Women Warriors!

The Drama of the Gifted Child

fantasha — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:30:34 +0000

“The truth about childhood is stored up in our bodies and lives in the depths of our souls. Our intellect can be deceived, our feelings can be numbed and manipulated, our perceptions shamed and confused, our bodies tricked with medication, but our soul never forgets. And because we are one, one whole soul in one body, someday our body will present its bill. The wounded and lost child is only in hiding; the soul is still whole in spirit. Ultimately, our deepest self will accept no compromises or excuses, and it will not stop tormenting or contaminating us until we stop evading the truth.”
– Alice Miller
Aluthor of the book “The Drama of the Gifted Child.”

Bikinis Reduce Women to Merely Objects

fantasha — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:46:29 +0000

CLICK ON PICTURE TO PLAY VIDEO.

Check out the video by clicking on this link: http://www.qideas.org/video/the-evolution-of-the-swimsuit.aspx

How Yoga Changed My Life

fantasha — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 17:18:14 +0000

It has been a very transformative 2 year journey completing my Advanced Yoga Instructor and Yoga Therapy certification. I have finished all the modules but have yet to finish all my required practical hours. The hours will come as I practice my new skills when I move home to Vancouver, Canada this summer.
I began my teacher training with a very Western mindset when it came to the idea of Yoga, being only focused on the asanas (physical practice). It didn’t help that I have a Personal Training background so my mind is/ was already super-focused on the fitness aspect of Yoga. Did I ever get schooled on the truth and meaning of what Yoga is truly about!
When I started out my teacher training, I often felt weird, or out-of-place. I laughed at myself often, in my head of course, and thought, “If my friends could see me now.” Talk about getting out of my comfort zone. I was already living in a new country (moved from Canada to the United States) and living in a very liberal city (San Francisco) and to add the extra element of becoming certified in Yoga…WOW! I suggest, if you truly desire to change your life, get out of your comfort zone often. I was definitely out of my comfort zone Oming it up and chanting frequently. I didn’t really recognize myself as I was going through the training. I often observed my experience as more of a witness, thinking, “Where am I and what am I doing?”. Not in a bad way but more in a shocked and proud of myself kind of way. Yoga was completely new to me and often, uncomfortable.
The most challenging part of my training was dealing with my spirituality or lack thereof. Let me tell you, the last thing you want to do if you lack a sense of spirituality is go through Yoga teacher training for 2 years. Maybe it’s the best thing you can do. It’s like casting a spotlight on the dark areas of one’s life. I’ve always felt I lacked a strong sense of spirituality and having lost both brothers to suicide, I definitely felt stunted in all areas dealing with a higher Being, or God. After these last 2 years, I feel more aware of my beliefs and feel more connected to people and the universe.
The other major challenge for me was embracing vulnerability. To put myself in this new arena of Yoga was so outside my comfort zone, I often felt vulnerable. I needed to learn how to embrace these uncomfortable feelings and learn to welcome them into my life. The greatest change happened because I allowed myself, the core of my soul, to be seen. It’s very different to let myself be seen by people who are new in my life than it is to be vulnerable with those who I have known for many years. I am thankful to have found such an amazing community of beautiful and compassionate people to go through this journey with. Purusha Yoga Studio was exactly where I was supposed to be in order to discover my deepest self.
How have I changed? After 2 years fully immersing myself in Yoga, I feel like I have resurfaced a more open, vulnerable, and authentic person. I feel a softness to myself that has been suppressed for too long. The greatest feedback I received after my Thai Massage final was how peaceful and caring I came across. I was told, I have a very loving, confident and nurturing energy. Now that’s real change
I believe the peace I now feel is a product of showing up vulnerable, open and sharing my truth and experiences (especially the uncomfortable experiences) with the Purusha community. I will embrace this new me and practice showing up in all areas of my life with my open spirit and heart. I will be forever thankful for my experience within the Purusha Yoga community and how Yoga changed my life.

My 1st certification

Handbags Are As Dirty As The Toilet!

fantasha — Fri, 31 May 2013 18:54:35 +0000

Handbags are as dirty as the toilet! Keep them off the counter.

Have you ever noticed girls who set their handbags on public toilet floors, then go directly to their dining tables and set it on the table? Happens a lot! It’s not always the ‘restaurant food’ that causes stomach distress. Sometimes ‘what you don’t know will hurt you’!

It’s something just about every woman carries with them. While we may know what’s inside our handbags, do you have any idea what’s on the outside? Women carry handbags everywhere; from the office to public toilets to the floor of the car. Most women won’t be caught without their handbags, but did you ever stop to think about where your handbag goes during the day.

‘I drive a school bus, so my handbag has been on the floor of the bus a lot,’ says one woman. ‘On! The floor of my car, and in toilets.’‘I put my handbag in grocery shopping carts and on the floor of the toilet,‘ says another woman ‘and of course in my home which should be clean.’

Nelson Laboratories in Salt Lake City decided to find out if handbags harbour a lot of bacteria. They learned how to test them and then they set out to test the average woman’s handbag.

Most women told them they didn’t stop to think about what was on the bottom of their handbag. Most said at home they usually set their handbags on top of kitchen tables and counters where food is prepared. Most of the ladies talked to said they wouldn’t be surprised if their handbags were at least a little bit dirty.

It turns out handbags are so surprisingly dirty, even the microbiologist who tested them was shocked..

Microbiologist Amy Karen of Nelson Labs says nearly all of the handbags tested were not only high in bacteria, but high in harmful kinds of bacteria. Pseudomonas can cause eye infections, staphylococcus aurous can cause serious skin infections, and salmonella and e-coli found on the handbags could make people very sick.

