EVERY YEAR...

...around the birthday time for the Cafe of LIFE, I ask people for 3 words that describe their experience here. That small piece of paper is then entered into a drawing for some gift certificates, shirts, bags, etc here at the Cafe of LIFE. Last year I decided to post all the words on here so that I had a place to remember them since knowing that people describe the Cafe using these words is a HUGE compliment to the staff and I.

...positive, professional, friendly, relaxing, comforting, peaceful, welcome, kindness, easy, convenient, personable, healing, compassionate, laid-back, cool, friendliness, caring, wonderful, pleasant, fun, calming, helpful, healthy, hopeful, welcoming, complete, calming, enlightening, healthy, friendly, awesome, nice, relaxing, positive, altering, happy, healing, peaceful, wonderful, I love Erica, I love Teri, fun, great people, serenity, practical, makes me feel good, everyone makes me laugh, great experience, relaxing, hopeful, life-changing, convenient, expedient, amazing, fun, life change, positive, exciting, P.S. everyone is friendly, relaxing, rejuvenating, therapeutic, sense of well-being, uplifting, inspiring, amazing, relief, comfort, relaxation, release, healthy, re-aligning with LIFE, enlightening, growth, encouraging, healing, welcoming, did I say healing?, peace, health, calmness, thankful, rejuvenated, health, relaxing, friendly, refreshed, energized, relaxed, relief, learning, comfortable, invigorating, healing, fun, relaxing, stress-release, calming, wonderful, helpful, hopeful, relief, refresh, fun, painless, peaceful, restoring, cheerful, healing, grateful, new, me again, straight, relaxing, new, feel better, friendly, always smells good, relaxed, clear, energized, educational, serenity, rejuvenating, delightful, awareness, awaken, alive, relaxing, inviting, efficient, calming, relaxing, comfortable atmosphere, understanding, gentle, kind, relaxing, helps, relieves pain, wonderful, pleasant, fantastic, relaxing I love Erica, friendly I love Angie, awesome I love Teri, good health, peace, calming...

There were another 20 or more of the word "relaxing" but I didn't want to keep writing it.

Bottom line...I think we are doing our job and we are looking forward to many more years to come. Thank you to all of you for adding to our Cafe of LIFE community!!!

YOGA TRAINING UPDATE

It is amazing to me how much time lapses lately before I get back on to my blog. My intention is to blog more often that I do however doesn't time just fly by! Anyways we are a month into yoga teacher training and I wanted to give you an update about how things are going. It has been an interesting process to start the day with meditation, become vegetarian and have an asana practice (that means practice yoga) everyday. It has been a good change and addition to my life however I have also noticed that besides the three things listed above, my life is still the same. I am having to do a lot of reading and journaling on a schedule now to make sure it all fits in, however it is what I do on a daily basis anyways. I haven't had anything really profound or any "ah-ha" moments happen just yet, though I also know that during this process, the transition can be really subtle and unnoticable on a daily basis. Today begins a 21 day cleanse from a book called "Clean". An MD designed the plan and wrote the book to allow a way for people to use his system. He comes from a mindset that our internal environment and our overall health come from the building blocks that we put in our bodies and that we never allow our bodies a chance to switch into detox mode. His program is designed around drinking breakfast and dinner (smoothies/soups or fresh juices) with a food meal for lunch and allowing 12 hours between dinner and breakfast so the body has time to get past the digestion mode and into the detoxification mode. It seems like a real simple and easy-to-follow detox/cleanse program that I am looking forward to seeing how my body does. So far so good but it has just been one meal so far. :-) Spring cleaning of the house is such a mainstream idea, I often like to do spring cleaning of my body at the same time to wash away the sluggish-ness of the long winter months.

If you are not interested in doing a detoxification program full force, how about some other simple ways to detox:

-take 10 minutes out of your day to lay and do some deep breathing

-increasing the amount of water you drink

-adding fresh squeezed lemon to your water

-finding time to sweat everyday - working out, sauna or steam room

-skin brushing - light bristle brush used all over the skin prior to showering or bath

-cleaning up your diet and include lots of raw, organic fresh fruit and vegetables

If you haven't started already, it would be really wise to become a little more conscious about what we put in our bodies. Every decision we make has ripple effects into the future...and we only get once chance.

