Mindfulness Bell App

I'm loving this $1 app for my iPhone.  I schedule it to chime every 2 hours or so and when it does, no matter what I'm doing, I pause and take a deep breath.  It helps me stay present when I'm wrapped up in my day with work, teaching and commuting.  You get 5 gold stars, Mindfulness Bell.
I highly recommend it!

What's your favorite app?

Look who's begging!

Look who wants a piece of my yummy apple & sunflower seed butter sandwich...the one and only Stanley.  This is how he begs, on his hind legs with wide, sweet eyes.  If you don't pay attention to him he'll start making noise and moving his hands.  It's one of my favorite things!

How can I not give him a piece?! 

Lessons In Our Memories

Think back to something that you experienced that left an imprint on your being.  We all have plenty of them, it's what helps to make us grow and become better, wiser human beings.  I tell this story often to my yoga students when the class is being interrupted by some kind of sound (like construction or traffic outside, etc.) that's usually not there.

Back in spring of 2012, I visited my cousin in Thailand and we did some traveling together.  At one point of our trip when we were on a private tour of the Thai countryside, we had gone to an elephant park.  We visited with and rode an elephant, then hopped onto a bamboo raft to drift on down the river while the sun was setting.  Heaven, right?  An authentic handmade bamboo raft, the sun warming my skin as we floated on down the calm river, bright, lush green trees surrounding us wherever we looked, silence.   Until...this really loud, obnoxious generator or something that was happening in the woods began to flood our ears.  We couldn't see beyond the trees so we had no idea where it was coming from or what the heck it was.  I became fixated on this noise, concerned and outraged.  How could it interrupt this precious once in a lifetime moment I was experiencing?!  I was so frustrated.

Then it hit me...I could continue to be frustrated and confused as to what the noise was and how it was bugging the bajiggity out of me, or I could just LET IT GO.  So I did.  As the noise cackled on, I brought my attention back to how the sunset was glowing against the gentle ripples of the water creating a river of golden shimmer.  I took my sunglasses off so that I could close my eyes and feel the warmth of it's rays on my entire face.  I sat down and just took in as much of the experience as I could, all while letting go of that wretched sound.  It worked.  I climbed off of that raft in that Thai river with quite a beautiful lesson.

What experience can you think of that has imprinted you with a beautiful life lesson?

Dear Body, here is my letter of health.

Finding balance isn't easy for any of us.  It's something that we all have to constantly work at.  When I find that my body is out of balance causing my health to be off, I sit down and write what I know I need to do to better it.  Below is an example of what's going on right now and what I need to do to get myself back on track:

Dear precious body of mine, 

I am sorry for burning the candles at both ends these past few months and not feeding you with the proper food or nourishment you deserve.  I intend to do the following to help nurse you back to balance:

1. To take some deep breaths and relax my shoulders each morning and throughout each day, whenever I have a moment of stress or anxiety.  

2.  To nourish you with warm, comforting herbal tea and home-cooked soups, healthy whole food meals and plenty of water.  

3.  To rest and take breaks more often.  You work hard and deserve plenty of relaxation.

Thank you lovely body of mine!  

Love always, 

Lauren

What would you write to your body right now so that you can begin to balance out what's going on with your health?

Redesigning the Dr.'s Office

Too bad I don't have a picture of Dr. Lightman's waiting room,
it would be A LOT cooler than this one...

When I was growing up, my whole family and I used to go to Dr. Lightman, my Grandad's friend (they knew each other from practicing medicine in the same area, my granddad was a Dr. in my hometown).  Dr. Lightman was our eye doctor and the most interesting, well-traveled man.  His tiny little office was covered from floor to ceiling (when I say this I mean the floor and the ceiling were covered!) in interesting, shimmery, colorful artifacts & photographs from ALL over the world.  Not a single space on the wall was available for another trinket.  It was to the point where the chairs you could sit on while waiting were covered in photographs, quotes, and stones glued on and labeled exactly where they were from.  It was SO NEAT!!!  After waiting in that room (which you NEVER cared about how long the wait was because there was so much to look at), he'd call you into his dimly lit office which was warm and comfortable for your exam.  That is the only Dr.'s office that comes to mind when I think about a comfortable (and super cool) one that I actually never minded going to, no matter what was going on.  I've been to a few others that were semi-comfortable...but most still have those bland walls with scientific illustrations framed on the walls and that sterile smell to them.