In one sampling, four of five handbags tested positive for salmonella, and that’s not the worst of it. ‘There is fecal contamination on the handbags’ says Amy. Leather, or vinyl handbags tended to be cleaner than cloth handbags, and lifestyle seemed to play a role. People with kids tended to have dirtier handbags than those without, with one exception.

***The handbag of one single woman who frequented nightclubs had one of the worst contaminants of all. ‘Some type of feces, or possibly vomit’ says Amy.

So the moral of this story is that your handbag won’t kill you, but it does have the potential to make you very sick if you keep it on places where you eat. Use hooks to hang your handbag at home and in toilets, and don’t put it on your desk, a restaurant table, or on your kitchen countertop.

Experts say you should think of your handbag the same way you would a pair of shoes. ‘If you think about putting a pair of shoes on your countertops, that’s the same thing you’re doing when you put your handbag on the countertops. ‘

Your handbag has gone where individuals before you have walked, sat, sneezed, coughed, spat, urinated, emptied bowels, etc! Do you really want to bring that home with you?

The microbiologists at Nelson also said cleaning a handbag will help. Wash cloth handbags and use leather cleaner to clean the bottom of leather handbags…

THIS IS WORTH SHARING!!! PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO YOUR GRANDMOTHERS, MOMS, DAUGHTERS, GRANDDAUGHTERS AND GIRLFRIENDS !! !!

Moving From San Francisco To Vancouver, Canada…

fantasha — Wed, 22 May 2013 21:26:34 +0000

I am moving HOME from San Francisco, California to Vancouver, Canada. I will explain why I’m moving through the use of visual aids… pictures say a thousand words.

I give you San Francisco…

Take notice of the horrified look on this child’s face ^

The common sight on any given sunny day ^ This happened to be the day of the “fitness” event Bay to Breakers.

Beverage of choice during the “race” ^ (alcohol for those who can not tell)
These photos are from the annual running race known as Bay to Breakers…happened just last week through my neighborhood. Keep in mind, I have 2 small kids :0

Now Vancouver…

Just as popular annual race known as the Sun Run.

Beverage of choice ^ (water!)
Happy, smiling, non-traumatized child.
The End.

Life Is Your Mindset

fantasha — Sun, 19 May 2013 03:10:45 +0000

Reblogged from Social Yoga:

"Everything you have in life can be taken from you except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation. This is what determines the quality of life we've lived. Not whether we've been rich or poor, famous or unknown, healthy or suffering. What determines our quality of life is how we relate to these realities, what kind of meaning we assign them, and what kind of attitude we cling to about them.

Brené Brown- The Price of Invulnerability

fantasha — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:49:45 +0000

Great video to stress the importance of opening your true self up, flaws and all.

Why Mothers Need To Get A Life!

fantasha — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:54:42 +0000

We all have very different opinions when it comes to the meaning of being a “good” Mom. There are many articles that say we must dismiss ourselves as the person we used to be (before kids) in order to embrace motherhood. I think this mindset is wrong and sets women up for failure on so many levels.
I recently became certified in the Raja Yoga practice and learnt there are 8 limbs to Raja Yoga. I think it is helpful to view Motherhood as another limb to our life as women. We are constantly evolving as women. We grow up and no longer view life through our childlike eyes, nor our teen self. I think the same happens when we become mothers. We gain a wider perspective but it isn’t our whole identity to attach to, anymore than it is if we marry and become a wife. I think the mindset of dying to our “old selves” and becoming reborn as mothers is why we have a lot of the dysfunctional issues, like being hover-parents, over-scheduling our kids, and becoming the lunatic mother on Toddler and Tiaras.

When mothers forget about their own growth and focus all their energy on their children, they do such a disservice to themselves and their kids. Kids learn by watching how we behave and how can we teach our children if we stop evolving? What message are we sending our daughters when we stop pursuing our interests? The moment I got pregnant at 21, I was depressed thinking my life was now over. How was I to happily embrace this new chapter thinking I was now denied having my dreams encouraged and I am now expected to devote my entire being to my child…how depressing!

I come across many parents who only talk about their kids and have nothing more to add to the conversation outside what their child is doing. WTF! If I wanted the complete breakdown of how Jimmy’s life is going, I would be friends with Jimmy…but I’m not! I want to know how Jimmy’s Mother, the individual, is doing. I want to know the person behind the mom role…what are your passions? The reason parents smother their children and over-schedule them is because they use their child as a show-pony. Their kid becomes a pawn to represent them, make the parents look good. That’s why so many parents brag about how many activities their kid is in, they think it’s a reflection of them. Have you ever seen the parents who put their kid in those pageants? They look like they gave up on themselves and in most cases they have.
To be a healthy and “good” mom you need to allow your child the freedom to express their unique self, not impose your own agenda on them in order for you to look good. You must allow yourself to grow and continue to discover your passions outside the mother limb. Make yourself look good based on what you are personally doing. Get a life Mothers! (I mean that in the most loving and supportive way)

”Are you the adult that you want your child to grow up to be?”

Happy Mother’s Day!

fantasha — Sun, 12 May 2013 16:25:46 +0000

Happy Mother’s Day to all the beautiful, hardworking mothers out there. You are doing a great job, mistakes and all

Adaptive Media: Nadeem Kassam at TEDxHollywood

fantasha — Sun, 12 May 2013 00:17:30 +0000

Check out this inspiring video