wherever you stand....

"Wherever you stand be the soul of that place." ~Rumi

{walking meditation at tulum yoga teacher training. breathtaking}

yoga retreat to the mountains

I'm off on a yoga retreat adventure tomorrow with some lovely yoginis (two of em' in the photo from retreat two years ago). For two days we'll do yoga close to nature, in the mountains. It will be good. Really good.

Am using the time to teach and lead.
To also be open to dwell in a space and ask....
"What wants to come next."

Because that's just what I do.
And who I am. :)

Our inspiration for the weekend is....
"When you do things from the soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy." ~Rumi
Hope those wise words resonate with you on some level.

Peace.
Mountains.
Yoga.....

Adios....

on re-entry

It's been nearly three days since I've returned from our amazing yoga teacher training in Tulum. So, so bittersweet.

There is the part of me that is so flippin' happy to be back in Kentucky. So wonderful to see and be with Andy (and Bella and Remy too). So grounding for me to back at the Big Blue House. So comforting to be able to talk to family and friends whenever I want. So good for me to be back at the studio and see the students that I adore so much. Walking into the studio for the first time yesterday and being met with such a loving force, and a clean sparkly studio/treehouse (thanks Lisa!).

Good.
Good.
Good.

But it's a challenge at the same time. I find that everytime I come back from Tulum, I am such a sensitive soul. Even more so this time. I think mostly because the intensity and the nature of what I was doing. Plus all the students (who are now teachers) were even more special than I dreamed they would be. This experience was such a dream come true. A mondo beyondo dream come true.

I'm taking extra care of my Self this week. Attempting to anyway, particularly in these ways::

1. Grounding myself at home. Sunday night when Andy is driving me home he asks what I'm doing tomorrow (Monday). I tell him I need to go to the studio and do some things. He asks if that's a good idea. His simple question of this made me realize that no, it's probably not a good idea. So Monday was spent at home. Near my home. My old old house has enough to hold me and all my sensitve and tender parts. I feel safe here. The Big Blue Abode is very good for me. I gave myself the gift of her for a full day. Thank you Andy for being my teacher and knowing better than me what I needed.

2. Connecting to nature. On Monday and Tuesday I spent about an hour walking in the cemetery next to my home. Monday I enjoyed the walk with my dogs. Yesterday I went alone and whirled around the cemetery several times and listened to inspiring and uplifting tunes and words. After living so close to nature for over two weeks I find this is a must. I walk and say the words of e.e. cummings....I Thank You. And feel connected. To nature in general. To all in the universe. Walks in nature too are very good for me.

3. Grounding practices, such as yoga, meditation, and self massage (abhyanga). On Monday I spent two full hours in my yoga room. I got to add a few extra things to my sacred space and altar. Good luck beads gifted to me from a student in Peru, a big seedlike thing from our Tulum altar, and a card from a student. My practice was sllloooowww and grouding. No sun salutations. I just let my body move in the ways it wished. Intuitive at first. Then longer holds of yin poses. I let my breath do it's own thing. I finished with some singing/chanting/kirtan and meditation. I'm also taking time for daily self massage.

4. Being aware of my own energy. Drawing in when and where I need to. Giving and sharing when I need to. Knowing that I'm super sensitive right now. And not dwelling on all my thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Giving myself permission to experience all and let them move on through. Easier said than done. I apologize in advance family and friends. :)

What about you?
Have you been to such a place,
done such a thing,
that is resonated so much for you,
that it blows your heart apart,
and leaves you putting the fragile pieces back together?

final day of tulum yoga teacher - closing + celebrating

"I am not a teacher, but an awakener." ~ Robert Frost

It's hard to believe that our time is coming to an end. We've all been so focused, so present, so dedicated to this process.

And now the time comes to bring it to a closing. Just like that.

We meet at 5:30 at our usual spot by the pool, under what has become our yoga palapa. Everyone is radiant and dressed in white. It pretty much takes my breath away just seeing them.

We've created a beautiful circle and sit atop festive, colorful, large cushions. Copal incense wafts through the air. As does a soft breeze. We hear the sounds of the sea so close by. It's a sound we've all come to love, a sound that lulls us to sleep, a sound that fills our hearts with joy.

We check in. I share with them the emails and messages I've received from students at home. Cheering them on. Supporting them from afar. Connecting to them and this process even if they haven't met. This is so much of what yoga is really about. Union. Without restrictions. Without definitions.

Then I guide them to find a comfortable seated meditation position. Truly the last time here in Tulum.

I take out the manifesto of encouragement that I'd written upon getting to Tulum over two weeks ago. I read it slowly. So that I can fully receive the power of this moment. So that they can receive the power of the moment.

I feel my emotions. I feel the emotions of the group. It' so strong. It's palpable.

Upon finishing we all sit in meditation for a few moments. I then guide them through our two weeks together. Meeting as strangers and students of yoga two weeks earlier. Now lasting friendships have been forged, and these students became yoga teachers. Inspiring and wonderful yoga teachers. They are awakeners.

I speak of the process honestly. The process was not without challenges.
There were tears.
There were frustrations.
There was confusion.
Anger too.
We missed our family and friends.
We were nervous and anxious.
We were exhausted.
We questioned ourselves.
This process.
And this path too.

But my oh me.
There was goodness.
There was greatness.
We paid homage to scoochasana (some thought "scooch" was either a word I made up for a KY word. ;)
There were poolside dance parties.
There were communal meals.
There were walks, talks, and practices of reverence.
There was giving and receiving.
More giving. More receiving.
We were heard in a way that's rare.
We were seen for our greatness.
We were humbled by how others witnessed us.
We got out of our head and into our body.
We got our of head and body, and into our heart.
We overcame doubts and fears.
There was powerful and transformative energy.
There was passion.
There was magic.
More magic that I could have dreamed up.

The depth and the breadth of this rare and wonderful experience....wow.

This process of yoga teacher training was pure bliss for me. All of it. Nothing was wasted, I kept telling the group. Every bit of it was needed for our particular growth. For the healing of our heart, for the development of our teaching.

I guide the students to think about what they are now ready and willing to let go of. And what do you want to take away from this experience?

We go over to the altar we've been creating as a group over the two weeks. Each person takes two gifts from nature. One represents what they want to let go of. One represents what they want to take home and remember.

We walk to the sea and send back what we want to let go of. To see these students tossing their item to the sea was so powerful.

