Be Grateful For The Little Things And Moments

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."

- Robert Brault

Be grateful for the little things and moments, because:

A.  This moment is your life

and

B.  One day you will realize that the "little" things were the "big" things.

Don't wait to:

~ do that thing

~ begin

~ give that hug

~ give that kiss

~ give that smile

~ say, "I love you."

~ say, "I'm sorry."

~ say, "I was wrong."

~ say, "You are a-mazing."

~ say, "I'm proud of you."

~ say, "Let's begin again."

~ say, "I'm in!  Let's do it!"

~ say, "Ya!  Let's play!"

~ think/dream big . . . you're going to think anyway, so may as well think BIG.

I'm rootin' for ya!

Have the best day ever!

Namaste!

Taylor plus 5

We Can't Change The Cards We Are Dealt

“Whenever you want to achieve something, keep your eyes open, concentrate and make sure you know exactly what it is you want. No one can hit their target with their eyes closed.”

― Paulo Coelho

We can't change the cards we are dealt, but we can change how we play the hand.

It's all about how we play our cards. Take inventory of what you have been dealt, decide who you want to be, decide what you want to do, decide how you want it all to feel, and then give it up to the universe and allow it to unfold. Remember to focus on what you do want and not what you don't want. When you focus on what you don't want that is called distraction.  And it will pull you down a different path, so be mindful.

Have the best day ever!

Namaste!

Taylor plus 5

The Lost Art

"One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say."

- Bryant H. McGill

Are you a good listener?  It's astonishing how many people aren't.  When you are talking with someone are you waiting for them to finish talking so you can get your two cents in?  This ain't listening, btw.

The next time you have a conversation, set the intention to actually LISTEN to what the person is saying.  And watch your relationships -- and life -- transform.

Have the best day ever!

Namaste!

Taylor plus 5

Just Do It Well - From The Start

“Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.”- Oprah Winfrey

I've noticed something. If I slack in doing something, it never behooves me because in the end I need to go back and redo it well anyway.

It came to me this morning during my 4:30 AM pre-dawn practice at Prana Power Yoga Newton, because if I don't give myself fully to my practice and really breathe through and go deep in each pose of the Prana Power Yoga Flow, my body feels tweaky after my practice and I need to go back and do those poses fully.

This is the gift of having a tweaky low back. I am so in tune with my body that I feel it kinesthetically if I slack. I need to open up all of the energetic channels in my body fully to feel as amazingly alive as I do as I walk my path.

This is of course a metaphor for life. As is everything in your yoga practice.

So just do it well --from the start.

Have the best day ever!

Namaste!

Taylor plus 5

The Universe Is Always At Work

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

― Albert Einstein

The universe is always at work.

The universe is on it.

The universe has your back.

Let the universe control and just focus on your vibration.

The photo above might seem unremarkable to you. But to me it is a miracle. It is yet another example of the magic of the universe. How it just brings things together in a way that you or I could never plan or anticipate.

I was just inspired to move a few things around in my white castle. On the walls, in the rooms, etc. I do this a lot. I love change and moving energy and clearing energy and finding a better way. I have so much fun finding a better way.

So I hung this hand painted moon and star mirror, hand made star mirrors and hand painted moon mirror in our basement lavette.

Dakota, age 4, made one of the star mirrors. Montana, age 4, made the other one. Madison made the hand-painted moon mirror at age 6 - she is now 17. I snagged the hand painted moon and star mirror at a yard sale a few years ago.

The four pieces together look like a set. They look like they were made for each other and with each other. I did not plan this when I was inspired to pull one piece from here one from there et Cetera and hang them together. I had no idea. I just felt inspired to do so and I always follow my inspiration.

Please note that one piece was handmade by Madison 11 years ago, two pieces were handmade by Dakota and Montana this year, and one piece was handmade by a child I don't know and bought at a yard sale.

You can live life one of two ways. As if nothing is a miracle, or as if everything is a miracle.

I choose the latter, all day every day.

Have the best day ever!

Namaste!

Taylor plus 5

THIS, This Is It.

I don't remember who said this, but there really are places in the heart you don't even know exist until you love a child.

— Anne Lamott

I got this text from a Super mom after my 17-year-old daughter babysat for her:

"Madison was amazing today and a trooper! You should be proud of her. You have raised a very kind and caring daughter so congrats to you on a job well done."

This. This is it. This is all I need to make my heart sing.

Because, at the end of the day. What else really matters?

Have the best day ever!

Namaste!

Taylor plus 5

I Like This Art Teacher Better Because

"After all is said and done, more is said than done."

