GET ON TRACK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Note to Self: Get On Track!

 

A Short Story: A few years ago I went to Southern France. I arrived in Toulouse and had to take a train to my final destination in the countryside. Barely speaking little french, just what I had learned in high school and listening on the plane to a French CD wasn’t enough to read all the signs at the train station and asking for help was almost impossible. The French are not too keen on Americans. I was carrying an oversized backpack in which i had to continually lean forward from falling back, fumbling through the pages of my beginners guide to french travel book and sweating profusely from a combination of nervousness, excitement, and a fear of getting lost in a foreign country. I stepped to counter and bought my ticket by just saying the name of the town I was going to. Great! Step 1, got my ticket! I followed the crowd to the terminal and it was completely overwhelming. So many trains going in so many different directions, the french intercom saying boarding times that I did not understand, people bumping into me while I was holding my balance. I felt so small and finally someone came up to me and said, “lost?” I had him look at my ticket and he looked around and then nodded in confusion. And then in broken English he said, ” I think you will never find your destination and no one is going to help you” and he walked off. My heart sank and my fear was becoming real and palpable. I saw my Self as this lost person. I went to the bathroom to collect myself and splash water on my sweating face and calm my self from crying. As I looked up in the mirror, I saw mySelf lost in this country and struggling to find my destination. I could see a story. And then something happened. I thought about it and then said to my Self, “NO!, I will not be lost, I am going to ask a train director!” I came out and was determined, I will not let that stranger dictate my leisure vacation here! I immediately found a director and showed him my ticket and he pointed to the correct terminal. I hopped on the train, relieved, and watched the countryside speed by in colors, rolling hills, and vineyards. I listened intently until I heard my village stop. From the moment I got off the train, everyone was friendly, the local police saw me and offered me a ride straight to my front door. I was in France! I made it, and the rest was food and wine.

 

Don’t let anyone else determine the story of your life. Don’t be derailed by someone else’s false belief in you. Get on the right track and start to create YOUR reality! You will find that there is plenty of support and help from those who truly believe in you! Allow happiness to come in, instead of feeling guilt. Deep down you have your own inner compass to greatness, follow that and everything else will fall into place!

 

My Deepest Gratitude,

Tamara

Food and Yoga

In 2010, I went to India to study Yoga in the Himachal Pradesh area which is northern India. It was an extremely traditional learning. All my teachers were monks. Except our Ayurveda teacher and she didn’t vibe with our group well after a couple of weeks of her taking advantage of the “foreigners” and charging outrageous amounts for her treatments, it soon became clear to our group that she had another agenda and we complained about her charging “american” prices for her services and students coming out broke and shocked and selling the food and chocolate they brought from their country to make back the dough. However, we ate vegetarian, had our dinner around 5pm and our lunch mostly consisted of fruit. It wasn’t too heavy because our teacher believed that it created “tamas” which is laziness from our stomach digesting. This was in India though, where ALL we were doing was eating, breathing, drinking yoga and nothing else, isolated in our community.

I see many people really strict on their diet and then telling others what or what is not right about eating food to the point of obnoxious. It’s almost like “I am suffering watching you eat a slice of pepperoni pizza while I am eating my twig so I am going to tell you HOW WRONG it is to eat that way.” And what I have learned, even from my teacher in India, is to allow your Self something that you enjoy as well.  When you take the joy out of everything and make it a strict habit to the point of continual judgment to your fellow yoga mates, YOU are missing the entire point.  Though healthy eating is important and it benefits you, it’s okay to have a dairy-free, gluten free, non hormone pepperoni slice of pizza! There is not some Yoga God up there taking points off of your karma wheel for eating meat. It’s okay to enjoy the things in life that bring us joy. Its about LIFE and the reflection of life within and really BEing here in our feet touching the ground and seeing all the wonderful things around you that create this life. All the things that are created. It’s amazing, really, when you think about it.  I personally LOVE food and everything about it, but I listen to my body and what it really wants and needs and this creates a type of balance and harmony within my Self. This Balance and harmony create a wonderful and enjoyable life along with my joys of food. Sometimes we get stuck in boxes because of our belief systems of how things SHOULD or SHOULDN’T be. But maybe if you expanded and decided to have cacao nibbs in your protein shake, you may find the delight in the simple things and smile after that yoga class where you worked so hard and sweated your ass off.

Words of Advice: Never let anyone Should all over you!

 

Namaste,

Tamara