The lighting on the beach at this time. On this particular day is breath taking. We take photos. Lots and lots of photos. We hug. Laugh. And celebrate. We joke that we look like some type of weird wedding party donning our white and taking tons of photos.

We go back and finish our closing with receiving certificates and love from the group. One by one teachers received their certificate then they got to sit and receive love from the group. People went around the circle and expressed something from the heart.

We did this. One by one. So very touching.

Pure bliss watching students become teachers.
Pure bliss witnessing stangers become friends.

They come to learn to teach yoga.
They leave with so much more.

For they're not only teachers.
They are awakeners.

**photo taken by Martin Husch**

day 14 yoga teacher training - tulum mexico

This is the day the tears came for me. Our final, full day as a group.

We start with our last group asana practice. At 7:00. We get an extra 30 minutes to sleep with the intensity of Friday + temalzcal, which people usually experience deep sleep afterwards.

One. Last. Practice.
It was a practice that was all about the joy. All about the bliss.

I shared a quotes that inspires me on the path of teaching by Albert Einstein,
"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge."

We inhaled and received joy for ourselves and this journey.
We exhaled and shared this joy with our new friends/yoga teachers surrounding us and future students.

Of course there was a joyful playlist for the occasion with the likes of Bob and Ziggy Marley, Michael Franti, Michael Jackson, and so on.

There were songs of leaning on me, creating change, three little birds, one love, you and me, imagine, being there for me, and so on.

There was an impromptu dance party in the middle of asana.

It was totally inspiring and beautiful.

At the end of class I shared my most fave poem of all, The Journey by Mary Oliver. Stated that this was the end of this particular journey, but just the beginning for all of us.

We closed with an Om...
One last time to open our eyes and connect with every one else with brand new radiant eyes and heart.
Silent namastes.
Full hearts.

A few tears for me. I'm giving myself full permission to allow myself to feel the full range of my emotions. In this moment my heart is flooded with love.

Again....
we dance.
One more time around the pool, with each other, in small circles, a large circle where we each danced through and celebrated whomever was in the circle.

We eat. Then chat business up until lunch. A few hours are reserved for celebrating, receiving, and experiencing what ever we are needing.

Pictures are taken on the beach. Like the one above taken by the very talented photographer enthusiast and yoga teacher Martin Husch.

We come back together at 5:30 for our closing celebration.
Which deserves a whole post dedicated to itself.

More to come....

day 13 yoga teacher training - tulum mexico

The day we've all been preparing for....

Testing day! I break the students into two groups of five. Yesterday they signed up for their 40 minute teaching slot. We begin at 6:30 a.m. and finish up with all of them around lunch time.

I observed five students and Sarah observed five students. I was completely floored at how great this group taught class. I sat, observed, listened, made notes on their evaluations. Each of the students brought a lil tear to my eyes at some point in their teaching. Oyyy, this is gonna get emotional for me.

All the stuents shared a reading of some sort at the end of class. One student/teacher shared a reading from her journal. Oh. My. Gosh. It was the sweetest, most beautiful, most poetic words. I listened with such joy, such pride, and such gratitude. It was such a tender moment for me. And all of her students.

There were four more teachers after her. They were all different and unique, yet similar in some ways. I felt like a proud parent observing them. They all took the information and made it their own. One of my hopes for this training.

Sarah had a group on the other side of the property, near the beach. In perfect form, the first teacher had his students turn towards the beach and watch the sun rise at the end of his class.

All of them did wonderfully. I wasn't sure how to base my expectations with this. Since it's my first time conducting the training in this intensive format. Lets just say it's working even better than I imagined.

But we've got more testing for the day. Right after lunch we start the written and oral tests. Sarah gets the group going with the written test and I go the Villa to conduct the oral portion. Students have assigned slots to come and do this portion.

It takes about two more hours to complete the oral tests and by this point everyone has also completed the written test. Sarah and I immeditely start grading the tests so that we can let everyone know their results.

In about two more hours we've completed this task. Wow, this is an intense day for all.

But so worth it, cause you know what we did as a group for the evening....

We did temalzcal! Sweat lodge! At Maya Tulum! With our fave shaman Fabian....

Nine of the ten students were able to participate. Plus Sarah and myself. We walked with jubilation down the beach. Leaving the anxieties of the test behind and ready to embrace this transformative group experience.

This is truly what it is. Transformative. Special. So very special. There was some hesitancy from some students. But all pulled through beautifully.

After this three hour experience we as a group are so much stronger. So much closer. I can't even begin to describe this temalzcal. And now students get it. They too say, "Now I get it. It's impossible to describe."

We also have the most perfect night for this. A full moon. I lie in the sand and gaze up at the night sky. The stars. They are so sparkly. Like all of us. Sarah lies next to me. We bask in giddy giddy joy.

After sweat lodge I'm wrapped in a large towel and sheet. They feel warm and comforting to my wet skin and hair. I get a glimpse of the full moon and the shimmery affect on the sea. I walk over, stand there in awe, taking everything in. All of it. It's a moment I'll never forget.

We take the 15 minute walk back to Cabanas La Luna on the beach. The flashlights aren't needed. The full moon guides us along perfectly.

A most perfect ending.
For a most perfect day.
For a most perfect group of people.

day 12 yoga teacher training - tulum mexico

Lets do this thing! That's totally how I'm feeling today. The students/teachers are so ready for this. A good thing, as the tests are tomorrow. Tomorrow!

We started our day at 6:30 in centering/relaxing/breathing for a few minutes. Then much to everyones delight I announced that we would go out and watch the sunrise. In silence. In place of our seated medtiation.

Getting everyone accustomed to a 30 minute seated meditation was one of the things I wanted students to take away from the training. That being said, I also wanted to be flexible and go with what I thought everyone was needing.

Today I was sensing nervousness and some anxieties about the upcoming tests (40 minute teaching, written, and oral tests). Makes sense. I had a strong feeling that going out to the beach connecting with the beauty around us would serve everyone more than just sitting.

Very happy I did. It was probably the most beautiful sunrise yet. So great to look over to my right and see Sarah standing there witnessing also. And to look around and see such reverance for this "thing" that happens daily but can totally stop us right in our tracks when we pause. And just watch. And just be present.

Truly a gift.

We went on to have a great practice back at the villa by the pool. Finished with a chakra toning exercise in which we chanted the bija mantras for each chakra. Upon closing I hear a "I feel soooo good." I feel happy. And immediately suggest a yoga dance party before breakfast.

