Blasts of Light

I had a really tough assignment last week, it was a bit of a curveball and definitely offered a large opportunity for growth. It’s those random thursday emails that shake you to your core and propel you into a situation you wouldn’t have imagined just moments before that really demand us to dig in to our tool box. Tonight, I checked in with myself and realized that part of me was still holding a resentment towards this person. I was upset with them for not showing up in the way I had hoped they would and I was disappointed. It was totally human and very much in my ego and illusion. Once I brought awareness to it, I asked for guidance and almost minutes later I heard the words of yogi bhajan “understand through compassion or you misunderstand the times.” and “the other person is you.” That’s when the shift in perception (or the miracle) came in. I was able to fully forgive him, see that he too was doing the best he could and we just weren’t aligned. I was able to center back in the truth after allowing myself to feel my human feelings and know that in truth we are all one. Seeing through the eyes of compassion helps us to remember our truth (love) and to free ourselves through forgiveness. When we hold a grievance, we literally stop the miracle. So if there’s someone in your life right now that you feel has hurt you, upset you or wronged you, take a minute and surrender the situation to a higher power. Remind yourself that the other person is you and that compassion is the cure. Sometimes this can transform the relationship but it also doesn’t mean that you stay in a situation that’s not aligned with your highest good, it means that you can let it go with love if that’s what meant to happen. Compassion is always the cure and forgiveness will set you free. Xo, C ✨#LightMaker

As you all know, I’ve developed quite the travel bug this year – traipsing around everywhere from Las Vegas, Portland, San Francisco, San Diego to Barcelona and Paris and…. I just found out I’m going to SHANGHAI the end of the month!!

Travel can be SO MUCH FUN but, let’s be honest, it can also be super exhausting and leave you feeling like you need a vacation after your trip. I’ve gotten a lot of travel-related questions the past couple months so I wanted to compile a list of my top ten tricks for you guys so you can use these babies to help you travel with ease and flow next time you’re hopping on a plane. Let’s dive right in!

1. RELEASE EXPECTATIONS. Before you leave and multiple times on the plane and when you arrive. When you completely surrender your pre-conceived notions about the trip is going to be, you save yourself from disappointment and allow yourself to be in the present moment. When you release your expectations and take it moment by moment, you actually get to be present where you are with who you are with and enjoy yourself more fully.

2. WELCOME IN THE ASSIGNMENTS. One of the reasons I absolutely love traveling is because of the epic amounts of self-growth that happen on my trips. Welcome in these assignments, allow whatever comes up to come up: that guy at the airport frustrating you? feeling lonely? one of your travel companions rubbing you the wrong way? Perfect! Where’s the lesson? Why are you being triggered? Use the wonderful little annoyances and bumps in your trip to be a space for learning about yourself.

 3. COME PREPARED. On a more logistical note, do bring proper supplies! For me this means my aloha daily greens for airports and cities with out easy access to green juice, my favorite teas (yogi – detox tea and organic india – holy basil sweet rose), and my all natural tooth paste and toiletries because we all know most hotels aren’t providing the kind of stuff I use at home. I also bring my crystals, some cards from my alter and my “infinite love” flower essence spray so that I can make the hotel room a sacred space during my stay. I pack myself lots of snacks for the airplane like homemade chia seed pudding, nuts and berries because there is nothing worse than being starving on a plane with a bunch of food you couldn’t be paid to consume. Oh, and lastly, a few good books, because any wait in line or flight delay can be made a little sweeter when you have some great reading material.

 4. LET YOUR DAILY RITUALS GROUND YOU. Yes, I do travel with that huge ACIM book and yes I do the same daily ritual regardless of where I am in the world and it is my saving grace. I wake up, make my tea (that I’ve brought), set out my special things and read my ACIM lesson of the day. I then do a twenty minute or so kundalini meditation. This has become a non negotiable for me, it grounds me and keeps me centered and connected to my highest self regardless of what chaos may be happening around me and I find is even more useful on the road!

