Travel like a yoga bag

Ever wish that you didn’t have to bring so much stuff with you when you’re traveling? I will tell you right now that you totally can keep it light! It’s possible! Have you ever had those times when you had no idea what to pack? Or, has it ever taken you more than three hours to pack? For some travelers, packing can lead to a big ol’ headache! No bueno!

When I am on the road or flying somewhere, I try to pack as LIGHT as possible! Meaning, I only bring the bare minimum necessary items. The intention is to keep what I pack down to practical uses and to things I need for the intended style of adventure.

I planned a trip to visit my friend in Las Vegas. No No…this isn’t going to be a post about packing for a party. The trip was to spend three days with my friend and go hiking. What will I need:

• 3 pairs of shorts
• 5 tank tops
• 4 sets of undergarments
• 3 pairs of socks
• one pair of  trail running shoes
• A set of pajamas
• Bikini (just in case)
• A pair of pants and a sweater
• Small toiletry items
• Leave the dress at home.

While thinking about what I was going to bring with me on my trip, I knew I wanted to pack everything into my yoga mat bag! Not a backpack or duffel bag, but yes, a yoga mat bag! Yoga is a big practice in my life and I wanted the way I pack to be reflective of my practice. Packing lightly is also a reminder to myself that I am already in abundance of all there is in my life.

So yes I packed all my belongings into my yoga mat bag, and I also brought my small hemp back-sack with me to carry my wallet, water, ID, lotion, chap stick and a few other small traveling items.

There I was, standing in the airport with both my back-sack and yoga mat bag on my back. It wasn’t heavy at all. I am a fan of carry-on items! Keep it simple! You’ll be going in and out of the airport quickly and with such ease!

I also had no problems during the trip losing or organizing my belongings. All I had to do was keep everything in my yoga mat bag while I was out for the day hiking. The back-sack was great on trail for bringing energy bars, a sand-which, and to hold water.

Here is a picture below of my gear while I was waiting at the San Francisco International Airport.

Cool bags huh? =) The yoga mat bag is made through Michael Franti’s clothing company, Stay Human! The back-sack is by Kathmandu Imports! Both totally organic and eco-friendly. I’ve provided the information below for those who are interested in the bags!

Yoga Mat Bag: http://www.stayhumanstore.com/animalprintcanvasyogabag.aspx

Back-sack: http://www.kathmanduimports.com/index.jsp

I also do not use a purse; just to give you another idea of how I try to keep my days simple. I do suggest if you are having a hard time packing, just try to keep it simple. You’ll save yourself a lot of time and stress. Plus you will feel a lot lighter and free while you are traveling with fewer items!

My challenge  for you is: Go through your backpack or purse and take out the things you do not need. Travel with it for a day and see how it makes you feel. Going on a bigger trip? Try to pack under 30 lbs. =) See how it makes you feel and then let me know!

See you soon!!

=)

-Cindy

Don’t measure your self worth with what you do..

I am a human being, not a human doing. Don’t equate your self-worth with how well you do things in life. You aren’t what you do. If you are what you do, then when you don’t…you aren’t. – Dr. Wayne Dyer

This is a good reminder for all of us. We tend to measure our worth with what we do, where we went to school, who we are friends with, how much money we make; and honestly, I think this is how we come into suffering.

Rarely do we praise ourselves. But don’t praise yourself with what you do, praise yourself because you just ARE! Appreciate yourself for your life and your experiences.

When we can learn to open our hearts and eyes to the truth of who we are deep inside, we can begin to accept ourselves fully. Learn to see yourself as someone special. What hurts us the most is when we perceive ourselves as not good enough, so change the vision! Change the language! Sometimes the suffering comes from talking to ourselves in a negative manner. And if you don’t do something correctly, that doesn’t make you any less of a person. Each and every one of us is worthy, which is why we are here! We exist because we are worthy.

And remember, we are always loved and are love. Don’t let any external forces and noise tell you any different.

Loving you all,

Cindy

Savasana into epsom salt and sea minerals..at home

Monday July 11, 2011
I am preparing a warm bath of epsom salt and sea minerals to melt my body into. This is what I need… savasana bliss in this healing water that I created in the intimacy of my home. You need days like this when you can create a sanctuary where you are at. Creativity comes into play when you use the imagination. Turn on some music to relax to, dive into the warm bath, and let go..

Yoga for Pride SF Flash Mob (details!) June 18, 2011

Hey everyone!!

This Saturday June 18, 2011- come join me while we gather together in unison in a moving meditation of Yoga! Commemorating Pride Month in San Francisco, this is a special time for all of us to come together to celebrate peace, freedom, love, compassion, and happiness for all!

