Thursday, May 31, 2012

Even Educated Fleas Do It...

I finally watched the RHCP’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and while it was awesome to see the Chili Peppers play (along with Slash, et al.) my favorite part was Flea’s acceptance speech (notwithstanding my always & forever crush on Anthony Keidis). Flea (along with my man AK) is a fan of yoga, and when Flea spoke to the power of his musical gift he seemed enlightened: “The burning intense desire that is inside of me to play music, that has not diminished in the slightest, that has only deepened as time has gone on; cause when we’re hittin it, when we are really inside the groove, when we’re on, I’m lost man, and in that moment I am truly free of everything and I am truly one with everything.”                                



It was inspiring to hear that Flea feels truly connected to all beings when he’s pursuing his life’s purpose. And in his speech he prefaces the aforementioned quote by saying that his life’s mission is to uplift those around him. I think he’s truly successful. Namaste.
A

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Guest Blogger Jonelle Roman on Letting Go

I’m not particularly fond of cats (I take after my Grandma Elly who was terrified of felines) but I do appreciate the notion of non-attachment. Please see below for a special post from my friend—and certified yoga instructor—Jonelle Roman:


You Have to Let it Go

My roommate Alyssa and I were having a glass of wine at home when she pulled up a video that her friend, Mary, sent her of her kitten, Super Bean (yup, that’s its name), playing a game on her iPad. The game shows fish swimming across the screen and Super Bean has to tap the fish for points. There comes a point though when Super Bean holds on to one fish and holding onto it freezes up the game. “You have to let it go,” says Mary, and Super Bean lets it go and the game resumes. Fish are swimming around again, but Super Bean doesn’t jump to hold one this time. He just watches. Then BOOM! PREPARE FOR LEVEL 3 flashes across the screen, he’s moved up! GO KITTY! Still, Super Bean sits and watches without reaching.

Isn’t that a striking representation of life? We do it all the time, hold onto things. All sorts of things. I have clothes that I don’t wear that are freezing up my drawer. (I know I’m gonna wear that sweater again someday!) I have fears and emotional hang ups that are freezing up parts of my life. I can’t move forward to the next level! Argh! Holding onto things freezes the game! But that next level, that next journey is always there when we let go, when we detach. There’s so much more ahead! When we finally choose to be present and observe, and not attach, there is movement. We live life with less weight and move forward. BOOM! Level 3!

So take a note from Super Bean today: let it go.

J


Cartoon by Hugh MacLeod

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

no cheese please: an entry about being insecure

All of my family members, friends and random dinner companions know I don’t like funky cheese (Parmesan included) or spicy food. These are my dietary restrictions. Yet I consider myself an overall adventurous eater. And for some (clearly insecure) reason I always want waiters to know that. I don’t want to be perceived as a picky patron. So it’s always with a pang of self-inflicted shame that I mumble “Is there cheese on that Rigatoni Bolognese? That tuna ceviche isn’t spicy is it?”


Why do I care what a waiter thinks of my eating habits? Why do I even assume the server is taking the time to judge me based on my “no cheese” request? One of the myriad reasons I’ve gravitated toward yoga is that there’s no judgment in yoga. But what I often overlook is that yoga isn’t limited to physical practice. I don’t have to be on a mat, contorting myself into Twisted Chair Pose in order to be free from judgment. I just need to be in the right, yogic frame of mind. (And I should probably steer clear of Mexican restaurants.)

A

Sunday, March 18, 2012

ch ch ch changes

“po(i)sed” as a name hasn’t been feeling right lately. And not just because my boyfriend recently pointed out that poise is an adult diaper brand.

Sometimes I feel poised, like at my Bat Mitzvah. (Yes like 15 years ago. I distinctly remember receiving the compliment of seeming poised up there on the bima at Temple Sinai, reading my Haftorah.) But much of the time, for example when I repeatedly walk into our coffee table, I feel like a klutz. And a bit embarrassed. And certainly not poised.

Enter: “a muse bouche” (uh-MYUZ-boosh).

“The amuse-bouche is the best way for a great chef to express his big ideas in small bites."
– Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten

So allow me to serve up some big ideas on mindful living in small, inspirational bytes ;)

A

P.S. It’s only natural that my blog get a name change. My name was changed TWICE on my birth certificate. So I guess I do take after my parents after all. 