 5. OPTIMIZE YOUR PACKING FOR EASE. Okay back to the logical, make your life easy and avoid as many minor delays as possible. If you’re going someplace with a pool or beach, pack your bathing suit and beach stuff straight in your carry on so you can check your bag at the desk and enjoy the sun if you have to wait for your room. If you’re traveling internationally, do the research ahead of time and get all your power cord adapters so you don’t have to go to a bunch of little bodegas in a foreign city trying to find one on your first day. Buy a suitcase that has a unique pattern so that it’s easy to spot at baggage claim and you never have to worry about someone accidentally snatching your bag. I’m obsessed with my lesportsac suitcase because it literally looks like someone painted it and has cut my time at baggage claim in half, also, it’s pretty and who doesn’t love cheerful things while at the airport?!

6. DO WHAT YOU WANT, NOT WHAT YOU SHOULD.  Learned this major lesson while visiting London by myself in my early twenties. I was running from museum to museum to show and exhausting myself and then I finally caught myself on the steps of yet another museum feeling super anxious and bummed out. A little voice said to me (helloooo inner-guide!) ” what do YOU really want to do?” Hmmph. I wanted to go get a cookie and sit in St. James park in a beautiful lawn chair and read my book. I was only running around to every tourist attraction imaginable because I thought that’s what I SHOULD be doing. Now I absolutely love traveling alone or in small groups because I don’t do the tourist thing. I listen to my intuition and I decide how I want to spend my trip. In Paris, this included many days sitting outside at cafes reading till the sun went down and I wouldn’t have had it any other way!

7. HYDRATE YOURSELF. Come on, even little miss holistic lifestyle coach over here needs to constantly reminded myself that I need to drink lots of water when I’m doing lots of flying. Yes, even if that means being the most annoying window seat passengers and having your row get up five times during a flight because you’ve drank a gallon of water. Better hydrated than not my friends! Also, when eating food that I’m not familiar with while traveling, water really helps me flush it through and keeps me feel good!

 8. LEAVE TIME FOR REST. Another glorious lesson I learned the hard way, yes, you are on vacation and even if you are not on vacation – if you are traveling for work – it’s still incredibly necessary to make time for rest. When I was younger I used to be obsessed with soaking up every minute in a different city and felt like it was a sin to sleep in. Now I know that I’m in a better place to soak up my surroundings and be the best version of myself when I’m fully rested. Much better to sleep till noon your first morning in Paris than to ruin an entire week feeling sleep deprived, groggy and half awake in a beautiful place.

 9. WRITE A RECAP. I’m so lucky to have a blog and an active journaling practice to really help me soak up every morsel of a foreign city. I love reflecting while I’m there about what’s coming up for me, what the experience is like, as well as writing on the airplane home or back in my bed about what I learned about myself during my trip. Even if no one is going to read you insights it’s a beautiful way to really cement the beautiful things you’ve learned in your subconscious.

10. GIVE YOURSELF TIME TO RECALIBRATE. I’ve messed this up enough times so that you don’t have to!  G I V E  Y O U R S E L F  T I M E  T O  R E C A L I B R A T E, I repeat. You will, I promise, come crashing down in the next week or two if you don’t give yourself a bumper of a day or two when you get home to just relax and recalibrate. I went straight into client meetings after my San Diego trip and it took me a long weekend the following week to get myself back to normal. Sleep is sacred.

 

B A L A N C E  is NOT one size fits all – it’s a journey for each of us and a conversation between us and our inner guidance system. I’ve gone through so many stages on my journey to finding balance and I felt the need to say something because I think some mixed messages about balance are confusing and misleading. I used to eat fast food every once in a while when I was in college because I thought that was “balanced” and even more recently I would treat myself to a vegan, gluten free cookie whenever I desired because I’d say “hey – balance.” What I’ve come to learn is that balance is NOT about supporting an institution I don’t believe in (fast food companies) or feeding myself toxic substances (processed, refined foods) – balance is about LOVING my body whatever shape it is and putting in it only things that I know will nourish it. Balance is never about poisoning my body because “F it! It’s Friday!” so let me eat that food regardless of what it’s doing to my body. For ME, balance is not about having the occasional sugary treat – I have learned that I can not handle it. I don’t feel balanced when I consume sugar, I become an addict and crave more and more and more.

