"Just Accept and You'll be Guided to the Destination" ~ Swamiji

It was only yesterday that I drove my rental car into a ditch! Yep! My first thought...so glad I got total coverage..the walk away damage waiver. My second thought...I wish I opted for the GPS!



So it was at the end of Summit Road on my way to Akaroa, a gorgeous peninsula about a 90 minute drive from Christchurch where I have landed myself for the last 3 nights after teaching the last classes of the year in Wellington. I am on holiday now. 9 days on my own to just explore before heading to Costa Rica to be with Shiva Rea on her New Year's retreat and lots of surfing to come!

So back to the driving into a ditch. So I left the gorgeous home where I am staying just only 20 minutes away from where this all went down with the MapQuest directions clutched in my hands while trying to maneuver through the hills and the hairpin super narrow turns way up high with only death off the edge. And as soon as I got to the end of the road I looked at signs that seemed to be guiding me to turn left. I did. Immediately after I made the turn I checked the map in my hand, looked down for a split second, and Ga-Dunk! I drove into the ditch. Sh~*&t! I only started driving just 20 minutes ago now I have to call the car rental place to get me out? Jeese Louise!

After assessing the situation I thought...I can get out of this. I took a few grounded inhales (my yoga teacher friend Vincent Bolletta from Auckland who joined, assisted, and taught a bit with me in Wellington for our Chakra Vinyasa TT. With his viniyoga studies, he started me on focusing on my breath by starting my inhale from the bottom of my nostrils and to visualise the inhale going down down down. So helpful in staying grounded with all this traveling...almost 2 years now on the road. Try it...you might like it during this holiday time of constant activity. Thanks Vincenzo!) So after a few breaths I asked for help from Grace, God, Universe...I call her Goddess and I reversed. That didn't work. Few more breaths and then I slowly crept forward to find the car bottom was scraping it's way along to the bottom of the hill where the ditch was less steep and I got out! Phew!

From there I referred to a teaching that I learned about with animals in trauma. When they get attacked and are stressed and in trauma they INSTINCTUALLY go off into a quiet spot and SHAKE FOR 24 HRS until they get it out of their system. That teaching came from my yoga teacher friend and physio Caroline Evans in Melbourne who joined me in Sydney for Fluid Power last month. Thanks gorgeous hottie mom Caroline! Check out Peter Levine's book 'Waking the Tiger' the innate capacity to transform overwhelming experiences by asking and answering an intriguing question.-- why are animals in the wild, though threatened routinely, rarely traumatized? By understanding the dynamics that make wild animals virtually immune to traumatic symptoms, the mystery of human trauma is revealed.

So I thought, maybe cars have a consciousness as well. That after a bit of shaking they will re~align back to balance with some faith from the outside....my prayers to be exact. So I was right...I saw the little red light with the exclamation point on the dashboard go off after about 30 minutes of driving and shaking and purring back to normal. The rental car made it up and down these really steep hills around Akaroa and the ditch was part of that experience.

OH. The ditch. Back to the Ditch. So what did I make of that experience. Let go. Let G.P.S.
Yep. A final teaching I'd love to share with you came from a private meeting with H.H. Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji in Melbourne after I taught with 8 other teachers for Yoga Aid (an event of 108 salutations to raise funds for local charities world wide). Swamiji was the closing speaker and teacher. He spoke of many things which included the 3 types of people in this world.
1. It's all about me
2. How do I serve others
3. I am an instrument of the Divine

When I heard him speak of that I just warmed up inside. So right to the heart of this (going on) 3 year tour. It's what I reflect on for each year of this Tour. But more to come on that in next month's newsletter and an introduction to the new Tour name of Spiritual Globalisation, the website re-launch, the growing team, and also the new Editor of this newsletter starting in Feb 2010!

So let's go back....G.P.S. Driving in the ditch. Clutching onto the Mapquest directions. Not trusting. I remembered Swamiji's teachings from one of his books, "Peace."

"These days in the West all the new cars have a 'GPS' navigation system where the computer in the car gives directions on how to reach your destination. As you sit in the car you just enter the address of where you are going, and through the journey a pleasant woman's voice guides you...However, after you've entered the destination address, before her guided instructions begin, you must press the "Accept" button on the screen. If the button is not pushed, the guided route will not begin and you will be left to your own device to reach the destination."

