Embrace the Mess

Half of me is filled with bursting words
Half of me is painfully shy. 
I crave solitude
Yet also crave people. 
I want to pour life and love into everything
Yet also nurture my self-care and go gently. 
I want to live within the rush of primal, intuitive decision
Yet also wish to sit and contemplate.

This is the messiness of life. We all carry multitudes. We are complicated creatures, and ultimately the balance of life comes from this understanding.

Be water—flowing, flexible, and soft. 
Subtly powerful and open. 
Wild and serene. 
Able to accept all changed, yet still led by steady tides.

CrazySexyYoga Day 12

“In meditation and in our daily lives there are three qualities that we can nurture, cultivate, and bring out. We already possess these, but they can be ripened: precision, gentleness, and the ability to let go.”


-Pema Chodron

Everything is a Miracle

“If you choose to see everything as a miracle, then where you are right now is perfect. There is nowhere to run to; there is nothing else to do except be in this moment and allow what is to be. From that place of radical acceptance, major change can happen. The first step in any transformational experience is acceptance and surrender to the present moment, the way that it is. From that place we have the awareness, humility and power to change what it.”
-Martin Kipp

#FindTheGirlsOnTheNegatives

Everyone love a good mystery and with a great hashtag to go along with it can shoot the internet ablaze. My very talented cousin Meagan Abell of Meagan Abell Photography has done just that with her search to find the photographer or subject of some breath taking vintage photographs through the hashtag #FindTheGirlsOnTheNegatives.

Found in a thrift store, two elegant and classic 1940/50’s women gaze off into the sunset. Part of the mesmerizing mystery of these women are that you never see their full face, only their backs or profiles.They seem to be literally entranced by the painted sky as they are drawn into the crashing waves of the ocean.  The colors look as though they are a watercolor painting on the sky, which Abell stated to JK Blackwell at “LooksLikeFilm” was what drew her to the negatives in the first place. Being a photographer herself there is no surprised she wanted to know more about this photo-mystery.

Abell has a talent of finding hidden treasures where most would overlook. She is a wonderfully successful wedding photographer based in Richmond, Virginia; yet, to really get a sense of her eye just one look at her personal profile will show nothing but pure creative talent. She has a niche for mystical entrancing photographs of abandoned houses or dressing her subjects in thrift store treasures. She takes you into a calm, into a dream with each shot.

She has an edge that is rarely seen in photographers in this day in age. Abell will even choose an old school film camera from the 40’s or 50’s over a new age digital one. Which could be a big reason why she was drawn to these negatives in the first place. Anyone can see the developed photographs, follow their story, and check out some of Abell’s own talent on Facebook at “Meagan Abell Photography”.

So far Abell has been able to discover that the photographs were taken in Dockweiler Beach in Los Angeles. Old negatives like this can go from house to garage sale to flea markets to thrift stores traveling from one coast of America to the other. Her original post has gained around 500 likes so far, but the “FindTheGirlsInTheNegatives” hastag has grabbed the attention of numerous blogs and even BBC is interested. If you have any information about these photographs please contact Abell to help her solve this mystery.

Abell is the real deal when it comes to photography with the highest respect for fellow photographers. She might have started an internet frenzy with her #FindTheGirlsOnTheNegatives but she will continue to create a buzz for a long time with her own creativity.

5 Reasons Why You Should Live in Another Country for Over a Month

1.) Be whoever you want

No one knows you, where you come from, or the mistakes you have made. You can be anyone you want, reinvent yourself. You can be a yoga teacher from California, an art student from New York City, professional wiffle ball player, or cousins with Orlando Bloom. Though I would recommend not stretching the truth too far because with everyone’s life documented on social media someone will call you out. Be confident and have the skills to back yourself up and people will believe you. Back at home you might be the quiet wall flower no one seems to want to talk to, but elsewhere you can be the life of the party.

