Not Tired and I'm Fine With It ;)

I have discovered an amazing side of youtube that I have never known! Psy-trance, as I said in my last post, and amazing -relaxation- music from around the WORLD. I have been listening to this ALL afternoon and am BUZZING with energy. I am not tired.

I am having vivid daydreams of creating an ecstatic dance somewhere in the forests near Vail this summer.

A Manifestation Visualization:

I am imagining that an easy, free system of getting music out into the forest (speakers, generator, lap-top plug-in) is being manifested to help me bring this creation to our community within the next month! I am feeling the excitement of friends and community members about attending a celebration of life through movement ! Free-form dance, yoga, meditation BLISS! I am full of energy and excitement as I announce the intention of Freedom, Joy, Bliss, and expression through Movement, support, community and friendship to the group. I am hearing exciting, vibration-raising music being played at this event! I see how the colors of the forest become even more vivid in front of our eyes as we enter into bliss, using our bodies as an expression of our pure, innate, ecstatic joy. I hear our voices uniting in  an opening circle Om as I feel our hands connected in the unity of Love, Peace, Community, and Friendship. I witness and experience immense healing taking place. I am delighted at how the forest, the animals, the trees, water,  Earth, and God rejoice among us in celebration of this amazing life that we are living! I vibrate with the intense rhythms of the music and my whole body, mind, spirit, and breath pulsates with the ecstatic energy of dance. I see smiling and hear laughter all around. I see, hear, experience, and give generosity  freely in the form of smiles, hugs, embraces, and healing touch. I smell the invigorating smells of pine, sage, and Earth that I take in with each breath.  My ears delight in each note, beat, and harmony of the music. I see that everyone is having fun, rejoicing, letting go of fears and inhibitions as they dance, twirl, whirl, stretch, stomp, jump, and at times, be still. I feel how safe this environment is. As the music ends, we are all still on the dance floor, in a sacred bond, and join together for a closing ceremony. We express gratitude for what we have experienced that day and introduce ourselves by name. I hear our voices connect in a final Om as we sit knee to knee, savouring each other's company and glowing radiance, emanating from each and every being of love that has joined in creating more harmony, peace, bliss, fun, and joy on our planet.

Thank You!

I have SO much gratitude for inspiration. Thank YOU!
Sofie

Psy-Trance LOVE

I am LOVING psy-trance music today.

I feel SO up-lifted and connected with my dreams and possibilities while "on" this music. Literally feeling high from the music alone.

I feel like humans are supposed to laugh, sing, DANCE, chant, Om, DANCE, DANCE, DANCE!

Namaste, PEACE, and always LOVE
Sofie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xia_FrmWDLw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6Ri99nmio4&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNZE2zo7cpQ&feature=related

Options for September

Here is what I have come up with for possible options at the end of my lease in September ...



Hawaii - working on a fruit farm/hostel/work-trade
Pros: I have been there before & loved it, amazing community interested in sustainable living/holistic healing arts, art, music. Sacred Land, Beaches, fruit, work-trade opportunities.
Cons: Expensive plane ticket (for me + Shadow + massage table), have to wait at least 5 months to bring Shadow. No snowboarding.




WWOOFing in Arizona :)

Pros: Lots of sustainable communities/permaculture farms, many centered around the holistic healing arts (I am surprised and delighted!), work-trade, warm climate in winter + sub-tropical climates in some areas, beautiful sacred land, can probably find a ride for me, Shadow, massage table, and can possibly drive myself. New experience + opportunity to learn about different plants. I LOVE the desert + arid climates, native american energies and desert wildlife, Shadow fits right in !
Cons: Uncertainty about going to a new place - will I like it? Will it be a fit for me? No snowboarding.

Stay in Vail, CO for 5th Winter season

Pros: Good job doing massage @ Vitality Center + free ski pass working part-time @ Starbucks. Snowboarding. Shadow loves the snow. Julie is here and she is awesome and I could live with her!

