Monthly Archives: May 2011

slow your roll, woman!

Posted on by

…is what i often tell myself when i’ve piled waaay too much on my plate – both in food and in life.

photo courtesy of weightlossandtraining.com

foodwise, i’m lucky because most of the time my boyfriend, jeff, often doubles as my garbage disposal when my stomach fails me. “your eyes are bigger than your stomach,” my dad would tell me over and over again when i was a kid – and is still true to this very day… some things never change. :)

lifewise, it’s not as simple. nobody but me, myself & i has to deal with the consequences of having too much on my plate. hello, my name is kristin, and i am a perfectionist. i suffer from type a personality excessiveness. type a personalities are often described as: aggressive, overachieving, controlling, impatient, highly competitive in nature, multi-task oriented, deadline loving, a perfectionist who despises dilly-dallying & vagueness… aka a workaholic. simply stated: i bite off more than i can chew.  believe me, i’ve mellowed out over the years (thank you, my dear yoga practice), and i can honestly say that i’m not nearly as aggressive, controlling, impatient or competitive as i used to be… although it does resurface every now and then. ;) oh yeah, and i am still a workaholic… again, some things never change! old habits die hard, dammit! …but thank you, lord, for jeff, who is the yin to my yang. :)

photo courtesy of punky-brookster.blogspot.com

case in point: the state of my mind, body & soul this weekend:

i just got over a cold about a week ago (it’s taken me another entire week to feel back at 100%), and here i am again (less than a week later), mentally exhausted, physically drained, fatigued, probably malnourished from the lack of a heathly balanced diet caused by eating on the run, and sleep-deprived. why?! because my overachieving self just doesn’t know when to S-T-O-P. the catholic church should’ve made workaholism the 8th deadliest sin after gluttony.

if you know me, i am NOTORIOUS for my schedule – setting it, packing as much as possible into every 24 hours of my day & sticking to it, which has taken on new meaning in my life since i got my iPhone 4! my life has become a carefully choreographed sequence of events. i am not by any means complaining, i am meerly stating the obvious about myself and my tendencies, and making it a public declaration that i am making a committment to leading a more balanced life.

me in dancer pose (natarajasana): the perfect balance of strength, length, balance, calmness, focus + flexibility (my favorite pose!)

ah-ha! what does a balanced life mean, you ask? it can mean different things to different people. but for me, it means:

  1. i practice yoga 3-4x/week: bikram, power, vinyasa & yin – depending on what i need.
  2. i spend quality time with my family 2-3x/week: eating dinner together, hanging out with my sisters, visiting my cousins, and my nieces/nephews.
  3. i teach yoga 2x/week (for now)
  4. i eat healthy meals throughout the day, minimizing the amount of processed food i take into my body.
  5. i dedicate 1 day out of the week to doing absolutely nothing at all – or at least nothing to do with work, my blog, or teaching. i save this day for mental & physical recooperation: reading, getting a pedi, having lunch with friends, or watching what’s on my dvr.
  6. i spend quality time with jeff (besides going to yoga together): have dinner, go to the movies, hike (i’m still trying to get him to do this!), or just enjoy a quiet night at home :)

i am not saying that this will be easy, or that by tomorrow i’ll have this all dialed down. because really… this shit takes time. having balance is one of the most important values to have in my life, along with family, passion & health. it’s so easy to lose balance in life, especially with the choas of everyday events. to stay in balance means letting go of certain things that aren’t as important, and bringing in more of what is lacking. it is a constant ebb and flow; i’m ok with that. it’s just like my yoga practice: one week all i’ll want is power, then another week all i want to do is yin. the most important thing is being aware, and honoring the need for the body to change to maintain balance. i need to bring that awareness off the mat and more into my life…

so, with that said, i close this post now at 11:00pm, so i can start getting ready for bed, and get my beauty rest. my immune system is craving it!

sweet dreams!

photo courtesy of mudspice.wordpress.com

shout out to my sister, geraldine, who proofreads all my posts! geraldine has a b.a. in english from the university of california, davis & currently teaches at gunn high school in palo alto.

yoga+nature+music = wanderlust 2011!!

Posted on by

photo courtsey of musicallies.com

last year, i didn’t give a rat’s ass about the wanderlust festival. i heard about it, saw the posters & the poscards… but it didn’t really mean anything to me. today, i literally eat, sleep & dream yoga (yes – it’s true!)…and it’s a totally different story. what is wanderlust, you ask? well, it’s similar to what rock the bells is to hip hop fans, what lollapalooza is to rockers, what comic-con is to gamers or what lightfair international is to lighting designers… i only know that because i used to be one and i went – haha (nerd alert!). essentially, wanderlust : yogis :: disneyland : the young at heart (a flashback to SAT testing days for all you analogy-lovers out there)

being the highly investigative individual that i am, i spent a good amount of last night scoping out the wanderlust festival 2011 website… and it was just like i was back in college again browsing college courses – except 10x more FUN because it’s all YOGA! omg, it’s a yogini’s dream come true: 4-days of yoga in squaw valley usa, getting your asana on in the great outdoors, meditating with mother nature, flowing to LIVE music, even going on a yogi-lead hike or run… and can’t forget to mention, the diverse collection of recognized & respected teachers who are known all over the globe! (shiva rea, seane corne, john friend, & kathryn budig – to name a few!)

