I’ve been sitting here observing this tree. 

And in the moment I was inspired to write this poem. 

I am like a tree. 

I stand tall in my roots. 

I have limbs. 

Each season reveals a different part of me. 

I blossom 

I thrive 

I shed bare to my bones 

Metaphorically, I die 

And then the cycle begins again. 

I stand tall in my roots. 

Fall is the season

Where everything about me

Sheds down to its

True self. 

If you don’t like what you see 

When I’m bare 

Then how can 

You appreciate me 

When I am blossoming

And thriving?

Here’s a true story that I don’t talk about much. 
The only way out of a negative, fearful based perception is to choose LOVE. 

There will always be fear and angry thoughts. Fear is like sugar. Somehow it sneaks its way into everything. 

The only way out is to choose love. 

I know it’s hard. And for many, I know it feels even harder. 

It doesn’t happen overnight. Nothing does. But it does take practice. 

After 9/11 I became very angry.

Every good part of me that I was used to felt like it died. I felt like I died. 

I was unemployed for a few months after and during that time I spent a lot of time alone during the day pissed as all hell. I’d practice yoga, meditate, walk in nature, stare at the Rockies outside of my window and I’d still feel angry. I honestly didn’t know if I’d ever feel normal again. 

I couldn’t look in the mirror without wanting to stick my tongue out at myself. (True story).  

 I tried so hard to love, but something was missing. 

The more I would take time to practice, the more I became present with the process. And even in fits of rage where I wanted to flip someone off and yell at them, my heart would begin to awaken more and through that process I would begin to call myself out on my own stuff. I’d say ‘that’s toxic you are better than that crap.’ 

A few years later, I woke up and I had an epiphany. That epiphany changed it all. 

It was simple. 

Choose love. 

Choose peace. 

And it’s still a practice. 

And it will continue to be for as long I live in my human body. 

That’s life. 

We have to choose which side to feed. Fear or love? Of course fear will always be there, but the choice is up to me. And I choose love.

 When I began choosing love the toxic people left my life and the right people entered. 

Today in teen yoga I read this quote and we centered it around discussing areas of our lives where we might not have a choice, but that we have a choice how we respond to them. There was a lot of frustration being expressed by them in response to the world. One girl who was born 2 weeks after 9/11 expressed her desire to vote, but her concern as to whether her vote would even matter. Her concern that her vote would be unworthy because of her strong desire to make the world a better place. Her peers encouraged her to become an activist, but she expressed her concern for being unsafe while protesting. We talked about awareness and how we can help bring awareness to the world through blogging and spreading the positive message on social media, internet etc. I don’t want her to worry that she can’t make a difference in the world at age 15. We practiced a yoga flow where poses like warrior 1 & 2 can be used to strengthen the activist within and mountain pose to stand for what we believe.  I taught them about rainbow energy and how you can use the colors of the rainbow to send good vibes to others. They were awakened to the idea of indigo, rainbow and crystal children. They learned a deeper level about themselves and the aura that they brought to the world. When they walked out they looked a year younger than when they walked in simply because they were less stressed and more at ease. 

They are the next generation of leaders and we need them to feel strong and positive about being able to bring real positive change to the world.