Sunday, November 21, 2010

The Perfect Recipe, right here...

The Perfect Recipe 11/20/10

There contains many ingredients.

Some are tasteless, odorless, and colorless.

Some are robust, full of flavor, savory and sweet.

On their own, they are strong, but together, they are powerful.

Bake, blanche, broil, boil, roast, simmer or stew.

Put it all together and the result is…bliss, memory, gratitude, yummmmm!

Preheat the oven at 100 degrees.

Place people from all races, times, ages and attitudes evenly on a PVC floor.

You get where I’m going?

Cookies are brown sugar but they’re also baking soda. Butter but also oil. None are good enough on their own without the other. Add some chocolate chips or an intention and you’ve got yourself a desert. You’ve got yourself a practice.

What’s your recipe today? As we near the end of the year and the season of gratitude and giving what do you want and what do you give?

Take it all in and take care.

Today’s collective intention is gratitude. Measure your ingredients and postures carefully and allow yourself the room for a smidge of this and a pinch of that. Maybe a spice. Maybe a sprig. Use the recipe of this practice as a guideline to find the freedom to add what you want for flavor. 86,400 seconds in a day to be grateful. Here’s 90 minutes to move into stillness to find it.

Gratitude makes sense of our past. It solidifies peace and enough for today. It creates a vision of all possibility for tomorrow.

~~~~

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. – Thornton Wilder

Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can – there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did. – Sarah Caldwell

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. – William Arthur Ward

When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears. –Anthony Robbins

Wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving. – Kahlil Gibran

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. –JFK

Gratitude is a duty, which ought to be paid, but which none have a right to expect. –Jean-Jacques Rousseau

If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to get. – Frank A. Clark

If you count all your assets, you will always show a profit. – Robert Quinlan

Praise the bridge that carried you over. – George Coleman

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude. – Denis Waitley

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others. – Cicero

Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity. It must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all. – William Faulkner

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy. They are charming gardeners who make our soul’s blossom. – Marcel Proust

Saying thank you is more than good manners. It is good spirituality. – Alfred Painter

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us. – Albert Schweitzer

There are only two ways to live your life. One is though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. –Albert Einstein

Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings; turn routine jobs into joy and change ordinary opportunities into blessings. – William Arthur Ward

Find the good and praise it. – Alex Haley

You’ve followed the rules. So, open the oven, close your eyes. Do you smile? Does it smell good enough to eat? If so, it is ready. –My mom

PS – Use oven mits

PPS- don’t worry about the blackened edges, it makes good roughage.

**Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.” — Buddha

**For each new morning with it’s light. For rest and shelter of the night. For health and food, for love and friends. For everything thy goodness sends. –Ralph Waldo Emerson

Be good, be grateful, be full...
and share it all with those you love.
Signing off for a minute,
Lady

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

A whale of a good time...

Darlings,

On November 14th 1851 The Great American Classic Novel, Moby Dick or The Whale by Herman Melville was published. (It was first published on Oct 18, 1851 by Richard Bentley (the same name as my daddy) in London)

In short, a lost wandering soul, Ishmael was on the search for truth and a better life. He encountered some people that showed him a path that seemed, on the surface a good path to lead. He followed it in trust, but it revealed and unfolded themes revolving around good and evil, purpose, faith, power, trust and forced him to question his place in the universe. He believed in the people he surrounded himself with and it reflected and brought up all of the issues he was trying to escape on his search. And of course, those issues came right to the surface and faced him head on.

When we look at ourselves we often look to see who is around us. Those people are there, whether we know it or not, to support our highest purpose. And sometimes, it brings forth our demons. Through both good and the bad, alone or with others - we find our truth.

What do you believe in? What is your truth? What length will you go to live your purpose purely?

Today, our collective intention is to invoke our truth, power and potential, like Ishmael on his voyage in the vast sea and the vast mind.

Is there some principal of nature which states that we never know the quality of what we have until it’s gone. Herman Melville

It is better to fail in originality than succeed in imitation. Herman Melville

