Highs of 2012

Stills of twenty twelve!:

January: Celebrated the beginning of 2012 in San Francisco; Completed The Green Yogi's annual Yoga Challenge. 

February: Visited my sister in Louisiana and survived my first Mardi Gras experience in New Orleans.

March: Hosted a fundraiser to help send me to Tanzania. Thanks to family and friends, I was able to raise enough money to cover my airfare and program fee. So thankful!

April: Coachella Music Festival with the best of friends.  

May-July: Spent two beautiful months living and teaching in a Maasai village in the mountains of Tanzania, Africa with some of the most hardworking and gracious people I've ever met (this experience opened my eyes and empowered me to live a more simple and less superficial life); Turned 25 Maasai-style; Safari at Tarangire National Park and Ngorongoro Crater; Danced and played in the Indian Ocean; Saw the sun rise over the Indian Ocean and set over the Indian Ocean in the same day (perks of tiny Zanzibar).

August: Got hired as a fourth grade teacher at Henry F. Kammann Elementary and moved to Santa Cruz! 

November: Survived Trimester 1; Cassidy visits for Thanksgiving :)

Goodbye 2012! Hello 2013:

kiss slowly, 

laugh insanely, 

love truly

and...

forgive quickly

-paulo coelho

Just Try...

{photo via pinterst}

Pick yourself up and try again...

{Alex and I being upside down goddesses at YogaLoftMB in Manhattan Beach}

Come on... you're stronger then you think...

Good thoughts bread sunbeams!

weekend wonderments [7]: best sunny weekend in awhile!

Stills from my super, sun-absorbing, active, outdoorsy, and relaxing weekend:

Cruising on the Manhattan/Hermosa Beach strand is definitely one of my most fondest memories of summer. For that reason, whenever it's nice outside, I'm quick to jump on my strand cruiser (or my mom's as seen in this photo) and roll down to the beach for a relaxing, slow bike ride.  

I'm proud to say my wrist is the one with only 3 dashes ;) I'm a light weight which, for me, isn't a bad thing. My bank account's happy and my body's happy!   

 

I've been contemplating getting the "Om" symbol tattooed on my side for quite some time now. It's a beautiful symbol with a and powerful meaning. It's the only symbol I have ever come to truly appreciate and value. So we'll see... :)  

8:00am yoga with the fun and quirky Dani Dumani of The Green Yogi. It was my first class with her and I got into some very advanced versions of regular poses I do on the daily. It was an empowering start to my sunny Sunday!

Some happy palms, basking in the sunshine! 

After yoga, I was warm and stretched out and ready to play in my weekly Sunday soccer match. We lost 1-3. They were a lot faster than us throughout the midfield which, unfortunately, worked in their favor. We did, however, come back and dominated most of the second half and even made a beautiful goal. Better luck next weekend!

Good people. Good vibes. 25th street in Hermosa Beach (the new "8th street Manhattan Beach"). 

4:00pm in Manhattan Beach. 

5:52pm - sunset in Manhattan Beach. This place is pure paradise by day and by night. I am extremely grateful to live here.

No better way to end an excellent day than with a home-cooked dinner of salmon, asparagus, and brown rice!

choose to live healthy [4]: chakra healing system

The concept of chakra originates in Hindu texts, featured in tantric and yogic traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. Its name derives from the Sanskrit word for "wheel" or "turning" and signifies one of seven energy centers in the body. Each chakra in your spinal column is believed to influence or even govern bodily functions near its region of the spine - see description of each chakra center above!


In my Monday/Wednesday/Friday yoga practice at The Green Yogi with the lovely Amy Beausang, we have been targeting and focusing on a new chakra center each week, starting with the first/root chakra which is located at the base of the spine. Last week we focused our attention on the second/sacral chakra  located in the lower abdominal/navel. This week we are focusing on the third/solar plexus chakra located in the area above the navel, under the ribs. Each week, we work to open and awaken the focused chakra by first meditating and visualizing each chakra as a ball of light or a glowing flower that slowly opens. Following meditation, we usually do three rounds of Breath of Fire, a cleansing and energizing breath powered by abdominal contractions, in certain yoga postures that target the chakra. Then, throughout the majority of the yoga flow, we practice getting into different yoga postures that further open and work the targeted chakra.  