Balance is about knowing myself.

I’m in no way trying to shame anyone who has a different version of balance – please I’ve been there, too! I’ve eaten the cheeseburger with a milkshake and treated myself to ice cream in the name of balance for years before I came to where I’m at today and I don’t regret a minute of it! It was all part of my path to where I am today.

It’s okay to be wherever you are because balance is not one size fits all – balance is finding what works for you right now and loving yourself where you’re at while being willing to see how that evolves.

Don’t listen to what works for me or anyone else when it comes to defining balance for yourself! Go inside, check in with your body, surrender your pre-conceived notions and ask what balance looks like for you!

Some thoughts for you ponder on your quest to define your own balance..

Maybe right now balance feels like being able to have that cheeseburger and fries when you crave it. So be it! Perhaps for you balance is NOT having that cheeseburger and fries because of how awful you feel afterwards. Only YOU truly know what’s going on with you and where you’re at right now.

Is balance getting 8 hours of sleep or is balance getting 5 hours of sleep during the week and then sleeping in on the weekends? For me, it’s somewhere in between. I do my best to get as much sleep during the week but really look forward to decadently relaxing weekends. 

For me balance has A L O T do with alone time. I get the energy sucked right out of me if I’m spending too much time at social gatherings during the week. I need ample time to recharge my energy supplies or I feel completely depleted. This is a relatively recent development for me because I used to be someone that loved being around people all the time and was petrified of alone time. It’s only now that I truly love myself and my own company that I feel very restored by my alone time. 

When does exercise feel GOOD and when does exercise feel like punishment? This was another part of my finding balance. I started moving when my body felt like it and stopped pushing it to the point of exhaustion because I thought that’s what I should do. My body likes to try different things, new classes, it loves cardio and yoga but it doesn’t like schedules or feeling like it *has* to do anything. Where do you find your balance when exercising?

The biggest tool for me in finding my balance and in enriching the dialogue between me and my highest self (or inner guidance) has been my meditation. Take some time now or later tonight to sit in stillness, put on a guided meditation or just some relaxing music and spend some time in meditation on the subject. Bring the thought of balance to your meditation and then release it. After your meditation is up (10-20 minutes ideally) then journal for a few minutes on what balance is to you. See what your higher self says to you and lovingly adjust accordingly.

Mentors, role models and inspiring people in our field are great and can be extremely valuable but at the end of the day, you need to find what’s right for YOU or it will be exhausting and draining. I’ve seen this a lot in my sessions recently with wellness entrepreneurs – “so and so is doing this so I should do that”. HOLD UP. It’s valuable to get inspiration from other leaders in your field but they are where they are because they are listening to their own ✨r h y t h m. It’s time to find yours! When I work with people I really aim on getting them in tune with what is going to be of highest good for them and sometimes that’s not at all how I went about it in my own path. I was blessed in the beginning of my journey by not being exposed to anyone else who was doing what I was doing. I was not yet in this world so I didn’t really know what everyone else was doing and felt like I was “winging it” with only my internal guidance system to direct me. It wasn’t until later that I started to learn what other people were up to that I started to get distracted from my own beat. I tried to wake up at crazy early hours or hold certain structure in my business that was NOT me and I felt it majorly. It wasn’t until I turned back to myself and marched to the beat of my own drum that I could truly embrace flow, abundance and joy. I hope this inspires you to dance to your own rhythm. Xo, C ✨#LightMaker 