2.) Meet unique amazing people

The people you meet on your adventure are going to be people you never forget. They are going to be in your heart and memories for the rest of your life. Probably some of your most precious memories. There is a bond there that no one will understand. You will forever remember the time you and the girl you just met got lost trying to find the ice cream shop everyone has been talking about that was supposed to be just around the corner.  You and your roommate being kept up all night because the drunk couple in the room next door took multiple rounds to smashtown, or when you and that tall, tan, rippling stomach surf instructor kept your bedroom neighbors up all night. Every time you go back to those memories you can never cover the smile that sweeps across your face or the little giggle that hiccups through your lips.

3.) Live disconnected

One of the best parts about living in another country is the disconnection. You cannot bring all the luxury technology we as humans seem unable to live without with you. Having to leave your cell service behind is almost like stepping back in time before cell phones, laptops, and GPS. If you meet someone you simple hope your paths will cross again and especially hope to remember their name. If you make plans to meet up with someone you better be on time at the right place or all is lost. If you don’t know how to get somewhere better learn how to read a fold up map and fast. The best part is that you actually talk to other human beings and have deep meaningful intellectual conversations. You truly appreciate the world around you instead of your nose pressed to your phone screen or eyes glued to the TV screen.

4.) Appreciate home

Traveling and living in a completely different place and culture makes you appreciate what you have back home. I am not saying you get home sick I mean you realize the grass on the other side isn’t always fresh cut green. From my travels I have come to realize my great appreciation for employee rights and laws at home in America. I cannot count the number of times I thought what my employer did overseas would never fly in America. I now also greatly appreciate the wonders of basic sink faucet. Everyone has done the classy move coming home after an exhausting night out and sticking their head directly in the sink to take some cold tap water to the face (and hopefully some make it in the mouth). However, in many other countries drinking the tap water can give you diarrhea making water a constant concern as well as trips to the store.

5.) Learn about yourself

Going to live in another country with a completely unknown culture really puts you out of your comfort zone. Then you truly learn about yourself. You learn what you are capable of. You learn your strengths and you learn how far you can push yourself. You learn how to navigate around a place where you don’t speak the language and actually reach your destination. When you go outside your comfort zone and go on a crazy adventures you experience some of your life’s greatest highs and lowest lows. Always the highs overpower the lows. You discover that you can stay positive and push through the hard times no matter how long or low they might be. It might feel as if there are two yacht anchors holding you down under water but just keep swimming it will pass. Soon enough you will have a smile on your face again.

Fire Log Pose

Agnistambhasana 
•
This pose opens our emotional state of mind. It stretches the hips and ground.

•Seated on the sit-bones evenly, if hips are tight you may need to place a prop under the knee that is lifted off the ground. 
•Props under the top knee. 
•Knees are bent stacking the knee with the opposite foot and visa versa. 
•Sit upright or folded forward. 
•Right hip to right knee parallel to the side of the mag when right leg is on top.

Soon Will Come The Day Everyone Will Know The Name Andra Day

https://youtu.be/5Sv2zyTQ3VQ

Just this past Monday night I was floating in a lagoon of pure music at School Night at the Bardot in Hollywood. You know the feeling you get when you release all holds, relax all muscles, clear your mind, and just float letting the water take you where it may. That is the only way I can accurately describe Andra Day’s voice.

If you have not heard of her you will soon. Born California native she is bringing back old Hollywood in ways most of us can only dream of. She is a combination of Billie Holiday, Amy Winehouse, and Lauryn Hill with her cool soulful voice whether it’s jazz, rock, doo wap, or soul. Her sassy red lips, cat eye eyeliner, and scarfed hair she is truly a beautiful girl to accompany her jar dropping vocals.

Andra Day was born Andra Batie in San Diego, California where she performed in nightclubs until who else but Stevie Wonder discovered her. She soon signed with the production company Buskin and eventually caught the attention of Warner Brothers Records.

She gained popularity on, what else, YouTube with her cover of Notorious B.I.G. and Marvin Gaye’s “Big Poppa”. She absolutely kills the cover, but also she covered Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” which people should check out as well.

This year she made a storm at the BET Awards as well as playing at ESSENCE festival. Day also did a cover of “Mississippi Goddamn” which is up on Google Play free exclusive download of Nina Revisited. Day was featured in Rolling Stone’s “10 New Artist You Need To Know: July 2015”. She even grabbed the attention of the infamous Spike Lee who directed her music video for her single “Forever Mine”.

