Archive by Author

Inspiring New Years Blog

Posted on January 3, 2012 by in writings

2012: The Destination of Your Dreams

by Debbie Ford

It’s so easy to make promises about the year ahead. You will follow your diet, be more financially responsible, be kinder to your spouse, spend more time at the gym…But, for most, the promises you make today will be empty dreams six months from now.  

So let’s examine this. I would suggest this happens because real change doesn’t occur when you just want something or wish for another reality. Real change happens when you feel genuinely inspired, turned on by possibility and unwilling to settle for anything less.  

It happens when you commit with all of yourself to a new way of life, to a new future. So how do you do this?

To feel inspired and lit up and to make room for optimism, enthusiasm, and lasting change, you must lighten your emotional load by addressing your past issues, your emotional blocks, your negative beliefs, your feelings of unworthiness and any infantile desires that drive you to repeatedly head off in a direction counter to your dreams.  

If you drop your commitments, it is not because you want to be seen as a quitter or a loser but because unconsciously you are more committed to an outdated self — an old identity that feels comfortable and safe even though it might have stopped serving you years ago.  

Often, psychological laziness will have you switch your life over to autopilot and fall asleep at the wheel rather than stay awake to what will fulfill your heart’s deepest desires and your soul’s purpose.  

On this eve of a new year, a very fertile time to look over your past and commit to a new future, you can ask these simple questions to unload some old baggage and steer your life in the direction of a brilliant and thrilling future — the ride of your life.

1) What are your deepest desires for this new year?

2) What are you willing to give up to get them? What habits, limiting beliefs, unhealthy

relationships or situations? 

3) When did you become unwilling to do whatever it takes to have what you want? 

4) What cravings or unmet needs will drive you away from your desired destination? 

5) What structure of support will you need to ensure this new future? 

6) Who could you count on to be your co-pilot to ensure that you will neither fall short of the runway nor overshoot your desired outcome? Who will help you stay awake?

If you wish to fly to new heights, begin by setting your sights on a destination you can reach and then create a flight plan, a map that will be your guide. And if at any time you don’t feel like following your flight path, stop, take a deep breath, call forth your vision for your future, then pick up your phone, dial your co-pilot and ask them to remind you that veering off your route really isn’t worth the pain of repeating the past. 

Veering off will only leave you in the same repetitive pattern of wanting, wishing, fantasizing, and then feeling intensely disappointed when you land at a destination other than the phenomenal future that awaits you. 

So today, YOU have the power to choose the destination of your dreams, create a flight plan and stick to it. So gather your courage, your strength and your commitment and get onboard, making 2012 the most inspiring year of your life.


Inspiring New Years Blog

Posted on January 2, 2012 by in writings

so its the new year.

Posted on January 2, 2012 by in writings

last year i:

got over an addictive pattern 

opened up to new love 

traveled to India all alone

and came back to a new life

filmed an episode of true life 

decided to take an active role and stop blaming my family for who i am

re-found the relationship with my brother, mikey 

had my heart broken

and decided i didnt want it to break

let go of people in all areas of my life that do not benifit me

manifested people and oppertunites that do. 

celebrated my grandmas 90th birthday

sat with her for three days in the hospital two weeks later when she broke her hip

worked with 50 bronx born teens who were so passionate and excited about changing the world

learned how to do a yogic headstand and handstand

became determined to tackle my victim mindset 

became a football junkie

sat with 30 yogi’s for 8 weeks diving into where we hide from being real and true 

decided i was not going to loose joe.

celebrated DIY 10

celebrated christmas with my family and laughed for the first time at christmas dinner

what would you be like if you never had that thought ever again?

Posted on December 27, 2011 by in writings

what would you be like if you never had that thought ever again?

when we don’t say it out loud we grow it bigger and bigger in our head. say what is going on,

Posted on December 26, 2011 by in writings

when we don’t say it out loud we grow it bigger and bigger in our head. say what is going on, end the drama book.

i am frustrated with the system.

Posted on December 15, 2011 by in writings

i think i am the type of person to be outside of what is going on in the “mainstream” more often than not. what i mean is: i dont care that everyone says the world will end in 2012, i dont base my life on what the news says, i don’t know who is in the running for president, i don’t occupy wall street, i care more if something looks good on me than if it is fashionable, and if you asked me if i saw gossip girls last night, i will never say yes. but aside from the pop culture part of life – i don’t rely on doctors to solve my health problems, banks to help me save money, or stuff like that. i kinda just go with the flow. i trust whatever i need to know someone will tell me. 

but yesterday i had to go to the doctor. i had a wave of illness out of nowhere an hour before i was supposed to be at work. i started throwing up everything, sweating and having he chills at the same time. i had no balance, not even enough balance to lay in bed. i was really scared. i usually blow off health concernes but this time i knew i had to do something so i went to the “urgent care” center a block from my house. 

they took my temperature which was strikingly low, didn’t listen when i said lately i had rapid heartbeat, and had me lie down for a while. they asked me questions and questions that contradicted my previous answers and then gave me Gatorade. at the end i paid $150 and went home. and i still dont know what happened to me. the dr really didnt do anything.

