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I’m back

Hiiiii blog readers! I know it’s been a minute (maybe more like a month) since there’s been a post- but to be honest- I needed some much deserved Camille time. And life is great!

My cousins husband (in one of the below pics) said to me when I was first blogging- you’re not going to be one of those people who writes things like- sorry I haven’t blogged in a while…LOL yes I’ve turned into that person!

Here’s what I’ve been up to.

The last time I posted I had gone to Baltimore Magazine’s Top Singles of 2012 party

I had been chosen to be in their February issue (honestly not my favorite picture) but the party was very fun and tons of people saw the magazine. Now the whole world knows I’m single…more on that later.

The party was at Bond Street Social and was definitely a good time. Packed with people, good music, drinks,- all around fun time.

I’ve spent time with these people:

Yes- I am related to these red headed children! They’re my little cousins. I think technically second cousins once removed. Something like that.

You can see my previous posts when I went to visit them here and here.

I’ve also become gluten free, dairy free, and soy free. I know this will spark a lot of conversation- but I have had stomach issues and some arthritic flare ups in my knee and a lot of it has been cured by cutting some things out of my diet. I’ve been eating this way- 95% of the time- for almost 2 months. But of course, now I realize that the second I go to eat something that’s not free of these things (mainly the soy and gluten) I’m in pain the next day.

I’ve also seen a naturopathic doctor and I feel amazing. You can read more about naturopathic medicine here but the woman I have met with is awesome. She looks at everything you do, eat, how you live your overall life, what your family history is etc, and helps you figure out what lifestyle changes you need to make to better your life. This includes diet, physical activity, going to bed early, taking herbal supplements and so on. I love it. I have more energy and I feel over all more happy then ever. I know it’s hard to think that some food can cause sluggishness and lethargy when you love the way they taste (trust me I love cheese) but I feel so much better when I don’t eat those. I’ve even cut way back on my beloved wine and champagne.

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I’ve been working hard, enjoying the weather, taught a yoga class at Charm City Run in McHenry Row, and next week on March 30th I will be teaching a 2 hour Yoga After Dark Class at Charm City Yoga Midtown.

The class will be two hours from 8-10pm including an hour of yoga flow, 30 minutes of yin yoga and 30 minutes of yoga nidra. Light refreshments and tea to follow. Please sign up here! It’s all levels so bring your friends!

One last thing- I am working very hard to make a yoga retreat happen at this gorgeous resort next January. Let me know what you think!

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I read this yesterday in one of my classes and I know it resonated with a few of you so I thought I’d share.

It’s easy to go through this fast-paced world feeling as if you are being dragged through your weeks on the back of a wild horse. Many of us go from one thing to another until we end up back at home in the evening with just enough time to wind down and go to sleep, waking up the next morning to begin the wild ride once more. While this can be exhilarating for certain periods of time, a life lived entirely in this fashion can be exhausting, and more important, it places us in the passenger’s seat when really we are the ones who should be driving.
When we get caught up in our packed schedule and our many obligations, weeks can go by without us doing one spontaneous thing or taking time to look at the bigger picture of our lives. Without these breaks, we run the risk of going through our precious days on a runaway train. Taking time to view the bigger picture, asking ourselves if we are happy with the course we are on and making adjustments, puts us back in the driver’s seat where we belong. When we take responsibility for charting our own course in life, we may well go in an entirely different direction from the one laid out for us by society and familial expectations. This can be uncomfortable in the short term, but in the long term it is much worse to imagine living this precious life without ever taking the wheel and navigating our own course.
Of course, time spent examining the big picture could lead us to see that we are happy with the road we are on, but we would like more time with family or more free time to do whatever we want at the moment. Even if we want more extreme changes, the way to begin is to get off the road for long enough to catch our breath and remember who we are and what we truly want. Once we do that, we can take the wheel with confidence, driving the speed we want to go in the direction that is right for us. ~Madisyn Taylor

Spring is officially here- so take a moment to clear out the clutter in your house, apartment, in your brain, make a green smoothie, and have some time for yourself.

