Candlelight Yoga 10/23

As the seasons change, it's helpful to take a moment to pause and reconnect with your body and breath. Praveena Kumar will guide a restorative evening practice of Hatha yoga by candlelight. I hope you can join us on the mat.

Date: Sunday, October 23

Time: 5:30-7pm

Place: Vara Healing Arts Studio on 850 Talbot Avenue in Albany, CA

Cost: Donation-based. 50% of all donations will go to GlobalGiving to help the Hurricane Matthew victims.

Given studio space considerations, please contact me to reserve your spot. We look forward to spending the evening with you.

Reason Enough.

Illustration by Elle Luna

I'm nearing the home stretch of my #100daysofmaking project. Day 93, to be exact. The 100DayProject is a call to create or make something consistently for 100 days. Write a poem, sketch, draw, or do whatever makes you greet your inner artist and say, "Hello! It's been awhile. Remind me again of who you are and what you're inspired by?" The bottom line is to create something everyday. Mostly it's the fear of not having the perfect finished product that prevents us from starting at all. This project forces you to start and finish something new and exercise your creativity muscle. Since July 1st, I've committed to making a homemade card each day. 

I've created for myself, for new acquaintances and old friends, for co-workers and complete strangers. Each has had its own creative challenges and blessings. My favorite was creating a card for a runner in Singapore, who I'd met over Instagram. 

Her card never arrived. It was one of the first I'd tried watercoloring for, and I used her own words across the front because oftentimes we quote others but don't realize the beauty and power that our words have. We patiently waited. 10 days. 14 days. 3 weeks. 5 weeks. The thought that my handmade card was floating around lost somewhere between the United States and Singapore made me sick. 

She was gracious. Her excitement when I finally sent her a picture of the card that she never received was sweet and heart-breaking. I write a post about fearfully running underneath the Golden Gate bridge and feeling like it's a miracle that the bridge isn't collapsing on top of me with its sheer weight. And the next day, riding my bike on the same bridge, marveling at the beautiful view and not thinking twice about being supported by only steel and wire. Perspective is everything- we can choose to live under the bridge thinking that everything is about to collapse and go wrong, or we can be on top looking ahead with wonderment and awe. She shares candidly about how she used to live in despair under that bridge, but running enabled her to find inner strength and overcome fear. Her transparency touches me.

And so I do what my heart tells me to do. I make her another card that is inspired by her story.

This time, I walk into the post office, lay the envelope on the counter and tell the postal worker that I need this to be sent as registered mail. 

He looks at me, brows furrowed. "What's in here?"

"It's a card. It's very important that it gets to her. Last time it got lost in the mail."

He stares at me, then down at the envelope with my cursive calligraphy across the front. "Why do you want to send this as registered mail if it's just a card? It is very expensive."

He tells me the cost. It's more than my watercolors and chalk pastels and the the 50 blank card and envelope sets.

I don't blink. "Because I made this."

He nods. There are no more questions exchanged. The act of creating something from nothing, for someone else, is reason enough.

14 days later, it arrives in Singapore. Of all the cards that have been sent and received from this project, this one makes my heart leap with joy the most. Making something for someone, I've learned, is priceless. And trying to put a dollar amount on its worth is like trying to capture the ocean in a bottle. 

The Best Parts of Being a Betty...

Representing Betty Designs both on and off the race course as a part of Team Betty 2016 has been one of the highlights of this year. I've been inspired by strong and resilient women from all around the world. It's not like junior high anymore, thankfully, where everyone was catty and cruel. Where girls would gossip and tear each other down since we were all self-conscious and drowning in our own insecurities, and tainting another's image seemed like the only way to make yourself shine. We're women now. We know better. It's far more rewarding to be in the business of empowering and encouraging each other. If a fellow 'Betty' shares her deepest and most vulnerable struggles, we rally around her and offer advice and love her in the best ways we know how. Because that's what teammates do.

It's been an amazing year of racing (grateful to have snagged some podium wins!), but more importantly, connecting with some of the strongest and resilient women in sport.

Alison killing it on the race course at Solana Beach Triathlon, July 2016

Aside from racing, the opportunity to cheer on fellow teammates at races has been one of the perks. I met Alison, a fellow Betty from Canada, thirty minutes before the gun went off for her swim start in Solana Beach. It felt like we had known each other for much longer, and she put up with me randomly showing up all along the race course and screaming at her to run faster. How cool is that?

Body marking Jessica before Pacific Grove Triathlon, where she was the featured athlete for TriCalifornia Events. So proud!

According to Kristin Mayer (founder/owner of Betty Designs): The #BettySquad is group of like-minded women who embody the spirit of being a Betty. We are strong, spirited, athletic, and keep fitness, fun + fashion at the forefront. We play hard and work harder, and feel confident in our skin, skinsuits, or wetsuits while we do it. We're powerful alone, but together, we're unstoppable. 

