Lead by example

My goddaughter was born today, Madeline Elise Krehbiel. I haven't met her but already love her so much. I was honored when my brother and sister-in-law asked me to be her godmother and now I'm thinking about what that means. What will I teach her, what will I share with her, how will she live a life she loves? And, then it hits me, I must lead by example. I think all parents know this and strive to lead by example and that goes for anyone who is involved in a child's life. This is my chance to practice what I preach and all those things I aspire to be, be them. Stop thinking so much and just be. Be the person I want to be friends with, the person I want to fall in love with, the person I want to spend time with and learn from and experience life with. That's what I want Maddie to grow up knowing, that loving herself and being herself  full of grace, gratitude and integrity will help her through anything. There will always be tough times, challenges, bad days, however they will pass. You will get through, you will learn and change and grow. That's what makes it all worthwhile, becoming stronger and more present and more willing to take chances. Life is an adventure and I'm so thankful to be a part of this precious child's life and learn to see the world through her eyes. I'm sure she will teach me just as much if not more, than I will ever teach her.

Oh, and you better believe I will be sharing yoga with her first chance I get.

Love to Maddie and her wonderful parents. I couldn't think of two better people to guide her every step of the way.

Crush mode

It's the day after my first half marathon and I still feel great! A little soreness in my legs, but nothing I can't handle after running 13.1 miles.

It's kind of surreal now. It's over. All the training, all the sweat, the tired muscles, the long runs. Was it worth it? Yes. Will I do it again? Yes.

My running journey started less than a year ago. It is amazing what you can accomplish with hard work, determination and a great support system. I have the two best running buddies a girl could ask for. Jennie and Ashley were there all the way to the end. Jennie is a runner, she's ran marathons, half marathons and is working on beating her PR for the 5k, under 24 minutes! Ashley is a cheerleader, she tells you, “You can do it!”, and you believe her! Jennie was our training coach as she wasn't running Rock the Parkway half marathon, and as long as we followed the 11-week training plan we would finish. I became a runner during this time. I got in my miles each week and my weekend plans revolved around the long runs. To complement my running, I was doing yoga 5-6 times a week and I know that played a huge role in being injury free and staying strong. I was also eating healthy, drinking water and I happened to do a cleanse during my training (not really part of the plan).

The long runs were the toughest. You want me to run 8 miles? 10? Are you crazy? Up to that point I had only ran a 10k (6.2 miles). You build up to it, you keep going one more mile than you did before and each one is a right of passage. We ran outside and I loved it! We ran in the cold, rain and I didn't think twice. This is how you do it. This is how you train. Treadmills were not part of the plan. Now I wasn't perfect. I might have skipped a couple runs, ran on the treadmill when it was freezing, ate a cupcake, but you do your best. It's not about being perfect, no one is perfect. It's about setting a goal and working your ass off to achieve it. I never once thought of quitting.

We did have some fun along the way and that's what it's really all about. Running was our time to talk, laugh, de-stress from work (we all work at the same advertising agency). I looked forward to running with these girls and hearing what was going on in their lives and motivating and supporting each other. I was so happy on race day that Ashley and I ran together the first six miles and Jennie volunteered at mile three and ten water stations. I could not have done this without them.

There are two long runs I'll never forget.

Eight miles was tough for me and it was after a big snowstorm so we had to find a strip of street that had been plowed to run on. I had a little surge of energy at the end as I just wanted to be done. I was hurting and you know what you do with tired, sore muscles you ice them. We had a blanket of snow right in front of us so we jumped right in. Ahh that was the best feeling!

Ten miles was also a milestone for me. I felt great the whole way, partly because to keep my mind off running it was pouring down rain. About halfway through the run it started to rain. Now a little rain is not bad, it feels nice. However it started to rain more and more and eventually it was pouring. We were jumping puddles, sliding in mud, cold. At one point there was so much water, we just stopped as we didn't know where to go. We were almost done when I realized we had to go up a hill to finish. I told Jennie “I can't do the hill” and she said “You have to.” Those three words pushed me to the end and 30 minutes in the steam room did us a world of good.

Now to race day. I felt good, a little nervous. The best part was everyone who reached out to me on Facebook and text messages wishing me good luck and offering words of encouragement. My mom even drove up to cheer me on. I did everything I could to prepare for this day and I was ready. I lined up with my pace group and I knew I had this; I just had to run a smart race. Not start off too fast and finish strong, which is exactly what I did in two hours, seven minutes and 36 seconds. Goal crushed!