Truth uncompromisingly told, will always have it’s ragged edges. Herman Melville

We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibres connect us with our fellow man. Herman Melville

Whatever fortune brings, don’t be afraid of doing things. Herman Melville

If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything. Mark Twain

You never find yourself until you face the truth. Pearl Bailey

Don’t let the noise of others opinions drown out your own voice. Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. – Steve Jobs

Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters. – Albert Einstein

For every beauty there is an eye to see it. For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it. For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it. Ivan Panin

The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end there it is. Winston Churchill

If you want your dreams to come true, don’t sleep. –Yiddish Proverb

Whatever’s meant to be will work out perfectly. Just stay strong. There’s no other way, when it comes to the truth. So, keep holding on. Cause you know we’ll make it through, I’m here for you, we’ll make it through. –Avril Lavigne

The search for the truth is more precious than it’s possession. – Albert Einstein

Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time. But it ain’t goin’ away. – Elvis Presley

Rist. Risk anything! Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth. – Katherine Mansfield

True holiness consists in doing God’s will with a smile. – Mother Theresa

The love of truth has it’s reward in heaven and even on earth. – Friedrich Nietzsche

Continuous effort, not strength or intelligence is the key to unlocking our potential. – Winston Churchill

He who controls others may be powerful, but he who ha mastered himself is mightier still – Lao Tzu

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. – Leo Buscaglia

He is most powerful who has power over himself. – Seneca

Knowledge is power. – Francis Bacon

Whether on the vast tumultuous sea or serene wake of water, we are in this together. Stay present and ride whatever is present with the calm collection of intention against the rough or smooth.

Dramamine sea stalking love,

Lady

Monday, November 15, 2010

Kennedy

Darlings,
On November the 8th, 1960, our country elected John F. Kennedy as our 35th president. He was an icon of hope in the physical sense, in his speech and in his essence. He stood for peace, freedom and courage.

He started the peace corps. He set the goal to land on the moon by the end of the 60's (the space race). We did!!. He was integral and representational during a time of war (Vietnam's beginning), the Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missle Crisis and the building of the Berlin Wall.

Often, when we watch the news and see what's going on around us in the world, we are overwhelmed with the need to help and what we could possibly do as individuals to make a difference.

We often think our actions are small, from simple gestures of gratitude, holding a door open for someone, offering our time or money to a cause that means something to us. What we do everyday effects the fabric of our community and country as a whole. When we act in right thought, speech, action and live our purpose, what is in our heart, we are inwardly and outwardly changing life as we know it for the higher good of ourselves and everyone around us.

I know, what an overwhelming responsibility? Are you up for it?

Every day we have a choice to decide how we will respond to what is going on around us and within us. It's easy, in the still quiet of the morning, to feel peaceful and calm and set forth good thoughts for the day or week ahead. But it's when life throws us for a loop - we are running late, we forget to turn off the stove and have to run back home, have a fender bender - our fault@!, have an uncomfortable altercation at the dry cleaner, the 405, our workplace, that we are really challenged towards our greatness.

It's hard not to let the little things get to us. But, we have a choice with each test, each uncomfortable situation, to pick the peaceful, amicable, higher path to get through.

In fact, we will keep having the same daily challenges until we learn the right way to get through it.

I can't tell you how many times I've been cut off in traffic with my shoulders creeping up towards my ears and screaming profanities until I realized that it will never serve anyone to react that way. Now, it happens every freekin' day. I live in LA!!! And it doesn't bother me a bit. Not one bit. Just ask my mom. I'm usually on the phone with her when I'm in traffic and she can tell you how annoying I was screaming at traffic when she was in the middle of a story and now, it doesn't happen anymore.
And I know it might seem small, but energetically speaking, every little thing you encounter during your day attaches to you on some small level and it builds up. Little barnacles on pretty salt scrubbed rocks become laden and heavy with attachments.
Why not start practicing kindness, even if you are served with utter crap in your day?
I PROMISE you, it will come back to you. The things that used to bother me so much, I would carry with me for so long, it would make me sick to my stomach.
