Well, for the first time since I learned to balance myself through breath, my yogic breath was borderline non-existent this past weekend when my 2.7-year-old son decided to disobey me and continue jumping on my bed. Yes, most of us parents remember how, as children, we experienced the joy of bouncing up and down on our parents’ bed or couch despite their warnings. Well, I am sure you can assume what happened next, as you must have heard similar stories like this before. My son jumped up and down, lost his balance, fell backwards, and cracked the back of his head on my window ledge.

“Whaaaaaa…” he cried. I could see it all unfolding right before my eyes, so I quickly picked him up and proceeded to rub the back of his head gently as I would any bump or bruise. But to my surprise…no, no, that wasn’t it…to my HORROR, I felt warm liquid fill the palm of my hand.

I stopped breathing at that moment.

I held my breath, understandably horrified.

Then I glanced down at my hand, saw the blood, and felt it running down my son’s back on to my other hand, which was holding him. Quickly, I rested my hand on to the back of his head, not even wanting to take a moment to see how bad the wound was.

Next thought…

Breathe before I pass out from lack of oxygen.

Next thought…breathe, damn it!

Okay. I tried to pull myself together, knowing that I had to keep some pressure against my son’s head while attempting to calm myself so that he would calm down. How could I make him feel safe? I told myself to breathe with a light tone so that he could feel the vibration from my body - something like a gentle “OM.”

His father moved as quickly as possible as I called for ice, a towel, and a telephone. Luckily, my son had just woken up and was only in his diaper. With his back completely covered in blood, it was not a pretty sight but at least it could be easily cleaned and we didn’t have to worry about pulling anything over his head.

Talk calmly to him, keep ice pack firm, get Arnica tablets into him…breathe. Essential oils…breathe. No aspirin, but a little children’s Tylenol from his last injury administered at a half dose.

Thank goodness, everything began to settle down after 20 minutes of what seemed to be an eternity. The bleeding slowed down, and he wanted to eat and drink water, which was a great sign. We cleaned all the blood off his back and then I cleaned up all his blood that was on me. He sat quietly for a bit, watching his first snowboard DVD with daddy, and then he became more rambunctious for the rest of the evening.

Needless to say, I did not sleep very much that evening or the next. My son lay on his belly in an inclined position through the night and I kept my ears alert to his breathing. I made up for the lack of sleep later in the week.

I still hold my breath when I recall this incident. It was a good lesson to have certain things in place for events such as this, although I can only hope that it never happens again.

These past few weeks, I’ve been worrying about so many different things that have been happening in my life. Well, those few minutes, when I held my precious son close to me, put everything into perspective and made me realize what is really important in my life. Thankfully, my son’s injury wasn’t as serious as it could have been and I feel totally blessed that he’s now back to his happy, healthy, wonderful self.

Well, after receiving lots of support from many people in our YogaHub community (thanks everyone!), I finally took the plunge a few weeks ago, started my cleansing - and it’s been great! Now that I’ve established a routine, I can confirm that I haven’t felt this good in years. My breathing has improved considerably and my asthma is just about non-existent these days, thanks - I’m convinced - to the combination of my Neti Pot and my yoga exercises.

But what about my eye pressure? Well, I had my follow-up appointment with the eye specialist a couple of weeks ago and when he tested my eyes, he said the pressure had dropped significantly. “The drops are working well,” he pronounced.

“Actually, it’s probably more like my Neti Pot is working well,” I responded. “Your what?” was the bemused response. So I went through a brief but thorough explanation about the miracles of Neti Pot cleansing.

My eloquent speech was met with silence for a while, followed by a lecture on the dangers of not relying on “new age” treatment. “What’s ‘new age’ about cleansing with what basically comes down to warm water and salt?” I asked. Ha - stumped him there! He harrumphed (I’ve always wondered what a “harrumph” sounded like and now I know) and said something about continuing to take my eye drops. “And cleansing with my Neti Pot, right?” I said (not one to let things slide).

