tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352834077892281132024-03-19T04:49:57.034-07:0052 Firsts for 2013I'm committing to try a fun new thing per week in 2013 and I will document my experiences on this blog. Jayceehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04424266193646737835noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-135283407789228113.post-17682863001729058682013-05-12T01:37:00.001-07:002013-05-12T01:37:37.708-07:00Week 19: My First CommercialThis post is going to be kind of like my "First Youtube Video" post. A camera crew came into my office to film a commercial for Yelp. It was part of a package they offered us and my brother (again) wanted me to do it. I felt the same way about it that I felt about making Youtube videos, but this one was even more out of my comfort zone because I've never done a commercial before and that's not my kind of thing. With the Youtube videos I'm at least giving information that helps people. I kept hoping the camera guy would get stuck in traffic and have to re-schedule! But nope. He showed up on time and I had to sit there and talk about myself and my law firm on camera. I lived. I haven't watched it. Just like I haven't watched any of my Youtube videos. It was all early in the morning so I couldn't even get my hair done or anything like that! But I got through it and it's done. :-) Maybe by the end of this year I'll finally be comfortable being on a screen and will feel comfortable posting these videos. But for now, I'm just glad it's done. Jayceehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04424266193646737835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-135283407789228113.post-23000434425416640402013-05-12T01:29:00.001-07:002013-05-12T01:29:41.506-07:00Week 18: First Time Watching Fela and First "Activation of the Creative Order" ExperienceFor Week 18 I FINALLY got to see Fela!<br />
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I missed it when it was on Broadway and missed it during it's first round in LA, but I caught it this time! It was only here for a few days, so I had to re-arrange some stuff to go but it was worth it. It was a beautiful show filled with amazing dance, music, and politics. :-D<br />
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For that same weekend I had signed up for a Dr. Robert McDonald workshop on a process called"The Activation of the Creative Order." I wasn't too sure what to expect, but I've been working with Dr. McDonald for a couple of years now and I think he's wonderful. He practices a healing method called The Destination Method, which he developed and uses a lot of Neuro-Linguistic Programming techniques. He's a master when it comes to the brain and thoughts. This workshop in particular was 3 days longs and I had never seen the process before and didn't know much about it.<br />
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It turned out to be a process to activate creation/manifestation. And it incorporated a process which helped you integrate the part of you that wants what you desire to manifest and the part of you that does not want it, because according to Dr. McDonald, if there was no part of you that didn't want it, you would have it. Additionally, it involved a process for developing faith and certainty that your manifestation is. That was pretty cool. I'm sure I can't get into it but it involves seeing the future scene from the future of the future. It was pretty cool. I will report back results. :-D That was Week 18.<br />
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Jayceehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04424266193646737835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-135283407789228113.post-68250347538179974842013-04-28T22:38:00.001-07:002013-05-12T01:43:33.823-07:00Weeks 13-17: A Recap of Prayer Class, Salt Therapy, Work Outs, and CleansesI'm behind a few weeks... I've been doing my fun firsts, but haven't been able to sit down to keep track of my Firsts in a minute. It's been a crazy month so I'll just re-cap the last few weeks in one entry before I fall further behind and forget what I did. My dog of almost 12 years transitioned and I was sad and I didn't feel like doing anything. Not even posting a blog entry. I'm better now, but that was a challenging situation. Anyhow, here goes my quick re-cap.<br />
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<strong>Week 13: My First Prayer Class</strong><br />
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Ahhh! Synchronicities happened and I received guidance to take a Prayer class at Agape. It came through meditation (after the blatant synchronicities) and I'm not one to ignore guidance, so I signed up for the class kicking and screaming. #1 it was a multi-week class and signing up for a multi-week prayer class commitment didn't sound like something I wanted to do because #2 I don't like praying in front of groups or guiding prayer. And I heard the still, small voice say, "And that's exactly why you're going to do it." Signing up for it was definitely out of my comfort zone.<br />
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It was a lot better than I expected. We covered the steps of a prayer treatment, one per week and it was more about praying through activity and as an expanded state of awareness than leading prayers in front of class. We did, however, have a prayer partner each week of the class (changed partners weekly) and during each day of the week we had to call our partner at agreed upon times and pray. I did okay. The first steps of spiritual prayer treatment is recognizing God in things around you/everywhere and recognizing/acknowledging your Oneness with God, so the class served to help me focus seeing God in everyone and in feeling my Unity with God. That was good. And I'm more comfortable praying in front of others now. Most of the prayers focused on just being grateful. <br />
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<strong>Week 14: Crossfit</strong><br />
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The particular location I tried wasn't for me. I don't doubt that there are great Crossfit studios out there, but I didn't like the vibe at the one I bought a Groupon for. And the boot camp I tried last month felt better to me, so I went back to the prior bootcamp instead. I'd definitely be up for trying Crossfit at a different location because I hear each one is different. <br />
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<strong>Week 15: Salt Therapy</strong><br />
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I love salt water baths. They're my simple solution (from Pranic Healing) for just about everything, so when I saw that "salt therapy" existed I was immediately interested. Salt is such a great healer and absorber of negative energy. So I went on down to the salt therapy location to try it out. <br />
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This is what the room looked like:<br />
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You got to sit in there for 45 minutes. Chillin:</div>
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Not only is it a salt room with salt on the walls and floor, but when they turn the room on salt starts coming out of this hole in wall:</div>
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It was definitely something new and relaxing. I didn't have a stuffy nose or cold or any respiratory issues (it's popular for healing those things), but the owner still gave me a box of tissues when I went in the room and to my surprise I did need them. Apparently when you breathe in the salt it cleanses your nose and respiratory system and you end up needing tissues. Coolness.</div>
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<strong>Week 16: Drinkbar Juicery's 3 Day Raw Juice Cleanse</strong></div>
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I've done juice cleanses before, but not this one: <a href="http://www.drinkbarjuicery.com/collections/frontpage/products/3-day-cleanse">http://www.drinkbarjuicery.com/collections/frontpage/products/3-day-cleanse</a><br />
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My brother and his girlfriend were going to do it off of a Groupon and I decided to join them. It was a bit experimental because we had never heard of the juice shop and they don't list any of the juice ingredients on the website so we weren't sure what we were getting into. <br />
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It was pretty good. The notable thing to mention is that I shed "emotional eater" as one of my stories/labels. I was on the cleanse the entire time my dog was sick and when she transitioned. I had been one of those people who eats when stressed out, but I somehow managed to remain on the cleanse during the very stressful situation. Every time I left the emergency animal hospital I FELT like eating a pizza with 2 sides of In n Out fries followed by a hot fudge sundae, but instead I just drank my green juices. I was very amazed by my behavior and discipline considering the situation. And it was a pretty strong cleanse, complete with strong green juice and apple vinegar cider. It was also my first time juicing with apple vinegar cider. I didn't cheat at all and I lost 5 lbs in 3 days.<br />
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<strong>Week 17: 30 Day Squat Challenge</strong><br />
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A.K.A. This: <br />
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I actually started a little over 23 days ago, but I'll count it on this week since it's almost over, I've seen great results, and I need something for this week. A friend was doing this challenge on FB and posting pictures of her backside throughout the challenge. When I saw the kinds of results she was getting, I decided to try it too. <br />
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I wasn't expecting big results because I already do squats. But apparently I'd never done them this consistently and with this pattern. The above works. Within 15 days I had a new backside! The results are quick and the exercise easy! My butt has a cool new "pop" to it. I took a 4 day break in there when my dog transitioned, but I picked up again a couple of days ago and just finished Day 23. I DEFINITELY recommend this to everyone. <br />
Okay, now I'm caught up. :-)<br />
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Jayceehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04424266193646737835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-135283407789228113.post-14464898866748342532013-03-29T20:16:00.002-07:002013-03-29T20:16:41.427-07:00Week 12- My First Pilates Reformer ExperienceFor Week 12 I decided to try something I've been wanting to try for over 10 years- a pilates reformer machine! So this is what I was doing all week:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVyKNdjdLvs8t22vVWMKa13UIiHQRuQYFREzcKnF9eKgcu1E6TNOeMmzfcTGw78DHihmStED6ZUjZ_BzmK9hfoajBjRzgO64Qhg_H2QBMV81H1hNv0IUKEG4lUPLU1mZtiOqu1zoD0-S6/s1600/pilates.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVyKNdjdLvs8t22vVWMKa13UIiHQRuQYFREzcKnF9eKgcu1E6TNOeMmzfcTGw78DHihmStED6ZUjZ_BzmK9hfoajBjRzgO64Qhg_H2QBMV81H1hNv0IUKEG4lUPLU1mZtiOqu1zoD0-S6/s320/pilates.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And playing with things that look like this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC021b_werUtux0x_Phcayl5Kg-xQhFxujz1tG09zIMdWQOVQGGmK7d8Oqh0LQMxR94U0L4E4Mu2IGVqiq9R3WDbA1ylzuMMQ2XFYP3itXRbu0Ax2zdF1VLacV8GFtun8o3jX3UuLLbBnW/s1600/pilates3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC021b_werUtux0x_Phcayl5Kg-xQhFxujz1tG09zIMdWQOVQGGmK7d8Oqh0LQMxR94U0L4E4Mu2IGVqiq9R3WDbA1ylzuMMQ2XFYP3itXRbu0Ax2zdF1VLacV8GFtun8o3jX3UuLLbBnW/s320/pilates3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I've tried mat pilates on and off since I was about 17-18 years old but I had never tried the reformer or any equipment. I remember when I was in high school I used to be on my elliptical machine watching E! and VH1 celebrity shows that showed celebrities working out on pilates reformers at pilates reformer gyms..... And I'd been wanting to try it since way back then.<br />
