Falling In Love.

February 10, 2012

I fell in love last week.

I was surrounded by palm trees and magnificent ocean views and hammocks. Part jungle, part fantasy, my heart burst open and cracked in half with wild love. I was giddy with it.

Yes, I have been married for two years and no, it was not with my husband.

I love my husband deeply,

Although it may not be him I am speaking of directly, he is, in fact, directly affected by this falling in love of mine, as it were.

How can he not be?

When you embody love, anyone you come in contact with gets a little of it, whether they wanted to or not. You will walk out of a room and they will stand there in awe, replaying your face in their mind, trying to memorize what it was that made them feel so good.

My husband reaps the benefits, you can be sure. I am more inspired, more full of life, happier, funnier (debatable), more patient, and more awake than I have felt in a long time.

One of the girls on my Mexico retreat last week just added a comment to Facebook, under a photograph of us which read Just told my friends all about our magical trip: ” you sound like you are in love” ~almost the same feeling. How strange to be home and not surrounded by you.

Although I jokingly said this in Mexico: I fall in love daily! It didn’t hit me until I read that comment that I had indeed actually fallen in love.

I had fallen hard.

Britta, the girl who wrote said comment was one of the people on my retreat who I didn’t know a lick about. Except that she was coming from Amsterdam.

I too thought WTF?

All the way to Mexico from Amsterdam? Hmm.

I have experienced some interesting moments with people on my retreat who I hadn’t known prior, or very well, and, as much as I hated to admit it, it had tainted me. For the worse.

Naturally, I was a bit scared of Britta, as well as the couple from NJ and the girl from San Francisco.

And yes I am from New Jersey.

It seems out of character for me, I know this. Me who always says Expect to be delighted! and other such quips more often than not.

So, imagine my delight upon returning home at the realization that the people on my retreat were hand picked by the Universe just for me!

The people from New Jersey? Possibly my two favorite people on the planet.
It’s sinking in, as I sit here feeling a bit melancholy about the Mexico retreat, missing it so dearly today, how I am getting closer to the person I always dreamed I’d be. How else can I explain how the people on my retreat showed up? It was like a divine hand was at play. I am truly attracting the people into my life that are on my vision board, and in my dreams. The law of Attraction is fierce and unyielding.

I thought the couple from New Jersey were newlyweds. They had been married 32 years it turns out. That should say just enough about them.

You see, I fell in love with everyone there. I fell in love with what we created together, there on the beach and in the palapas. And with the feeling I had when I was in their presence. I am pretty sure they all felt the same.

My sister came.

I brought her for her birthday. There were many times throughout the week where I would ask Who is that? in reference to her. What an amazing thing: for someone to break so far out of their predictability that they become unrecognizable. Her smile was what got me the most. I truly do not know if i have ever seen someone smile so much, let alone her. I have known her 34 years.

Here is her post about the trip.

I have never felt so safe in my life, so free, so unjudged. So full of belly aching laughter and inspiration and familiarity. How could it be that some of these folks just “showed up” as it were?

Because there are no accidents.

So yes, my husband feels the effects because I came home fully recharged and emanating love. Falling in love does not have to be romantic or sexual, and, furthermore, when you are in love, you are love.

Love is transferrable and like the ocean, it doesn’t lessen if you remove a few drops and share it with someone else. In fact, it doesn’t even notice.

Much like being in love and leaving your beloved, my return home was bittersweet. The day after I got back I was still high but my Monday I was missing everyone and there was an ache and a resistance to going back to my “real life.”

What I realized today is that I can be in love, I can be love, full of all of it’s cracks and holes and laughter and quirks and inside jokes and not necessarily have to own it. I do not have to have each and every body who was with me last week here in my apartment every day (as much as I would like that) to allow myself to feel what I felt last week.

What a wake-up this last retreat was. I have led 10 retreats in 2 years ( and I have been teaching yoga only 3 years) so I have been a busy girl. This retreat reminded me that I do not indeed know everything, that I can still be surprised, that there are no strangers, that mad love is possible even after and especially after 32 years of marriage, that just because you have known someone 34 years does not mean anything. That, in order to truly be happy, we must let go of our personal history, which, I do believe, we all did in Mexico.

I was just Jen. Britta was just Britta. Steve was Steve and so on. We were, in no way, identified by our pasts or our stories and thus we were able to fall in love with each other, deeply in love, based on exactly what we got there in Mexico.

