To India...

I received an email from a lovely lady in India about living in Tembagapura. The email however didn't allow her email address to be shown so I am going to respond here:

Well hello to you in India! Happy to see your email. I do still live in Tembagapura. The culture is very dynamic. There is a very small group of expatriates compared to the overall number of residents but we never see the majority as most of them live in a place called Ridge Camp, where they have everything they need. There is plenty to do as an Ibu (Ibu means wife, mother in Bahasa Indonesia). For example, volunteering at the local schools and/or village, there is a quilting group, a group gets together to play cards, you can take yoga, workout or go to Zumba/aerobics and the social life is very busy. It is what you make it and can get very busy.

The majority of the residents are Muslim and we have two beautiful mosques here, if that serves your needs? Everyone here is super friendly! It’s so nice to have people wave as they drive by etc. The housing is decent and the housing comes furnished. Not sure if you have kids but the school is pretty decent and the children are awesome and from all over, which is neat. There is also a play group for the moms with little ones.

The shopping can get a bit tricky and frustrating at times. It is very expensive (compared to where we used to live) and things like clothing, shoes etc need to be purchased online or picked up while traveling.

I really do like it here and happy we made the decision to move here. Like I said it can be frustrating at times but that happens every where.

 

Let me know if you have more questions!

   

Thank you!

Kristen 

 

The balancing act...

Life is a giant balancing act and that is why I love balancing poses! Just as in life some days we balance better than others and we can always learn from that. Balancing poses not only increase our balance but also push limits. While in a balancing pose we are totally focused; focused on keeping the balance! Which I try to implement into the balancing act of my life.

Take Natarajasana (Dancer or Lord of the Dance Pose -- shown below). It is not an easy pose for a beginner to master and even a master can struggle with it. Dancer (as I commonly refer to it) is an awesome pose. It can be executed differently with arm placement, gaze and chest placement but just like life it's different for all of us. However, the execution of balancing poses that is a must, a constant is rooting the foot of your standing leg into the ground (or your mat) -- keeping your feet on the ground is a must in life! Another is keeping your standing leg straight and strong, again, in life we have to be strong to tackle the things that try to throw us off balance.

The last aspect of balancing poses that I love is the confidence. Those days that we master a balancing pose we instantly feel amazing! Our confidence soars! We are pushed to our limits and we conquer them! It's those moments in my classes when everyone is harmoniously balancing together I get all giddy and get goose bumps at such success. Oh I love that!!

Our balance will not always be symphonic and the days that our balance isn't perfect know there is always tomorrow -- a new, fresh day with love, light and potential!

Travel . Fitness . Yoga -- enjoy yours!

Oh meditation! Anytime, any place...

Having a bad day? Stressed out? Frustrated? Tired? Obsessing about an event or what someone said? Digging up bones (not literally! (as I hum Randy Travis' song Diggin' Up Bones)? Well my friends welcome to being human! We have this amazing, powerful, overactive, super-organ called the brain!! And at times it can drive us crazy!!

Anymore these days we deal with so many stressers from so many angles it's downright exhausting! So I am going to talk to you about meditation. I know! I know! You are saying to yourself "meditation? Ha! I don't have time or a quiet space to meditate!". I know where you are coming from because I used to feel the same way. But I am going to share some stories/tools with you on how you can successfully meditate anytime and place!

Meditation: Visualization

Story/tool #1: I dislike flying (and that is putting it nicely). So to quiet my overactive, freaked out super-organ, I plug in some earphones and mentally power up my "memory slide show". As my music of choice is playing and my eyes are softly closed, I imagine pressing play. As my happy memories pop up I enjoy the feelings they gave me and mentally swipe to the next happy moment in my life. I do this over and over and voilà, I have quieted the super-organ and now I am calm and my hyped-up brain activity has cooled down.

(Note: I like to apply #1 to situations like prior to taking a test, before going into a big meeting and while flying etc.)

Story/tool #2: One day before leaving for a trip to Australia (where we were going to be on a cruise for eight days) we were sitting at the dinner table and my son says "let's pray". Praying is something we don't normally do at the dinner table but hey, I can't say no to that. So we prayed and then each of us took turns thanking God for the things he has given us. My daughter stated her thanks and then says "and God please don't let the plane crash and the boat sink! Amen". And there it was, her fears laid out on the table! Poor thing! Well fast forward and we're on the plane and she is freaked! So I proceeded with guided visualization meditation. I asked her to randomly pick something or someone and she picked a princess. So a princess was our theme. I had her close her eyes and breathe slowly and calmly then we took the princess on an adventure as I described:

The beautiful princess walked outside her castle to an amazing glowing sun rising over the lush green mountain hillside. She stepped out onto the rocky road and it crunched beneath her feet. She continued walking and the sun was right in her eyes so she covered her eyes as she walked until she stumbled into something, a tall white horse. "Oops" she says "I am sorry". The horse looked down and said "come on let's go". The princess was stunned a talking horse? But she climbed onto the leather saddle, she grabbed the reigns and off they went...

