Progression through Life’s Stages to Manifest

I’ve felt a great sence of awakening lately, while reading Dr. Dyer, I realized that it’s a change in adult stages. In our business we are obsessed with the physical body. I realize that my transformation this summer dealt with this stage, athletic (which I’ll get too), but the purpose of my new journey is to do it from a spiritual state, where I can manifest and then my body will just BE 15% and stay that way. Athletic is on its way out, while spiritual is on its way in. So what are these stages? Athletic, Warrior, Statesperson and the Spirit. Like I said I feel like I deal with athletic the most. Clearly my job deals with the body/body image and most come to us to lose weight (or for a healthy lifestyle choice for themselves-usually the first though), but I also feel like most of my peers fall into this stage. It doesn’t mean sports, but where we are consumed with our physical selves. Its about the size of our muscles or how small our waist is. It extends further to how our hair, nails, makeup, clothes, and in is material world the appearance of our cars and homes. We are consumed with working out, shopping, ‘dieting’, surgery trying to ‘perfect’ ourselves. Our world revolves around validation from others and how well we fit into socities’ and others idea of how we should be. What’s sad is that some never leave this stage and their daily activities revolve around a predetermined standard of

Defining Beauty

 Ah the vanity and pressures we Americans place on ourselves. The beauty industry makes bank and many drop serious cash in pursuit of approval, but for what? So some stranger tells us we’re pretty or do we do it for ourselves (sweating it out at the gym, painting makeup on, shaving, facelifts, countless diets where most end up starving themselves or worse making themselves sick, etc)? There is an ideal of what beauty is, but most go through life with low self-esteem because we do fit this image. Some of the prettiest people I know have the worst self-images. So who or what defines what is beautiful (like the Tao, says beauty only exists because there is ugly, but what is ugly, who is ugly?) I find myself getting drug into this too. I’ve put back on a few pounds and sometimes get on myself because I don’t look like I did this summer, but I have to step back and remember my inspired training. I am healthy (just like I tell people, this is a lifestyle and I do this for my future health, not some vain attempt to please other now); perfect the way I am. I am doing my best and I feel happy, my body fat is still healthy, so what else can I ask for or possibly

Losing Control to Gain Perspective

Motivation Monday with Brittany! I know this title may seem like an oxymoron, but I promise that it will make sense by the end. I feel that living inspired goes hand-in-hand with my eating and health. For the last 6 weeks I have felt slightly less inspired than I was previously, and thus, out of complete harmony with my eating (not bad just not as focused as I was previously). So what to do? Take off on an adventure of rediscovery of course. To be able to just be and not think. Friday morning I got in my car and took off with no definite plan of where I was going, but not caring and not hurrying. Previously I would have been afraid. How often do we have to have plans. We have our five-year and ten-year plans. We know what we’re doing tomorrow, we know what we’re doing in a week. We go on vacation and it’s pre-planned and an itinerary is in place (we have to see this and do that). This is typical of humans, we don’t necessarily like the unexpected. Moving into my shed, initially I was terrified. How long am I going to live here, what about the winter, on and on. But then I realized that that is what is wonderful about the whole thing and this is what I took from the weekend. Not knowing where I’m going to be tomorrow or in an hour is so freeing, it’s an adventure and let’s you treasure the moment that is here right now. It’s like Thoreau (someone I consider a true kindred spirit) said, “What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.”

Underestimated Play

Bike rides, especially in foreign locations (like here in Denver), are a great way to explore your surroundings

Today I’d like to discuss play. Yes, play. It may seem like a frivolous topic and definitely not something most would put on their list of wellness must do’s. This is sad because it has been an integral part of human existence and much like sleep and hiking, I don’t think that it gets the accreditation that it deserves and put off as something that we can do later. I’ve been reading a book on Play (yes they write entire books dedicated to play, wonderful books that just make you feel young and enthused to get outside), filled with study after study about the benefits of play. From a young age it seems we are molded to strive toward accomplishments. We spend our early life taking tests and preparing for the next phase of life. For high school, to get into college, for the ‘real world’, for retirement. It’s an assembly line, as if our futures are already mapped out and we spend our life with self-restrictions, trying to fit into the societal qualms of what is acceptable, being and doing what is considered right. Play and anything that doesn’t seem ‘productive’, is deemed unacceptable. Play isn’t something scheduled though. It is spontaneous, trying to define play takes away from the