And that's what we did. David Newman seranades us and we swayed, shimmied, bopped, and grooved all around the pool. Laughing, smiling, singing, and feeling general delight. Yep, I'm truly a yoga dork.

After breakfast we spend more time reviewing information learned as the bellies digest. We get back into a big group and do practice teaching. The last few days have been really cool. I'm just picking a student out and letting them know the type of pose to practice teach. They have to come up with it (and have it make sense in the way of sequence), cue it, observe students, and offer assistance.

And let me just say....they are rockin' the teaching.

I am truly amazed at how much we can learn as adults. Especially when we are literally living it daily for two weeks.

I am feeling so very proud of the group. I can tell that our time is winding down. The students are ready for all this testing stuff. The timing of it all feels perfect.

We did have more stuff to do today though. We spent another hour on ethical inquiries and I spent another hour doing one on one mentoring.

As I type this now Sarah is finishing up her three hour session on chakras. Another full day here in Tulum.

All are happy.
All are well.

Tomorrow we being testing for the teaching portion at 6:30 sharp. Happy thoughts to them! Three tests in one day then we're off to temalzcal (sweat lodge) tomorrow at 6:00. Whewww...............

Sunshine from here in Tulum to wherever this finds you. May you be filled with joy. :)

day 11 yoga teacher training - tulum mexico

Today the focus of our yoga asana sessions were on inversions. Ahhh so much to say on such a topic.

We as a group had a lot to say, a lot to question, a lot to ponder. I shared with the group my once upon a time headstand practice. The times I would practice sirsasana b, take my knees to upper arms, and lift up into crow pose.

Those days are behind me for now. Probably over the last year I've really modified my practice of inversions, specifically headstand and shoulderstand.

As a teacher I think that we can get into these poses a lot earlier than we are ready. It's really easy to flip into headstand with the wall as a prop. And really easy to swing our hips and legs into shoulderstand.

I still love these poses. And I'll continue to teach and share them. But with many more options and variations than before.

This is what we spent a lot of time doing today. Discussing the different things to take into account as we begin to pratice and/or teach these poses. We looked at ways of making each pose accessible for most everybody. Think legs up the wall instead of shoulderstand and dolphin pose for headstand. Plus lots more options in between.

It was a rich discussion. I'm hearing that the students are really enjoying the time spent learning about the poses in these ways and they love to have the tools and knowledge to make them accessible for all students.

The cool thing is that after teaching these poses loadddds of times. I still love to talk about them and teach them in this capacity. I so love being a part of yoga teacher training. It's great on so mnay levels.

This topic took us into lunch. After lunch we spend some time reviewing concepts for the upcoming tests for Friday. We also went back into some subtle anatomy lecture/discussion on prana, the nadis (specifically ida,pingala, and sushumna), and kundalina.

This was all a perfect transition for Sarah to come in and teacher her session on chakras (more subtle anatomy). She did two hours to lecture/dicussion/exercises then an hour of asana as it related to the three chakras she covered.

And guess what?? I went and got a massage! A massage! With Antonia. Whom I now absolutely adore. I even had the traditional mayan belly massage (root keene I believe). She was so very wonderful. I have to say I was a bit scared going in but she totally worked me over and left me in a pool of post massage delight. These massages are a must for me while I'm here doing this work. So thank-full to be able to do so!

day 10 yoga teacher training - tulum mexico

Shelli departed super early today and Sarah arrived at lunch time. Yay, Sarah is here. I was actually sitting on my sweet porch with the sweet view when I see her go climbing up the stairs to her treehouse room just opposite of mine. Of course I yell to her, wave with excitement. Go give her a big welcoming hug before making my way back to the group. I just love having the familiar faces from home. It really makes a difference.

I'm the only teacher for today so I teach all ten hours of the training. I would whine about it, but I really really love it. I sent the exact same thing to Andy, "taught 10 hours today and loved every minute of it."

Our focus for the day was a lot of strength building postures and a few floor postures. The students (who are actually now teachers) are grasping all the poses and anatomy know how so quickly. They express great thanks to me daily about how valuable Tracy's anatomy lessons were. They feel so lucky to have gotten to learn from her.

We continue to expand on the teaching. They have now progressed to teaching small sequences to the whole group. To witness the change and shifts that can occur in such a short amount of time is crazy.

These guys are truly doing the work. They are immerswed in yoga in every sense of the word. I walk past them and hear conversations of yoga. I see them on the beach in the chair with yoga book in hand. They are making index cards with sanskrit postures, working on their sequence for their 40 minute class.

They are totally rockin' it. I feel so happy (and proud) for them.

We made time to go back and spend more time on the koshas today. It was really rich conversations. I am delighted when it appears that the general group consenus is that, "wow this is really great". There is a system behind all this yoga stuff. There is a process for the mind body spirit connection. It's called the koshas. And I heart them.

Together as a group we explored how the koshas connect to the asana class and spent time writing cues for asana as they pertained to each kosha. So cool!

We also spend about 10-15 minutes doing a special two person exercise. I paired students up and they went either to the beach or by the pool to "be seen and be heard". Each got to bring voice to whatever they wanted or were feeling in that moment. Then they got to listen and receive what their partner saw in them. It was cool. Really cool for me to hear from them about this.

We change gears and work on creating a class syllabus. Looking at certan questions:
1. Who are you teaching?
2. What are their capabilities, restrictions, etc?
3. What do you want them to learn?
4. Create a statment that explains your purpose for the class.

After this we spend a few minutes reviewing material for the upcoming tests on Friday. I sense quite a bit of anxiety from the group. I want to honor where each person is without feeding into the "test frenzy".

I give students an option of either finishing our 45 minutes together with a yin yoga practice with me or studying for the test. Four yogi's stay and practice. Six go and study. I feel happy with closing the day this way.

Tomorrow it's all about the inverted love...
Adios mi amigas!

day 9 yoga teacher training - tulum mexico

And the days just keep on truckin' by.....if it weren't for touching base back home with Andy and Lisa for studio stuff, I'd totally lose all track of time!

Interesting cause our days are all planned. I'm here. For over two weeks. We have a certain rhythmn that we're on. Starting at 6:30...Practice for 1.5 hours then 30 minutes meditation (for sunrise walking meditation we do this at 6:30 every several days).

About 30 minutes for breakfast (sitting outside of the restaurant and enjoying the most amazing view). Back to the villa for breakdown of postures. Today is backbends. The time we spend varies as far as the type of poses and the total number we are exploring.