With her vast rang and eloquent control of her voice she will grab your attention too. If you have not checked Andra Day out yet I strongly advise you too.

Day’s new album “Cheers to the Fall” will be dropping August 28. You can go to iTunes now to pre-order now and receive five songs instantly. If you don’t you can be sure to hear her on some highly publicized commercials in the next few months as well as on soundtracks. Watch out the 40s and 50s are coming back with full force.

Source:

Andra Day Official Site http://andraday.com/CheersToTheFall

Rolling Stone, “10 New Artist You Need To Know: July 2015” http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/10-new-artists-you-need-to-know-july-2015-20150713/andra-day-20150710

Essence, Red-Lipped Maven: Andra Day Talks Beauty http://www.essence.com/2015/07/02/red-lipped-maven-andra-day-talks-beauty

UPROXX music, Nina Simone Remembered: Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard, Mayer Hawthorne, and More Reflect on the Icon http://uproxx.com/music/2015/07/nina-simone-remembered/

Take Your Yoga Practice To The Board

Want to up the ante with your yoga practice? Take your yoga to the board, to the water, to the SUP. Traveling to Greece and Malta not only blessed me with the opportunity to see the gorgeous countries, but also push my yoga practice to the next level by practicing on the stand up paddle board. In Greece I had the opportunity to help out at Sporades SUP where I really test out my yoga skills and balance. In Malta I visited a yogi friend who is an instructor at SUP Yoga & Fitness Malta. She and I challenged our skills with some partner yoga on the board.

Taking your yoga practice to the board deepens your practice of the basics, makes you face a new challenge, it is one hell of a work out, introduces you to a new connection with nature, and all in all is empowering and fun.

Deepens the Basics

SUP yoga brings you back to the basics and gives you a new appreciation for the simple asanas. If yoga has been a love of your life as long as it has been for me you got the basics down pat. You practice the postures but you simply flow through them instead of taking the time to concentrate on each. Like me, your concentration and effort is geared more towards that challenging pose or flow that will impress the masses and brings the “wow” factor. There is nothing wrong with that, but we should never neglect our foundation. Bringing our practice off our mat and onto the board forces us to concentrate on breath, weight distribution, posture, and body positioning of each pose.  SUP make the basics a challenge once again.

Challenge

I have been practicing yoga for about eight years now on my mat but SUP yoga made the most basic pose a challenge. On the board on the move and groove of the living ocean, forces you to really concentrate on the level one asana. If you are unevenly distributing your weight or putting extra pressure in one area in the slightest bit the board will make it known. Not only is there a challenge to hold the pose but the slight fear that if you don’t hold your will fall. Though the fall will just be in the refreshing water it is still a fall to the brain.

A Hell of a Workout

With the board dancing to the waves beneath you, you really have to stress every muscle in your body to hold the pose. Through my years of practice and now teaching I have noticed that many students don’t understand that with the practice of yoga your entire body is working with each posture. SUP forces the body to use every muscle (including the heart and mind) through each flow of asanas without your brain even realizing it. Then once stepping off the board you feel the tired energy rushing through your body, almost like you just walked out of the gym.

New Connection with Nature

I have always had a deep personal relationship with the ocean, but when I took my practice to the board I could feel that connection blossom. Yoga has always been known to bring a yogi in tune with nature. Yoga on the mat can make you feel connected to the earth, wind, and ether, but SUP bridges the gap to truly embrace water. The board bobs with the ocean becoming one with the water and in turn you become one with the water. You feel and embrace every up and down every push and pull as the water guides you through your yoga practice. (Next we just need to figure out how to become one with fire without burning ourselves.)

