I know I've been a lazy blogger these past weeks...

posting lots of you tube video's and quotes and not much more but...here's another one! haha! I couldn't resist. A huge thank you to a long time student of mine I cherish beyond words Carol for bringing this video to my attention. I thought I'd share too. Miracles happen in yoga class every single day and yoga really is for e-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y. It's all in finding the right class and practice for "you". Us yoga teachers get to see students blossom  in every single class, and thats what keeps us doing what we do (it sure isn't the money)! 


It's better than money. So much better than money. The only thing this video is missing is a scan of the guys brain. I'd love to see it. Weight loss completely aside, this guy got his life back. Yoga is self care in the highest sense of the word. Send yourself and the people you love to yoga. There's no reason to wait. 

I for one shall be walking to work today. Check this out :)

If you've got 9 minutes and 19 seconds to spare you really want to watch this. And, show it to your loved ones too!

Read this quote a week ago and haven't been able to get it out of my mind.

"If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem wonderful at all." MICHELANGELO-Renaissance sculptor and painter who spent 4 years lying on his back painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

Only the man who learns to relax is able to create, and for him ideas reach the mind like lightening. Cicero

Day after day...

Let the yogi practice harmony of soul: in a secret place, in deep solitude, master of his mind, hoping for nothing, desiring nothing. Bhagavad Gita

The autonomic nervous system is divided into the sympathetic system, which is often identified with the fight-or-flight response, and the parasympathetic, which is identified with what's been called the relaxation response. When you do yoga - the deep breathing, the stretching, the movements that release muscle tension, the relaxed focus on being present in your body - you initiate a process that turns the fight-or-flight system off and the relaxation response on. That has a dramatic effect on the body. The heartbeat slows, respiration decreases, blood pressure decreases. The body seizes this chance to turn on the healing mechanisms. ~Richard Faulds

This TED talk is only 3 minutes long

I am all over what this guy is saying here! Its easier said than done though (and that’s why its called a challenge I suppose). Currently I am on day 16 of a personal 30 day challenge of my own and it feels amazing on a whole bunch of different levels (including spiritual.) At first it was a little uncomfortable but now it feels incredible, and in some ways I don’t want it to end. Its priming me for my next challenge I am sure!

I have to challenge myself out of fear that I will go through my entire life without shaking things up too much because I could (that I know about myself.) I have become much more cautious in my life as the years roll on, and could very easily easily have the same routine day after day. For me its important to shake things up on a regular basis, and it really could be the smallest little thing.

Nobody even needs to know (its nobody's business really).

It could be something as simple as taking a different route home from work each day! The simplest things can open us up in a whole new way I find.

I read a study recently that suggests we fear an unknown outcome even more than we do a known bad one and I believe that. Push past the fear and learn all you can about yourself. Its scary but I'm with Matt on this one. It is well worth it and tomorrow isn't promised to anyone. Namaste.

I'll never get enough of Michael Stone.

Michael Stone on the Question, How Do I Enter My Life from Toronto Body Mind on Vimeo.

Yoga will make you sensitive to...

Do no underestimate the value of being balanced, centered, and coordinated, of being strong and light, of being more flexible, without pain, experiencing the subsequent feelings of invisibility or transparency, and being more sensitive…Yoga will make you sensitive to the stillness, the presence, the hush. -Erich Schiffmann

Did you know?

The winner of the 2007 NYC marathon was the mother of a 9 month old baby.

Isn't that amazing? I heard it mentioned the other day and it is just so inspiring.

All you moms inspire me so. You are all so truly amazing.

Thanks for being in my life. xo

Call me weird

hahaha..Call me weird but I love to learn, study and practice (Yoga that is)!

And I am forever grateful that I found yoga as there will never ever be a shortage of things to learn, thats for sure! I am and will always be a student of yoga.

Do you have something in your life that you love so much that you could study and practice all day and night and never tire of? I hope you do. I didn't use to. Just because I attended my first yoga class twenty-something years ago doesn't mean that I was a committed yogi back then. Not at all! Thank goodness yoga is always there waiting for you. My lifestyle was so not yogic. In fact I was hurting myself in all sorts of ways. Yoga to me (for years) didn't really have much depth. I didn't meditate at all. I didn't get the mind/body connection, and making the perfect yoga pose was pretty much all I cared about.

My mind was always racing as I went through the asanas (poses) and my thoughts were always wandering to where the next party was, what guy I was seeing at the time...ahhh..the drama! As much as I wouldn't change my past I am happy for the now.

I still love drama, but high drama. And being 46 I'd be pretty haggard if I continued on that path til now and didn't slow down. I actually feel better than I did in my 20's and credit my yoga practice to no end for that.