There was also no jealousy or fear amongst the group. It was as love wished it were all the time, pure unadulterated bliss. It was as love wished it were without our old patterns and beliefs getting in the way to eff it up for us.

I don’t know if I will ever have an experience like this again. Maybe. Maybe not. It most certainly will not be the same, but I am open to experiencing life in this way as long as I am alive. I will keep on attracting these people into my world and inviting them to stay.

As I have gotten older, I have come to realize how powerful I am (as you are too) and that I did this. I attracted these people to Mexico. It wasn’t a fluke. It wasn’t a random act of awesomeness. It was exactly what I needed and exactly what they needed.

Just like falling in love.

I am allowing myself to feel a little sad with want for them. It’s ok. I am a human being and I rather enjoy that fact.

I am alive.

I will leave you with a little note from Greg, one half of the couple from NJ. He is someone I will know for the rest of my life.

Dear Friends,

(How different and wonderful to write that from the heart, and not as a meaningless salutation!)

I just sat down at my desk at work, about to dive in to all of the busy-ness and problems of the day. Before I do that, though, I wanted to write a note of thanks to all of you. “Gratitude” is fading on my arm, but not in my heart.

I have had many good experiences with groups over the years – scientific workshops, management retreats, vacations with friends, etc. None them even comes close to this past week with all of you. It’s not just that we harmonized so well as a group; it’s that I feel a connection to each one of you, and I suspect that that is true for all of us. What a gift!

Thank you all so much for bringing your unique light and sharing it with such openness. This is and will continue to be a great source of joy for me. May it continue to light the path forward for each of you. Thanks also for so much fun and laughter, which brings a smile to my face as I write this.

And, as has been said several times already, thank you Jen not only for creating the space for the light to shine, but for joining us in it.

So here’s my secret plan: Part 1: When the world gets heavy, I’m going to stand up, close my eyes, and breathe with all of you in the jungle facing the sea. Part 2: I’m setting the intention to do this again next year, and hope to see you there!

Finally, if any of you are ever on the East Coast, come visit us! We have plenty of room and would love to see you again.

Thanks again, with all my heart.

PS, Yes it is true that they all played a practical joke on me and mooned me the last night of the retreat. Now, if that does not say that I have indeed attracted my tribe, what does? Those that recall my father, who died when I was young, will remember that my dad made it a practice to moon at every party. Horrifying for an 8 year old. Well, let’s just say when my retreat pulled the prank on me, I got a little warm and fuzzy. And yes, I have a video.

Another Letter:

Jen,

I don’t know where to begin. When I packed last week to go on your Manifestation Yoga retreat in Mexico, I thought I would have a good time. But, I never expected it to turn into one of the most life-changing events of my life. You have this incredible gift of bringing amazing people together, and nurturing a safe place where judgement and fear is released, creating what may otherwise be known as heaven – a most natural high.

This past week was medicine for my heart and soul, and words can’t describe how grateful I am to you, your practice, and your gift.

Thank you for showing me what happens when I am “willing to be attentive.”

I love you more than you could know!

With all my heart,

Brandi

I manifested love on this retreat.

I fell again in love with life as I always knew was possible.

And with myself, with the help of the people who were by my side.

So I ask you this? Can you allow yourself to be vulnerable and fall in love? Can you fall in love with people you may have never met unless they were sitting next to you, in a boat staring out at whales in the middle of Mexico somewhere? Can you allow yourself to forget what you thought you knew about the nature of love, the nature of men and women and what it means to give yourself to someone 100%?

If so, meet me there.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q29YR5-t3gg]

Manifestation Tattoos by Conscious Ink

Delight, manifesting, Owning It!

Share of the Day: An Inspiring Email & A Dream Coming True.

January 21, 2012

Dear Manifesters, I just have to share this email I received from a student.

And for those of you who take my class and have been in it when we write stuff down on paper or stickies.. Take note of this email below which made me smile all day!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Jennifer,

So this is the paper from my 1st class EVER with you! I walked in, I was late… (kinda a problem I’ve been working on…) You said, “Here’s a piece of paper, write down what you’re manifesting right now in your life. Whatever that is. The first thing that comes to your mind”. I was late, so I just scribbled this down in 2 seconds.

