The Extra Effort

It seems so simple. If I put forward a little extra effort—in my job, my relationships and my life goals—I will be rewarded with positive change. Talk to me after having a restless nights sleep and a long list of tasks to complete and the simplicity starts to fade and the effort seems insurmountable. C'est la vie, non?

I have been looking at how I can put in some extra effort in all areas of my life— whether it's picking up the phone more often to connect with family and friends or doing a really great job on a work project. I notice that sometimes I have to fight off a feeling that I am sacrificing something or that it's just too much work—but really, is it?

As I pondered this thought, I looked for some inspiration to motivate me and this is what I found:

The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems. - Mahatma Gandhi 

10-4 Gandhi.

Photo: Putting in some extra effort for a delicious backbend. 

One step, two step. Small steps, big step.

I am thrilled to announce that I have completed my Yoga Teacher Training with Chris Chavez!

Last Sunday I received my certificate and celebrated with the yogis and yoginis that went on this amazing journey—deepening our understanding of the philosophy and principles of Anusara yoga. This marks almost a year of training! 

I am so happy to have found a wonderful kula to help me grow and take the next steps to develop my skills—both as a student and an instructor.

Thanks to everyone for your support!

Namaste.

Day 1—getting to know you.

Final training—sporting our grad class t-shirts. "Don't toast your monkey!"

The goods!

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie

The recent flooding in Australia has our hearts and our minds on friends down under. It has been over 10 years now since we were there for our working holiday. I rummaged through our storage closet last week and pulled a few pictures from that trip. In total we were in Oz for nine months—where we had the best of times and some very challenging times.

Highlights:

• Learning to surf
• Seeing a dolphin, a kangaroo, a koala, an iguana and a huntsman spider in the wild—except the spider, he was in our bedroom!
• Retrieving our car after it was stolen
• The adventure to Caboolture Wreckers to pick up a new transmission
• Playing the pokies
• Singing live on the Footy Show
• The RSL's that serve up amazing dinners and cheap drinks
• A hot Christmas with cold turkey
• Big Day Out and the Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Catching up with some old mates and meeting some awesome new ones

Oi! That was a pretty awesome trip.

Photos: my own.

Oh, what fun!

We had a great time in San Francisco. Here are some of the fun things we did:


Checked out The Walt Disney Family Museum and saw the original model of Walt's vision for Disneyworld.


Walked around Pier 39 and ate some crab at Neptune's Palace while looking out at Alcatraz and the sea lions.


Toured around Union Square and checked out the beautifully decorated trees and skating rink.


Went indoor skydiving in a vertical wind tunnel and suspended in air for four minutes. It was exhilarating!


Wishing you all a great New Year's! 


Much love,
J-Bo

Pic: Flying high at iFly.

San Francisco Christmas

That's right! Hubby and I are going south for the holidays to spend time with family there. Although the weather won't be sunny it will be a good 10 degrees warmer. 

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season and fantastic New Year. 

Pic: Riding the trolley car.

Teacher Training: A day in the life

Check out this awesome time lapse video, produced by Dagan Beach, capturing a day of Anusara Teacher Training this past November. If you put the video on pause you can manually move the cursor to look through all the images at a slower pace. You might even catch a few glimpses of yours truly. Click here to launch video.


Pic: My awesome teacher Chris Chavez demonstrating Dragon Fly. Photo by Dagan Beach.

Let it surface

Lately I feel like the universe is trying to send me a message.  Sometimes it comes through symbols, a song on the radio or words in a magazine that seem to jump up off the page. And if I am paying attention, I receive the message.

For me it seems the message has something to do with time. Time. What is it about you that makes me feel like things need to either slow down or hurry up? When I was in the process of healing—time was something I needed to just succumb to. Easier said.

Now that I am pretty much back to normal it seems like time might be on my side. That's right. Mick Jagger sang it and I am hearing it loud and clear—relax, go with the flow and let time just be on my side.

Whether or not these messages are there to help guide us is up to the interpreter. I say, let the message surface and see what comes up.

Pic: In Maui, waiting for the perfect wave.