Cons: HUGE work week (4-5 days working with 3-4 of those days being doubles : 6:30 am - 7 p.m.) Cold winter, probably a lease or living in Gypsum, long commute and Shadow doesn't get along with Chihuahuas, cant grow food in winter, feel dis-connected

Conclusion: I am a free bird with many possibilities. Arizona is looking the most appealing to me at the moment, and I can't wait to get in touch with some WWOOFing farms and see what kind of help they need in the winter and whether or not they allow dogs. I absolutely love the Southwest and something about the Utah/New Mexico/ Arizona energy, and especially the land seems to call to me.

My intention is to find a farm on which I can live FOR FREE and hopefully eat much of my food for FREE as well ;) Meet a lot of interesting, compassionate, loving beings interested in art, music, healing, yoga, intentional living, massage, herbs, aromatherapy, color, MUSIC, love animals and connecting to the land, growing food, and interested in building sustainable structures and gardens that provide food year-round :)

Feeling positive!
Sofie

Fresh Apple Juice

Fresh Apple Juice made from donated apples!

I received an entire crate of apples from a friend - and I made JUICE! (with a borrowed juicer!) Probably around one gallon of juice!



Thank you!

"Open Your Mind Before Your Mouth"

On the way through town I was disturbed by a conversation I over-heard between a mother and her son. There where 3 or 4 kids and one of the boys was crying out to his mom "Mom, why you call me a bad boy for no reason? Mom, why I a bad boy? Mom, what I do so you call me a bad boy? Mom, why you call me a bad boy? Mom, I didn't do anything wrong, why I a bad boy?" And the mom was completely ignoring her son. 

We don't really think before speaking, a lot of the time. We don't think about what we say, the belief system operating behind what we say, and why this belief system is established within us to begin with (and whether or not its actually truth). 

Many children remember a time when they could not tell "reality"
apart from their imaginations. Could it be that we hinder children's creativity
and perception of "reality" by believing, ourselves, in a reality that
is too limited and concrete? Are we prisoners of this reality simply because
we have forgotten what is possible?

As is currently established in our society, it is a generally accepted belief that children learn about life from their parents. (Teachers, peers, and the media also have a big influence on how children learn to perceive reality.) Whether or not this is the "right" way to do it is up for debate, I'm just calling it like I see it here.

It is of my opinion that as responsible parent, one should become aware of how everything one says, along with the sub-conscious belief systems attached to the words uttered, affects a child learning to perceive reality. (Since we are energetic beings we also pick up on people's thoughts and actions as ways of perceiving the world - but here I will focus just on words spoken, because of the example and context.)

So the child trusts the mother (or parent) to teach him about the world.

What he isn't aware of (unless he is) is that the mother's own sense of reality is inevitably tainted with the her personal assumptions, conclusions, and altogether skewed perceptions about reality that she acquired through personal experience, relations with others, as well as adopted from her family, friends, and culture.

So the child that doesn't question will take on the mother's mis-conceptions about reality (beliefs) as truth.

So let's dissect a few of the apparent (to me) beliefs that the mother is teaching her son in this situation: 

-The mother is the authority. She has the right to determine what is "bad" and what is "good."
- He is a bad boy for no reason (because this is what he believes; he does not understand what he did wrong, as he exclaims himself.)
- Since the mother most likely had a reason for calling her son a bad boy, He is a bad boy for doing something deemed 'bad' by his mother, SO .... 
- He is a bad boy for dis-obeying his mother (authority) 
- He is a bad boy for dis-obeying established authority  (He is a 'bad boy' for walking outside the box of conformity that many adults have decided is how "life should be like." )
- Other people's assumptions about reality have the power to determine someone's nature (good or bad)
(Ex: You did something I think is bad, therefore you are a bad boy!)


Maybe you are thinking that the son (maybe 3 or 4 years old) won't remember this incident. Many people believe that our sub-conscious minds remember EVERYTHING! Especially events that had an emotional impact on us.