Action-packed KC staycation

Let me first start with how this week came about. PlattForm's fiscal year begins April 1 and we lose any current fiscal year PTO (paid-time off) days after that. Having been employed at PlattForm for nine years, I have a lot of PTO days and instead of planning a vacation somewhere I decided to stay in KC and see some sights. One of my good friends, Jennie, also had some days to burn so the week was born from there. We spent a good month or so creating a list of all the places we wanted to go and then finalized about a week before and yes, a spread sheet was involved. Jennie is a KC native, so she was a great person to tour KC with. We were so excited about our week of fun and had it jam packed with activities. Jennie and I have very similar personalities, so even though we had our days planned we were also flexible depending on our mood and the weather. We also had a few guest appearances by Patrick Lewallen, John Pfortmiller and Danny Pumpelly.

Pre-yoga coffee pic

What better than to start the week off at a little, cozy, coffee shop, Oddly Correct. With some caffeine in our system, we were ready to start our first official day of KC tourist week. Note there is also nothing better to do than start the week with some yoga. Maya yoga  specializing in ashtanga yoga , which I have recently fallen in love with. Wade and his wife Kathleen, own the studio and it was the first time I had been there. We went to Wade's intro to ashtanga class and as Jennie said “It was the most relaxing ass kicking you'll ever get.” We can't wait to go back!

The Kansas City Boulevard Brew  tour was the main attraction for Monday. We found on the web site they offer free tours. It was first come, first serve for tickets so we got there right when they opened at 10am for tickets to the 2pm tour. It was a nice, 45-minute tour of the facility and since we went on a week day we got to see the bottling assembly, really neat. Then we got to sample six beers. I'm glad Jennie's friend, Patrick, joined us as he helped with the beer selection. The 80 acre and Tank 7 were my favorite.

I was slightly tipsy after the beer sampling and in much need of food. We went to a great Thai place, Lulu's,  to fuel our body as next on the schedule was a pole dancing class.  This was more of the try-anything-once side of me coming out. I actually wasn't as impressed with the class, maybe it was the instructor, but we did have some fun trying some moves and taking pics. We learned the fireman, martini, pinwheel and floating knees. My favorite quote from Jennie, “It's like we are on a carousel and we are the horses.”

That evening we went to the Melting Pot for everyone's favorite, cheese and chocolate! We savored each morsel as we dipped the little bits of food in to the melted concoctions. We opted for the spinach,artichoke cheese dip and yin yang chocolate. Divine. (Also, FYI, Monday is ladies night and you can get cheese, salad and chocolate for $16 each.) All in all it was a pretty fantastic Monday.

Yin Yang dessert (dark and white chocolate)

 

I was so excited for Tuesday that I got up super early, not by choice. We had aerial silks lessons with Rachel from Voler Aerial Academy. By far the highlight of the week. It was freeing, invigorating, a little scary and just plain fun. I loved being upside down and flying around. We wanted to go join the circus right then and there. It is very complimentary to yoga as well. I'm ready for my next lesson!

After that we stopped for lunch at Cafe Gratitude, which happens to be a favorite of the singer, Jason Mraz. They specialize in local, organic, vegan food and love! I ordered the “I Am Transformed” (tacos) and Jennie the “I Am Magical” (veggie burger). I think the names of the dishes also sum up how we felt after aerial silks. Next, a coffee break at Mildred's to warm up and then some shopping in the Power & Light district, where I got a really cute dress. This rounded out our second day of KC tourist week.

Wednesday was a day of rest, which was much needed after the two full days we just had. We were both quite sore from the pole and aerial classes. A little restorative yoga for me and then we met for dinner at UrbanTable. The bruschetta and wine were delightful and props to John for selecting the wine, Wild Horse.

The KC Zoo  was on the agenda for Thursday. I'm glad we went this day as the sun was shining and it was a nice day for some fresh air. We almost had the zoo to ourselves too. Not all the animals were out as there was still snow on the ground, but here's a brief run down of what we did see:

• Polar bear diving
• Monkeys playing
• Lions napping
• Cheetahs pacing
• Elephants standing
• Alligators floating
• Meerkats scurrying
• Lemur meditating

We met Danny for the new movie “OZ the great and powerful” that night at Union Station. They had the Station lit up like the Emerald City. We were one of the first to see it as it officially opened on Friday. A very visually appealing movie, especially in 3D.

