Kendall Inman

So….um….I haven’t been blogging and I have had the best of intentions to be regular about it…And with so many great things happening that I want to write about… but this yogi, single mom, part time teacher, landlord, manager of two businesses, yoga practitioner, meditator … just doesn’t have time.  But  after this last weekend I am inspired to try and make more time and blog…But should it be business, or pleasure or what…Maybe I can incorporate the two!

So this past weekend I participated in a two-day social media boot camp hosted by Kay Walten of Kay Walten Consulting. I am so glad I went and I took a few friends along with me….My good friend Benjamin of La Tortuga Hotel, and Coty of Co’Co’s Cocina Cooking School and Renata my doctor friend who runs the hyperbaric chamber for divers and a medical clinic here in Playa.  We spent Saturday and Sunday in the conference room at the lovely Dreams Resort with a packed house of managers and owners of dive shops, hotels, restaurants, vacation rental agencies, tour guides, etc etc… All of us wanting to learn more about growing our businesses and using social media successfully. What impressed me most was the way Kay approaches marketing and social media.  I have actually known Kay for years.  She has run a super successful vacation rental business and often rented my home in Akumal way back when…And I knew she was into yoga but I was even more pleasantly surprised to see her apply many of the principles we practice in yoga to marketing and social media.

Among so much more…she spoke about sharing the love, and connection and helping one another….And no more of this hard core, old school, time share type marketing…Sorry time sharers …couldn’t think of a better description…  And how fear is not going to help us grow and will ultimately just hold us back…She referred a few times to hurricanes (which we need to worry about here in the mayan riveria and along the coast)…and how when one hits or we are at threat of one…we must all stick together…we must all work together and we must help one another…. It goes the same for business and marketing and if we stick together and we all have common goals of growth and success and we don’t step on one another to get there our chances of success and survival are even better!

It reminded me of when I started Living Yoga Dallas.  The fears I had to personally address when…. here I was a yoga teacher myself and then hosting yoga events and encouraging students to go else where for yoga…not only to my classes…I was pushing them to branch out, grow, and go beyond what I could teach them.  And then when I took Living Yoga Dallas’ website and opened it up to all yoga in Dallas and beyond… it was really scary.  And yes, I had big events planned.  And sometimes at the same time and weekend…. for example… as Dallas Yoga Center who was also having a big event with a very well known teacher and advertising it on Living Yoga Dallas’ website right next to my event…and guess what? We were both still successful.

In fact this last workshop I hosted in Dallas with Rod Stryker was the biggest event I have had yet at the Sammons Center for the Arts….Oh… I am sure that a few students elected not to attend the Living Yoga Dallas event and went to another event at another studio with an equally special teacher  and a few elected not to go to that other yoga studio and come to our event.  But we all ended up successful.  In other words moving out of fear for the greater good and helping each other actually works towards more success for all.  It is as simple as Namaste.  The spirit in me respects the spirit in you.  Or as Gandhi once said “I honor the place within you where the entire Universe resides; I honor the place within you of love, of light, of truth, of peace; I honor the place within you, where, when you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.”

So I am most hopeful that sharing this story supports you in Sharing the Love as Kay Walten so beautifully puts.  Share each other’s events, studios, teachers, stories, blogs, adventures etc. and in turn we just open up a world of possibilities for all.    And of course please share everything yoga on Living Yoga Dallas the premier website for everything yoga in Dallas and beyond!

NAMASTE

Last month I was sitting at dinner with a good friend and client.  We were talking about teaching yoga and if we agreed that was what we “should” be doing.  What really was our true purpose in life and was what we do creating the greatest harmony.  Yogis often refer to it as Dharma.  I am almost 49 years old and as clear as a bell rings…. it dawned on me what my Dharma was.  My true purpose in life. My inherent nature… I don’t know how many of you know that my dream as a teenager was to go to law school, become a lawyer and eventually a juvenile court judge.  I dreamed of being in a position to help young people in trouble and to be in a position to consider alternative ways to approach, solve and handle these kids with big problems.  I imagine that is why my  favorite tv shows are The Mentalist, Burn Notice, White Collar and The Good Wife.  I love when the system is challenged, when sometimes the lines are crossed but for the greater good and I live for a positive end result.  When the right thing happens and people are willing to step out of their comfort zone to learn and grow and to make the right thing happen… I am inspired.

