Posts from the ‘Passion’ Category
I had a major epiphany the other day over mimosas and heuvos rancheros. (An excellent recipe for eureka! moments, by the way.) I’m sitting with my soul sister Kristan talking about all the ideas I have for the next year, all the ideas I’ve had in the past, and how things always seem to turn out differently than originally planned.
In the past three years, I’ve planned I-don’t-know-how-many businesses. And I have the domain list to prove it. I’ll be the first to admit my domain-buying addiction. It’s like revisiting photos of past lovers when I look at that list of .coms, each with its own story and happy memories.
There was the national chain of wellness centers based off the Massage Envy empire. I was even prepared to take a part-time admin job there in order to learn the ins and outs of their corporate structure. (I still think this has major legs…someone please make it happen!)
Or the health and wellness website that was going to revolutionize the industry where users could personalize their own eating preferences, recipes and goals, plus setup sessions with virtual health coaches across the world. Here’s the highlight of that idea process: One night, my then-boyfriend dragged me to see Star Wars (or was it Star Trek? Clearly I was dying to see it.) I was so excited about this website that I was having trouble concentrating on the movie and actually walked out of the theater, went five blocks back to our apartment, sat on the couch with my laptop and began brainstorming like a maniac. But not before I sent my man a texting saying “Sorry babe, was too inspired, had to come home and brainstorm.”
Last year, while in India, I went as far as setting up a website and had ongoing dialogue with a list of manufacturers before deciding I didn’t want to pursue selling Indian lamps and lanterns, after all. To this day I still have a massive obsession with Indian lamps. They’re gorgeous!
Fair trade yoga pants. Couples yoga retreats. Daily Asana iPhone app.
I could look back on these plans and feel discouraged for not following through. I could feel embarrassed because I’ve spent a lot of time, money and energy on them and actively voiced these plans to friends and family more times than I can count. But I don’t, not for a second.
Instead, I look at it like this: none of these have been “the one”. And I know this because at some point in the process, I lost interest for one reason or another. But each has taken me closer to my own truth and current successes that are unfolding as we speak.
Yoga workshops, virtual lifestyle lectures, a super exciting dating series and more. There is a lot of amazingness in the works here and as all of the best things do, they each came about quite organically.
Back to mimosas and brunch. I realized then and there that ideas are not just thoughts; they go much deeper than that. They are relationships with our thoughts, a relationship that you develop, nurture, have conversations with, try on for a while. And maybe, just maybe…
if you like their style…
if they excite you…
if they are aligned with your passions and values…
if you think you’ll be really happy with them for years to come…
if you have major respect for them and they challenge you to be better every day…
…then you know you’ve got the right idea.
From there, it’s up to you to nurture a deep, lasting relationship and start taking some serious action.
By the way. These ideas I mentioned above? That’s only about half the list. The other half are still too cool to let go of quite yet, so I’ve got them in my little black book for those lonely nights.
**
:: Presence, Passion, Productivity ::
I met an awesome girl last year around this time in India named Cole. She was such a breath of fresh air; a cool, grounded chick from Australia who ran her own creative consulting biz. We’d talk for hours about how we both value entrepreneurship, goals and self-reliance, and we had a fabulous time wherever we went. I’m not sure she knew it at the time, but she inspired me in more ways than one. She had started working for herself a few years prior, and the year of 2010 had been huge for her in many ways. She attributed it to a constant driving force behind her everyday decisions and thought processes: Her Yearly Theme.
[Enter unexpected turn of events where this post takes its own direction]
…As I’m writing this I’m searching through notes to see if I can remember what her theme was for 2010 that was so helpful. Instead, I stumbled upon a year-old post in which I stated my own theme for the upcoming 2011: Cheers To Following Your Heart.
Funny, because looking back on this year, I did just that. Even better – everything is so aligned – I made a gratitude list this morning for 2011 (thanks to the inspiration of Jenny Sansouci) and wrote verbatim: “Following my heart all the way out to Denver.”
Listening to my gut – to my heart center – is exactly what has driven pretty much every decision, every move I made since this journey began. Not the selfish, activity-driven voice that your mind sometimes mistakes for your heart. I’m talking that undeniable feeling when you know something is the right move, even though you can find plenty of people who wouldn’t agree. That feeling of complete flow, complete surrender.
