Meditation can sometimes be challenging.  Period.  (Maybe this even deserves an exclamation mark!   Over the last five years, I have found my meditation practice integral in my life, giving me ease and clarity.  Don’t get me wrong, at times, I find it to be also challenging, especially during busy times.  This is when it is even more important, I find.

I have talked to many students who have struggled with meditation, looking for guidance and for it to just be plain easier.  I found this helpful handout on meditation on the Oprah website and it’s written by Jon Kabat-Zinn, a meditation teacher.  The overall message, be easy on yourself, it’s hard work but absolutely do not put it off another day,  and absolutely MEDITATE!  The one tip I give students all the time, that was passed onto me by a yoga teacher, is consistency is better than length of time.  It is better to meditate everyday for 5 minutes, then to do it once a week for 20 minutes.  Happy  meditating!

I find goal-setting extremely helpful. Yes, sometimes I don’t reach all my goals as life happens and things change but it’s important to work towards things that you value. I found this great blog  5 Reasons Why You Should Set Goals, have a read when you get a chance.

I thought I would share my goals for May with you and hopefully this will inspire you to set your own goals AND sharing my goals with you will make it more concrete for me.  Don’t make your goals complicated, but set a couple of goals that may take you out of your comfort zone.  Have fun!

GOALS FOR THE MONTH OF MAY

1. Journal everyday.
2. Renew my driver’s license.
3. Renew my passport.
4. Donate dish to Salvation Army’s monthly dinner.
5. Create two new yoga playlists – one slow and one fast.
6. Take yoga classes with 3-889 Yoga teachers that I haven’t taken a class with before.
7.  No dairy for the month of May.  (eek, what am I to do without cheese and yogurt?)
8. Buy new eyeglasses.
9. Go dancing!
10. Go out for a tea or wine with someone I haven’t gone out with before.

There was a period in my life when I didn’t like spending time by myself.  It was a very lonely time for me.  I felt like something was missing.  The thoughts, the silence, it all scared me.  I look back at that time now and realize how desperately I needed to get in touch with my true self.   Many things were missing….I wasn’t happy with my career, my long-term relationship and my friendships.  I made it worse by filling up my life with empty things such as hanging out with people who didn’t necessarily bring me up, coffee, alcohol and cigarettes.

I was scared to be alone with myself.  I didn’t like who I had become.  So, as challenging as it was, I knew something had to change and that change was me.  I felt like I was starting over again.  Filling in the missing pieces, creating myself anew and making myself whole again, the healing process began.

I began by doing things that warmed my heart, that made me feel good.  I journaled, I did yoga, I cooked, I took myself on movie dates, I read inspirational books, I walked and got to know my city, I danced in my living room, I hung out with people who made me laugh.  I also started to ask myself some tough questions that perhaps I was avoiding in the past.  What was I scared of?  What did I need to let go of?  Who did I need to forgive?  What did I want to do with my life?  What kind of person did I want to spend the rest of my life with?  And instead of running away from my fears, I moved towards them with trust and openness.

You can be alone without feeling lonely. And you can still feel lonely being amongst a group of people.  The difference is you and what you choose to do about it.  Move towards the people and things that you love, and that make you feel good.  Be honest with yourself.  Can you look yourself in the mirror and honestly say that you really like yourself, and to go even further, love yourself?  If you truly love yourself, you’ll have no problem spending time with yourself.

On that note, here’s a video that I really love that is on the subject of being alone.  It’s by singer/songwriter/poet Tanya Davis.  Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Bark With Dried Blueberries and Toasted Walnuts

• 3 – 100 g dark chocolate bars (60-70%)
• ½ cup dried blueberries
• ½ cup walnuts
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp coarse Himalayan sea salt

1. Turn oven on to 350 degrees.
2. Break walnuts into smaller pieces and toast in oven for approx 5-7 minutes or until golden brown.
3. Melt chocolate in a double boiler on low heat.
4. Once the chocolate is melted and smooth, turn off the heat and toss in dried blueberries and toasted walnuts.
5. Add ½ tsp of cinnamon to the mixture.
6. Line 9 x 13 pan with wax paper or foil.
7. Spread the chocolate evenly in the pan.
8. Sprinkle sea salt over the chocolate mixture.
9. Refrigerate for two hours.
10. Remove pan from fridge and slowly peel chocolate off of wax paper or foil.
11. Break off into smaller pieces.
12. Makes 12-15 pieces.
13. Enjoy!

I always come home from New York City like I just had a crazy whirlwind affair; its always passionate, intense, and I feel so alive!

I’m surprised how many people I meet who have not been to NYC.  Even if cities are not your thing, New York City is no ordinary city. Nuh uh.  For those of you planning on visiting, here are my Top 10 Things To Do In NYC (in no particular order).