Empowering and Fun

Flat out, SUP yoga is a lot of fun. Being out on the water, facing an semi-unknown challenge, and seeing that you are capable of it is fun. I know for me anything that has to do with being out on the water brings a smile to my face and unless you are terrified of the ocean it will so the same for you. SUP is something fairly new and different to try that isn’t too drastically challenging, anyone can do it. Then when the lesson is over and you make your way back to solid ground you have a rush of empowerment leak through your body and soul. You have just accomplished something that many people never dreamed they would be able to do. You feel your muscles being energized and your mind relaxed. It is a feeling you are going to crave from that moment on.

Happy Times

Recall some of the happiest times in your life. Maybe it was the birth of a child, your wedding day, or when you received a well-deserved job promotion. Write about how you really felt on two of these occasions. Do you remember the unending joy coursing through your body? Did you feel elated? Did you feel connected to something bigger than yourself?
-Goldie Hawn 10 Mindful Minutes

On the board has been some of the happiest times of my life. I have always been obsessed with the water (and to this day wish to be a mermaid). Being able to practice my yoga on he board gives me a connection to the water I have never felt before. 

#mindbodygreen #mbg #10mindfulminutes #yoga #supyoga #supyogagirl #iloveyoga #sporadessup #skopelos #mammamiachurch #yogagirl #stopdropyoga #upwardfacingdog #instayoga #igyoga #fitness #sup #supeorld #travel #travelingyogi #gypsyyogi #globalyoga #yogajunkie #yogaroundtheworld #yogaeverydamnday #bikiniyoga

Shadow

Worry gives a small thing a big shadow. 

Let go and keep pressing on

📷: @yokomorimotophotography

Warrior

The road might be long. 

The terrain might be precarious. 

You might need to sit and rest awhile. 

But don’t turn away from your dreams and your hearts longing. 

Your very next step may hold all you desire. 

Keep walking Warrior.

-unknown

She Who Loves The Beach

No words can express

The depth of her contentment

As she walks along the beach. 

As the waves lap against the shores

They create the rhythm of her life. 

Balmy breezes kiss

Her sun-bronzed skin, 

And she wonders…

Could there ever be a greater destiny

Than to be born with a love

For the treasures of the sea?

Here, she is home. 

- Suzy Toronto

Day 1 June Body Angles

There is nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shore line, no matter have many times it’s sent away

#day1 #JuneBodyAngels #JuneBodyAngelsChallenge #yoga #yogi #yogagirl #yogajournal #yogalife #igyoga #yogagram #instayoga #yogafit #igyoga #spiderpose #tattooedyogi #yogaintheworld #yogafam #yogachallenge #yogabody #travelingyogi #yogaisforeverybody

We Should Have Taken the Taxi!

After the bus stops for us and 5 minutes before the drama

It was my last weekend in Morocco and for the past month and a half I had only seen Taghazout (and some of Agadir but that’s another story). I had to get out of the little surf town and go on some kind of adventure. Never take the old saying “be careful what you wish for” for granted. It will bite you in the ass and I mean hard. 

Just so happen that that exact weekend was the very popular Moroccan Gnaoua Music Festival in Essaouira. Even better two guys who had stayed at the hostel were going to Essaouira for their next stop. Perfect, a music festival is exactly my shot of tequila. I figured I would travel with Thomas and Luca the two hours to Essaouira, we would jam to some Moroccan music, I’d figure out someplace to stay for the night, then head back to Taghazout the next day, leaving me with a whole day to pack before flying to Greece. But wait it got even better, another guy, Alex, who was also staying at the hostel, said he wanted to go as well and bonus he had a tent. 

Saturday we were in no rush, the festival didn’t start till around eight in the evening and it would only take two hours to get there. So we were just shooting the shit on hostel’s terrace, grubbed on some lunch, smoked a spliff, then headed to the street to try to flag down a lift. With the music festival going on we figured there would be heaps of people driving that way. We were also told that we should be able to get a bus to stop --the exact advice we were given was, “give the guy some money and he will jump in front of the bus for you” --no joke. 

We held up our makeshift sign for about fifteen minutes with not even a nibble. A taxi pulled up started talking to us in some broken Arabic-French-English trying to convince us to hop in his cab. He claimed it was going to be impossible for us to jump on a bus, all the buses were going to be full, and that he would drive us for a hundred-fifty dirhams ($15) each. After more potluck language exchange of negotiations we got him down to a hundred dirhams each, but our stingy asses didn’t budge we wanted to try for a fifty dirham bus ride. 