I’ve been reading the Tao Te Ching recently and the most impacting messages are the ones about non-doing. Giving up trying to make things happen. That doesn’t mean we sit around all day, every day. My take on this is deeper than that – it’s an act of surrender to that which is actually happening. And if you’re in the flow, aligned with your center, then we naturally make and create that which is an extension of our Self.
At least that’s how I choose to interpret it starting now, as we move into 2012.
It’s funny how many different “futures” I’ve dreamed up for myself over these two years. None of them happened exactly, but they all stem from the same Root, the same purpose, just different forms.
There are a lot of things brewing here now, all very exciting. By abandoning trying to “figure out” what is the best move, I gave up. And something so inspiring has grown from that surrender. I can’t wait to announce more details soon.
So, here we are. December 31st, 2011.
I know we’ve all got some big visions ahead.
So what’s your Theme this year?
I’ll start. Just as it did one year ago, the answer came quickly:
Presence, Passion, Productivity.
Winter Solstice Ceremony, 2010.
Wishing everyone a safe and happy entry into 2012!
Cheers to following your heart,
Amy Carole
I have a confession: I’m obsessed with your body. And mine.
Why?
Well, that’s easy. WE ARE SO FASCINATING!
Although in recent months I have taken this interest to new heights, it all started about five years ago. I had moved to New York City and my body seemed to be falling apart. Every day I pounded the pavement in cute shoes, commuting to work, walking to meetings, dancing the night away. Relatively quickly a pain developed in my feet, and in a few short months that nagging pain became excruciating, shooting up my leg and affecting my body in all sorts of ways. My hips hurt, my back complained daily. Was I really feeling the signs of aging at 23? Impossible. One night, while standing at a Jamie Cullum concert in my new cheetah-print Steve Madden flats, I looked down and saw the sides of both feet were flaming red. It was time to see a doctor.
I ended up finding Dr. Ethan Ciment – aka the best podiatrist ever - who became a wonderful friend over the years. He explained my problem: collapsable arches (flat feet) which was causing my bones to splay each step I took. While that in itself is not inherently bad, the shoes I wore crowded my feet so badly that bunions had formed and were super inflamed. (Note: Bunions are caused by an extra-angular position of the bones in your toe joints…they are NOT a crazy skin growth like some people think.) It was time to say goodbye to the unsupportive-yet-adorable shoes I owned and get orthotics. And honestly, I was willing to do anything. I love fashion, but not at the expense of my comfort.
Armed with new shoes and knowledge, the pain quickly subsided and I could enjoy moving around again. A few months down the line I had surgery on my right foot to correct the bunions and went through physical therapy to regain proper use of my foot. I was so interested in how something as seemingly-unimportant as shoes could cause so much damage to the entire body, and how these things could be corrected. Thus, the obsession began.
Workin' the surgery boot
Over the years, I endured different pains in my knee, hip, ankle…always on the right side. I don’t need a degree to know how these things are related. Each time, the weeks in physical therapy helped me to understand the root of the problem and how to alleviate the pain. Without fail, every injury stemmed from tight muscles (often caused by a repetitive movement I’d been doing).
So why do our muscles get tight? And how can we fix them? This is what I paid the professionals to tell me.
As I got deeper into my yoga practice, things started shifting. My teacher had a strong Iyengar background and would talk about moving the body in ways I’d never thought of before. It clicked immediately. Armed with this new knowledge, I trained for a triathlon and not only avoided injury, but came out much more flexible than before. During my 200-hour yoga training, the anatomy portion just wasn’t long enough. I found myself craving more, asking question after question, connecting the dots. The fact that we are so unique in our composition and yet, everything works the same is so friggin’ cool.
Hands on learning: Playing with "fascia"
The more you know about your own body, the better you can use it. Especially when it comes to a yoga asana practice, where we move our bodies into all sorts of different positions. We’ve all been struggling in a pose and look around the room at that one person who seems effortless in her actions. The initial thought is often “She’s so good, she’s so flexible” and while this may seem to be the case, she also is probably anatomically built to go deep in certain positions. Because let’s face it: certain bone structures will naturally give a “head start” in a yoga practice. However, there is SO MUCH we can do to help open things up and keep our bodies limber. And I know this firsthand, because I am not one of those anatomically gifted people.
Earlier today, I watched this video about fascia and stretching. WARNING: There are images of a real human cadaver, so if that sort of thing makes you cringe, don’t press play.
Funny thing is, this sort of thing used to gross me out, too. Now, I just want more, more more.