The Hay House

Sarah DeAnna Supermodel

Model Skealthy Man of my

Dreams Dream Life Spirituality

Family Friends Money

Love Dream is

*ALIVE*

Then you told us to fold it up put it under or next to our mat and think of it every time our hands came together. I never felt so alive in that class! So connected to my dream and everything I wanted. Then class ended and I took that piece of paper and put it in my backpack only to find it months later. And when I unfolded it, it put the biggest, happiest, and most authentic smile on my face.

The truth is I’ve been chasing these dreams for sometime now and I have only recently began to manifest them in the most amazing and incredible ways. As for did I manifest everything in that class before or after I signed my dream book deal with my dream publishing house and my dream writer, I can NOT recall precisely. But the timing of both definitely coincided and definitely influenced one another. Now this piece of paper is tacked on my wall as a reminder about the power of manifestation and the invaluable impact that one class, one person, and or one moment in time can have on your life! I really do feel like I am living my dream life and the words on this piece of paper from your class can NOT feel more active in my vibration than if I was hit on the head with a gong!

Jennifer, you are an incredible person and a wonderful teacher! My wish is that all your dreams come to fruition and that you live your life to it’s fullest manifestation possible!

With Love and Gratitude, SarahDeAnna

ps Sarah will be doing a Q&A very soon so stay tuned…… So excited for her book.

Like her Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/ModelSkinny

Delight, Guest Posts

Magical Observation Duty. Guest Post by Singer/Songwriter Heather Stewart

December 16, 2011

Dear Manifesters,

The following guest post is by a very talented singer whom many of you heard sing at my “Reflect” special event at Equinox Santa Monica on December 6th, 2011. Heather Stewart is my private client, turned friend, and I am so excited to share her with you. If I could yell from the top of the mountain ” World, are you listening? Get to know this woman!” I would. She has a zest for life, which is my favorite quality in a person. She has a loud laugh that I want to bottle up and carry around with me and she enjoys wine, yoga, and music as much as me. When I first heard her voice it was no surprise it was like butter. I knew it would be great, just hearing her speaking voice and her laugh, but I didn’t know it would be this great. They say like attracts like, and I know this true to be true, so, without further ado, the lovely inspiring Heather Stewart. I suggest you adopt the Magical Observational Duty she speaks of.

I have. Can you find magic in your own life?

Gorgeous Heather

Magical Observation Duty. by Heather Stewart

I was doing some transformational meditation work and woke up one day realizing I had stopped looking for or expecting magic to happen in my life.

As a kid, we walk around knowing magical things are happening around us all the time.

We EXPECT it.

We actively look for it!

Well, I had stopped looking for it and thought it was high time to change.

So my transformational meditation instructor, Jessica Manuel, came up with the concept of M.O.D. otherwise known as, Magical Observation Duty. Every day I was responsible for MOD. Looking for magic, expecting magic, being open to seeing and receiving magic.

Whether it be a beautiful flower next to the sidewalk or your nephew being born, there is magic out there, everywhere.

Right after I started my MOD, I started feeling different.

I was more grateful. I was more positive. I looked better! I was able to see opportunities I would not have even noticed before. Now, my life has not “changed overnight” but it has become a hell of a lot more magical and every day I see a little more magic.

So, I thought if this MOD stuff could work in my daily life, why couldn’t I apply it to specific things I want to change?

See the magic in eating? Exercise? My voice? (I’m a singer-songwriter).

Below is what I came up with in regards to those very three topics. Try it out. I promise it will be inspiring and motivating.

I want to eat to enjoy food. Enjoy that I have food available to me. Enjoy that it gives me energy to do the things I want. Not use it as a tool for destruction. That was never what it was meant for! Enjoy that I don’t have to stuff myself to feel satisfied. When I don’t stuff myself I act/feel/sleep/sing so much better! Eating food is an act of love of myself. I feed me because I love me and want me to feel good in life. I want the energy my food gives me be the source of my inspiration and kindness.

I look forward to exercise because I feel powerful, able to accomplish anything. I exercise because I CAN. I exercise because my body is directly connected to my mental well being and want those two to be the best of friends. Every time I exercise I win. I win my life. I feel better, look better and ultimately treat myself and others better. I get to feel the grace of my body and being. I am connected to the earth. I am completely in my body and in the moment. It forces me to be in the now. I love that.

