Karma Yogi IV: March is for Women!

February was a celebration of Black History. Now we move from one aspect of who I am to another...Women's History! March is Women's History Month as well as National Women/Girls HIV/AIDS Day on March 10th. So let's do this Karma Yogi session with a little celebration and links for you to get into the spirit of celebrating Womanhood:

Let's not lie to ourselves and act like Michelle Obama is NOT history in the making! The first black First Lady of the United States? Come on now. It will start with her but it surely won't end with her.

If you are in Brooklyn, you can celebrate Women's History Month with First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum. If you are in NYC on Saturday and love Hip Hop, you can celebrate Women's History Month with this jam.

It's so crazy how much history was made in a couple of months! 100 year old Black women got to vote for and elect a black president. This may not seem like much to most but when your family has been slaves for the past 300 years, this is HUGE. Especially for those who have lived through slavery and segregation. Bless them!

Now let's move onto March 10th...

According to the HIV/AIDS Awareness Website:

In 2005, women represented 26 percent of new AIDS diagnoses, compared to only 11 percent of new AIDS cases reported in 1990. Most women are infected with HIV through heterosexual contact and injection drug use.

Women of color are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. AIDS is now the leading cause of death for Black women ages 25 to 34.

You can get involved in your area by clicking here. In NYC, from 3/6 - 3/13, Womens and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day will be celebrated here. If you can participate, please do.

Now, even though we are celebrating Women's History this month, I truly believe that in order to respect the past, we must use the lessons learned then for the future. With this in mind, I'm going to give you links to a couple of websites and blogs that I think are doing a great job in helping women in the present and for the future:

kiva.org --> Micro-lending at its finest. It allows you to loan to the working poor around the world. I don't know why but it works. I'm going to lend to someone in need by the end of the month. You can lend in increments of $25 or more.

International Women's Day is March 8th. You can help out not only by participating with kiva.org but also with seva.org. Seva means "service" in Sanskrit. Karma Yoga is based on seva and goes beyond that in regards to the manner in which you perform your service. According to the website,

Working in nine countries in addition to the United States, Seva Foundation supports projects in the area of health and wellness, community development, environmental protection and cultural preservation.

Working with children and parents in the United States, lend4health is a blog that does micro-lending to benefit those that need help with their health and wellness. Spawned from kiva.org, lend4health is currently helping out children and adults dealing with autism spectrum disorders. For more information, click here.

The last website that I'm going to talk about is called Off the Mat,Into the World. Created by Yogini Seane Corn, Hala Khouri, and Suzanne Sterling, OTM takes Yoga and Seva to new levels with their Humanitarian tours. For more information, please click here.

I think this is it for now...we need to celebrate women everyday - the past, the present, and the future. Women need to celebrate their bodies, their mindset, and what we do for this planet and humanity. No more of this "secondary but necessary" business. Once and for all, let women feel and rise up to the word equality. Respect from others can only come when we start to truly respect ourselves.

Until next time...stay strong, stay healthy, and fight dis-ease!

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Random Thoughts X: Sacrifices (Reap the Benefits)

I started writing this yesterday but I stopped and left it in a draft. It's fitting, because the universe wanted me to write this today.

We have 32 minutes before we have a new President - Barack Obama. I am so excited, it's not even funny. The whole world must be more excited than I am!!

Our new president is going to face a whole lot of challenges - big and small. It's time for us to help him by helping ourselves and helping each other. Today is a new day. I celebrated New Year's on 3 days today: Jan. 1, Jan. 13 and today, Jan. 20...I am so glad that those who have passed on can have the best seat in the house! I'm glad that those who are still here can see this in many formats!

But let's get back to helping each other. We need to dig deep. We are going to have to retrain our minds to be frugal, our bodies to go "back to basics" and our souls to be connected, aware, and have the proper intention so that we can all succeed. Let's make the necessary sacrifices we need to make so that we can reap the benefits of our labor.

My Sanskrit name is Bhairavi. It means "terror inspiring." Terror and fear bring awe to the senses. In order for you to let go of your fears or turn your fears into something positive, you have to face them. That is what my name represents...showing you the fear you have so you can face it and overcome it.

There are many things, people, and places to fear today. The worst thing you can fear is yourself. So let's start with releasing whatever fears you have so that you can properly take in an abundance of what you need in life.

I'm going to end it here because I want to get some food and watch Obama speak. I'll talk to you very soon.

Blessings to each and every person in the world.
Now, let's do what we can to stay strong, stay healthy, and fight dis-ease!

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Movements VII: Time for a Change

A number of things have occurred since I last posted on this blog.

• A friend of mine died of brain cancer. 
• A couple of friends of mine are going through a really tough time.
• As I am progressing in Yoga Teacher Training, I still feel like I am not making enough of an effort.
• As I go through the process of my busy life, a lot of things are still being neglected, this blog being one of them.

America has already shifted by voting for Barack Obama to be their new President - the 44th President, the first biracial (yeah, black) President. It's time for me to shift once more and make a transformation.

So I'm going to start with this blog (once again). But this time, it's not about the look of the blog. I'm going to start posting more often. Shorter tidbits and include other topics. I had a schedule of things I wanted to talk about before the end of the year and I'm not even half way through with that schedule as yet. There are other topics that emerge that are just as important to discuss but since I wanted to be on a rigid schedule, I didn't deliver in my promise to keep you strong, healthy, and fighting dis-ease.

This does not mean that I'm not going to keep up with my schedule. I will. I will go along as planned. However, I won't be afraid to include something else in the meantime.

I have found a new editor and I can't wait to work with her. I just gotta get the ball rolling.

As I go through Yoga Teacher Training, I have been on a "no chicken" elimination fast. It has been almost 3 weeks. Sadness is wanting me to get some chicken but something else inside is holding me back. I think it's this "calm" feeling all my friends have been seeing. This "calm" is slowing me down and helping me to curb my craving. I still need to get on the ball with chocolate (dark, no longer milk...I'm definitely making progress) but I'm making breakthroughs in that as well....more on the later! (I can't get off topic...HAH )

I'm going to expand on the Random Thoughts part of this blog to accommodate the shorter posts.

I also want to include a new part of the blog called Karma Yogi. This part of the blog will talk about charities and good causes for you to volunteer for or donate to as well as fund raising events that are legitimate and local. This will be in a weekly format. If there is enough support for this part of the blog, I will expand on it to submissions from people outside of my circle of family and friends.

There is something that I have shunned away from doing on this blog - that is, recommending products. I wanted to shy away from being a "snake oil salesman." I'm happy that Google Ads have found a place for the alternative health and wellness industry but I working in the Apothecary has really increased my awareness for body and mind care. I will start speaking from this frame of mind...more so than before. This means that I will include specific products to further explain my blogs. This way, you can get out there and take care of yourself immediately and not wait for me to put out the next thing...which would be months at a time (I'm so sorry!)


Yoga talk will always be included. Right now, with Yoga Teacher Training, I neither have the time nor the money to venture into other realms of alternative medicine for myself. Don't worry, I will continue to include articles from great sources that will provide you with the necessary information needed to make informed decisions.

OK...now my talk is about over. I have to get in touch with my Mentor for YTT and I have to schedule my practice Yoga session with the rest of my homies. I need to get started to creating this workshop...in January, my leadership team, LT46, will start the 3rd part of our Legacy Project - doing a workshop once a month for the shelter we raised funds for. We have already completed redecorating the rooms and I aided in providing laptops from Lenovo.

There is so much more to talk about...but much better to be said in consistent pieces, with effort and for a long time.

In the meantime, Barack says:

stay strong, stay healthy, and fight dis-ease!

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