Friday was the last day of KC tourist week. We walked around the Plaza a bit before spin class with Albert Lee at Woodside Health club. Albert was the lululemon run ambassador and we met him by going to their complimentary run group each Tuesday at 6:30pm. He is a great mentor for running and has completed multiple marathons and triathlons and did his first ironman last year. Albert is one cool dude.

Another highlight of the week was visiting the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. A magnificent building and we found on their web site they offer tours for only $5. Well worth it. We took some stunning photos of the architecture and saw both theatres, Helzburg Hall and The Muriel Kauffman Theatre. The organ in Helzburg Hall is made up of 5,000 pieces and it took six months to assemble. I really want to go back for a performance.

KC Tourist week ended the same way we began with coffee (okay Jennie got a snow cone). We went to Little Freshie. The macaroons were quite good too. As we sat in the coffee shop, we started our list for the next KC tourist days (after our bank accounts and eating habits are back in balance). There is still a lot KC has to offer and many coffee shops to visit!

I'll leave you with this quote and maybe you'll find something right in your backyard to try.

"One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure." ~William Feather

What I learned on my cleanse

I completed a seven-day Ayurveda cleanse. What is Ayurveda, you ask? It is the sister science to yoga or in Sanskrit “the knowledge of life.”

The University of Maryland Medical Center defined it as follows:

Considered by many scholars to be the oldest healing science, Ayurveda is a holistic approach to health that is designed to help people live long, healthy, and well balanced lives. The term Ayurveda is taken from the Sanskrit words ayus, meaning life or lifespan, and veda, meaning knowledge. It has been practiced in India for at least 5,000 years and has recently become popular in Western cultures. The basic principle of Ayurveda is to prevent and treat illness by maintaining balance in the body, mind, and consciousness through proper drinking, diet, and lifestyle, as well as herbal remedies. (Source: http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/ayurveda-000348.htm)

At first I thought, “Seven days, no problem.” The third and fourth days were the most difficult and I did sneak some protein bars and dark chocolate in a few times, but overall I think I did really well. My diet consisted of kitchari, fruit, veggies, steal-cut oatmeal, tea and water. Kitchari is actually pretty good and I will incorporate it into my meals moving forward. I had some friends try it and they agreed; it reminded them of Spanish rice. You can find the recipe here.

I have never done a cleanse before and have been wanting to try it for nutritional value. I don't think I eat badly, but I know I can do better. I considered this a jump start to healthier eating and I really think I accomplished that. I'm not putting a label on anything. No vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free here. I'm just being more conscious of what I eat and if I want a treat every once in awhile, that is just fine.

Here's what I learned on my cleanse:

1. I have a bigger sweet tooth than I thought.
2. I can go seven days eating basically the same thing.
3. It wasn’t as difficult to give up dairy and bread.
4. I love fruit!
5. I now like to eat carrots/celery like I used to eat chips/crackers (and I don’t need ranch dressing).
6. Food is our fuel and we need to give our body the best!
7. Yoga really helped curb my hunger.
8. Slow down and chew food thoroughly.
9. Cravings included: peanut butter, popcorn, hamburger, chocolate, red-velvet cupcake, guacamole, Starbucks.
10. Not a big fan of green tea, but I do like soy milk in my lattes.
11. I had a weird sensation with the neti pot, but I am going to stick with it.
12. Tune in to what your body needs. Maybe it’s just a night off.
13. I still had energy to run and do yoga, just had to keep eating.
14. I turn to sweets when I get stressed, frustrated, sad – it’s the instant gratification.
15. You can do pretty much anything you set your mind too.

Goals moving forward:

1. Cut out the dairy as much as possible. I usually eat a greek yogurt/granola in the morning for breakfast. I’m going to replace that with a smoothie. Check out my first smoothie recipe below.
2. Cut back on the gluten. Something small each week, like instead of bread for a sandwich do a lettuce wrap.
3. Buy organic when I can. Start with chicken.

Hello 2013

December was a bit of a whirlwind and I'm ready to settle in to 2013. From working at lulu to spending time with friends and family, while balancing my full-time job at PlattForm, and teaching yoga classes it was a fun ride.

