Facebook Detox

Kayaking on Puget Sound from Camano Island

Today I decided to take a month-long hiatus from Facebook.

The world did not stop spinning.

These blog posts will automatically appear there without me doing anything.

In fact, I'm taking this month to not only detox from Facebook, but detox my body as well.

I'm on an all fruit and vegetable detox for a week. Living near a fast pace city, it's easy to get swept away into the abyss of literally hundreds of amazing restaurants and food options.

My body and my mind needed a break.

I felt the need to return to the basics.

So without much pre-planning, today became the day for both—no Facebook for a month and a diet of fruit and vegetables for a week.

I already feel better and realize how many things I've avoided that are important to me by allowing myself to be swept up in the craziness.

The last time I blogged here, I mentioned that I had a crazy whim to leave it all behind and head to the Big Island. I still have that dream and believe that I will follow through with it at some point in my life. I don't imagine myself permanently living there as I've realized this summer that I really do LOVE the Pacific Northwest. However, I may live on the Big Island part-time at some point....like when it gets really cloudy and gray here...

What I've come to realize is that no life is perfect, so instead of day dreaming of where I'd like to be, I've realized that I'm pretty happy where I am in my life.

Here are some things I'm grateful for:

1. I am grateful for my husband Yoon and all the inspiring talks we have about life. I'm grateful for the silence and space between us when we walk and just observe the sights and sounds of nature

2. Nature in the Pacific Northwest, particularly in the summer, is unbeatable. I love that for three months I can hike on trails under a canopy of pine, cedar and fir and pick berries all around me (huckleberries, blackberries, thimble berries, and salmon berries). The abundance of nature is so evident here.

3. I'm grateful for my home and humble garden of tomatoes, kale, beets, squash and herbs and for the great, big, yellow, juicy plums I just picked from the trees across the street.

4. I'm grateful for my job and all the wonderful students I get to work with! Yes, I actually get to spend time with people from all over the world for my job.

5. I'm grateful that I have amazing co-workers who inspire me everyday.

6. Even though I need to detox from it sometimes because there are endless, amazing options, I get to live in Seattle!

Okay, I realize that this list could go on and on....I have so many things I'm thankful for.

I'm thankful for all the retreats Yoon and I have coming up. I hope you will join us for one of those:

Link to Yoon & Kathy's Retreats!


I'm thankful that I made it back to this blog! How are all of you doing?

Have you ever felt the need for a mental or physical detox in order to see the simple things that make you feel grateful and happy?

365 Inspirations—300: Devil's Bridge, Sedona, AZ

"Pick the day. Enjoy it to the hilt. The day as it comes. People as they come... The past, I think, has helped me appreciate the present—and I don't want to spoil any of it by fretting about the future."—Audrey Hepburn

First of all, I can't believe I've made it to post 300 on my birthday's eve! I seriously did not think I could make it this far, but I'm so happy I stuck with writing these inspirations because they've made a big difference in how I see the world and it's been nice to share them here with others too. I hope you have enjoyed reading them.

Today I saw the world from a very different perspective. I saw the world on top of Devil's Bridge in Sedona, AZ. This bridge was formed by red rocks and it takes your breath away to stand on it or see other stand on it. The drop off is severe and it makes your heart pound a little faster when you look at it.

Not only did we walk on it, we did yoga on it. It was a highlight to my day. Just the walk alone to Devil's Bridge was awe inspiring. We parked the car and walked about two miles through agave, cacti, junipers and other pine. The hot desert sun beat down on us, yet I did not feel hot, I felt energized!

I spend most of my days in Seattle, Washington and I'm finding that I really need the hot desert sun sometimes in the fall. I need to see the red rocks, the red dirt—even on my sandaled toes. I want to feel this earth.

While on the bridge, I moved my body into boat pose, dancer pose, and a few others.

I could feel my whole body vibrate. Sedona is a highly charged place. It's the land of vortices (energy centers). Sometimes I feel I need this climate to dry out, recharge and gain a new perspective.

Today was our last day in Sedona. We've done so much. We ended the day by driving up to a Buddhist   stupa way up in the hills and we all made three rounds around the stupa just as the sun was setting with the Tibetan prayer flags flapping in the breeze. We slowly wound our way down to the parking lot and our last stop was The Red Planet Diner, which seemed like a perfect ending to an out-of-this-world time.

Have you ever visited a place that took your breath away? Where was it?

365 Inspirations—232: Facing the Fear of Falling

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."—Ralph Waldo Emerson

 Last night I dreamt that Yoon climbed the highest diving board in the world and promptly put on his fins (don't ask me why he needed his fins for diving) and leapt into the air with a deep, deep lake below him.

It took him a very long time for him to come down and my heart was in my throat watching him. He was falling and I did not know if he would make it up safely from his plunge. But it was too late for worries and there was nothing I could do to help him land safely.

 While mid-air, the wind picked him up and caused him to spin and twirl with legs splayed out and fins like bird wings. Sometimes he was head-first and other times feet-first. He struggled to keep himself straight in the air, but then just surrendered and ended up taking the plunge head-first.

I held my own breath as I waited for him to come up for air. On his landing one of his fins flew off his foot and bounced across the lake. He finally came up and said, "I'm fine...that was GREAT!"

I stared at him in disbelief and said, under my breath, "No way would I do that in a million years."

I have absolutely no desire to dive from the highest diving board in the world. I jumped from the high-dive on Lake Washington this summer and that was enough.

I think this dream has more to do with the fear of falling in another sense—falling from grace, falling from one's position or imagined security, falling or failing in the eyes of others, falling from a relationship...maybe even falling in love?

It's the unknown, isn't it?

What if we lose our position, our security, our loved one, our relationship, our freedom or anything else?

There's the fear of what will happen to us. The thing is—nothing is really known. We have no idea what will happen in any given second, so why not live?

One of my biggest fears is not about falling, but failing. I'm afraid of what that might look like. I spend a lot of time focused on the positive and inspirational and it's really served me well to have this outlook on life, but I still could fall or even fail at any given moment. I could lose everything.

I used to believe that in order to manifest what one wanted in life one should wipe out all thoughts of falling and failure, because if we focus on it it just might happen. I still think this is true, but I also think it's good to make friends with the other side of things.

I'm reading a book called The Translucent Revolution: How People Just Like You are WAKING UP and CHANGING the world by Arjuna Ardagh. It's a 500 plus page book, but the author writes about things I've never considered before and I'm starting to view things in a very different way.

I love this quote:

"Only when we are willing to be both good and not good and everything in between does our feeling of being separate relax and all the goodness of all life begin to flow through us."—Arjuna Ardagh

There are many things I fear, but I'm ready to face those fears. Falling and failing are two of those fears...maybe dying is in there too. The thing is, we all have to die one day, so why not face the fear of falling or failing and actually LIVE while we are still here. I'd rather take risks to fulfill my dreams than die with my dreams and hopes still in me.

Are you afraid of falling or failing? Do you take risks in life?