Take each day wag by wag

It’s all fun and games until someone ends up in a cone

Over the past few months, I’ve had a handful of ‘crises’ to handle that seemed to pile one on top of another. But that’s how it goes right?  When we feel we can’t handle any more, we are faced with another situation to do just that — handle it. And we get through it.  Breath by breath, I realized that as each moment passed, I was one more moment through the chaos.

Most recently, my 9 year old dog, Hattie, tore her ACL. This is the second in two years that required invasive surgery with a long rehabilitation.  I’d heard that there’s a very good chance that a dog who tears one ACL will tear the other within a year or so.  Ironically, I did everything I could to protect her from exactly the situation we’re in now.  What I’ve learned, though, is that Hattie doesn’t think about the previous surgery or what the future holds.  She just knows what’s happening now; she adjusts her gait; she rests; and she faces the moment with whatever adjustments need to be made — without thought.

Dogs are our ultimate yoga teachers. If only we could all learn to take each moment wag by wag.

Namaste.

– Your Charmed Yogi

Related posts:

• I’d rather be in Dogvasana
• Doga Sutras: 10 lessons my dogs have taught me
• The meditative puppy mind
• Happiness is a warm puppy

Rethink your limits

If you haven’t seen this TED video talk by Amy Purdy who lost her legs and went on to become a professional snowboarder, grab some tissues and get ready to rethink the limits you tell yourself you have.

Without limits.

– Your Charmed Yogi

(Photo: Pinterest)

Related Posts:

• A letter to yogis with chronic illness
• Yoga when you can’t do yoga
• Walk the plank of life with acceptance
• You’re stronger than you think

Be a tree-climbing fish

There have been many things throughout life that people have told me I couldn’t do, and every time it made me want to achieve that thing and prove them wrong.

Only you know what you can be, and the deeper you look inside, the more you’ll realize you’re truly capable of anything.

Namaste.

– Your Charmed Yogi

(Photo: Zen Pencils)

Related posts:

• 10 ways to be great today
• Give it up for happiness
• The yoga of Yoda, we all have

This is 40: A safari of humor, humility and humanity

Every once in a while I like to take a moment and write from a place of humor and humility.  So in today’s post, rather than waxing prophetic, poetic or prosaic, I thought I’d take you enjoy a glimpse into my humorous self discovery. Here are 40 hilarious & human observations about rounding the bend and why I’m embracing life with all of it’s cruel jokes, humor and beauty.

1. I can no longer sit OR stand for two long, I’ve become a hovering nomad
2. I still get to enjoy the occasional zit AND count the burgeoning crows feet
3. I never thought the words “stool softener” would be part of my vernacular
4. At 35 I woke up and my pert round butt was were my flat abs used to be and my flat abs were in back, I’ve since begun to turn them back around
5. I get more comfortable in my skin each and everyday
6. I don’t care how crazy people think I am, in fact the further from “normal” I appear the better
7. I know who my friends are
8. Almost everything makes me laugh, and if it doesn’t I can find humor in it tout de suite
9. I get cold at 70 degrees and hot at 70 degrees depending on the day or hour
10. I truly enjoy cooking and baking every Sunday, and making enough for 10 people should anyone ever stop by hungry
11. I love to play Scrabble on Friday nights with my 70 year old neighbor, she’s like a second grandma to me but also a true friend
12. I was never supposed to be here this long, and for that I’m grateful each and every day
13. I have the ability to be in a complete panic and yet remain calm & strong enough to move forward
14. The little things that set me off can be the same little things that I find funny 30 second later
15. I no longer to succumb to peer pressure about anything, in fact, I find myself digging my heels in to resist if said pressure is attempted
16. I don’t have to make excuses to go to bed early, I’m 40
17. I’ve not only accepted my own quirks, I admire them fondly and wear them proudly
18. I drink hot tea all the time
19. I now order my meals at restaurants like Meg Ryan in ‘When Harry Met Sally’
20. A night of dancing at the ‘club’ now feels like running a marathon in cement shoes.  There should be drink stands and free chair massages.
21. No matter what, I cry when I see someone else cry
22. I love my dogs like other people love their children
23. I now understand what my mother meant when she would say the phrase, “You just wait. You’ll see…”
24. My heart breaks when I see suffering and wells up when I see random acts of kindness
25. My first 20 or so years as an independent adult, I accumulated.  Now, I try to lessen
26. Parts that I didn’t know I had just hurt for no reason sometimes
27. Some days I feel like an 85 year old teenager
28. I can literally sit outside for hours doing nothing
29. Gardening shuts off my brain
30. Some days my mind is completely still and others in never shuts up
31. I read food ingredient and nutrition panels like I’m studying for the SAT
32. I realize that I’ve been masquerading as an extroverted introvert for much of my life
33. I still learn something new everyday, and I’m wondering if it’s because I used to know it but have since forgotten
34. No matter how old I get I will never be able to remove a dead rodent from my own home
35. I buy my shoes and clothes for comfort over style, but hope I have both
36. Life just isn’t that serious
37. ‘Sleeping in’ on the weekends is 7:30 or 8:00
38. No matter what time I sent my alarm for, my body wants to get up a half hour later
39. I still need to learn to apologize less and forgive myself more
40. Laughter really is the best medicine, and I’m a great subject. Nobody laughs at me harder than me