Enjoy!  I sure did.

• Central Park

This park is one massive park and it is spectacular.  To give you an idea on how big it is; it spans over 50 blocks.  It’s a beautiful place to just be in, hang out and have a tea, and some of my favorite movies have been filmed in the park.  There are free concerts in the summer that bring out big names (remember this city doesn’t do anything small), there is a roller skating rink, skating rink, zoo, baseball field, carousel, plus much more that I’m sure I’m missing.  Just go and love.

• Café Habana

All I have to say is CORN with cheese.  Ridiculous.  This cuban restaurant is one of my favs, I hit this place up every time I’m in NYC.  Go early because there are line-ups, but if you’re in a hurry, you can go to their take-out window and just order yourself some corn.

• Williamsburg, Brooklyn

If you’re up for something not Manhattan then Williamsburg is your answer.  It takes 20 minutes or less by train to reach Williamsburg from Manhattan.  It has cool bars, restaurants, art; you’ll find all the hipsters hanging in this hood!

• Brooklyn Museum:  Target First Saturdays

Where else can you have an alcoholic beverage, dance to one of the world’s best djs and discuss a painting from the late eighteen hundreds?  For free??  Hell yeah, it’s a must, first Saturday of every month.

• Kuma Inn

This is a cute restaurant located in the Lower East Side.  You’d never find it unless you were looking for it since it’s located on the second floor.  The food is filipino fusion.  Call me biased if you want because I’m Filipino, but the night I was there, the restaurant was packed and I was the sole Filipino there.  So take that.  Not only was the food divine BUT it’s BYOB.  Yup, you heard me, BYOB.  Your welcome.

• High Line

Who has an elevated park that goes through the neighborhoods of Chelsea and West Village?  New York does.  The High Line was built in the 1930s, as part of a massive public-private infrastructure project called the West Side Improvement. It lifted freight traffic 30 feet in the air, removing dangerous trains from the streets of Manhattan’s largest industrial district.  Now, it’s JUST an elevated park.  How friggin’ awesome is that?

• Billy’s Bakery

This place was one of those stumble upon gems.  After many hours of walking, we needed to caffeinate it up and happen to be walking on this small street that landed us in front of this place.  I was so tired that I perched myself on a bench in front of the place and sent my boyfriend in to grab me a tea and something sweet.  Now, if there is someone that you need to sniff out good dessert, it’s my boyfriend.  He rarely gets excited about dessert because there’s so much bad stuff out there, but holy moly, he came out like he won a million dollars or something.  The cupcakes are to die for, he not only went back in again to buy another cupcake, we went back again the following day to one of their other locations.  It’s that good.  GO.

• Yoga

Now, I couldn’t write this without talking about yoga.  One of the things I love about yoga is that you can do it anywhere, anytime.   New York has some amazing yoga studios; I try to always catch a class or two while visiting.  This time around, I went to the Jivamukti studio, which I’ve been to before.  The main studio is located near Union Square and I went to a Monday 10am class, which of course was packed.  Sharon Gannon and David Life are the founders of Jivamukti, they have a really interesting story.  Jivamukti is also where Sean Corne first began her yoga career.  I love taking classes with different teachers I always learn something.  What did I learn from this class?  Memorize something wonderful; a sonnet, a poem, a quote, so that if someone ever asks you to tell them something beautiful, you have something to say!

•  Theatre

Let’s talk about theatre, the razzle and dazzle of broadway, or off broadway or off off broadway.  One of my favorite theatre moments in New York was attending The Vagina Monologues when it first opened back in 2000.  I was so excited to see Gina Gershon on stage and I had heard phenomenal reviews about the play.  Minutes before the play began, a man enters the room and sits down at the back right corner of this small theatre; it was Al Pacino.  I could not contain myself.  There was no doubt it was he as throughout the play, you could hear the ‘Godfather’ laugh, and oh what a distinct and familiar laugh it was.  I always try to catch some theatre while in NYC, this time around I caught the show Relatively Speaking, 3-plays written by Ethan Coen, Elaine May and Woody Allen.  The theatre must have held at least 1000 people, and of course on a Tuesday evening it was sold out.

• Brooklyn Flea Market

There are flea markets that happen in different areas of Brooklyn, I checked out the one in Williamsburg.  It’s a pretty happening scene.  I grabbed my Mexican fare from one of the many food vendors there that day, and wandered around checking out both new and vintage items.  It has everything from clothing to shoes to furniture.  The people watching is pretty spectacular and there’s something really special when you can look across the river and can see the Manhattan skyline.