In our lives, it is the same. There is a divine Source, a Power, a Super-computer ready to guide us every step of the way. We must simply push the 'Accept' button! GPS stands for 'Global Positioning System,' but I also think it stand's for 'God's Perfect System.' He knows the way to the destination of our life, to the fulfillment of our unique, special and divine mission. He has designed the map. He has laid the roads. He has created mountains, rivers, highways, and train crossings. He knows every turn, every corner, every one-way street. He never loses His way. If we don't push the 'Accept' on the GPS system in the car, our journey will be filled with tension and worry.....Alternatively, if we simply press the 'Accept,' we will be guided gently and correctly at every step. We will know where to turn, where to continue straight and where to stop. Our minds will be free to contemplate God, to think pleasant and peaceful thoughts, to converse with others in the car. The journey will be peaceful, smooth, and enjoyable.

Similarly in our lives....if we accept God's will, if we allow Him to guide us along the path, our lives will be filled with inspiration rather than perspiration, and we will certainly reach the destination in the shortest amount of time. Frequently however, we doubt God's path. 'Is this really the way?' We wonder. We become skeptical of the Divine plan. We lose heart and faith."


So today I went back to the car rental office and got a GPS.
Phew!

~~

Enjoy your holidays and once in a while or more often than not....
~ breathe from the bottom of your nostrils downward on the inhale
~ shake off your tension dance shake dance shake + shake some more!
~ push the "Accept" button on your GPS

~~

Sending you love from the South Island of New Zealand...about to leave Christchurch for a 6 day adventure with my friend in a camper van. Gosh I hope he has a GPS! Well I know I do. Thanks Goddess!

Happy Winter|Summer Solstice! Peace on Earth to ALL!

See you in 2010!!

The Turmoil of September's Mercury Retrograde as Ego + Soul Battle It Out!

Have you ever been in one of those situations when your Soul knows what is right for you but your Ego is struggling against it? 1008 times perhaps? Soul knows what is in the Flow and alignment of your happiness…BUT…your Ego does not want to hear it? No matter how many times you want to ask that same tough question to yourself…and you keep getting the same answer from the Friend or Soul within, your Ego wants to hear a different answer? Suffering! Turmoil! Aggravation! What is that all about? Ego-fixation perhaps?

Well that was my situation last month when Mercury was retrograde for about 20 days in September which caused difficulties with my relationships, communications, computer problems and travel plans! [ See "What is Mercury Retrograde" below] Let's just say Mercury retrograde kicked my *SS all over the grid last month! I was warned by both astrologers about this time…Paul Margolin in Byron Bay, Australia [www.templebyron.com] and Frank Don of California [www.frankdon.com] as they both told me that September would be a tumultuous month for me. I even compared notes with a friend of mine here in NYC who has the same birthday and she said her month was total turmoil too! Wow! Was it ever!

So did I learn anything after the sun came out of the clouds? and the monkey mind settled down? and the Ego put down her boxing gloves after trying to pick a fight with the Soul for the past 20 days? Thank Goddess YES!

Lesson learned | My Soul knew better, she was right on track, she was telling me that this particular relationship that I was questioning was not in alignment with my intentions that I had set for myself and my future and happiness…especially along this Soul Connections Tour.

The great challenge | my Ego would not accept or budge.

So I went through about 4 weeks of turmoil as my Ego and Soul battled it out. But in reality my Soul was not involved in the battle at all. It was my Ego that would not put down the boxing gloves, and it felt like the monkeys in my mind were also joining the battle as they laced up their huge boxing gloves, trying to tempt my Soul to "put up her fists and fight." My Soul would have nothing to do with it. She just sat back and smiled with a huge open heart and arms wide open and wings expanded.

What turmoil you might ask? Long story short…when I returned to the States and met up with my friend who I was having this internal struggle over…would the relationship be the same as it was when I left 5 weeks ago. A question I asked myself over and over while in Canada + Europe. Crazy. My Soul knew better to let go, but my Ego was fixated on holding on. So I decided…give the Ego the recognition she needs. When I get back to the States it would take only one minute of being back with my friend and the internal war would be over. Funny though. There was no war as only one party was fighting….Ego fighting herself…Ego trying to hold on to her claims and desires…although the misalignment was clear. And that is exactly what happened.