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So Week 12 I found a pilates gym, joined, and bought a personal training package (you have to do personal training before you're allowed to join the group classes). I felt so rich and prosperous every morning I got up to meet up with my private trainer at my pilates reformer gym! <br />
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And the results were awesome! The work out isn't too hard. I mean it's hard on your abs and core when you're deep into doing something that hurts, but you don't feel exhausted afterward. <br />
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It gave me great results as far as abs. The bootcamp I did during Week 10 strengthened my body overall, but a week of pilates reformer privates gave my abs the extra kick of definition I wanted. I should have done before and afters, but I forgot. Here's after just 3 private sessions:<br />
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(I didn't add a filter- my phone did that on its own!)</div>
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You can see the ab definition a little better in this one:</div>
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Catching ab definition on a cell phone camera is a little tricky, but I think you can see my new pilates reformer abs in these.</div>
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I really like the results and have 2 more personal training sessions this week. I'm going to keep the pilates reformer in my work out schedule by taking at least one group class a week at the pilates gym. You still need to get your cardio in at some point because Pilates doesn't really give you that and I do prefer heavier weight for my lower body, so I'm going to use the reformer just once a week to add definition to my abs and keep them flat. I've also kept the Kundalini Yoga practice I started in Week....8ish or so and am kind of addicted to it at this point. I'm making my Saturday work appointments come in at noon tomorrow just so I can go to my Kundalini Yoga class in the morning. LOL, these fun firsts are making my work out schedule overflow! I might be doing double work outs every day by September in order to fit in all my new loves. :-)</div>
Jayceehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04424266193646737835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-135283407789228113.post-27630747837023020232013-03-20T19:21:00.002-07:002013-03-20T20:59:10.829-07:00Week 11- My First Texas Experience/First Mechanical Bullride and Country Dancehall For this week's Fun First I went to Texas for the first time and enjoyed Texas culture (and cowboy hats)! It took awhile to realize I'd technically never gone to Texas before because I feel like I've had so many meals at Texas airports, but I had never been outside the airport before. I had a WONDERFUL time!<br />
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I went because one of my good friend's from law school was getting married in San Antonio and it was sooooo good to be reunited with my "1L year of law school study group" friends. It's almost like a hazing experience type of bond. Not only did we survive those Harvard Law finals, but we're still a vibrant group:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvIDO9MEPHiFlDFMotd9kTSIptCFiYsZEE0gpeyZfoLdW6x_uRHNBDNpgtS2wTB2f0SBe8g8I546WiugjPIgKSI4IDLvgts28JxX2qPNTBfuyGvqxfeR4SwrQ_wC0ZlzrpsczUPmjFeFKX/s1600/san+antonio9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvIDO9MEPHiFlDFMotd9kTSIptCFiYsZEE0gpeyZfoLdW6x_uRHNBDNpgtS2wTB2f0SBe8g8I546WiugjPIgKSI4IDLvgts28JxX2qPNTBfuyGvqxfeR4SwrQ_wC0ZlzrpsczUPmjFeFKX/s320/san+antonio9.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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So after the rehearsal dinner (which was at a TexMex restaurant), we went to a country dancehall (picutred above), or "ho down" as one of my friends called it. I think this was a new experience for all of us. This must have been the Costco of country dancehall spots. It even had a rodeo inside of it. And performing bands:<br />
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We're a pretty fun group so we were all in for learning/trying to learn country dancing. On the shuttle to the place I asked if someone was going to teach us how to do it and another one of my girlfriend's answered that she thought it was the kind of dance that came naturally. Nope! The western two-step is FANCY! Me looking super confused on the dance floor:</div>
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Being confused didn't stop us from being all in the mix:</div>
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While enjoying all this fun a mechanical bull in the corner caught my attention. I was wearing a dress and was told if I fell, which was inevitable, everyone might see my underwear. And on top of that I didn't know where that bull had been so I should have a protective layer. This did not stop me. I was determined to have my first mechanical bullriding experience. I ran around and found someone who sold me a pair of shorts. Extra long shorts at that because there were no other ones. I threw on my shorts and got ready for my bullride:</div>
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To give perspective, this is how much bigger than me it was:</div>
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You already know how this ended:</div>
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Ha!!! Super fun times!!! I liked Texas!</div>
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<br />Jayceehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04424266193646737835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-135283407789228113.post-72358610344161508172013-03-10T15:51:00.001-07:002013-03-10T15:51:24.848-07:00Week 10- My First Boot Camp ExperienceFor Week 10 I committed to a 5am Boot Camp called "Fit Body Boot Camp." I committed to it BEFORE this week and have been doing it, but decided I'd count it as my new fun first on the week that I finished so that I could have already had the full experience.<br />
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This was VERY new for me in multiple ways. I've maybe dropped into a "boot camp themed" class at a dance studio or gym before, but I've never done an actual boot camp program. I'm not great at things like push ups or people yelling at me.... On top of that I'm NOT a morning work out person. I appear to be a morning person because I tend to wake up with a smile on my face, BUT my body doesn't fully function in the morning. I know this because I have repeatedly tried to run in the mornings (and by mornings I mean even 10 am or even noon) and I can't even run a full mile at that time. It's crazy.<br />
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So when I read that this boot camp was special because it has some sort of special formula that puts your body into some state where it continues to burn fat for many hours afterward, I decided I'd commit to going to the morning sessions (they did have afternoon sessions, but I wanted the full getting up and working out while it's still dark outside experience) AND that I would commit to going every day. 6 days a week because they're closed on Sundays. This was a big commitment and I honestly wasn't sure how I was going to do with it.<br />
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And now that it's over, I am SOOOOOOO incredibly proud of myself. I did not miss one morning. My work life ended up getting pretty hectic because of an immigration reform that took place during this time and so I was working longer hours and no matter how exhausted I was, I got up every morning. One night I had to stay up until 1 am and so I decided I'd have to just skip boot camp in the morning or I would be too tired at work to do my job right, so I didn't set my alarm clock. I woke up at 2 am and stared at my clock. Then I woke up at 3am and stared at my clock. I realized I couldn't sleep because I was worried about letting myself down by breaking my commitment to myself. So at 3am I set my alarm clock and got up right when it went off and headed to boot camp. I impressed myself.<br />
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The boot camp itself was pretty cool. It goes by SUPER fast. It's a special formula where you only have to work out for 30 minutes a day.... On top of that it's mainly intense 20-30 second sprints and then you rest for 10 seconds and there are usually 5-6 stations. It moves so fast that you can't believe the work out is over when it's over. Because of this, I loved the work out and now the cardio machine at the gym feels really boring. I never once got bored at boot camp or had the opportunity to even glance at the clock. It would always be over before I even knew it. <br />
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That's not to say I wouldn't be praying certain seconds would go fast like the last 10 seconds of drumming at a ropes station (this is the one I disliked most because my arms would fatigue and I couldn't make waves in the ropes like I was supposed to once I fatigued) or when doing kettlebell burpees, but the exercises were usually over before I knew it. <br />
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During the first week I was so sore I it hurt to even sit. By the second week the soreness was gone. I didn't lose weight because I gained a lot of muscle, but I definitely toned up and lost inches in my arms and waist (*disclaimer- I couldn't get myself to trust that a 30 minute work out was enough, so I did 30 minutes of cardio after boot camp every morning). I also felt very energized during the day though I would pass out around 9pm every night. I also feel a lot stronger. And I LOVED LOVED LOVED the discipline of waking up early and getting my day started all early. I didn't know I liked discipline so much. But I love the freedom it actually provides and I loved the feeling of pushing myself and keeping my commitment to myself and my body.<br />
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As part of this Fun Firsts experiments, I'm trying different work outs that I haven't tried before. So now I'm supposed to try another fun work out, but after I experiment some more, I may come back to this boot camp. I honestly did enjoy the work out. It's just I wish they had a 7am boot camp so that I could still have a social life if I continued doing the boot camp! I COULD go to the evening one, but then I wouldn't get the "after-burn" effect for hours..... We'll see! Maybe I'll like Crossfit more. <br />
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So for anyone who wants info on the boot camp, here is there website:<br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.fitbodybootcamp.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.fitbodybootcamp.com/</span></a></span><br />
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And a few of the blurbs from their site:<br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><em><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">"</span>The secret to the massive fat loss results
that our clients are getting is due to the After Burn™ effect that our workouts
produce. After Burn™ is the state of increased metabolic output (elevated
metabolism) for up to 28 hours that takes place after a really good workout.
