New Beginnings - TRANSFORMATION

I generally begin each day INjoy! Looking forward to what new things may come. Each new month is also a time for reflection. But MARCH!!! Well March is bittersweet. Since high school I have started the countdown on March 1st for my birthday on March 28th. (Why is that not an international holiday you ask? I do not know but I am working on it.) March 8th, International Women's Day is also my beloved Siwe's birthday. She would have been 17 this year were she alive. Transformation is sometimes instantaneous. She was alive. 3/8/1996. She was dead. 6/29/2011. Life as I knew it, changed forever on that day.

I am thankful for the breath of life each and every day. Is every day joy filled? NO. But is there JOY in every day? YES!!! It is merely a matter of perspective.

I will mark this month with a series of mini-celebrations with ways to connect to the world. March 8th will be a day of celebration, yoga and theater. My 8 year old niece is in a play that opens that night and Siwe NEVER missed any of her shows so we will attend as a family. I LOVE my job so I will teach a couple of classes and invite my students to dedicate their practice to someone they love. I will still ask people to hold 15 minutes of silence and/or meditation in honor of people around the globe living with depression. Siwe lived powerfully for 15 years, that is why I chose 15 minutes. I will go to Albany to lobby with the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention and The Siwe Project on March 13th, Mental Health Matters Day. I will ask my friends and family to share space with me some time in March when I teach or practice yoga. The greatest gift they can give me is to take my Bikram Yoga class or practice with me.

March is extra special for me. Bittersweet. But exciting. Spring is coming!!! TRANSFORMATION.

More to come. BE open. BE love. BEgin something new... what have you got to lose? I think only  your OLD way of perceiving the world.

INjoy,

dionne