- Aesop

My daughter told me the that she likes her new art teacher better. When I asked her why she explained, "My other art teacher spent most of the time telling us the rules and what we could not do. She talked a lot. We didn't do much art.  Our new art teacher lets us create art.  That's what we do during art class, instead of talking."

I read a quote once that said, "After all is said and done, more is said than done."

Rules are important. Especially with children. They need boundaries. But we all need rules and in some sense, they make us feel safe.

Talking is important. Communication is key.

But be mindful that you are not out of balance regarding what you are saying you are going to do -- versus what you are actually doing.

Have the best day ever!

Namaste!

Taylor plus 5

Overly Lucid?

“You get what you expect in life.Expect great things in life. Live your best life.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

I received this from a reader:

"Good morning Taylor,

Just got in from work. I work til midnight. My last few nights at work I have been feeling some strange vibes from coworkers. Subordinates and fellow supervisors. Don't like what I am feeling. Tons of negative stuff. Back stabbing gossip. Bad stuff. I find the deeper I explore myself and work on mindfulness  the more I am feeling it. I feel like I am becoming  overly lucid. Maybe ignorance is bliss?  Do you find that  to be the case?"

And here's how I responded:

"B,

I should have warned you. And now you can't go back....

Yes I too felt this way and here is what I learned.  As always, take what you want and leave the rest.

An unexamined and unaware life is a life unlived. So you are on the path.

You don't want to go back to ignorance, believe me.

And this may take a moment to take in but hear me out. In one of my new inspiration card decks a card reads, "My thoughts determine which people come into my life and how they behave once they get there."

Re – read your email to me. You say that you often say "XYZ" about people who work as officers. So of course this is what you are attracting.  The Universe can only give you what you expect. And it is.

I know I know that this belief came from "the truth." And what you have observed. But you are ready to take it to a new level. Stop looking at the "what is" and create what you want. Start talking about what you want, or don't talk about it at all.

I'm not advocating denial. Or repression. If you must talk about it, do it in less than 17 seconds and then let it go. Don't dwell. What you focus on is what you create more of.

And this on my part will take less than 17 seconds: that sucks what they are doing --so ignore it and be your sparkly shiny self and watch what happens.

Ps look for the magic. You sent your email to me at 1234. You are in alignment."

And my reader's response:

"Thanks as always. Only you will believe this. I have reread your email a bunch of times and it makes sense. I just went to my box of your inspiration cards to retrieve  the one you suggested. I open the box look at the first one it is, " What I expect is what happens". I flip it over and bang," My thought determines which people come into my life and how they behave once they get there."  CRAZY!

The mindful path may not be the easiest however I believe it is best!"

Have the best day ever!

Namaste!

Taylor plus 5

Reheated Is Never The Same

“Always be a first rate version of yourself and not a second rate version of someone else.”

- Judy Garland

Have you ever noticed how when you reheat your tea it never tastes as good as the first time? It doesn't taste as good as when you first steeped it in boiling water. It just ain't the same no matter how many times you pop it in the microwave.

So it is with authenticity. Don't try to be like someone else. It's just like the reheated tea. It just ain't the same.

Always be the best version of yourself instead of a reheated version of someone else.

Have the best day ever!

Namaste!

Taylor plus 5

2015 Female Athlete Conference with Kate Ackerman

The female athlete conference, directed by Dr. Kate Ackerman, was born from the idea that there isn't enough collective knowledge in one place addressing female athletes today. The 2015 Female Athlete Conference isthis Friday and Saturday, June 19th and 20th at Babson College.  Dr. Kate and colleagues are asked to give talks all over the country about female athlete issues, and are usually allotted an hour or less to share "everything they know." She wanted to bring people together to have a collective dialogue about so many of the issues female athletes are struggling with today and really devote quality time to a variety of important subjects: body image, how females communicate on a team, how to decrease their ACL injury rate, how their recovery from concussion can be different, what strength training skills are important, how to decrease anemia risk in endurance athletes, enhancing nutrition skills for girls, etc.

As a former national team rower and current Medical Director of the Female Athlete Program at Boston Children's Hospital, Dr. Kate is passionate about improving the health of girls, empowering them with sport, and enhancing their experience of a lifetime of sport.  As a mother of two girls, she believes in getting the right messages to girls and young women early and arming them, their parents, their coaches, and their medical team with knowledge to help them be successful.