But not all "good" workouts are the same; many, in fact, deliver
little fat burning results at all...<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
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</em><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><em>We do things a lot differently here at Fit
Body Boot Camp, which is why you'll burn twice the calories during your workout
with us, AND you'll continue to burn even more calories up to 28 hours after
your last workout session....<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES-US;"><em>At Fit Body Boot Camp each and every workout
combines elements of High Intensity Interval Training, Exercise Stacking™ as
well as Active Rest periods making sure to give you the best possible workouts
and most calories burned in every session....</em></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES-US;"></span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES-US;"><em>In fact, the average Fit Body Boot Camp workout
burns 600 - 1000 calories in under an hour - that's twice the calories burned
over any other workouts program out there."</em></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES-US;">Sounds great, right?</span></div>
Jayceehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04424266193646737835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-135283407789228113.post-27945212574414294422013-03-07T14:38:00.000-08:002013-03-07T14:38:02.102-08:00Week 9- My First Zumbathon and Kundalini Yoga ExperienceWhile I've been really good about keeping up with my weekly fun firsts, I fell a few days behind in doing a blog entry for this week. Work has been BUSY. Which is of course a blessing.<br />
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So for Week 9 I have like 1.5 fun firsts. For my Week 9 Fun First I signed up for a Party in Pink Zumbathon to benefit the Susan Komen Foundation. I'd never done one before and it sounded like a lot of fun. And it was. I particularly loved the idea of working out and tithing at the same time. It felt like multi-tasking when I'm not much a multi-tasker (and by "not much" I mean "not at all"). <br />
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BUT when you read "Zumbathon" don't you assume it means lots of hours of Zumba? Well, it turned out to only be TWO hours of Zumba. So even though it was fun, it felt like really I'd just taken two back to back Zumba classes instead of trying something new... :-(<br />
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I didn't want to cheat myself out of this week's fun first, SO when someone put a flyer for a new yoga studio on my car and the new yoga studio had Kundalini, I decided to do that as my fun first for the week.<br />
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It was kind of funny because I'd been waiting since 2009 to find a good Master to study Kundalini Yoga under. In 2009 I got hit with a little Kundalini Syndrome (at that time I used to meditate for hours and it accidentally happened during one of those meditations) and I did NOT want that to happen again. My muscles would get all sore from meditation and it would limit my meditation at the time. I had been told (and read) that it was important to study under a Master in order to avoid Kundalini Syndrome. So I'd been waiting. But apparently this flyer was good enough to make me say, "Oh perfect. I'll try Kundalini today at a place I've never even heard of before."<br />
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I guess that's what doing this 52 Fun Firsts Experiment does to you. You just become much more open, easy-going, and down to try new things. And makes you much more trusting.<br />
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So I walked into the studio and really liked the energy in it. The class was awesome. It started off with chanting mantras and fire breathing and doing a specific Kriya (a Kriya is a sequence of poses, kind of like a recipe, for a specific goal). That day the Kriya was to release any unknown causes of disease in ourselves. I was sooooooo relaxed after that class. <br />
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I got a little nervous at first because the teacher (who also owns the studio) was reading the instructions for the Kriyas out of a book as she guided us. Being that I had been waiting for a Master to study under, my eyes got a little wide at first and fears of ending up with Kundalini Syndrome rose up. But I remembered that people sometimes get the same wide-eyed look on their faces when they have a very specific illness and I bust out my Advanced Pranic Healing book too look up the specific protocol for that illness (I can't remember the exact steps for EVERY issue in the world! And if it's serious I don't want to mess up!). I've been a Pranic Healer for about 5 years now and the sessions go very well. I could do it without the book, but it's easier to just look and make sure I follow everything with precision. So I relaxed and trusted.<br />
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It was a good call because I felt so good after that class that I decided to go ahead and sign up for a package and I've already gone back since my first class. I leave feeling very relaxed and gooooood after the class. Anything that involves fire breathing tends to have that effect on me, even though while I'm doing it I'm thinking, "When is this going to be over??" and might feel like I'm about to pass out. The relief I feel afterward and the energy surge is always worth it. <br />
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The teacher/owner is awesome and she's trying to build a beautiful community around the studio with things like healing and meditation, which I really appreciate. Also, when I first walked in the she said, "You look so familiar. Where do I know you from?" I shrugged, but I've gotten deja vu twice in class, so it feels like it's exactly where I'm supposed to be. I'm glad I finally decided to start practicing Kundalini Yoga.Jayceehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04424266193646737835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-135283407789228113.post-77244255607117125392013-02-21T21:54:00.002-08:002013-02-21T21:54:55.822-08:00Week 8- My First Pan African Film Festival Experience<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For this week's First, I decided to go to the Pan African Film Festival. I'm generally not much of a going to the movies person. This is my second time in a movie theater in the last.....4 years? I'm not even sure why, I just usually have things I'd rather do. BUT this event sounded like a lot of fun. Particularly closing night. Closing night consisted of the Los Angeles premiere of "Free Angela and All Political Prisoners," which is a documentary I really wanted to watch, a Q&A with Angela Davis, a red carpet beforehand, and the closing gala party afterward. Sounds like a fun evening, no? IT WAS!!!!<br />
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(Go watch it in theaters in April)<br />
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Me on the Red Carpet</div>
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(The producer-Jada Pinkett Smith, Angela Davis, and the director-Shola Lynch, on the Red Carpet)</div>
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First of all, the documentary was REALLY good. Angela Davis is one of the most courageous and beautiful women in American history. She is a baaaaaaad ass. I'm grateful they fought to make this movie and you should go watch it when it comes out in April if you'd like some inspiration. She constantly stood up for what she believed regardless of the consequences and in the film she talks about how 8 differnt countries offered her asylum, but she chose to not leave and stand trial out here in 1970, when the chances of getting a fair trial were.... Well it was miraculous that she won...... I was glued to the screen.<br />
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After the movie we got a little Q&A with Ms. Davis herself (I was in the 3rd row-Woo hoo!):<br />
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(Cool Pic)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiORslrWSn7GakQ8XmNPUMF1Kxdx_HLRZKQDEObEA0TgR3gfXX3_zL9FJaCdR2Z_mI8gjSNvlp34i06896KZCbdbGUa9F6naDEirnSEK5cIvROP7Yj7wopNRtmUABzBTHIyIIRCma-dmMlo/s1600/pan7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiORslrWSn7GakQ8XmNPUMF1Kxdx_HLRZKQDEObEA0TgR3gfXX3_zL9FJaCdR2Z_mI8gjSNvlp34i06896KZCbdbGUa9F6naDEirnSEK5cIvROP7Yj7wopNRtmUABzBTHIyIIRCma-dmMlo/s320/pan7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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(Answering Questions)</div>
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After the Q&A, there was an after-party that had an open bar and food. LOL, and I decided that the best use of my time at said party was to stalk Ms. Davis:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2pNagqcQC96CSEgJMaW007z-v7UhiwVziWDrV3TLYq608kqNaZoqr08uRYwatLcXjjRnYo0b2gpwYHSvaAPp4pPcxTybT-Tqy-WKFtfCYtH8CsQsRssE1vT4vBSSfW5TrBjQl6QK_LyBa/s1600/Pan+african4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2pNagqcQC96CSEgJMaW007z-v7UhiwVziWDrV3TLYq608kqNaZoqr08uRYwatLcXjjRnYo0b2gpwYHSvaAPp4pPcxTybT-Tqy-WKFtfCYtH8CsQsRssE1vT4vBSSfW5TrBjQl6QK_LyBa/s320/Pan+african4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Overall, I had a great time and it was a great use of my evening. I think I like film festivals. </div>