Today we go all the way up to 12:30 with these poses. Going over details for each, anatomy, cues, what to look for, looking at different bodies, teaching in a group of two, then brief teaching to the whole group. Questions. Answers. Insights. Sharing. Repeat. It's a really amazing process.

Extra time spent on the asanas means we go back and cover the material we missed later. That material today is the koshas. Oh, I love you koshas. I find you so insightful. So intriguing. We will come back and give you proper attention (and love on my part).

It's 12:30 and I have a massage at 1:00. A massage. At 1:00. At Maya Tulum. With Fabian. Yay!!!

Instead of walking I bike down the road with a yogini who is also getting a massage. And oh the delight I felt in riding a bike up the beach road in Tulum. Pure joy. We can borrow the bikes here at La Luna. I'm hoping to do some more exploring on the bike this week.

The massage is everything I want it to be and need it to be. Love these massages. They are totally restoring me in every way.

I book sessions for three student for tonight. Hop on my bike and go further up the beach road on the search for gelato. There is a sign at Zamas for gelato. Sadly they have none. Back to the bike and back down the beach road.

I have a late lunch at La Luna. Review some notes. Make some notes.

Shelli is teaching session on yogic nutrition and yoga sutras. The students are in pefect hands.

I take over an hour long walk on the beach. The massage has truly left me feeling a deep sense of love, awe, and general inspiration. All of this. It's truly mind blowing.

PS - Photo taken by yogi Martin. He saw this great shot coming and grabbed his camera. This is where we practice. Love-ly. That's the pool behind me. Ahhh.

day 8 yoga teacher training - tulum mexico

It's a day of integration folks. No new asanas added to the mix. Time and space to go back and review forward bends, twists, and hip opening posures.

Time to ask questions....
"What's happening again in the pelvis for Warrior II?"
"Why is it more challenging and more taxing to twist in standing postures than supine?"
"What's the pelvis doing in seated twists? Rooting or wiggle room?"

Those are just some of the things we chat about, practice and observe in these wonderful and insightful yoga sessions.

Shelli teaches a session on mantra meditation. We have lunch (yummy delightful lunch in which we overlook the sea) and take time for a siesta.

After lunch we spend time for one on one mentoring session with Shelli or myself. We discuss material up to this point, challenges or concerns students are having, or anything else on the mind or heart.

It's a nice time to check in with students and see how they are feeling about the progression of the training and address and thing else. And I really enjoy this time. I spend about an hour and a half with students.

Shelli finishes the last three hours of training with sutra studies and as asana practice.

All in all, a wonderfully delightful day.
We've all settled into the groove.
And that is feeling good. :)

PS - I continue to get messages from students and teachers about the energy and thoughts being sent this way. This humbles me so. And makes me so very happy.
Smiling from Tulum to you.

PPS - Above photo taken by yogi Martin of our sunrise walking meditation from yesterday. Can you believe that? Crazy that I'm here.....

Day 7 yoga teacher training - tulum mexico

Holy cow folks, we're halfway there! I can't believe that we've been at the yoga nearly non-stop for a week. Wow...

Today we started our session at 6:30 with a walking meditation. On the beach of course. When the sweet yogi's take their seat ready to rock and roll the hip asana and I announce the walking meditation I see smiles cross faces. Ahhh, nice.

We start and the sky is starting to turn those beautiful colors that it does as the sun rises. We walk. Observe. Breathe. And pick up goodies from nature to return to our altar (which is turning out to be so beautiful).

At one point we're walking and there is this long strip like basin of water, creating a long little pond of sorts. All of a sudden I look over and see this puppy running full speed through the water. When he reaches the end he turns and run full speed back. He does this again and the delight it brings to my heart I can't even describe.

That pupster was my inspiration for the day. Oh to run and frolick at 6:45 in the morning without a care in the world. To risk looking like a fool all for the sake of being free. To be that in the moment, and that fun! As quick as he came he was gone. Thanks for the teaching little puppy dog. I like you.

And you Sun. You are glorious and magnificent. How do you do that thing you do? Always. And forever more. I stop and bow to you. You make me very very happy too.

Back to our pool side, palpa yoga hut we hit the hip asana hard. Nothing like a good hard hip class to get the day rollin'. It was so much fun to teach!

Yep you probably know the drill by now. We do every thing possible with the hip asansa (well almost). For each set of those asanas we talk about what's at stake for the poor lil body. Today's lesson is...

It's all about the safety of the knees!

Please students if you are cranking and yanking your knees around in lotus (padmasana) and a variety of other hip openers, puhhhlease stop.

And of course I'm pushing the blankets (big surprise there, eh?).
Use the blanket.
Wanna try it with the blanket?
See how it feels with the blanket?
A blanket might be helpful.

These poor students have probably been blanketed out by now.

Such growth on the students part as far as practice teaching. They are so cute too. They've now gotten to know one another, so they're feelin comfortable. They are so supportive to one another. And they give really useful and valuable feedback to one another. That doesn't always happen. They are growing more and more confident and comfortable each day. Yay!!

Shelli teaches today also. Thank you Shelli! She chatted with the students about building confidence in their teaching and the different ways to approach this. She also covered more pranayama and started leading the yoga sutra portion today. She is finishing up right now as I type this with an asana class.

While Shelli teaches I catch up with email and studio stuff, take a walk on the beach, study, do yoga on the beach, do self massage (abhyanga) and shower. Feelin' good. Feelin' good.

I think students are going into the actual town of Tulum tonight for the first time. And I'm about to go have dinner. Maybe that yummy salad!

day 6 yoga teacher training - tulum mexico

Day 6!
Day 6!
I can hardly believe it.

The days are passing by quickly. The days have also meshed all into one. I usually have no idea what day is. What I know is this...

Wake at 5:00 and get ready for the day!
Finish at 6:30....
and repeat the next day. :)

However, Shelli is here!
Shelli is here!
And she taught half of day 6.

Here is the scoop for the day:
Focus is on twisting postures.
We practice, we teach, we disect, we explore, we chat, we assist. Twists.
We twist. Then we twist some more.
We twist from standing.
From balancing.
From seated.
From supine.

As far as number of asana for the day, we have much less than other days. Makes it nice. We continue to go back and practice and teach asanas from the previous days.

Students are soooo gettin' it.

Shelli present on using props and music in class. The in's and out's. The why's and why not's of each. She also leads discussion in yogic nutrition, pranayama, and ethics of yoga.