Please come to the 2015 Female Athlete Conference this Friday and Saturday, June 19th and20th, at Babson College!  Meet Marathon woman Kathrine Switzer, Olympic Gold Medalist Aly Raisman, members of the International Olympic Committee, top notch doctors, coaches, athletic trainers, physical therapists, exercise physiologists, nutritionists, and more.  We can’t wait to see you there!  100% of ticket sales will go towards female athlete research.  Sign up today or at the door. childrenshospital.org/femaleathlete15

Life Screening

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”

- Frances Hodgson Burnett

These days you don't see many photos that aren't touched up or have some sort of photo screen or filter. I have fun putting screens and filters on our family photos. You can make them look pretty cool.

I was thinking that this is like utilizing the law of attraction in your life. You accentuate and put focus on the things that you like in the photo, and let the rest fade into the background. And it is the same with law of attraction in your life. Focus on what you want and ignore the rest.

Have the best day ever!

Namaste!

Taylor plus 5

Taylor How Do I Heal From A Broken Heart

“Be a lamp to yourself. Be your own confidence. Hold on to the truth within yourself as to the only truth.”

~ Buddha

 Yesterday as I was walking down Pearl Street in Newton Massachusetts toward Prana Power Yoga Newton, one of my students approached me, introduced herself, and asked, "Taylor, how do I heal from a broken heart?"

Sigh.

Broken hearts suck don't they?

There's just no way around that fact.

Some people think that because I teach about the law of attraction and creating your BEST LIFE EVER, I am advocating repression and denial.

Not so.

Remember, I am trained as a clinical psychologist and personally healed from a very traumatic childhood. Depression and denial don't work.  It's important to feel your feelings and be real.

In my humble opinion, healing from a broken heart – and there are many different kinds of broken hearts – is eased a lot by a regular yoga practice.

No matter who you are and what type of broken heart you are grieving and healing from, your practice will help.

Yoga saved my life and continues on a daily basis to help me to be the very best person, parent, teacher, partner, friend, sister and daughter I can be.  Yoga doesn't make you perfect – of course not. But it helps you to heal from pain and walk with integrity, Grace, ease and joy on this earth.

Have the best day ever!

Namaste!

Taylor plus 5

Sugar Smacks

“Happiness, not in another place but this place...not for another hour, but this hour.”― Walt Whitman

I grew up in the Midwest eating Cap'n Crunch and Sugar Smacks for breakfast with whole milk and a side order of cinnamon sugar pop tarts.

I just had a bowl of Wegmans rendition of the Smacks of the 70s – now I believe they call them Honey Smacks  ha ha – and what IS it about eating a food from your childhood? It's so fun.  Brings back such joy. Even if the food isn't -- ahem --particularly good.

My theory on this is that it catapults us back to a time when we were free – free of fear and worry.  Free of worrying about the Joneses and what they think.  Free of thinking about the future and the past. We were living totally in the now.

Your yoga practice, can you bring you back to this place as well.

Have the best day ever!

Namaste!

Taylor plus 5

Once Upon A Time I Had a Great Friend

“Letting go means to come to the realization that some people are a part of your history, but not a part of your destiny.”

- Steve Maraboli

Once upon a time I had a great friend.  We went through a lot of the same sh** as kids and we really bonded about that. We were there for each other. We got each other, in a way that no one else could because they had not been through the same traumatic childhood.

We were very different, however.  But that didn't hurt our friendship, it helped it. There was a balance. I love love love people and being "out there," and she doesn't. She accepted that about me and I about her, and we balanced each other well.

Then one day, quite unexpectedly, it all changed. She became very judgey and controlling and when I told her the truth about some things, and told her some difficult sh** that was going on, as I always do, she judged -- and pushed me away.  She kicked me when I was down.

Wow did that hurt. It came out of nowhere.

Or did it?

As I nursed the wounds of being kicked when I was down by someone I considered not only a friend but family, I recalled many red flags over the years. That I had chosen to ignore.

I asked the Universe, as I always do, "What's the lesson here? What do I need to learn? What do I need to do differently? How can I teach others from what I have lived and the pain I have endured?"

And here is what came:

• Keep being your authentic self anyway.
• Keep opening your heart anyway.
• Keep loving anyway.
• Keep trusting anyway.
• Keep ignoring the "unappealing qualities" anyway.
• Keep shining your light anyway.
• Cherish the friendship and good times that you had, and move on.
• Some people come into your life for a specific reason, for a specific amount of time.
• There are seasons to friendships. It doesn't make them "good "or "bad." It just is.  It is what it is.
• Don't try to explain. Either people get you or they don't.
• Explaining is a waste of precious time and energy.

