A NIGHT

Many evenings after work, I spend over at the yoga studio in Holly (thanks Kathryn for creating such an amazing space and for making it so close and accessible). The nights I attend yoga I get home at 8:30 so in essense, if I choose to got to yoga in the evening, the night is basically over. I get out of work at 6:30 every night so I have very limited time to make much happen. This evening I thought I would go to yoga and then come home and eat and clean my house, do laundry, unpack my suitcases (yes I have already been home 5, almost 6, days) and get things straightened up around here. Some of you know that I just got a 2 year old chocolate lab a month ago. He is such a blast and how could you possibly not fall in love with him with a face like that. So he was looking at me with his eyes and bringing toys to me (which a luggage tag was his toy of choice this evening) so I layed down on the floor next to him and he wanted to wrestle. 1 hour later I realized I hadnt gotten anything done and now it was too late to start. I did manage to eat, however my house is still a mess, there are still piles of laundry, and no vacuuming has been done and it was all so worth it. I was never a dog person before a month ago. I wanted a change in my life and people thought I was nuts. Choco brings so much joy to my days. We argue a lot, I always win, but in the end of the day, he is way more important than dealing with laundry detergent and vacuum bags…at least for today anyways.

A NEW BOOK IN THE NEW YEAR

As many of you know, I am one of the organizers of the Cafe of LIFE Book Club. We have a phenomenal group of women who sit down every other week together and study books that add to our lives. We have done a number of books with titles such as “Eat, Pray, Love”, “A New Earth”, and “Loving What Is”. We ended our year with a celebration of the year and it was amazing to look back on what we had accomplished together as a group in one short year! Years are short anymore. Time just goes by really fast! Anyways with the New Year here now, we are beginning a new book starting Thursday January 8th. Our new title is “Radical Forgiveness” by Colin Tipping. Sounds like an amazing title and I’m sure the book will be equally as amazing. We have a few new people who plan on joining us this time around and we welcome anyone who would like to add studying with a book club to their life. Let me put it this way, I guarantee this will become on of the greatest and most looked forward to hour and a half of your week. Come join us! If you have any questions, direct them my way and WELCOME TO 2009!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year to all of you. 2009 is destined to bring a lot of changes, good or bad is to be determined still. It is wonderful to celebrate and bring in the new year and even better that it is a chance to start off with a clean slate. It is a wonderful time to check back in with yourself and your life and see what things are serving you and what aren’t and take a moment to express gratitude for all that you have. I had a wonderful celebration with some friends down in Atlanta, Georgia where I spent the week. Choco and I drove down there on Saturday December 27th and just got home yesterday. It was a nice change in scenery and I do have to say that having a dog in warmer temperatures was a treat. Anytime we go for a walk here in Michigan, I have to be so layered and bundled up to even be able to step outside. Down there it was nice to throw on sneakers and a t-shirt or light sweatshirt and hit the sidewalk. Choco loved the urban lifestyle and I wanted to share a picture of him enjoying the champagne toast at midnight on New Years. It’s time to get 2009 started!

EVERYONE….MEET CHOCO!!!!

Everyone…meet Choco!!!!  So I have decided to get a dog. This is Choco and he is a 2 year old chocolate lab that I cannot wait to get. Choco lives in Colorado Springs right now with a family that loves him however they are so busy with life they do not get enough time to be with Choco and he needs attention. My intention is to bring Choco into the Cafe of LIFE with me on a daily basis to be part of our LIFE parties that happen everyday. I am glad he is already 2 as he will fit into my life better than a puppy at this point. Choco will love some of the places that I hike and will get me back in my running sneakers. HE will have the lake to explore at my mom’s house and 200 acres of orchard to explore at my dad’s house and a cousin named Walter to play with. He will arrive in Detroit by plane around December 1st. You will meet him very soon!

DURANGO

Durango, Colorado!!!  I visited such a wonderful place last weekend I have to share with you. It is a small town in southwest Colorado, very near what they call “The Four Corners” where Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah come together. I guess there is a monument there that you can straddle with your arms and legs and be in 4 states all at one time. I didn’t make it there however I did get to explore the area. Durango is a very conscious city. The people of Durango pay attention to what they eat and how they treat the land and environment. They recycle whenever they can, ride their bikes if it is possible, and respect others. It seems that many people are questioning standard western medicine there, thus leading to healthier births, childhoods, and lives in general. I have friends that practice chiropractic there in the city and are loving every minute of being in their small piece of paradise. Though it is more than a hop, skip, and a jump to get there, if you get a chance to go, TAKE IT!!!