While she is teaching, I get a massage. A massage! At Maya Tulum, with Gina. A first. It was quiet nice. Actually, very nice. She had such a different touch than everyone else I've had massage with at Maya Tulum.

I had a long dinner with Shelli and her husband Tim. They have the best grilled veggie salad at La Luna. I've had it two nights in a row. And I'm feeling kinda hungry now. Perhaps I'll make it three nights in a row here shortly. :)

Big love.
Big kiss to each of you.

on being carried

I've been wanting to take the time to blog about how I'm feeling while here in Tulum. I'm doing the day by day posts to give you a little inside scoop on what's gonig on here. So I can stay connected to you. And you can stay connected to me.

But they are pretty surface level. I will not be speaking of any of my students processes here in Tulum. Not cool. I will only speak of mine and I'm being selective for now in what I share, in both the most tender touching moments and the moments that have presented me with a challenge. There have been both.

I have had the most amazing feeling in the week that I've been here in Tulum for this training. I can't describe it, but I'll try.

The words that keep coming to mind is that I'm being carried by something much bigger, much greater than myself.

I've felt this before, but never to this degree and not for this amount of time.

It's as if I'm here, doing this intense work, but with such support of others. That support is coming in various forms.

Such as the guest teachers that have been and will be with me here in Tulum. Tracy Keenoy, Shelli Carpenter, and Sarah Frank. I undoubtedly couldn't do this without them. No way. No how. They are carrying me.

The short moments in which I am consciously connecting to the sweetness of mother nature. This morning before teaching at 6:30 a.m., I was standing on the beach watching the sky grow lighter as the sun was rising....The 20 minute walk on the beach....Looking out as this sea, that sea...that you see (above). :)

The times in which I literally get stopped in my tracks and I say out loud,

"Oh my god. Sweet Jesus. How can this be?"

And it's really in the greatest sense of wonder and amazement that I am here, surrounded by all of this, and doing this work that literally means the world to me. Nature is carrying me. Undoubtedly.

These people here. These yogis. These students. I am learning so much from them. Every day I'm feeling so happy, so honored, so lucky that they have chosen to be here with me. They are wise. And witty. They are honest. Brave. They are inspiring me every single day.

The Barefoot Works community at home they are carring me. I have received such sweet emails sprinkled all throughout the week. I am feelin' the love, it's true. Sarah sent me this just while ago:

P.S. BWY sent love and light and warmth and good wishes down to you and the YTTee’s yesterday evening. The 5:45 class was a bunch of long time BW yogi(ni)s, and it was such a powerful experience!! And the new peeps in the Basics class I could tell were also very happy to send you all good thoughts, too. One of the best nights teaching I’ve ever had, quite honestly. Was lovely.

Yes, family and friends are carrying me. Yesterday at the end of our class I shared a reading that contained this sentence that continues to stick with me:

"The subtle knows no boundaries."

I love that. Am feeling it. And believing with all my heart.

PS - The above pic is my new fave post to blog and check email. That's my porch I perch on. Can you believe it? I have this view out the front wall which is all glass and a fabulous view of the jungle on the other side. When I shower at 6:30 (sunset) I can see the sun setting over the jungle. It's dreamy.

PPS - Shelli is here! Shelli is here! Yay for Shelli being here. :)

yogi manifesto of encouragement

I emailed this Sunday just as we were beginning our first full day of yoga teacher training here in Tulum. I know that some people don't get our newsletter so I wanted to post it here also.

manifesto of encouragement for yoga teacher trainees:

right now.

there are yogis across the world standing on their head, balancing on their feet, sitting cross legged in meditation.

someone is awakening to the power of their breath.

someone is wondering how to advance to the next pose, the next person, the next place, the next process.

saints, sages, monks, moms, ceo's, farmers, and yes yogis are asking the big questions: who am i? what do i want? what is my purpose?

someone realized in this moment that they are loved. that they are good. that they are god.

right now.

the earth supports you just as your body does.

the water is smooth just as your breath is.

the sun is transforming all of life just as your mind does.

the wind whispers the truth just as your intuition does.

the heavens are boundless, open and spacious just as your heart is.

all of the beauty, wisdom, and magnificence that exists in nature exists in each of you.

right now.

your family and friends are cheering for you from afar. can you hear them?

your co-workers and peers are inspired by this leap of faith you've taken. can you believe it?

your yoga teachers and friends are dedicating their practice to you. sending you love and light, from their heart to yours. can you feel it?

a future yoga student is researching yoga because they have a problem. you, your gift, your voice, your heart will guide them to a solution. can you know it?

the universe has conspired for you to be here.
right here. right now.
this place, these people, this process.

you. me. we. one.

Will you pause and send your kind thoughts, words and prayers?

day 5 yoga teacher training - tulum mexico

My day starts again at 5:00. I'm totally into this schedule. I spent a little time preparing for the day and some time for my practice. Got ready and walked through the sand on my way to La Luna. It looked like it was going to be a special sunrise. Hmmmm.

I got the Villa where we are meeting for our sessions. It's outdoors surrounded by a pool and the prettiest tropical vegetation. Light the incense, greet yogis, prepare my mat. Everyone always arrives on time for all of our sessions. Actually people are usually a few minutes early, even at 6:30 a.m.

We find our spots on the mat and I tell everyone we're going to go out and spend a few minutes watching the sun rise. We walk onto the beach, all stand in awe at what we witness. The beauty. It was pretty moving. I ask everyone to come to a circle, I see teary eyes, and ask that we say what we're thankful for in that moment.

What I hear makes my heart smile. Students are thankful for the breath, family, friends, teachers, gift of vision, nature, the people in the circle and so on. It was a tender moment. Luckily two of the students got their cameras and we did get the pic above, minus the two photographers. Arent' they cute? Will have to get more group shots.

Todays material is forward folds. We have 9 of them (12 if you could all the prasarita options). We take nearly 6 hours between practicing them in a class, breaking them down, and teaching them. Time flies when you're havin' fun!

We break for lunch. I ask students to wear their bathing suits under their yoga clothes when they return. Hmmmmm.

We spend time on sequencing. And the concept of "pose, neutralizing, and counter pose". Always so interesting. We talked about what we base sequences on (such as style of yoga, level of student, time of day, themes, and so on).