Here is a video detail!

Come join us! We are meeting across the street from SF City Hall- Civic Center Plaza.

Polk St between McCallister and Grove st, San Francisco. You can’t miss us!!

4pm meet up!! Lets OM this place up!!!

Where to exercise? Try the garage!!

Hey friends!

So I was inspired to exercise in my garage. I didn’t feel like going to the gym nor did I feel like exercising in the living room because it would of been a recipe for distractions! The garage I feel is detached from the rest of the whole house, making me feel like I am in my own work out room. With no disruptions or distractions! It was a bit chilly, so I didn’t want to be totally outside, but I wanted some fresh air and sun! So the garage was a perfect fit!

Exercises I did in the garage:

Side steps using a thera band

squats

lunges

wall slide

val slides

inverted hamstrings lifts

closed chain step ups (sagital, frontal, and transverse planes)

anterior reach

calf raises

Kettle bell swings

Before I was done, I decided to recorded myself explaining my experience and how you too can do it too! Even if you don’t have equipment, you can improvise!

Awesome!! I hope I inspired you in some way. =)

My challenge for you is: find an out of the ordinary place to go exercise at! Then write down your experience. It might just be in the middle of a shopping center! =) Try it!

See you soon!!

So I became a yoga teacher in two months.

Howdie folks!!

I know I’ve been super non active the last two months. I promise it won’t happen again! To give you all a short recap, I have gone through the journey of becoming a yoga teacher! I recently just graduated with my certificate to teach!  I took a 200 hour yoga teacher training program in San Francisco through Yoga Tree. I am considering taking a 300 hour advance teacher training program probably in a year or so.

In those two months, a lot of emotional, physical, psychological, and social changes transformed in my life. I’m not really sure where to start to talk about it…  but lets just say that I feel totally amazing!

I completely immersed myself in the ceremony of training and learning. Waking up at 5am on the weekends was really exciting actually. Then going onto training till 6pm in the evening! My body and mind was in a yoga zone! During the week everything was yoga. I was eating, breathing, sleeping, thinking, and living yoga!

I am feeling great. Energetically I feel more aware and open as I ever have.

I do recommend to those who want to deepen their current yoga practice to take a yoga teacher training program. It is definitely a new and different experience than what you are so used to in a normal class or workshop setting. It will change your life!

Now that I am done with the program, a lot of people have been asking me what I’m going to do next. Honestly, that is a question we ask ourselves every day right? What am I going to do now? Well, to tell you the truth, sometimes I do not know. And there are days that I do know.

I am definitely certain that I want to connect with more people. I want to share knowledge and that can come in so many ways. I want to dance, I want to sing, I want to play, I want to see the sun, and I want to feel alive every day!

So yes, that is my update for now.

And  by the way, how are YOU doing today???

Much love and light,

Cindy

The practice of letting go…physically and emotionally.

Hi everyone!

It’s Cindy here. As you have noticed, I haven’t written a blog in a little over a month. Not to fear, I am still here! In the last month, a lot has happened in preparation for the new self to develop. I’ve been taking the time to connect with friends, taking small road trips for clearer reflections, healing my energetic and physical body, being surrounded by pure love, my food consumption has turned from “blah” to “WOW”, and the list goes on!

It’s good to take the time out of the  usual “routine”. That is when I start to notice the unfolding of creativity flowering in all parts of my life. Whether it be with myself, friends, nature, the power of the mind and spirit, and joy. I live in a dream of spontaneous adventure; that is when I see the magic happening all around me. Thank you.

I have come into a practice of letting go. Letting go to me is not holding onto fear, releasing tension, transcending old energy that do not serve me, and finding freedom within myself. So I haven’t been blogging much because I’ve been letting GO a bunch!!

THE ONSET OF FEAR SETTING:

Physically my body has not been 100% in the last ten months. In March of 2010, I was hit with mononucleosis, a virus that you do no want to bother with. I hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up in one day in May with the lingering effects of mononucleosis still in my fatigued physical being. This manifested into a jungle of soft tissue knee injuries to both of my knees. From June to October 2010, I dedicated my life to physical therapy.

During that time, a surge of fear hit my life more than ever before. Who am I now? Why is this happening to me? Will I have lifelong problems? Will I be able to hold my own children in the future? Why does this pain feel so real? Will I be able to run again? Not only did these questions run through my mind every single day, I also had a lot of self hatred, feelings of isolation, frustration, grief, depression, bitterness, and anger. The physical self was in pain and so was my emotional self. Fear of hurting my body again was a new motivation during my days to not do ANYTHING fun.