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I'll close out the blog with this clip that I found on the Pan African Film Festival website of Jada speaking on the movie at the red carpet:</div>
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Jayceehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04424266193646737835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-135283407789228113.post-37846778454517643942013-02-18T18:10:00.000-08:002013-02-19T21:05:30.546-08:00Week 7- My First Flash Mob: One Billion Rising<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5sJNi5WhwfKS4AgIWRrBfiGwlwbcti9FYDJA2B0X_fOKTsTphYOX82JJem04V_gsWLOzK-OsarxQk8STVJjHA8oNTh0bSDAvv7i7GUr_5IFwqhRin-tbSq8irEhg1YWRtyacZjRFIHRuy/s1600/obr4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5sJNi5WhwfKS4AgIWRrBfiGwlwbcti9FYDJA2B0X_fOKTsTphYOX82JJem04V_gsWLOzK-OsarxQk8STVJjHA8oNTh0bSDAvv7i7GUr_5IFwqhRin-tbSq8irEhg1YWRtyacZjRFIHRuy/s320/obr4.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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This week's first: MY FIRST ONE BILLION RISING EXPERIENCE!!!! It was awesome. Definitely one of my favorite firsts so far. If you aren't familiar with the One Billion Rising movement, on February 14, 2013 women from ALL OVER the world rose and danced as a form of celebratory protest. 1 out of 3 women alive today will be raped or assaulted. That's one billion women in the world, and as the campaign states, that's an atrocity. So the intent was to get women from all over the world to form flash mobs in their communities and it was a huge success. I get chills whenver I think about it and can watch footage from around the world all day if you let me.</div>
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This is the video with the theme song and the choreographed dance we all danced: </div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/fL5N8rSy4CU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span> </div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Debbie Allen helped choreograph and teach the dance. There were tons of instructionals all over Youtube. Though it wasn't the first V-Day ever, it was the first One Billion Rising. There was a lot of celebrity involvement and donation of time. Women like Rosario Dawson, Kerry Washington, Anne Hathaway, Thandie Newton were out there recruiting and encouraging women to strike, rise, and dance. And they did. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There are so many beautiful pictures from all over the world... But I'd be here all day if I didn't just grab a few. So here's a sample of what took place around the world on February 14, 2013. And then I'll talk a little about my own experience. So:</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Women in Izmir, Turkey:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkHuBowFtjDRyb5f56jNkG2-v9rdXH20Ym_IOs9ahY3SNk_OMjenZoidGA5hb38cTOxXRmeg-m1JIKEf1cwfiN92ZGRNfH9rvc64thBBPLXSXZDxwLFDK3pOoPcgHx0qHLblJ3fAefA2uF/s1600/obr+izmir+turkey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkHuBowFtjDRyb5f56jNkG2-v9rdXH20Ym_IOs9ahY3SNk_OMjenZoidGA5hb38cTOxXRmeg-m1JIKEf1cwfiN92ZGRNfH9rvc64thBBPLXSXZDxwLFDK3pOoPcgHx0qHLblJ3fAefA2uF/s320/obr+izmir+turkey.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In Congo:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpGZaDuj8izXPNt7yZa7HMJZpqoW_ISw17iJyVE7aHQsQ4ciV8x1ogGuVZEYuHxEppr9EQXTjDy7PaQMbVqdtDhni68V36SifBWYpgrp-j7AFupMmT7Pp3MOjRgDXEcVK5nknSAZd-PnV/s1600/obr+congo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpGZaDuj8izXPNt7yZa7HMJZpqoW_ISw17iJyVE7aHQsQ4ciV8x1ogGuVZEYuHxEppr9EQXTjDy7PaQMbVqdtDhni68V36SifBWYpgrp-j7AFupMmT7Pp3MOjRgDXEcVK5nknSAZd-PnV/s320/obr+congo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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In the Philippines:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPmqva-K1oYi5O0RkFMlo6qDJis0aOwj47EC9T5bAczfyveNQR1iPd-b8JIVbJeHtY55s1OLo37X7TCoQD-Zw03B37E-W1D6OIPZv-6IDn4cQrIkIlgwsyqWeg2HAkodSCNeWR8CmS43hd/s1600/obr+philippines.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPmqva-K1oYi5O0RkFMlo6qDJis0aOwj47EC9T5bAczfyveNQR1iPd-b8JIVbJeHtY55s1OLo37X7TCoQD-Zw03B37E-W1D6OIPZv-6IDn4cQrIkIlgwsyqWeg2HAkodSCNeWR8CmS43hd/s320/obr+philippines.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Australia:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8sqCN9z72WixwVhyphenhyphen_kGEYGJUog8g2HWZxzru5203djcUahJOFETGmKBmboekZJx8AogPEjzpI6w7LxHwTySY7fT9Tr_a6xjMT5w8dQiCoynN3fBsNy4fAruf8eGWVi6AdL_k-se6MQgzO/s1600/obr+australia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8sqCN9z72WixwVhyphenhyphen_kGEYGJUog8g2HWZxzru5203djcUahJOFETGmKBmboekZJx8AogPEjzpI6w7LxHwTySY7fT9Tr_a6xjMT5w8dQiCoynN3fBsNy4fAruf8eGWVi6AdL_k-se6MQgzO/s320/obr+australia.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Grandada, Spain:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg44jLqLE1hun6PQm465xdwRE1lLygWsQTx4tqBl2928fKsz4trhgaDY_7rnMJ8uJtT_7cPQSGetEHzKHxo9k6k6Axjstm8AGszv7JW0CUzM04pH0dnmhOJZl5PzuUclhmw9DNa47XD6QMt/s1600/obr+granada+spain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg44jLqLE1hun6PQm465xdwRE1lLygWsQTx4tqBl2928fKsz4trhgaDY_7rnMJ8uJtT_7cPQSGetEHzKHxo9k6k6Axjstm8AGszv7JW0CUzM04pH0dnmhOJZl5PzuUclhmw9DNa47XD6QMt/s320/obr+granada+spain.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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New Delhi:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiscjx0ZBtrDQixYyPHMuYZzxPrGCYDCOyiRTJ58DeAV8eGLL-PSCZVVCeOPtUZWn7BwpKoRYQytkP5nIYsif_BAE7iqDDN2__id25yAK-nYlb-O145XROmB2y5JCXJ92RT41v6t3WLxFG8/s1600/obr+new+delhi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiscjx0ZBtrDQixYyPHMuYZzxPrGCYDCOyiRTJ58DeAV8eGLL-PSCZVVCeOPtUZWn7BwpKoRYQytkP5nIYsif_BAE7iqDDN2__id25yAK-nYlb-O145XROmB2y5JCXJ92RT41v6t3WLxFG8/s320/obr+new+delhi.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Toronto (in the snow!):</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHRE2o_tx7ILyT1WwG4Hio2JI6TK-gmNpGo5nNueRA3iLrkgklwKNKC0nern4kxjm-gm4-sIP_yZMOlzl-urplwoIvJWMiEEuWMm880R6kSyRh1SQQVSlqe11JtQMAhrHEl8_rS1-Ghm69/s1600/obr+toronto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHRE2o_tx7ILyT1WwG4Hio2JI6TK-gmNpGo5nNueRA3iLrkgklwKNKC0nern4kxjm-gm4-sIP_yZMOlzl-urplwoIvJWMiEEuWMm880R6kSyRh1SQQVSlqe11JtQMAhrHEl8_rS1-Ghm69/s320/obr+toronto.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span> Peru:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw3U9hEjHjWDnOOBt-y99fUhKJ0lBKJHQCc4DsrcOSKBqCTBv9d_XhZHVHmBeMKcp32uPN6-GoUs2Cc9p-kZcTwalHwC1Tp-QTO-Hvi3nFimyvjtbn3vjbC_lH7BJK4XWO2z1XKZdYMbz-/s1600/obr+peru.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw3U9hEjHjWDnOOBt-y99fUhKJ0lBKJHQCc4DsrcOSKBqCTBv9d_XhZHVHmBeMKcp32uPN6-GoUs2Cc9p-kZcTwalHwC1Tp-QTO-Hvi3nFimyvjtbn3vjbC_lH7BJK4XWO2z1XKZdYMbz-/s320/obr+peru.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Italy:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqLMd6KXQqh9zz7CG1CyfeIxEAvqf6EYo80LzLZPFTS7CqXxQ9bCtKy0PocPn8BPCmV7UeWuVgskKS-8XMHXT1IDbdNb81XJZ-ituvytqFjJJMgrQGiBkn62SOSbm5T-2um0ZRZt7ytmdg/s1600/obr+italy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqLMd6KXQqh9zz7CG1CyfeIxEAvqf6EYo80LzLZPFTS7CqXxQ9bCtKy0PocPn8BPCmV7UeWuVgskKS-8XMHXT1IDbdNb81XJZ-ituvytqFjJJMgrQGiBkn62SOSbm5T-2um0ZRZt7ytmdg/s320/obr+italy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And all over the place, including places you might not expect, like this jail in San Francisco:</div>
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I'll also include a couple of videos so you can feel some of the energy behind this global event. </div>
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Here's one from Milan: </div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/0oQuO5Se9HA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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And Berlin:</div>
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LOL, I'll stop now before I get carried away, but basically you could feel the energy building and building as women in Australia and Asia started it off and then it kept going like waves throughout the world. It was really beautiful and it meant a lot to me to be able to participate. As a survivor of rape myself and as someone who works with many women who have survived domestic violence and rape, I decided to strike, take the day off work, and spend my day participating in the LA flash mobs. </div>
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This was my first flash mob experience on top of it being my first One Billion Rising (well it was the first time this event took place period). I was pretty excited. I danced throughout the day, joining the different flash mobs in the Santa Monica/Venice area. We would randomly turn on speakers and all start dancing together. I got over any kind of shyness very fast. FLASH MOBS ARE SOOOOOOO MUCH FUN!!!!!! My day started off with the CodePink flashmob in Santa Monica, where we did the dance many times on the Third Street Promenade:</div>
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In the last flash mob I participated in, we flash mobbed the Apple Store in Santa Monica! I was a little nervous then because there were a whole lot of us and everyone in the store stared while we streamed in. There were a lot of breakables in there. Then someone turned on the speakers, we busted out our shakers, and started dancing (not the full dance, but a Shiva Rea modified version) and chanting. By the time we were done the police were there, but they just watched and laughed. </div>