Now, I don't have room for it. The more I practice being kind, smiling, relaxing, being aware of my surroundings, even if it's uncomfortable, the easier it is to respond in an easier way.

I can attribute a lot of this to the fact that I am teaching Hot Yoga.

It's transformed my life even though my home base is in Hatha Flow yoga - linking breath to movement in balance.

Students and teachers alike, CHOSE to walk into this externally challenging environment (um, like 108 degrees!!!) with a mirror in front of them to FACE whatever is coming up for them inside and out. This practice sets the stage of uncomfortability. YOU then get to chose how you will react. I see a lot of people freak out in anger and frustration. Ahh, they will learn. I hope to help them.
I chose to get through it with slow calm ease. Even if I'm dying inside, I chose to be cool, calm and collected. This keeps me cooler, calmer and more collected in the heat of life that comes out from long lines at the post office and long holds on the phone with the DMV. ANNOYING, but I remain calm and remember my breath...then call my mom and vent.
All this...
to let you know that WE are great, right now. Whether we are president of the United States, Student Council or PTA. We are great. Be that role model, that icon for others to live up to in right speech and right action.
When you become confronted with whatever, external circumstances and internal tapes of negativity, turn the channel and find the happy show of laughter and goodness.

On inspiration, John F. Kennedy...

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to past or present are certain to miss the future.

Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.

Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.

Leadership and learning are indispensable of each other.

Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.

The best road to progress is freedom's road.

The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle than the courage of a final moment but it is no less a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy.

Things do not happen. They are made to happen.

There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.

Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.

Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers quietly building new structures.

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

Be peace. In your core. Be your own peace corps. Join it, be it, share it, live it.
Be the president of your own united state.
Smooches,
Lady

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Veteran's Day

Darlings,

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day, "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…"

Pride, gratitude and heroism. It's something we see in the news. It's something we see everyday. Today, we celebrate it as our collective intention, celebrating lives lost, victories gained and down to the simplest form, showing up.

To those who have shown up, stepped up, fallen down, picked up, won, lost, taken and given, succeeded and failed, we use this class, this blog, this time as an anthem of allegiance. Heroes reveal themselves but are often hidden in the smile at the check out counter, the person that let's you go in their lane, the person that picks up your mail when it falls to the ground.

Be a hero every day by choosing to be good, choosing outside of yourself for a moment in offering.

For the fallen heroes and the everyday heroes too, we celebrate you and us as we cross paths making each other stronger and in turn, ourselves...with our right action and right words.

We have a choice.

In pride, gratitude and heroism, we salute.


How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes – Maya Angelou

Pride is a personal commitment. It is an attitude which separates excellence from mediocrity. – William Blake

Show class, have pride and display character. If you do, winning takes care of itself. – Paul Bryant

Generosity is giving more than you can and pride is taking less than you need. –Kahlil Gibran

Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the high road to pride, self-esteem and personal satisfaction. –Margaret Thatcher

With the pride of the artist, you must blow against the walls of every power that exists the small trumpet of your defiance. Norman Mailer

A hero is one who knows how to hang on one minute longer – Novalis

The hero is the man who lets no obstacles prevent him from pursuing the values he has chosen. –Andrew Bernstein

Self trust is the essence of heroism. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The world is moved along not only by the mighty shoves of its herors, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker – Helen Keller

The beauty of the soul shines out when a man bears with composure one heavy mischance after another, not because he does not feel them, but because he is a man of high heroic temper. Aristotle

Nurture your mind with great thoughts. to believe in the heroic makes heroes. Benjamin Disraeli

Take what you want, steal my pride, build me up or cut me down to size, shut me out, but I'll just scream, I'm only one voice in a million, but you ain't taken that from me. -Natasha Bedingfield

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. John F. Kennedy

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Sesame Street and The Rainbow Connection...

Darlings,
