Everything is Beautiful!

So says Yogi Jyothi, my new hero...so what did I do this weekend? I had a grand ole juggy time of it...Friday after work, I met Chia Pet for 2 pomegranate margaritas - nice, lovely, generous tall glasses of Patron and pomegranate juice on the rocks - but I couldn't go overboard because I had to be up by 8am to head on over to W. 13th Street for my first meditation class. Let me tell you: this class is one of the Best Things I've Ever Done In My Life For Myself. It ranks right up there with forcing myself to go to Maui with Mervyn in 2000. I arrive and head up to the 3rd floor, where of course Floating Head has beat me there, she's already on a cushion and ready to go, so I change into my yoga pants, and sit down to meet the most wonderful creature I think I've ever met. Our yogi is this tiny Japanese woman who is so full of light and smiles and has such positive energy, I had a desire to somehow shrink her down and keep her in my pocket so that I could pull her out during the week when I need to feel happy. Everything is beautiful, she kept saying - and when it's coming from her, you actually believe it. Is it possible that someone like her really exists (especially in NYC - how does she keep that energy and attitude going?); that's what is amazing to me. Even when she was telling us about how the week before she had been very sad and depressed, I couldn't imagine it. While explaining to us how to start a meditation practice, she kept on repeating "don't panic and don't punish yourself". So guess what? New philosophy on life is:

Don't panic and don't punish!Just shift what you are paying attention to from negative to positive.

She makes it sounds so simple, but we all know it's not. It's HARD. So that's what the meditation is for though and I have to say, so far, I'm thinking this works. Because I felt amazing in the class, I felt very smiley and happy and it stayed with me all day (and that's not because afterwards, we did a little retail therapy and bought some things in bright colors at Old Navy and I bought the much-loved and much-desired Arcade Fire CD "Funeral" which I have not stopped listening to since I got home that night). I got this sort of buzzing, warm feeling in my head and I felt very light. I felt different and I think that's the point. You get away from yourself and all your stupid thoughts and destructive emotions for awhile and then maybe with those things out of the way, you can see everything a little bit clearer and you can see it all for what it really is. And I was still feeling it on Sunday too, even before I did our "homework" for the week, which is to meditate for at least 10 minutes every day and to note how you feel. I did 10 minutes before going out the door to meet Quick Draw and Hubby in Brooklyn Heights for a yum-filled dinner of something called "Texas Meatloaf", which was meatloaf wrapped in bacon. Yeah, I know! BACON. Anything wrapped in bacon is good. Then we saw the movie "Zodiac", which was fantastic, fascinating. I knew he was never really caught but I didn't know much of the back story of the case. Excellently done. Then it was home to bake cookies for The Boss - it's his birthday so 4 dozen chocolate chip cookies were in order. That and a Fonzie card that plays the theme song to Happy Days when you open it.

And that's pretty much it. So the points to remember and take with you as you leave my blog?

1. Everything (and everyone) is beautiful.
2. Don't panic
3. Don't punish

Off you go now!