BEAUTIFUL LAKE TAHOE

It is a place that I had always wanted to go, Lake Tahoe. I had only seen it on movies and pictures. This year I got the perfect opportunity to meet up with friends out there and so I took it! Many of you have heard of my Lake Tahoe stories since I have been back but I thought I would write a little bit about it so that you could get an idea of the scene out there. The weekend before I went, my girlfriend, Lana, sent me a message that said "we better start doing a snow dance, there isn't barely any snow out there"...you do not have to tell me twice, I LOVE TO DANCE...and so the dancing began. On Monday that week the forecast called for a big storm on the way. I think Tuesday is when it started and it never stopped until late Saturday morning. I flew in to about 2 feet of snow and closed roads all over the place. We were actually really lucky to be able to get through to the cabin at all. Some of the group spent 5 hours sitting on a road unable to move. The weather reports actually said "...if you have to go out, bring food, water, blankets and flashlights in your car...". I have never seen a report say that before and mind you I lived in Alaska over 3 years. Friday it snowed another 2 feet, Saturday the same. It was the most snow I had ever seen in my entire life...and mind you I lived in Alaska for over 3 years :) On Saturday we went to a resort called Kirkwood. It was a bit south of Lake Tahoe and around that area, we heard they got the most snow in the world checking in at 13 feet in 24 hours. It was completely unfathomable!!! So the snow was great. The people that were on this trip were super fun and it was so wonderful to have time with my girlfriend and meet her daughter that was just 3 months old. There are not many words to describe the scenery to you, but the pictures do it a little justice. The area around Lake Tahoe is pretty mild and so the lake doesn't freeze over. It stays that deep blue color and framed by so much snow, it is so beautiful! Pushing that much powder around a mountain is a lot of work on a snowboard. In fact one time I fell on my snowboard and it took me 10 minutes to just stand up. People were falling and almost disappearing. One woman said it took her between 2-3 hours to hike back to to a run after falling in the powder...now that makes for a long morning. It was truly a winter wonderland. Hopefully these pictures do some justice. In the future when Lana and I do a snow dance...maybe we will have to tone it down a little...I am glad to have made it to Lake Tahoe and to have experienced that much snow. Seize the opportunities...we only get one chance.

YOGA TEACHER TRAINING

As many of you know, I practice yoga...a lot. I have been committed to cultivating my inner yogi for the past 4 years and spend 2-3 nights at Ethos Yoga Studio in Holly http://www.ethosyoga.net/.

It is one of my passions and helps to make me a better person in this world. My usual classes are Monday and Wednesday night over at Ethos and Friday afternoon either there or down at Center For Yoga in Birmingham http://www.centerforyoga.com/. It is therapeutic for me; mind, body and spirit. It is absolutely one of the greatest things I have added to my life and spend a lot of time talking about it during the day at the Cafe of LIFE. In order for the body to be and stay healthy, it needs to move. I haven't found a better way to move the body than to flow and twist and turn in a yoga class and would highly recommend it in some way to everyone.

Tomorrow starts a new phase of yoga for me. I am always on the hunt for rich, rewarding experiences and I will begin a Yoga Teacher Training course over at Ethos Yoga. The course is 3 months long and is designed to immerse trainees in the yoga philosophy. We will be practicing yoga on a daily basis on our own or in a class. We will develop a personal meditation practice on our own and in class. We will change our eating habits to vegetarian or vegan. So this is going to be in addition to what I already have going on which is running a really fun chiropractic practice, hosting an amazing Book Club, giving Half Hour to Health lectures, participating in an awesome Walking Club, being a dog mom, and a runner amongst many other activities I am involved in. It means getting up an hour earlier and time managing a little better. It means studying and spending a lot of down time reading and writing. I look forward to it. I will keep you posted during the process.

(pictures are right off Ethos website; Kel Leigh Coale photography)