It is with great joy that I share the anniversary of one of my favorite shows, Sesame Street airing on television on November 10th, 1969. It is also the anniversary of one of the greatest songs of all time, The Rainbow Connection back in 1979 in The Muppet Movie, performed by the fabulous, Kermit the frog. This song, a kid's song really, crossed many barriers producing love from young to old and stayed on the top 40 charts for 7 weeks. Not bad for a frog with a hand up it's rear epitomizing the ideals of dreaming, passion and living love. Um, living yoga!!!!

Sesame Street was created by Joan Ganz Cooney, a former documentary producer for public television. Her goal was to create shows for youngsters that was both educational and entertaining. We see a lot of that these days but it started with her and Sesame Street. It's part a staple of our nation's growing up experience. I can mention it to anyone and we all have that in common. I grew up in NY so I thought it was directed straight to me with it's ethnically diverse characters and positive social messages.

I looked for little green monsters in garbage cans!

The show broke ground and was a pioneer in education and television. In fact, I don't remember my kindergarden teacher but I remember Big Bird and learning my alphabet and how to count with, um, the Count.

Over 74 million Americans have watched, 8 million tune in each week in the US alone. It has aired in more than 120 countries for over 4 decades and it continually celebrates and revisits the idea of starting at the beginning.

Even my mommy friends watch with their kids and rediscover with their children, the joy of beginning at the beginning. And if that isn't yoga...I don't know what it is.

So in celebration of Sesame Street and The Rainbow Connection, let's start, at the beginning, idealistic spirit and all. Let's fall down and laugh. Whether you've practiced yoga for 10 years or 10 minutes, arrive at each pose like it's the first time and if it feels like habit to go somewhere physically or mentally, stop yourself and rediscover each feeling like new love, like the taste of a good meal or sweet smell or sunset at the end of the day.

In honor of puppeteer Jim Henson, Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Grover and Big Bird, Om, Om, Om....

In the Hot practice, we use the first set to set up safety, as the building blocks and foundation to find freedom and liberation and push past the limits in the second set. In our flow class, we explore each move with an openness to all possibility to whatever comes next, inside and out.

Play is the beginning of knowledge. – George Dorsey

Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. - Henry Ford

There are two mistakes one can make a long the road to truth…not going all the way and not starting – Buddha

Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end. Seneca

There are no classes in life for beginners – right away you are always asked to deal with what is most difficult. Rainer Maria Rilke

There will be a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning. -Louis L’Amour

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with one step. –Lao Tzu

To have begun is to have done half the task. Dare to be wise. Horace

All glory comes from daring to begin. – Eugene F. Ware

The beginning is the most important part of the work. – Plato

Beginning is easy, continuing is hard. –Japanese Proverb

What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from. T.S. Elliot

He who chooses the beginnings of the road chooses the place it leads to. It is the means that determines the end. Harry Emerson Fosdick

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. - Henry Ford

If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything. It is open to everything. In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few. – Suzuki Roshi

All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning. Great works are often born on a street corner or in a restaurants revolving door. –Albert Camus

Sunny Day, Sweepin' the clouds away, On my way to where the air is sweet –Sesame street theme song

Winning starts with the beginning Robert H. Schuller

The beginning is always today. – Mary Wallstonecraft

He has the deed half done who has made a beginning. – Horace

In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded – Terry Pratchett

Keep on beginning and failing. Each time you fail, start all over again and you will grow stronger until you have accomplished a purpose – not the one you began with perhaps but one you’ll be glad to remember. – Ben Stein

There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the passion of life. Federico Fellini

Fight till the last gasp – William Shakespeare King Henry the 6th

The strongest of all warriors are these two – Time and patience – Leo Tolstoy

Today we found it, the mind body connection, the lovers, the dreams and me, all of us under its spell, we know that its probably magic. –Rainbow connection riff for yoga class!!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

One more thing

I just think this is great. On my run the day after Halloween, consisting of 100% sugar, myself, I ran amidst one of the swankest parts of town. It is a land of Over protective Whole Food, all organic, no cable or sugar in the house mommies and daddies.
