Ever feel like you’re the star of your very own movie? Well, that’s cause you are. Only, your mind is the director!

Living in LA LA land for the past 15 years, I’ve had many friends who are actors (who doesn’t here?) and the common thing I see is that an actor is at the mercy of the director. It is the director’s vision that will be communicated through the vessel of the actor.

Well, in many ways, we can think of our FEELINGS as the ACTORS in our movie.

In ancient greek theater, Thespis was the first writer, who used a mask for the actors to portray a role because with masks, the audience would judge the character based on a universal theme and not by appearance.

I tend to think of my emotions as actors. If the director tells SAD to come onto the scene. SAD will play it’s part according to what the director creates. We create our life scene by scene. And our mind dictates how we feel. Read the rest of this entry »

Many of us go through life, dissatisfied with our romantic relationships. We get this promise of “Happily Ever After” stuck in our noggins and that promise is like the prison walls in the Alcatraz. We find ourselves stuck inside of them with no way out!

The reality is that men and women are both disillusioned. However, interestingly enough it’s in different ways. After doing some research, I discovered that the reason behind the disenchantment really comes down to this. Men expect women to behave like men (logic-based,hunters) yet portray the soft feminine qualities that they yearn for in a woman. And women expect men to behave like women (sensitive, attentive, emotional) but strong and protective. Read the rest of this entry »

Faith always loses the battle with Fear! Those were the lines that I heard at the end of my dream I had the other night. Do you ever dream in a movie type fashion? Well, I do and last night Rachel Weisz was playing the lead character and she was partnered with Ryan Reynolds. She was upset because they just planned this huge event and nobody showed up and Ryan looks over at her and says, “See I told you no one would come”. And she says, “Of course nobody came. Why would they? All this time, I’ve had faith and believed that they would but your doubt overruled my belief!”

This got me to thinking about my own life. I’ve always been a dreamer and have had this unwavering belief in the magic of life and that things turn out as you want them to. Yet, looking back I’ve seen that the times I failed at something, there had been seeds of doubt/fear planted in my consciousness either by a partner or by a circumstance. Whatever the case was, faith lost the battle to fear.

Being present to the 7 chakras and their power is that you start to organize your life better, become more self-aware and find that you have constant access to an “inner knowing” .

One thing that is very obvious to me is the role that the BATTLE between FAITH and FEAR has in getting us in balance.

Here’s a visualization tool that I invented to help balance myself that I’d love to share with you!

As your eyes are closed, picture 7 potted flowers sitting side by side in a row. Each pot corresponds to
an energy center and has a flower growing out it. On the side of the pot, a label is glued on and you can see a single word on that pot.

Ex:
First chakra- SURVIVAL
Second chakra-SENSUALITY
Third chakra-POWER
Fourth chakra-LOVE
Fifth Chakra-SELF-EXPRESSION
Sixth Chakra-INTUITION
Seventh chakra-CONNECTION

In each pot, there is a weed of DOUBT growing next to the flower. In your hand, you are carrying a magic watering can filled with the water of BELIEF. Breathing long and deep, walk over to each pot and pluck the weed while watering the flower.

When you’re finished,look at the row of flowers, breathe in and mentally say the word SAT. Exhale saying the word NAM. When you inhale at SAT make sure to count to 6 and visualize all 6 energy centers. Then, when you get to NAM, visualize the 7th energy center and release.

Sat Nam translates to ” I am truth”.
Now, go forth and harvest some balance!

With seven energy centers circling around in our body, the first one can be compared to the roots of a tree. If this one is not rooted or is out of balance and all wacky, then the rest of the tree will fall. Most of us can relate to that feeling of being totally out of whack. Either we are in between housing, relationships, jobs or on the threshold of major life decisions.

In any case, it’s definitely a time when you feel off kilter. Well, our minds are commitment-a-holics. Our consciousness yearns to feel rooted. So when, we’re not..there’s a constant voice in your head that seems to whisper, “what’s going on? why are we not making a plan?!”

Remember those “choose your own adventure” books that you read as a kid? Life can be that way too. It’s up to you to be the best decision maker possible and choose the road that will get you to your dreams. A lot of the time, we get stopped because we think that there’s a “better” outcome on a different path. But, the truth is …are you ready for this??

The right path is the one we commit to!
I’ll say it again.

The right path is the one we commit to!

Because, once you commit, then you start to put all your energy into that path. And you will reap what you sow..guaranteed. This goes for relationships, jobs, vacation choices, housing decisions, etc.

In the word of NIKE, JUST DO IT!