I have been so blessed to have studied with some true Master Teachers from far and wide over the years.

This year alone it's been Cyndi Lee, Martin Kirk, Margot McKinnon, Nischala Joy Devi, Seane Corn...and honestly the list goes on. This year I received my Yin Yoga certification through one of my first and most respected teachers Bernie Clark, and I am currently immersed in Teacher Training with Sadie Nardini whom I have done quite a few workshops with in the past, and like very much. Come January I am thrilled to be spending more time with Michael Stone (and I really, REALLY can't wait for that one).

With yoga the learning never ends. And for that I am so grateful. I can't recommend enough finding something that turns you on and becoming a student of "it", whatever it is. I truly believe you will never get old. Find something you love and learn everything you can about it.

When I go to sleep I can't wait to wake up each morning, and I wish the same for you. Namaste XO

New classes are starting in Yaletown at the Roundhouse!

It's time once again to register for the class of your choice at the Roundhouse.

Come one come all! I have Yoga classes for everybody out there!

Whether you are a girl or a dude (mixed levels), expecting a baby (prenatal yoga), have recently had a baby (baby & me yoga) there's yoga for you. Classes are super casual :)

To register call 604-713-1800 or click here

(My schedule is top right of this page)

*Prices are pro rated if the session has already started.

I'd love to see ya!

Namaste xo

This little book is a gem.

I was standing in the check-out line (with a bunch of stuff I didn't really need) Embarrassing but true. I do it very rarely as I do not like to shop and never have. But for some reason the other day with the rain, I got it in my head that I needed to prepare for winter and do it asap. So some new rain-boots and rain-gear was needed, as well as a few other items I know I didn't really need.

As I was standing there waiting in a huge line up I spied this little paperback book.I opened it up and immediately saw so many things I did not know. I thought I was in the "know" with a lot of this stuff but I guess I'm not. Some of these tips I am surprised I have never heard before (or had the common sense to figure out on my own)!

As time allows I'll post some.

There is always so much to learn with any topic I suppose, and none more important than our glorious planet. If we wreck the earth where shall we go?

My partner and I have made countless lifestyle changes over the years as I am sure most of us have, but there is always more we can do. Super painless changes that will not only save our earth and precious resources...

but changes that you you barely notice that can save us money.

If you see this little book in the bargain bin pick it up! It cost me 99 cents.

You can give it to your child to read (it's a very easy read) although I am sure that kids today could all write books on the topic!

At lease I hope so.

I've gotta fly for now but I look forward to posting little tidbits from this woman's book. Her name is Joanna Yarrow and she resides in the UK.

Marilyn's been known for a lot of things..

A Sex symbol, a pop and cultural icon...

ahem- [clears throat-shhh..] her connection with the Kennedys. But maybe she connected her mind with her body as well on occasion? These pics have been floating around on the web so I thought I'd share. RIP Marilyn & Namaste ♥

I am.....?

As I sit here with my new laptop/notebook/thingy 'facebooking away' in one of my favourite neighborhood coffee shops between classes... "Countless" other things I could be doing of course-haha.) I came across this again..

I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.
Half the things you do, you might just as well turn over to me,
and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.
I am easily managed; you must merely be firm with me.
Show me exactly how you want something done, and after a few lessons I will do it automatically.

I am the servant of all great men.
And, alas, of all failures as well.
Those who are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made failures.
I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine.
Plus, the intelligence of a man.
You may run me for profit, or run me for ruin; it makes no difference to me.
Take me, train me, be firm with me and I will put the world at your feet.
Be easy with me, and I will destroy you.
Who am I?

(psst...I am a habit)

One little gadget has helped me in unforseeable ways.

Yeah, it's a cheap-o dollar store kitchen timer.

I have just been truly amazed at how much more I have been getting done and how much lower my stress level has been the past couple of months since I put my little timer to work.

At first I thought it may add to my stress (knowing it is ticking away somewhere in the background timing me while I do some of my favourite time-wasting/enjoyable things I like to do). But the truth is I have found the opposite to be true!

I started off using it for laundry and cooking, then naps, then facebook and surfing the web. (The facebook part really scared me as I am someone who who would happily pay for facebook I love it so much!)

I could (and have) easily spent WAY too much time on that thing. But I love it!

I haven't removed any fun & enjoyable things from my life (and have no interest in that). I just wanted to free up more time to enjoy as many other of my interests as I could each day. And I have!

And it cost me a buck. The best investment I have ever made.

If you are like me and could use a little help better distributing your time you might just enjoy having a timer as much as I do.

More time=way more fun♥

Just thought I'd share