As soon as I saw my friend, the boxing gloves dissolved into the ether, Ego dropped to her knees and prostrated in front of my Soul in total surrender. Ego did not say sorry for the troubles she had caused, but instead said thank you for giving me the time to work it out for myself and the space needed to experience the proof I wanted. The Soul didn't budge as she was and always will be aligned to my complete and total happiness and true freedom.

So that to me was the greatest lesson of
"The Turmoil of September's Mercury Retrograde"

The Soul just knows what is right and good and in alignment for you…but don't try to just tell the Ego what to do. Ego is strong and often like a small child just trying to get your attention over and over again until you recognize her, No need to be delusional and ignore the internal battle, you cannot, just recognize Ego's innate nature and acknowledge, and Flow and let her work out her own struggles. "Let Go Let Goddess." And in the end, most likely when one is aligned with their Intention and following their Intuition [last month's Formula to Happiness] then the two can play together in total respect for each other. Ego + Soul bowing to the other. Dancing with each other. Laughing at each other. Riding the waves together. Like good friends. Sometimes they can just be in peace by agreeing to disagree…no need to fight….it usually works itself out….or Goddess or Universe will work it out…and most likely towards the path of the Soul's happiness…but Shhhh! Don't say that too loudly, Ego is happy now. Let's just keep stroking her ego now that Mercury retrograde is over and we are in the clear again.

And for all of you out there who also felt the turmoil…I pray to Goddess that you are taking some time to know what lesson came from that time and that you are embracing October with a renewed respect for the Dance of Soul + Ego.

May we continue to enjoy the Wave Ridings whether those waves are calm or fierce.
Remember so are we!

Kysses! from NYC
Twee


---
So what is Mercury retrograde?
"The purpose of Mercury retrograde is to review and revise our life and our connection with reality. The timing of this universe is geared toward the Sun as it moves through the zodiac. Mercury has an orbit that at times gets ahead of the Sun allowing us to look into the future toward new and innovative ideas. However, we cannot continue in that vein until we come back to the present designated by the Sun and put our new ideas into manifestation. During the time that Mercury jumps ahead, we ultimately have to bring the ideas back into the present to test and evaluate to see how they fit into our life. As Mercury retrogrades back into the present, the connection with the Sun happens as we test drive our ideas and re-align with reality and the natural timing of the universe." ~ www.alphalifetrends.com

A Formula for Happiness | H = (I+I+CA)/M

I am currently reading a book called Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. Although I am not to crazy about the rest of the title: The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss, (think the publisher had anything to do with that?), it was highly recommended to me by my father's neurologist Dr. Enescue, when I asked him for any suggestions on how to transition from vegetarian to vegan....

Eat to Live! he said, "buy it."
I did.

I have been enjoying Dr. Fuhrman's formula for Health.
H=N/C
Health = Nutrition Density / Caloric Intake

Your health is dependent on the nutritional density or amount of nutrition available in food that you choose to eat divided by the calories of that food. Simply put...if you choose to eat french fries, with very little nutrition in relation to the obscene amount of calories going into your body temple, your health is not great...versus eating spinach or kale, which both have very high nutritional value in relation to very low caloric intake, therefore your health will be fantastic! Your health is directly related to the food choices you make.

Ok. This we already know.
So how does that relate to our everyday happiness?
Here is my formula...

H=(I+I+CA)/M

I know it looks crazy! Can you tell I can be a little bit of a numbers nerd? ....it comes from my dad...he was an accountant for over 20 years in his last position. Stay with me....

Happiness = (Intention + Intuition + Conscious Action)/Moment

Happiness is directly related to living as many Moments based on following your heart's Intentions + your gut's Intuition + choosing Conscious Actions based on the union of the two.

Do you like my formula for Happiness?
~ know your Intention before you act upon a thought or emotion
~ listen for your Intuition, your gut response before you act upon a thought or emotion
~ live as many moments as you can from Conscious Action honoring those two

Enjoy the formula and the "experiment" of your life!