What have you learned about yourself in your hears on this planet?

Namaste.

– Your Charmed Yogi

Related posts:

• Wander around yourself like a Hobbit
• Laugh yourself breathless
• Have yourself a thought-b-cue
• 40 sun salutations to celebrate 40 years

(Photo: Animalzfun Blog)

Look with eyes that you want upon you

Have you ever caught yourself being more compassionate than you thought capable? If there are people near you right now, look around and take note of any feelings or emotions that arise. Do you feel irritated, amused, loved, angry, happy, empathetic, unimpressed, or maybe something else?

I recently flew home for the holidays from the busiest airport in the world. While there were flecks of a short temper that wanted to rear itself, I found myself more often trying to empathize with all of the people that make up the holiday hustle and bustle. We all had the same goal: to get home and see our families. And, we all had similar challenges: reassemble ourselves after the security check; find our seats on the plane; stow our carry ons; wait to deplane. I was tired and irritable, but when I looked around I saw a mix of emotions. I saw some people who looked like I felt, and I softened. I realized that we’re all in this together and that extending a little compassion goes a long way.

It’s easy to cast our frustrations onto someone or something else rather than sit with them, but OUR frustrations rarely have anything to do with the person with whom we’re frustrated. In fact, when you put your irritability and ego out into the world, that tends to be what you receive. Conversely, when you extend kindness, you get kindness. It’s really as simple as that. So why is it so hard?

Let’s let that go. It doesn’t have to be hard. The next time you find yourself rearing up for battle, do the opposite and see what happens. Look through a lense of love.

Namaste.

– Your Charmed Yogi

Related posts:

• Where did you park your Karma (10 ways to pay it forward)
• Being nice feels nice (most of the time)
• Yoga is letting go of results
• Kindness is always possible

(Photo: Wikispaces)

Accepting the unacceptable

At times like this, it’s hard for me to make sense out of the violence and suffering that occur in the world. I talk often about acceptance and awareness, and yet here I sit, a hypocrite, finding it near impossible to reconcile or make peace with what has happened this past week. But, I think what helps me avoid getting stuck in a glut of anger is realizing that acceptance doesn’t necessarily mean endorsement.

In 2012 there have been more than 50 mass shootings in the U.S., the most recent at a Connecticut school that left 27 people are dead, including 18 children. As I type the words, it’s hard for me to digest. I truly have no words.

Although I’ve never met him, one of my most beloved teachers is Eckhart Tolle. His words tranformed me when I was in a not-so-awesome place. I thought this video on dissolving suffering was poignant. It’s not about mass violence, but the message on transmuting suffering into peace is worth watching.

“I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.”

– Mahatma Gandhi

Be well. Love and be loved. Namaste.

– Your Charmed Yogi

Related posts:

• Accept that over which you have no power (which is everything)
• Why we remember tragedy
• We the people must remember to love other people
• Life is

(Photo: StLouisCatholic)

When in doubt, reboot

If there’s one thing I’ve learned working in the .com industry for over a decade, it’s that ‘rebooting’ can cure a multitude of computer ills. You’ve been there.  Your computer freezes, your worksheet locks up or you get the blue …

Lessons learned from Twinkiegeddon

I’ve learned a few things over the past few days since the news that Hostess Brands — makers of a beloved food of my youth, the Twinkie — is going under.  I’ve learned that there are organizations out there that …

Accept that over which you have no power (which is everything)

“Awareness is that state of mind which observes something without any condemnation or acceptance, which merely faces the thing as it is.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti Over the past few years, I’ve developed a form of arthritis related to my illness, …

Nothing in your grasp is permanent

  Nothing conceivable in this world is permanent, and yet there was never a time when you ceased to be.  Embrace change, shed your ills like clothes that no longer fit, and realize that you will always be. Namaste. – …