I Am Beautiful

I was taking a yoga class last week with one of my favorite yoga teachers. She my favorite because she radiates authenticity to me. She radiates love, happiness, and a deep understand that taking life too seriously is for the birds.

As I was lying there, we started class on our backs, she read something powerful to us. She read about accepting those things about ourselves that to us, seem like flaws, as our uniqueness. As I rested on my back and she spoke the words, something resonated deep within me and I had a moment where I got the biggest smile on my face and quietly to myself I said 'yes!'

I am beautiful.

All those things I've picked apart for years, they are what make me who I am. When we embrace them, our truest self can totally shine and illuminate the world.

Later that week as I was reading in my book, You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay, I came across this very passage.  It says:

"Often what we think of as the things "wrong" with us are only our expressions of our own individuality. This is our uniqueness and what is special about us. Nature never repeats itself. Since time began on this planet, there have never been two snowflakes alike or two rain-drops the same. And every daisy is different from every other daisy. Our fingerprints are different, and we are different. We are meant to be different. When we can accept this, then there is no competition and no comparison. To Try to be like another is to shrivel our soul. We have come to this planet to express who we are.

I've spent so many moments in my life picking apart all the things that are different, all the 'flaws' that I thought made me less than.

I use to sit in front of a mirror at the age of 4 and try to scratch off my freckles, already at such a young age trying to rid myself of my so-called imperfections, my so-called differences.

When I hit my teens and my frizzy, curly hair was so different then all my friends perfectly straight long locks, I would rise at the wee hours of the morning to begin a long and tedious task of straightening out my kinks.

These things today make me who I am. They are what sets me apart from everyone else and I've learned to not only embrace them but truly love them.

Lately I've been having a hard time with the fact that I, truth be told, am aging. My perfectly wrinkle free skin is starting to show the wear and tear of the years of basking in the sun without sun screen and abusing my body, pumping it full of bad foods, too much alcohol and the occasional harder substance.  Instead of looking in the mirror and noticing how gracefully I am aging, how life has been good to me, I've been focused on the new lines around my eyes.

However, as I was lying in my yoga class listening to my teacher I felt a knot in my throat and tears start to well in my eyes.

I am beautiful...just how I am.

It was a powerful moment for me. For the first time I realized that every single last thing about me is perfect. I don't have to be a certain size, my hair can be what ever texture it naturally is, and the wrinkles around my eyes are a sign of living life and growing wiser.

Sure, I may struggle every now and then in the future with those thoughts but I know I have the power within me to make sure they are only fleeting, passing by and leaving again with the breeze.

I encourage you, my dear ones to look in the mirror and instead of seeing your so-called flaws, see all of the amazing things that make you you. One of my favorite quotes is by Dr. Suess:

Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer then you!

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Hope, Wisdom, Love, Inspiration: The Simple Things That Get Me Through the Day

I bought the Ironman visor pictured above when I was on The Big Island of Hawaii in 2009. I was there to participate in my first Olympic distance triathlon, The Lavaman, and purchase the visor after finishing 9th in my age group. It was a symbol that even a girl who grew up quitting every sport she tried could still, one day, be a good athlete.

I wear this visor now whenever it's sunny out and I am going on a run. These days, as I train for another triathlon with my husband, I wear the red ring of inspiration to not only keep the sun out of my eyes and off my face but as a reminder of what I am capable of doing. Of why I put on my runners, tie the laces, and hit the rocky dirt road at 7:30 in the morning.

When I'm in the middle of the run and I feel myself starting to lose steam, I simple touch the rim of the visor, adjusting it ever so slightly and I remember what it felt like to run in the blistering hot sun, hundreds of bystanders screaming and shouting anything and everything to help you across that finish line, and I'm back there, in that moment of pure bliss, of accomplishing one of the greatest goals.

That was a defining moment in my life. Not because I did so well but because I did something, for years, I said I would never do. I remember, very clearly, when my sister-in-law signed up for a triathlon and I has so much admiration for her because I didn't think I could actually swim, bike and run all in one event. At the time I didn't think I could do any of the sports in a race for that matter. Then in 2008 I hit a major life block. I felt stuck, sad, alone and completely unhappy with where my life had gone. I grew up with wild dreams of the amazing things I would one day do and here I was, 28 years old and I felt that my life was somewhat of a snooze session. I lived my life from a place of fear and let those feelings hold me back until that one day when I woke up and told myself that something had to change.

I signed up a few weeks later and after leaving my first Team in Training meeting, I drove home asking myself what the hell had I just done?

Wearing the visor is a constant reminder to push beyond my comfort zone. To step into the ring with fear and go head to head. Even if you are scare shitless, do it anyway.

Wearing the visor is a great source of inspiration for me.