We declined the taxi. We should have taken the taxi. 

About fifteen minutes later a bus to Essaouira pulls around the corner and stops! Brilliant, we would be in Essaouira in no time. It was about two in the afternoon when we got on the bus and that is exactly when the perfect turned to shit. 

About ten minutes after we leave the city limits of Taghazout we hit some peculiar traffic. When our bus pulls up the the stop car that was causing the backup the bus driver leans out his window and begins yelling at the driver of the car throwing hands in every direction. Now I am just taking a hypothetical guess that he was yelling; Arabic is a rather harsh language to an English ear with lots of hand gestures. It is very difficult to distinguish a heated argument form a friendly conversation. So I did not think much of the scene until the car sped up and shot directly in front of the bus, cutting us off by a hair. 

Oh hell no, the bus driver was having none of that, so in his genius rage gives the car a little tap on the butt. Well that just pissed the car off more. They slammed on their breaks. The bus driver slammed on his breaks. Next thing I know everyone and their mother gets off the bus. Oh shit there’s about to be a Moroccan brawl. 

everyone getting off the bus to check things out

Turns out there was just a lot more yelling that I couldn’t understand. Just a verbal argument not even a push or shove. Face to face and pointing until I see the bus ticket man run over to the side of the road and pick up a rock about the size of two of his heads. 

Apparently I wasn’t the only one who saw ticket man pick up the rock, because the driver jumps into his car and kicks the gas. Tires squeal and he skids off just as ticket man chucks the rock missing the car by less a foot. Within the frantic get-a-way the car makes contact with a sweet little old man knocking him onto his back in the middle of the road. 

I couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed and I couldn’t believe more so that we waited around on the side of the road for another thirty minutes. Over half the bus was hanging out on the roadside like it was a front porch. Talking on the phone, bickering at one another, shaking hands with drivers of cars passing by. 

Chilling on the side of the road

Finally the bus driver leads everyone back onto the bus and we head off again. We’re about an hour behind schedule. No problem at least we were making progress once more. We make it to the next town, about thirty kilometers down the road and the bus stops again. The driver gets up in the aisle to make an announcement, of course in Arabic, but apparently he announced that we had to go back to Taghazout for a police report. 

“What the freak! We should have taken the taxi.” 

We back tracked the thirty kilometers back to Taghazout so everyone who got off the bus the first time could get back off to make a police report. Thomas and I sat in the front of the bus, we got a front row view of the whole shenanigans. Luca and Alex were passed out somewhere in the back completely oblivious to the last two hours of events. After everyone got back off the bus Thomas and I went back to fill them in on the drama. Well one of them, Luca woke up but Alex remained in a little dream ball. 

First think Luca said, “We should have just taken the taxi.”

Another hour or so passed, just to keep track we had gotten nowhere sitting on that bus for 2 hours. We should have been in Essaouira by that time. 

The three of us came back to the bus after a much needed munchie run to find Alex had awaken. “Why is everyone off the bus?” he questioned with a very confused look on his face. 

“Were in Taghazout.” I informed him. He face contorted even more, so I filled him in on the day's events. 

“We should have taken the taxi” is all he could say.

The clock continued to tick we continued to sit and wait for another hour or two --up to three or four hours of getting nowhere-- Alex and I decided to throw in the towel. Yet, of course, at that exact moment the bus driver honks the horn. We already put in a full days effort might as well see it through. We got back on that bloody bus. 

But wait, it still wasn’t smooth sailing from there. About an hour and a half in there is a police checkpoint. Surprise, surprise the police wave the bus over. At which point, the guy sitting next to Alex in the back of the bus hands a half rolled spliff to the kid on his other side. The cops step onto the bus, walk straight to the back, and escort the hash guy off. 

How the police knew to stop our bus and the exact guy will forever be a mystery to me I think. At the time I had no idea what was happening until Alex filled me in when we got off in Essaouira. 