I’ve been practicing Thai Yoga Massage for the past 5 months or so, and while the training I received in Thailand was wonderful, I found myself craving a much more in-depth discussion of anatomy. We are handling human bodies, after all. So this January I am starting a 6-month integrative massage program which will thoroughly cover anatomy and therapeutic massage techniques using both Western and Eastern methodologies.
My most recent injury is three weeks old. As I mentioned, I tend to have an injury on the right side of my body about once per year. This time, it traveled up to the right side of my back. After a month of intense yoga practice – including many new postures and practices – I woke up with a strong pain in my lower back. Uh oh, I thought. Back pain is not good. Especially a few days before I embark on two weeks of intense yoga trainings at Kripalu. In my second week there, during the most painful muscle spasm I’d ever experienced in my life, I discovered a form of therapy called Positional Release to help release the exaggerated contractions of my quads and psoas muscles, which were causing an unnatural anterior tilt in my pelvis thus leading to the painful back spasms. The theory, based on strain-counterstrain techniques, took everything I knew about stretching and turned it upside down. And the coolest thing is that is WORKED.
Like anything else, I took this as a lesson to get to know my body better and practice some patience. And as a teacher, it is a huge blessing to experience common injuries to better relate to and help students with their own issues.
I’m not going to say that one method is better than the other. There are so many techniques out there to help us find the cause of physical ailments and heal them. But what I will say is this: Don’t just accept what you are told. To truly help heal your body – and others – you must understand the root cause yourself. To do this, no matter how little or much you know about anatomy, ask questions. Lots of them. Ask to see pictures, skeletons, whatever it takes.
Above all, as the saying goes: You are your best teacher. Learn to listen to your own body and movement. Understanding your own body and movement tendencies will not only help you heal injuries, but it will help you move and live to your greatest physical potential. We truly are fascinating beings; treat yourself as such!
Something happened today in yoga class. Both this morning and afternoon class, something powerful started brewing. It came into the eyes around the room, almost like a wave coming up and settling slowly across the room. It happened a few times and each time I saw it, I felt a sense of overwhelming peace. Like epitomizing the reason for teaching in the first place.
Today was about balance. After a long holiday weekend, many of us can say our sense of balance was tested in more ways than one. And not to blame fireworks, fishing, eating and whatever else you indulge in on the 4th of July. Our balance is tested everyday. Relationships, work life, diet, activity, you name it. We are constantly striving to figure out what mix works best for us. At least we should be.
Living a life in balance takes practice. I sure as hell work on it on a daily basis. In asana, everything takes practice. As Sri K. Pattabhi Jois said, Practice, practice, practice, practice.
Today we explored how the keys to achieving balancing poses in asana directly relates to living our lives.
Pop quiz: Can you do this?
My answer for every one of them? YES
As we made our way into more difficult arm balances, I decided to share one of my favorite quotes:
“Simply put, the reason there are things you want in life that have not yet appeared, is because you’re just not used to thinking of yourself with them.” -The Universe aka Mike Dooley
A teacher once told us if we can hold ourselves in chaturanga dandasana, we could do this pose (version of parsva bakasana). That changed everything.
So I shared with the room. Suddenly, people perked up and started giving it a shot. As I watched them – fully in their moment, their determination, concentration and breath all working together – I felt my heart melting just a little bit with every try. This was yoga.
In yoga, we are not working on the poses. We are working on ourselves.
So what are the tools for balancing in asana?
- Foundation: Everything starts with a strong foundation. Feel your body firmly rooted to the earth and pressing down to rise up.
- Breath: Breathing evenly and controlled. Not getting flustered, upset or crossing past your edge – these are things that cause us to hold the breath or breathe erratically. Relaxing completely, feeling at ease and joyful in your actions.
- Core: Strength comes from the inside out. Feeling strong and steady in your core allows you to move purposefully and with integrity.
- Focus: Gazing at an unwavering dristi point in front of you, softening your stare to an intent yet relaxed state. Letting whatever else is happening around you fade into the background.
- Attitude: Ah, it always comes back to the mind. In asana, when you fall, just laugh, get up and try it again. This is what makes you stronger.
Such is life. Such is life.
I’ve been a naughty blogger. I know this. Yes, I stopped mid-Bali. So to update…I arrived home a little over two weeks ago after an inspiring amazingness-filled seven month adventure. Life-changing? You bet. So much to be grateful for.
I cannot begin to wrap up that last month I spent in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Suffice to say it was the pinnacle of my entire trip, with the best people and energy and yoga and…fruit…oh the fruit! And black mango sticky rice…Ok ok, back to the post. I miss Thailand and all the amazing souls I met there, but the show must go on.