All this fear was building up a wall of tension and blockages in my body and in my spirit. I knew I had to transmute all these energies of fear to love and compassion in order to fully heal.

By October my knees and my energetic self was doing much better. I also had a month off to go to Thailand to enjoy myself!! Love filled the heart, I felt free. This feeling remained once I got back home to the San Francisco Bay Area…but I still had a lot of tension in my lower legs and fear in my mind. I noticed that the way I walking was like I was walking on egg shells. How am I going to transcend all this? It isn’t an easy task.

So I sit here now, it is March 2011. I am still healing my physical body as my hamstrings are extremely tight and has caused me to experience hamstring insertion point issues and tendonitis. Myself and my physical therapist believe that while my knees were in such pain, the muscles that support the knees were enduring a lot of compensated work as well. I know I am on a forward movement of complete healing…it just takes a lot of time, work, patience, dedication, and love.  I would say I’m at 80% complete.

THE HEALING PROCESS:

I believe in order to heal takes action and there are many steps. Action comes in the form of dedication. My dedication is being a good patient and attending physical therapy three times a week; or finding the avenues for physical assistance. Next comes will power. I must have the will power to not push myself too much in order for me to not go back to square one (re-injury). Action for me also means reaching out for support; whether it be from friends, family, and health supporters. Make sure these people are also willing to listen and not criticize especially when you’re going through a time of challenge. Take the effort to change attitude and thoughts to becoming optimistic. This alone will lift your spirit up and make you feel good instantly. Getting the right amount of sleep is beneficial for energy healing of the entire system. I have to also make sure that I am taking care of myself and not slacking off  ie stretching, supplementing soft tissues with vitamins and minerals, staying hydrated, cleansing, eating foods that don’t add to inflammation, and icing when needed.

LETTING GO:

In order for action and healing to happen…LETTING GO needs to BE in ACTION first. I have had to learn to let go of fear, tension, mental frustration, anger, the past, and letting go of my old self. It takes a lot of work! I have had to learn to physically let go of tension in my body because there was build up blockages. What helped me a lot was frequent massages and getting energy body work done because I had to put my body in the hands of another being. I’ve also gotten into a sensory deprivation float tank where I *HAD* to let go tension in my body in order to FLOAT. Learning to stay ultimately present helps to let go of the events that lead up to my injuries. Breathing exercises while I spoke out-loud  to myself about letting go has helped a lot as well.

All this self work is very tedious… you’ll notice that there are a lot of people out there who just let their pain take over their life and not do anything about it. It takes energy to be in pain… transmute that same energy into love.

You have to keep the ball rolling in order to see light.

LETTING GO in the BIGGER PICTURE:

I know when fear and blockages are moving  is when I feel this surge of relief come into my body. I feel the process of healing immensely physically and emotionally.

The last ten months, I have had to learn to really love myself unconditionally. If you don’t love yourself, energetically I believe pain will manifest into your body somehow. Letting go of tension and fear will also respond positively without having to endure additional pain and suffering Knowing that THIS process with my body is only a hiccup…perhaps a big bump in the road…has helped me move forward to self healing. This is not permanent. I have to BELIEVE I’m going to be okay. It is also a reminder to me that I am not my body and I am not my diagnosis; though I have to take care of my body because it is my vehicle in this lifetime.

I have also learned while going through with this process that letting go and just BEing can flourish many things to happen miraculously! When we DIVE into the moment of NOW and not having our minds be filled with so much clutter, you start to see beauty, there is joy, there is love, and there is compassion.

For example, even though I am working with my new body and new self to becoming healed and strong again… my life around me has spun many great moments. Meeting new people from all walks of life that share the same interests as I do,  being invited to places like Hawaii, friends gathering around a dinner table full of excitement, I’ve been offered many gifts of more body work to add to my healing, work is fun,  food seems to be more abundant than ever before, and overall… life is just PERFECT right now.

All I have to do is maintain this vision and attitude.

A reflection to you all that what you put out…is what you put in. What you put in…is what you put out. Learn to cultivate your life and your own self healing. Learn to love yourself, learn to be free. It takes time..and if you need support I am here to back you up 100%.

I am free in the sense that I am not in suffering of my own mental game anymore. I am now in a 200 hour yoga teacher training that is adding to my healing and self love. I will continue to heal myself…and it is in my power.

I have to cut it off right now. But I will be back…

My next challenge for you is:

What do you need to let go of that isn’t serving your highest good? Say it out-loud.

Loving you all,

Cindy

What the heck is an antioxidant!?