I love to sing because it is a gift. A gift from the Universe. When I sing, I pray. I connect my mind, body and spirit. There is nothing but my voice. Every time I sing I save myself a little. I give back to the universe for it can hear the gift it so generously gave to me! I am intensely grateful for my voice. It is delicate and I no longer want to take advantage of it. I treat it like royalty. I wrap it in warm blankets and give it all the love it needs and deserves.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuqEc0xKA8I&feature=youtu.be]

Stay tuned because Heather will be singing at many of my yoga classes. You can find more about her on her website: heather-stewart.com/ and on her blog.

Birthday, Delight, Prader Willi Syndrome

The Love of My Life Sings Me Happy Birthday.

December 12, 2011

Ok, ok, My hubby is also the love of my life but my nephew Blaise stole my heart when he was born. He has Prader Willi Syndrome. Please buy a Manifestation t-shirt by clicking here and support research.

My nephew Blaise and I at my wedding. Click on picture to buy a tee and support research for PWS

This video melted my heart. Enjoy. He is as sweet as they come. He gives the best hugs too.

[wpvideo 0DpFW3n2]

And So It Is, Delight

I. Did. It.

December 11, 2011

[wpvideo hmtYmgYp]

I manifested being on Good Morning America! Woo Hoo!

I dreamt it and I certainly expected to be delighted.

I said ” And So It Is.”

Tomorrow is my birthday and I can say that is the best birthday of my life!

I am humbled and honored and proud.

I can manifest anything that I put my attention on. (Repeat after me.)

This morning when Good Morning America filmed my class was the most joy I have ever felt. It was a karaoke yoga class.

Yes, you read it right.

The amazing ABC correspondent Cameron Mathison.

Thank you Sing Out Loud Karaoke and Equinox and of course Good Morning America and Cameron Mathison

. And thank you, all of you.

Joy!

[wpvideo jkZwwQHI]

Birthday, Delight

Horoscope.

December 9, 2011

I have started doing horoscopes. It’s awesome because I am being paid a million dollars to write them.

Ok, that is a fib but it is still awesome fun.

Here is today’s. Whatever sign you are, this is for YOU.

Horoscope for YOU today:

The words “My life is amazing” are heard in a room. You will realize they are coming from your lips.
A mirror will reflect the most beautiful person you have seen in a long long time, and although, at first, you will shake your head in disbelief, that person will be you.
You will notice, with a smile, that it feels good to like what you see in that mirror.
You will do something that scares you, and although briefly you will feel terrified, mostly you will feel good. Really good.
You will be loved more than you thought possible, for a Friday in December.
~~by Jen Pastiloff, professional horoscope maker upper

Feel free to share and create your own and send it to me to post!

PS, Good Morning America is really happening folks! This is the weekend. There are flying in to film me! You can ideed manifest whatever you put your attention on! I did.

I will let you know as soon as I know when it will air. Join me Monday night Dec 12th at my beloved home studio: the Yoga Collective for my birthday class at 8 pm. Come celebrate you and me. It is my birthday and all. 1408 3rd St Promenade, 3rd Floor. All I want is you to buy a Manifestation tee and support Prader Willi Research!

https://manifestationyoga.com/what-does-it-mean-to-own-a-manifestaion-t-shirt/

Delight, Guest Posts, Inspiration

Shedding. Guest Post by Actress & Writer Sabrina Lloyd.

November 15, 2011

I am so excited by this post. In the title, I wrote simply of Sabrina Lloyd that she is an actress and writer. Ha! This woman, Dear Manifesters, is truly one of the most interesting people I have come across in my life. I first met her in Italy last summer at my annual Italy Manifestation Yoga retreat. A dear friend, Alimi Ballard, who had co-starred on the tv show Numbers with her, sent her an article I had written. She liked what she read and signed up for my Italy yoga retreat on the spot. (I liked this about her.) The retreat was in Tuscany and she lived in Rome so it just a train ride away. Immediately I fell in love with her. Dear Manifesters, when I think of people I want to model my life after, I think of Sabrina Lloyd. She is present and passionate. She is fiercely devoted to her family. She is a yogi, through and through, returning to her mat again and again over a period of 20 years. She is talented in a way that transcends definition. Give her a camera or a pen or a stage and you will be in awe. So, low and behold, when she agreed to do a guest post, I was over the moon. I can’t be with her in Rome right now, but I can share a little piece of her with you. It is my greatest pleasure to introduce you to one of my favorite human beings: Sabrina Lloyd. Enjoy her.