Another Lake to Table Experience

What better way to start a morning than with a little fishing. This morning started nice and early with the breakfast of champions: eggs and bacon cooked in grass-fed butter with fish oil already prepared (by me of course). Then it’s on the road with Dad and Cliff in tow to try our luck at trout fishing. We spend the early morning scooting along the bank of the big lake. Cast, reel, cast, reel, but to no avail. Realizing we’re not going to have any luck because trout like to hang out in the middle of the lake  and this lake will not reflect upon our fishing skills, so we wander over to the smaller lake  (finding and being joined by the Amanda and Todd) to see what we can muster up. It doesn’t take long before Dad ses the hook and he is in a battle royal with a frisky trout. After he flashes his muscles, the fish is soon his and in a bucket for lunch. We hit the hot spot. I get a bite, but unfortunately listened to the other Bozo and I set the hook too hard, so that we see the largest fish of the day fly through the air and off my hook to safety. Naturally, Dad have to take over and catch yet another trout, right before my nephews pop up. We switch to the other side to try our

Journeys Away from the False Self

I know that I promised to discuss Thoreau on the blog, but it’s also about my spiritual journey which weighs heavily on the Tao and my Dr. Dyer readings. This particular adventure was inspired by my finishing of The Shift, I hope you enjoy it!Today I thought let’s go to the Park. So here now I sit on the most beautiful of days. The sun is shining, the temperature is perfect and there’s a breeze. I decide to swing, to explore the loss of self. So often as we age we consider things like swinging and playing the sort of things that children do. Adults are serious and have responsibility. So why the hell would a 23-year-old drag herself to the park on a work day? Well for starters I have done many posts on the benefits and my boy Mark Sisson’s is a big abdicate of play. but most importantly it takes you back closer to your beginning and true self. Have you ever watched a child play? They’re careless. They’re not yet conditioned to the thoughts of society and trying to portray a false image to the World that the ego says will make them accepted. They’re not thinking about how the other children perceive them. They’re motions are not contrived, they don’t worry about anything, thus they just ARE. It’s sad how this fades though. I’ve watched this with my nephews. Trenton would pick up any worm fishing a month ago and Saturday after watching Gavin refuse, he too would no longer pick up any worms. So today I find myself on the swing exploring my own inner child (or true self), not caring what time it is or what I have to get done today or what the lady pushing her daughter besides me thinks, just moving hypnotically with the wing. I explore my different senses. Watching the water flow gently (yet powerfully) down the river and the green trees surrounding. I close my eyes and hear the wind rustle through the tress as the birds chirp along while my swing creaks persistently in the background. Here too I feel. I grasp the swings of the swing and feel my body sway methodically back and forth. Feel the sun light up my back and shoulders as the breeze pushes my hair back. It’s amazing how something as simple as a swing at the park (that is free) can bring so much enlightenment and be so freeing to the spirit. Dance, play, sing, and find the hidden true self, rather than the false one shown to the world!

Trying to be Perfect vs. Accepting Perfection

My hikes bring me to such a state of being and enigmatic enlightenment, that’s why I do them nearly everyday. Here is what I discovered (or rather reflected on) yesterday on my hike. Talking with my mom about addiction and coping has made me realize how far I’ve come in a year, especially the last 3 months. I’ve been battling myself and my body for so long. Last year I gave up grains, starches, and sugars (since May the only bit I’ve had was the rice in the few sushi rolls I had on my birthday), but still I struggled fluctuating 5-10 pounds, just overeating. Then 3 months ago it clicked. In my late teens and early 20’s I would succumb to bingeing. Either eating or sleeping away time to keep from feeling-stopping myself from living. Punishing myself. I realize now that I set myself up, trying to be perfect. Not even for myself, but trying to portray and image for everyone, caring what others thought entirely too much. When my