How might this affect the little boy in the future? This story might be remembered in his sub-conscious memory, and feed him thoughts about his (false) 'bad' nature later in life. He may even start to believe that he is a bad person.

People who don't believe that they are "good enough" tend to have a need to prove their worth later in life. (Until they (hopefully) realize that they do not have to prove their worth to ANYONE.) 

How do they attempt to prove this? By being untrue to themselves, pretending to be someone they are not, trying to conform to their image of what "good enough" is that they learned from their parents, friends, society, being afraid to think for themselves, joining establishments that "think" for them, following dogmas (such as those of religions, armies, businesses, etc.) , trying to buy people's love, seeking comfort in addictions, controlling people because they do not believe themselves worthy of true, unconditional love, abusing people and animals (hurting others to lift themselves up a little),  mindlessly conforming to society and being afraid to think for themselves in general, believing that they are bad, unworthy, and stupid.

Let's all try to a little harder to think before we speak and act.
 Let's examine the hidden, underlying,often sub-conscious belief systems
 our words are projecting so as to attempt to limit the amount of our own
emotional poison, fears, and limiting beliefs that we dump on to others, especially children.


What are we teaching our children about reality? What is it that we believe about it ourselves, why do we hold these beliefs, and are those beliefs necessarily the truth?


And are we projecting what we truly believe, or just out-dated beliefs that we "picked up" somewhere?

Can we love and trust someone enough to allow them to establish their own beliefs about reality, even if they are inconsistent with our own and sometimes may seem scary or un-safe to us?




I know that witnessing this experience was so emotionally charged for me because I am only beginning to scratch the surface of all the "beliefs" I still hold that no longer serve me, and am still resentful of the establishments from which I picked up these beliefs. (Something I am working on letting go of !)
I also had thoughts arise such as "Parents are stupid, selfish, afraid, etc." and "It's like they are trying to limit his life, creativity, self-love!" I know I was thinking these thoughts because I feel like I am both the child and the parent, trying to grasp reality from established explanations and assumptions about it (usually quite flawed), as well as judging people, situations, and ideas based on the beliefs I already hold about reality.

Leave it to every experience to teach you something about your "self" if you are just open to the lesson ;)

"Culture Is Our Operating System"

Ive' been thinking more about how our stories about reality (models of the world) influence how we think, act, and emote.



Terrence McKenna has something awesome to say on this topic.
Check out Terrence McKenna's talk about "culture as an operating system" here!

First Night Camping :)

Me, camping in 2011 in Crested Butte.
Hoping to have recent photos soon!

Last night was my first night camping out since I've been back in Vail :) I thought I was on-call at 9 a.m. this morning, so I figured I would spend the night a bit closer to work and save the extra bike ride in the morning, possibly go to the free community yoga practice on the Solaris lawn.

I hiked up to a special location that I found after creeping through waist-high brush, set my tent up right next to a little stream, and lay down for the night. My hips where aching though, and my mummy-style sleeping bag did not allow for much movement so I kept crawling in and out of my bag to stretch into frog and half pigeon pose in the middle of the night.

The next morning I woke up to discover why my hips where in so much pain: I think being in Nature invited my flow to start early. I was crampy and achy and just wanted to get my things packed up and start heading back to town. I then discovered that one of the dogs peed in my tent last night! I bet it was Moon. My bike ride home tonight was supposed to be really easy - now it looks like I've got to lug my sleeping bag and tent home to wash. How do you wash a down sleeping bag anyways?

I'm tired - achey - and am not on call until 11 a.m. which means I will have to stay in town until at least 3 or 4 p.m. Didn't make it to yoga. Just want to sleep. Not really in a writing mood, but I figured I should come to this blog and be honest about how I'm feeling - not just write about the days when I'm in an ecstatic mood.

Overall the camping trip was fun. The hike was fun and the dogs got to run around - a LOT. I met some people before leaving that might want to adopt Moon. I hope they do.

Peace & Kindness
Sofie

Thinking About Life Purpose ...