In my introduction to yogic knowledge, I was fascinated to find out about the three Gunas. What are the Gunas you ask? Great question. Well in basic terms they are the three “characteristics” of energy in the mind and in the universe. They are divided into three classifications; Rajas, Tamas and Sattva. All of us have a bit of all three qualities and depending on the prevalence of one particular one, that’s usually how we can describe our personalities.

• Rajas means restless, stressful, dynamic and active

• Tamas means inert, lazy, dull and lethargic

• Sattva means balanced, harmonious, pure and calm

All in all, yogis strive for balance. For me in particular, I have a tough time with that. My personality tends to lean towards the Rajas side. I am constantly in the habit of trying to squeeze too many things into a short length of time! And it takes its toll on me.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who suffers from that. In fact, I think this tends to be an American phenomenon considering we feel like we’re defined by what we PRODUCE instead of who we ARE.  Well to slow myself down, I just decrease my Rajas and increase my Sattva. What do I mean by that? Well, whenever I notice that I’m in a Rajas state of mind, I just slow myself down and visually picture putting the breaks on whatever I’m doing.

I breathe and meditate, reminding myself that where I am in that moment is all I need to be and there’s no end result that can ever convince me that I am perfect . And then, I step outside and sit down, look at my bougainvillea flowers, take a deep breath as I take in the perfect balance of nature and remember that the moment that I’m finding myself in that minute is perfection itself.
That usually works for me. Now, you try it!

Mantra comes from the root word “manas” which means “mind” and “tool”. When you expose yourself to the power of vibrating sounds, you can understand their effects. The repetition of the vibration of various mantras can help you tune into the different frequencies of energy in the universe in order to effect and transform energy on the plane of consciousness.

Each “energy center” in our body a.k.a. “chakra” has a specific base sound that can be used to balance that energy center. Ready for what they are?

1. Root (located at perineum)- Lam (luhm)

2. Sacral (located in the sex organs)-Vam (vuhm)

3. Solar Plexus (located at navel)-Ram (ruhm)

4. Heart (located in heart area)-Yam (yuhm)

5. Throat (located in throat)- Ham (huhm)

6. *Third Eye (located at spot just above the area between the eyebrows)-Kesham

*This center opens once the lower energy centers are balanced**

7. Crown (located at the crown of the head)-Om

Most of us are out of balance in one of the chakras on a regular basis. A good practice is to regularly chant the mantras for the corresponding energy center for a good two minutes per center. At the end of the fourteen minutes, you will feel a general state of calm and peace. Now go forth and be..BALANCED! Oh yeah, and don’t forget to have fun..

For it is not inertia alone that is responsible for human relationships repeating themselves from case to case, indescribably monotonous and unrenewed: it is shyness before any sort of new, unforeseeable experience with which one does not think oneself able to cope. But only someone who is ready for everything, who excludes nothing, not even the most enigmatical, will live the relation to another as something alive and will himself draw exhaustively from his own existence.

By Rainier Maria Rilke

This week I wanted to share a quote from a favorite poem of mine! When I first read it seven years ago, it opened my eyes to a truth that I knew existed but yet didn’t know how to put into words.  When I decided to live my life according to the words in this poem, I noticed a significant shift. The more I think about it the more I have an understanding of why that is. We have 7 energy centers in our bodies also known as chakras and the 4th one corresponds to the heart.

Ancient yogis understood that the secret to attracting whatever you want in your life is by having an open heart chakra. Unfortunately, most of us live from our lower energy centers which emit feelings of fear. And ultimately, fear makes us feel the need to either close up and hide away from the world OR face the world with a hardened heart and a perspective of control.

So the next time you’re feeling like a hermit’s lifestyle is for you or that you need to control a situation by maneuvering or manipulating an outcome, remember this poem. And with arms wide open, let your heart’s magnetic pull bring all your dreams to you as you draw exhaustively from your own existence and live as you truly were meant to!

As a writer, I love words! They have the power to create and destroy. Because of this, we have to be careful with them. When I first read this excerpt from Rilke,  it acted as a portal that opened to some unseen imaginary world where all of a sudden I felt I had the power over my own destiny! I hope that these words do the same for you. If you want to read more and get the context from which this excerpt comes from, check out Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet (Letter 8), written in August 12, 1904.

Speaking of words, the ancient yogis used mantras as sacred words that held enormous power. Let’s all together now recite a powerful mantra that opens the heart chakra.  Ready?? Begin! (I’m saying this in the most obnoxious cheerleadyish way possible). Sit in a comfortable position. Keep your spine straight. Close your eyes. and repeat after me..
HUM DUM HAR HAR.  Now continue with this mantra for 3 minutes. And when you’re done, grab the person closest to you (preferably someone you know cause hey we’re just getting started) and give them a humongous hug!

Great job everyone and let me know how the opportunities you start to see flowing in to your life!