Musings, Mushrooms and Mario

 April is the time to hunt the abundant wild mushrooms in the Midwest. As I find myself planted in western Indiana, what better way to pass a Sunday afternoon than in search of the yummy fungi. This trip was different for my cousin Mario was my right hand man. I readily admit that he is someone who I have not spent a lot of time with. It’s odd that you have this physical tie to someone but really have no actual connection or understanding of them. Often with extended families, we take them for granted and often end up strangers. If asked questions about your uncles and cousins’ lives could you answer (although Facebook is a modern way of keeping up more on others affairs)? It’s like I’ve written about before with rock climbing or hunting. Our friends and family are there but how often do we engage or interact or share experiences with them? You see someone a couple of times a year and you’re automatically supposed to have a bond with these people? I think not. Which is something I’ve been working on-relationships. I went hunting just me and my grandpa this year and me and Cliff have thrown out fishing in Texas with him. My grandma is another story that I’ll have to contemplate (although me and my other grandma have been discussing an art class this summer and are working on a garden). I’ve taken Elizabeth rock-climbing. Me and Dad hike; Cliff and I hunt and are going on a camping trip; Amanda and I have went rock-climbing and have future plans for tattoos and to plant a garden; I’ve taken the boys to the Children’s

Tales of the Tao Traveler

Me and Half Dome

Hello there! Some may not be aware of what the Tao is, but like Ashton Shepard says ‘Look it up.’ As a few of you may know I just returned from a four-day trip to California and Yosemite National Park. In this post I hope to not only relay my experience to you, but delve into my personal thoughts on the on-goings and life in general (hence the Tao). Just to lay out now: previously some may perceive me to be ‘shy’ and I would struggle to just ask someone for a refill, so this is a trip of many firsts where I have to take my own initiative (needless to say I tore down all kinds of walls). Saturday morning I waved good-bye to mom at 5 am to depart on my first solo flight (layover and all); finally reaching my destination of San Francisco, California at around 10. I caught my own taxi (another first) to take me to the Ferry Building to purchase bus and train tickets to the park. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, there was minimal wind, the sun was shining, and the temperature was just perfect. Once I arrived at my destination I was a little taken aback to see this huge market sprawling in front of me. Eventually though I find the station to get my tickets, to discover that I have two hours to meander around the city. I explore the market, taking in all its wonders: extra-virgin olive oil, organic fruits and vegetables in abundance, smoked salmon, organic herbs and seasonings, everything. Needless to say I was not only in awe, but in love (why do I not have this in Terre Haute! I was a little envious of the city at that point). For the two hours I wander aimlessly around the city trying not to have an agenda, rather just absorbing the city and all that it beheld. I stopped by a man’s station, where he played his makeshift drumset of trash cans and coffee cans. Upon reading I learn that his car had been broken into and his original set stolen, yet his sign said ‘Life is Good’. What a beautiful notion that this man can have everything taken from him and still have such a positive outlook on life. I place money in his tin and he gives me the most joyful smile (which I try my best to replicate) and move on to wonder down the streets. On returning to the market a young man (barefooted and dreaded hair), who approaches me acquiring about my visit and pack. ‘Well welcome to California. Do you want to smoke weed.’ Well I am a little taken aback, but manage to somehow politely deny him and tell him that I haven’t done that and that I don’t see a need to. Well he was baffled because he’d never met anyone that hadn’t smoked pot. This kind of set the tempo from where the day went from here. I boarded a bus to Emeryville, where I connected for a two hour train ride to Merced. Here is

From Lake to Table

Beautiful day on the lake-April 5th

Yesterday my brother and I went fishing (and I’ll admit that there were times where I was not very Godly or like water, starting in the beginning). I was late getting off and hungry-the usual suspects when excuses rear their ugly heads. But why was I letting this affect me now? It was a beautiful (a smidge chilly) and we still had a few hours of sunlight. So we take off into the wilderness with all our gear and Cliff’s proud findings from Gander Mountain. As we’re trekking it occurs to me how special this moment is, how every moment spent with my brother is special. But this was different. He told me last week that he’s considering moving to Montana (and I’m doing my best to remain Tao-like and not judge or implement my own thoughts- its his life not mine and I can’t