Meditation - a useful tool for over-thinkers like me :) 

The more I try to think about my life's purpose and what I am supposed to be doing on this planet, the more confused and dis-oriented I get. I like the idea that we should "follow our bliss to guide us to our true purpose in life." It's seems like such a little-ego trip, wanting to know your life's purpose from the beginning!

How can we know? The journey is most likely the purpose and if there is A purpose, we may not be able to tell what it is until the very end of our time here on Earth.

So here I am, trying to find a balance between creating my bliss, my reality, and achieving the things I think I want, and allowing the flow of the Universe to bring opportunities into my life that I can either accept as fun challenges, or complain about how unfair and hard life is ! I'll try to stick with the first choice :)

Just yesterday I was thinking that it would be fun to volunteer somewhere.

I didn't get any work today at the spa, yet the reason I went into town and sat down to relax at Starbucks before noon Yoga presented itself almost immediately.

A former co-worker of mine was there and told me about an opportunity to volunteer giving massage and other therapies to people experiencing cancer. She had just met the woman last night, and thought of me as someone who might like to be involved! What a blessing :)

I e-mailed Julie at http://spa4thepink.org and asked to set up a meeting :) I have already received a very warm e-mail reply from her, saying that she would love to connect and see where it takes us. I definitely look forward to learning more about the work she does and seeing if her project is a good fit for me.

Until then - I think I'll just do what feels good ... with an attitude of non-attachment, that is ;)

Love and Infinite Blessings!
Sofie

My Current Shelter Situtation

Currently, I am on a lease for the room I rent in Minturn. I pay about $750 a month for rent and utilities and this includes a huge room in a big house with full use of the kitchen, fenced-in yard, washer and dryer, parking, and storage areas included.

Although it is cozy and convenient, it seems silly to work SO many hours - simply to pay for a place to (essentially) sleep and cook.

The lease is up at the end of September, and after that I get to decide upon a new (money-free!) way of living. Camping? House-sitting? WWOOF-ing? We will see ..

Not in a Food Mood .. So Where am I?

I have had body-image issues for two thirds of my whole life. As of lately I decided that worrying about what I look like is a complete waste of my time and energy. Since deciding this, I have given myself permission to eat whatever I want, whenever I want. Since doing so, a funny thing has happened. I have completely lost my appetite.

I am still eating everyday because my mind is saying 'you need to eat,' although sometimes it has been a struggle to eat more than a few bites. I am not craving anything I have in my house right now ...  and when I try to imagine different foods, nothing seems appetizing at the moment. The only things that I seem to be really craving right now is water, water, more water, and warm water with honey.

My stomach feels hungry, but not in a severely painful way. I still have plenty of energy too, and my thoughts and emotions seem a lot clearer than the past few weeks.

This loss of appetite doesn't actually surprise me. Since the beginning of my 'disordered eating' habits, which began at about age 14, I have been on a continuous cycle of calorie restricting, followed by intense periods of bingeing to the point where I would make myself physically ill for days, sometimes weeks at a time. The restriction periods where the times I was trying to force myself to get in control of my life by fitting into a certain image I was holding of who the 'happy me' was. The bingeing periods where the times during which I, over and over and over again, completely lost all control.

Why do we try to cover the true unique beauty of
ourselves by pretending to be someone we are not?
To feel accepted? Loved? Because it is easier to
adopt beliefs of the societal -group mind- than to
stand out, be different, be judged, and be OK with that?

I now realize that trying to control life, especially by attempting to emulate a self-conceived image of -what a happy person looks like (skinny)- is completely futile and totally counter-productive to my instinctual feelings and desires for freedom.

So why the loss of appetite now?

Rewind my life to about 7 weeks ago: I was boarding a plane to Hawaii - a fruit paradise! I was at the tail end of another binge cycle ( I literally ate 3 burritos at the airport waiting to board my flight to Hilo), and had promised my self (again) that this would be the last time! I was completely convinced that once I got to Hawaii, I would eat only fruits, vegetables, and grains .. (being totally enamored with the concept that is the 80 10 10 low fat raw vegan lifestyle.) For the first three weeks, this was exactly what I did. I had come out of such an intense processed-food binge cycle that the first few weeks where easy. My body was thanking me for the cleanse, and I didn't even crave the other stuff. Until I did. And then oh, how I did!