And man did all of that ring true for me. You know how I knew that it did? Because you know the truth by how it feels.

Sometimes we can get all wigged out and spun out by words and stories and drama. But you always know the truth by how it feels.

Have the best day ever!

Namaste!

Taylor plus 5

Just Hire The Plumber Already

Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.

- Auguste Rodin

I scoot my three boys -- ages four, four, and seven -- into the tub every night. Sometimes they are resistant to get in but they always love it and don't want to get out. And feel better afterward. Similar to my yoga practice sometimes. Sometimes I don't want to get on my mat and have resistance in the form of -- well whatever flavor (you've heard all the excuses) -- but I always always feel better after I practice. So I make it a daily discipline.

We have an awesome big tub in our "Hello Kitty bathroom," and all three boys can fit in it with ease. I have twinkle lights hanging in that bathroom (and in most every room in our White castle because I love the light and replicate it whenever and wherever possible and ... they make me happy) and so the whole experience is a happy good energy one.

Except for… the drain.

That drain has been busted for sooooo long.  We've had three different handymen try to fix it.

No dice.

Philippe has tried to fix it several times.

No dice.

I tried to fix it.

No dice and no big surprise there because spatial tasks are not my thang.

So it's been a super long time with a drain that is super annoying, super difficult to make work, and did I mention super annoying?

Today we had a plumber come in. He fixed the drain. The end.

Several people tried to fix that drain. People who were not masters at what they were doing. All to no avail and to the tune of more money that it would have cost to just hire the plumber already.

Which we eventually did.

Ahhhh the wisdom wisdom that comes with time and experience.

Have the best day ever!

Namaste!

Taylor plus 5

Photo Shoot Prep

“The thing you fear most has no power. Your fear of it is what has the power. Facing the truth really will set you free.”

― Oprah Winfrey

My kids are so used to photo shoots.  They've been doin' 'em since birth and really in utero because God knows I had plenty of shoots while I was pregnant with all of 'em.  I think it's a great way to prep them -- for anything.  It's no big deal for them to be in front of the camera, to be interviewed by press, to have loads of Poptarts, cereals and candy in our pantry, to travel abroad, to live in New York City every weekend for a year (while and after we opened Prana NYC and were teaching there every weekend), etc....

The Pop Tarts, cereal and candy may have seemed like a non sequitur, but hear me out.  I believe it's great to expose my kids to lotsa stuff so it ain't a big deal later.  When I got to Brown, it was no big deal to see huge sheet cakes, cupcakes, ice cream machines, doughnuts and coffee cakes at the Ratty (cafeteria).  My parents had that stuff on hand all the time while I was growing up, so it wasn't a big deal.   (We had a huge bowl of Hershey's kisses in our downstairs lavette, which my friends thought was awesome albeit bizarre.  I thought it was the norm.)

Some of my friends at Brown had a very different experience of all those sweets.  They chowed it down like it was goin' outta style and put on the Freshman 20 pretty darn quickly.  (I also put on Freshman 20 btw, but for very different reasons which I will leave alone for now.)

Travel can be stressful if you ain't used to it, as can photo shoots.  But if you're used to these things --anything, really-- they're just no big deal.

If you're afraid of something, do it.  TODAY.  Eleanor Roosevelt said, "You must do the things you think you cannot do."  And I agree with Sister, because once you do 'em, they won't be a big deal anymore.

Have the best day ever!

Namaste!

Taylor plus 5

This! This Is Magic

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.”

― Roald Dahl

Sometimes people ask me what I mean by "Magic," when I talk about magic being present all around us in our daily lives.

Good question.

Here's one of a multitude of examples.

This (the photo above) is what I beheld as I walked to our Prana Power Yoga™ NYC (Union Square) studio on an early chilly December morning.

*Magic.*

It's there, if you're open to it and aware.

Have the best day ever!

Namaste!

Taylor plus 5

All Of Life Is Patterning

“We become what we repeatedly do.”

― Sean Covey

One of my 4:30 AM students said the wisest thing this morning. We were talking about one of our students' sleep schedule, and she said, "Well, all of life is patterning."

I said, "What? What did you just say?"

I love learning, have an extremely open mind, and love love love finding a better way so I am always open to what the universe sends me and all the teachers who come to me in various forms.

She went on to say that everything is patterning – habit. And that is why she loves what I teach and write about because I teach people better habits with thought and with their bodies.

Nailed it! She said in so few words what I teach all day every day.

Have the best day ever!

Namaste!

Taylor plus 5