Jesus and Snowflakes

Obviously I will start with Merry Christmas, Happy Channakuh, and Merry Yule. I am lucky that my family celebrates all three, and that we embrace all religions and cultures. The past week at home has been beautiful. I attended a Yule celebration (a Pagan holiday) that my mother organized, Christmas Eve service at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation that I grew up in, and Christmas dinner tonight with my entire family. On my last day of classes for the term my Journalism teacher reminded us to remember how incredibly lucky we are to be learning together at college. Last night my mother chatted about how difficult it is for 'normal' people to navigate through this world, and how much suffering there is. And then, speaking as a special needs teacher, she reminded me how difficult it is for those people that function differently than the 'normal' person. My older brother told me the most inspiring story of the year yesterday. He does not believe in Christmas, or any other religious holiday. But he does believe in appreciating and helping others. This past Thursday he and his amazing girlfriend took unwanted bagels from a bagelry in San Diego, over 150, and put them in bags with some candy. They dished it out to the homeless people that line the streets in California.

These acts of kindness is what Christmas should be all about. As my mother bustles around feeding her children and making sure they are happy, we should remember that we are all children of the earth and deserve to be treated with the same respect and compassion that my brother gave the homeless people, and how my mother treats her children.

Tip of the Week: (This is inspired by my best friend in California) Take a walk today with someone you love. Find gratitude wherever you find family, and let them know how much you care. We are all here in support of one another.

A sigh, a breath, and a stretch

As always, Asheville Airport made me crazy frustrated yesterday as I began my trek homeward. Once again my flight was delayed, causing me to miss my connecting flight, and take hours longer to arrive home. However, as always, my frustration subsided as soon as I walked in my front door. My baby dog was there to freak out and greet me, and my mother and brother had to wait for me finish freaking out about my baby dog. We sat down to a lovely candlelit dinner complete with homemade food, beer and joyous conversation. This morning I awoke to an excellent yoga class taught by my friend Vito, drank coffee with my father, and snuggled with my pup. Life is looking up, especially that Mary and Jesse made my Christmas wish come true and they will be home Christmas day! Exhausted from working hours on finals this past week and celebrating with my friends, I can finally kick back, read the New York Times (NOT on my computer!), drink coffee, read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and enjoy the warmth of house and family.

Tip of the Week: Buy and read the newspaper with a cup of joe. So lovely!

4 Months of Writing for the Media...

Walking back on the Warren Wilson campus in August swept me into a whirlwind of memories and anticipation. It has been three years since I have been a full time student and writing was a distant thought while I lived in Berkeley. I came back to college with the intention of graduating quickly to write for Yoga Journal. Instead, I rediscovered my love for writing. My ideas expanded beyond writing wellness columns to writing short stories and poems. I realized there is more to my writing than wellness and yoga, and I found courage to move beyond magazine columns. I have also improved in grammar and structuring articles. I have learned to cut out unnecessary words and descriptors that detract from the focus of the piece. I loved recording my writing, and hearing it on the radio. Philip has invited me to write some more pieces for the Swannanoa Journal. My writing has also embraced a fluidity that improves my style. Overall, my style and courage in writing has improved the most. The grammar was a plus.

A Hella Hectic Week with a Wonderful End in Sight

Monday post because I was so tired yesterday to write anything worth noting. This is my last week of school until I have a month long break where I will be snowboarding in Maine, seeing my Boston friends, and relaxing with my beautiful family. The best news in a while popped up on Thursday. I will be moving to downtown Asheville today! Great house, one other chill roommate, and he has a really cute one year old coon hound named Mona for my Siva to play with. I am unbelievably excited to reunite with my baby dog. I know my parents are going to miss him, they have been watching him since mid August. Pretty much anyone who meets him loves him. I need to get through this week and maintain my good grades, my sanity, and friendships. It is not easy! It is also a time where we are wishing the week would be over- very easy to miss the present moment.

Tip of the Week: Breathe deep for 5 minutes. Remember this is all just part of the experience.

Special blurb! Songs to Get Down To

Special post, mid week. I've been rockin out to some great music recently, and felt that I should share some fabulous songs for yoga, dance, just chilling out to. Here are some playlists for yoga:

Relax and Renew:
No Other Way by Jack Johnson
Ganesha by Wah!
Shree Ram by Wah!
Guitar Space/ Summertime by Jerry Garcia and David Grisman
Om Ram Ramaya by Deva Premal
Somasomasu by Jasmon
Om Na Ma Shiva ft Marti Nikko by DJ Drez
To Mend by Bluetech
Make You Feel My Love by Adele

The Jack Johnson CD Thicker Than Water is awesome
Thievery Corporation is always a staple
DJ Drez has great stuff. He is based out of San Francisco, but I did a live yoga class with him and it was fantastic
Feist
Shiva Rea's CD Yoga Rhythms 
Moby's song Natural Blues is a win

Check out Wah! here ->  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV_uQfLJIxE


Enjoy the rest of the week! I'll be back on Sunday <3

Redefining Who You Are

This week I was assigned to make a blog for class, and seeing as I already have this amazing one, I asked if I could just rework Light on Balance. I got the go ahead, and I realized there are so many areas in my life I could improve. We think things are finished, or ok as they are, but truly everything right now in my life needs a bit of revamping. Stress this week has been a major factor, and it is NOT an easy thing to deal with! Unhealthy habits due to stress: alcohol, procrastination, overworking, and most of all forgetting that we can fill ourselves with love instead of depending on other people to do that. After a few weeks of getting to know a great guy we decided to end it at least for a little while. Though I am upset about it, I am also aware of how quickly I lose sight of the all the beautiful things in front of me. With only two weeks left of my first semester back in college I have a lot to do before I board the plane back to Boston. My intentions are to make healthy choices, work out at least 6 days out of the week, and maintain my gpa.

Cute photo of the fam- cant wait to see them again in a few weeks!

Tip of the Week: Write out your intentions. And then make it happen!!!