To be honest, when I saw that word “God” in the 3rd step of my first Narcotics Anonymous meeting, I instantly thought about this religious figure. This almighty person that was perched in the sky, looking over all of us, watching every single thing we did. You have every right to view God in this fashion, it’s your right to do so. That just didn’t really work for me.

I was so focused on that word, and all the preconceived notions surrounding it due to tons of conditioning, that I never truly read the whole sentence. If I did, I would have noticed that right after the word God is “as we understood Him”. This means, we have the right to view God, interpret God, and pray to the God, of our own understanding. This changed my life, because up until that point, I had no relationship with the God I had been told about for so many years.

Then, when I looked at the 2nd step and really internalized that a “Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity”, that’s when it all made sense. My God didn’t have to be called God, I just had to believe in something greater than myself, a power greater than myself. And looking back on that moment when I decided I couldn’t live the way I was living anymore, when I decided to surrender, I realized what happened. That was the moment when I decided to listen to the Power that was greater than myself and get help. The Power that showed up that day, was always there, but I chose not to listen for so long. I finally decided to listen to that voice. I made a decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of God as I understood him; who I chose to call God and my Higher Power.

I thank my Higher Power every morning and night for another day on this earth. I truly believe with all of my heart, if I didn’t listen to it then, I wouldn’t be here today.

Everybody has something to offer. We may not realize or be fully aware of this concept, but it’s 100% true. These offerings can come in the form of someone’s presence, advice or words, or the actions that someone carries out. But we need to be careful because they can be both positive or negative and it is up to us, the individual, to decipher when an offering (what someone may offer us) is beneficial or potentially harmful.

I would hope that people don’t feel the need to offer anything that can be viewed as negative. Having said that, I know that I can only control what and how I present offerings to others. I strive to always offer positive vibrations, words, and actions on a daily basis. My delivery might not always be perfect, but I know I dedicate my efforts to consciously be better than I was the day, hour, or minute before.

Being able to offer my services to others, whether it’s my presence, words, or actions, is something that is extremely important to me. I know that I can’t keep it, unless I give it away. Which means that I can’t keep the happiness, the joy, the freedom, the inner peace that I’ve accumulated over time unless I share it, or give it away to others. It would be quite selfish of me to hold on to these gifts and not allow anyone else to benefit from them. So, if you have something to offer or share, then offer it. Share it. You never know how your presence may affect someone, how your words might make them smile, or how your actions could restore their faith in humanity.

We are all on our own paths. We make choices. We change our minds. We are ever-transforming on a daily basis and that is the beauty of life. One day about 12 or so years ago, I decided to stop eating red meat. Then over time, I started to cut out chicken and fish, then dairy, and the final straw was eggs. Once I removed all the animal-based products in my diet, I was now considered a Vegan, woohoo (sarcastically said). I used to wear this as a badge of honor at first because I was really proud of my transformation and my ability to totally change my dietary lifestyle. That mindset hasn't so much changed today, but rather I choose to approach it in a different manner. I do still consider myself Vegan or Plant-based, but at the same time there are other motivations involved besides just my health. I take into account the damaging effects that the meat and dairy industry has on the lives of so many animals, as well as on the environment. That's my own personal journey to Veganism, which has been shaped by how I started to feel physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually when consuming animal-based products. But, that's my story, no one else's. 

So, I want people to remember that my path is not their path. All I can do is speak my truth and what I've experienced in my life thus far and impart the wisdom that I've learned along the way. What I would want besides anything else is that you choose to be more mindful about your eating habits. Try to become more aware and involved with the foods you are putting into your body because you only get one. Once you start to build this deeper, more intimate relationship with your food, the connection will strengthen and you will automatically start to change your mindset about food. That is always going to be unique to you and no one else. 

This is just my experience. Enjoy. 

