Listen. Listen Harder.

The lighting was low, the space was crowded and the atmosphere was a bit posh.

We were seated amongst the conversations, outdoors on the patio near a fire pit with a single lit candle on the wooden table.

My heart beats for this man I am with and it was his birthday.  As we leaned in to share iPhone light to read the menu, I felt the room slowly melt away.

His half smile and thus crooked moustache stared back at me in the dark.  In that moment, it was just me and  him.  Him and me.  Just us.

We talked for hours.  He shared about his favorite parts of the year, we talked about our communication breakdowns and most amazing breakthroughs, and painted our clear and radical future.  We talked about everything and then we talked about nothing.  I cried silently inside with the utmost gratitude for this life, for this man and for this moment.   Reality check, was it my birthday?

While smiling now and remembering the moments by the fire pit, I realized how beautifully and intently I was listening.  Hanging on to every word he spoke, we spoke.  Listening so hard.

And it was and is a beautiful irony that we connected on such an intimate level in such the public space that would seemingly not allow it.

Just him and me.  Me and him.

I say, let the rooms melt.  Listen.  Listen so much harder.

Note to Self

 

Misconstrued Moment of Me, Me, Me

A story about self-indulgence and not being present.

I flew home back to LA last night from holidays in Houston with my family.  My plane was slightly delayed and I had checked baggage, which I will tell you over and over again, never check bags to LAX.  It takes forever.

Anyways, I finally arrive home last night to my sweet and quaint apartment in Venice with my dog and boyfriend waiting for me at the front door.  They help this weary holiday traveler with luggage, much needed hugs and a momentary shared happiness to be home.

And then I spiraled.  I came in pretty charged from a long flight, conversations rambling in my head about some drama and a need to complain.   Oh, and complain I did for about an hour too long to my patient and sleepy boyfriend.

In waking up this morning, I am in utter awe and really sad as to what I missed last night amidst my bullsh*t complaining and lame vent session. 

It goes like this:

+  I missed out on how clean the house was when I walked in.  Eat-food-off-the-floor clean.

+ I missed out on the smell of a clean puppy, as my boyfriend had given him a bath earlier that day.

+ I missed out on the empty laundry basket and the fresh sheets I got to climb into.  Even worse, Chris had waited to pull back the sheets so we could climb into the Mountain Fresh fabric softener smell together.  Dear boyfriends of the World, are you taking notes?

+ I missed out on a full fridge stocked with delicious snacks for my work day the next day.  Sweetheart, thank you for the bacon.  I love you.

+ I missed out on showering my boyfriend with kisses and love, as I really had missed him for the 2 days we were apart.

+  I missed out on seriously praising and honestly thanking and appreciating this superman of a boyfriend for bathing the dog, cleaning the house, grocery shopping and finishing the laundry.  All of this for my arrival home.  Come on, self.

You see where I am going here?  I missed out on an epic life moment because I was too busy complaining about yesterday’s nothings.

Raise your hand if this feels somewhat oddly familiar?

How many times have we been so wrapped up in a petty yesterday’s nothing to miss what is happening right here and now?

We have choice.  We have the choice to get over it and see others.  See others beyond our own misconstrued moments of me, me, me.

Choose wisely, my friends.  Never too late to say thank you, I love you, I see you.

I’m talking to you, Mister.

Thankful for You.

 

For the Love of Flannel

I ask you to know you are in the bigger picture and on the most beautiful path.

Please, feel the awesome that is coming and be thankful now for the journey that has gotten you here, there, everywhere.

Be patient.  Be open.  Be honest.

With yourself.  Always with others.

And for the love of flannel, smile and laugh more, eat bacon and rock today!

The bigger picture.  The right path.

Shelf Life

Remember disposable cameras?  Oh how I loved the surprises when you actually took them to print at the drugstore!

Yesterday, I kicked it old school and printed off pictures from my iPhone.  They have options:  an app that you can transfer pics directly to the kiosk, directly print from Facebook, or plug in the iPhone directly.  Rock the choice.  A total of 40 photos cost me 10 dollars, what a deal!  Mind you, the print shop does not like instagram filters.  Noted.

I got home and replaced most of my old photos with updated pictures.  Some of my frames had pictures from over 6 years ago; my friends and I don’t even look like that anymore!

And, it reminded me to decorate my life with the people I love.  Have visuals that make you smile and be grateful.

Post pics in real life, not just on Facebook.

Give your shelf some life with moments that bring you more joy!

Beautiful.

 

Believe Harder

I woke up this morning in Maui.

I wish you were here.

Yes, you.