Stop trying to force those flowers to bloom. You know who you are. You’re pushing, you’re not trusting and you’re trying to control the gestation process of all those seeds you’ve planted before spring came. It’s okay, I’ve been there, I’ve muscled through an idea to make a project come to life before it’s due date, a lot of us have. We’ve all also probably noticed that the most magical things, the biggest game changers in our lives happen in their own time. You plant the seed, you realize your intention or desire and then you surrender it to the universe and trust that you’ll be moved to make moves when it’s ready to come to form. When we allow ourselves to be the soil, we create favorable conditions for which something can blossom but get out of its way for natural growth. This week, take a look at the flowers in your life you may be forcing to blossom and the ones that seem to be blossoming on their own. Surrender your control over the process and instead focus on making yourself the container (soil) for optimal growth. Meditate, fuel your body with nourishing food and take time for self care. Today a flower is blossoming on a seed I’ve had in the soil for quite sometime I can honestly tell you if it had sprung up any sooner because of my own coaxing it would not be as magical as it came to be in its own time. Surrender to your spring. Trust the process. Happy Monday! Xo,C ✨#LightMaker

We can learn a lot from the ocean but what stood out to me today as I was walking along the beach recording a meditation for one of my clients, was the tides. High tide, low tide and that in between transition period are so much like our lives. We have times when we’re busier, work is going well, romance is exciting and money is flowing abundantly – our own personal high tides. Then we have times where things don’t seem to be going our way, we are experiencing difficulties or perhaps just not seeing a lot of action in our lives – our low tides. Yet the ocean doesn’t worry during a low tide if it will ever be high tide again, it knows that for every low tide, comes a high tide. What if you started to embrace the tides of your life with total trust that for as far as the tide went out it would always come back in? It would allow you to be at peace exactly where you are. Our lives are like the tides, they have their own ebbs and flow yet unlike nature we tend to fight the tide. We push, we get frustrated with ourselves – we’re trying to direct the ocean and we wonder why we feel so exhausted and depleted! I spent years pushing for a high tide, I pushed so hard I could never even tell when it actually came. It wasn’t until I got so exhausted, so depleted from all this forcing that I had to completely surrender – I stopped fighting the tides and just floated with them. What do you know, I started experiencing more high tides than ever before. I embraced the high tides (filming in LA, getting a bunch of clients, doing speaking engagements) and I cherished my low tides when things slowed down and I enjoyed the down time. I relaxed, I rested, I gave birth to new creative endeavors and I was able to restore my energy because I knew that a high tide was just around the corner. My life flows like the ocean and I no longer see one tide as better than another but both important parts to the ebb and flow that is my life! Xo, C ✨#LightMaker #oceanmusings

That’s right, NOW, not after you go on that cleanse or when you lose five pounds, LOVE YOUR BODY NOW. Stop waiting for some outside circumstance to give you permission to love it! This lesson came up again after years while I was in Paris. After spending years hating my body, torturing my body, crying for my body to be different, when I was in college I finally made the flip. One semester my food allergies made me so sick that I actually started to care for my body. I choose to nourish it, to love it and to appreciate it for doing its thing so divinely. Since then my love and appreciation for my healthy body has grown tremendously in recent years as I’ve watched loved ones struggle with their health. Yet still, I’m human, and sometimes these things come up again for us to heal even further. In Paris, quite frankly, the food made me feel gross. I felt heavy, bloated and even got a terrible allergic reaction one night. As I was laying in bed that night after a warm shower, uncomfortable in my own skin and not feeling a whole lot of love for my body, I got the message CHOOSE LOVE EVEN NOW. And I did, and my body is still recovering from Paris and I am choosing to love it in each moment. I am grateful for this magnificent vessel I’m on this planet in, this healthy, working machine. My body is far from perfect but it’s mine and I keep choosing to love it, as it is right now. The more you love your body now, the more you’ll be guided to make loving choices for it. You’ll be guided towards the food and activities that make it feel good and nourish it. Eating and exercise becomes pleasurable and not punishment because your making your choices from love not fear. So stop waiting for the “after” picture, love what IS right now because the way to true transformation, boundless energy and body that glows is through love. Xo, C ✨#LightMaker #letfoodLIGHTyouup #eatwithintention