And go on, it has! Life since arriving back to America has been fabulous.
Things are happening. I don’t wanna get all Secret on you here, but seriously, you believe it and envision it, and it will find a way to you. Almost every day something happens. I’m starting to feel like paying the Universe for overtime. And you know what? It’s because I wholeheartedly believed life was gonna be amazing the second I got back. None of that “adjustment” stuff. Ok, of course I had insane jetlag for a week. But I let it do its thing, had an 11 hour sleep one night and poof, jetlag be gone.
I first spent 8 days in my hometown in St. Louis, MO. Unpacking takes serious dedication! I had a massive box from India, covered in over 200 stamps. I’d never seen anything like it. Mahavir from Arambol came through, good man! Going through my India things was like opening an incense-filled chapter of a book. So many stories, so many things, new and old, were stuffed into those bags. I found my glass and mirror mosaic elephant – my pride and joy purchase from India – in pieces at the bottom of that bag. A wooden Ganesh broke, too. I guess India was saying, as a reminder: aparigraha (non-attachment). Oh well, I have good memories of that thing on my altar in the Pink Palace, Arambol, Goa.
I bought too many random gifts. Never doing that again. I had this bag from Bali filled with things that I dragged from Bali to Thailand then left it in Bangkok while I went to Chiang Mai for three weeks. In Chiang Mai I bought a thai massage mat + bag (awesome!), which bumped me up to three pieces of checked luggage, and meant paying a $150 excess baggage fee. Great, I thought. What a way to go out spending money. Well, I think the Universe sent a little angel to guide me out of Thailand and on my way home. From the moment I left Bangkok in a taxi to the airport, things were in my favor. We were late, so we floated through traffic. My driver – this adorable Thai man – played John Denver’s “Leavin’ On A Jet Plane.” I cried happy tears, remembering listening to this song as a kid on road trips with my family. I arrived with my three massive bags and a ridiculously long Balinese handmade dragon kite wrapped in paper (for the nephew, of course J. Rushing to the counter with my stuff I tell the Thai Air woman I have excess bags and need to pay for it. She looks at my stuff and kinda frowns…
”You can’t carry any of those on?”
I said no, they are clearly too big.
Can you combine them?, she asks.
Hmmm…maybe I can.
Still, she said she’d have to weigh them to make sure they’d pass the weight limit.
“28 kilos. The limit is 25. Can you take something out?”
Ugg. Not really. I took out a book and watched the weight go nowhere.
So instead of saying ok, looks like you’ll have to pay the fees, she looked at me and motioned to the luggage wrapping station by the entrance. “Go there, I’ll let them on as one piece.”
Bam bam, another obstacle averted. I showed up to the luggage wrapping guy and he looks at my bags, tells me it’ll be 200 bhat (instead of their listed 240). I look in my wallet and I literally only have two 100 bhat bills left, along with some change. Smiling, I handed the notes to him.
The list of things like this go on. Suffice to say I made it home just fine. I even got to take a shower in the Tokyo airport. If you ever get a chance to do this, take it. It’s so luxurious amidst all the chaos and waiting!
With eight days in St. Louis, I saw my some of my best friends in the world, gave away some massages, ran a 10K, demoed a badass Specialized bike, and sampled the STL yoga scene. One week later, I packed up my stuff – again – this time for three months in Northwest Michigan….and Tahoe, NYC, upstate NY plus a wedding.
Michigan and me have a long, memorable past. Every summer of my life I’ve come to the same summer vacation town, a community of cottages in the woods and lakeside. People have been coming here for generations. Our cottage – “the Hut” – is nestled at the top of a hill in the middle of a beautiful, ancient birch and maple tree forest. This place is like my second life, my second love…not many people ever see this side of me. That’s me, in the top-right room of the “addition”.
This place inspires. We bike. We play tennis. Visit the local farmer and craft markets. We cook, hike, kayak, read, campfire, ‘smore, sunset, pick berries. Life moves at a different pace here. Every single person I’ve taken up here over the years has fallen in love with and felt the pull of Crystal Lake, Frankfort, Sleeping Bear Dunes…”Up North” in general. Think everything on “Main Street”, tourists walking down the sidewalk with waffle cones of homemade cherry ice cream, 1950’s A&W trucks cruising down the road, the beach packed with people watching the sunset over the pier and lighthouse.