The sweet smell of salt air and the sound of crashing waves sneak in the open windows.  I am surrounded by a Canadian tribe of radical people up to really big, amazing lives rocking human impact.  And, I have a bit of a hangover due to over-celebration of an uber athlete of a friend crushing her goals and rocking the Ironman World Championship in Kona.

It is a beautiful life.

And, I have a hard time believing this is my life, that I deserve this, that I am really here.

Believe harder, I tell myself.

Believe harder and own these moments of absolute gratitude, love and joy to be alive.  So alive.

Believe harder so you can stop asking if it is really real and actually be in the present moment.

Believe harder and know that you attract and you choose this life.  Own it.  Be it. Rock it.

Wow.

I so wish you were here.

Real Friends

And tonite, I laughed.

Smiled.  A lot.

Absolutely and truly enjoyed every minute of a quality friendship.

Beautiful.

Don’t Make Me Tell You Twice

When my Mother used to say, “Don’t make me tell you twice, (first name, middle name, last name)!”, I always listened.

It comes with a tone and a threat and a force all at one time.  And my sisters and I would straighten up, get real and get right.

I have been walking around, biking and scooter-ing around my neighborhood, and I notice a lot of plastic bag decoration in the trees, cigarette butts thrown from car windows (really, who smokes anymore?), and all out trash thrown in the middle of the sidewalk!  I ponder our dear Mother Earth, and I feel that she has told us twice, if not thrice, to clean it up.  Are we listening?  As I feared the wrath of my Mother’s threat as a child (and even still now), I am in sheer awe combined with utter fear at the patience exemplified by the Mother that is Mother Earth.

So to you, (first name) (middle name) (last name), listen up!  Pick up your trash.  Reuse, Recycle, Respect.  And get real and get right.

If you live on the West Coast, join me with Whole Foods Market, Heal the Bay, and yogi love, Kyra Anastasia tomorrow on the sand for some yoga + beach clean up to rock local action, global change!

Not in my hood, no prob.  Rock your flow and see trash, pick it up!

And, don’t make me tell you twice.

NOTE:  If this could only count for my 8 hours of community service I owe the state of California for a litter ticket?  But that, my friends, is another blog post about one expensive orange peel.  #biodegradable

 

Dear August, I Love You

Let me tell you something:  AUGUST has rocked.

And, it went a little something like this:

I met Brene Brown on July 31 and was vibrating into August1 from the Bucket List check (numero 87) to the reality check that she is actually as epic as I thought she would be.

My Dad crossed his first ever finish line in Vancouver with me right next to him during the Seawheeze 1/2 Marathon on August11.  We laughed, danced and cried through that 13.1 miles and that memory is stored for life.  So grateful.  Finish lines and family are where it’s at, people.  #finishlinewithdad

The day after on August12, @lululemonpeople rocked an amazing evening of inspiration at an event on Granville Island called Beyond Luon.  I had the opportunity to host and my Dad  and many, many others sat in the audience and truly experienced what we are up to, what I am up to at lululemon with amazing people.  And, it is some epic shi*t.  #inspired

Following that trip of a weekend, on August13, I embarked upon the annual Leadership Conference hosted by lululemon.  Development, delicious yoga and connection with friends all over the World clad in luon is one sweet ride.  What a week.

At the Conference, I was asked to intro Brene Brown on August14 for a speaker spotlight she did and I freaked out, cried and freaked out again with the utmost honor to bring her on stage.  Question:  Is this real life?  Bring it on!

The final evening of Conference that was August15, I was selected as a recipient of an amazing award and lululemon gifted different people a dollar amount to support a goal or fund a yoga retreat.  #joblove  #forreal

So here we are, August18, and I am home to my ever-so-patient boyfriend and sweet pup in Venice, CA to unwind from that Vancouver whirlwind.  And some times it is the simple things.  I love love love sleeping in my own bed in the arms of my Midwest man and a snuggly pup.  I love love love my my feet in the sand, a Vespa ride and palm trees at dusk.  Home, sweet Home.

Well that was sweet and short, I am up and in the sky again back to Canada-land to hit the joyous adventure that is Wanderlust Whistler from August23-25.  My heart cracks wide open on the yoga mat, my mind is left racing from the Speaker sessions (hello Danielle Laporte, Kate Northrup, Susanne Conrad and Marianne Williamson…to name a few) and I am so connected to my team, it feels like magic.  #joblove  #again

And then, this past Sunday, August26 arrived via car on a roadtrip from Whistler to Penticton with my friend, Wharty, her even-more-patient boyfriend, Trout-y and their sweet Nova Scotia Ducktrolling Retriever named Oscar, to experience the most radical manifestation of GOALS ALIVE that I have ever seen.  Our unreal friend, Steph Corker, completed Ironman Canada in under 11 hours.  And, totally sealed the freakin’ deal to grab her spot to KONA.  Yes, that would be numero uno on her bucket list.  I’ll tell you what, at hour 10 and minute 58, seeing your friend run to the finish line after swimming her @ss off, biking her legs up and down that glorious course and running a full marathon, you cry.  You cry of joy, you cry of inspiration and you cry of happiness.  #agoalCRUSHED

And now, my friends, the final days of Summer are here in August28, and I am back home in sweet Venice, CA.  Back in the arms of the man I love, walking the dog I so greatly enjoy and sipping sweet coconut water at my picnic table of a kitchen table.

