looking forward to every second of these last few days. Tomorrow and Sunday I am doing promotion for Operation Shanti, and I cannot wait for Sunday. Tomorrow I have to drop things off in Santa Monica and Venice, and then I go to a yoga class at 3:30. After the class I am planning on stuffing my face with Mexican food while watching some cheesy movie of my choice. Sunday I have to get up early for Garth’s class at Lululemon Santa Monica.

At 9:30 Garth will be teaching a free class at Lululemon, and I will be taking full advantage of his class. After the class in Santa Monica I head over to Brentwood to promote the event at a different location. It will be my first time promoting the event in that area, so I hope it is a lot of fun. Every area of the city attracts different types of people, so I am wondering what the people will be like in Brentwood. It should be mellow and fun. My goal is to sign up 10 people on Sunday.

Sunday is a really packed day, I am even attending another two classes on Sunday. I will see how I feel, but I think it will make me feel better than I have been feeling the past few days. I also spent time with my grandmother last week, and it is really hard to be with her sometimes. My grandmother was a mover and a shaker. Her life consisted of raising children, baking, traveling around the world, opera, and charity work. She lived her life, and why wouldn’t she? It sounds like a dream come true, and I believe it was.

My grandmother had a massive stroke and can no longer walk, stand, or do anything with her left side. The last few weeks the reality of her new life has set in, and she cannot get past it. In the middle of conversations she starts to weep, and reminisces about what she used to be able to do. She realizes she will never travel again, go to the opera, or walk to the bathroom. Every day her sadness becomes more and more crippling for her. All she really wants to do is sleep half the day away, and I don’t even blame her.

I don’t think watching yourself deteriorate is all that fun. I can only imagine the physical pain she is in. I can tell you when my time comes I want to go quickly. I don’t want to decline slowly. I would rather just pass in my sleep, or randomly drop dead all of a sudden. I can tell you without a doubt I know that to be true! Sometimes I try to imagine how I would feel if I could not walk, and it terrifies me. My favorite thing in life is my health. I love traveling, yoga, hiking, doing charity work. In a nut shell I just am so grateful I can physically do any of the things I am doing. If I could no longer be active I might feel exactly like her.

This is a gym not a club....

You don’t need a full face of make up on just to go to the gym.

I am not mocking any trendy, expensive, posh gyms. I have spent many years being a member of these establishments for many reasons. Most of the reasons have to do with the top of the line equipment, showers, steam rooms, and classes they offer. Really nice gyms offer great instructors, because they can afford to pay them. That is why I was a member of Equinox for as long as I was. I only canceled my membership, because I only did yoga there, and once school starts next week I will not be able to attend the classes I liked to take.

Since I quit, and joined Yoga works I have been back to Equinox as a guest. Today I was a guest, and the gym was nice and clean. I love going back there to take a class and see the people I know. However, there is a bit of ego involved when you belong to a posh gym. It’s like a status symbol that you can afford to belong to a place like that, and I fully felt that way when I was a member, but I don’t feel any less awesome because I now belong to yoga works.

Maybe it is because I am down to earth, and only really care about my yoga practice, but today I noticed something about the gym I never noticed before. A really large portion of the women in the gym today were all wearing a lot of make-up. Not like they put a little on in the morning and came to exercise in the afternoon, but as if they got all made up to go out for a night on the town, but by mistake went to the gym. I know some people view the gym as a place to meet someone, but looking like a high priced call girl is not going to attract a mate unless you are a call girl then no problem.

I have made friends at the gym, because many people talk to me, but I never met someone who asked me out on a date. I also never put on make-up before I took a class in the exercise room. I am way too lazy to have to shower and then reapply my make-up. I would assume the women are trying to make themselves more attractive, but I just think they look weird, out of place, and desperate.

I would place the emphasis on the out of place. A little make-up is fine if you want to even out your skin tone. I am a woman, and I do understand the way it feels to look good, but there is difference. Night time make up if for the night time not the gym.

Why have I been staying in the Valley?

Why have I been staying in the Valley?

The last two weeks I have taken classes from Ashley Albrand, and Angela Kuhahn. One word would describe both classes; FUN! Ashley is a modern day philosopher, and teaches messages of conscious combined with mixing two postures into one. Angela approaches her teaching with an emphasis on delight. The amazing thing about yoga is how a teacher or a student interprets teaching or being taught.

As a teacher and a student these classes have felt different to me. The last two weekends I have taken classes at Lululemon Santa Monica, and maybe just being in different surrounding changes the feel of the whole experience for me. I am not sure, but I find myself really excited to take the classes from teachers that are teaching in the Operation Shanti event. It could just be the positive energy of the teachers who are donating their time. It could be the fresh ocean air, or the weird bum on the sidewalk that just has to do a head stand right in front of the glass doors.