i spent all night trying to think through it. did i cause this? did i mentally create this? i didnt feel stressed. it was so scary though. i was able to get off of work, but what if i couldnt, what would of happened? why did this happen right before work? the questions went on and on and i couldnt shut myself up. i was so mad the dr just basically looked at me. i wanted an answer at least. 

my frustration with the system continued today when i went to the library for career consuling. i thought she would open my mind to different types of careers in my field, but all she did was tell me to be an adjunct professor. i had said in the beginning: i dont want to teach college. i said it again, but she kept bringing it up. and then she brought up how yoga is not important. how i should not focus on that, how it is not a career, just an interest. 

i guess i just feel not listened to, but in a way, justified. 

sometimes i think i should be looking for a “career job” and read the news and do the things everyone else does that makes them feel like a person. but today, i felt a little more grounded in me, and how i handle things, and how i can handle them better, but still in my way or in my vision. 

today i didnt make time for myself.

Posted on December 8, 2011 by in writings

i know. 

you are thinking: jessie, it is 1130 am, breathe. 

but i specifically scheduled in sleeping in this morning and when i woke up at 930 instead of lying back down and sleeping for another hour, i got up and checked my phone. mistake #1. 

my phone was flodded with texts from my family. i love my family. i am trying relly hard, and i think i am succeeding, at being a better daughter and sister that helps and heals. but today, because i didnt let myself breathe before i took the phone back to bed with me, i fumbled the ball. 

i fumbled the ball because this is the day i gave myself to rest and sleep and take care of myself and by 1130 i was in cyber overload. mistake #2. 

i then went on the computer and checked the email and start doing my football picks. WHY DIDNT I JUST PUT MY PHONE AWAY? i know i respond better when i am in a better mental place. mistake #3. 

then, once i took something wrong in a conversation i almost blamed it on my period coming, but instead, i took responsibility for my own crazyness, i closed my computer and started to vent in writing on paper and realized that im really not taking care of myself. 

and this is kind of my thought theme of the week, which was all sparked when my friend asked me on tuesday, “how are YOU,” as in, not my mom, not my grandma, not my brothers, not work, not my boyfriend, not my boyfriends parents, not yoga, not money, not what everyone else says…..i was silent. i just replied i dont know. i dont think i am okay. i dont feel happy. i feel like i take care of myself in a way that the outside world sees, like by yoga and getting my nails done, but inside i am really sad and im not really listening to what i need. 

so, with 4 hours until work, not counting travel time, i am doing a do-over. im taking an internet break, eating breakfast/lunch, watching meanless tv, going to yoga and going to work. 

my career dream

Posted on December 7, 2011 by in writings

I am a breath of fresh air. I smile when I hear my alarm go off, excited to begin another day helping, healing, and inspiring thousands of people each week through my teaching. I have a beautiful space in my apartment where I accomplish my assignments, writing and design my days. My career magnetizes opportunities and money flows with abundance daily. I travel to different cities and meet new people who are inspired by my words and teachings. I get paid to share my story with the world. I believe deeply that the yoga mat is the method to bring about internal and external freedom. I am excited to share my knowledge with the world. I am so fortunate to meet inspiring people who are living what they teach. I feel so warmly a part of an alliance to change the world. My home studio is flowing with new and regular students daily. I love being part of a warm community. Day by day I am filled with energy. I am living my dream. I am confident, alive, and really an adult. 

mamma smiles!

Posted on December 7, 2011 by in writings

mamma smiles!

I have been afraid to write lately

Posted on December 7, 2011 by in writings

because my mind has been all over the place. 

I have been going up and down from thought to thought – not even feeling like my words could go to paper…or blog, for this matter. And then I realized how I was setting this blog (which is essentially meaningless to the world) up for perfection. I told myself that if it was not a perfectly written piece I was not going to post it. I realize that this is a huge excuse for not writing, not posting, not venting. Above all, I did not even write because my life is a little sucky right now. But when is life perfect with flowers and monks and steamed vegetables? It’s not, and my life has never been, really. So Life, not being perfect to my internal standards of perfection, is also not an excuse to not write. 

I hope you hold me to this excuse and remind me of it because writing outside of my journal is extremly healing. 

That being said, I am afraid to post these writings on Facebook or Twitter because I am afraid you will judge me. 

I am afraid you will think that what I have to say is bullshit. 

I think that I think all of this because sometimes I think what I have to say is sometimes bullshit – I am always looking for the “aha” moment and lesson, when there might not be one yet. I might not “get” it. I might say I do, so in my sick way, impress you. But it is not true all of the time. Sometimes I am really stuck. Sometimes I have to relearn lessons. Sometimes, and most times, I care way too much about what you think. 

*And right now, in a really honest way, I need to write out loud for myself. 

The ending of this year has me feeling really sentimental. I feel like things that have been in process this whole year are in a scary way, ending. I specifically refer to: my grandmothers life, my power-battle with my brother, my relationship with a man I am so deeply in love with, my inner war of self hate, relationships with friends that are not serving me, and the end to habits and thoughts I cant’ have anymore. 

So the road from this point forward will be bumpy and my writings will not be perfect and I might even misspell a word. But at least I am authentically writing and that for me is healing.