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Walking with the yoga crew to the last flash mob of my day:</div>
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People were very supportive. My receipt from lunch between flash mobs:</div>
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My waiter thanked me for dancing, and I'd like to say "Thank you for dancing!" to all the women and men who participated in this beautiful event. I'd also like to thank Eve Ensler for creating this movement and orchestrating it all. I loved the idea of dance because not only is celebratory and a way of vibrating above the violence and re-claiming your joy, but it's a beautiful way of owning your body again after something like rape happening to you. Belly dance has personally given me a beautiful way of re-owning my body with precise isolations and such..... So I loved the idea from the moment I heard it. </div>
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I also loved the energy behind the lyrics of the song:</div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span> </div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: black;"><em>"I dance cause I love<br />
Dance cause I dream<br />
Dance cause I've had enough<br />
Dance to stop the screams<br />
Dance to break the rules<br />
Dance to stop the pain<br />
Dance to turn it upside down<br />
Its time to break the chain"</em></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: black;">This movement was about joy, celebrating, and BEING IN YOUR BODY. Which, if you've been following this blog, you know has been a big theme for me lately. I don't know how many times I've heard the song by now, but by the end of the 14th, one of the hooks also started having extra meaning for me:</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: black;"><em><span style="color: black;">"</span></em><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><em><span style="color: black;">This is my body, my body's holy<br />
No more excuses, no more abuses,"</span></em></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><em><span style="color: black;"></span></em></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: black;">I loved that part from the beginning and it was one of my fave parts of the dance (body roll, re-claiming your body, and then namaste hands). But by the end of the day I was also aiming it at me. I started thinking about the different ways I may have abused my body in the past and the ways I sometimes make excuses for it. Such as not having enough time to exercise or drinking alcohol, even though I'm not a big fan, just because I'm at a party and everyone else is drinking, etc. And by the end of the 14th I had re-claimed my body to another level and re-committed to no more excuses or abuses from myself as well. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: black;">It was all a beautiful and VERY fun experience. I definitely encourage everyone to participate next year. Thank you to everyone who made One Billion Rising happen. </span></span></span><br />
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Jayceehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04424266193646737835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-135283407789228113.post-87233637762878660862013-02-11T12:10:00.003-08:002013-02-11T21:55:04.413-08:00Week 6- My First Tantra Class AND My First Mayan Shaman Initiation<br />
Yea, it was a big week for me. Yea, I wish I could have spread these things out to two different weeks, but that's just not the way life worked, so I had to do both in one day. And what a day it was! I'm so proud of myself for working through so much in one day. LOTS of breaking out of comfort zones. This entry will be a little deeper rather than picture-filled since these weren't really the type of events where you could snap pictures.<br />
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I had already signed up for the Mayan Shaman Healing Initiation awhile ago. One of my healing Teachers and personal healers was offering it and it was a pretty big deal. People flew in from all over the place for it so it's not something I could have chosen to do on another day. Here is the link for anyone interested: <a href="http://www.creationcenter.org/schedule.html">http://www.creationcenter.org/schedule.html</a> I'm a healer and Brook is one of my favorite Teachers so I was all signed up and ready to go.<br />
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The Tantra thing felt necessary at last minute. It sprang forth from a commitment to myself and to my life. Obviously your body is a huge part of your life and something you should know well and reach your full potential there. I mean your body is a huge gift to you and so is sexuality. It hit me that not making the time to study these things is a form of not honoring myself fully. Ever since I took that workshop where we were asked to focus on being in our bodies for the next 6 months and realizing how much I love being out of my body and realizing the discomfort I initially felt in being in my body, I've really been focused on my body and using my 5 senses much more. But I had some big blocks around going to a live, co-ed Tantra class without my own partner (I've done online Tantra classes before). And I decided that I needed to move through the blocks immediately. So I signed up for the first class available. <br />
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Here is what I wrote when I made the decision to sign up, <em>"Ever since I turned about 12 years old, men started feeling like they were preying on me. Not even in a trying to sleep with me type of way, but in a "I'm in love with you and want to marry you NOW" type of way (I've had LAPD send me helicopters over stalkers, men crying in public, men writing me songs, scenes at airport, professors, mentors and even spiritual teachers betraying my trust by hitting on me.... the list of uncomfortable situations with men I barely know goes on....). And it's kind of shaped my interactions with men in that even though I'm super friendly, open and make people feel special/comfortable, *I* have certain blocks up and tend to be defensive and alert inside. It's helped me in that my relationships with women are so beautiful and deep and always have been because I don't have that defense around women and preferred interacting with women. The same is true with men who I 100% know are only interested in my friendship- I develop these amazing brother-sister relationship with men who love me so dearly and who I've never even shared a kiss with.... Because they're safe. And I have a life full of amazing deep loving friendships….</em><br />
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<em>But my interactions with men who aren’t already completely in friend zone have an inner defense. And I tend to prefer interacting with men who don’t show romantic interest in me (in my past if you want to make me run the other way- just be super blunt about how you’re in love with me and want to date me). That’s not too healthy now that everything in my life feels so amazing and in place and I am now interested in exploring a serious romantic soulmate relationship. Because I can’t be scared of men who show interest in me. I mean in the past I was known to buy bottles at every club as a way to keep men from trying to approach me because I would actually be very bothered by men trying to talk to me when I just wanted to have fun with my friends. And I quickly found out that a good portion of men are too intimidated at that point to come talk to you (this is probably how I ended up attracting so many entertainers to begin with- because this doesn’t intimidate them) and I’d always have my little safe corner to be in. So I used to go out of my way to avoid having to deal with men trying to show romantic interest in me…..</em><br />
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<em>So the thought of having to sit in a classroom and sit very openly and do all kinds of exercises with a lot of staring and breathing and sensual stuff with men I don’t know and who will probably be older than me and may very well make me feel uncomfortable was enough to make my stomach get anxious and make me just want to learn from books. I’m not even sure what shifted last night, but I said, “F it. I’m a grown up. I can take a tantra class and just be and I will breathe through any discomfort and I will be just fine.” I’m kind of still in awe of my willingness to put myself out there and out of my comfort zone. And I’m sure it has something to do with learning how to comfortably draw boundaries last month and feeling secure in my ability to do so. Step by step. Enjoying every step of the journey. I'm doing this!"</em><br />
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So it was a big deal to me. I was kind of nervous the day of but knew that I was just going to breathe through it and I would be okay.<br />