In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali chapter 4 sutra 12; Patanjali says The past and future exist in their own form by difference of paths. One path is that of determination (kind of like a film which can only play what is projected on the bring screen) and the other is that of free will.   On account of these two paths there is the difference of inherent properties. (Dharma would be an inherent property).  Determination as one path where the past and the future remain different and free will the other path where that past and present can be changed. And according to yogic philosophy everything that happens was pre-planned in space and time..kind of like destiny.  Everything goes on like the film being projected.   But there is this difference in inherent properties.  Do we just watch the screen and allow our destiny to flow by or do we embrace the difference  of two paths. And discover the inherent property within each of us… strengthening our own free will along the way?

So my path has and will always been the one of free will.  The path that allows the future to become the present and I believe there in lies that true capacity to change.

I will continue to step out of my comfort zone and experience life as powerful, and deeply fulfilling..because when I do I experience the inherent nature of me… and as I do so…I  share these experiences with others and hopefully along the way inspire others, to also dream big, overcome diversity and experience much.

I will refer to it as showing you the possibilities. And if that makes me a teacher then I guess..so be it…I am one.

I know I have been completely lax in my postings.  The real bummer is that I have some great stories and interesting happenings BUT with running Living Yoga Dallas remotely, transitioning a new webmaster (he’s great) after over 8 years with my dear friend Valarie, also working diligently on renewing all of our Living Yoga Dallas website clients (can you believe we have been into this new business over one year?) and of course being Jake’s mom, driver, personal chef and social director… I never get to sit down and write just for this.  Hopefully, I’ll tell you soon about what Jake said when he witnessed me bribe a police officer, how fun the yoga retreat was with David Romanelli, Jake’s Futbol team making it to the semi finals and many other good stories. But for now let me just tell you abut the concept of TIM.

Oh and By the way….I know I am sounding like the glass half full fanatic again, but we really are doing well in our new life in a foreign country.

TIM is not my creation but one I learned from good friend’s Mary and Malcolm… also residents of Playa with kids Jake’s age…I have quickly adapted it…  TIM is an acronym for THIS IS MEXICO and it relates to the concept of time as well as the other ways things happen or not in Mexico.  Mexican ‘s cannot in anyway shape or form follow time.  Its’ universal here.  It doesn’t matter if it is your highly educated tutor, your housekeeper, your repair man or your friends.  There is no real concept of time.  And it’s a crap shoot… And it could be the day you decide to adapt the concept of TIM that the person you are working with… does not….And they show up johnny on the spot… on time….But more often than not they say they are on their way and show up 2 hours later and they always have great stories as to why…  Traffic, rain, accidents, etc.  But somehow it all works.  And the weird thing is that I am starting to follow suit. Heck if you can’t beat them join them!  The other day, I knew I was  1/2 an hour away and was not going to leave for 1/2 an hour and yet it just came out of my mouth…I’ll be there in 30 minutes..

Oh well, it certainly helps to understand culturally what you are working with and as we know from experience… DON’T FIGHT IT!

So, I know that I am a little behind in my blogging.  And I still have one after another experiences to share but time to do so is the obstacle.  Most of you know…I think… that I headed back to Dallas this past week for a few days to host Rod Stryker for another one of Living Yoga Dallas fabulous yoga events.  I also came into Dallas a little early because I was invited to teach at a convention at the Four Seasons.  Hail Merry that is owned by my good friends in Dallas is an awesome healthy organic delicious snack company.  They wanted to offer 6am early morning yoga to a group of high level woman executives in the food and restaurant industry in for the convention.  It was a great experience for me and I realized that I am inspiring and can make people comfortable just by being real and inclusive and sharing my own yoga life experience.