Did a wonderful exercise where we progress to a challenging pose. A assigned three poses to three groups. The three poses were full wheel, pigeon pose, and headstand. Students had to deconstruct each one. Listing main actions of the poses, an easier pose to build upon, which muscles were being stretched/strengthened, choose neutralizing pose, and a counterpose. Everyone seemed to like this and saw the value of it. But it's not so easy!

Students now have a new founds appreciation of their yoga teachers. They now see that much more goes into planning and teaching a yoga class. It's not as easy as it looks!

I lead the students through 60 minutes of yin yoga. It helps them feel better in their bodies and helps to relax. Feel like it was a perfect time for this.

We put the bathing suits to use and spend our last session which is Sanskrit review in the pool. Yes, in the pool! We made it more fun and playful. Can be a pretty daunting thing. We all decide that all language classes need to take place in pools. So much more fun!

That concludes our day together. I taught 10 hours today. Tracy left today and Shelli gets in tonight. She'll teach some tomorrow. Yay, yoga BFF Shelli! And I'm getting another massage tomorrow. Double yay!!

PS - I forgot to mention a super exercise we did yesterday. Students had to bring a voice recorder with them. They planned out a 10 minute sequence then had to take their class back. Super helpful tool to see what we are saying and how we are saying it.

day 4 intensive yoga teacher training - tulum mexico

Day four was a more relaxed pace as it was a day of integration from the previous days of sun salutations, standing poses, and standing postures. Nothing new to add to the asana mix and we got to refine our knowledge, teaching, and understanding of the poses. Students taught in groups of three instead of two for the first time today.

I'm simply astounded by how quickly everyone is progressing. I know I keep saying that but it's realllly true! I'm certainly finding that this intense immersion into yoga is helping that process. We eat. drink. study. practice. teach. sleep yoga. It's a beautiful unfolding. Not one without challenges, but yes beautiful.

We added the essential breath and ujjayi breath to the mix. Had time for one on one mentoring with me to chat about any questions pertaining to the material thus far or discussion of any problems, issues, challenges or concerns.

Tracy taught her last three hour anatomy session today. It was about the upper extremeites and asana lab. And time to answer questions students had about anatomy as it pertained to postures.

At 6:30 when the day was over Tracy and I took a walk on the beach. This was so very nice and so very needed. Walks on the beach here do not get any better. We finished our day with a shared dinner of guacamole, mayan sikilpac, and veggies. Oh and a glass of wine. We deserved it. We've been working hard. ;)

Love to all of you.
Peace and sunshine too.

xoxo.

day 3 intensive yoga teacher training - tulum mexico

I've been getting up at 5:00 in the morning to study ayurveda(the studying part hasn't been so succesful). Today I wake at 4:00 feeling good and ready to get up. So happy I did, as I had time for a yoga practice. Made a huge difference. I'm now trying to re-work, re-figure my day. I thought I'd be able to find time for a practice later in the day. Not so much. Now thinking of practicing in the morning and studying later in the day. Sometime.

We start our practice at 6:30, but instead of starting with asana be begin with a walking meditation on the beach. We use a light ujjayi breath throughout the walk and use our mantra we've been working with prior to our arrival and during meditation. We also pick items up from the beach and begin to make an altar on a table in a sitting area for use for lecture/discussion. The walking meditation starts a beautiful tone for the day. It was needed.

Today our focus is on standing balancing postures. We have 7 of them. So our group practice focused on sun salutes, standing poses, now we have balancing postures we've added to the mix. I love this prcoess that we use. I'm seeing that in this intensive format it's realllllly great. We keep building on and going back to what we've learned.

We do the usual...exlore cueing, teaching, assisting, and adjusting these poses individually. The group is getting to continue to build on their practice teaching as they are now doing sun salutes, standing poses, and balancing poses.

At lunch Jacob (the manager here) tells us that a Category One hurricane will be hitting Cancun tomorrow. We should feel the affects tonight. Okey. Dokey.

We talk about the importance of a home practice. Why we practice yoga, how it makes it feel, how important it is for our teaching and all come to the conclusion that it should be an important component of our day. 15 mintues daily is better than an hour once a week. Everyone commits to practicing 21 days straight for at least 15 minutes. I will be that annoying person that emails them to see how it's going. I do love plans. And I do love when we get into new healthy habits and patterns. A sucker for that.

Everyone in the group plans to teach when they go home. We brainstorm for about five minutes possible places to teach. There are so many options. If one wants to teach, there are places to teach. Each person shares the capacity in which they plan to teach. It's inspiring to hear. Yoga changes lives. These students will change lives. It give me goosebumps thinking about it now.

Tracy come in to teach more anatomy goodness. Three more hours on the lower extremities. Students are really connecting the anatomy with the postures. Learning so much! It's good.

The category one hurricane is now a category two. I'm feeling a little concerned about our third story treehouse only a stones throw (actually a toss) from the sea.

And I leave to go have a massage!!! Yes, a massage! At Maya Tulum. With Antonia for the first time. I love her. Truly. Madly. Deeply. :) I'm seeing the importance of Self care. And I must make time for it. Drifting back up the beach after my massage I feel such peace. And also see and feel like the calm before the storm. Amazing how quickly the water rises. Mother Nature, mmmmm mmmmmm.

Ten more hours of intense work today. These yogi's are warriors. Literally.

Tracy and I have dinner. She had already talked to our folks at Zulum and we were going to sleep in another cabana. Turns out we didn't have to . Hurricane Paula has already passed up. She spared Tulum and the yogis. Thankfully so.

day 2 of intensive yoga teacher training - tulum, mexico

The hip bones connected to the knee bone, the knee bones connected to the ankle bone...

That could have been a big part of day two of intensive yoga teacher training here in Tulum, Mexico. The theme for asana (poses) today was standing postures.

We started at 6:30 in the morning just as the sun was rising. Did a practice focusing on sun salutes from previous day and added in 8 standing postures. We did a group meditation from 8:00 - 9:00.

We spend another 2.5 hours breaking down, and reconstructing these poses from the ground up. Discussing how to cue them, observe them, assist them, sequence them (in terms of internal and external hip rotation).

There was much talk of alignment of the feet, especially for the ever controversial warrior I and II. We talked of the uber importance of lining the foot up first, then lining the knee up with the foot for these poses with the leg bent.

Students continue to amaze me with how quickly they are picking this up. How quickly they are taking to the teaching role. It's not easy coming to a place, leaving your family for two weeks, practicing with a new teacher (who does things a little or a lot differently then what they are used to), learning how to be a teacher, and dealing with our fears, doubts, insecurities all at the same time.