I’ve been here every summer of my life, and I wasn’t about to miss it in 2011. While in Thailand in March during the vipassana, I realized I wanted to be here come June with my family. I told myself, when I go up there I’ll stay for the entire summer, teaching yoga and pilates at Anna’s studio, Studio On Main. I had no idea how I’d actually accomplish that at the time, but I put the idea out there. After one initial email and a little intervention from the Universe again, I was on the Summer schedule before I even arrived back Stateside.
So here I am, teaching yoga, pilates and meditation at the one yoga studio in the small, bustling vacation town of Frankfort, MI. Aside from teaching 7-8 classes per week, I’m doing Thai Yoga Therapy privately.
So. Back to manifestation. (Yes, I’m about to get all Secrety on you.)
Thoughts become things. It’s true.
And it’s time people start using that gift to change their reality and shine some more loving, positive light in this world.
Thoughts become things. Choose the good ones. (Thanks Mike Dooley!)
xo
Ames
PS. Hello Summer, officially coming June 21st! Summer smells sooo good.
My friend Cole told me that every year she has a theme, or a word to live by. I loved this immediately. What was my theme for 2011, I thought. As quickly as I asked, the answer came: Cheers to following your heart.
I told myself that when I left for this trip, I wanted to stay in one place for an extended period of time, rather than running around from town to town. Check.
I told myself that I wanted to get to know the people, the ins and outs of the place. Check, check.
I told myself I wanted to learn something every place I went, and also teach yoga wherever I went. Well, two weeks into it I’m teaching 5 days per week. So check, check, check. Talk about the power of manifestation!
I pounded the pavement sand for hours today, and now it’s 8 hours before my first advertised class in India. I have a friend Mithun, who runs the guest house I’ve been staying in and has been such a good friend to have around. Anything I need we’ll hop on the motorbike and run to a store that does/has what I need. He took me to a copy shop and helped me print out my flyers, get them laminated and cut professionally. Always willing to help, asking nothing in return, and we have some really funny conversations.
Yesterday I was drinking a juice from Happy Banana (which is my favorite place EVER – my #1 order is avocado/papaya/banana/dates) and had the plastic cup in my hand, ready to throw away as we drove down the road towards the bus station. I said Mithun, what am I supposed to do? I never see garbage bins anywhere, am I just supposed to throw it on the ground? He was like, well yes, everyone else does so you really don’t have many other options. It all goes to the same place anyways…burned in a pile somewhere. (Don’t get me started on the stench of burning garbage in the hot sun.) Anyways, I reluctantly litter as we drive past the school and he goes Amy! What’d you do that for? Now we have to go back and pick it up…I was like Mithun, you told me to do it! I feel terrible now. He goes, Amy, you are destroying our beautiful India. Then he paused….and started cracking up. I quickly joined. Like I said, funny conversations.
So as I was saying, today I pounded the sand for 4 hours. I walked into each restaurant and introduced myself, walked up to each wall, each internet shop owner. And just taped and tacked those bad boys up. It’s exciting and beautiful, I feel as if I had a soft launch last week and tomorrow the real show begins. I could get very used to teaching full-time, very quickly. I think I already am.
Now that I’m in India exploring so many different forms of movement, I find myself thinking about what it’d be like to incorporate certain things into class. For example, today at Tai Chi I was just dying to try this one move in the morning at Blue Pyramid facing the sea. So we’ll probably start the day with that tomorrow. The yoga class officially starts at 8:30am, at least that’s when we start asana (poses). But from 8-8:30am will be open meditation and pranayama. Teaching full-time here is just fascinating me, I cannot wait to explore more. And the view from the mat ain’t too shabby either.
I’ll close with my theme for the sure-to-be-amazing year of 2011:
Cheers to following your heart,
Amy Carole
- Sharing a smile with a stranger on the subway
- The East Village Russian & Turkish Baths
- Watching the city get more and more bike lanes
- Sunsets on the Highline
- Comedy Cellar
- Running in Central Park and seeing people you know
- Getting laundry picked up, washed, folded and delivered back for under $15
- The Cloisters
- Impromptu trips to Atlantic City
- Tanning on top of the 71st St apartment building
- Finding a neighborhood Cheers in Peacefood Café
- Helping tourists when they ask for directions
- Summerstage in Central Park
- My whole experience at Pure Yoga
- Movies under the stars on Pier 54
- Ferry service to Governor’s Island
- Concerts, concerts and more concerts!