ADD LIFE

If we eat live things, we add life to our bodies.
If we eat processed things, it doenst matter what it is, our digestive systems get clogged up. There are so many additives to make things look pretty and appear tempting. The processes that they use in order to make these products yield foods that are very taxing on our digestive system. So when the digestive system is taxed, the body has to work harder to accomplish even the small stuff in life. But when you eat things that are alive, the items that we are eating are actually adding LIFE to our bodies. I could go on and on with this principal however the bottom line is that if we eat live foods, we actually add life to our bodies, if we eat processed foods, we tax our systems.
LET’S ADD LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!

BOOK CLUB

One of the most wonderful things that has come into my life in this past year is the Cafe of LIFE Book Club.
I am not the originator though it was passed to me because I host it at my office. It is such a wonderful experience each and every meeting we have. We all leave lighter and with more ease than what we came in with. We cozy up here at the Cafe of LIFE and have open discussions about real things, that really matter. If you ever get an opportunity to join something like this, take it. And if you haven’t found one yet, COME JOIN US!!!! We begin a new book “Loving What Is” by Byron Katie tomorrow, Thursday Sept 25th at 6:30pm and meet every other week to discuss about 3 chapters at a time.
One word to describe book club….INSPIRING!!!

DOMS

Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness, DOMS,….my friends and I laughed and joked around when we first learned this in school. It is seriously referred to as “doms” and I had a serious experience with it over the past weekend. On Friday I decided I would do a step aerobics class (60 min), a yoga class (60 min), and then I had my first horseback riding lesson. I used to show horses when I was growing up but once I left for college, it was difficult to find time or a horse to ride on a regular basis. Essentially I have been away from horses for 10 years. So I decided I would start taking riding lessons to get involved with horses again. It was great fun but I found muscles that had not been worked in a long time (like 10 years). I work out all the time and I would think that power yoga 3 times per week should have touched all of those muscles but I guess not. Each exercise uses different muscle groups and that is why it is so important to cross-train on a regular basis. My next riding lesson is tomorrow and I am really excited because each time it will be easier and easier on my body. And of course getting adjusted on a regular basis is so important to keep it all balanced. I will be doing that tomorrow as well!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHIROPRACTIC!!!

Happy Birthday Chiropractic!!

Chiropractic’s famous first adjustment is recognized each year with an annual observance commemorating September 18th, 1895 as Chiropractic Founder’s Day. On this day, 113 years ago, Dr. Daniel David Palmer administered the first specific chiropractic adjustment on Harvey Lillard in Davenport, Iowa. Dr. D.D. Palmer delivered this historic first chiropractic adjustment with the specific intent of realigning a malpositioned vertebra on the patient, restoring its normal position, and Harvey Lillard, who had lost most of his hearing 17 years earlier, noted his hearing swiftly returned under Dr. Palmer’s care. From that point DD Palmer shifted his clinical practice to his new method of replacing spinal bones that were out of position, and experienced positive clinical results in patients with a wide variety of health concerns. His practice grew and the profession of chiropractic was launched.
Happy Birthday Chiropractic!!

MONDAY

Sometimes I am prepared for Monday mornings, and sometimes I am not. This morning it took a little convincing in order for me to get up and get started but for some reason as soon as I step foot into the Cafe of LIFE, things change for me. It is wonderful to go to a job that I love. My youngest brother was home over the weekend and I was able to spend some good quality time with him. He is an amazing person with so much to offer this world, I thoroughly enjoy his company. We covered many topics during our 1.5 hour lunch but one of the most interesting is his learning how stress manifests in his body. He recently moved to Chicago and took a new job, all of this just 6 months after getting married. He was telling me that his attitude about everything lately has been in the pits and it has manifested in severe low back pain. Fortunately he had an enlightening conversation with one of our uncles earlier this week that made him realize how powerful the mind is. My uncle reminded him that joy in life really boils down to perception. Regardless of what is happening, if you can find the “glass half full” side of life, one will be way better off. After that particular enlightening conversation, his back eased up and he returned to feeling good (and then he came in and got his spine checked and adjusted here at the Cafe which was the icing on the cake). Our mind is powerful beyond your knowing, use it constructively!