 

Ah, last night’s Dead Sea salt and lavender bath was divine after an intense yoga workshop in the afternoon. It was interesting to reflect on how different my weekends have been since my early twenties. Just a few years ago my weekends were full of dinner, drinks and then a hungover brunch & repeat, a good weekend meant little to no alone time for me. I’d lay in bed Sunday night feeling totally drained yet my FOMO would prevent me from ever saying no to plans the next weekend. I was so caught up in my ego and what I thought I should be doing instead of what I actually wanted. It wasn’t until I started on my spiritual journey that I was able to release the “fear of missing out” – now I know that I’ll be guided to the events I need to be at and people I need to see. Doesn’t mean I don’t go to dinners or brunch on the weekend ever but it does mean I choose what feels expansive. I know how alone time is divine and truly deeply rejuvenating. I cherish my alone time these days and everything in my life (career, relationships, etc) has blossomed because I finally started scheduling ME into the calendar. Happy Sunday lightmakers, I hope you schedule some YOU time for today! Xo, C ✨#LightMaker

Ah, Paris! How I fell in love with your beautiful architecture, the magic of your lights at night and your cafe lined streets. It truly felt like I spent another lifetime with you, from standing inside Notre-Dame, to sitting at Cafe De fleur and reading Hemingway’s “A Moveable Feast”, I truly loved spending time with you.

 

However, I also have some bones to pick with you, Paris. First of all, did you not get the memo that smoking kills? It’s completely disgusting the amount of people who still think it’s (gasp) still chic to smoke? Really?!! Looks like total self-hatred to me. Cancer isn’t cool and it was a major bummer that I could barely breathe while sitting outside in your cafes because so many people think this self destructive behavior is “fashionable”.  The 80s are over Paris, I’m disappointed in you. Secondly, wow you made me grateful to be a New Yorker on the eating front. Bread and refined carbs on every corner and a struggle to find a green juice in a walking radius. Luckily, I had some amazing friends there and was lead to your farmers markets and the cute little whole in the wall juice places that do exist but it certainly made me realize how lucky I am for my east village plant based haven over here in NY.

I’m not trying to hate on you Paris, but perhaps *despecialize* you a tad from this beautiful, golden, dream city so many people think of you as. I had a lovely time roaming your streets, writing in your coffee shops and enjoying your river and canals. I actually found your people extremely friendly, granted I know a tad bit of french and that was quite helpful, but overall I never had a rude encounter in my time there. The hot chocolate at “Angelina’s” was literally divine and perfect for walking along the Seine and traipsing across your gardens. “Bob’s Juice Bar” hit the spot every time I was craving my green nectar and Cafe Pinson had some life saving almond milk matcha lattes when one too many spots looked at me with four-heads for asking for a non-dairy milk. Montmarte and Sacre-Coeur were absolutely magical, being on top of the hill gazing down on all of Paris, nothing short of breathtaking. Oh, and all the angels in Sacre-Coeur made me feel like I was walking through a different time and space. You gave me shivers multiple times.

I love that everyone sits outside at cafes and people watching is an everyday occurrence. Overall, your vibe was much more relaxed. To-go places are few and far between because “why not sit for a few minutes while you ENJOY your coffee” – don’t worry I realize there are somethings my beloved NYC could take a few notes from you from as well. Honestly, your gluten free pastries far surpass much I’ve tasted on this side of the pond (shhhh!!).

Paris, I know you are still on your journey and I look forward to you making more healthy advances before my next visit. Your architectural beauty will continue to enchant my dreams, the spirit inside your cathedrals will stay strong in my heart and the lounging in cafe lifestyle you exude’ s impact will continue over here for me in my favorite NYC cafes where smoking is not allowed and almond milk lattes are the norm. 🙂

Now let’s talk about the juicy stuff, the stuff that only comes up when you’re traveling by yourself in a foreign country!