“If that seems to be working well for you, I guess it can’t do any harm,” was his final, reluctant response.

So that’s what I’ve been doing - continuing to use my eye drops but also relying on my Neti Pot cleansing every night.

I can’t believe all the fuss I made just a few short weeks ago, especially now that Neti and I have bonded for life!

My company’s year end is not until February, which gives me a bit of time to get some things in order, but the property taxes are due, the year-end payroll taxes are also due, Christmas is coming and with it seasonal gifting and gatherings - all these add up even though we have cut back in so many areas.

I find myself in a state of numbness as I go through the bills and cut the payroll cheques. I sometimes find myself staring at the computer screen, not knowing which screen to click on. I do have nine screens, so pick one - any one - and there will be something to do on it. Task lists become daunting…again.

I know I speak for many people when I say that making ends meet as a company has been challenging. And building a site like YogaHub, which is personally funded, is even more challenging. But ultimately the passion always prevails. I tell myself to remember why this all began. It has always meant so much to me to be able to support others on their journeys of well being.

So even though I often question whether my decisions are right and whether I’m heading in the right direction, ultimately only the universe will answer that. So why not let go of all my fears? Why not just trust that - sooner or later - what goes around comes around?

“Take a few long, deep breaths” I remind myself. All this energy surrounds us, so why not fill it with positive and productive flow? If everything is in alignment, it will all flow gently.

Yes, I know recently there’s been a lot of discussion on our blogs about how we shouldn’t need to fight wars. I agree. I wish we didn’t have to fight wars. I wish soldiers didn’t have to put their lives on the line to protect our country. I sincerely wish we could all get along and create a world of peace and harmony.

Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that we live in a world of conflict and turmoil. Conflicts that start small escalate into large wars, where people - civilians and soldiers alike - die. It shouldn’t happen. But it does.

Remembrance Day is close to my heart. Why? Because my father was a volunteer soldier in the Ambulance Brigade during World War II. He lost family and friends in that war. Everyone who knew him respected him as a peaceful man - and yet he volunteered to defend our country. He rarely spoke about the war, except to say he had volunteered to protect our freedom, to uphold our right to express ourselves freely and live our lives according to our own beliefs.

Of course everyone should have the right to believe what they want to believe in. Being idealistic and wanting a peaceful world is wonderful, but I also feel an idealist needs to recognize that, were it not for our soldiers, we would not have the freedom to be idealistic. That right could well be taken away from us by someone dictating every aspect of our public actions and beliefs.

So this Remembrance Day, like every other, I’m going to buy a poppy from a veteran - and when I do so, I’m going to thank him for risking his life so that we can enjoy the freedom we have today.

Recently, my sisters came from Colorado and New York (which is where I am from) to visit me at my place in LA. I am the “baby” of the family, with my sisters being seven and ten years older then I am.

By the third day of their visit, I started to realize how different we are but how this difference was never really an issue when we were growing up together, although of course we fought and loved each other a lot - LOL - as sisters do. Now, though, even being under the same roof for only three days, as adult women we were all getting on top of each other.

On the fourth day, when my oldest sister made yet another “joking” sarcastic comment to me, I confronted her because it did not feel good and these days I choose to refrain from interacting with people in that way. As a result of my not taking her comment personally, and addressing what works and doesn’t work for me, my sister opened her heart shared the following with me:

My sister felt like I have “deviated” from my “upbringing” (being raised Jewish in New York with the importance of education being paramount). How I moved 3,000 miles away and don’t really feel compelled to come “home” for the Jewish holidays; how I have never had a “corporate” job; how I “chose” to live with someone without a ring on my finger in my twenties (btw, I am now single and available!

It was SOOOOO interesting for me to hear her tell me this, as it had never really crossed my mind how my life journey and personal life choices have affected some of my family members. I got the sense that my sister felt a bit abandoned by me, and “left out of my world” because she just doesn’t comprehend it. As she said, “I just don’t get that whole meditation and yoga thing…I like my spin class and Stairmaster.” To hear her give her point of view from a neutral place - to really hear how she felt without my feeling the need to defend myself, my choices, and my belief systems, etc. - was such a gift that I felt for the first time in a long while that I actually understood her, and we were having a really loving and intimate conversation. I felt such compassion and also felt so loved by her. I was reminded yet again how people just need to be heard - and what loving and healing power there is in that.