I remember sitting at a restaurant where everyone around me was enjoying their divine-smelling Thai cuisine, and my God! how I wanted it so badly! But my nagging aunt Ninnie brain was un-relentlessness ! All I could think about, besides how much I wanted that food, was how it would probably make me fat and cause me to feel ill! And so I denied myself the pleasure of tasting even a bite of it, even the healthiest option on the menu, the green papaya salad, which I figured was laden with salt and spices. I continued to deny myself until I could not hold on any longer.

I don't think life wants to be controlled. It wants to feel free and do what feels good! And go with the flow of love and abundance! So the more I restricted, the harder I was flung back into total loss of control.

I began to eat, and eat, and eat. It started at a group potluck where I indulged in some very delicious food, in modest amounts ( I was embarrassed that I was eating greasy, cooked food in front of people that had only seen me eat fruits, veggies, and quinoa, and who most likely had  no idea about how deep my food and self-image issues lied.) I woke up the next day feeling completely healthy as far as digestion goes.

Since I had "slipped" though, I wanted to get 'the most out of it' before I had to get back into the restriction cycle, because "this time, I wouldn't go back to bingeing!" I gorged myself that day. And the next day, and the next. I would sneak into town to eat food alone, and buy candy bars to eat by myself in my tent when everyone had gone to bed. I began to lack vitality, and eventually became extremely ill, even having to take days off volunteering because I had eaten so much the night before that I had a full, bloated, aching belly upon waking.

My fellow hostel-mates could tell that I was not feeling well, but I was too ashamed to tell them what was actually going on. I eventually confided in a few friends about the general story of my struggles, although I never described in detail exactly what I was doing.

I continued to binge for the remainder of my stay in Hawaii, as well as on the trip home. All the while, something magical was happening.

Seriously and Honestly. You are beautiful
just the way you are!

During the last few weeks at the hostel, I began to feel very comfortable being my true self in front of my hostel-mates. I said 'no' to activities I did not want to participate in, and did not pretend to have more energy than I actually had. I began to talk more honestly about how I was feeling, and began to accept my own feelings with more compassion and honesty. I stopped feeling sorry for myself or angry for being in the state that I was in, and began to truly forgive myself and nourish the child inside with love and self-acceptance. Well, I started practicing to do all this :)

An amazing book, The Mastery of Love, by Don Miguel Ruiz helped to put a lot of what I was going through into beautiful words that I connected with on a soul-level.

And so now that I am home, allowing my-self to eat whatever I want to eat, whenever I want to eat it, limiting the time I spend in front of a mirror (only the time it takes to squeeze out a few blackheads - an act that feels interestingly satisfying to me :), and spending as much time as I need resting, sleeping, and -not doing anything - I find myself in what seems to be a very natural cycle of detoxing, cleansing, and healing.

LOL! Kind of how I have been feeling. Except for going
 on bike rides.

I am sure that my appetite will return once my body truly needs it to. I am not one bit surprised, that during a time when I am releasing many old beliefs and life patterns that no longer serve me, my body is asking for less food than usual, in an attempt to release the stale energies of these belief systems out of its tissues.

I feel like the moment I decided not to restrict my-self any longer, it was a moment of great surrender.

And being here, I do not regret the many years I have spent "struggling" with disordered eating and body-image, or any future struggles that may show their faces. Yet being OK with these struggles -in the moment- is still something I am working on. It makes it easier when I see that I wouldn't be where I am today without the totality of my experiences. "You have got to trust that the dots will somehow connect." - Steve Jobs

Watch Jobs' inspirational video about seeing the opportunities in life's setback's here !