The ground was littered with small wrappers of Nestle Crunch, Snickers, Skittles, Baby Ruth, Mars, Laffy Taffy and Dots (didn't even know they had those anymore).
I saw and older gentleman with a plastic bag, picking up the empty wrappers off his front yard.
I said, this is your 'treat' after last night tricks. We shared a laugh and I thought, no one, not one single gluten free home is safe from Halloween and it made me smile and remember when I was young and all we had to worry about was needles in apples.

One still point of focus

I did not want to go running. But, like drinking water or bathing, it's a part of me. I just find myself preparing for a run like I would prepare tea or prepare for bed.
And so, I put on the ipod mini, strap on the shoes and go.
But, I feel heavy.
I have this thing. No one passes me on the beach path.
No one.
But today, one man did.
And the thing is, he only passes me and stays a few feet in front. So, technically our pace is the same. Kind of pissed at passy Mc Pacerton.
I'm sluggish. And the thought of falling back behind is tempting.
But, I see him before me, good form, nice pace for me today, challenging but not over exerting.

I teach in my Hot classes, where we practice in front of a mirror for alignment purposes, to keep that one still point of focus in the mirror. The place between the eyebrows, the space at the heart or other places on the body depending on the posture we are working on. In my flow or Ashtanga classes, we call this the drishti or gaze point. In dancing, they call this the spot. Without it, there is no focus. We need that still point to gaze at so our mind and body can stay, for lack of a better word, on pointe.
We need the still point of focus to smooth out the breath, keep our mind steady and not frazzled and support the structure of our body as we move in space. In Hot yoga, there is ALOT of balancing, so that still point of focus is so important.
And, can be frustrating.

I was a little mift at Mr. Pass me on the Path Pace Master, but I appreciated him in the long run, pun intended, because I kept pace with his pace, kept my focal point strong and my mind was at ease.

One still point of focus, eye on the prize, the goal, the road. Keep that laser beam focus and you can achieve anything, even that balancing posture you've been working on for years, that project at work, that novel that's been gnawing at you.
Focus in the eyes, focuses the mind, the body and the breath.

And, sometimes, the thing, the person, the situation that causes a bit of frustration, can end up being just what you need.

Today, let's make our collective intention to find that one point of focus and zoom in on that. When things get rough, find that thing to stare at, that moment to think about, that phrase to chant or remember.

You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus. – Mark Twain

The key to success is to focus out conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear. – Brian Tracy

It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light. – Aristotle Onassis

Focus 90% of your time on solutions and only 10% of your time on problems. – Anthony J. D’ Angelo

Focus is a matter of deciding what things you’re not going to do. –John Carmack

To do two things at once is to do neither. –Publilius Syrus

Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life- think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body be full of that idea and just leave every idea alone. This is the way to success, that is the way great spiritual giants are produced. –Swami Vivekananda

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. – Buddha

Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The suns rays do not burn until brought to a focus. – Alexander Graham Bell

A person who aims at nothing is sure to hit it. – Unknown

When walking, walk. When eating, eat. – Zen proverb

Concentrated attention is the collection of units of power on a chosen point of intention. – James Arthur Ray

Concentration is the secret to strength. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you focus on results you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results. – Jack Dixon

It is a mistake to try to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time. – Winston Churchill

It is a process of diverting one’s scattered forces into one powerful channel. – James Allen

Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground. – Theodore Roosevelt.

Visualize this thing you want. See it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint and begin. – Robert Collier

We are too busy mopping the floor to turn off the faucet. – Unknown

What we see depends mainly on what we look for. – John Lubbock

When meditation is mastered, the mind is un-waivering like the flame of a lamp in a windless place. – Bhagavad Gita

The successful warrior is the average man with laser light focus. – Bruce Lee

Presence is more than just being there. – Malcolm S. Forbes

Strong lives are motivated by dynamic purposes. – Kenneth Hildebrand

There is no substitute for paying attention. – Diane Sawyer

Don not let what you can’t do interfere with what you can do. John Wooden –basketball coach

Do the hard jobs first, the easy jobs will take care of themselves – Dale Carnegie

Don’t aim for success. If you want it just do what you love and believe in and it will come naturally. – David Frost

