gratitude practice: day 5

loves of my life - vincent + theo // sweetest pup around - momo (kristi's dog)

some days are harder than others and today was challenging for me. i can always count on some "fur therapy" to get me through a rough spot. lucky for me, i had numerous opportunities to get some lovin' from the animals in my life (in fact, as i type this, vincent is curled up behind me). 

and for that i am thankful.

playlist: short and sweet

"spiritual growth involves giving up the stories of your past so the universe can write a new one."

- marianne williamson -

do you know those days where you get the phone call you don't want to answer, the email that you weren't expecting, the text message that makes your stomach drop to the ground? yeah? me too. 

today may or may not be one of those days. maybe it's the shifting seasons. maybe it's karma. maybe it's the mercury retrograde that just kicked in. and maybe it's just life - ebb and flow, gain and loss, birth and death. change is the only constant, the thing we can absolutely count on. 

i definitely have a love/hate relationship with change (as i'm sure many of you can relate). when it's something i've planned or that i want, i'm all about it. but if it's something unexpected, i'm resistant, stubborn, and full of doubt. so what to do when i'm faced with the latter?

there's a lot of ways to work with these not-so-pretty feelings. i start with intention (of course) and my intention is to transform my uncertainty and fear into something greater, that serves, that uplifts. typically this transformation takes the shape of yoga, music, and journaling. i put together this short & sweet playlist to inspire you (and to remind myself) to embrace change with grace - so unroll your mat, grab your journal and a pen, take a deep breath and let go!

tranquility tour love

last night, i had the pleasure of joining kimberly wilson (who was my mentor during teacher training at tranquil space back in '09 and is one of my favorite people ever)and wonderful group of women for a tranquility pop-up event in SW portland. the event was part of the tranquility tour, kimberly's lastest adventure where she and her beau (aka tim mooney) are traveling all over north america to live simply and spread tranquility wherever they go! our evening was full of mindfulness, self-study and sensory indulgences - from lavender oil to chair yoga to tonglen to collage. total bliss!

 creative play + finished product

one of my biggest take-aways was actually a reminder. at the beginning of the year, i stumbled upon the quote "little by little, one travels far." it resonated with me and i've carried it in my back pocket since then. during the wheel of life exercise, kimberly asked us to choose an area that we ranked low in satisfaction and create two action steps to elevate this area by the end of the month. my area that i chose was do-gooding. just as i was about to write down some grand plan to reach out to this organization and that charity and volunteer numerous hours per a week (which to be perfectly honest would not have been reasonable for me right now), kimberly reminded us to keep it simple. she brought me back down to "little by little" and now i have the (much more realistic) action steps of donating some clothes to goodwill and sending out snail mail love to my family.

 kimberly & i (with her dreamcatcher handcrafted by moi and photobomber Tim) + podcast in action

it was so much fun reconnecting with old friends and creating new connections! kimberly and tim still have 7 more stops on the tour (the next one is in the Bay Area and the final one is in my hOMetown of Richmond, VA!) and if they are coming to your town, you should definitely join in the tranquility fun! i also want to give a little shout-out to the lovely luna jaffe who hosted the event last night in her beautiful office - she does some amazing work with creativity and money!

portland pop-up ladies + goody bag & kimberly's new book tranquilologie