I am truly grateful, inspired and rocked by this month.  I am truly grateful, inspired and rocked by this life.

For now, dear August, I love you.

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I Play for High-Fives

This morning I had an amazing opportunity to speak at the first annual Sports Showcase for CoachArt.  The organization provides free lessons in the arts and athletics for children with chronic and life threatening illnesses.  I was a yoga mentor to a family and  as I look back on that experience, I don’t know if they was coaching them or they were teaching me bigger life lessons.  Needless to say, a beautiful experience.

I wanted to share with you the speech I gave to the families this morning, it went a little something like this:

Good Morning and thank you for having me.  I am so honored and excited to be here today!  I am a former yoga mentor to an amazing pair of brothers and their sister, as well as a forever athlete.  I am going to speak to you today about the experience of Sport.  I am not talking about winning or losing, I am talking about the moments in sport when you are in practice, when you are learning and when you are having fun.

I have quite a history in athletics, having played almost every sport under the sun.  Be it soccer, volleyball, basketball, dance, softball, running, yoga…the list goes on and on.  The moments I remember are those that truly called for a shift.  I remember playing soccer on a co-ed team and on the third practice, I ran up to kick ball back down field and totally missed and fell.  Of course, my secret crush was standing right behind me.  I remember my coach running over and teaching me tips and tricks to keep my eye on the ball for better foot-to-ball coordination.  And then I recall playing golf with my Dad when I was younger.  I would step up to drive the ball and it would seem to go straight down the middle and then all of a sudden veer off to the right, over onto another green or towards another golf cart.  FOUR!  My Dad would tell me it was alright, not to worry and give me a high-five to try again.  And more recently in yoga, I come to my mat and have days where I have no balance, no breath and hearing my teacher remind me that this is a practice; have patience.  And, I get up and continue to move.

In all these moments, I remember most the coaching and the confidence built from the reminder to breathe, the tips and tricks shared and the high-fives.  Be it from my coach, my Dad, my teammates, or even myself, I played for the high fives.

Could everyone turn to the person next to you and give them a huge high-five.

I play sports to have fun.  I play sports to continue learning, to get back up when I fall and to feel my heart beat faster in the joy and heat of the moments.  I play sports for the high-fives.

Now, your turn.  Go play!  And, have fun!

 

Moved in Moments

I recently have been getting into the ESPN 30 for 30 series.  I just watched ‘Into the Wind’ by Steve Nash and Ezra Holland.  I literally was sobbing through the epic human experience that is Terry Fox’s journey as an amputee from bone cancer running across the entire country that is Canada to raise awareness and money for Cancer Research.  Please watch it.  Tonight.

Also, as you may know, my Dad lands down tomorrow to rock Vancouver with me and run the Seawheeze 1/2 Marathon on Saturday.  I am absolutely overwhelmed with excitement and gratitude.

So this morning, I went for an early run on the Seawall in Vancouver.  It was the perfect running weather with mild temperatures, overcast skies and the Pacific Ocean by my side.  I rocked out to my playlist titled “Running Shoes On” and felt strong this early AM as a non-morning person.

Along the way, I felt sudden rushes of energy through my body that actually caught my breath patterns.  Choked up, almost.  My heart pulled a bit and I felt a welling in my tear ducts.  In those moments, I realized I was so overcome at the thought of running with my Dad and crossing a race finish line with my Dad, I would almost start to cry.  And then, all of a sudden, being in Canada just sparked the documentary I had watched last week with Terry Fox and I wanted to cry for him, too.  I wanted to run for him, too.

Just rushes of insane and intense emotions that actually made my run so fast.

Made my run so enjoyable.

Made my run so fulfilling.

And I recognize now that this is possible in life.  When we are moved and inspired by other’s actions, we can feel it in our own body.  We are moved both physically and emotionally.  We feel joy and fulfillment, if we choose to truly see others.

I want to live life like this everyday.

Inspired by others.

Moved in moments.

Morning Runner’s View