Greenhouse Holistic: Graduating The School of Pain

Greenhouse Holistic: Graduating The School of Pain: "The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. Yo...

Graduating The School of Pain

"The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive.  You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift...It is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me than any qualifications I ever earned."

-- J.K. Rowling's 2008 Harvard commencement address --

Greenhouse Holistic: Honoring September Eleven

Greenhouse Holistic: Honoring September Eleven: I was with the Yoga Teacher Training classmates on September 11; a room full of people who are committed to a better way of ...

Honoring September Eleven

I was with my Yoga Teacher Training classmates on September 11.  Summer Quashie, our guru, reminded us to honor that horrific day for all the sufferings and also the possibilities of positive changes that followed.  Imagine that all people around the world had an “experience” watching the towers collapsed (even more if they had no reaction at all).  The impact one felt in Germany could be greater than one felt several blocks away and many were inspired to make a difference. The experience made me think of the present, where I was, how I felt being there and if I wanted to be there in the future.

When the second plane crashed into the towers I had not slept but a few hours in the last 48. My first thoughts were hoping that all the fashion shows and party that we had to produce that day would all be cancelled.  All I wanted to do was sleep.  I am not proud of that reaction, even if it lasted only seconds, but it was a catalyst that will affect a lifetime.  Many of us ran home to be with families the rest of us sat in front of the TV, bleary eyed, opened mouth and speechless.  We watched and watched and watched.

After that day, a few of my friends stopped working or changed their jobs and even career.  They knew what I discovered recently.  "They were not happy with who they had become."  For me, it took many more crisis before I had the courage to confront my doppelganger.  The first of many battles that I had to fight included leaving everything I had in New York.  After selling all my belongings (it was very difficult to part with Manolo and Gucci, even if they were just shoes). I flew to Paris with two suitcases.  Thank God, my best friend met me at Charles De Gaulle Airport.  Except for Hong Kong and Indonesia, France was the only country I "knew."  New York was and is my home and I was very sad to leave but I did.  I told myself that I would come back when the old, real me returned.

I returned to New York in 2005, after only 13 months in Paris.  I threw myself back at work and at the same tried to hold on to the person I had recovered after many months alone, searching and writing.  It was difficult working in an industry where my integrity was constantly tested.  I started to see the contradictions in my work and personal beliefs.  More than a few times, I compromised my values to accomplish a project.  The means justified the end was my mantra!  I was collapsing, loosing my grounding and the fall was harder and higher than I had ever experienced.  

Greenhouse Holistic: The First Ingredient of Love

Greenhouse Holistic: The First Ingredient of Love: Friday, September 9 -- Arriving at the Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) workshop I suddenly felt older. I felt the instinct to project a younger ...

The First Ingredient of Love

Friday, September 9 -- Arriving at the Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) workshop I suddenly felt older. I felt the instinct to project a younger self.  I scrutinized the other students; their shapes, heights, colors, even the clothes they wore.  They were younger than me, some probably 2 decades younger!  Would I be able to keep up physically with them?  The teachings had not begun and luckily this student was aware how much she needed to learn!  In those few minutes, barely inside the studio, I had broken so many principles of Yoga: to clearly see others and yourself; non biased or nonjudgemental mind; purity; generosity; compassion, love...

Anthony de Mello wrote "The first act of love is to see this person or this object, this reality, as it truly is.  And it involves the enormous discipline of dropping your desires, your prejudices, your memories, your projections, your selective way of looking."  The first ingredient of Love, Mello explains, "Is to really see the other."  And in my case to also really see who I am.

With this reminder I set out to really get to know my classmates and to be me.  I was learning and understanding the First limb of The Eight limbs of Yoga, the Yamas (to restrain).  And at the top of the list of Yamas are Ahimsa, non violence and Satya, truthfullness.  Violence could also mean anger or judging others and oneself.

Being Grateful

Following is a post written by Cecilia, my 10 year old niece.

School, family, house, friends, these are only a few things I am grateful for. Sometimes I say "Your so lucky" to one of my friends than I realize I'm already lucky. Some people don't have all the wonderful things I have so I should be grateful. I hope you are as lucky as me.
Best wishes,
     
   

Greenhouse Holistic: Finding "Spiritual Me"

Greenhouse Holistic: Finding "Spiritual Me": My first kiss; my first engagement; my first heart break; first break down; the first runway show I produced; first bankruptcy; etc. The f...

Finding "Spiritual Me"

My first kiss; my first engagement; my first heart break; first break down; the first runway show I produced;  first bankruptcy; etc.  The firsts of many milestones are wonderful, devastating, exciting, scary and always a surprise or a shock.  September 9th, 2011 (the first day of the Yoga Teacher Training) will be another memorable moment and I hope it will be my first successful career transformation from Fashion Producer to a Yoga Teacher.  Perhaps I can continue to produce runway shows and advertising and hopefully with a lighter heart and greater wisdom learnt from Yoga.  Is it possible?  I am not quite sure.  This week will be a test. Surrounded by the frenzy of New York Fashion Week a weekend immersed in advanced yoga could be the key to grounding my feet.  Friday, Saturday and Sunday I will need to find a "Spiritual Me" that will allow me to be a yoga student who will be sweaty, clumsy, struggling and will need a lot of patience and even more humility. Come Monday will I be able to hold on to these humble values when I need to create the opposite environment of glamour, opulence and decadence?  The question is can I be both?  And I am doing the right thing; walking on the right path?  I've got until December 18 to find out.  Who, why, how, what, when and where this path will lead?  I would like to share this journey with you in this Blog.

A Yogi is Born!

Dear Friends,

In two days I will be participating in the YTT (Yoga Teacher Training) program hosted by the Greenhouse Holistic.  For many of us yoga changed our lives, made us feel better and look better.  Feeling good on the outside made me feel good inside.  Sounds obvious! But, gradually I realized these spiritual transformations were less mundane than I thought.  Yesterday, I was reminded how the small intentions we make everyday in yoga can change the whole world.  Not just metaphorically but litterally.  A friend of mine, who had never taken Yoga, is going trhough a very difficult time in her life.  Encouraging her to come to Yoga was a big deal for her and she resisted because like many of her troubles in NY, rejections and judgements come in large dozes.  It was easy to explain that while yoga is taught in a class, each person's practise is a personal journey.  To conquer the physical challenges I have to conquer the mental challenges too.  Any negative thoughts, like anger, judgement or dissapointment that I direct to my own energy or to another person always affects my concentration on the simplest of poses.

I assured my friend that not only will she be welcomed in yoga class she will also feel the positive intentions of her fellow yogis.  My friend did come and after an emotional greeting from me, her class mates to her right, left and back (I was in the front) gave her so much encouragement that the whole class was affected.  We were all so joyful, laughing at our teacher's not so funny jokes, gigling at our own blunders and exclaiming the wonders of a painful, really painful hamstring stretch.  The whole class, not just the few surrounding my friend was affected.  If one person can affect twenty, and 20 others affect 20 x 20 x 20 x 20 x20 x 20 x 20 x 20 x 20 x 20 x 20 x 20 x 20 x 20 x20 x 20 x 20 x 20 x 20 x 20 and they affect, well infinitely more people of this world!