Compassion & Service
… the most important things in life…
The more years that I continue to practice, the clearer I see the world around me. And the more clearly that I see, the more deeply I feel. In the beginning of our practices, we’re total stress-balls; completely consumed by our own internal worries, insecurities, and uncontrollable emotions. These thoughts and strong feelings take center-stage in our awareness and we fixate on trying to cope with them or attempting to make them go away. We’re anxious and exhausted and all that we see is our “stuff”. With a continued Meditation, Mindfulness, Yoga, and Self-Inquiry practice, this “stuff” begins to subside and we’re left looking at our hearts and the hearts of those around us. And just as we saw our own sufferings, we start to see the suffering of others. As we were consumed by our suffering, we become consumed by the suffering around us. And just as we wished for our own suffering to disappear, we begin to deeply wish that we could somehow release all hearts and minds from suffering. When we truly see suffering, we feel it as if it was our own.
To the best of my ability, all of the work that I do is dedicated to reducing suffering so all beings in this world can experience more joy, peace, and harmony. Over 50% of the classes in my regular teaching schedule are free ($0.00) & open to anybody. It’s my belief that these practices of clarity & inner peace should be accessible to anyone, regardless of economics or affiliations. Suffering is universal. And every little bit of love & compassion that we share is an investment towards a more harmonious future.
I donate approximately 40% of my yoga teaching earnings to a local charity that provides food for hungry children whose families don’t currently have the means to be able to eat every day. This isn’t a faraway land. This is 25 miles from my home. This entire concept breaks my heart and should not be happening in the USA (or anywhere). All of the money goes directly to food aid for these children. (more info here)
Plant-Based Lifestyle
Through the cultivation of mindfulness, we become aware of the “true cost” of things. We begin to see the true cost of our words, behaviors, actions, and choices. As I continue to practice, I’m constantly revising my choices in life based on my clearer understand of the world around me. From this, I’ve adopted a plant-based, vegan lifestyle. I’ve seen (and thus felt) that the true cost of an animal-based diet/lifestyle is too high: in terms of economics, environmental impact, and the suffering of animals and people involved. I absolutely love being vegan, because it allows me to snuggle all creatures on earth.. without having to consider whether they are “edible” or not. #AnimalsArePeopleToo
There are lots of fabulous vegan websites & resources out there. Honestly, I don’t know any of them. I’m vegan because it’s a natural extension of the Mindfulness practice and it feels great for my body & spirit. I’m always open to share recipes, chat, and swap info about the best vegan dishes in town.
Naked Granola (which I am a co-owner of) donates 1% of sales to ending world hunger, through a combination of immediate food aid and microlending to fund small rural agricultural projects around world. The 1% we donate is on Net Sales, meaning that it completely ignores our cost of making the products. So if the price of almonds goes up and we make less profit, families still eat. (Find out more here)
Saving Trees, one meal at a time.
Here is my current favorite “mindful living” toy: portable, collapsible chopsticks. I carry these with me everywhere. When you eat as much Asian food as I do, you end up saving pounds of wood disposable chopsticks, and the high-quality wood means that you won’t get splinters while you eat. (yow!) I purchased mine on Ebay, here.