Hello everyone!

In today’s health and wellness , you hear a lot about antioxidants being good for you. You go into a smoothie shop and read the ingredients for the Morning Sunrise smoothie . It says it is “loaded with antioxidants”. Sure you’ll go ahead and order it since it seems like it’s probably the best thing for your body.

But what exactly is an anti-oxidant!?

Well first of all, what does “anti” mean? Anti usually means to act against something. To counter-act. Do the opposite. “Oxidize” is the process of interacting with oxygen or to combine with oxygen. Look up oxidize or oxidation under Google or a dictionary.

Therefore, antioxidant means to counter act against the oxidation process.

Here’s an example:

You open a banana or cut an apple. You leave it open for awhile and the color of the fruits begin to turn brown. That is the result of oxidation. That is basically what the skin is for; which is, to protect the fruit from being oxidized. When something is oxidized, damage occurs.

Taken from Wikepedia:

“An antioxidant is a molecule capable of inhibiting the oxidation of other molecules. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that transfers electrons from a substance to an oxidizing agent. Oxidation reactions can produce free radicals. In turn, these radicals can start chain reactions that damage cells. Antioxidants terminate these chain reactions by removing free radical intermediates, and inhibit other oxidation reactions.”

So when you hear that there are antioxidants in your food or vitamins, the antioxidants will help you fight against/prevent damage from free radicals.

“Free radicals, also known simply as radicals, are organic molecules responsible for aging, tissue damage, and possibly some diseases. These molecules are very unstable, therefore they look to bond with other molecules, destroying their vigor and perpetuating the detrimental process. Antioxidants, present in many foods, are molecules that prevent free radicals from harming healthy tissue.” Here is a list that Adam, founder of SuperFood Snacks, put together to get an understanding of the levels of some foods that are considered high in antioxidants. Cranberries               —————————-8,272 Blueberries               ————————- 5,660 Blackberries              ———————— 5,374 Rasberries                ———————– 4,609 Almonds                  ———————- 4,053 Red Wine                 ——————– 3,373 Incan Berry              ——————- 3,032 Goji Berries              —————— 2,994 Apples                     —————– 2,775 Pomegranate Juice    —————- 2,440 Oranges                   ————— 1,651 Spinach                   ————– 1,379 Green Tea                ————- 1,140 These results are based on 91 grams of each food. Results are courtesy of the Agricultural Research Service and the USDA.

That’s it for now everyone!!

My challenge for you is: Look in your kitchen to see what kinds of fruits and veggies that you have that are considered high in antioxidants? You will be surprised at what you find! =D

See ya later!!

Loving you all,

Cindy

Resources:

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-free-radicals.htm

http://www.healthcastle.com/antioxidant.shtml

Is living in a BIG city cancerous?

I sometimes wonder if living in a big city makes us sick. Cities can exude overpopulation, crime, heavy traffic, stress, anger, smog, dirty roads, and have constant flow of high paced living. Would that not effect your health? Of course people who do live in big cities might have to gain some balance through the use of positive activities such as exercise, going on vacation, attend social gatherings, or go to a dance class.

Take a look at two pictures I found online. One is a satellite image of Los Angeles and the other is an image of a liver cancer cell line:

 

How do these two images reflect each other?

 

My challenge for you is:  Reflect and write down the areas in your life that are out of balance. Brainstorm three possible solutions for each area that would help you come to balance again.

See ya soon everyone!!

 

Loving you all,

Cindy

 

Resources:

1. http://www.treatgene.com/hepg2-cell-line/

Living well is our primary world instinct..

To fully understand the human body one would have to read several books, take classes in human health, go to Medical school, talk to a personal trainer or nutritionist, talk to their doctor, be active in sports, seek a reiki healer, or suffer pain to learn how the human body functions through recovery. There are unlimited avenues to gaining knowledge. No matter where or how you seek information of the human body to stay in tip top health, I feel there are endless connections to new information being discovered every single day. We are ALWAYS striving for optimal health; and as we evolve through our modern life, the awareness of health and wellness is growing rapidly in our society. With modern western medicine, eastern medicine, integrative health, yoga, sports, improvement on organic agriculture, the growing of green practices in and around our cities, and with people waking up to the ideals of living healthy, I feel we are moving forward in a positive motion of overall wellness as a collective community.