Yes, it was weird to see a bum getting in on the yoga action from outside. Only in Santa Monica! This week I will be attending as many classes as I can at Yogies Anonymous, Exhale, and anywhere else in Santa Monica. I wanted to do all this last summer, but I was in Canada for the majority of it. So instead of going to different classes in LA, I went to different classes in Vancouver. Now it’s the time to take full advantage of my last days of summer before school starts. My version of this is to try classes in Santa Monica, keep experiencing different teachers, and their personification of yoga.

Operation Shanti and Lululemon part 1

Operation Shanti and Lululemon part 1
On August 7th I attended my first promotional class for Operation Shanti (peace). LA Rocks Operation Shanti is a charity event one of my favorite yoga teachers has put together. Garth Hewitt studied yoga in Mysore India, and he was really taken back by the poverty in India. The children and their families do not have money for basic survival needs like, food, clothing, and shelter. He began a campaign to raise enough money to build an orphanage in that town. Through two events he is 1/4th of the way there. This next affair should raise enough money to make it to the half way point. To fundraise Garth asked friends from the west side to help him in his pursuit.

I think everyone he asked manned up, and many of the best yoga teachers are donating their time, and expertise to promote the event. The teachers involved will all teach a segment of at the master class coming up on September 17th. One leg of the promotion includes Lululemon stores in Brentwood and Santa Monica. I will be helping promote the event at the Lululemon store in Santa Monica. On Sunday morning at 7am I wake up, and meet the different teachers at the store by 9:15. On August 7th I met up with Christi Christensen. She works at Exhale Venice where she teaches and manages. Christi was the first teacher to teach in the Santa Monica store, and it was an amazing class.

I believe Christi also teaches surf camp on Saturdays. Her class was a lot of fun, even for the students in the class that had never done yoga before. It was a mixed crowd that Sunday. Some people had many years experience, some had maybe two classes, and some were teachers. All levels were represented in the class, and it was a great way to kick off the LA Rocks operation Shanti Santa Monica store extravaganza. Christi will also be teaching as part of the round robin class on September 17th.

A round robin is where many different teachers teach a twenty minute segment of a class. From the two teachers I have taken classes from so far I actually think the master class on Sept 17th is going to be a real treat. Christi has a wonderful vinyasa flow style of teaching yoga she teaches with ease, and grace. Her explanation of where your body should be directed was effortless, and her instruction of postures is perfection. Taking a class with Christi is like all kinds of awesome.

I believe many of the teachers involved with this process are some of the best and most Iconic on the west side. Ashley Albrand taught on August 14, but still to come is Angela Kukhahn on August 21st, and the man himself Garth Hewitt on August 28th. I am so impressed that everyone is pitching to help Garth raise money to build this orphanage. I cannot imagine how many people Garth will be helping in the future with just this one gift. This orphanage will give the kids basic survival needs. The path being created for the kids who live in the orphanage will be priceless. I love this idea, and hope this next event will raise more money than expected.

out of control

Out of Control
These last two weeks have been action packed with a lot of nothing. Yes, a lot of nothing. I mostly did yoga and charity. I started to volunteer with Sova on Fridays between 9:30am-2pm. I get to talk to people who are homeless, or down on their luck. From a list of food I essentially take their order, and packers give them a week’s worth of groceries for free. While it seems like it is so easy it’s not. Many of the people who came in last Friday did not speak any English. I hardly speak any Spanish except I do know some names of food. Trying to communicate is a challenge.
Luckily there are also booklets with pictures of food that are available on the list, so I point and people said Si or No. The first Friday was really fun and fast paced, but this last Friday was difficult. It is really hard to help someone who cannot communicate with you. I was grateful that many of the people who were there to get food came up to me and offered me their help. I only had to ask once for a translation. It was really refreshing to see everyone pitching in.
Granted there is always one bad apple that spoils the bunch. One woman came in, and I just felt like she was milking the system. Her nails were manicured, and her clothes were nicer than what I usually see there. She kept asking for things that may have been available at one time, but were not on that day. It was weird, and I don’t really know for sure that she was taking advantage, but it is just a gut feeling. Most people who come to get food are just grateful for the food and say thank you, and they never ask for more. The bad apple she asked for the kitchen sink and an apartment in the sky.
I guess it annoyed me, and she was the last person I helped that day. I left Sova feeling weird, but I had a long day ahead of me, so I let it go. I ran home to get changed, and headed into Beverly Hills to meet my mom for a little retail therapy. Beyond Yoga is in the building where my mom also has her office, they were having a sample sale, and my mom and I got some things. I got three yoga outfits for the price of one. It was amazing, and needed. I spend most of my time in yoga clothing, so it was worth it.
After the sample sale I headed into Santa Monica to drop off promotional goods to three yoga studios. I volunteered to help my friend raise money to build an orphanage in India. The event is in a month and I am really excited to be a part of this affair. At first I was slightly overwhelmed because I had no idea how many moving parts were involved, but after the promotional material was sent out I felt more comfortable with my responsibilities. I will blog more about this in the weeks to come.

