Monthly Archives: September 2014

Feeling Yummy and The Fcuk it Bucket

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I took a yoga class tonight at Moksha. The teacher, Alie, told us to feel yummy in our bodies as we stretched and let go of the day. I like that idea—feeling yummy in your body.

What does feeling yummy in your body mean? It means getting the yuckyness—the stress, the negativity— out of your body and mind so you can let the yummyness—that peaceful easy feeling— in. Ultimate yummyness for me is the aaahhhh moment when it all gets let go, when my breath flows freely through me.

A pig getting his/her inner yummy on:

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I guess this is a gender not-specific pig!

Where does it all go? All of the crap? All of the stress? All of the yuckyness? All of it goes in the fcuk it bucket (another phrase I’m stealing from Alie tonight).

So try throwing all of the yuckyness in your life into the fcuk it bucket to let the yummyness in. Feel yummy inside and out.

Namaste,

Sarathlete

Finding Bliss

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I found bliss today.

See…

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Bliss was waiting for me at the Cherry Avenue intersection.

There was beauty every direction I looked today. Recognizing beauty on the same street was as simple as looking left and right and up and down.

So, at the intersection of Bliss and Cherry I saw this massive view of Chicago on one side of me…

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And I saw this bird’s eye view on the other side…

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Bliss led me to beauty. I had to work (not so) hard to find the beauty.

Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder. And I can say that beyond a shadow of a doubt because I was there!

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Keep your eyes open people! Beauty could be staring you right in the face. And you may not have to look for beauty on Bliss Street! Beauty might be on Cherry Avenue instead!

Namaste,

Sarathlete

Art Kitchen

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I’ve always had a fascination with making food smile since I was a little girl. I would take vegetables, fruit, egg yolks or pretty much any food I could get my hands on and find a way to make two eyes, a nose and a smile out of the materials available. I started doing this as a surprise for my mom. Whatever materials she was using to make us a meal were the materials I would use for my kitchen art creations. When my mother wasn’t looking I would assemble the food she was using into a smiling face, leave the room and wait.

I would wait to hear my mom laugh. She would discover my creation and laugh and say, “Oh Sara.” She may have sounded annoyed on the surface, but deep down I know she loved it!

Because I kept creating kitchen art for my mom to make her laugh we decided that this smiling creation needed a name. We decided on Art Kitchen. First name: Art. Last name: Kitchen.

I kept creating various versions of Art Kitchen into adulthood. Thankfully my husband Pete, much like my mother, finds Art Kitchen humorous. The surprise is the kicker. Assembling the ingredients and leaving the room and waiting to hear the person laugh is so satisfying to me. Knowing that I’ve made someone smile and laugh makes me feel good inside!

Here are two pictures of Art Kitchen that I’ve made for my husband over the 10 years we have been together:

Art Kitchen appears as smiling pasta:

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Art Kitchen appears as a smiling peanut butter and jelly sandwich base with carrots topping the bread for the eyes and above the eyes as eyebrows and a bed of potato chips for the smile.

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In my 33 years on this planet I’ve never seen food smile on its own. Nature is a curious thing. Pete cut open a pineapple one day. He called me into the kitchen. The pineapple had its own smiling face! So I decided to dress up nature’s version of Art Kitchen with a hat and body. I had to add my own flourish to nature’s version of Art Kitchen seen below.

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I hope my kitchen art creations made you smile and laugh!

Namaste,

Sarathlete

Flip It Upside Down

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My world was flipped upside down, quite literally, when I did my first headstand in yoga class last Monday evening.

I’ve been doing yoga regularly for a year. Last Monday evening was the first time I kicked up into headstand on my own. It took me a year of doing yoga consistently to build up the core strength to support my body in that upside down position.

I’ve been in assisted and spotted headstand, but today was the day I took my first steps on my own. It has taken me baby steps to get there.

My biggest fear of this pose was going upside down. It took me a year of courage building to face my fear and just let go. I realized tonight that I had the physical and spiritual strength to grow and let go of my fear of going upside down.

Flipping my world upside down has happened so many times to me since I lost my job in May 2014. Losing my job was the best thing that could’ve happened to me. The six weeks I spent without a job was a hard time because I had to face my fears and find the strength to kick up into life. I had to be willing to go upside down in order to find peace and new life.

There’s a beautiful, glorious and joyous life out there people! Flip your life upside down. Bend over into a forward fold and see how fabulous you feel. Let the blood rush to your head and enjoy whatever feelings bubble up. They will be new feelings perhaps. New is good. New is fabulous. New can be scary too. If we take baby steps we can build courage overtime to face our fears and eventually kick our fears in the face.