We explored linking the breath with asana. We explored the breathing patterns for various postures. We analyzed the breathing cues for sun salutations and discussed how using the breath is really important for stabilizing some poses and how the breath can go either was for other postures or flows.

We explored different types of assisting. And the intention behind assisting. We talked about how we are to enter mindfully into any students yoga space. All believing that the yoga mat becomes a sacred space for most students. We as teachers need to honor and respect that. We talked about getting permission before assisting (if we need to do this everytime or not). Giving assists that are relative to the amount of trust we have built with the student (thank you Michael Porter for giving this bit of biz info that has translated this way).

Questions we can ask ourselves before assiting: is the student in danger of hurting themselves, do I feel confident giving the assist, is there a verbal cue I can use for the whole group, and so on.

We spent time discussing the four major forms of yoga, karma, bhakti, jnana, and raja yoga. Here we are focusing on raja yoga, the path outlined by the great sage Patanjali. We started on the 8 limbs of yoga and only made it to the yama's before we had to move on. Time goes so very quickly! But of course, we'll be back the the juiciness of the 8 limbs. So much wisdom here. Amazing.

Miss Antamony Goddess hereself, Tracy spent anothe three hours with the group lecturing about the spine (cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacrum), and doing lab with the students in asana. This is so brilliant. And so very helpful for students.

As always I'm learning thorughout this process from my students. Jewels for the day:
**A student loving the assisting part because you get to help which is cool, but even better is celebrating them in their pose. Love. That.

**Touch is all relative. What is a light touch to me could be a very physical touch for another. As always, communication is key.

**Was super inspired by a students deep love and connection to her husband, who she refers to as her soulmate. Her story was so sweet and endearing. It immediately made me miss Andy. And appreciate him too.

We conclude at 6:30 as the sun is setting. It's been a long and rewarding day. More to come!

PS - Clearly I'm off on days. I'm trying to stay committed to blogging daily, but finding the time is hard! So I may be off on days but fully intend to present it.

first day at intensive yoga teacher training

Hola friends!

It's 8:00 right now here in Tulum, Mexico. I just returned to my treehouse over the carribean sea. See the picture above? When I'm lying in my bed and look out, all I see is the most amazing sea. :)

It was quite the day. My alarm went off and 5:00 for me to study ayurveda, as my midterm is perfectly timed for me to take as soon as I return home. Talk about being able to relate to the students here about test anxiety! I didn't actually study ayurveda though. I spent about an hour prepping/reviewing materials for the day.

At 6:10 I walked next door to Cabanas La Luna where almost all the students are staying. Arrived at our operation asana space. Turned on music (i brought ipod and ihome speakers), lit incense (was super impressed that i was able to strike these baby Mexico matches, certainly a first), rolled my mat out, set my props and books up, just as students were filing in for us to begin at 6:30.

We did a class together focusing on sun salutations (classical version, and A & B) and a 20 minute meditation. This took us to 8:30 which was breakfast time. yay! Delicious and beautiful food to feed the hungry and hard working yogi's. It's not a leisure breakfast though. We're back at 9:00 diving into more training.

9:00 - 12:30 we spend discussing sun salutes, breaking down each of the poses in the sun salutations. Looking at ways to approach, ways to modify, what to consider, and sooo much more. We do group work where the 3 groups break down one of the sun alutes and write 3 cues for each pose. And everybdoy teaches for 10 minutes! Yes, we just dive in. It is a yoga teacher training. It's good. Really good. I continue to be amazed at each training about how quickly the time goes.

We break for lunch & siesta 12:30 - 2:30. I eat, take a 20 minute dip in the sea, shower, get dressed, and return for the yoga party. We spend the next hour (2:30 - 3:30) discussing the framework of a yoga class and qualites of yoga teachers. It's inspiring for me to hear the things/qualities these students love in their teachers from all around. In discussing teachers we also let ourselves be open to pondering wonderfulness of all teachers that we've encountered.

Tracy is here and she finished the day by teaching anatomy from 3:30-6:30. Half was lecture and half was lab. Of course everyone thinks Tracy is just the cutest person. And she quite possibly is. I think that all students should sign up for yoga teacher training just to be around Tracy's bubbly, cute self in presenting this material. Cute as a button she is. :) yes I said that.

We clap. We high five. We've just made it through the first day of yoga teacher training!

So satisfying to see these students intrigued by their body, the poses, and this whole process. I'm pretty impressed by the group. Such a great, diverse group from all over. And they're sooo cool! Such rich lives. AND they love yoga. And they're open to doing things differently. And they really want to get it.

I'm a very happy camper right now perched up in my treehouse. I'm pretty darn tired. But happy. Looking forward to tomorrow. Which gets started at 5:00. Which means bunenas noches mi amigas.

Love to all of you.

back in paradise

Are you guys sick of hearing that yet? :) Poor Andy is already being tortured by beautiful pics like the one above. He liked it here pretty good too.

After a long day of travel, starting with a 3:50 am departure from the Big Blue House, I arrived in Cancun at about 12:30. Customs was pretty quick. The only iffy part was when I hit the magic button (you know the one that if you press and land on red you get your bags searched?) and I got a red button.

I take my backpack and suitcase over, lugging all 50 pounds of the suitcase (most of which are books) onto the rack. The nice gentleman searches my bag and pulls out a banana. Appears you're not supposed to bring fruit into the country. Duh. I tell him to be prepared to find an apple. Which he did. Both were taken away. Boo, there goes my snack/possible lunch. He then pulls out my essential oils and asks what they are. I tell. He sniffs and seems content with what I told him, which was armoatherapy oils. For yoga, kind sir.

Roberto is waiting outside in the midst/madness of people standing with signs. People asking to take your bags. And wanting to know where you're going. And with whom. I just avoid making eye contact and act like I know what I'm doing.

Roberto is a lovely man. He moved to Tulum 5 years ago from Mexico City. Always meet the nicest people here. As we enter Tulum he says, "Welcome to Tulum Sharrron." I get goosebumps. I see the turquoise water a few moments later and I clap. Roberto thinks this is funny.

I give hugs to the folks I've come to know at Maya Tulum. Have a delicious late lunch. Go schedule a treatment for tomorrow afternoon. Then I go have a reunite with the big blue open sea. I swim. Float. Paddle. Side kick. Dive into the waves. And let them crash into me. I welcome it all. A wonderful bonus....the sea was the prettiest I've ever seen it today.

