Namaste Yogis and Yoginis,

For many of us, the 'Drop of the Ball' has long been an alarm bell to ‘fix’ what we don't like about ourselves. We’ve resolved to be thinner, healthier, wealthier, more ambitious, more confidant, what ever. But over the past few years, as a yoga teacher, I’ve witnessed a mounting urgency in the community to re-examine Resolutions. Instead of spending precious energy fixing ourselves, many of us are re-evaluating with question like "what is most important to me? Am I investing my energy in the things that really matter to me? Do the things that truly matter to me bring wellbeing to my self and others?"

Seemingly simple, it is actually quite a challenge to stay true to these things that are most important to us in a society where we are incessantly encouraged to "do more". To learn, succeed, earn and obtain more. Yet, I believe, that little by little, we can take steps towards living the life that most reflects our deepest intentions. So this issue of Yogalicious is filled with inspirations to help start 2005 with clarity and confidence. May you take time to review, reconnect and recommit yourself to that which you hold most dear.

With love,
Jillian

"Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want so that they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then, do what you need to do, in order to have what you want."— Margaret Young

"This is our life. Now. Slow down and savor its flavor."
It was 6 pm on Sunday and it felt like my 17 month old son William had been up for at least 24 hours. After reading countless books, singing countless songs, playing with countless toys, and watching, well lots of TV… yes TV… it was still only 6pm, about 4 hours till his bed time. So tonight, in an effort to fill time, I decided drag out our dessert of an orange. William has only seen a few oranges in his life, so I decided to indulge in the discovery of it with him. First we repeated the word a few times. We rubbed the skin and described the texture. William gripped it like a ball and we tossed it back and fourth. We smelled the skin. After a few licks and a bite of the skin he realized it didn’t make for good eating. Yucky. We peeled it very slowly, a little bit at a time. This was the longest it ever took me to peel an orange. I was escaping the redundancy of the day. Finally peeled, we held the naked fruit and once again observed its brilliant color. We listened closely as I leisurely split it in half. Like fireworks, it crackled and popped. William laughed wildly as the juice unexpectedly shot out and squirted me in the face. Its aroma much stronger now, we again enjoyed a few deep inhales of its sweet perfume. I felt like I was filming a Florida Orange commercial. I offered William his own section. He carefully sucked the juice out and spit out a pulp skeleton of the section. I was impressed with his skillfulness in separating what he liked from what he didn’t so quickly. While the whole thing started to buy me time from ‘entertaining’ him, the quality of my experience was so great and deeply satisfying on many levels. As I grew more and more present with William and our activity I too felt like I was discovering the orange for my first time! Our presence with each other and the orange ritual renewed my energy, created intimacy between us, made a possibly habitual act fun and interesting, and the (not so sweet) orange wound up tasting incredibly delicious. All this from slowing down and savoring the moment! Try it yourself, with a friend or your kids. And, if you need some help, here’s a guided eating meditation http://www.oprah.com/spiritself/insp/med/ss_insp_med_audiomeditation.jhtml   back to top

You are alive. I am alive. This IS the miracle. Quality of life is not some vague phrase; it is the actual everyday happiness we get from slowing down, coming into the present, and enjoying a child, a friend, a rose, a dog, a walk, a tree. ENJOYING LIFE. YES!! Happiness is now, and only now. This is a sacred choice we all have. Come home to the present of the present."-- Chris Elms…I know we can’t always slow down when overwhelmed with the responsibilities of earning a living, running our homes, bringing up our kids, or just keeping up with the day to day hustle of life. But we can take small moments as often as possible to experiment with slowing down. We can slow down for just one conversation, or one cup of coffee, when brushing our teeth, or taking a short walk from our car to the store. Even if it’s only for 5 minutes, try it with one activity a day and see how your quality of life improves.    back to top

Check out this useful New Years "resolution" Meditation. However, I vote for reading it instead of using the audio version. http://www.beliefnet.com/story/158/story_15864_1.html  back to top