Friday, March 9, 2012

Paris Calling

I’d never heard of Caroline de Maigret until I saw her modeling in a Madewell catalog that came in the mail today. (I’d also thought retail catalogs were obsolete.) But these shots of Caroline are very cool. And I really enjoyed this behind-the-scenes footage of her Paris Madewell shoot:


Now I’m daydreaming about going back to The City of Lights (I was there yeas ago with my Grandparents and then my step-sister.) I’d love to go back and just stroll around cobblestone streets and eat. Even the bread & butter there is AMAZING. 

A

P.S. Did you see Midnight in Paris? I absolutely loved it! I can totally relate to Woody Allen (probably not a good thing?!) - but I often think to myself that I belong in a different era - like in a Jane Austen or Louisa May Alcott novel where little women just take long walks, read a lot and fall in love.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

The Oscars

I know this is belated but I’d like to touch on the Academy Awards. I still haven’t gotten around to seeing many of the nominated films, so I figure my timing is appropriate enough.

We had a small Oscars viewing party with sushi and cookies last Sunday. Parts of the Academy Awards were painfully drawn out. And then there was that awkward and really ironic moment when J. Lo had a “nip slip” while saying aloud (along with Cameron Diaz): “A dress should be tight enough to show you’re a woman and loose enough to show you’re a lady.”


But overall the show was actually moving. It told a story of what movies are all about: story-telling. The actors’ pre-filmed interviews were especially enjoyable because they were true and relatable – a reminder of why so many people love “the movies” and why film really brings people together, all over the world.

A

P.S. If you’re in NYC and you’d like to view the Oscar-nominated shorts, you can go to the IFC Center.

P.P.S. I used to want to be an actress; I even wrote my Academy Award acceptance speech at one point… At around age 10 I was cast in an NYU student film (which, at the time, seemed like a really big deal). It was called “Bored to Pieces” and you can see it here…


Friday, March 2, 2012

Do you believe in magic?

No, I’m not endorsing McDonald's. I'm endorsing green food. And magic. Bear with me; I too was once skeptical. But then miraculous things started happening to me. And they still happen (even this morning!) but only when I’m in a certain frame of mind – only when I’m truly conscious of being connected to everyone and everything around me. Some people experience this, or at least aim to experience this, in yoga.

“Life Coach” and author Martha Beck describes it as “Oneness: The falling away of dualistic thought.” (I happen to be reading Beck’s new book: Finding Your Way in a Wild New World.) Let me be clear; I am not recommending this book. This book is for people like me, who Beck describes as “wayfinders.” Beck provides some common characteristics of these types of people, which I’ll regurgitate here:

“High levels of empathy.”

“Intense connection to certain types of natural environment, such as the ocean, mountains, or forest.”

“An urgent desire to lessen or prevent suffering for humans, animals, or even plants.”

“Resistance to orthodox religiosity, paradoxically accompanied by a strong sense of either spiritual purpose or spiritual yearning.”

“Very high emotional sensitivity.”

“A sense of having a specific mission or purpose involving a major transformation in human experience, but being unable to articulate what this change might be.”

“A compulsion to master certain fields, skills, or professions, not only for career advancement, but in preparation for this half-understood personal mission.”

“Loneliness stemming from a sense of difference, despite generally high levels of social activity.”

“Apparently gregarious personality contrasting with deep need for periods of solitude; a sense of being drained by social contact and withdrawing to ‘power up’ again.”

Apparently in pre-modern culture these people dubbed “wayfinders” (like moi) would’ve been recognized as the tribe’s healers, i.e. shamans. We incessantly pursue healing of ourselves and of others. I’m always trying to better myself (duh – I read books by Martha Beck!) and I consider myself a storyteller and a spiritual teacher. Anyway, in this “oneness” or non-dualistic mentality, people can will their wishes to come true. Wayfinders can manipulate fate, or objects, with their directed good energy. Some, for example, bend spoons. (Probably just to prove that they can make sh*t happen.) I know this sounds a little bit like hocus pocus, but then again, so does my below reality.

Last night—as per usual—I stayed up way too late reading, and I learned about the importance of eating greens. Veggies are obviously good for all humans, but Beck says they’re especially beneficial for wayfinders. (Beck shares accounts of greens sort of “singing” to wayfinders – like chocolate for normal people.) So this morning when I scribbled a list of things I needed to do today (I do this often) I wrote down “green juice.” I planned to walk over to Equinox or Gourmet Garage to get a green juice before going to work. But first thing’s first: I needed to feed my caffeine addiction, so I went over to Jack’s to get some coffee. And, lo and behold, there was a sign on the counter saying that Jack’s had just acquired… a juice press. Yup, my local coffee shop is now moonlighting as a juice shop. Magic.

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