(Pictured above: Yoga teacher Michael Carpenter assists a practitioner with a restorative healing pose. Taken by Cindy Manit at Hanuman Center, San Francisco)

For ages, humans have always been very open about sharing information on how to feel better and live better. The use of apple cider vinegar as a folk health tonic has been around since the 1950s (1). Yoga, developed in India about 5,000 years ago between 900 to 500 BCE (2), is now taking on its’ own trend in the Western world for health and wellness. If a friend finds that drinking coconut juice helps them with dehydration, they will share that information with others. Doctors as well have been passing down information on how to care for patients for hundreds of years, therefore we have Medical Schools.

The advancement of health and wellness never stops. It is ALWAYS developing and more people seem to be getting informed. Stem Cell research is a new technology that takes human cells and then are developed into other cell varietals in the human body which can hopefully cure some diseases (If someone would like to explain this better, you’re more than welcomed to). Organizations like The Water Project (3), are reaching out to places as Africa and India to promote and build better ways to providing clean water for better health. We are constantly seeing new health and wellness centers opening up, new power bars on store shelves, people getting certified in massage  therapy or yoga,  more organic food sections in grocery stores, and this trend is not going to stop.

Look back at our ancestors; about 1.9 million years ago, the homo erectus began cooking their food with fire. In theory, cooking food gave the homo erectus more energy without having to aggravate their digestive track nor chomp on poisonous foods all day, grow bigger brains, and created more time to convene in social gatherings which added to their wellness (4). I believe the cooking of food boosted the human evolution to where it is today.

So where am I going with this?

I wanted to bring the awareness to everyone that as humans, we are CONSTANTLY building waves of living better enriching lives and the core to that is through community building. I believe we are all here for the same reason on this planet, though have all different paths, but collectively we are supporting each other through health and wellness. This support is growing stronger and becoming more wide spread while we all become more educated and aware of the potential we have to being happy healthy humans. I am grateful for the wide advancements of our education, health practices, communication, and overall efforts of continued research to providing better lives for everyone.

We TRULY are UNITED as ONE. We need to support each other. I am definitely looking forward to the next five years of where our world community will be heading towards and how it will look. Perhaps in ten years there will be even more advancements in health research, and hopefully have discovered the ultimate cure for treating AIDS and cancer. I do believe that globally we are becoming more aware of our basic human needs, our values towards health, recovering destruction, helping those who are suffering, and understanding that we all just want to live happily. WE have been getting stronger and better as a species from the beginning of our time. Lets continue to share and live well together.

I do have one advice: Please do not criticize other people’s health practices. If it works…it works!!

My challenge for you is: Ask yourself in what way has your awareness grown and how it has made a positive shift in your life.

See ya!

Loving you all,

Cindy

Resources:

1. http://www.webmd.com/diet/apple-cider-vinegar

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga

3. http://thewaterproject.org/

4. http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2009/06/invention-of-cooking-drove-evolution-of-the-human-species-new-book-argues/

Sunsets and Sunrises of Thailand…I am home in my heart.

Hi everyone!!

If you happen to travel through south east Asia and Thailand, make sure you experience a sunrise and a sunset! Catch these miracles of life in a country setting and at the beach! You will have a spiritual awakening! I was born and raised in America, I don’t get to see sunrises and sunsets like I had experienced in Thailand. Those moments reminded me that as a world of transitional beings, we truly reflect ONE sun. A feeling of cohesive union of life and liberty enthralled my heart with an energy of security.

I truly felt at home. Being that I am a Thai born American, traveling in a beautiful country where most of my family lives, where my parents were born, where my grand father had fought and worked so hard for, knowing there is a lot of family history where my pure roots were born, I know that Thailand is truly the motherland of my heart’s joy.

Sunrises and sunsets now remind me that within my being, home is truly inside my heart. No matter where I go, no matter what I do, home is always here in this special place. When we rise, we grow. When we set, we stir energy for our next transition of growth.

The magic of Thailand follows me wherever I go now. I feel complete.

Here is a video of a sunset I took on Baan Tai Beach, Koh Phangan-Thailand. At the end of the video you hear people in the background saying, “I LOVE YOU…!!” “I LOVE YOU TOO” Ahhh….Thailand, how lovely you truly are…

And of course, here are some pictures I took!! ENJOY!!!

Sunrise over limestone mountains at Khao Sok National Park, Cheow Lan Lake-Thailand

Sky during sunset on Koh Phi Phi, Thailand

Sunset behind the mountain on Koh Phi Phi. Taken from viewpoint.

Sunset, Gulf of Thailand, Koh Phangan

Long Tail boat and fisherman between me and Koh Somui.

Taken from Baan Tai Beach, Koh Phangan

Taken while standing in the ocean about 50 feet from shore, it never got deep!! =)

Taking a picture of myself in the ocean….what a blissed out moment!!

Thank you for taking a peak!!