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LOL, little did I know that in the Mayan Initiation class that morning the first initiation would involve a male partner dipping his finger into Bailey's cream and then into my mouth for about 30 minutes (it was a ritual where every tooth in your mouth is blessed individually). I was cracking up at Spirit setting it up like that and just breathed through my blocks. This initiation actually made me feel like the Tantra class would be a lot easier because I had just moved through this.<br />
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I don't think I'm going to get into any more details about the Mayan Initiation class because I don't know how much of it is shareable. But it was a PRETTY intense experience. I let go of a lot of stuff that no longer serves me and I received a lot. I love how in my world nothing is really considered weird anymore and that I'm so open to trying new things.<br />
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The class went over a bit late and we had to fast in the morning (yea, the Bailey's thing went down on an empty stomach) so I was starving while running to my Tantra class and thought that I might actually end up missing it, but I reminded myself that I fully committed to it and that not going was NOT an option.<br />
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When I arrived this is the first thing that greeted me. Rose petals on the sidewalk leading up to the studio:<br />
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Beautiful touch and a super sensual environment. But the class was actually VERY challenging for me. A lot of people may not know how it works, so I'll break it down a little. Basically, if you go to a Tantra class without a partner, you rotate through all the men who don't have partners for the exercises. The women without partners sit at stations in a circle and the men rotate through the stations for each exercise. Everything is in silence so there is no intro conversation and you don't even get to exchange names. When a new guy gets to your station you just bow to each other until your foreheads meet and take deep breaths. This is your introduction to each other. On top of that the exercises are super intense. I was assured before signing up that there would be no nudity or sexual contact in the class, but sexual contact is a pretty relative term in my opinion. For someone who is used to giving death stares to men who even grab my elbow in a nightclub, this was A LOT. By the end of the evening I'd partnered up with 6 men who were complete strangers to me. <br />
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OMG, I had to move through stuff. I'd never realized how much energy I've invested and put in my life towards protecting my body from men. The exercises in the class brought up all kinds of trust issues and issues around safety. I mean my body is holy and I treat it as such and I'm a pretty curvy girl who's body men love to appreciate.... So I've been on full guard for years and this class made me realize the type of hardcore walls and defenses I've built around trying to protect my body. As an example, I remember one of my girlfriends got a stripper in Vegas for her b-day party and he was trying to give me a lap dance, which meant he was trying to touch me and I was appalled by a man I didn't know thinking it was okay to put his hands on my body. I really said, "Sir, I don't care if they're paying you for this, do know that if you touch me you might get slapped. And then slapped with a sexual harassment lawsuit. Do NOT touch me." I can get very "Do you know who the f*ck I am?" in such situations (so I'm sure it brings up power issues too). But it's no longer necessary to be so vigilant and guarded because I'm safe.<br />
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When I was younger men would sometimes grab/attempt to grab my body parts, but I shifted out of having those experiences a long time ago. Back in my younger days I've had everything from my behind to my breasts grabbed (yup, a man actually fully grabbed my breasts as he walked by me when I was 19 years old living in Paris and in Buenos Aires a man bit my shoulder in the middle of a club to get my attention, drawing blood!). However, my experience nowadays is one of attracting a lot of respect from men, even at places like hip hop festivals, no matter what I'm wearing (or not wearing). I think my last crazy experience was all the way in 2008 during an Inauguration party when I felt it was necessary to knee a Middle Eastern Prince in the balls after he claimed he had been entitled to come up behind me at a bar and grope my a** due to his title. That was over 4 years ago. Likewise when I was younger I would attract men who I would immediately write off for doing something like putting their hand on my leg on a first date. But I no longer attract men like that. I haven't attracted men who are interested in me due to just the physical in YEARS, so these ultra strong defense mechanisms are no longer needed and were no longer serving me... I'm much safer now. <br />
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At the tantra class, the teacher creates a very safe place and started off the class by saying that if you don't agree to say no to any exercise that feels uncomfortable for you, then you aren't allowed in the class. So it brought back up the theme of being comfortable with drawing boundaries. I spent some time thinking about my discomfort in the past with establishing boundaries and realized it had to do with being a very sensitive person who feels people's pain easily and I understand how much rejection can hurt someone and I'm a person who practices non-injury as a lifestyle. So this commitment we made in class was a great way to honor myself and a great reminder to think about what rejection really is... Because if I were to have said no to someone in class, it had NOTHING to do with that person but with my own discomfort and past issues with feeling preyed upon by men. It would have been about me, not about them, as is always the case. And thus there is no need to feel pain over rejection and thus no need to feel horrible over "rejecting" someone. I did push myself to not say no and actually participate in (ALMOST) all the exercises, not out of a fear of rejecting someone but out of a desire to get teh full experience and push myself out of my comfort zone. I drew the line at the last exercise which included instructions to wrap your legs around your partner and do pelvic tilts. That falls into the sexual contact category for me and it was waaaaaaay too much for me. Had I brought my own partner, cool, but not with a stranger. <br />
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As you can see this class was a very helpful experience to me. I am definitely going to continue studying Tantra, though I'll probably more so focus on practices I can do by myself, now that I've moved through this experience which was very necessary for me. I'm very much looking forward to becoming a Tantra Master in this lifetime. :-D But for the moment, I'm just super proud of myself for my willingness to put myself out of my comfort zone and grow.Jayceehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04424266193646737835noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-135283407789228113.post-54690954560577186002013-02-03T22:09:00.000-08:002013-02-03T22:09:04.282-08:00Week 5- My First Indoor Mountain Climbing Adventure<br />This week's entry will be relatively short because I just saw Beyonce perform at the Super Bowl half-time show and am now inspired to spend rest of my evening working out (didn't she look amazing??)<br />
<br />This week for my fun first I decided to try indoor mountain climbing:<br />
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<br />The idea came from the workshop that I took a couple of weeks ago where we focused on staying in our bodies. The Teacher commented on how a woman in our class's activity of mountain climbing was a great way of being very present and fully in your body because you have to be very aware of all your body parts. I wasn't really trying to go hang off the side of a mountain, but I thought trying the indoor variety might be a fun work out. I also expected it to be easy because I do pole and am pretty good at climbing... Well........ Pole is easier.<br />
<br />I got there and was given these special shoes:<br />
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<br />Then I was told by the super sweet girl (who has been outdoor mountain climbing since infancy) that I should be okay as a first-timer as long as I wasn't scared of heights. I stared at her and said, "Well, I'm actually scared of heights....." She said she'd be by me to help me down if I got scared and froze at the top....... I said it should be fine because it didn't look that high and I would have one of those ropes tied to my body anyhow right? At which point I was told that this was a "bouldering" place, which meant no rope and that instead I'd just have a "thick" mat. And by thick she meant this:<br />
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<br />And really it felt a whole lot higher when you were actually climbing:<br />
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<br />She kept following me around telling me to look for the "VB" climbing trails because those were for the very beginners.... I kept thinking, "Ummm... I'm going to need something lower tha VB!" LOL, so this week I found out that mountain climbing is NOT one of my talents. But I still had a lot of fun with this new experience.<br />