Xoxo, C

And oh yeah- I met my very own Brad Pitt- but that’s all I’m saying about that.

Tags: friends, family, quotes, New York, Baltimore magazine, events, naturpathy, health

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Two year old lessons

13 Jun

Hi friends~ did you have a nice weekend? I got back from NY this evening and I am missing my weekend already. I had one of those weekends where I didn’t really do anything but it was wonderful. If you missed it- click here and here for my previous posts. And just to clarify- I was in Red Hook near Rhinebeck- not in Brooklyn. Smile

So if you’ve been staying updated- I was visiting my cousin and her husband and their two kiddies for the weekend. It was pretty rainy and cloudy the whole time, but it was nice and cool and I got to play mother number 2. Well kind of- as I didn’t change any diapers lol. But I used to be a kindergarten teacher and I LOVE kids!

Look how young I was!

Anyways. Kids are funny. If you’ve spent all day with a 2 year old and an 8 month old- you will see what I mean. They are bottomless pits, can read endless amounts of stories, and have bounding amounts of energy! What I find so intriguing about children is their ability to let go. They can cry one second because you tell them to stop terrorizing their baby sister and then 5 minutes later- it’s look at my Woody the cowboy doll dancing! Seriously this happened!

As we get older, we hold grudges, stay forever stressed, want what other people have, and aren’t able to let go when really, we already have everything we need. If we let go of those things that we think we need ( a better life, job, more money, get skinner, prettier, etc.) we could simply be happy. It’s that easy. But just like doing the physical yoga practice and some yoga poses take months of physical work to accomplish, letting go takes work. You have to catch yourself having negative feelings of self doubt and unworthiness. I only bring this up because having those feelings are habit forming and we all do it!

See! Look at little Jack! He has his blue hat and his airplane! He loves those things- even though he tried to sleep in his bed with the airplane and the pointy wings stabbed him a little in the stomach when he rolled over. Lol But what happened?

This guy just came and moved it and everything was better! Just like that.

I’ve been reading Judith Lasater’s book Living Your Yoga and it’s a great read so first off- I really recommend it. She tells stories about her daily life and basically how you can live your yoga off of your yoga mat. She told a story about looking at one of those puzzle/hologram pictures in a doctors office with her daughter- the ones where you have to look at it a weird way and then you see a hidden image hidden in the big picture. Lasater said that her daughter could see all the images in the twenty page book and she just got more and more upset with herself because she couldn’t see any of them. But then, finally, when she stopped judging and being upset with herself for not being able to see it- all of the hidden images jumped out at her.

I was struck with the power of what had happened. This was a living teaching. When I let go, I was able to see what had been there the whole time. ~ Judith Lasater

Same with little precious here- cry one second- BIG smile the next. I love it!

In Lasater’s book- she also talks about attachment. We thrive on focusing on the outcome of everything. We always judge. Is it good? Is it bad? We can never just be. We can never just accept things the way the are and be OK with them. Why is that??? Obviously I can’t speak for everyone- but what Lasater explains later is true for me. We have to let go of our attachment to the way we think things should be or how we think things should go. The only thing that ever really changes is YOU. Funny isn’t it? That’s is exactly why you can learn things from children- or the little tinies as I call them. Upset one second and happy the next. They forget all about the took that’s broken or the second cookie they can’t have.

Yes, you can turn that frown upside down. It’s all about simply being aware.

So how can you be more aware this week?

I’ve kind of talked before about the fact that I used to go down the path of darkness and it took time and effort and energy to stop myself from having those feelings. But in all honesty, it’s made a WOLRD of a difference!

See if you can just catch yourself when you start with the shoulds- I should be working out more, I should have this, I shouldn’t eat that, I should etc etc. You know what I’m talking about. Take 5 seconds and take 5 breaths and move on! See what happens!

Do you have any goals this week?

I have a ton! But the key is to start slow and cross off those to do’s!