BOOM…..I just blew up my fears. I’m walking away from the fire to go do more headstand to get more head rushes and feel inspired and empowered to give, love and create.

My world was turned upside down today was amazing. Newness is fabulous! Keep learning and doing whatever it is that makes you uniquely you! You are fabulous and glorious, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Life turned upside down is a beautiful thing!

Namaste,
Sarathlete

The Gift of Movement

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A wiggle. A waddle. A bob and weave. A hand stand. A walk in the park. A bike ride. A foxtrot. A cartwheel. It doesn’t matter how or where or when but we were made to move.

Dancing and yoga and walking in the city and biking down paths and country roads are the forms of movement I’m most into right now.

I am sarathlete! I’m on the move!

I’m so grateful for the ability to be able to move. I was inspired to write this post today by my mother-in-law. My mother-in-law can barely move. I had lunch with Pete’s side of the family today. My mother-in-law is in her early seventies. She’s so overweight she couldn’t walk from the booth to the front door of the restaurant today without being out of breath and having to sit down before she walked out to the car. Her back hurt. She was out of breath. Want to know why? Because she barely moves. She will tell you that she cannot move. She sits in a chair all day and chooses not to move. Instead of trying to to things for herself my mother-in-law chooses to order her husband around all day having him do simple tasks like getting her food or whatever.

I don’t feel sorry for my mother-in-law. I’m not taking pity or making a judgment of her. This is my observation of her.

Watching my mother-in-law today made me so grateful for the gift of movement. I don’t envy her choice not to move at all. I’m also grateful, as a friend once said, that I still have all of my original factory parts! My mother-in-law was such an inspiration to move that I came home and went on a fast 20 mile bike ride. I pushed myself harder on that ride than I ever have when I’ve ridden in the past. Why? Because I could.

I can move. You can move. The choice to move is up to the individual.

For me movement gives me freedom, provides a means of transportation, gives me a form of emotional and physical expression. Movement fulfills me and helps me sustain my life. Movement makes me joyous.

I hope you choose to move because movement makes like so beautiful and interesting, in my opinion! I love it!

If you choose to move then honor yourself and your movement by moving right now. Get up and do a happy dance. Do tree pose. Go jump in a lake. Make a joyful noise. Why? Because you can. You made your choice. Relish in that fact.

Life is a gift. Live it. Move it. Shake it up a bit! Get out of breath once in a while! We can’t choose to move when we die. So move now and celebrate the wonderfully fabulous gift of life!

Namaste!

Sarathlete

Me after a glorious 4 mile walk in Chicago! So happy!

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Selfies

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Selfies have been around for years. Why do you think old fashioned cameras had the timer on them giving you enough time to get yourself into the picture.

I realized why selfies are so important this morning. Selfies are important because they humanize a photo and make it more relatable to people.

For instance, here’s a picture I took on my lunch hour in Chicago:

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To me, it’s a gorgeous shot of downtown Chicago. But to you, my fabulous reader, it’s just another picture of downtown Chicago that I happen to think is gorgeous. But you may not view it that way.

I’ve been practicing taking selfies this week. I’m not the best selfie taker! I’m getting better.

Here was my first attempt on my iPad before I figured out that pressing the button on the tap screen only put my fingers in the way of the camera.

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My husband says I look happy-scared! I was just glad to take the selfie. Even the picture of me looks goofy, in some ways, it’s more fun to look at because there’s a human in the photo. I took this picture at work (when I probably should’ve been working—ssssshhhhhhh don’t tell!!!!!!).

Let’s go back to Chicago and the downtown shot. Here’s a more improved selfie in the same location:

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You can see Chicago in the background. At the same time you also see me. Maybe not my best photo in the world, but there’s still a human in the picture. The human part is cool because it adds another element to the picture called emotion. There’s smiling going on which usually means happiness! That smile is darn right genuine because I was in a location I enjoy and also because I figured out how to take a selfie properly on my iPad! You press the right volume button (the button closest to the ringer on/off button). Aaaahhhhhh that moment when you get it right! What a relief! What a happy moment!

Be happy! Be sad! Be mad! Be whatever you want to be. Take photos and put yourself in them sometimes. The photos are more interesting because you can and other people can connect and relate to them more easily. The photos and selfies reflect you living your life and how you felt at that moment in time. The photo itself becomes its own interesting story!

Namaste,
Sarathlete