I'm often asked "How I got into Yoga?" or "Why did I start doing Yoga?". There isn't really a short answer to either of these questions, believe me, I've tried. What I did learn after plenty of time reflecting was that my introduction into Yoga and subsequent journey with Yoga manifested itself through a complex series of events and circumstances. Each one played its own special part in guiding me on my path that ultimately led me to Yoga and kept me coming back for more, and more, and eventually catapulting me to Mysore, India to pursue my 200 hour YTT certification in Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. And most recently opening up my own Yoga Studio, A New Breath in Liberty, NY. Looking back now, I'm still in complete awe about how everything lined up the way it did. It all happened the way it was supposed to in order to bring me to where I am today. I don't know how to really define it. Magic? Divine timing? Maybe it's both and maybe it's also this beautiful thing we call life. 

Salads don't have to be boring.

Think of a salad as a blank canvas that you can paint with the most extravagant colors and textures, creating a masterpiece that not only looks visually appealing, but tastes great too!

There are so many options and variations that can go into a salad depending on your likes, dislikes, preferences, or what you're trying to achieve currently in your life. A salad provides you a perfect opportunity to get creative and design something that is unique and personal to you. So have fun with it and enjoy the process of choosing the ingredients, putting them into the salad, and then enjoying it all to the fullest.

As a nation, we keeping finding ourselves in the same predicament over and over again. If it keeps happening and nothing is really changing, then were these effective measures taken to resolve the past transgressions? Absolutely not.

This means we have reached an important crossroads for this country. You can call it a boiling point, a tipping point, or a pivotal moment in time. Regardless of the label you give it, things need to change. Because if things fail to get better and we don't whole-heartedly come together to create a place that offers true equality for all, then more injustices will occur leading to more violence in response. 

I am not a Black person or a person of color for that matter, therefore, I can't comment on how they should react after repeatedly being subjected to racism, prejudice, and dehumanization tactics on a daily basis. 

I can't tell them how they should be feeling.

I can' tell them how they should protest.

All I know, is that they've had enough for far too long. And enough is enough isn't cutting it anymore.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, life is going to happen. Things are going to occur. Situations are going to arise that are entirely out of our control. Now, these situations can be considered good, bad, positive, or negative. But for the most part, and I'm coming from personal experience, there is no benefit in avoiding those negative or bad situations. Because they are going to occur, they are going to arise in our lives, no matter what. So, when life shows up, you, me, all of us, have to show up for life.

I think it’s fairly safe to say that each and every one of us have been wronged by someone during the course of our lives. This person may have said something or done something that genuinely hurt your feelings. As a result, you started to harbor feelings of anger, frustration, or aggravation towards this particular person. These feelings, if left unattended, can produce deep-seated resentments, which usually transform into this act of holding a grudge.  

Now I am not saying it’s unacceptable to have these feelings of anger or frustration or to feel sad and upset. In that moment, they shouldn’t be considered unjust or unwarranted because you’re entitled to feel your feelings. This issue is how you deal with those feelings moving forward. As time passes, did you let go of those feelings or did you allow them to develop into these resentments and grudges?  

If your actions normally gravitate towards the latter, then the only person that you’re hurting is yourself. You see, there’s this saying, “Holding on to this anger, holding on to these grudges is like drinking poison expecting the other person to die”.  If you perceive these feelings of anger, frustration, and resentment as poison, then why would you want to hold on to them? Why would you want to harbor them? Why would you willingly want to poison yourself?

Situations will arise during your life that will make it tough not to depend on someone else and there is nothing wrong with that. This dependency on others can become harmful to yourself and your self-growth when you depend on somebody so much that you lose your identity in the process. Or if you depend on somebody so much that they make you feel whole, they make you feel complete.   

You shouldn’t rely upon, you shouldn’t depend on somebody else to make yourself feel whole, to make yourself feel complete. Those feelings of completeness and wholeness must originate within yourself, not anyone else in your life. Because, what if one day this person decides to leave the relationship or you decide it’s no longer working? You two break up. Then what? Then what happens?    

So how do you prevent this from happening again or from ever happening in the first place? The answer is quite simple, but getting there is not. You have to put in the work, but actually committing to this work is not always easy. You may avoid looking inward. You may avoid engaging in self-reflection. But, that’s what it takes. It requires you to put in the time, the effort, the work, the energy, and the dedication to want to change and grow. You have to constantly, on a daily basis, reflect on your life and be honest with yourself about your motives.