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August 29, 2019

A Broader Perspective

This weekend, I’m off to Edinburgh, Scotland. Travel for me is a mainstay in life.  Besides the sheer adventure of it, travel is a way to step outside our day-to-day. Or as a client recently said, “I love to travel because I awake out of my sleep.”

 

This year, I have been writing a memoir. I’ve been recalling the moments of my journey.  I remember a day in Mexico that changed my life.  I was a wide-eyed 18-year-old at the time.

 

My girlfriend Kim called me up and said, “Let’s go to Hawaii.”  I didn’t have the money. She had been awarded money following a car accident and said it was her treat. We had been best friends off and on for a decade.  Wow, I jumped at the chance!

 

 

 

 

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July 31, 2019

S.U.C.C.E.S.S.

I was scheduled to speak at a local Yoga Festival a short while ago but things went sideways on the day so I did not.  Shame. Here’s a shortened version – a little Jnana yoga for the soul.

 

Many of you know that yoga isn’t just about exercise, postures or asanas.   The different disciplines of Hatha Yoga were designed to prepare one’s body to sit for long periods of time in meditation. Meditation and contemplation are what’s known as Raja yoga.

 

From my perspective, meditation is one way to train your brain.  The practice helps us release thoughts of the ego… wondering, worrying … to connect with ALL THAT IS.

 

Bhakti yoga is living a devotional life and surrendering to God. Mantra yoga is to awaken the self with deeper meditation.  Karma yoga is the path of unselfish action with personal consequences.

 

Jnana yoga was to be my topic because it is the wisdom of knowledge and I’m all about self-knowledge and growth.  I think it’s the most powerful thing we can for ourselves!

 

 

 

 

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June 25, 2019

Your Number One!

As I write this blog, I’m looking out my home office window. The sky is a lovely mixture of pale blue, white with predominant strokes of grey.  The clouds form a montage of pale hues. Below is the sea, a grey and very faint turquoise. The tide is halfway out.  There’s a calm about the weather today.  I heard on the news this morning we could be in for thunder and rain showers so I suppose this is the calm before the storm.

 

So different than yesterday’s sky.  I could see the coast of France clearly in the distance reminding me that I although live on a tiny island, Europe is at my doorstep and for that I am grateful.  J’adore my trips to France.

 

I remember an ex colleague of mine couldn’t understand why I liked living in Vancouver or San Francisco.  He said, “Everything is so far away from the West Coast!“ I thought it was such an odd statement because there was SO MUCH to the West Coast with easy reach to Hawaii, Mexico and the neighbouring Provinces or States depending upon what side of the 49th parallel I was sitting.

 

 

 

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Olfactory Trigger
May 30, 2019

Who Pulled the Trigger?

May has been a month of surplus emotion.  My mood has been going UP and DOWN like a seesaw.

 

‘UPs” or feel-good emotions are a result of positive triggers whereas ‘DOWNs’ are the opposite. Some ‘thing’ or some ‘one’ pulls a trigger in our mind’s eye.  As a consequence, we experience a feeling.

 

Positive triggers are sensory experiences that make us feel good.  They result in creating a positive STATE OF MIND.

 

 

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April 15, 2019

About Your Belly Fat!

I’m currently on the outskirts of Bodrum, Turkey undergoing a two-week juice detox. It’s an opportunity for a complete bodily system clear-out allowing my digestive system a much-needed rest; not to mention reducing the risk of disease and losing weight. I’m 13 days in and the signs are telling; my skin is clearer; my eyes brighter, and I feel much lighter.  I have never not eaten solid food for such a length of time since I was a wee baby.

 

There is a diverse group of guests here.  I am the only Canadian but not the only one from the UK.  I have met fellow detoxers from Belgium, Scotland, England, Romania, Switzerland, Germany, France, Germany, Jordan, Finland and of course, Turkey.

 

“How many days are you here for?” is the opening line of conversation, often in broken English. Conversation inevitably continues with discussion of  bathrooming, optimal time in the sauna and the quality of yoga instruction.

 

 

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March 25, 2019

Can I speak to Kerry please?

He had blonde hair, the lightest in the family – probably originating from the Swedish blood on our mother’s side. He had grey eyes but not the cold, steely kind; his sparkled. They told a story. During our teenage years, the house phone would ring off the hook with girls calling to speak with my brother. He was a handsome young man.

 

He could make me laugh like no other. I’d laugh until I cried. I remember tears streaming down our mom’s face too as she laughed from something quick witted, he had said. He made her happy.

 

Dolly Parton had a great line in the movie, Steel Magnolias. She said, “Laughter through tears was her favorite emotion.” I think it’s mine too. I’m so grateful he gave our mother that gift as she had led such a hard life and joy wasn’t available to her often. It’s probably why he did it.

 

My brother’s name was Kerry. Geez, I get emotional just writing his name. The difference he made in my life is palpable.

 
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