Slow Down.

Last week at the gym, I was finishing a set on the seated back pull machine. I had just lifted 135 lbs on each side, and triumphantly received a nod of approval from a fellow lifter. As I was cleaning off my weights, I noticed a bodybuilder looking over.

“Mind if I show you something?” he asked. I smiled. “Sure.” He pulled out his phone and showed me a video of a professional bodybuilder doing the same exercise I’d finished, with only one 45-lb weight on each side. “Try it with less weight, but go a lot slower on the eccentric and concentric phases of the exercise. Focus on the mind-muscle connection.”

This week, I’ve adopted that principle. I’ve dropped the weights down and increased the time under tension while focusing on the mind-muscle connection. It’s the first time in awhile I’ve felt sore the next day.

When we slow down, we pay better attention. We’re more engaged and present.

Try it. Slow down. In your conversations, in your interactions, while emailing, when you drive, and when you eat. Notice the difference.

Abundance and Expansion.

Created on the trails at Grabtown Gulch.

2+0+2+4= 8. I created this altar today with the number 8 in mind, symbolizing abundance and expansion. At first I gathered small fern and nettle leaves, their soft fuzzy exteriors still damp with morning dew. I laid them down in a small circle, their leaves shaped like hearts facing outwards into the world. As I continued to forage, I discovered larger nettle hidden behind a robust patch of giant ferns. I added those to the initial circle, noticing how the design physically and metaphorically represented this theme of abundance and expansion. May we all embody this in our own lives. A ripple effect outwards of more love, kindness, and generosity that we can practice in 2024.

December In a Nutshell.

December was a whirlwind filled with SO.MUCH.JOY.

Hundreds of my books arrived in one huge shipment on a Thursday in early December, and I spent the evening signing each one with a personalized message. Gratitude filled my heart as I wrote messages to old friends from college, triathlon, co-workers, clients, and friends from different areas of life who have supported me through the years. This was my favorite part of this entire book journey.

A friend visited from Nevada and she gifted me a feather from a Great Horned Owl because this animal holds so much spiritual significance for me. Synchronistically, she gave this to me on the very same day that I had the privilege of being in the same room as a Great Horned Owl. Look at his intense, focused stare!

I hiked new trails in Folsom with an old friend, and was gifted Godrays in Woodside during a misty morning run. The mushrooms were abundant in Santa Cruz, and nature generously provided supplies to create Morning Altars with.

This month, I felt overwhelming support from family and friends. It’s been said that there are years that ask the questions, and years that answer.

This year, I finally received my answer, and I am smiling ear to ear.

If You Can Hold It in Your Head, You Can Hold It In Your Hand.

For the past year, I’ve had this line in my head from Bob Proctor- “If you can hold it in your head, you can hold it in your hand.”

Taking the concepts I learned from Jose Silva’s method, I created detailed MindMovies of my book- from how it felt (hardcover), as well as the feeling I had of exhilaration seeing the names of mentors and authors I admired. These included Chase Jarvis and Day Schildkret. Every morning and evening, I watched my MindMovie upon waking and before going to bed.

A year later, I can confidently say when I hold my book Food For Thought, everything I held in my head I now hold in my hand. It’s an incredible feeling, but one I worked daily to visualize, feel, and create into existence.

What do you want to create? What do you want to believe into existence?

How It All Started...

The idea for creating this book came from participating in #the100dayproject, so it felt fitting to begin the evening with this spoken word poem. The poem’s last lines were written on my Wednesday morning walk, two days before the event. All of the poems in my book were written in this way- received as downloads while on early morning walks. Entire lines and stanzas would drop into my consciousness, and I would immediately record them on my watch. I’d later transcribe them when I came home.

(Note: The sound quality is compromised since it took place during the art walk with people strolling through the various galleries.)

First Friday Author/Artist Talk: Food For Thought

Above are some sweet memories from my author/artist talk at Chopsticks Alley Art Gallery during the First Friday San Jose Art Walk. I shared about the process of writing and illustrating this book, read my favorite story from the book, and wove in some spoken word poetry. The best part of the evening was hearing my dad share in response to me reading our story (the chickpea page) which brought many of us to tears. Friends from all chapters of my life traveled great distances to celebrate with me. This was an evening I will fondly remember for the rest of my life.

Every April during junior high to high school, and even when I returned home from college for Easter break, my mom would take me to the annual Children’s Book Illustrator show at Sun Gallery. I loved meeting the authors and seeing their original art displayed in the gallery. Each year my mom would let me pick out one book and I’d get the author’s autograph. I have a stack of all these precious books in my bookcase now. My mom recalls in college I got back into the car, buckled my seatbelt, and proclaimed, “One day, I am going to write and illustrate my own book, too.”

Decades later, here we are. To showcase some original art from my book and have an intimate conversation about my creative process with loved ones was a surreal, full-circle moment. I am deeply grateful for everyone who helped me get to this place, who watered these seeds of curiosity, and encouraged me to keep creating and believing in this dream.

Celebrating What's Here.

“Tending Altar” created in Purisma Creek Redwoods

So often I coach clients who suffer from what I call “Destination Addiction.” It sounds like this- “When I lose weight…When I get that job…When I get the perfect partner…When I finish that project…When I complete that ultramarathon….then I’ll be happy.”

Nature and creativity are tools to help us dissolve certain mindsets. The invitation here was to forage within a radius of 20 ft. To weave together our inner and outer landscapes by asking, “How can I use what’s around me to create beauty? How can I see the ordinary with new eyes to make something new?”

“If your everyday life seems to lack material, do not blame it; blame yourself, tell yourself that you are not poet enough to summon up its riches, for there is no lack for him who creates and no poor, trivial place. ”
— Rainer Maria Rilke

It begins by simply looking and noticing what’s actually here. The richness that exists in this moment and place. Instead of waiting to reach the ‘destination’ to be happy, how can you celebrate the present moment and tend to it? Praise it? Be astonished by it?

You Must Let It Find You.

Boy Scout Tree Trail, Jedidiah Smith Redwoods State Park

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

“Lost” by David Wagoner