Thank You! Namaste.
Sofie

River Tension Release

Crested Butte, CO 2011

Read about how I utilized the natural flow of the River to release tension. (At the bottom of this post :) 

If You Give a Dog a Bath ..

Hello!

The day I give Shadow a bath, he spends about two hours smelling like a pretty pretty princess .. then finds a swamp to splash around in ! Typical ! :)

The last two days have been all about biking, sleeping, and hanging out with (and chasing after) the puppies. I biked all the way to the dog park in Intermountain with Shadow by my side (on a leash) and Moon in my backpack (his little head sticking out - catching smiles and surprised remarks from other bikers and joggers). The first and last two miles of the trip they got to sprint off leash on a seldom-used dirt road next to the train tracks, which was great for releasing some of the initial excitement energy of leaving the house.

The bike ride with Shadow by my side on the leash was surprisingly easy; we managed to stay on our side of the bike path the entire time ! We were awkward at first, but then got into a really good pace together. He was just trotting next to me, checking in on my speed once in a while, leaving plenty of slack on the leash. I made sure not to ride too fast - especially down hills and around blind corners.

Crested Butte, CO 2011

Today both dogs escaped from the yard, and my toast almost burned down the kitchen while I ran to chase them down. Oops! These dogs have SO much energy!

I thought Shadow would be tired after running 9 + miles yesterday, but he wanted to do it all over again today. I didn't have it in me to repeat that adventure, but did two loops on the dirt road (about 8 miles) to give them (and me!) some great exercise.

The road winds along a beautiful river, to which we scrambled down via one very steep river bank and sat on some rocks for a while getting our feet and mouths wet. I was still feeling some anxiety and tension from the dog chase and burned toast incident. I allowed my feet to soak in the river for a few minutes, feeling the water stream past me and through me, imagining the current taking away any stuck energy within me to a place where it may be transmuted into something positive. The energy will flow wherever it needs to flow, I left that part up to Mother Nature. It felt so naturally calming and cleansing, my toes wiggling, splashing, and simply floating in the water, my hands touching the rock beneath me. I left the river feeling lighter and clearer, ready to ride, with two beautiful dogs at my side (one of who ran the remainder of the road with half a deer leg dangling from his mouth .. a souvenir he was proud of, it seemed.)

Thank you for reading!

Love and Light!
Sofie

First Bike Trip to Vail Village!

                                                                                     

I won't have any recent photos until I receive the new camera
cord I ordered, but this is what I look like riding a bike :)
Crested Butte, CO summer 2012

Today was the first car-free day!

It started around 8 a.m. after about an hour of hitting -snooze- on repeat :) My original plan for the day was to join Nate & Susi on a hike up to Booth Lake in East Vail, but I (thankfully!) followed the nagging feeling I had in the back of my mind to check MindBody (my online schedule of massages) and saw that I was on call.  I hope you guys had a great trip!

I rushed around all morning and left the house at about 8:45 to head to Vail Village. I noticed that I had a lot of energy and my hands where shaking while I tried to adjust my helmet strap. I was anxious in both an excited and nervous way. I am SO used to being VERY lazy and taking the lazy half-assed, rushing at the end approach to getting things done and going places, but I noticed some apprehension of leaving my front porch and the 'safe zone' of my home. I just wanted to GET THERE and be at my destination already, and had to re-mind myself to enjoy the present moments along the journey.

I adjusted my helmet and bike seat to a comfortable position, thankful for how smoothly everything was functioning after the wonderful and accommodating gentlemen at SSV in Lionshead Village brought the brakes, front tire, and pedals back to a functioning level. Thanks guys! The morning was brisk,  and I was cutting sharply through the morning breeze heading out of Minturn, grateful for the clear blue sky and sunshine warming my back. I'm glad I also remembered a scarf! I noticed how quickly I was feeling out of breath riding up hills and remembered the mantra of -slow down, take a break- often, greeting the downhill slopes with relief.