 

Plane? What plane? My daughter and I were enthralled with the adventure that the princess took with her valiant steed! We have carried this mediation from the plane and now apply it to whenever she is upset about something and, I must say, we've had some pretty great journeys!

 

I recently had a friend express that her son has a fear of flying as well. I shared with her the guided meditation of visualization and a week or so later she told me how on their flight he began to get nervous and she had him imagine playing in the pool at the hotel that they were going to and it worked!! AWESOME!   

Meditation: Actualization

Story/tool #3: There were days when I got into my car from a long day of work and I'd recount each conversation and event over and over why did I say that?, why did she say that? why can't it be easier or different? the meeting was a disaster.... on and on. Thank you, super-organ! Now please, please be quiet! As I am driving, I just want to curl my legs up, relax my hands, close my eyes and breathe. Ya, that's so not happening in the car! UGH! What to do? For some reason cranking the music never works for me in these situations as it just adds more chaos to the cluster in my head. So a wonderful lady taught me the beauty of actualization. Actualization = to make actual, realize (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/actualize). This meditation is very, very simple. All you need to do is observe and realize your surroundings and state them. For example, if there was a car in front of me I would state in my head or out loud "car" or "red car". Sounds silly but as I continually make observations "green sign", "overpass", "lake"... I have diverted my super-organ to a less destructive process. Now the trick to this is to not associate a feeling to the statements. Make them as neutral as possible.

Mediation: Just Breathe!

Story/tool #4: So the easiest thing we can do to calm ourselves and our brain is to breathe. A great article states:

controlling breathing in this way triggers the parasympathetic nervous system to come online and counter our sympathetic nervous system’s fight or flight response to daily stresses. In effect, the relaxation response is the anti-fight or flight response. Subsequent research has backed up and expanded Benson’s argument (http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2013/05/14/breathing-and-your-brain-five-reasons-to-grab-the-controls/)



So in a pinch, in a loud chaotic room, in a meeting, on a plane, in a car, or when you can't sleep just breathe and your nervous system will respond! Ah thank you, super-organ!

Meditation doesn't have to be done sitting in a quiet room with no noise and legs folded perfectly with an empty mind -- that is not an achievable reality for many and those who can have practiced and practiced (good for them!) but you can enjoy your memory slide shows, fun adventures, actualizations and beautiful breaths!

Good luck!!

Travel . Fitness . Yoga -- enjoy yours!

The beginning...

Movement has always been a part of my life. When I say movement I mean dance and expression through movement of the body. I was a trained dancer and loved how I could express and release myself through dance. Over time my life calling turned from dancer to mother -- a full-time working mom of two little ones. My direction and focus changed and there was little to no "expression" until yoga. Yoga became this amazing drug that fed my inner desire for breath and life through a new found movement of the body. I no longer needed the stage, the lights and music, I found myself in my own light and music and my mat was my stage! It has been a amazing! Over the years yoga has become a constant through practice and meditation for me and my family. The moments of my little kiddos meditating through breath before bed and my hubby rolling around in Ananda Balasana (Happy Baby Pose) make me smile.

Our little suburban life turned from ordinary to extraordinary in June of 2013 when we moved from Colorado to a little town in Indonesia. Upon leaving for Indonesia I quit my job and took the time to be officially certified as a yoga instructor. The intensive was true to it's name -- intense! It was a beautiful week of self-growth and discovery. A week I will never forget. Not very long after we all boarded a plane and headed to Indonesia.

It has almost been a year and it has been a momentous adventure. I have taught close to 100 yoga classes that have involved students from places like Chile, South Africa, Australia, Mongolia, Canada and Indonesia. I have been able to experience yoga in magical places touched by ancient Hindu and Buddhist temples and been in earshot of the famous Sydney Opera House while Vinyasa-flowing on my "stage".

Throughout this yoga adventure I have learned so much. The need to share has prompted this blog. From travel to food to poses to purpose I hope to share this blessing in hopes that someone might benefit from this magic I call yoga!


My kiddos, Hannah and Mason, meditating before bed (2010)...