<br />I also did all this in the middle of trying to watch the Super Bowl. I don't usually watch football, but one of my good friends was actually playing in the Super Bowl! So this was the first time that I've actually been emotionally involved in a football game. And he won!!!!! It was his first ring, so that made me pretty happy today. :-) I'm still not a fan of football, but I'm always a fan of watching my friends achieve their dreams.<br />
Jayceehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04424266193646737835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-135283407789228113.post-56316976003750312262013-01-27T12:39:00.000-08:002013-01-27T12:47:51.152-08:00Week 4- My First Hydrotherapy Experience<br />For week 4 I decided to try the new hydrotherapy beds at my gym:<br />
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<br />I've seen these before at places like airports, but had never gotten around to trying one out. Turns out they're pretty neat! It feels kind of like a full body vibrator and builds in intensity as it rolls up the back of your body. It feels like a bunch of hot tub jets, but with much more pressure (I didnt even get past level 7 of pressure) and the hot jets start at your feet and roll up to your head, shaking you up to whole way. At your legs it feels like it's tickling you and by the time it gets to your head it's much more intense and it sounds like the ocean is about to engulf you. Then it goes slowly back down your body and then back up, etc. It definitely wakes up your chakras and breaks up any stagnant energy. You get to play with the controls on the screen. There were entertainment options, but I felt like the actual table was entertaining enough so I didn't use them:<br />
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<br />I did an amazing spiritual workshop last weekend where as part of our "assignment," we were asked to stay in our bodies as much as possible from now on. To do this, we were instructed to use our 5 senses as much as possible all the time, which brings you into your body. So throughout the whole week I'd been focusing on things like tasting the air, feeling my clothes on my body, feeling light touching my skin, hearing background noises, etc. And wow, I've found that for someone who really LOVES her physical body, I really love to leave it a lot and actually felt some initial discomfort with being SO in my body. I was also blown by how strong your senses get after just a few days of focusing on really using them. SO by the time I got on this machine with my newly honed and sensitive senses I was like, "WHOA!!!!!"<br />
<br />I loved it and I'll be doing it a few times a week from now on. But after my workouts because I have no idea how I managed an hour of cardio after the relaxation this machine induced! So this week's fun first was another success.<br />
<br />Aside from my main fun first, I tried another restaurant. I have a friend who owns a restaurant called Cafe Entourage in Hollywood and he always tells me to come check it out and have a nice meal. I finally got around to it. Turns out it's popular and very nice. I ended up going back with a friend the same week after trying it out for the first time. Prettiness:<br />
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<br />And his daughter is a vegetarian so they have some DELICIOUS vegetarian options like the amazing Spring Salad:<br />
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<br />I tend to love salads that mix greens with berries, so I was very happy. And the hummus and guacamole were also yummy:<br />
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<br />The veggie pizza is delicious too, but it was pretty busy at that moment so I didn't want to take a picture of it. I really enjoyed my meal though. And don't meals always taste extra better when they're free? I think it's the extra feelings of gratitude that get mixed into the pallette and just enhances all your senses and experiences.<br />
<br />Well, that's the first 4 weeks of the year!!!! Next up: February!<br />Jayceehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04424266193646737835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-135283407789228113.post-28751964039950699782013-01-14T21:04:00.001-08:002013-01-15T11:47:49.193-08:00Week 3- My First Golden Globes Experience<br />I usually wait until the end of the week to post my First for the week so that I can add any additional Firsts that pop up, or a better main First, but I think this week my main First is pretty set- The Golden Globes. And if more fun Firsts pop up I'll just edit this entry at the end of the week to add.<br />
<br />So Saturday a guy friend asked me if I was free to go to a show Sunday afternoon and I said sure. I assumed it was Cirque du Soleil because he had tried to take me the previous week and we'd missed it, but I was a bit off. Sunday during the day he told me it was actually the Golden Globes award. Which set off a frenzy of me trying to find a dress for this awesome fun first. My mom indulged me in taking pics of me to help me decide:<br />
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<br />I had SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much fun. It was definitely one of the most fun nights I've had. I don't have a tv and I think the Batman movie is the only movie I watched this year (and that was because it was an after-Pranic Healing-class group thing), but I figured I'd appreciate and enjoy the experience. I was shy on the red carpet but snuck one in when it was clear (just to have one for this blog/journaling the 52 Fun Firsts experience):<br />
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<br />And the parties were AMAZING. Everyone got their own personal Moet Champagne bottle when they walked through the door of the party and everyone was drinking the champagne straight from their bottle. I snuck in a picture of mine:<br />
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<br />Not only did everyone get free bottles and there was free food and an open bar with ridiculous bottles all night, but they garnished my drink with gold. I'm a Leo, so I was mesmerized and it was definitely a First:<br />
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<br />It's my new favorite alcoholic drink. My First time having a Jetsetter:<br />
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<br />Ha, documenting my 52 Fun Firsts is also busting me out of my "I don't take pictures at cool events" comfort zone. I was trying to sneak them in discreetly where I could. I forgot the name of the person who's party this was, but I was partying with Jennifer Lopez, Diddy, Kobe Bryant, Tarantino, the man who plays Wolverine, Jamie Foxx, Chris Tucker, Benny Medina, Carmen Electra....<br />
<br />One of my favorite things- they had a make up bar where you could go get your make up re-done if you sweated it off while dancing:<br />
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<br />And at the make up bar they had all kinds of free Laura Mercier make up that people were encouraged to take!! I brought my mom home a bunch of stuff (she helped me get ready at last minute and I was very appreciative). The free make up jars:<br />
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<br />MC Lyte djing:<br />
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<br />That's a little bit of my fun First for the week. I'm glad I was able to sneak in pics on my phone to document this fun night. :-) <br />
<br />So, this week it was my First Golden Globes, my First time trying a Jetsetter (or gold), my First time meeting Jennifer Lopez (she was very nice and gorgeous), and my First time experiencing a make up bar at a party. I'm REALLY enjoying this 52 Fun Firsts Challenge and think it's amazing all the cool stuff that can come your way when you open up and set an intention to have a fun journey. Peace and blessings.<br /> Jayceehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04424266193646737835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-135283407789228113.post-28600922627343379792013-01-14T20:27:00.002-08:002013-01-14T20:30:38.224-08:00Week 2- My First Youtube Video<br />I'm a day late on Week #2 because yesterday got a little hectic. I actually have Week 2 and 3 ready to go but I'll keep them separate.<br />
<br />During Week #2 my brother decided we should start making informational youtube videos for our law firm and wanted me to do it. That's way out comfort zone because I've learned in the past that for some reason I don't like being on tv at all. And I know that being Cuban, I speak fast and that I say "Um" a lot and am just very authentic and laid back. But because I was doing this 52 Weeks of Firsts, I said okay.<br />
<br />So we shot our first Youtube video in my office. One in English and one in Spanish. It was a lot of information so we couldn't do it multiple times or it would have taken all day so I just surrendered it and trusted that it was okay and what it needed to be.<br />
<br />Our phone has not stopped blowing up since we posted the videos. :-) We're now getting clients calling in from New York, Canada, Oregon, etc. So it was a SUPER busy week at work and I ended up having to work most of Saturday.<br />
<br />So this week's first, my first youtube video, turned out to be really great for business. It was an excellent example of stepping out of your comfort zone and expanding. I'm NOT going to post it because I'm still pretty shy and uncomfortable about it, but now we've also made a second set of Spanish/English videos. :-)<br />