- Wearing a boot around for 6 weeks after foot surgery
- Tompkins Square Park’s Halloween Dog Parade
- Banging on my ceiling with a cane to quiet my upstairs neighbor
- Meeting complete strangers
- Sunday Bingo at the Standard
- Seeing NYC in movies and being like, “I was just walking down that street”
- My old apt building’s stoop
- Lifebooker, Urban Daddy, Thrillist, Groupon, Flavorpill
- NYC lines get outta control: TKTS, Jonas Brothers appearance, Shakespeare In The Park, Apple Store
- Running around the Jackie O Resevoir in Central Park and seeing the sun reflect off the water and onto the buildings’ windows. Amazing.
- Yoga in Central Park right south of the Great Lawn
- Watching the leaves turn in the Fall
- How no one in the East Village takes credit cards except from Amex
- Cabbies
- Working in the nightclub industry
- Walking through Law & Order shoots
- Manhattan Mini Storage advertising
- Bloomberg’s house
- Driving in the city
- Walking the Brooklyn Bridge
- Grimaldi’s Pizza
- Farmers Markets!
- The Apple Stores
- Rollerskating in Staten Island
- Sitting at the tables on Broadway in Herald Square
- Lazy afternoons in Battery Park
- Getting stuck on one side of 5th Ave because of various parades
- Rocking the Halloween Parade!
- Biking across the GW Bridge
- The Naked Cowboy
- Taking the elevator to top of the Marriott Marquis
- Sitting next to Kelly Kapowski
- My bike ride to work every day: Natural History Museum–Central Park West–Columbus Circle–Times Square–Herald Square.
When it’s 62 degrees and not a cloud in the sky in mid-October, I immediately find myself staking out the nearest park and sitting down with a great book for a while, soaking in information, inspiration, brilliant sun, and people watching all at the same time. With one of the best parks in the world at my front door, I do this fairly often. Central Park lends itself to so many activities – so much hustle bustle with tourists, runners, bikers, children, etc. – so sometimes sitting with a book is a little challenging, but once you get in the zone nothing can distract you. Throughout my journey so far, I’ve read a number of books on countless topics: nutrition, meditation, Buddhism, management and leadership, finance, self-care, and so much more. However, there are three books that I keep going back to. Three books that will forever be engrained in my mind for their lessons and I’m happy to share them with you today. Be warned: read any one of these and your life just might be changed forever.
1) The Magic Of Thinking Big:
Ask any entrepreneur his top three books and this will invariably be on the list. Originally written in 1959 by David J. Schwartz, Ph.D., it’s certainly a classic. For anyone looking to realize their goals and take dedication and confidence to a whole new level, this is definitely the book for you. From lessons on destroying fear, cultivating a better attitude, dealing with defeat and thinking like a leader, this book breaks everything down in simple, executable terms. Schwartz give easy-to-follow tips like carrying a self-promoting “commercial” in your wallet, where you essentially sell yourself to yourself and read it for daily inspiration.
There are tons of people out there with big ideas and little action, who end up defeated thinking “I don’t have what it takes to accomplish this.” I know, because I used to be one.The truth is that those people who have succeeded in creating thriving businesses and reaching their goals are no smarter than you and me. They are not richer and did not happen to “get lucky”. Luck happens with preparation meets opportunity. Nothing more, nothing less. So prepare for the best, visualize yourself succeeding, and you will find the Universe lining things up for that exact goal to happen. The key here — and this book continually drills this point home — is confidence. If you truly believe you can make something happen, then it will be done. If you allow fear to lead you, then you will not succeed. Pretty simple stuff, right? So no matter where you are in your life, this book will help you learn to THINK BIG, build mega-confidence and realize any and all of your short- and long-term goals.
2) Many Lives, Many Masters:
Oh boy. I’ve been waiting to write about this book for so long, and it’s finally here. I will do my best to properly communicate how downright powerful this book is and how it’s changed my entire outlook on life. Written in 1988 by leading psychologist Dr. Bryan L. Weiss, this book blends traditional psychiatry and hypnotism with metaphysics and past-life soul searching. In the early 1980s, Weiss was a classic clinical psychiatrist treating patients in Miami, often using popular hypnotic regression tactics to help patients sort out deeply rooted issues from childhood. When one particular client comes to him with a host of intense phobias, he finds himself leading her not into childhood, but into a past life, where she revealed in shocking detail her day-to-day experiences and ultimate death. This continued for 87 different past lives, each in a different time and place. As he leads Catherine through these lives and deaths, she miraculously releases her phobias one by one.
