Another First Day

"A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip." ~Author Unknown

So looking forward to the trip!
Happy Birthday to ME!

Something About September

"Happily we bask in this warm September sun,
Which illuminates all creatures..." ~ Henry David Thoreau

I am so inspired by September. Every year. Perhaps it goes back to my school days. While summer was coming to a close, there was something so new and fresh about the month. New things to learn and ponder, new schedule, new clothes, new hopes and dreams.

This September is no different. I am enjoying the sunshine during the day and the cool nights with the sun setting earlier and earlier. I come alive in the dark evenings and nights. So many new thoughts and ideas are revealed to me. I am enticed to read and write and learn new things, alone in my warm little nook with just a desk lamp and warm slippers, sipping tea - illuminated.

Thoreau is surely referring to me!

Capturing True Essence

"A photographer gets people to pose for him. A yoga instructor gets people to pose for themselves." ~T. Guillemets

In my experience with both photography and yoga, I find something different. When taking photographs of people, I get the best shots when they are not posing for me but instead, being themselves - laughing and talking and being. Just like in yoga class. I help my students to find "their pose" - a comfortable and steady space of being. To breathe, to smile.

How wonderful it is to capture a person's true essence through a photograph or through a yoga pose. I am so grateful I am able to do both.

Yes.

"Smile, breathe and go slowly." ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true." ~ Richard Bach

You have the power! Make it happen.

Astound Yourself Today

"If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves." ~ Thomas Alva Edison

Astound yourself today.

...to keep the channel open.

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. --Martha Graham

To love a person...

To love a person is to learn the song
That is in their heart,
And to sing it to them
When they have forgotten.
~ by Anonymous ~

...its first chapter...

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.” ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Happy New Year!

Start writing.

...the poetic baring of the soul...

My last ballet lesson of the year was on Tuesday of this week. The studio closes over the holidays. I will miss it and am already looking forward to the New Year to bring my first class of 2009. The class is the highpoint of each week as I feel the most alive and that I am expressing my most authentic self as I stand at that barre and feel the music as it moves my body.

Pure. Undeniable. Authentic.
I am in love.

Dance is the poetic baring of the soul through motion. ~ Scott Nilsson

yes it is.

Sweetheart

My little dog - a heartbeat at my feet. ~Edith Wharton

For me...

Inspiration, beauty, grace, radiance, strength, movement, joy, peace, happiness, connection.

Learning to walk set you free. Learning to dance gives you the greatest freedom of all: to express with your whole self the person you are. ~ Melissa Hayde

A Magical Event

"The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event" ~ Unknown

My new "real" Minnesota winter coat and new boots. The mittens are not new, I just threw them in the picture because they are cute :-) I could stay warm outside forever.

While the "fall of snow" today is not the first this season, it certainly has been a magical event. Walking down the street tonight with everything covered in a beautiful layer of white I think that nothing could be more beautiful. Not only to the eyes, but to the nose and lungs with the most pure and crisp air to breathe. To the ears, with the complete silence except for the sound of the boots against the snow. Everything is calm and peaceful. You can feel the relaxation of the ground and the trees and shrubs - the energy of all is relaxed.

I wish for every winter evening to touch me in this way. It is magical and so beautiful.

Pumpkin Pie and Turkeys

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." - Melody Beattie

A Brand New Ending

"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending."

- Carl Bard

Truth Within The Soul

"To a true artist only that face is beautiful which, quite apart from its exterior, shines with the truth within the soul." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Do you shine?

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Do Some Yoga In Costa Rica

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twain

"...and do some yoga!" ~ Karen

Yippee, only 93 days (but who's counting?) until we board that plane for the Yoga Retreat in Costa Rica. So far I have purchased 4 new bikinis and 3 new yoga tops for the adventure. I am looking at a new travel yoga mat from Hugger Mugger - I think that will be a smart purchase since I will only have so much suitcase room - 4 bikinis do take up some space :-) I can't decide between the green mat or the blue one. Decisions, decisions.

Want to Explore, Dream and Discover? Join us in Costa Rica - the more, the merrier!

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Wanna "Yoga" In Costa Rica?

A Single Candle

“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared."
~ Buddha

In fact, you will receive more!

29 Gifts

"The best way to attract abundance into your own life is to be in a perpetual state of giving and gratitude." ~ 29 Gifts

Marya told me about this site, 29 Gifts, where you sign up and commit to giving away 29 things in 29 days. It can be anything from a smile to a new car. And another great thing about giving - it helps to raise your vibration. We all like that!

If you do sign up, be sure to add me as a friend :-)

Peace,
Karen

Whispers...

"There are always two voices sounding in our ears: the voice of fear and the voice of confidence. One is the clamor of the senses, the other is the whispering of the higher self." ~ Charles B. Newcomb

Psst - listen to the whispers :-)