Last week I was hanging out with a couple of friends and we got to talking about relationships.  In this particular case, it wasn’t the typical bitching and complaining of a partner, one of my friends talked about the insecurity of losing her partner.  This guy is not a jerk.  She talked about how wonderful her beau was, charming, talented, smart and very caring towards her and their relationship.  So, of course, me being very confused, asked the question, then what are you so insecure about?  She talked about being burned from past relationships.  I said, fair enough, but he’s not anything like your past partners?  He’s this great guy who wants to be with you.

I continued to explain to my friend that her beau is a gift from the universe.  She’s obviously done some great things in the past to have this man in her life.   The universe has given her a gift, and instead of saying thank you, and being happy, she’s acting unworthy of this special gift.

What happens when someone gives you a gift?  You say thank you, you may even give them a hug, and then you revel in that moment of receiving that gift.  It’s a great moment, and it feels good.  You don’t act unsure or think to yourself is this gift meant for me and then maybe return the gift? No, it would be rude and unkind. And most likely, that person will never give you a gift again.

We are given gifts everyday and they manifest in many different ways; a new friendship, a great job, some extra cash, lunch paid for by a co-worker.  When you receive a gift, revel in it, say thank you and act worthy of receiving it. Receiving your gift graciously tells the universe that you are willing and open to receive whatever the universe sends your way.  You are owning up to what is rightly yours.  And guess what, when you do that, you set yourself up for more receiving, MORE ABUNDANCE.

Now, get out there, and go practice.  Remember, it works both ways, to be fully abundant in life; you must balance the act of both giving and receiving.

I encourage you to write your own manifesto. What are words that you live by?  If you have no idea where to begin, I found this great website that explains what a manifesto is and it even gives samples on how to write one.  Remember, it’s your manifesto; it’s your life, do it your way.  Happy creating!

Here is my manifesto:

1.     Spend time alone. You are your best company.

2.     Create space in your life.  Clean out closet/home twice a year.  Keep social engagements to once or twice maximum per week.

3.     Learn. Curiosity is something you should never lose.

4.     Do yoga and meditate everyday.  Length of time doesn’t matter.

5.     Set two goals of each:  personal, health and career for 1 year, 2 years, 5 years and 10 years.  (Thank you Lululemon!)  Re-evaluate every year.

6.     Get at least 7-8 hours of sleep.

7.     Eat local, organic food whenever possible.

8.     Travel to a new place once a year.

9.     Donate time or money once a month.

10.   Try to do something nice for someone at least once a week.  It can be something as small as buying a friend a cup of tea to holding the door for a stranger.

“The first year of a cycle is the year of creativity, of planting the seeds, of newness, of opening to new opportunity with confidence.  The sprout is sown, but it hasn’t yet broken through the ground.  This may involve a time of planning as well as planting, of resolution as well as map-making.  It can also mean going back to school, retraining, or moving to a new location – beginning something new.”

How I find this so fitting for where I am at in my life.

This has definitely been a year of new beginnings.  I look back at the last few months and here are some of the things that have happened:  I made the decision to teach yoga full-time, I moved into a new space with my partner, I revamped my website, I took up a new hobby and started gardening, I am off to Vancouver in August for another yoga teacher training course and the year is not done.  There are still a few initiatives brewing ready to blossom in the coming months.

Years ago, I would not have considered myself a creative person.  To me, creative people were painters, photographers, dancers, musicians, creative directors.  Now, I have such a different perspective on creativity.  Everyone has a creative bone, some people use it more than others, but we are all creative.  To create means to produce, invent, bring something into existence.  While I can not write music, paint or think of catchy slogans, I can think of interesting sequencing for my yoga classes and I can develop health programs that help improve the lives of many people. Creation is taking your ideas and making those ideas into a reality.

Sometimes, creativity doesn’t come when you need it.  I find that doing the following things helps get the creative juices flowing:

1. Do yoga and meditation. Besides the benefits of feeling balanced and focused, yoga and meditation helps turn off the “thinking” you and turns on the “feeling” you.  The “feeling” you is guided by the heart.  Follow your heart, you’ve heard that saying before, it really does know best.  Creativity comes from the heart.
2. Spend time alone. And no, I don’t mean turn on the TV.  I mean go take a walk, sit in the park, just be by yourself.  How can you hear that amazing creative voice inside of you if you’re constantly keeping yourself busy?  You can’t.
3. Journal. It’s therapeutic and wow, it feels so good to let go of your worries and let your journal do the worrying for you.  Hint:  Once you let go of the worrying, there might be room for creativity to come in.
4. Go see some art. Whether that be visiting a museum, going to a concert or watching live theatre.   Inspiration breeds inspiration.
5. Shake up your routine. Take a different route to work, try a new restaurant, take a trip to a place you’ve never been to before, walk up to a stranger and have a conversation with them.  Something as small as changing up your routine might be all you need to gain new perspective on life and get the creative juices going.

Thanks for reading, looking forward to a great year in creation!