We really are all dependent on each other

This video is only a couple of minutes long and really is a must see. sigh.. such beauty and magnificence captured on film. Love the bats!

It is these moments

We must remember to be present during those fleeting moments in this life where we are deeply touched, and awake, and present in our lives... for those truly are the moments. The real moments that take our breath away and break our heart wide open. Its moments like these that give our lives meaning. 
Wishing you a joyous and peaceful weekend friends. Namaste.

Your mind is like a living room.

Sometimes guests arrive and sit down. Sometimes you realize that you don’t like them, that you don’t enjoy their company. Eventually they leave. And you vow to be more careful about the people you invite. Learning whom to invite is an art. —Thich Nhat Hanh

Its a horrifying topic but I am feeling compelled to share.

Just got in from a TRULY amazing day at The Vancouver Yoga Conference, and believe me...YOU want to go! (For more info click here)! It goes on all weekend long and maybe i'll see ya there? Makes me feel grateful to live in Vancouver.

Anyways, upon arriving home while checking my Facebook I saw this item on strokes and really felt the need to share. I am copying word for word the post I read and here it is courtesy of Biomechanist Katy Bowman, MS of Aligned and Well.

She has some VERY interesting things on her website and Facebook page by the way!

Anyways, I am copying this post word for word from her and here it is:

This is a quick must-read for everyone. Strokes, if they are caught soon enough can be a much-less significant event. Learn the signs...

You can Save someone's life by sharing this.

STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters... S.T..R ...
My friend sent this to me ...and encouraged me to post it and spread the word. I agree. If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks.

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During a party, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine and just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. (they offered to call ambulance)

They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00pm , Ingrid passed away.)
She had suffered a stroke at the party . Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today.

Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead. It only takes a minute to read this...

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Remember the '3' steps, STR . Read and Learn!
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster.
The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions :

S * Ask the individual to SMILE ..
T * = TALK. Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (eg 'It is sunny out today').
R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS .

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call the ambulance and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

NOTE : Another 'sign' of a stroke is
1. Ask the person to 'stick' out their tongue.
2. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke.

A prominent cardiologist says if everyone who gets this status shares it; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.

Remember to just sit.

Dear friends in Japan from Thich Nhat Hanh

March 15 2011

Dear friends in Japan,

As we contemplate the great number of people who have died in this tragedy, we may feel very strongly that we ourselves, in some part or manner, also have died.

The pain of one part of humankind is the pain of the whole of humankind. And the human species and the planet Earth are one body. What happens to one part of the body happens to the whole body.

An event such as this reminds us of the impermanent nature of our lives. It helps us remember that what's most important is to love each other, to be there for each other, and to treasure each moment we have that we are alive. This is the best that we can do for those who have died: we can live in such a way that they continue, beautifully, in us.

Here in France and at our practice centers all over the world, our brothers and sisters will continue to chant for you, sending you the energy of peace, healing and protection. Our prayers are with you.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Do you enjoy helping others? Are you helping them in the right way?

I am thrilled to be spending the weekend with a Yoga Teacher and Psychotherapist named Michael Stone. (and no, he's not my therapist haha.. And yes, I do have one)!

He's doing a book signing this evening from 730-9 and some yoga workshops tomorrow and Sunday at a couple different Semperviva Yoga studios here in town.

The book is called Yoga for a world out of balance.

Click here for details.

Not sure how I missed ever knowing of this guy (especially since I have pretty much lived my entire adult life in Toronto where he's from before moving here). Anyways, none of that matters now. Since September of last year (the same month this particular talk was recorded) I have listened to every podcast, watched every video, and heard just about every public word that this man has said, and honestly I could listen to him every single day. He's fascinating, wise, edgy and very cool. I highly recommend listening to his talks, reading his books and catching him any chance you get. I got into a workshop with him last year at The Yoga Conference on the very last day of the conference and left wishing that I had gone to more. Many more. His Sangha is called Centre of Gravity. Heres a link

Here is just one of his many talks HERE

Enjoy & Namaste

PEACE IS EVERY STEP

by Thich Nhat-Hanh

Peace is every step.
The shining red sun is my heart.
Each flower smiles with me.
How green, how fresh all that grows.
How cool the wind blows.
Peace is every step.
It turns the endless path to joy.

Ever wonder? I have been wondering lately. I've been saying "mine", "my", "I" and "me" too much lately.

Its amazing what doing a few little interviews does.

It makes you realize how you have defined yourself.

I love the press don't get me wrong... keep it comin'!