For me, my choices have actually felt quite freeing and liberating - to “break out of the box” and follow what feels right for me, which is to not “follow” any religion at all. If there were “the religion of love,” as Bob Marley states in his song “love is my religion,” well, that would be my choice. I was one who was never a follower and, to me, the corporate world represented that.

I realized that uncertainty is a concept that I have become comfortable with, as it opens up unlimited possibilities and a sense of adventure; a lack of what my sister deems “security,” which brings about a great feeling of anxiety in her.

From this time with my sisters, I was able to arrive at a place of non-judgment on a deeper level with what works for my sister. I feel she too arrived at an understanding that just because she doesn’t “get” my world doesn’t mean that it is to be invalidated.

In conclusion, I would like to share this with you: if you come across people who are not open to receiving your sharing and teaching, who may say to you “you are crazy to believe that,” or who may feel like you are “preaching or lecturing” them, it may just be that they are not in a place at that moment to receive and understand you, so their perception of your sharing is being received in a way that was not your intention at all.

I feel that when this occurs, the “ego” of a person steps forward and will negate what you have to say in order to not feel inadequate or - for lack of a better word - plain old stupid.

Understanding this, by personal experience yet again, has opened up my eyes even wider as to how beautiful and humbling this teaching is.

I invite you, if you choose to keep yourself humble, to practice compassion and understanding of where THEY are; to keep YOUR ego at bay so that a healing of the heart can occur as it did for me with my sister.

I once heard a phrase that if you are having an interaction with someone, you are in relationship with them. What better way to practice, grow and learn from the beauty of honoring the intimacy of relationships in all their various forms.

Keep your eye out for my blog on connecting to your sensual and sexual selves! Oo-la-la - that’s sure to ruffle some feathers…just as we like it!

I continued verbalizing in a loud voice until he suddenly yelled out to me and kicked the person with whom I was having the discussion. That stopped me cold immediately, and I looked down in surprise, “Whoa buddy, what’s that about?” I gently asked, hoping to stop him. He then began to cry and repeat “no more talking please Mummy.”

Well, at that moment I realized to what extent my frustration and actions had affected him. Talk about calming down in an instant! To see my child react in such a hurt and emotional way and even act out by physically kicking someone just to get our attention was such a huge lesson for me.

Nothing could have opened my eyes and ears up as quickly - and affected my heart so completely as this moment. My breath calmed immediately and my eyes filled with tears of empathy as I held him and apologized, explaining to him that I was not angry but just overly excited - in a manner that I will attempt to curb in the future.

We both held each other until he stopped sobbing and realized that all was safe. His Mummy was safe.

And that’s how my little Zen master, in a fleeting moment, taught me yet another wonderful and powerful lesson of awareness and consciousness.

Let me explain. Last week, a good friend of mine and her husband came over for dinner. Great company, great time. After dinner, when the husbands went off to watch the hockey game, my friend and I settled down for coffee and a chat.

Sometime during our conversation, Gwen mentioned that she was having aches and pains - “nothing specific, just age catching up with me,” she said. This from a friend who’s at least five years younger than I am! She also pointed out that she’d put on a few pounds and couldn’t seem to get them off as easily as she used to (singing my song she was)!

In an uncharacteristic fit of generosity (okay, perhaps insanity would be a better word), I offered to lend her my precious “The Gift of Yoga” DVD. “It’s great - you’ll love it, trust me!” I enthused. This was greeted with a dubious response at best. “Okay, okay, I’ll give it a try if it’ll make you happy.” Oh thanks for allowing me to do you the favour!