Weiss is a trained scientist and was very skeptical when this started, but after a few sessions he knew this was not a hoax. Catherine’s recountings of her past lives was excruciatingly detailed. She would sometimes speak in different languages, languages she never learned or even heard before. In each life, she explored her soul’s purpose and relationships with others. As she endured each death, her soul would life from that body and go back into a sort of “limbo” where the soul is not embodying any physical state. In that place, that Masters come out. The Masters are a group of “spirit guides”, higher souls that speak to Weiss using Catherine as a channel, and their teachings specifically are what have had profound impact on me. I’ll leave the details of these for another post.
According to most writers exploring souls and past lives, groups of souls tend to reincarnate together again and again, working out their karma (debts owed to others and to the self, lessons to be learned, etc.) over the span of many lifetimes. So you know that family member or best friend that you have an inexplicable connection with? You probably were together in a past life. Terms like kindred spirits, soul sister, soul mates; they all explain this phenomenon. The most fascinating thing about this book for me was this: in each lifetime our souls have one large lesson to learn, one debt to fill. Why just one? Well, seeing that our lives are infinite, we literally have all the time in the world to learn. One of the Masters said that time is not as we actually view it, but is measured in lessons learned. How beautiful is that?
This book will put so much in perspective for you, including the fear of death. At the end of the day, there is no better way to live life than by continually cultivating your soul. Karma truly exists and you choose your soul’s path. I’ll leave with this quote:
We will all have a dominant trait. This might be greed, or it might be lust, but whatever is determined, you need to fulfill your debts to those people. Then you must overcome this in that lifetime. You must learn to overcome greed. If you do not, when you return you will have to carry that trait, as well as another one, into your next life. The burdens will become greater. With each life that you go through and you did not fulfill these debts, the next one will be harder. If you fulfill them, you will be given an easy life.
So you choose what life you will have. In the next phase, you are responsible for the life you have. You choose it.
3) The 4-Hour Work Week:
Tim Ferriss is a fierce teacher and a total rockstar. The 4HWW is for anyone (whether entrepreneur or employee) who wants to learn the art of living life on your own terms and realizing your dreams. The ultimate goal of this book is “lifestyle design” — empowering you to live the life you want right now, rather than waiting until retirement (yikes!) to do and see all the things you’ve hoped and dreamed of. You’ll quickly find out that it doesn’t take a millionaire to live overseas and travel multiple times per year. It just takes a different midset, setting boundaries between life and work, and a whole lotta passion.
Who doesn’t wish there were more hours in a day? I don’t know one person who is holding off on doing something because they “don’t have enough time”. This book will teach you to use time to your advantage, harnessing all the hours in a day in the most effective way. Not necessarily so you can do more, but do things in the most efficient way so that you can ENJOY your precious time doing the things you love. Don’t have a hobby? This will help you find your passion. Have too many hobbies? This will help you find ways to make your passions a part of your everyday life and even make money doing it!
Ok…yes, I mentioned making money. This book focuses a lot on building a self-sufficient “auto-pilot” business to fund what Ferriss calls your “dreamline”. But this is not a “get rich quick” book by any means. Instead, it is a roadmap for anyone looking to release themselves from the never-ending grip of emails, senseless meetings, obligations, etc. and make time for more important things like friends, travel, learning, etc. I read this with less than two months to go before leaving for my trip, and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. I now have much clearer goals for business ideas (“muses” as Tim calls them) and I will be traveling with those in mind. No matter where you are in life – physically, financially, or otherwise – this book will give you tools to take control over your life and enjoy it to the fullest.
I’m off to sit in Central Park with a book.
Go find some passion!
Amy Carole
Months ago, I saw a speaker stand up on stage and say something that always stuck with me:
“Dare to live your dream life”
….so I did.
And now, it can’t get any more official than this.
I’ve broken my lease, quit my job, bought my plane ticket and paid in full. There is definitely no turning back now. Drum roll please….I’m going to India! Ok, more specifically I’m going to India, SE Asia and beyond. Let’s start with the tangible.
November 14th, 2010 is going down in my little personal history as the first day of the rest of my life. On that day I will leave the US on a one-way ticket to India with no return date in sight. Call it Eat, Pray, Love, call it a pilgrimage, call it an extended spiritual trip. I prefer something simple: my journey.