Everything has changed.

Everything has changed.
Three years ago I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I moved back here from San Diego. I made a decision to change many things in my life, and am at a point where I am seeing the fruits of my labors. To change I believe you need to get all your ducks in arrow, and just go for it. I had to let go of many social groups I was interconnected with to make this change, and it was so hard to reestablish myself as an adult.

I kept some friends that had a lot of things in common with me, and through those friends I made new ones. These newer people in my life have brought a lot of substance into it, and I enjoy the types of friendships I have cultivated. I would say my life three years ago was much more superficial than it is now. I ignored my more intellectual side to stay involved with people who had out grown me, and vice versa.

Friends from the past stay immersed in what they do, and who they are when there is no whisper coming from their subconscious to change. I was the one who was bored with myself, my life, and my decision had to do with me, not everyone else. I will say there were days during the first year where I just missed old friendships, but I did my best to just move forward, and I am glad I did.

Some of the people I left behind I will always miss. One was a sister to me, but our friendship was codependent, and I felt she used me as a crutch in life. I am sure that without me she is doing better in general. While I miss the closeness we had I know deep down even though I hurt her by shutting her out of my life I also did her the biggest favor of all time. I also miss some of the peripheral people that I no longer make any effort to be around, but life goes on and maybe one day some people from my past will reconnect with me in the future.

As of now I have great friends, and I look forward to every day that comes along. I always wanted to do charity work, and now I make the effort to get my hands dirty. I wanted to finish school, and I am fully committed to school. I am even on track to get a masters in my field of study. Three years ago I was looking for a new job, getting offers, but really had no passion for what I was doing. Today I feel the passion building inside of me, and look forward to what comes next.

I start my four year at the end of this month, and I am so excited to get through the next few years, so I can start working in my new profession. I am so thankful I have made the choices I have made, and feel extremely blessed in the present moment. All I want now is a partner in crime!

Summer Charity

Summer Charity
I believe giving back is a way of life. Not everyone has this same idea, but I live day to day knowing there are always people richer than me, and people who are poorer than me. This philosophy works at any end of the spectrum, unless you are the richest person in the world then everyone is just less fortunate. Every day I am blesses that I can eat in the finest restaurants, go to the store and purchase goods, and get to sleep in a bed in my own room every night. There are many people in this country that do not even have a bed, money to purchase food, or clothing.

I would say my friends will never have to worry about where their next meal is going to come from. I think that is a blessing. Throughout the year I take the time to organize and participate working with charities in the area that give back to residents of Los Angeles. This summer SOVA, and Camp Max Straus were on my list.

SOVA is a Jewish food pantry that gives food once a month to a growing population of people that simply cannot afford to purchase food. Since the economy has taken a down turn in the past few years many middle class families are now relying on goods from the pantry once a month. This is putting a strain on resources at the pantries across Los Angeles, but there is somehow always enough at SOVA. No matter what race, religion, and age SOVA will hand you groceries that will feed a family of four for a week.

A week’s worth of food, and sometimes toiletries to relieve the stress of trying to figure out how to pay for groceries, and feed family members is priceless. I could not imagine the stress it would cause me mentally to have to worry about my family, and where food would come from if I needed it, but was unable to purchase it. The last two years I have organized a day for my friends and volunteers from the WGroup to participate in a sorting and packing day. For two hours we sort and pack goods.

Those two hours help so many people. Without a doubt those two hours are some of the most significant of my life. Last Sunday I added a new charity to the rotation. I think everyone has heard of Big Brother / Big Sister. If not it is a mentor program where you are paired with a child of the same sex and you mentor the child until they turn eighteen. Most of the children come from single parent homes, or homes just at the poverty line. In the summer this charity called JBB has a summer sleep away camp for these children.

On Sunday a group of WGroup volunteers and me helped create a carnival day for the campers. I was given three carnival games from Bart’s Carts to use for the day, and the campers went crazy! We had a can smash, tic tac toe, and a milk carton toss, and each game had a line up. The campers really liked the can smash. It’s a five cans stacked up like in the shape of a pyramid, and in three tries the campers needed to knock over all five cans. They were given prizes if they knocked over two, but if five were all off the platform they got a cool stuffed animal. The animals were very popular. I think every camper played the game more than once.

Most of the children don’t have to money to go to a carnival, and many of them had never played any of these carnival games. To be able to provide that experience for anyone is just amazing. It was one of the best days this summer, and I think I will remember it for years to come.