I shower then go spend nearly 90 minutes in a restorative yoga class which was absolutely perfect for my long day of travels. The teacher was new to me. Her voice, it was so perfect for the class. So relaxing. And sweet.

After class I lie in a hammock (the hammocks are back, the hammocks are back!) with the yoga bible (yoga sutras) and a blanket. Yes a blanket! I was cool.

Here I am back in the restaurant. I'm not hungry for dinner so I'm drinking hot ginger tea. Sending emails and catching up here.

I gotta say that getting here today has been such a great affirmation for the training that's coming up. I really can't wait. I just know it's gonna be great.

Love to all of you at home! Am thinking of you....

soon it begins

This could be my last post before we embark on the intensive yoga teacher training in Mexico. I'll get to spend a short time at Maya Tulum. Just enough time to eat my fave foods, get a treatment or two, hang out on the beach, and gift myself with some yoga.

Saturday I'll be checking in at Zulum (15 minute walk down the beach from Maya Tulum) and getting ready to greet the trainees as they roll in. We'll have dinner together, do an opening, and get ready to roll. We start bright and early Sunday at 6:30 and will conclude our day at 6:30 pm. We'll do this every day that we are there.

We will be eating, drinking, doing, living, breathing and being yoga. For two weeks these students from America, Canada, Peru, and Chile will immerse themselves in all things yoga. It's gonna be beautiful. And confusing. Fulfilling. Frustrating. Deeply satisfying and so much more.

They will study yoga.
And what it means to be a teacher.
They will study themselves.
They will connect with the teachings, each other, the sun, sand, and sea.

Right now I'm feeling a little nervous.
But mostly excited. And hopeful. Very full.
Wondering what I'll forget as far as logistics.
Praying that I'll be reminded daily of why I'm there. Which is to share the yoga that I love so much. That I believe in so much.
A yoga that helps heal our old wounds and scars.
A yoga that helps heal the world.

Hoping that I'll rest in the place of my most authentic self. Imperfections and all. Feeling comfortable and human. And knowing that this is the teacher that I'm meant to be.

a letter to monday

Dear Monday,

Today you are cold. And dreary. And gray. I'm trying really hard to not hold that against you, for I know that you can't always be sunny, warm, and clear.

I am noticing that I'm not feeling terribly motivated today. I'm barely feeling motivated at all. At first I wanted to blame all of it on you. But I'm trying not to make such quick assumptions.

The lack on motivation may be just a tiny bit due to you. But most of it's all mine. I'm trying to think of where the lack of motivation is coming from. I think I've come up with a few possibilities:

1. I spent three quick days in Philly. Two of which were realllly intense mentally, and just reallly intense emotionally. Working of my biz also meant I was working on my stuff. Not so easy.

2. Schedule is off. Sleep. Work. Workout. Yoga. Meditation. All of it.

3. I've been super busy getting all the details for Mexico in place and now it's here. It's a new thing. It's a really big thing. I think part of me knows I need to be conserving myself this week in order to be what I want and hope to be in Mexico.

4. Eating habits. I've been doing so super great with eating foods that are helping me to feel great. Some of that got thrown off while traveling and since being back. Not to the degree that it has in the past. But a little.

5. Not using time appropriately. I did spend about 4 hours yesterday with Andy and our BFF couple friend. But I spent the majority of the day working. I should have rested. And renewed. I didn't.

6. Driving. Monday is usally my day not to drive. Since I'm leaving town again I had no other choice. I'm at the studio now doing things. Phooey.

So this is what I'm needing from you Monday.

I need for you to help me to get the things done that need to be done. And I need to get them done sooner rather than later. I don't wait to enter Mexico feeling rushed.

I need to spend time with Andy. Maybe we can go to the library this evening. Maybe I can cook us a nice meal. Then we can work on the puzzle that's scattered all over our kitchen table.

I need to do something nice for me today that doesn't involve work or taking care of anybody else. Time to journal. A nice hot bath. A nice yoga practice. Going to bed early and reading for pleasure.

There, I think that's it. Just help me get a few work things done. Help me spend time with Andy. And time with myself.

If I can do these things I'll surely start Tuesday (your friend) off feeling much better then today. I promise to appreciate you today. And not be upset about your gray sky. And cool air. You are still beautiful.

day 2 of buisness retreat

My second and last day of the business retreat went really well. I did want to backup to the first day for just a moment. Clearly Thursday was a full day. By the time I left at 5:30 my head was literally swimming with thoughts, ideas, aha's, and frustrations (like most good learning opportunities).

When I left Michael Port's house I went directly and got a massage. Walked in at 5:45 and was on the massage table at 6:00. It was probably the best decision I could have made for myself. I knew that I needed to get out of my head. What better way than grounding myself back into my body?

It was still a challenge to let the thinking go. Actually the biggest challenge ever in this area for me. Usually I can be so very present in a massage. Not so much this day. But nonetheless it did the trick. My body and my mind thanked me immensely. They told me so. :)

I left here and went across the street and got a new 2011 planner to map out the next 12 months. I wanted to get started on this plus I wanted to be prepped and ready for day 2.

Day 2 was spent on marketing of products and services. We discussed the most important places to focus time and effort. This is a very specific process that Michael has. Which again wasn't so easy for me.

Process = Rules = Constraints
All of which mean less freedom for me.
Ick.

Holes in his system? Not so much.
Holes in my mind? Perhaps. :)

Clearly I'll need to approach this system in a much different mindset. And I will. I'll find a way that it will work for me and that I can feel good about. Cause I know it's something I need to do.

A powerful yoga analogy for the day (in speaking about all the marketing/networking stuff) was practice and nonattachment. I have in my notes:

"Be attached to the process. Be attached to creating discipline.
Be unattached to the outcome."
So very yogic.

Practice and nonattachment, that's the way the ancient yogis told us to approach life on and off that mat.

We worked on specific projects for our business. In creating tables, time lines, lists, and so on. We explored steps for implementation.

Finishing time actually came a little early. Again, full minds were had by all. We decided to put the notes away. Open a bottle of wine. Hang out. Chill out. Enjoy each other's company. And eat the most amazing meal prepared right there at Michael's house by a really amazing chef.

Two super intense days.
Super happy I went.
Feeling so excited about the future of Barefoot Works.
Which is a big reminder of how very blessed I am.
And I thank you.
Always.