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Beautiful Deeds Beautiful People Healthy Living Yoga

Diana Nyad

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Heard Diana Nyad’s interview with Michael Krazny on KQED, a public radio station in SF-Bay Area few days ago – it’s live in the morning and replays at 7pm in the evening and now available on podcast. Wow. I mean… Wow. I especially heard the wisdom when she talked about this single mother of 3 who is organizing a food bank for their neighbor – putting yourself out there need not be as dramatic as her’s (the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the aid of a shark cage, 110 mi or 180 km, over 50 hours of swimming…), as she talks about being humbled by someone who makes a quiet difference in other people’s lives.

She seems to be saying that, it need not be all about “self” “Self” but caring for others is just as meaningful – as what goes around, comes around – I say like a “boomerang”! Indeed, a personal triumph can take many shapes and forms. My cousin just saw her mother through the ordeal of cancer treatments and hospice care – visiting her nearly everyday, cheering her up everyday, being her health advocate everyday – As a caretaker, she had her own struggles but put her mother’s care to the forefront…I respect her for that and I know there are many out there with similar struggles – it’s just not so easy to die or write your own script for your own end these days – to transform what feels so impoverished, to something that empowers – there’s so much beauty and courage in that. Here it is – prepare to be inspired as she says, it does not have to be her “way”, in each person’s way, we each “find the way”.

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Every human being on this planet has their pain and their heartache and it’s up to all of us to find our way back to the light.

– Diana Nyad

Categories
Beautiful Places

Yin – Yang Hot Pot?

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We were on a looong line to get a bowl of ramen last week. It’s so weird that ramen has become so popular here but then maybe it’s not so weird. After all it’s really savory hot soup laden with al dente noodles topped with what have you. The line of ramen aficionados formed before the opening of lunch and because we were stuck in this line, I could not help but overhear this guy talking to his co-workers.

HE: There’s this little Japanese restaurant with no name or at least no sign, and there’s no menu. You just go there and you eat whatever the chef provides for you. It’s kind of like going to a friend’s home or something but really special.

continues:

HE: there’s a really long line and long wait just like this even though there’s no ad. And people who eat there don’t want the word to get out so they keep it under wraps – They can’t afford to get the line any longer since it’s a pretty small hole in the wall kind of place. Yeah, it’s kind of tucked away, a secret among those in the know. You’d have to have someone take you to find the place.

His co-workers, his team, all looked at him with anticipation, “so was the food phenomenal?!”

HIM: It’s just home cooked Japanese food… like what your Japanese mama might cook – little plates of comfort food that’s actually hard to come by in regular Americanized Japanese restaurant.

Of course, all his friends (including me, the eavesdropper) wanted to know where this hideaway of a place, a place where … there’s no sign out, maybe no name, no particular way of knowing about this restaurant … and …no menu.

SOOOO intrigued…

I REALLY WANT TO GO TO THIS PLACE! (unfortunately he did not share the address during the long wait for this popular ramen shop to open…

IMG_2113_01but instead making my own root veggie tempura
IMG_2119_01lotus roots…yes, I made them.

Hearing that guy talk about this secret restaurant with obvious pride made me realize that I sort of wish for my yoga class to be the same … it’s a meeting of the minds (foodies for savory soul-food “ramen”, vis-a-vis yogis for mindful soul-full yoga…), a sanctuary, a refuge, hardware/software restoration station and best of all … not advertised or commercialized at all – and yet, somehow people who know, show up. It’s almost fateful. Naturally, its inclusive, not exclusive as anyone who show up are each welcomed. People sharing kindred spirit creating that special energy of … gratitude, abundance and … all around goodness that’s nourishing for the body and mind as well as for the soul. All negativity, toxicity off the mat, out of the sacred space in which there’s an alter where you bring your offering to … honor yourselves. Wouldn’t that be beautiful? Okay … it’s an utopia.

IMG_9693_smallA single rose named “Precious Moment” in Tokyo, summer 2015.

Categories
Beautiful Rituals Healthy Living

Tonight’s Lesson …

“Everything we do is infused with the energy with which we do it. If we’re frantic, life will be frantic. If we’re peaceful, life will be peaceful. And so our goal in any situation becomes inner peace.”

― Marianne Williamson

And this…

“Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts. Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others, is the meaning of life. Meaning does not lie in things. Meaning lies in us.”

IMG_9662_smallA gallery at St. Lukes Hospital, Tokyo.

“According to ancient Asian philosophy, life is not a circle but a spiral. Every life lesson that has ever been presented to you (which means everything you have ever been through) will come back again, in some form, until you learn it. And the stakes each time will be higher. Whatever you’ve learned will bear greater fruit. Whatever you’ve failed to learn will bear harsher consequences. Whatever didn’t work in your life before this point was a reflection of the fact that you hadn’t yet integrated the different parts of yourself. Where you didn’t yet accept yourself, you attracted a lack of acceptance in others. Where you hadn’t yet dealt with your shadows, you manifested shadowy situations. Broken parts of you encountered broken parts of others. So now you know! That was then and this is now.”

― Marianne Williamson, A Year of Miracles: Daily Devotions and Reflections
IMG_9661_smallCalligraphy sign by Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara, age 104 and still making the rounds to meet and greet patients at St. Lukes hospital, Tokyo. My grandparents long gone were under his care at one time – he’s often asked what is the secret to his longevity… His answer may surprise you.

Age is not a number designation of years lived; age is … read on.