After all, this is yoga-land and teaching yoga is how I make my living so I do have to promote myself. I'd be crazy not to. If my classes are empty I'm not going to eat, plain and simple. But what I have been realizing lately is how I have been defining "myself" over and over again in a certain way, and by doing so I have been putting my happiness into the hands of something in which I have no control...

"I" am Lori Lucas and "I" am a yoga teacher.

If we label and define ourselves a certain way then what happens (and who are we), if it is all taken away? What if you label yourself a certain way, and then you get fired? Who are you then?

I have found myself putting too much stock into those things that are outside of myself lately.

Its all just a sign for me to up my meditation practice, thats all and it's all good.

I'm still hoping for busy classes and will quite happily take any good press that comes along!

I am just going to check in with myself and keep an eye on my mind (the ego).

Thats all we really can do.We are all sooo much more then our passing thoughts and feelings throughout the day, as well as any labels we or anyone else puts on us. It's important to remember that.

Namaste,xo

Do you have a laptop?

I recently bought one. It's really more of a notebook and very similar to what's in the picture here. Small, lightweight and very inexpensive..

A macbook wasn't in my budget, although of course I would have loved one of those! But considering what I do on here my little Acer thingy is just fine for me, and we do have a lovely Mac desktop at home so we can still indulge while at home. I'm still not particularly computer saavy though (as you may notice by looking at my blog haha)

I was a late bloomer.

(I've even been known to call my ipod my walkman..haha..and thats no lie)!

Anyways, what I wanted to share here is that I recently found out that using a laptop uses 90% less energy then a desktop computer and I found that amazing. That is such a HUGE difference and definitely worth sharing. Knowing that, I plan on using my little laptop more, and my desktop a little less, as it sure can't hurt! Every little bit helps this beautiful world we live in ♥ .

Have you noticed the effects of your yoga practice spilling into the other areas of your life?

With such a small life, with such a small energy source, it is simply stupid to waste it in sadness, in anger, in hatred, in jealousy. Use it in love, use it in some creative act, use it in friendship, use it in meditation: Do something with it which takes you higher. And the higher you go, the more energy sources become available to you. At the highest point of consciousness, you are almost a god. OSHO

Savasana with Sarah Powers

I love Sarah Powers and have greatly enjoyed workshops with her in the past and hope to again.

I thought I'd share her description of Savasana (corpse pose) here.

For many it's the hardest pose of all.

And remember... savasana can be practiced anytime, not just at the end of class.

I hope you take the time to invite a little peace into your life this weekend.

I'm off to enjoy one right now ♥☺

Brain Tumours are more common than you think

Did you know that there are currently 55,000 Canadians living with a brain tumour right now in Canada? And another 10,000 will be diagnosed this year?

Thats a lot of people.

I know it sounds shocking (and believe me when someone you love is out of the blue diagnosed with a brain tumour?) it can send you reeling...

Take it from me. Someone I love very much is a brain tumour fighter/survivor.

My niece. She is the strongest, coolest, wisest, most intelligent and bravest human I have ever known.

Some things we just can't explain in this life. There are simply no answers for certain events, but thankfully there IS HOPE.

There is always hope.

And thanks to the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada there is more than hope.

There is support, research, education and information available to everyone affected by a brain tumour. But they need our help. www.braintumour.ca

Sadly there are certain types of cancers that people don't like to speak about and this is one of them. I suppose the mere thought is so frightening to many of us we choose to not even go there in our minds, but the truth is...we can not ignore it.

We need to at least raise awareness and support those affected by a brain tumour. There are many different types of brain tumours but they are all very dangerous. Sometimes babies are born with brain tumours. :(

No one knows why.

We need more research and more treatment options. Sadly brain cancer is considered one of those 'orphan cancers' (meaning that it doesn't get a lot of press or funding compared to some other cancers). But thats not to say that it is any less. A brain tumour diagnosis is absolutely devastating.

We want to eradicate every cancer out there one day thats for sure.

Wouldn't you love to say to your children one day that "There used to be this thing called cancer"?

I know I sure would.

Anyways, the Spring Sprint is coming up and it is SUPER fun!!!

You can walk, run or sprint in support of those affected by a brain tumour and it really is...amazingly fun! You can raise money or awareness or both.

Or just come out and enjoy the festivities and show your support!

It takes place Saturday May 29 at Burnaby Lake East at the Rowing Pavillion and check in is 10:00am. Its a 5 km walk/run, and the scenery is spectacular. It is a guaranteed amazing experience.

Come on down and join us!

Here is a link for the Spring Sprint to find out all about it www.springsprint.ca

Hope to see you there!