I was waiting to find out what 2013 would bring and what the next step would be in creating my dream job. The new VP of Client Services agreed to let me go down to 32 hours a week, so I can focus on yoga, which I am very grateful for. Next was waiting to hear from lulu on if I would be able to stay. I really believe that it is for the best that I will not be continuing my part-time position at lulu, even with going to 32 hours a week at PlattForm, it would be a lot. And I made peace with that even before I found out. That is what I love about opportunities. They are always there, waiting for us and if things don't work out how you planned, there is always another opportunity around the corner. It is okay to feel that disappointment at first, but then make a new plan and believe everything happens for a reason. I met so many fabulous people working at lulu and I will always be a part of that community. Who knows another opportunity may present itself down the road with lulu at just the right time.

I am really excited to start 2013 knowing that I will have even more time to focus on yoga. Friday is going to be my yoga day to study, read, meditate, practice and plan classes.

What else do I have in store for 2013? Well, you know it's all about balance and yoga is my passion, however so is traveling and my niece, who hasn't even been born yet! It's going to be one fabulous year. Here is what I have on the itinerary:

• Staycation to see all the sites of KC (ideas welcome!)
• Running my first half marathon in April
• Meeting my niece in May
• Vancouver, Canada adventure in June
• Annual birthday trip to San Diego and meeting Shari's newest addition
• Second half marathon in Chicago in September
• My mom's marriage

Living in the moment

I am beginning to live more and more in the moments of each day and not worry about what is to come. I also believe that everything truly does happen for a reason. I would not be where I am today without going through everything I have gone through. And I love where I am. I came across this quote recently by Jack Kerouac “Be in love with your life. Every detail of it.” Those are some big words, but if you think about it why wouldn't you want to be? Every detail of our lives teach us something and help us grow.

Now don't get me wrong, I do have my schedule, lists and goals, however I also know that each moment is a blessing and one I will never get back. It's also about being flexible like today for example. I took the day off work and I was doing some yoga teacher studying at Starbucks when a friend texts me about going to a yoga class. I wasn't sure what I was in the mood for, so I suggested a regular class I go to with one of my favorite teachers. Instead we decided to try a studio I had only been to a couple times with a teacher I had never been to before. It turned out to be just what I needed! Very relaxing, yet still a bit challenging with savasana bliss. Okay that example may only make sense to a few of you, but I hope you get my point. :) It reminds me of an intention from lululemon's manifesto “Do one thing a day that scares you.”

As most of you know I am taking the next step in my life as it pertains to my career. I've been at my current job for nine years (just had my anniversary November 24) and even though it will be very difficult to leave, I know it is time. The question is do I continue with marketing, however not at an ad agency, or do I take a different road with a more yoga-centered focus. Both I enjoy and both I could see myself doing full-time. I have also had opportunities come up with both and I know that yoga will always be a part of my life if I'm teaching one class a week or ten. The next couple months will tell the tale and whatever decision I make, it will be the right one right now.

Love2Yoga

Yoga – to unite, to join

For me yoga unites the mind, body and spirit. I have been practicing yoga for about five years and within the last year have really tried to embody the yoga spirit. I started yoga teacher training in June and have taken classes and workshops from many studios around KC. I always feel better after doing yoga and now with my yoga knowledge, I am focusing on living it and not just when I am in class.

I started teaching two classes a week at PlattForm and received a great response. I love taking a break from the day and sharing what I love. Especially with new people who have never taken a yoga class. I also think it is awesome that usually out of the 6-7 people who are in class 2-3 are guys!

Just this past week, I also started teaching at Aspen Athletic Club. I'm teaching a Thursday evening and Saturday morning class. The first class didn't go so well, no one showed up. I was disappointed, however I had to remember that it wasn't me, as I hadn't even taught here yet. Being in advertising, I had to think we could have promoted it a little better. :) The second class I had three show up. I was so excited! I think it went great and it sounds like they will be back and I told them about the other class I was teaching too.

I am about two thirds of the way done with my yoga teacher training coursework. Just a few more readings, quizzes, videos and books to get through. The biggest part is going to be teaching 80 classes! Yes, 80! So, those of you around KC, let's get something on the calendar. I look forward to sharing with you all!

Namaste

I honor the place in you in which the entire Universe dwells. I honor the place in you which is of Love, of Truth, of Light and of Peace. When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, we are One.