So far, these chakra focused yoga sessions have been a wonderful experience for me. I have noticed that when I work on opening my charkas in class I feel that my focused energy flows better. I feel more more aware, open, and balanced. I'm excited to see how I feel after learning how to open all seven energy centers!


Namaste lovelies!

weekend wonderments [1]: all's fair

[post race refreshment at the beer garden, danny post penguin slide across the table (hence why the table is tipped over0, galaxy game, chevron friendship bracelet, silly finger doodle, hoover and I in the garden, me at the mb pier after crossing the finish line, geneva and I making silly faces, lovebirds danny and mike, beer cup tower, my cousin carly's new and nameless golden doodle]

Friday: Unfortunately the icky weather kept the kids I nanny for and I inside all day; and I mean ALL day. I'm with them (Geneva: 2, Nicky: 5, and Christian: 7) from 11 to 8 Monday through Friday. After what seemed like hours of Pokemon battling, playing dress-up, and weaving chevron friendship bracelets, I was let off early in order to get some rest before Saturday's race.

Saturday: Woke up long before the sun with butterflies in my stomach, a regularity before every race I run. After coercing myself to eat a cliff bar and banana (I'm usually still asleep and therefore not hungry at 6am)  I met up with friends Alex Curry and Jeff Nisen at the start line. The race was a blast! It's really fun to run a race in your hometown because you get to run with some many people you know! Call me crazy, but in preparation for the Nike Women's Half Marathon I'm running in San Francisco in 2 weeks, I decided to run 4 more miles after crossing the finish line. Post run I reconnected with friends in the beer garden! What better way to refuel a tired body than going to a fair's beer garden? Yep. Definitely not the best for you post race, but it feels real good at the time ;) After the garden, I joined my Aunt Heidi, Uncle Bruce, and cousin for the Galaxy vs. Real Salt Lake game at the Home Depot Center. They scored a 2-1 win while I scored an autograph and sensual hand caress by Donavan Ricketts, one of Galaxy's most valuable players (he's the best goalie in the league for crying out loud) and, in my eyes, overall human to look at (i.e, he's VERY easy on the eyes!) 

Sunday: Played in my soccer game against "the team with the girl with the nipple piercings." Oddly and unfortunately, I personally know she has nipple rings because two seasons ago after tackling her on the field she yelled, "shit, you almost ripped out my nipple rings!" Whoops. Maybe you shouldn't wear metal in your boobs during a high contact game. Anyways, we won 2-1! Later that night, I treated my sore body to a restorative yin relaxation yoga class at The Green Yogi with Matt Rothert. It was a lovely way to end an eventful and physically challenging weekend! Hopefully my "activeness" and energy will carry well into the week :)

igottahaircut

After my mom told me last night that my hair "looks like straw," I decided this morning to go get some maintenance work done on the good ol' long locks. Summer is technically over and according to my mom the "fresh-out-of-the-salty-ocean-dry-as-straw" look aint vibing with me as well as it was a month ago. After a sweaty yet awesome power vinyasa yoga class with the amazing Heather Archer at The Green Yogi followed by 10 stints up sand dune, I sat my rock hard toosh butt down for some r & r, a shampoo, cut, and blowout at Cielo: A Boutique Salon. It's been over a year since I got my dreads chopped (I guess I'm lazy when it comes to self maintenance) and I'm pleased to say that I love the results! She kept the length, which I told her was a must, added some layers in the back and taper in the front.  I walked out of there with a bottle of Morroccan Oil and Kevin Murphy angel wash shampoo and body builder volumising mousse. 

How long has it been since you got yer hair did? What salon do you go to?