Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Goodbye, Miss Patches

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This morning, my parents had to make a sad decision to say goodbye to our special cat friend, Patches.

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Despite having been injured several times in her early life before she was rescued by a good friend of mine, Patches was incredibly sweet and loving and had a loud, rumbling purr, and she helped me learn and focus metta, or loving-kindness. She came to live with me for a few years at the beginning of my massage career, and we had a special little daily routine. Everyday when I’d come home from work, I’d head back to lie on my bed, and she would race back with me, leap on the bed, and crawl up onto my chest and purr.  During that time, I began learning Thai massage, and when my teacher asked us to focus on our heart center to help us develop metta, I used that memory of Miss Patches, warm and purring in the center of my chest.

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A few years later, Patches became my parents’ cat. Her original caretaker and I are so grateful that they were able to give her another loving home, and we have felt like she was meant to be with them all along.

She will always have a special place in our hearts. We love you, Patches, and thank you for loving us so unconditionally.

Focusing on some good

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I’ve been thinking about a quote which goes something like: “Those who look for flowers find flowers, and those who look for weeds find weeds.”

In that vein, here are some things I feel good about today:

1) I had a long phone call with my best friend, and later realized we’ve been friends for almost 18 years!

2) Inspired by last night’s episode of American Ninja Warrior, this morning I was brave and tried BODYPUMP for the first time. A very nice woman enthusiastically showed me the ropes and even asked for my card when she heard I do massage. I felt very strong and proud of myself…I only hope I can still move tomorrow!

3) Probably as a result of the morning’s workout, I have felt relaxed and productive all day.

4) I have enjoyed some quality time, reading with my cats. (Currently I’m finishing up this for my book club.)

5) Although I finished eating up the last of my homemade hummus (though that fact makes me a little unhappy), it is so easy and delicious that I’ll make it again soon. Here’s the recipe:

1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth

1 14oz can of chickpeas, drained

3-4 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp tahini

Add all ingredients together in a high-speed blender. Blend until smooth!

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Visit Cat vs Human–it is very cute and funny!

Inspiration can come from the strangest places

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Ok, I know it’s probably pretty absurd to talk about watching reality shows on a page about massage and healing, but I am only human, and it’s summer and time for So You Think You Can Dance and American Ninja Warrior!  It’s weird but they inspire me to be a better person–one who moves more and challenges herself. It’s hard for me to watch people dance and dance, or Parkour all over the place without wanting to get up and move myself! After an episode of SYTYCD, my mind if filled with music and leaping, and I find myself wanting to jeté, rubber-limbed, throughout the house. And American Ninja Warrior is filled with all kinds of stories of personal triumph, and it makes me realize that change is possible whenever you want to make it happen. I made sure to get a workout in this morning before I did anything else because I know I’ll be getting to know more warriors (at heart) on screen tonight. I’ll probably even do some push-ups during commercials. 🙂

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Challenge accepted!

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UPDATE 10/21/16: This was originally the 1st post in a 30 posts in 30 days challenge (hence the title) but this is one of the only ones that really stood the test of time!

Dear reader, here I was this morning, thinking about what I could write about, when a topic dropped into my lap. For whatever reason, I happened to take a look at one of the new business cards I just received in the mail Saturday, and there it was…A TYPO!!!! On these brand new cards!!! And it wasn’t just any typo–it was my PHONE NUMBER!!! AAAHHHH!!!!

Instantly, I went into self-flagellation mode. Nothing could have been worse than this idiotic mistake–I mean, how can I start my business if my phone number is incorrect on the dang card? (Ironically, I realized that, over the past few days, I had actually been worrying that maybe I had typed the wrong phone number, but on a different advertisement altogether. Darn these self-fulfilling prophecies!) After some consolation from my husband and a friend (who was the only one besides me to have any of the accursed cards), I was able to do some tapping (EFT, if you are unaware, is amazing) and find some perspective and, lo, even something to write about.

Two things came to mind: 1)The over-excitement of stress (and there are no end of things, it seems to be stressed about these days) can often lead us to make mistakes, both big and small. Likely, they will be small, but still causing no end of teeth-gnashing and beating ourselves up and calling ourselves names, because we really are our own worst critics. Which leads me to 2) The need for self-compassion. This morning, before all this even happened, I had pulled up this great post on gratitude: http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-5921/10-Gratitude-Principles-to-Live-By.html. I hadn’t gotten a chance to look at it before my little business card freakout, but it definitely helped put things in perspective afterwards. Yes, I felt idiotic in the moment, but, let’s face it, in 100 years (heck, even in 100 days) this mistake will have been forgotten (although here I am, immortalizing it on the Internet, so good work, me!). I caught it before I gave out all the cards; next time I’ll be more aware, and thank goodness for white out!

In conclusion, let’s all try to cultivate more compassion for ourselves. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Be grateful for what is going right. And proofread, proofread, proofread!