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I keep a clear quartz crystal on my desk, sitting right under my computer monitor. It was given to me by my yoga teacher on our first day of teacher training as a constant reminder to look at ourselves and life from a clear point of view, from a pure perspective. I stare at it when I'm stuck in my head, in that place of stubbornness and holding on to beliefs and experiences that no longer serve me, and I try to look at the situation with unbiased, fresh eyes.

This, as you may know, is not always easy. Most of the time,  experiences from our past shape how we view similar experiences in the future which can prevent us from really seeing the moment or experience clearly.

I will carry my clear quartz crystal in my pocket or my purse so that when I'm faced with a moment of uncertainty or when I come up against confrontation, I can slide my hand in my pocket and be reminded that maybe I need to change my own perception and look at what is happening from a new angle.

I'm going to go as far as to say that most of us could benefit from looking at life a little different; looking at things that have happened to us, what people have said to us, and so on, from a different perspective and gain wisdom from this new point of view.

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My husband and I have been married for a little over a year. When people say that the first year of marriage is the hardest, well, they aren't lying.

My husband is my best friend, the person that knows me better than anyone, who can call me out on my bull%&$* and motivate me to try harder and be better. However, he can also push me into very uncomfortable territory, one where I am left feeling vulnerable and a little out of my league. And, I can do this to him as well. It's all part of growing in a marriage. If we always do what we always did, we will always get what we always got, and nothing would change, no one would grown.

My wedding ring is a simple band and symbolizes the unity between the two of us, the life we are slowly beginning to create with each other. The hard work and dedication. It prevents me from just thrown in the towel when things get too hard, something I've been known to do in my past.

Sometimes when I'm deep in thought or when I'm nervous I catch myself using my thumb to twirl my ring around my finger ever so slowly. Its comforting to know it is there. To know that I have a partner to dance with as I navigate this crazy, wild ride called life.

It reminds me of me. It's simple, quite, and can often go unnoticed, but the minute the light hits it, it's sparkles and shines, glistening in the sun. It's comes to life, illuminating a glow that is, at times, powerful.

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I share this with you today because I have grown to realize that having these few little reminders helps me get through the day. These constant reminders encourage me to push on, to go to places I may not necessarily feel comfortable going, and to wake up, show up, and try to live my life the best I can every day.

It's not always easy. Some days I  lack motivation, I  feel sad or have feelings pop up that were unexpected or even confusing. For me, having these few things to focus on encourages me and gives me hope that at the end of the day, I've done the best I can with what I have.

These three things remind me to push past my fears and embark on a life that is anything but ordinary.

Do you have anything that reminds you to do your best every day? Share below in the comments. If not, I encourage you to find something, anything that will remind to reach for the stars, reach for the impossible.

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A Savoury Soul: Tara Bliss // Such Different Skies

Every blog that I follow religiously is because there is a part of the writer, their words, their soul, their overall being, that resonates within myself. From the moment I stumble upon their little space within the www, something grabs a hold of my heart-strings and doesn't let go. That is, I believe, what makes an excellent writer, an inspiring mentor, and an interesting human being. I think for us, as soulful beings, in order for us to really connect with someone we need to see a part of ourselves within them. This is what attracted me to Tara Bliss's blog, Such Different Skies.

I think I fell into the lap of Such Different Skies because I needed to read the words that Tara so truthfully writes, which happen to focus on fear and learning to bust through it.

I've been reflecting, sitting with and question the very essence of what scares the s%*t out of me when I  stumbles across this post, What Are You Afraid Of? Tara, so authentically and with such vulnerability, shares with her readers her biggest fears, in her oh so humbling way, a way that makes me feel safe to share mine. Makes me feel like it's actually okay to have fears, it's normal. It's what we do with them that is important.

Tara is a coach, a life altering, fear-busting, crystal and mystic loving transformer. She is a soul that coaches other souls to figure out what their fears are and guides them to bust through with a fiery passion.

Reading her blog is almost like reading her personal diary and I think, in some ways, that is what good blogging is about. Sometimes you read a post and every once in a while, you find yourself glancing over your shoulder to make sure the writer, the one baring their soul, isn't coming around the corner to bust you mid-sentence.

I like that.

I respect that quality in a writer immensely. Her writing leaves me questioning myself, my own business, my own authenticity every time. Tara's writing inspires a more vulnerable side of me. Leaves me wanting to share a deeper, more authentically true side with all of you.

I know as a coach myself, I often feel like I have to be perfect, those that so graciously trust me enough to pay me to help walk through the beginning stages of a new journey probably don't want to hear about my fears, my struggles, instead wanting, needing to see that I have got it all figured out. But the truth is, I don't and I'm not sure that is what they really need nor want anyway.

That is to me, what makes a good coach. One that is going through their own journey too.

That is why Tara's voice resonates within me. Her ability to impose such deep and raw vulnerability onto the pages of her blog and have such an incredible, respected following, makes me feel safe to do so too.

If you feel compelled, take virtual walk through Such Different Skies. Allow yourself the time to browse, like I did, and I see what resonates within you.

You can connect with Tara on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest as well.

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