Well, it’s been three weeks now and she still has my DVD. Every time I call her, she tells me how much she loves yoga and how she’s been practicing every day. Well, great - I’m delighted and all that but I want my DVD back. I’ve hinted, cajoled and all but demanded that she return it to me, but she’s obviously stalling. So okay - the good news is that I’ve “recruited” another yoga aficionado. But that’s far outweighed by the bad news, which is that I doubt if I’m ever going to see my “Gift of Yoga” DVD again!

That’s what I tend to call it - detoxing. Why, some might ask? Especially in light of this H1N1 scare that has affected the nation.

Well, my son, being 2 ½ - or to be more exact, 2 years and 7 months - is still dealing with growth spurts and his final molar, which is coming in at about 25%. Every time he goes through one of his teething periods, he has a high fever. Also during these times, he sleeps at least a few hours more every day, and eats very little for about two weeks. Then suddenly, when the fever stops, the power eating begins and the energy is heightened.

The Chinese have an excellent term for this, which sort of translates to “the bones releasing the heat.” I find this fascinating.

My partner, on the other hand, began coughing when the fires were raging here in the southland. When he was almost over it, he began the Parasidial Cleanse. Whoa, within the first two days his coughing increased, and he began to have headaches and a fever. Not for one moment did I even believe it to be the flu. Quite commonly, these are symptoms when the body gives off all the pent-up toxins. It’s certainly not pleasant for anyone to go through, but believe me, he and I would prefer to go through these uncomfortable days than have the toxins build up inside us, as that would lead to other more destructive situations.

As for me, I just made sure I had my trusty Essential Oil mixture beside me and didn’t forget to use my Neti Pot. I’ve been using these daily - and so far, I’m feeling great.

Until now…

The other night I was really tired. It had been a long day filled with frustration, so all I wanted to do was go to bed and have a good night’s rest. I went through my usual nightly ritual and then all but fell into bed, exhausted.

That’s when I remembered my Neti Pot. Oh, so much for my “nightly ritual” - I’d forgotten a very important part of it. I lay there for the next five minutes, debating whether it was worth getting up and doing the cleansing or just forgetting about it and going to sleep.

Of course, after debating on that for a while (I can always give myself a great argument), I realized I couldn’t sleep anyway, so I thought I might as well get up and commune with Neti.

I went through my now usual routine - I measured out the usual dose, poured in the warm water, lent over the sink, tilted my head, poured the liquid into one nostril… and made a complete mess, somehow managing to pour the liquid up my nose, resulting in an intense pain shooting through my head, which in turn caused me to gag and choke. “Not pleasant” would be a major understatement! I then proceeded to blow my nose for the next 20 minutes until my head exploded… or at least it felt like it had exploded.
Once I was through blowing my head off, I sulkily cleaned up the mess and changed into another sleep shirt before getting into bed, all the while grumbling to myself and cursing my Neti Pot.

At least I’ve learned one very important lesson - the next time I’m tired and just want an early night, I should just go to bed and not worry about missing one night with Neti!

This year, however, is the first year that I’ve been practicing yoga while in school. I’ve been finding it difficult to get to the evening classes I like, so I’ve been trying to use The Gift of Yoga DVD at least once a week. The upshot of this, however, is that this is the first time I’m noticing exactly how de-stressing yoga can be. And the results are nearly immediate.

Last weekend, for example, I was tearing my hair out over a lengthy and complicated animation exam. Our teacher asked that we do it all the old fashioned way: pencil drawings and flipbooks. Before continuing my work on Sunday morning, I decided to procrastinate with a bit of yoga. The workout was intensely relaxing. I finished the workout, lying in shivasana, feeling refreshed and ready, if not eager, to hit the drawing table.

Apparently, the half-hour yoga session turned my irresponsible stalling into an academically responsible course of action.

Since then, I’ve been inspired. Yoga has become an incredibly useful technique in a manner I didn’t expect. Not only does it provide me grounds for procrastination, but it makes my dawdling worthwhile. It’s perfect. Anything that can actually make me ready to work while slightly gratifying my laziness is an invaluable life technique that must be preserved and explored further.