This brings me to the question:  Have you ever been to a doctor's office that you actually felt comfortable in?  

If I could redesign a doctor's office I'd paint the walls with warm and rich colors.  I'd have inviting couches, love-seats and bean bag chairs with fluffy, textured pillows.  The waiting room would be dimly lit and have soothing music playing to give patients a sense of relaxation.  Magazines, inspirational readings and brain games would be on the side tables to pass the time.  A station for hot herbal tea and (naturally) flavored water would be complimentary in the room.  Plants would flourish near each window allowing the air to be fresh and clean.

The actual exam rooms would be almost like a massage room in a spa - soft lights, soothing sounds, cozy, etc.  Basically the most comfortable rooms you could imagine to allow you to relax and feel safe to open up with your doctor.  Even just thinking about it sounds nice, right?!

How would you re-design a doctor's office?

For the Love of Scarves

As many of you already know, I have a serious love for scarves. My coat closet will not close because of the piles of scarves hanging from the door. I have them draped over doorknobs, over my windows, around chairs, and have a few stashed in the backseat of my car. I wear scarves all year round and even sleep with them at night (during the winter). When I'm clothes shopping, I almost always pick up at least one new colorful scarf. When I was in India, I easily bought a good 10 scarves to bring home, they were SO cheap and SO gorgeous! Keeping my neck warm keeps the rest of my body warm, and it also adds flare, color and style to any outfit I'm rockin'! So, for those of you who share the same love for scarves, below are a bunch of fun ways you can tie your scarves. =)

What Makes Me Happy Now: Safety of my friends/family and so much more.

This past week more than ever have I been counting my blessings.  Riding the hurricane out on the Jersey shore and seeing the damages it's caused has allowed me to celebrate all that I have to be grateful for.  As I do so, my heart aches for those who have lost their homes, and especially those who lost their lives.  I send them all warmth and love.  

1.  The safety of my friends and family.  A few of my friends lost their places and all that they own this past week in Hurricane Sandy.  I ran into one of them and even though she will probably never be able to go back to her place again or retrieve any of her belongings...she still had a smile on her face and said, "It's just stuff."  That was amazing to me.  

2.  The endless volunteers.  It's a shame that a natural disaster has to show humanity's compassion, but boy has it ever.   People have been sending supplies to the Jersey shore, driving down to help support those in needs.  Yesterday I saw a team of power utility trucks from Alabama.  Amazing!

3.  Power.  After riding the storm out in Neptune, Lammer and I headed up to my apartment in Red Bank mid-week and I was surprised with power late Thursday.  Light and electricity is good and something I shouldn't just take for granted.  

4.  The love and support from friends:  I can't believe the amount of text message "check-ins" I received throughout this week from friends and family all over the world.  Lammer got the same thing.  I also reached out to as many people I could to see how they were.  So much love going back and forth via text/email!

5.  Social networking.  Without it this past week, so many of us would have been in the dark (literally).  Even though phone service was spotty for most of the week, I was still able to connect to Facebook for updates, news and information locally to help get us through the storm.  So thankful for that to link us all together!!!

Back in March of 2012 I decided to do these posts because it's really easy to be suckered into negative thoughts when we're surrounded by stressful media, unhappy people and whining Facebook status updates. My guru, Swami Vishnudevananda says that for every negative thought you have, replace it with 2-3 positive ones. I love this concept and practice it regularly. I usually find the most effective way of climbing out of a negative attitude is to think about something that I'm grateful for. Feelings of gratitude really lift you up. In honor of this concept, I'm starting a post with this same theme and will blog it regularly. I'll list a few things that make me happy, lift me up and keep me smiling! Let's face it, world peace is something that will never happen. However, I can create my own little world of peace and happiness in my mind through my thoughts! Please give it a try as well and share how it affects you.