Personal Growth

Being green isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Sure, I’m healthier now that I eat better food and reduce my exposure to pesticides. I ride my bike, which makes me not only healthier but happier. I’m wealthier now that I make much of my own cleaning products, use less gas, cold-wash and hang-dry my clothes, and eschew AC for open windows.

I value feeling good and being at my best. When I am my best self, I can do the things I really love to do — and I can do them well.

You may know you want to seek enlightenment, but how exactly do you define it and know what you’re looking for? One astute attendee at the Vancouver Yoga Conference, where Colleen and I were answering questions about the Gaiam Yoga Club, asked us for our insight. “That’s the question we’re asking every day,” says Colleen. “What is enlightenment? What does it feel like? How do I get there?” Get our answer in this video that’s not what you might expect.

This is the time of year people are in the throes of preparing for the upcoming holidays. Travel plans, family gatherings and food preparations fill many conversations.

It is also a time for some that brings up anxiety. The thought of being with family creates an inner dialogue that is focused on challenge, past chaotic experiences and dysfunctional interaction. It is so interesting to see how the past begins to color the future. Historic events and conditions create mind chatter that can’t even entertain the possibility of harmony.

I remember hearing the song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin and feeling instantly elated. The lyrics and melody were simple but made a lot of sense to me.

Dear Arielle & Brian,

I keep visualizing my soulmate and feel really open to him, and nothing is happening. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks for your help,
Isabel

Dear Isabel,

Why would you assume you are doing something wrong? Opening your heart and life to manifesting a soulmate requires patience because when your will and God’s will align, that is what we call Divine Timing.

If you want to increase the amount of joy in your life, it has to begin with the way you love, treat and honor yourself. If you are reaching outside of yourself for people, things, food, drugs, alcohol or jobs to be your source of joy, you will be at the mercy of circumstance. Real power comes when you realize you can feel joy for no reason at all.

If you could attend a workshop with Gandhi, the Dalai Lama or Martin Luther King, Jr., you’d sign up just as fast as you could, wouldn’t you? I felt just as excited when I heard that Thich Nhat Hanh — a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, master meditation teacher and renowned advocate for peace — was offering a day of mindfulness near my home. The day-long program was put on by the Omega Institute at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, meaning all this Brooklynite mom had to do was arrange for childcare and get on the subway. Done.

The fall season is generally a time for harvesting crops. It is the time of year for seeing what has grown from the seeds that have been planted and then moving the harvest into storage for the winter. I was thinking about what I am harvesting at this time in my life, and what came is that I am harvesting a myriad of blessings.

Part of creating prosperity in your life is learning how to ask the right questions. Our early life experiences often lead us to focus on limited questions like these:

• How can I survive?
• How can I get even?
• How can I get by?
• How can I hide so nobody sees me?
• How can I get people to love me?