I’ve been talking about taking a trip around the world for over a year now. I had many friends that had taken advantage of the popular “round-the-world ticket” and it intrigued me to no end. But how would I get the money? What would I do about my job? How would I get around? Where would I go? How long? And the biggest concern yet…what happens at the end of the trip? You know, it’s funny just writing those questions down now, as if they were such “valid” seeming concerns in the past. I’ve since learned to let go and enjoy the moment, trusting that the Universe will guide me in the right direction. You know what? That is immeasurably helpful. Because now after shifting my perspective, I can say with total conviction “I don’t know what is going to happen and that’s just fine.”
I recently got a charm that says Journey: Life is a journey not a destination. That about sums it up! So let’s explore the journey I have loosely planned.
I will arrive in Mumbai (Bombay) on Nov 16th and meet up with two dear friends of mine who happen to be traveling at the same time. For five days we will explore the hustle-bustle of Mumbai before I head down to Goa, India to complete a 1-month Yoga Teacher Training program. This is something I have wanted to do for over a year now, and what better place to do so that the motherland of yoga. I could have choosen programs in other more “sacred” cities like Mysore, Pune, Rishikesh, etc. but in the beginning of Winter it turns out Goa is the place to be, so I figured why not. From what I understand, Goa is a much more Westernized city and can be a major party town, what I have likened as “the Ibiza of India”. I’m expecting massive festivals over the holidays and dance parties galore on the beaches filled with other like-minded travelers and expats. Works for me! I have a feeling the YTT will be nothing short of amazing, and as an added bonus I will be living in a hut on the shore of “Whispering Lake”, waking up each morning to a foggy, crisp lake. That alone fulfills one lifetime dream.
Thanksgiving, my 28th birthday, Christmas and New Years will be spent in Goa. The YTT ends right before Christmas, and I expect to stay there with my new friends to experience Goa in all its holiday glory, which I hear should be in abundance.
The month of January is open to travel around India. Originally I wanted to find an ashram to sit and do yoga, meditate, study Buddhism, etc. Basically selfishly relishing in my own spirituality. But then Amma appeared. Ok, not literally, but I came to learn that Amma – known worldwide as the “Hugging Saint” – holds her South India tour for three weeks each January. Volunteers can sign on to help with the tour, traveling around South India by bus and sitting on stage with Amma as she gives darshan (the hugging ceremony). As volunteers, you are expected to help in whatever way is needed (seva) and to participate in the daily schedule of prayer, meditation, chanting, etc. It will be mentally taxing in so many ways: everything will be crowded, food and water will be rationed, sleeping quarters might be on a floor, etc. But in exchange, you are a part of something nothing short of magical, helping some of the poorest people in the world meet and be blessed by Amma as she holds darshan. To be able to contribute something so special and meaningful to literally thousands of people’s lives — that alone will be worth the journey.
I will tie up my time in India the first week of February and head down to Bangkok to meet my awesome parents and embark on a 3-week tour of Southeast Asia. This “Indochina adventure” is an organized trip through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. It has been a long time since I’ve traveled with my parents and I am beyond excited. Plus, this gives me a great opportunity to explore four countries relatively quickly and decide if I want to spend more time in any of them later on. The trip ends in Hanoi, Vietnam and at this point I can do WHATEVER I WANT. From there on out, I am going to go wherever the Universe takes me.
Some things on my list (subject to change at any point in time for any reason whatsoever):
- Silent meditation retreat in Thailand
- Take ballet in Bangkok
- Juice fast on a remote island in Thailand
- WWOOF (working on an organic farm for free room & board): possibly in Japan, Australia, New Zealand
- Learn to surf in Bali
- Learn a language
- Visit seaweed farm in Indonesia
At this point, I don’t know how long I’ll be gone or where I will end up. All I know is I’ve saved a lot of money and airline miles and am embarking on the journey of a lifetime. Along the way I hope to save money by bartering yoga, reiki, pilates, even nutrition services. And WWOOFing is a fabulous way to stretch the budget yet still travel around with people and explore. If anyone has tips on bartering services for lodging, food, etc, let me know! Same goes for any travel tips or exciting things to add to my list. I’m pretty much open to ANYTHING.
I cannot wait to see who comes into my life over this time, the things I will learn, the sights I will see. As for the future, who knows? The future is now, it’s 5 minutes from now, and two days from then. I’ll figure it out as I go along and see where the Universe leads me.
Cheers to living your dream life,
Amy Carole
Amy Carole
