Florian Yoga Gift Guide - 2009 Holiday Season

Please enjoy this collection of eclectic gift ideas. These are my favorite shopping destinations from 2009.  And feel free to add your favorites to the comments field.  Happy mindful shopping!

	Crochet Totes...made with love by Well of Creations on Etsy I adore my beanie and large cranberry colored tote bag from Robin's collection. A day doesn't go by when someone doesn't remark on my fab tote.
	EarthLife Shop - Healing Jewelry from Sweden via Etsy  Each handmade piece has a meaning...my gorgeous crimson necklace (similar to the one shown here) encourages  authenticity and speaking your personal truth.  Other inspired pieces promote fearlessness, rejuvenation, introspection and more. And no worries about the shipping from Sweden, my goodies arrived quickly and with cool stamps!
	Yoga and Spiritual Books My book recommendations for any new or seasoned yogi(ni).
	Unique Yoga Music Playlists For all types of yoga practices from gentle to vigorous vinyasa.
	Flutterbye Aromatics  Simply the most amazing essential oil based, 100% natural products for face, body, and hair. Simone's soaps make perfect gifts for any occasion, especially stocking stuffers. Her products are remarkably inexpensive for the high quality and care she puts into preparing each order. Oh, yeah and did I mention the products (especially the light moisturizer) smell amazing!
	The 30 Day Yoga Journey  Give the gift of yoga for 30 days. Appropriate for newcomers and long-term yoga practitioners. A yoga-email-a-day for 30 days, and they can begin anytime. Daily emails include Mp3 yoga/meditation downloads, mantras, yoga philosophy and lots more. Plus ALL gift certificate proceeds support Florian's Causes charitable work.
	Melange Boutique-Woman's clothing and yoga attire Simple, elegant, comfortable, tasteful - that's how I'd describe Melange's selection of clothing and accessories.  I discovered the online shop while searching for Hard Tail yoga tanks.  They have a great Hard Tail shop, but then as I began to browse, I discovered their gorgeous selection of casual-chic clothes.  The best part is when they arrive at your door...each piece is hand wrapped and there is always a personal note from the owner.

Featured Blog: Pranalife Yoga's Asia Nelson on the 30 Day Journey

One of the many wonderful people I've met along my yoga journey is Asia Nelson (pictured, right), Director of Pranalife Yoga in Ontario, Canada. 

Well,  we haven't met in person, but she and I have been on a Journey together.

Read Asia's Blog of her 30 Day Yoga Journey with me (in reverse chronological order, so scroll to the bottom for day 1)

Super sweet article in Southern Beauty about Florian Yoga Retreats

Big thank you and namaste to Kristin Gadd Pricket from Southern Beauty Magazine for writing this lovely article about her retreat with Scott and me on St. John.

Southern Beauty Article about Florian Yoga Retreats

Tranquility du Jour Podcast featuring moi!

I'm excited and flattered that Kimberly Wilson - yogini, author, do-gooder, eco-fashon designer - interviewed me for her blog. 

Check out the interview here!

Calling all Halloween party-poopers...try a mask meditation

I don't like Halloween.  And I'm done apologizing for it.  Actually, I started my Halloween boycott about15 years ago.  It wasn't a big declaration, I just never accepted another Halloween party invitation.  And I'm much happier now every time October 31 comes around.

Pretending to be someone else always felt creepy and inconsistent with the [perhaps disingenuous, but ever present mantra of my growing up] to "be yourself".  But nevertheless, not being one to make waves, I dressed up as ghosts, cat women, flappers, pumpkins for years.

Now I use Halloween as day as inward "dressing up".  In 2005, my yoga teacher, Diane Featherstone led my teacher training class through a Halloween-inspired meditation on Oct 31 of that year.  Diane talked us through putting on a series of mental masks.

First she guided us through a hatha yoga practice (truth be told, I can no longer remember specifics about the sequence she led that day), then a 20 minute savasana and then she brought us to the "mask" meditation.  I was particularly relaxed that day (probably because I didn't have a Halloween party that I was stressed about going to that night).

The mask meditation began with putting on a mask of fear - exploring our mind and bodies'  response when we are fearful.  She asked us to imagine a fearful experience (real or not) and just be with it and notice everything about how we responded, any colors or patterns that came behind our closed eyes, any parts of our bodies that felt sensations and anything else we notices.

She went on to bring us through wearing masks of boredom, beauty, impatience, contentment and probably some others I'm no longer remembering. 

This meditation resonated with me and I noticed very different physical responses in my body from each of the masks. 

I've since expanded the mask meditation to practice compassion.  I now put on masks of people with whom I'm not happy or people I don't understand (one at a time, so my head doesn't explode!) 

I allow myself to experience the world from their perspective for a few minutes.  It's not possible to do this without seeing them through your own lens; but to the extent that you can suspend dialogue and judgment, just allow yourself to be in their shoes for a few minutes.  And the be sure to take off the mask!

So now you know what I'll be doing tonight....oh yeah, and giving out candy to trick-or-treaters....the part of Halloween I DO like (see, I'm not a total kill-joy)

Boo.