I was a little worried about leaving Jake the first month at a new school and as a new resident of Mexico with our routines and the stability and consistency of me… the mom… being there but I had no choice.  So, I convinced Jake’s dad to come down and trade places with me.  Since I don’t have a car anymore in Dallas (amen) Bud left his car at the airport and I left mine at the Cancun airport and we literally switched places.  We text each other at the time on where we hid the keys and parked the cars.  It was kind of like a burn notice episode (remember our favorite tv show) We just needed black clothes, silver briefcases and sniper rifles.

The entire visit, workshop and weekend was a huge success and I returned Sunday night to Playa and all was in order.  Even the cat box was cleaned!   Monday I was making breakfast and asked Jake about two empty pitchers on the counter.  We don’t have a dishwasher here so we do dishes the old fashioned way by hand…And Jake replied oh yes Dad did all the dishes.

He said, “Mom I didn’t know Dad knew how to do dishes or make a bed”…

A great observation for sure!

Sunday we were supposed to take our good friends Misty and Greg to Akumal for morning snorkeling and then an afternoon in Tulum.  But Misty woke up under the weather and wasn’t able to make the trip.  So we just hung out at home and decided to whip up whole wheat pancakes and ask Ellen over for brunch.  We sat on the roof top and enjoyed our pancakes( from Blair’s book and recipes) with nutella and fresh fruit,  chai and an awesome view.

Note to self…we should eat every meal on that terrace.

We let Tiger… I mean Tigre hang with us for the first time on the roof and he loved it.  After Ellen left… Jake had a long Skpye call with Bud and then my parents and I got sucked into working on Living Yoga Dallas stuff and answering emails etc.  About 3pm Jake says Mom aren’t we gonna still go to Akumal.  Normally snorkeling is best between 3 and 4, but I said get your swim suit and snorkel shirt  on… grab your gear and we were in the car headed to Akumal in 10 minutes.  It’s about a 30 minute drive south and off to the west it looked like it could storm..but we missed it and arrived in time for an excellent snorkel.  Jake had not been back to Akumal  in over a
year.    And Akumal did not disappoint us.

We saw three turtles.. one super big… It’s just s0o peaceful and sweet to swim quietly behind watching them eat the grass off the bottom and occasionally pop up for air… We saw three sting ray, two were just little babies, a school of cuddle fish, a giant barracuda, tons of tropical fish and just had a great outing.

We finished the day at Carlos for langostinos and fajitas and one of the best meals you can get in the Yucatan.  Now how is that for special, spontaneous and terrific?

Recently our good friend Ali and his son Omar were in Playa for a visit.  Ali is the husband of my dear friend Betty who owns Stil Yoga in Boston and also has a way cool apartment close by us here in Playa. Omar and Jake are great buddies and we all met for lunch the other day…

I gave Ali a flyer for my Awakening to Mantra class offered later this month at Yoga By the Way.  It prompted Ali to ask me how I found meditation and the practice of yoga.  Ali is also about to embark on  his first Vipassana retreat.

Jake quickly interjected, let me tell the story.  I didn’t say a word but I was struck… Where is my 12 year old going with this???  …Well…my mom used to scream and beat me all the time and then she found yoga so now she only screams and beats me some of the time.

Jake proceeded with the story and he said my Mom was in the hospital about to give birth to me and she had some complications.  At one point my heart beat slowed and pressure dropped and they discovered I was turned the wrong way to come out.  My Mom did not want a c-section so she asked the doctors to leave her alone for a little while… In that time alone my Mom practiced breathing slowly and talking to me internally … And through visualization, relaxation and breath got me to turn the right way.