Lessons and loving reminders from Paris:

EMBRACE THE TIMING OF YOUR LIFE AND KNOW THAT THINGS ARE UNFOLDING EXACTLY AS THEY SHOULD. That’s right you heard me, it’s happening as fast as it’s supposed to – stop trying to drive the ocean missy! You are so much more powerful when you ride the waves!  This came to me all in a rush, I have been working on my book for a year now and it’s been taking me longer than I had hoped. When I got to Paris, I knew the universe had a better than mine. I was meant to have that experience before it was done. I also had been dreaming of Paris for years and I couldn’t have landed there at a more perfect time in my life. My experience would have been totally different if I had gone sooner.

YOUR SENSITIVITIES ARE YOUR GIFTS. I’m grateful that I’m not only repulsed by smoking, I’m allergic to it. I had sneezing fits constantly but this has also guided me against ever being tempted to touch the stuff! A few nights into my trip I decided to have some Brie and fresh baked bread, hey, “I’m in Paris!” – right?! Hahaha oh my body let me know how NOT right it was. I got hives all over my chest, my throat and chest got so itchy and I started coughing to the point where it felt like blood. Don’t worry I’m okay now, but it was a BIG wake up call that my food sensitivities and diet choices are for a reason. My body is very clear about what works for it, what heals and energizes it and what hurts it. Cheese is not my friend, sorry Brie, it’s not you, it’s me. I’m so grateful for these clear signs because it allows me to fuel my body correctly and guides my eating choices with love! 

FARMER’S MARKETS WILL ALWAYS MAKE ME FEEL AT HOME. Okay, less powerful than the others but still pretty major. Finding a farmers market wherever I go connects me back to what I love: good, organic food made with love by real people. I speak vegetables in every language. 😉

TREAT YOUR BODY LIKE A LOVED ONE. This was a loving reminder for me. After struggling with body image in my past, feeling bloated and gross from food that didn’t work for my body put me in a funk I hadn’t felt in years. However, I brought it to my meditation and asked for guidance to help me love and accept my body deeper. I got that I needed to start thinking of it like a romantic relationship, realizing that I would never tell a boyfriend that I’d love them when they “lost ten pounds” or “got a six pack” – that sounded crazy! You love and accept your partner fully and that’s what makes them the best version of themselves. How could we not do that with our own bodies? Instagram is full of people who are waiting for “some day” to love their body. I say NO love your body NOW! Love and accept it for its beauty, it’s health, the miraculous systems that work all on their own day after day. That’s where real transformation starts. (Don’t worry you’ll be hearing more from me on this)

  

So that was the truth about Paris. The good, the bad, the ugly. Yes, I will go back and yes, I will be cooking all my food next time. Haha

#foodforthought on the eve of both a new moon + the spring equinox: are you being the most wonderful expression of you that you’re capable of? Take some time this evening to journal about what that highest expression of you would look like? How would that feel? Close your eyes and visualize that wonderful you, your highest self shining through, see all the details and soak up all that energy. Think about what intentions your ready to plant right now, what do you want to see blossom in the upcoming weeks or months? Feel free to share with me your thoughts and intentions below! I’d love to hear. Xo, C ✨#LightMaker

So last night, after my event, I get a disturbing email from my hosting service! Something happened and the website is being cached – I have no idea how to read the web lingo so I send it over to my brother who translates it into English for me. Haha He tells me that the website crashed from too many views!! I am upgrading my server and handling it all but I just wanted to tell you I was overwhelmed by all your love. I’m so grateful to all of you who read my blogs, watch my videos and listen to my meditations. I’m so happy to be able to be of service and so excited when it resonates with you! I can’t wait to share all about my travels on the blog tomorrow and I love you all so much. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Xo, C ✨#LightMaker