<br />That was my main first this week. Additional firsts were:<br />
<br />1)I went on my first ever green smoothie first date. I appreciated being asked to go drink something that I actually drink. We actually ended up eating a full dinner, but I loved the idea. I think it was also my first time on a date with someone from London.<br />
<br />2) I saw Chris Spencer's comedy stand up live for the first time. I know, I'm super late. But it was hilarious.<br />
<br />3) I went to Harold & Belle's Creole Restaurant for the first time. Again, I know. I'm late. But the veggie gumbo was DELICIOUS.<br />
<br />And that was week 2. No pictures on this simple one, but I will have some for Week 3!<br />Jayceehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04424266193646737835noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-135283407789228113.post-24045714484229226872013-01-05T14:16:00.001-08:002013-01-05T21:04:18.412-08:00Week 1- A New Year's Eve First<br />For my first week of fun firsts, I kicked off New Year's Eve with breaking the 30 year tradition of spending New Year's Eve with my family. For the first time ever, I decided to go out and spend New Year's Eve with friends:<br />
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<br />We went to Kevin Hart's New Year's Eve Dinner at Katsuya and his New Year's show at Staples Center:<br />
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<br />It was a pre-set (free dinner) with an open bar and an abundance of champagne on trays. I had a BLAST! On top of it being my first time spending NYE out with friends, it was my first time seeing Kevin Hart live. We laughed loudly right into 2013. I respected his "put your phones away and be present" rule during his show, so I don't have any pictures of his actual show. Here's him giving a toast at the dinner though:<br />
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<br />And it just so happened that Too Short was seated right next to me at dinner, so it was my first time officially meeting him and having fun conversations with him:<br />
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<br />I lived in a dorm for 4 years in college surrounded by Oakland people (I started getting confused and thinking I was from Oakland for awhile), so I was excited. And he was very nice and interesting.<br />
<br />So I brought in 2013 with surrounded by fun firsts! :-D I planned to stay home with my mom like always and then ON New Year's Eve one of my girls convinced me to come out instead. I love laughing and my mom insisted that I go enjoy the dinner and show. I opened up and asked for fun firsts so they started coming. I'm very grateful to Kitchie for convincing me to come out and to Claudia for very generously sharing her plus ones with us. I'm also grateful that I've become a much better receiver.<br />
<br />It was a perfect joy-filled start to 2013:<br />
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<br />The Kevin Hart Dinner and Show on New Year's was my actual First for this week (or what I'm counting for my 52 week challenge), but now that I'm in that energy and noticing more, there were a few other firsts this week!<br />
<br />1) I got gel nail polish for the first time ever. And I LOVED it. I had held out because back when I used to get acrylic nails, sometimes they would do gel nails and the polish on those would not look great after a couple of days and I had assumed gel nail polish might be the same. I was wrong. My brother's girlfriend got me a gift card to a new salon so I went there and randomly decided to try the gel polish. Awesomeness #1: As soon as the machine turned off I was able to walk out and use my hands without chipping my nail polish (I have a tendency to chip before I leave the parking lot). Awesomeness #2: A week later my nail polish is still bright and shiny and has NOT chipped. Which is a bit of a miracle because since I'm a healer and am always spraying alcohol, my manicures tend to last about 3 days. I will stick to gel polish from now on.<br />
<br />2) I tried Rejuvelac for the first time. Bleh, was my first reaction. It tasted like tart yogurt water, but I feel like I'm already starting to acquire it. I first heard of Rejuvelac about a year and a half ago when I was reading Karyn Calabrese's Soak Your Nuts (raw food detox book). It's one of the staples of her every day diet and it's a raw food staple overall. She swears by it and if she swears by a drink, I'm down to try it (have you all ever seen Karyn? Google her. She does NOT look her age). In her book she describes how to make your own, but after I looked up the process on youtube, I decided to try it somewhere else first (the guy mentioned something about you have to be able to tell when it's gone bad while you're making it and I didn't feel qualified). Anyhow, I've seen it a few times at Mother's Market and this week I decided to reach for a bottle. Some people call it their source of energy and say it gives them life, so it sounded like something to try. I did feel full of energy for the rest of the night. I felt like going jogging at 10pm. So I had some more the next day despite not initially liking the taste.<br />
<br />3) I went to Rush Street restaurant/bar in Culver City for the first time. It was cool. It was also a first date.<br />
<br />4) I've been vegan for 10 days for the first time ever. Past attempts have only lasted 3 days.<br />
<br />5) I tried raw lasagna for the first time ever today. I'm a fan of raw food and raw food restaurants (Cafe Gratitude is my fave), but after an initial yucky experience with raw pizza, my experimenting with the raw equivalent of cooked dishes slowed down a bit. But this raw lasagna at 118 Degrees Community Cafe was really good:<br />
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<br />The noodle layers are made of zuchinni, for the sauce we have tomatoes, and the ricotta is made of ground up macademian nuts and spices. Yum!!! I also had a huge green smoothie to go with it. <br />
<br />So that was my first week of fun firsts. For these blog entries, in the interest of updating regularly, I plan to keep it short and simple. But because I'm becoming more aware of all the new things I do every week, I wanted to include the other firsts I noticed.<br />
<br />Happy New Year!!!<br />
Jayceehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04424266193646737835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-135283407789228113.post-4753877239877624232012-12-29T03:03:00.002-08:002013-01-16T08:55:03.222-08:0052 Firsts Fun Challenge for 2013: Claiming 2013 as a Year of Joy and Fun, New Adventures<p> In prep for the New Year, I’ve decided to commit to a fun challenge I saw a friend do in 2011. She challenged herself to try something new every week of the year and it looked awesome and like her year was overflowing with mini adventures. I already try to do new things often and stay open, but I’d like to formalize it and commit to a new one per week for 2013. By next New Year’s I should have at least 52 new experiences. I try so many new things all the time that I felt like this might be an interesting challenge because I’ve already covered a lot (i.e. I'd like to try Capoeira, but would it still count if I only tried it once and it was freshman year of college? Nope. Unless it’s with an added element). I started wishing I had waited until the New Year to try the new cleanse that I just finished yesterday… But after sitting down to brainstorm for a couple of minutes I realized finding new things I’d like to try wouldn’t be difficult in this very abundant universe. <br />
<br />I wanted to post about this BEFORE the New Years in case anyone else would also like to partake in this fun challenge or follow it. It should be lots of fun and committing to something new a week provides a great set up for living your life to the fullest. It IS a spiritual exercise because it will help keep us from getting stuck in routine or a rut, it will keep the energy flowing, we'll be showing the Universe that we’re open and willing to try new things, we'll become more open to new things, we’ll put ourselves out of comfort zones at times, explore this beautiful life, find new things that bring us joy to add to our lists and toolboxes, ensure we allot time to ourselves at least once a week, get to know ourselves better, explore random dreams, increase creativity, attract more fun new adventures since we're putting out that energy, and build new neural pathways as our brains meet something new and strengthen themselves.<br />
<br />I'll be posting my experiences on this blog. If this challenge resonates with you, feel free to join me! For the first few weeks, I think I’ll finally use my Crossfit Groupon and check out what the hype is about.. And I’ve been wanting to try Salt Therapy too…. During the last month I've been focused on strengthening my physical body so that theme may continue into January. I’m excited about this challenge and to see my recap of the year at the end of 2013! I'm claiming 2013 as a year of joy, abundance, and fun, new adventures. Feel free to join! I affirm that our new experiences this year will be fun and joyful. And so it is!
<br />Jayceehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04424266193646737835noreply@blogger.com0