How do you Draw a Sandstorm?

Last night was game night. I taught class at 7pm, went to Wholefoods to buy snacks and groceries at 8:30, got some vegetarian Chinese food at 8:45 and walked into Aaron and Sarah's at 9pm. They were all seated around the coffee table with Cranium spread out, waiting for me to arrive. I ate as we played Cranium for about an hour. The first time I played it, I didn't like it so much because it wasn't interactive enough, but this time they apparently reworked the rules and it was more fun. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it.

Next, we played Pictionary. That was fun too, drawing "Banana," "Sandstorm," "Sheriff," "Dam," and things like that. I tend to be a little overly critical when it comes to game play, construction, interaction, etc. because of my involvement in the game industry. My favorite is still the Poll Game ( www.thepollgame.com ). If you haven't played it, you must. It's more for conversation types as opposed to competitive types.

Anyway, game night is every Monday and it's nice to go from my Candlelight Flow yoga class earlier in the evening to a wild, game party later on.

Someone S#!+ On The Coats

I had company in town this past weekend, and on Friday night we went to see comedian Dane Cook at the Laugh Factory. I've been watching Dane perform for the past 3 years, and each time it's absolutely amazing. Apparently, he's the top comedian in America (however they determine that), with the top comedy CD ever called Retaliation. He is HILARIOUS!! If you've never seen him in person you must---especially if you live in Los Angeles. You can see more about him at: www.danecook.com. You can also download his CD on itunes, and one of his funniest bits is titled Someone S#!+ On The Coats. Watching him live just reminded me of how much I love laughing and watching live stand-up. Plus, it's one of Dr. Schulze's Steps to a Healthier Life (from the post, Have More Sex).

Have More Sex

This post is probably not about what you think it's going to be about. Sorry to disappoint you ; ) It's just that I was in Dr. Schulze's clinic down in Marina Del Rey stocking up on my Intestinal Cleansing formula (http://www.dr-schulze.com/p22.asp) and I picked up one of his free CDs.

On the way back to my apartment (still living in West Hollywood btw), I was listening to the CD and got really inspired by his list of 20 steps to a healthier life (I narrowed it down to 16 to avoid his sales pitch).

Even if you don't think you could do all of them, most of them are things that we all could do more of and we wouldn't have to go too far out of our way... mostly, it's just taking more time and being more aware in our daily routine, like walking more, breathing more, expressing ourselves, etc. But I particularly like # 14, 'Have more sex.'

That's one thing that our society surpresses and it's silly seeing as how that's what we are here to do. I know, there are a lot of considerations one must make before having sex with someone, but it would be nice if we all talked about it more openly and honestly.

Note: this is me doing #11, expressing myself. We all like it. So why not discuss it in a non-judgemental, non-critical way with one another?

Anyway, here is the rest of the list. How many can you see yourself implementing into your routine?

1. Drink 1 Qt. of pure water everyday.
2. Drink 1 Qt. of pure juice everyday.
3. Stop eating ALL animal products and by-products
4. Eat more raw foods
5. Start walking and breathe more
6. Sweat for an hour a day
7. Wear cotton and other natural fibers
8. Stop watching television (especially the news)
9. Throw away/give away 1/3 of what you own
10. Start loving yourself and your life
11. Express yourself
12. Help someone everyday
13. Learn 1,000 jokes and laugh
14. Have more sex
15. Meditate, pray
16. Love, love, love more.

I'm Hosting a Yoga Retreat in Ojai this April

This is a view of the outdoor yoga deck at the Eco-Sanctuary in Ojai, CA.

I'm so excited. Today, I just booked the dates for my yoga retreat, to be held at the Eco-Sanctuary in beautiful Ojai, CA: April 28th through the 30th. I've attended 2 other yoga retreats there in the past year, and I'm excited about building a relationship with their staff, as it is such a gorgeous and succulent place to host a retreat. All of the information will be posted and updated on the 'Retreat' page of this web site. It's going to be so much fun. I can't wait!!!

Skinny Bitch

Last night, I attended my girl Rory Freedman's book signing at Book Soup on Sunset for her debut book, "Skinny Bitch," a 'no-nonsense, tough-love guide for savvy girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous'. Rory and her co-writer Kim Barnouin gave fantastic talks and the event was well attended. I've been reading a little bit of the book sense last night and I love the casual, direct approach as well as the tough-love language. I'll give you an example:

"Coffee is for pussies. Think about how widely accepted it has become that people need coffee to wake up. You should not need anything to wake up. If you can't wake up without it, it's because you are either addicted to caffeine, sleep deprived, or a generally unhealthy slob."

This information is useful for guys as well as girls, so support these girls, and check out Skinny Bitch in your local bookstore or on Amazon.com.

A couple of other books that I've found interesting lately are:

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight by Thom Hartmann

2006 New Year's Resolutions

1. Focus on the finer qualities of people, places and things (including of myself).
2. Be present with myself and with others.
3. Create more of a sense of community in my yoga classes.
4. Listen and act on my inner guidance with more confidence and fearlessness.
5. Leave everyone that I interact with in a better place.
6. Be persistent in achieving and attaining the goals and projects that I am working on.