According to Vedic astrology there is no accident that Jake is my son and that he brings me great fortune.  Which doesn’t necessarily mean monetary but also in experience and in growth.  One particular reading told me I should name a business after Jake or go into partnership with him at some point and we would be hugely successful. I heard him tell that story to Ali (from his own memory and from hearing me tell tell the story years ago) and with his own conclusion that I learned to meditate then and there and  I don’t think I had realized or had brought into consciousness until that very moment, that he was right and that I had taught myself to breath and relax and draw inward so my baby could come out into the world.

Our teachers come in all ages, shapes and sizes and hopefully never cease to surprise and enlighten us.

I think most of you know that David Romanelli and I are hosting a yoga and culinary experience here in Playa Nov. 3-7.  We are sold out and I’ve been having a blast planning the food, catering, etc.  David and I wanted to offer one eco-adventure/ excursion for our guests and while the Mayan ruins in Tulum are great we wanted something a little more unique.

A few years ago Jake and I went with our dear Belguim friend Thierry, his wife, son and a friend to Muyil, which is about 15-20 kilometers south of Tulum.  We had such a great time that it came to my mind as an option… immediately… when David and I were brain storming and planning.  Well…it was a few years ago so I thought I had better make a trial run again and make sure my memory served me right.  The friends we took (this past Sunday) were the perfect focus group as they had never been to Muyil…even though over half are residents of Playa. ( This excursion so goes with our intention for this retreat… which is… being in the middle of everything and and yet getting off the beaten path)…

Muyil is one of the earliest and longest inhabited Mayan sites on the eastern coast of the Yucatan Pennisula.  Artifacts found on this site date back to 350BC and it’s located on a former Caribbean trade route once accessible by a series of canals. Way back then…they traded Jade, obsidian, chocolate, honey, feathers, chewing gum, and salt on this route. And it is said that they had strong ties to Coba which is another Mayan ruin (city) over 45 kilometers away.

It’s setting…the Sian Ka’an lagoon… a name meaning “where the sky is born”  is absolutely gorgeous with multi shades of blue and green.  Part salt and part fresh water …you find natural Mayan ruins, canals that you float down on your life vest, wild orchids, bromeliads, butterflies and just magical peace.

Everyone ages 2 to over 60 were thrilled with the adventure  and we ended our day with homemade oatmeal chocolate chips cookies, Tulum beach for tacos and boogie boarding… and in… all smiles.

Many of you are asking how Jake’s first week at school has gone.  And personally I think it went great.  He is happy when I drop him off in the early morning and he’s happy when I pick him up and he is making lots of friends.  That is about as good as it gets…right? I can only imagine how hard it is for him and how really brave he is to attend a school where he native mother tongue is not primary.  When we first looked into the school we were told it was half English and half Spanish…And… well that did not turn out to be true…it’s all taught entirely in Spanish (except English).  It’s still okay by me because one of the main goals is that Jake becomes bilingual and there really is no better way.  It is interesting though…the principal doesn’t speak English,  nor the head of the middle school, nor the cashier, receptionist or the parent liaison (the one who emails all the parents information).

Jake has to be sitting in his desk at school at 7:20am.  That’s right!  So we are getting up way early.  But he gets out at 2:40 pm. Which is really neat.  They have two breaks during the day in which they get to purchase snacks at a really awesome snack bar.  You can actually get a fresh squeezed carrot juice…and parents can go anytime.  Anyway, I love that I get to pick up Jake early and we get to have lunch together, Mexican time and Mexican style.  That is another of the beauties of Mexican culture…Family values!  The other day when I picked him up he asked if we could go to Los Agua Chilis for tuna tostadas and Jugo de Jamaica.  Los Agua Chilis has about the best ceviche, agua chilis, and tuna tostadas you can imagine.  It’s sashimi style tuna with onion and cilantro…Jake gets his on a tostada and I get mine on lettuce leaves like a lettuce wrap so I can consume lots of  totopos (chips) with flavored salsas like chipotle, habanero, strawberry, etc. Jamaica is tea made from dried hibiscus flowers and way refreshing.

Anyway…if you haven’t heard much from us lately, it’s because we have been very busy, getting Jake immersed into school, with the zillions of special requirements like wrapping every single notebook and text book in plastic, searching out unique school supplies requested, etc etc.

