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

In-Depth Yoga Studies:

JOIN ME: November 2 – 6, 2011

In 2010, I summoned the courage within to take my 12 year old son out of school in Dallas and move to the quaint, tropical Mexican village of Playa del Carmen. Against the advice of many who know and love us, I decided for once to follow the prompting of a place within each of us that seeks for something different, powerful, and deeply fulfilling. I call it your Spiritual Warrior. I invite you to join me and 15 other like-minded folks for a four day journey to the most beautiful town in tropical Mexico to stoke the fire of your Spiritual Warrior, to reclaim that part of you who dreams big, overcomes adversity, and dare I say, doesn’t shy away from a party in the tropics!

Entice that fiercely beautiful part of your soul to arise with a gourmet tour of Mexican cuisine. We’ll dine at my favorite local spots and enjoy dishes like Los Agua Chilis and Chili Ancho Relleno de Pistache con salsa de Pina. We will take a day trip and experience the Sian Ka’an Biosphere which for sure is one of the few wonders of the world where the vortex of energy and vibration is powerful enough to leave you transformed. The daily yoga will set the table with themes and a tempo to calm your worries and fears and let your most powerful self rise to the top! You’ll finish this retreat having reclaimed the courage and passion you always knew to be part of you!

Join me November 2 – 6, 2011, for a Yoga Retreat to Paradise.

click here to register for this event

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.

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!

Host: The Mat Yoga Studio
670 N. Coit Road, Suite 2381
Richardson, TX, 75080

January 23, 2011

6:30pm – 8:30pm

PRICE: $35
REGISTER: Contact The Mat Yoga Studio
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.livingyogadallas.com.

Host: The Mat Yoga Studio
670 N. Coit Road, Suite 2381
Richardson, TX, 75080

January 21, 2011

6:30pm – 7:30pm Practice

7:30-10:00pm Fun and Community

Friday evening, January 21st  Karma Yoga Happy Hour! Starting with a free community yoga class, led by the Kendall Inman! It will be a 60 minute Mat Open Flow class at 6:30pm and it is open to the community and completely free. After class, we’ll have drinks and snacks on the patio as we get to know each other a little better. Bring your friends and join us for a great time and free yoga!

PRICE: Complimentary
REGISTER: Contact The Mat Yoga Studio
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.livingyogadallas.com.

MASTERY OF BANDHA:

Bandha is the gateway to mastering the energetics of yoga. Mastery of bandha increases the possibilities of asana to heal and balance, steady the mind, build creativity, and bring us closer to self-realization.

Join us Saturday afternoon as we explore the use of bandha and then, through practice, experience its effect on increasing the power and effect of our our asana.

I did fill the car with gas, add an additional 1000 pesos to my cell phone, and am charging everything that needs a charge in the house like the Kindle, computer, cell phones, ipad, portable dvd, etc.  I headed to Walmart before getting Jake.  And guess what? Everyone was buying tuna fish…They had huge pallets all over the store stacked high with tuna fish.  I bought some..because everyone else was… plus I like tuna and this is as good an excuse as any to eat some and I bought, a small gas propane camp stove, extra flash lights, two headlamp flash lights (ours are in Dallas) extra water, etc etc.  I wanted to buy extra batteries (pilas) and they were sold out.  So was Sam’s club.  The only size they had was 9V so it makes me think I need to buy things that use 9V whenever possible.

So don’t worry about us dear friends. We are stocked and ready.  Jake still had soccer practice this afternoon, the tutor is on the way and they haven’t canceled school for tomorrow yet.

By the way, Jake is doing great.  Today his school counselor told him his Spanish was really improving and that he was doing well.  He received an 89 on his math test yesterday and feels like he did great on the tests today.

All is well.