Sabrina and I having our morning coffee on the roof at Ebbio during my yoga retreat

Shedding : A Manifestation in process

by Sabrina Llyod

Ten years ago, I lay down on my bed in my tiny NYC apartment and prayed for the world to open itself up to me.

My entire childhood I wanted to be an actress and have been very fortunate to find success in that field. But what I thought would bring me happiness, what I had been hoping would make me solid—define me—simply swirled around me like mist, holding me in, and I was still unknown to myself.

So I prayed daily for everything to expand.

My prayers were answered in the form of a beautiful boy who has taken me from all I’ve ever known and is giving me the entire world as my backyard as we roam this spinning sphere for his work with the United Nations. Each stop has been a shedding, a loosening of my ideas and concepts, formed from my culture, as to how I define myself, how to define myself, why I need to define myself.

I am currently studying literary theory with the University of London. At the beginning of the course you must choose five schools of criticism to go deep within. One path available is that of Feminist Critique. I made the assumption that I would not find that of interest and planned to focus more on language and deconstruction, Marx, Freud.

However, each student must at least have a general knowledge of every school so into the shallows of feminist theory I waded, and into the deep of it I now passionately swim.

One of the main ideas behind it is that of gendering. How we become, through our culture—how we become defined—by the norms, ideas of what it means to be ‘feminine’ (or ‘masculine’). How ‘female’ is our biological beginning, but how ‘woman’ is carved out, molded, forced upon us in literature, art, advertising, etc. In linking this idea with deconstruction you start to see how all our preconceptions of how we live, how we look at our world, our place in it are really just constructions in themselves.

Take love, for instance.

What did it look like before words gave it its ideal? Romance and passion, destiny, soul mates are all literary, cultural constructions. I am not saying love is not real, but the labels we put on what something should look like, how something is defined, perhaps should be looked through instead.

When I left NY to follow that boy (now a man and my husband), I didn’t know who I would be without the label of ‘actor’ attached to me. I’ve been trying on new labels: Ex-patriot, wife, mother, writer, but each still swirl without landing and the horizon remains hazy; I feel trapped and crouching under definitions.

So everyday I try and stand on my mat and let go of any need to label. To find an identity outside of words, concepts, that beautiful place of peace that yoga gives you when you just flow, and breathe, and are. When I leave the mat, instead of filling my head with constructed chatter that limits all I can be, I try and remain larger.

I can’t always do it.

History is a heavy burden to wear, but every now and then the boundaries that society and I have put upon me fall away and I expand, endlessly, in every direction, undefined and indefinable.

: Sabrina and her daughter in Uganda

If you would like more of this lovely lady, please follow her blog Red Dirt Lattes. Also keep an eye out for her latest film, Hello Lonesone, which received rave reviews from the NY Times.

If you would like to join me in Italy in July for my Manifestation Yoga Retreat to Tuscany please click here and reach out. The retreat will be small and intimate and is filling up fast.

Keep Manifesting Your Life,

One Laugh at a Time,

ManifestYogaJen

Delight, Guest Posts, Inspiration

She’s Got Cans! Guest Post by the Author of The 365 to 30 Blog.

November 9, 2011

The following is a guest post by my student Kate, who has now become a dear friend. I started following her blog (‘stalking’ would be a more fitting word) and I knew instantly that she was someone I wanted to know better. I am so inspired by what she is doing in 365 to 30. She is truly taking the bull by the horns and living the life she has imagined for herself. She is manifesting her dreams and sharing them with us daily. And let me tell you, her dreams rock! Here is a taste of why I love Kate McClafferty so much. The fact that she is stunningly beautiful, inside and out, is an added bonus.

www.365til30.com

When Jennifer asked me to write a guest post for Manifestation Station, I was beyond excited considering I love Jennifer…I love her blog…I love her spirit…I love her humor and I love her honesty.

Like Jennifer I am a firm believer that we can manifest our deepest desires, dreams and destinies if we set our mind to it.

Why do I believe this?

Because I have been living it for the last 120 days.

Four months ago I started a project entitled 365 til 30 and I have been changed by the experience.

