The Gypsy Journey's

Wow! What a kick start to 2010! I haven't been writing as much because I've been busy living!!

On January 5th, I started a two week adventure. I had a few laughter filled, friend loving, gut busting, cosmic chatting, awe-inspiring nights in Calgary, followed by a weekend in Fernie with my girl Blaire. First time back on a snowboard since the broken back mountain day. It felt good to connect in with the mountains again. Forget myself and pulse with nature. On Sunday January 10th, I hopped in my little car and drove South to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho for part 3 of the Anusara Immersion with Karen Sprute-Francovich. What an amazing experience. Karen does such a great job of bringing the Kula (community) together. Her teaching style is admirable and her knowledge base blows my mind. I aspire to be so humble and graceful while sharing all this love!

After the Immersion, I was off to the Kootenay's. The land of magical people. Freedom of expression. I visited with my Wizard friend, Joe and my Gypsy Sista, Ally. Joe is a walking Miracle. This man has inspired me beyond belief over the past two years. I remember meeting Joe in Kindergarden. In high school, I remember sharing true friendship moments with Joey. He's a brother of the deepest sorts. On a soul level. Joe is a Healer and a Wizard and I can't wait to see the work he does in this world over the course of his life. Perhaps I'll ask him if I can share his story of his near death experience on the ski hill a couple years ago in another post. I am awe-inspired by this Brother each time we connect. This time was no exception. If there is one thing the world can learn from Joe it's that the healing powers of the human body is beyond all comprehension. Ally's a forever inspiration in my life. I did say she's a Gypsy - but more accurately, she's an Alchemist. All she touches turns to gold.

The weekend of January 22 - 24th I ventured out to Vancouver to study with Seane Corn for her Detox Flow Weekend Workshop. Seane has been quite the inspiration for so many! She has a program called Off the Mat into the World. The Detox Yoga Flow was about detoxing not only the physical body, but the emotional and spiritual body as well. That women has a strong Goddess force pulsing with her.

While working for WestJet - I was able to visit with Lisa & Danny and Krister & Max in Toronto and reunited with my Vipassana friend, Jessie, in Comox. The ability to stay close with friends and family is my favorite thing about working for WestJet! The airplane yoga sessions are a close second.

Mid-February Geordie and I flew off to Maui to host our Maui Yoga Retreat! It was such a beautiful collection of souls creating art, flowing with Shakti's love and revealing deeper layers of the heart. I am so lucky to be surrounded by such beauty, inspiration and love. Not to mention how lucky I am to work in an craft that I love wholeheartedly. It doesn't even feel like work!

When Geordie and I started planning the retreat - we had an idea what we wanted to share about this lovable island with others. What we didn't know is who would show up to create this experience. We left inspired, lifted and expanded in ways we could have never predicted. Thank you all so much for sharing your essence and creating such a wonderful experience for all of us!

Here are some photos from the retreat...

This is the crew from the retreat at our visit to Laulima Organic farms. Laulima is a sustainable operation, with intellegent garden architecture to maximize ground space that uses alternative energy resources when ever possible.

Here's Geordie working for his smoothie! The bike powers the blender!!

Sharon rockin out Visvamitrasana!

Heather hanging out in the Banyan Tree at our Retreat center

This is the state of relaxation a Yoga Retreat will put you in :)

I was home from the Maui for one week before heading to Los Angeles for a week to study with the founder of Anusara Yoga, John Friend. The first week of March, my friend Whitney and I met only to be fully immersed in the Shakti love of John's Annual Anusara Advanced Intensive. Intense it was! Days before leaving, John sent an email out to all the participants setting the tone. The theme of the Intensive was "Shakti - The Godess of Creative Power"

Here's a clip from his pre-intensive letter:

"The yoga room will be treated as a mandir or devi temple, so there be silence in the mandir before and after every session.

Treat the atmosphere of the space as the 3-dimensional garment of the Goddess. Walk slowly and move deliberately as you are making beautiful ripples in the Akasha. When not performing the pose directed by John, then please be still. You may sit or stand with focused bhakti on your mat facing the puja when not performing advanced asana. If the class is performing an advanced asana and you are pausing, then please stand or sit silently doing mantra repetition."

The entire thing was inspiring beyond comprehension. Literally! I am still sinking deeper into understanding the offerings of that session. Not only did we learn about and call forth the Goddesses Kali (and Durga), Saraswati and Lakshmi to lift us and light the path, practice asana and the Universal Principles of Alignment, philosophy - Shiva-Shakti Tantrica to be specific, sing magnificent mantra, and expansive meditaiton; we learned to create art with our bodies, to become a connoisseur of our senses and to offer more beauty into this world in the every day simple kind of ways. Life is a dance with the creative energy of manifestation, the Goddesses. On the first day John welcomed me into the room with a hug, a brief conversation and tied a blue rakhi bracelet on my left wrist to remind me to always remember the Goddess. By the end of the fifth day I noticed in Whitney's notes in huge writing: "All this Man aspirations are to raise awareness and cultivate more love and beautiful expressions of the collective Heart and Soul into this Universe!" Thanks to my new friend Mario - I will forever have a reminder of the ceiling we practiced under for this magical Intensive.

Humbled? Most definitely. Not only to the vastness of the teachings, the dedication of John Friend to his Dharma, all the teachers present, the depths of this sacred path, the work being done all around the room, our gracious host (Dr. Drake) and his dog, Vedder, with their warm welcome to their Hollywood Hills home; but also the creative expression of this 'Merry Band of Bohemian Artists.' Every day the beauty and Shakti love grew! My mantra quicky turned into pure gratitude for the entire experience! Noah Maze & Christina Sell were practicing in front of us for the entire second day... talk about inspiring! Check out this pose!

Now it is time for me to settle into Edmonton, enjoy all it has to offer, share the gems I have found over the lands and learn about all the gems right here at home. The gypsy's journey never ends...