i’m discovering that the hardest part of this process is trying to figure out which classes i want to take and which teachers i want to see the most; it’s a lot more complicated than i thought it would be…because realistically, i will probably only register for the 1-day pilgrim pass. so, i’ve narrowed it down so far to 3 classes and 3 days:

thursday, july 28

10:30am – 12:30pm creating potent themes with john friend

1 – 3pm tending the sacred fire for teachers with shiva rea

3:30 – 5:30pm flowing within the 5 elements (maha bhutas) with janet stone

friday, july 29

8:30 – 10am the alchemy of the heart with pete guinosso

12 – 1:30pm sequencing & adjustments with johnny kest

2 – 3:30pm shakti flow with seane corne

sunday, july 31

8 – 9:30am svaha vinyasa with janet stone

10 – 11:30am detox flow with johnny kest

12 – 1:30pm the art of asana assists with giselle mari

for all you yogis & yoginis out there who’ve been to wanderlust, i would love to get some insight on your favorite workshops, teachers, classes, and MUST DOs at the festival! since i’m planning to only go for 1 day, i want to make sure i make the most out of it! …although i’m sure just being there to experience the community & practicing yoga with nature all around is amazing!

please share your wanderlust festival memories & experiences with me! :)

…anyone out there down to go to wanderlust 2011? holler!!!!

sseko: beautiful sandals for an inspiring purpose

Posted on by

ms. christina's killer shoe collection (photo courtesy of km2shoeblog.blogspot.com)

like most women, i am obsessed with SHOES! an obsession that grew exponentially thanks to carrie bradshaw and her fashion-forward friends of sex and the city. (if you don’t know, woman or man, you seriously need to get with the program!) peep-toe, chunky platforms, sassy flip flops, 4″ stilettos that give that extra ooomf when i want to be able to look most of my friends straight in the eye, sexy strappy numbers, boots with buckles, wooden wedges, summery espadrilles… OMG i could go on forever! when i go to the mall, which isn’t a destination i frequent nowadays, i will admit to you right now that i intentionally park my car in the nordstrom lot (my favorite department store, and according to my godmother, has been since i was 6-years old) so that walking through the shoe department is the first and the LAST thing i do at the mall. ;) can you really blame a girl?

photo courtesy of shadders.net

so with this obsession with shoes, you can understand why seeing my sisters huddling around a computer screen filled with colorful strappy sandals peaks my curiosity. what ARE you guys lookin at?! what are you buying? oOooO, i like THAT one! my sister, the high school teacher, turns to me wide-eyed and excited and gives me the rundown about sseko sandals:

  • sseko designs provides an opportunity for recent cornerstone leadership academy graduates to earn money for their university tuition, living & working together in kampala, uganda for about 9 months before they begin college
  • sseco designs was created by a young college graduate with a vision to provide young women such as herself with the opportunity to reach their dreams!
  • sseko designs has a new class each year of talented, passionate, determined & strong women – each with a different story
  • sseko sandals all come with the same sole (different sizes, of course!) with 5 anchor points and a strap that tied in so many ways – swap it out with different colors & get creative!

photo courtesy of martinswant.wordpress.com

i, of course, jump on my laptop to do my own perusing around the site, clicking on every link available, and what i discover is amazing to say the least. there is a quote from the sseko designs website that i am absolutely in love with that truly speaks to the value of empowering women all around the world:

‘Women hold up half the sky,’ in the words of a Chinese saying, yet that’s mostly an aspiration: in a large slice of the world, girls are uneducated and women marginalized, and it’s not an accident that those same countries are disproportionately mired in poverty and riven by fundamentalism and chaos…focusing on women and girls is the most effective way to fight global poverty and extremism. The world is awakening to a powerful truth: Women and girls aren’t the problem; they’re the solution. -NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

beautiful, creative sandals that stand for an uplifting purpose. shoes with meaning… can it get any better than that? such an inspiring story and TRUTH. there is something to be said about how i feel when i am inspired. i feel… GOOD. i have HOPE. it feels good KNOWING that there is some RIGHT going on in the world today, despite all of the hatred, devastation, loss, war, and injustice.

inspiring people give me HOPE.

my question to you is: what gives you HOPE?

i got my eye on these green babies! (photo courtesy of http://www.ssekodesigns.com)

**did you know? that GREEN is the color of hope? …i knew there was a reason why i loved that color! ;) hehe…

namaste.