You see four months ago I was feeling BLAH. I had a good case of “poor me” and I was totally indulging it. A few days before my 29^th birthday, I was sitting at lunch with my best girlfriend going on and on about everything that was wrong with my life. I didn’t own a house…I didn’t have a savings account…my career wasn’t where I wanted it to be and I felt like I was being punished for some reason.

I was just totally depressed by it all. Actually, I was exhausted from it all. I was tired of comparing myself to other people. I was tired of feeling less joy in my everyday life because I was so focused on what was missing instead of focusing on what I had to be thankful for. I just hated the way I felt and I knew I had a part in creating my reality. I felt heavy and I couldn’t handle feeling that way anymore.

So in an inspired moment I wrote a list of 10 things. These 10 things represented things I wanted to experience, accomplish and manifest. I admit, some are silly but some mean so much to me that I would just explode with delight if they happened.

All I knew is that when I looked at the list I couldn’t help but grin. I saw the life I wanted. I saw my deepest desires in writing.

I wrote the list from a joyful place. I wrote the list from a silly place. I wrote the list from a grateful place. I wrote the list from a “it is totally possible and has already happened!” place.

In 4 short months I have been amazed by what is possible when you take an active role in manifesting your destiny.

I am not trying to say that every day has been easy or that some days I haven’t felt discouraged. But, I can tell you this…I have never felt so inspired or alive.

I have also never felt so sure that everything is unfolding exactly as it should.

Kate McClafferty

www.365til30.com

Delight, Guest Posts, Inspiration

Lessons From Elves. Guest Post By The Flying Yogini.

November 2, 2011

The following is a guest post by the amazing Flying Yogini.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bLOjmY–TA&ob=av2e]

I am seeing life from the brighter side today. I am seeing the sweet, the small and the simple as magic in a way I have not in a while.

You see I live in Connecticut which is in the midst of its third major weather-related disaster of the year. We started in January with epic amounts of snow, while wonderful to me, were positively paralyzing for the state. No one went to school, no one could go anywhere and the damage was wide-spread. Then came Hurricane Irene which sent 500 thousand of us into the dark. Many of us were out for days (almost four at Chez Nancy) and many also did not have water or plumbing because of our wells and septic systems. Then on Sunday we got hit with the giant Winter Storm Albert which dumped 12″ on my yard and more on other parts of the state. This storm broke October snowfall records going back to the Civil War. Not surprisingly, over 24 hours later close to 700 thousand people still do not have power!

This weekend was full of Halloween events which got cancelled. School got cancelled. Halloween parties at school got cancelled and in many towns, Halloween got cancelled period. There was no trick or treating, there was no power, no costumes and frankly no sweetness. There was a darkness hovering over our area that was more massive than the power outage that appears to be staying for a while. Mother Nature apparently had other ideas for how we should all be spending October 31.

My amazing elves, a.k.a. my kids, had resigned themselves to not having Halloween.

We were among the immensely fortunate ones this time who did not lose power so we invited friends who were in the dark over to stay warm. The elves got to play in the snow with their pals, they had special play dates with best friends and used our Halloween pumpkins for snowmen heads. Most towns around us banned trick or treating because it was too dangerous and so the elves knew that the chances we would get to go were slim to none. When I said “looks like trick or treating is off the table this year,” they just shrugged and accepted this as the reality. Life had gotten in the way of candy and surprisingly they were okay with it.

Then at the last-minute some streets got cleared, some friends got power and we got a plan. The elves costumed-up and we raced over to hit a few houses. It was cold, dark and there were utility workers checking wires around us, but it was fun! We got home from our short jaunt and my eldest elf counted his candy. He told me: “Mom, I only got 25 pieces this year which is less than half what I normally get. But the truth is I do not care. I really just had a great time dressing up in my costume and going with my friends.”

This elf with the sweetest of teeth saw the little bright sparkle that came from the opportunity that had opened for him. It no longer was about his candy but rather about those who were with him and the fun of doing it in the first place. He looked on the shiny side of the Halloween coin and saw that his richness came from bliss of the moment rather than the numbers of wrappers in his bag.

I share this story because it so beautifully demonstrates how magical life can be if you allow the little things to outshine the big ones. The adventure becomes the reward and the end a bonus on top of it all. My elves did not care if their bags of candy were full or if they were empty. They got to go with their friends to a few doors, dress up like Smurfette and a Patriots football player and feel like kids. They got to see the little bright side of life and felt its shimmer even in the very dark October night.