Some conversating happened between the cops and hash guy. Good or bad I still could not be sure, but five minutes later they were shaking hands like old pals. Hash guy made his way back on the bus and off again we were for the fourth time. 

The drama still didn’t stop there, at least this time we made into Essaouira city limits. No vacancies means nothing to Moroccans. If there is room they will take the money. We picked up a group of four girls probably between eighteen and twenty years old; within five minutes there was more yelling. Contrary to the other drama of the day, I knew this one was an agreement. No one can mistake an angry woman. It appeared to be some kind of disagreement between one of the girls and a gentleman. 

The girls stormed to the front of the bus and demanded to be let off. The bus driver did as they request and the girls almost jumped off the bus before it came to a complete stop. 

Another five minutes and we were finally released from our bus prison. The air was a late fall frigid but fresh. What was supposed to be a two hour bus ride turned into a seven hour bus soap opera. 

To Be Continued. . . That Night

A Surfers Yoga

No one can deny the recent boom in surf-yoga retreats/holidays. If you have not experienced it yet, you cannot lie it sounds enchanting. It has been proven time and time again that surfing and yoga go hand in hand. Both affect the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels of human beings.

Every time I teach a yoga class after a surf lesson my students are amazed at how good their bodies feel. Even more so surprised at how much energy they regained. All day paddling out into the ocean, telling yourself to push because you are so close to passing the break. Then comes that perfect wave, rolling in at just the right angle. Paddle, paddle, paddle and when you reach the peak of the wave, just before it breaks you push against the board to pop up. Keep those legs bent and strong, while igniting the abs to keep your center of gravity. There is no wonder why surfers bodies are so cut.

Yoga practices many of the same muscle movements. Laying on the board paddling out is much like Locust Pose in yoga. Popping up on the board for the perfect ride is the same motion as Chaturanga and Cobra Pose. Finally, riding the wave is like doing Warrior Two on the board.

The benefit of yoga is the slowdown of the movements making the mind and body embrace, understand, and go deeper into the poses/movements. Yoga not only improves the body’s strength, but also flexibility to prevent injury, stamina to last longer in the ocean and catch more waves, balance to get up and remain on the board, and coordination to be able to maneuver the board as well as the body.

Not only is yoga about the asanas, it is largely about the mind and being able to control the mind. Yoga can help with the mental and emotional difficulties that can arise while surfing. Practicing yoga teaches the mind to be calm and relaxed so it can remain focussed. Some of the greatest loss of control of the mind comes after a massive wipe-out and the wave takes complete control. If the mind becomes scarred and freaks-out the body will follow. Arms and legs will start flailing about trying to fight the wave and getting nowhere. If the mind can remain calm the body will follow its lead. Let the arms wrap around the head for protection then simply let the body become one with the wave. Embrace the wave, soon it will end and all will be safe.

“Yoga is the method by which the restless mind is calmed and the energy directed into constructive channels.” -BKS Iyengar, Light on Yoga

To be a good yogi and a good surfer the mind must learn to tune all else out. How many times has professional surfers said that when they are surfing it is just them and the wave, nothing else exists. That is yoga, a surfers yoga. They have a connection to the ocean. They thrive off the energy of the ocean. Yoga is all about receiving energy from nature and others to in turn return that energy back to the universe. “There is divinity within [the yogi] and the energy which moves him is the same that moves the entire universe.” (BKS Iyengar, Light on Yoga).

To surfers that universal energy comes through the waves and becomes one with the surfer. Yoga can help that surfer remain present and aware in that moment, riding that perfect wave, and even deepening the experience.

Asanas/Poses to better one’s surfing:

1.    Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog)
2.    Garudasana (Eagle Pose)
3.    Shalabhasana (Locust Pose)
4.    Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Facing Dog)
5.    Virabhadrasana 2 (Warrior 2)
6.    Chaturanga Dandasana (Four Limbed Staff Pose)
7.    Uttana Shishosana (Extended Puppy Pose)
8.    Navasana (Boat Pose)
9.    Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (One legged King Pigeon Pose)
10. Ardha Pincha Mayurasana (Dolphin Pose)