Namaste + Much Love!
Twee

Honoring Shiva Rea| Her Astanga Roots | and Sri P. Jois's Death This Week

"Come to the edge, He said. They said: We are afraid. Come to the edge, He said. They came. He pushed them…and they flew." ~ Guillaume Apollinaire

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, the beloved Guruji of Ashtanga Yoga, died this week at the age of 93 in Mysore, India. He can be credited with carrying along the lineage of T. Krishnamacharya, who is largely regarded as the founder of modern yoga practice. He is one of the most prominent figures in yoga, having taught thousands of students over decades with many of his students among the most well-respected teachers in the West today.

My teacher Shiva Rea also studied with him as an Astanga student for 10 years before evolving into her own true essence as the founder of Prana Flow Yoga.

As we remember and honor Sri P. Jois may we also remember and honor all of our great teachers, of yoga, of life, and of love who have helped us go to the edge and jump give them gratitude for their patience and their true wisdom and foresight as they guided us to the edge, pushed us, and watched our wings expand!

Thank you Shiva for being my teacher. Thank you Sri P. Jois for inspiring Shiva's teachings. And thank you to all my students who hold space for me to share my own true essence of Prana Flow Yoga with you now and for years to come.

I will continue to see you along this magical journey of the Soul Connections Tour

.....Blessings from Amsterdam!

.....Blessings to the students of Munich, Germany + Sofia Bulgaria! What an honor to be a part of your lives...your hearts!

In Love As Love With Love,
Twee

Photo by Bill Tipper | Yoga Photographer | billtipper.com

Break on Through to the Other Side! | From the April 09 Empowered Living Newsletter

Today I laid on the grass during savasana and gazed at the sunny sky and tree branches over head and I couldn't help but to hear the Doors ringing in my ears "Break on through to the other Side!" When I see these little spring buds trying to enter into the world while the rest of us are still clutching onto our winter coats here in NYC, Toronto, Kripalu, + Beijing where I just journeyed from only weeks ago....I think " No. It's time now!"

These buds know their duty, their truth. Regardless if it's winter weather outside, it's actually spring and they are determined to say what they need to say and live what they are meant to live and keep growing toward the sun. Like us. Yes YOU. and Yes ME.

We are also growing towards the sun....towards the light. In a world that choses to speak in language of Global Warming + Economic Crisis....I SAY NO. Not my language. I turn off the TV. Instead, I break on through to the other side! Instead I say Global Balancing + Economic Realignment. I get to the other side, standing firmly on my own two feet and not only believing but LIVING on that side. How else can we continue to break through together?

Bring your own linen napkins with you wherever you go. Bring your To-Go-Ware, bamboo fork, knife, spoon right inside your Envirosax. Bring your own crazy straw. Your own chopsticks. And YES carry it everywhere and teach others about these alternatives over paper napkins and plastic utensils and throw-away straws. Only this weekend at the Toronto Yoga+Pilates Conference I was introduced Palm Leaf Bio Plates|see photo above | because the vendor serving India fare took it another step and served on these gorgeous plates instead of the styrofoam plates! Why wouldn't you?

So it's already happening. We see this. We are this! We are living on that side. Or are we? That side where the buds are already growing. Where a full moon glows but also knows it will fade away to only return again. A warmer spring season. An abundant summer where we peel off our old winter coats, clean our closets, shed our old skins and know that there is always a new beginning on the other side of an ending.

This past weekend I was in Toronto and student was pulled out of class to find out that an extended family member was killed by a drunk driver. I returned to read an email that my last employer and mentor has been in a NYC hospital since Feb 18th recovering from a malignant brain tumor removal that resulted in a stroke and neural damage that will affect her 3 children and husband's lives forever. I returned home to hear of my 46 yr old girlfriends 48 hours of pushing to give birth to her first born when the doctors years ago told her it was not likely. I returned home and arranged for at-home massages for my mom, her first time ever, and father, a 82 yr old retiree with Parkinson's and it took about 3 days and 20 times of pleading to my father that 15 minutes in a chair would benefit him and show us that he is willing to help himself to be comfortable even when his body is not. That he is willing to push on through to the other side while he is still here with us. Being here now. When he finally said yes! Wow. I broke on through to the other side of my beliefs that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. YOU CAN!