So my elves and I remind you to reach deep into your inner bag of goodies and pick the smallest thing you can find and give it a little polishing rub. Notice how it sparkles and allows the otherwise dull items near it to shine.

And next time you feel you cannot find even a fleck of light inside, step into the shoes of my elves on Halloween. Remember that the true sweetness lies not in the biggest candy stash but in the journey to get them in your collecting pumpkin. Find the joy in the little and suddenly everything around you will be big with brightness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can find Nancy Alder aka The Flying Yogini anywhere her magic mat takes her but I suggest Facebook and Twitter first. Her website is www.flyingyogini.org. But of course. All yoginis fly, don’t we?

Daily Manifestation Challenge, Delight

What Brings You Joy? The DMC.

October 29, 2011

Today’s Daily Manifestation Challenge is all about Joy.

What brings you the most joy?

(I picked Almond Joy because my dad was obsessed with them. brings me joy to think of my dad.)

Why, you ask? Why list my joy on this here website?

Because when you think of these things you start to inhabit the feeling of that which you are thinking of. Works like a charm. Works like an Almond Joy. Works like a vacation (Almost.)

Are you doing things everyday that bring you joy? (If the answer is no, I want you to shut the computer and start. Right. Now.)

This is one of my missions in the world. To provide a space where people have more joy in their lives and truly feel that they deserve it!

So, what is it that brings you joy? As you answer, see if you can allow yourself to be in the feeling of what you are thinking about.

By now you know that Modern Family brings me joy.

My husband brings me joy.

Often, a good glass of wine brings me joy. Especially when I come home and my husband has a candle lit and said glass of wine sitting next to it for me. Especially then.

Belly laughing and smirks, sleeping in my own bed and also in fancy hotel beds, these bring me joy.

Seeing how far my sister has come brings me great joy.

Music brings me joy.

When my yoga classes sing out loud, JOY!

When they dance… even more joy.

The blog 365 to 30. Joy joy joy!

People sharing with me what they are manifesting into their lives and the comments people leave here fill me with joy.

My friends successes bring me joy!

How when I go to the bank or Whole Foods near my house or other places I frequent, people know my name and I know theirs. It’s like Cheers. But better. I love connecting. It brings me joy!

Leading Manifestation Yoga® Workshops and Retreats! So. Much. Joy. Can’t. Handle. The . Joy.

All things Italy bring me immense joy and pleasure.

I also ask you this: What are you doing to bring others joy? To spread joy in the world?

I am going to add a poem i wrote last month because the last lines refer to joy. Read them carefully.

How to Make a Life

First: Take everything you’ve ever learned and everything

You’ve yet to discover and place it in a box labeled Thank You.

Second: Take a picture of your face and remember

That in ten years time you will be amazed at how gorgeous you were.

Be amazed now.

Third: Find someplace to live.

Make sure it has the ability to let light fall

Across the room in such a way that every so often,

You’ll stop and mouth the words “Ah, sunlight.”

Before you finish dusting the books.

Don’t let the books get dusty.

Open them and reread your favorite sentences

Or give the books away.

Fourth: Fall in love.

Touch. More than you think.

Have a child if you want one.

If you don’t, don’t.

Let your child out into the world

Discovering for themselves just how magical

It is. Or it isn’t.

It’s theirs to decide.

Give your child a lot of books.

Fifth: Get a job.

Remember this job is not who you are.

You get to open the silk door of You,

And decide, over and over, as many times as your socks,

Just who you are.

Your job will feed you and your children if you have them.

If you forget this step,

You will be reminded of it if you ever lose your job.

No, my job cannot be who I am

because here I am still standing in line at the post office

tapping my feet,

and yet I have no job but still, I am.

I am.

Sixth: Do yoga.

Let your body discover what it’s like to move

without your brain holding it’s hand.

Tell your brain to take a hike.

Let your body believe fully in it’s own powers.

Let every person you’ve stored inside your muscles out every so often,

to breathe.

Lastly: Do things that make you feel good.

Let your joy be contagious and spread through

Your home, your job, your children.

Let it spread through the world

Like a virus so that when you forget it,

Every so often, you’ll catch it from someone else.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now go Jump for Joy! But first, make a list below.

Newer Posts