Light and Dark...

Darlings,
I love Halloween. It makes me feel comfortable to be in a costume I wear everyday.

Halloween is a mix of Celtic, Catholic, Roman and European religious rituals and folk traditions.

The day straddles the line between fall and winter, abundance and scarcity, life and death, celebration and superstition. It's a time when, mythically speaking, the dead return to earth and we wear costumes to ward off the roaming ghosts. It's also when the days grow shorter and the nights get colder. So, in celebration of this, Halloween and day light savings time just around the corner, we gather on our mats to and collectively intend to explore both the idea of light and dark.

When we look at our days, our tasks, our postures, can we look and feel the dark spaces fully, without fear, without masks and breath some light into that space? Can we conserve our energy and light by being energy efficient inwards and expend only the necessary energy outwards?
By this, I mean, for all those instances that might rattle you a moment, can you take pause and decide if it's worth expending energy, thoughts, feelings, words towards.
I always turn to the road in these kinds of analogies. Someone cuts you off in traffic.
Is it worth it to spend some of your hard earned energy reacting to that situation or would you rather conserve the energy and spend it on something you love, like your friends, your latest project or achieving your favorite yoga posture?

When I think about yoga, whether it's the literal form of laying down the mat and moving the body to a state of internal stillness, I think about all the energy it takes to create more energy.
We are actual, visible lights. You've heard before...'when he walks in, he light's up the room.'
We might not be GE bulbs but we all carry light and energy and we create it constantly and spend it constantly.

In our Halloween practice, let's work on producing that energy and being thoughtful on where we place it.

And, let's look really cute doing it in our costumes.

"The joy after a period of darkness and struggle is greater than

the peace of one who only basks in the light." JJ Dewey

Who is more foolish, the child afraid of the dark or the man afraid of

the light? ~Maurice Freehill

There are two kinds of light - the glow that illumines, and the glare

that obscures. ~James Thurber

We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our

own. ~Ben Sweetland

Light gives of itself freely, filling all available space. It does

not seek anything in return; it asks not whether you are friend or

foe. It gives of itself and is not thereby diminished. ~Michael

Strassfeld

Live in rooms full of light. ~Cornelius Celsus

We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege

and our adventure to discover our own special light. ~Mary Dunbar

You can't have a light without a dark to stick it in. ~Arlo Guthrie

There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror

that reflects it. ~Edith Wharton

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when

the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is

revealed only if there is light from within. ~Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you. ~Maori Proverb

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own

sunshine. ~Anthony J. D'Angelo

A sensible man will remember that the eyes may be confused in two ways

- by a change from light to darkness or from darkness to light; and he

will recognize that the same thing happens to the soul. ~Plato

When you possess light within, you see it externally. ~Anaïs Nin

Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand

into the light. ~Norman B. Rice

From within or from behind, a light shines through us upon things, and

makes us aware that we are nothing, but the light is all. ~Ralph

Waldo Emerson

When my heart is heavy, the sun helps make it light. ~Astrid Alauda

Love is not consolation. It is light. ~Friedrich Nietzsche

In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and

enough shadows to blind those who don't. ~Blaise Pascal


Sunshine is my quest. ~Winston Churchill

We all walk in the dark and each of us must learn to turn on his or

her own light. ~Earl Nightingale

No matter how fast light travels it finds the darkness has always got

there first, and is waiting for it. ~Terry Pratchett

The black moment is the moment when the real message of transformation

is going to come. At the darkest moment comes the light. ~Joseph

Campbell

I will love the light for it shows me the way. Yet I will endure the

darkness for it shows me the stars. Og Mandino

All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have

put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark. Swami

Vivekananda

There are dark shadows on the earth, but it's lights are stronger in

the contrast. Charles Dickens

Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the

light. - Helen Keller

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real

tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. -Plato

We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap

in the dark to our success. - Henry David Thoreau

Every moment of light and dark is a miracle - Walt Whitman

All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous unpremeditated act

without benefit of experience. - Henry Miller