It's with a heavy heart that I lead this last class.
I've been at this studio for over two years and I see it growing leaps and bounds but without a place for me.
So, today, I move on, with a full room of students and a great topic that resonates with all things yogic.
We are now well into fall, a very contemplative and retrospective place in the year and in our lives.
Things are getting chillier, we are rethinking and revisiting where we are with our careers, friends and commitments. I saw the first bright red and orange leaf fall on Montana Boulevard on my run yesterday, the same day I saw my first sunset over the water. To many of our east coast friends, they think the sun sets over the water all year round but for those who live by the water, we know that sunset, prime, ready and perfect over the sea starts around the first of October and shifts slowly until Spring when it sets lazily over the Santa Monica Mountains.
And so, we see the seasons most prevalent when the Pumpkin Spice lattes make their way to the Starbucks menu. It's subtle but so so nice and we imbibe the calories and comfort and the holidays...they are right around the corner to surround that comfort.
This week marks a record breaking moment in Major League Baseball, the triple crown.
I don't think Miguel Cabrere sought to break this record per se, but his skill, timing and effort made the record breaking moment happen which hasn't occurred since 1967.
Every day we hit our mat, we have no idea what personal records we will break. Every day and every practice is a new chance to succeed, test our boundaries and try something different, even if we take styles of yoga that lean toward the same sequence.
I love being surprised with the sequence I go to practice but I often teach the same sequence steeped in the idea of history. Today marks a new day in history. You don't have to be a baseball fan to appreciate reaching and achieving success. I'm often amazed at what people think is and is not successful. To some, you need to be in the public eye, on television or written about. To some, its monetary. To me, it's breaking out of my own comfort zone. As soon as I feel fear, I know I need to do whatever it is that scares me. Once that decision is made and said aloud, there is no stopping me.
I know there are patterns where I get stuck or just get used to the day to day, but as soon as I place myself in a position where I am uncomfortable, I know it's right. A lot of the times, the things I try, I'm just glad I did and don't have to do again, scaling tall heights, trapeze, running a marathon - ok I did that a few times or jumping out of a plane - they are all adrenaline fueling moments.
Just recently I went to ComicCon in San Diego, by myself on a press pass from LA Yoga to suss out the scene for my comic strip, Lady Yoga, Superhero that's published every month in LA Yoga Magazine.
To me, that was scarier than jumping out of a plane or living in NY on 911.
To be alone in a huge crowd and try to be heard or scene, it was terrifying.
But I did it and the energy that was created after that was amazing. I was able to get done things I wouldn't normally do in a week because I was reeling off the superhuman strength it takes to get out of the 'routine'.
I was inspired to do and live more and there was no one tracking that record for me, just me and every time I stretch beyond my comfort zone, it is a success. It is an Oscar winning, triple crown success, for ME.
Let's use the idea of reaching past what we THINK we can do and lean in to the fear of what we think we CAN NOT.
Any thing is possible. Anything.
Anything.
Anything.
So go into it. Breathe deeply.
BOOOOOO!
Are you scared?
Good.
Go for it!
Triple Crown 2012
He Dreamed. Reached. He Succeeded. In honor of the triple crown, let's use his record, and hit our practice out of the ballpark. Reach past what you think you can do and go for it. Strike out, fall and pick your butt up again. Set your record, beat it and set a new one. It's all good. Hot dog!
It is more rare than a perfect game and about as uncommon as an unassisted triple play.
Miguel Cabrera won baseball's first Triple Crown in 45 years Wednesday night, becoming only the third living player to achieve the feat.
Cabrera led the American League with a .330 batting average, 44 home runs and 139 RBIs, making him the 15th Triple Crown winner and the first since Boston's Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.
"It's an unbelievable feeling," Cabrera said. "It was hard the last two days because everybody talked about it. I just had to focus, I had to go out there and do the job. The hardest part was to go out there and focus and win games. I said, 'If we win the division, everything would take care of itself.'"
Cabrera joined an honor roll of Triple Crown winners that includes Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig and Ty Cobb. Ted Williams and Rogers Hornsby each did it twice.
"I am glad that he accomplished this while leading his team to the American League Central title," Yastrzemski said in a statement. "I was fortunate enough to win this award in 1967 as part of the Red Sox Impossible Dream Team."
Los Angeles Angels rookie Mike Trout was second in the AL batting race at .326, while New York Yankees slugger Curtis Granderson and Texas star Josh Hamilton finished tied for second with 43 homers. Hamilton ranked second with 128 RBIs.
Until Cabrera's run, Triple Crowns seemed to be a relic from another era. When the feat was last accomplished, the World Series was still played in the daytime, there were no playoffs and each league had eight teams.
Cabrera had topped each category before, winning the home run title in 2008, the RBI crown in 2010 and the batting championship last year. His remarkable 2012 season ended the longest gap in baseball history between Triple Crown campaigns.
"He's the best hitter in the game," Trout said. "I think his approach, the way he battles with two strikes; you leave one pitch over the plate that at-bat and he's going to hit it. He had an unbelievable year."
Don't let the fear of striking out hold you back. - Babe Ruth
Every strike brings me closer to the next home run. - Babe Ruth
Never let the fear of striking out get in your way. Babe Ruth
The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime. Babe Ruth
You just can't beat the person who never gives up. Babe Ruth
And some other home runs...
To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act. Anatole France
We need men who can dream of things that never were. John F. Kennedy
The key to realizing a dream is to focus not on success but significance - and then even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning. Oprah Winfrey
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. Henry Ford
Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. Les Brown
The important thing is to strive towards a goal which is not immediately visible. That goal is not the concern of the mind, but of the spirit. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible. Doug Larson
Goals are dreams with deadlines. Diana Scharf Hunt
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. T.S. Eliot
If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up. J.M. Power
Life's problems wouldn't be called "hurdles" if there wasn't a way to get over them. Unknown
Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. Unknown
God gives us dreams a size too big so that we can grow in them. Unknown
The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me. Ayn Rand
Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein. ~Life's Little Instruction Book, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
The best angle from which to approach any problem is the try-angle. Unknown
How am I going to live today in order to create the tomorrow I'm committed to? Anthony Robbins
Sometimes the path you're on is not as important as the direction you're heading. Kevin Smith
The impossible is often the untried. Jim Goodwin
The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps - we must step up the stairs. Vance Havner
It is easier to go down a hill than up, but the view is best from the top. Arnold Bennett
I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can't be done. Henry Ford
One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks. Jack Penn
There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. Beverly Sills
Know your limits, but never stop trying to exceed them. Unknown
Part of the issue of achievement is to be able to set realistic goals, but that's one of the hardest things to do because you don't always know exactly where you're going, and you shouldn't. George Lucas
The greatest dreams are always unrealistic. Will Smith
Out of the strain of the doing, Into the peace of the done. Julia Woodruff
The only thing that has to be finished by next Tuesday is next Monday. Jennifer Yane
Map out your future, but do it in pencil. Jon Bon Jovi
Most people would succeed in small things if they were not troubled with great ambitions. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
You must have long-range goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-range failures.Charles C. Noble
Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another. John Dewey
Fuck fear. Go for it.
Yours always,
Lady