One last side note…Friday (end of week one) I picked up Jake from school and he informed me that he had been invited by a bunch of classmates to the movies.  So at 7pm… I dropped my 12 year old at the mall, with his allowance, a cell phone and he was greeted by cute middle school girls with a kiss on the cheek, (that is how it’s done here) and a bunch of  his buddies.

What does Jake do for his allowance?  Cat poop patrol (litter box), takes out the trash, laundry, washes dishes and he has to bring everything up from the garage always..Groceries, plants, etc etc. and he gets 250 pesos a week.

Recently, my friend Anne shared with me a Mexican phrase that I loved…”El que obra mal se le pudre el cuol“…. Pardon my language but basically it means… if you shit bad your ass will rot!  Mexico is rich in phrases like this and they are wonderful.  My friend Benjamin says that his mother doesn’t open her mouth without one.  One of my goals is to learn as many as I  can and I’ll share them with you.

Pako, my dear friend and carpenter has been teaching Jake and I the bad words for years.  And he knows all the phrases. The other night he stopped by…he is making a piece of furniture for me…and we sat and chatted and had a beer.  Pako is rich in tradition and culture too.  We love to sit, have a beer, some snacks and visit.  He is always sharing a great story.  Anyway, someone had left some pretzels (maybe Valarie when she was here) and I put a small bowl in front of Pako.  He said whoever the guy is that invented the pretzel…has to be the most boring human being alive.  Even cheetos and fritos have chili and lime to jazz them up.  Rich in culture, rich in flavor!

So, Pako taught me another one of those wonderful mexican phrases….”Calma yeguita que te estoy penando”.  And basically the meaning is relax, calm down, tranquilo in spanish.  Yequita is a baby mare (horse) and penando is brushing hair.  So it translates sort of like…relax sweet little baby…I am not brushing your hair with a horse brush.  I think my ex-husband had he been Mexican might have said that to me a time or two!  Thank god for yoga.

I have purchased land in Mexico, built a 5000 foot home in same foreign country, sold that same home in a divorce, bought two condos (one in construction) in Playa del Carmen, Mexico… and decorated them both. But buying a car in Mexico had me completely overwhelmed. Or maybe the universe was just stalling me for Kevin aka Redbeard. (I imagine Redbeard had a redbeard at one time).

I had just been walking the beach, stopped to chat with good friend and client Becky and told her everything was in place to make our move to Playa but I still had to buy a car.  I ‘ve never needed a car here. It’s a walking town, no parking available and a car is a hassle.  If I’d needed one in the past for a small trip or whatever,  I would just rent one.  But now I needed to drive Jake to school and I needed a car.

Literally, the very next day Becky emails me…she says… not sure how I am still on this guys mailing list but long time Akumal resident Redbeard has a car for sale.  Perfect.  It’s a little tricky to buy a former US car in Mexico and can only be done if you are an American…and you know a local expert like Redbeard…so I negotiated with Redbeard to assist in the proper document and permit acquisition, and he followed through like a champ.  It did involve a long ass…meaning your ass aches when your done… one day drive to Chetumal close to the Belize border.  But Redbeard is a glass half full kind of guy and he made the one day, 11 hour journey a pleasure.  On the way… there is a town named Limones (they grow limes), another small town that smells entirely of pineapples, hundreds of Topes and Chinese food…

What you don’t know Topes?  Well they are speed bumps that Mexico roads and highways adore. They come in all shapes and sizes and mostly require a complete stop to pass over safely… unless you want to bang your head on the roof and blow your shocks.  The cool thing… if there can be considered a cool thing with Topes…is that you can buy just about anything from Topes sales people. And no they don’t actually sell Topes.  They sell peanuts, pumpkin seeds, chips, drinks, you name it.  And that’s when I bought the world’s sweetest and freshest pineapples right there from the Topes sales girl and my car smelled like a pineapple factory for hours all the way back. MMMM.