So I say to you now...what is keeping you from breaking on through to the other side? YOU. YOU. and YOU perhaps? So get out of your own way.

Try this....Get outside. Practice yoga outdoors. Today. Yes today! Experience all the obstacles that are in your way...that you think knocks you off balance because you are used to the perfect wood floor, and the perfect eKo friendly Manduka mat under your feet, and the perfect bamboo yoga clothing on your skin from Be Present or Vyana....and get over yourself. Get past yourself. Get out of your own way. Breathe. Be there. Where is there? Who are you with all these obstacles? What's on the other side my friend?

Are you the one still clinging onto your winter coats? the ones from high school? or the ones of past lovers? or of broken dreams and dried tears? isn't today the time to break on through all that and be right here right now....lying under the sun and appreciating the signs of Spring and the buds blooming "no matter what?" And that you too are the same as those buds?

And for those of you who are already on the other side....please help remind us all of what it's like over there on that side. Smile at us. Help to lift us. Hold doors open for us. Give us a call. Offer to share a ride with us. Send us a short email exulting us of our hidden sparks. And show us the way by being the way and shining the full moon's light our way if we get off track. Remember you were on this side once too.

See you on the other side....Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. And Harvesting in the Southern Hemisphere. Enjoy both sides my friends. And I'll meet you there soon!

Oh...and just as much as you push on through...remember there is an art to being pulled through to the other side too right? Perhaps that is the next blog! Kiss!

Blessings,
Twee

Blessings to my friends Ginny in Toronto | Monica Walsh in Westchester NY USA | + Lauren, JJ, + Jaya in Montauk NY USA.

Photo Above, L to R: Frank of Toronto | buying a SIGG bottle to replace that plastic water bottle soon. Me. Melissa B. who hosted me in Toronto. Jennifer Findlay. Owner of 889 Yoga Studio, Toronto.

From EmPowered Living with Twee Yoga | March 09 Newsletter:

Since January of this year I have traveled to teach in Bali | Vietnam | New Zealand | Malaysia | retreated with Shiva in India | and now I am here in China again at the Commune by the Great Wall. My life is bursting with abundance and also with appreciation for all the doors that closed behind me.

Yep! Because without those doors closing, I would not have seen all the open doors ahead that I have since walked through courageously and fiercely!

It was only 13 months ago that i left my last partner in Perth because he told me he knew he didn't want children. After only a few days of discussion I knew that that was not a door I was willing to close for a relationship. I have always known that I want to be with a partner that wants children. So after many tears and doubts and fears between us, I moved into action and organized | with Shauna's help | one full year of traveling and teaching | the Soul Connections Tour. I looked in my email inbox to all the invitations that had been there waiting for at least a year and remembered my dreams from my teen years of traveling the world and I stepped through the threshold.

A year later I've added a second year to this tour and most likely will add a third and final year of living on the road, following my heart, and continuing to manifest my dreams come true.

If you are in the States at the end of March, I will be teaching at Kripalu | Lennox Massachusetts USA | for the first time and I will share with you all the tools and techniques | teachers and guides | fears overcome and dreams manifested | to live a life of dreams manifested | and new dreams still to come alive!

Even during a time of economic re-alignment + global balancing when it's too easy to look back at only the closed doors | YOU HAVE A CHOICE AND ONLY YOU CAN MAKE THAT CHOICE FOR YOUR OWN LIFE.

Global Balancing | not Global Warming. Economic Re-alignment | not Economic Crisis. Dream Books with photos and written affirmations checked off | not words + thoughts of Poverty Consciousness.

Join me along this journey and let's remind each other of what it is that we DO want within our lives rather than what we don't want. And fasten your seat belts on this magic carpet ride my friends! Watch how the power, the supreme force, and the magic of the Universe provides YOU with the greatest abundance | true abundance of JOY | come alive within you | around you | as you! But we must stop staring at the closed doors.

As Alexander Graham Bell said, “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”

I'll see you on the other side of those open doors....wherever we are on this amazing planet! Hopefully we will land in the same country | city | heart space on this planet soon! Very soon!

Blessings along your magical journey,
Twee