Coast rides with fellow teammate Jessica Frazier. 

Applications for Team Betty 2017 are open now until October 10, 2017. Apply HERE now if you want to be a Betty!

See the Sunset.

“That was her magic, she could still see the sunset, even on those darkest days.”

— Atticus

Inspired by my dear friend, whose days are beginning to brighten with faith and hope.

REVITALIZE Picnics!

The recipe for a perfect evening: food + friends + conversation + nature. The better, the better.

As an outgoing introvert, I meet so many amazing humans, but prefer to spend one-on-one time with them. Lately, I noticed I was saying to each one of them, "Oh, I can't wait for you to meet my friend, you'd love them..."

So this is how the idea of REVITALIZE Picnics was birthed- to gather all these lovely people together. Praveena and I will be hosting these with the intention of building authentic connections around plant-based food. Soul food, in a real, holistic sense.

Join us for our first REVITALIZE picnic next Saturday, 9/17 at 4:30 pm at San Leandro Marina. We'll be across the volleyball courts, facing the water. Just bring your sweet self, a vegetarian dish to share, a blanket, and some things to eat with. We'll stay until sunset and celebrate this beautiful thing called life together. Hope to see you there!

The Rapture of Being Alive.

“People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.”

— Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

From today's sunset run along San Leandro Marina...

Full Bellies and Hearts...

Last night was another amazing evening hosting beautiful people and enjoying delicious food. I love watching how the unique mixture of flavors, textures, stories and personalities around this table magically mix and unfold as the night grows long. Full bellies, minds, and hearts. I'm so grateful to make art in this way with my dear friend Praveena. Stay tuned for our fall REVITALIZE dinner. Check out some pics from last night's menu HERE.

Finding Purpose in Your Pain

Last week, my friend and I were talking about being refined by fire. Some of the most heart-wrenching experiences in life have gifted us with the greatest lessons. Anyone who's felt loss or pain has a greater appreciation and empathy and knowingness that resulted from those times.

Climb on...  (Mines Road, Livermore)

If you asked them, most would willingly walk through that fire again because it made them who they are today. Out of all the various friendships in my life, these individuals are the most beautiful humans. They have found purpose in their pain. They now seek out opportunities to guide someone else climbing those same hills, wondering when it's going to end, curious what's around the bend, anxious for a respite. They are a trusted authority because they have lived that same story. Advice is real, raw, and true from these people.

My friend describes the depth of pain from her divorce as "enough for ten women's lifetimes." She is intentional about using her past pain for a bigger, greater purpose. Hurting people seek her out. She is the one they call when they're suicidal and can't fathom living another day. She speaks life and hope back into them, and gets them climbing again. 

Even if there was once shame in our stories, there is so much power in sharing them with those who can benefit from our journeys. By deciding to do this, we are harnessing the stronghold they once had on us, and using that power now for good. There is always purpose in our pain, and it's up to us to find it. Lives may depend on it.

PRESSED!

I love surprise packages. These arrived today in the mail, and the timing couldn't have been better. I wasn't feeling in the mood to go grocery shopping after a long drive back from San Diego yesterday, so enjoying one of these bars was the perfect real-food snack after my morning swim.

My favorite? Cherry apple chia...

KIND bar has done it again, this time with only fruit, veggies, and chia in their all-new PRESSED by KIND bar. It's nutrition made simple. No preservatives, non-GMO, gluten-free, vegan, no added sugar, and all that jazz. Basically how real food is supposed to be.

Whether or not you're pressed for time, these bars make the perfect snack. Stash them in your car, your office drawer, your workout bag or in your purse, and I promise you'll never be hangry again.

REVITALIZE Dinner: Summer Edition!

Folks, it's that time again... We have a few more spots left for our 5-course plant-based dinner on Saturday, August 20th. Enjoy delicious, local, organic summer produce picked at its peak and prepared in a creative and vibrant way. Hope you pull up a seat with us. We'd love to have you join us!  More info HERE. 

***Update*** We are now at full capacity for this event, but keep your eyes out for future retreats/event dinners! 

Space That Matters.

You never know how much space you occupy in another person's life. I'll never forget the conversations over coffee that shifted my attitude and perspective in a positive way. The handwritten letter mailed to me during my freshman year of college that I have folded in my drawer with simple, beautiful words of truth that I still pull out from time to time. The afternoon my friend made homemade soup for me but I was too sad to eat, so we just sat together, and that in itself nourished and warmed my soul. I don't think these people even remember these things- to them it was just coffee, or scribbling out a letter, or making lunch. Kindness naturally flows through their veins.

I've been changed by this. I realize the power of our words and the importance of our time. And how seemingly small things to us can make a big difference to someone else. The space we occupy in other people's lives, and the space they have in ours- Love exists there.