On the car ride back from Moab, Utah
April 2012
Left: Moon  Right: Shadow

My ride took me along the winding Eagle River through valleys so beautiful, even the morning bustle of the I-70 interstate could not take away from my bliss. I felt compelled to soak in the green lushness of my surroundings with frequent rests at look-out points and some much needed morning stretches. My backpack was filled with a few books, laptop, and food for the day, and the ol' neck n' shoulders where definitely calling out for some love about halfway through the ride.

A few bikers wizzed past me so fast that I began to question how safe it was going to be to bring my dogs along for the next trip. There are only two ways to get to Vail from Minturn - one is by car via I-70 and the other is along the bike path until I reach West Vail. Im going to try Moon (my Chihuahua/Min Pin mix) in an open-ish backpack until I find a front end basket that he can burrow in. Shadow, (a former sled dog husky who's gait, at nine years old, easily overtakes mine even on a bike), and I will have to practice a side-by-side position with a leash for a while, until he learns to stay on the right side of the bike path for the safety of everyone involved :)

I was surprised at how quickly I arrived at Intermountain in West Vail, but was ready to give my legs and lungs a break so I snapped a few photos of my bike and some trees while I waited for the next bus to scoop me up :) I had never used the bike rack before, so the bus driver's helpfulness and eagerness to show me how to mount my bicycle was greatly appreciated!

I was the only passenger for a while, feeling energized and happy to have caught a bus that greeted my ears with amazing music the second I stepped on. It was when others started to board at later stops that I noticed my psyche re-acting in ways that are less-than helpful for my well being. I began to feel uncomfortable and tense when a very beautiful man and woman sat immediately across from me, and had to re-mind myself over and over again to unclench my jaw and shoulders, and to open up my heart. (To the beautiful people and myself - also a beautiful person, that doesn't always believe this is true.) It seems like I am still very tightly holding on to false belief systems of not being attractive enough, especially since cutting my hair short again and ceasing to obsess over the few extra pounds I still carry around.  I sat back, closed my eyes and began to breath in relaxation and breath out the limiting stories my aunt Ninnie brain was adamantly pushing forward into my conscious stream of thought.   On the still nearly empty bus, I sat with soft eyelids for the remainder of the ride, absorbing my current state of listening and being open to whatever thoughts came up, soaking in the bluegrass tunes that seemed to dance straight out of the mountains themselves.

After a day spent hanging out at Starbucks, working on the blog, and compiling jammin' music playlists, I hopped back on my bike, and rode all the way home to two very excited puppies VERY ready to go outside and play :)

Thank you for reading <3 Here are some wise words from a very kind man.

"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness."
-Dalai Lama




Love and Blessings,
Sofie

Is It Jet Lag? And why am I not surprised....?

The past few nights I have been staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning ... and waking up around noon. Is it jet lag? Have I been staying up all night pooping around on the internet, making up for all the LOLCATS I may have missed out on while on my "internet cleanse" in Hawaii? (I didn't bring my laptop on my six week vacation and only used the internet occasionally to check e-mails and facebook.)

Today was supposed to be my first bike ride from Minturn to Vail, but when I saw the clock at nearly 4 a.m. and I was still in the middle of researching "Inception Movie Explained" (yeah...) I knew that I would not wake up early enough to be in town by 11 a.m.

I would like to see my sleep schedule return to: being in bed early (8.pm. - 10 p.m.), and also rising early, with abundant creative energies flowing through out the day. It seems like I have wonderful ideas right before I am going to bed though, and am quite lazy during the day. I am visualizing that shifting NOW!

I drove (illegally :/ ) to Vail Village today and am currently sitting at Starbucks using their free interwebs.

I have already spend around $20 on gasoline since I have been back in Vail and my "tank empty" light is currently shining. My goal is not to fill it up again.

From my home to my work it is about 9.5 miles on the bike path, about an hour long bike ride, Google predicts. I live in the Rocky Mountains so the path winds uphill, as well as down. It will probably take me much longer my first few times; I want to leave at least 3 hours before I have to be at work so that I have time to shower beforehand. There is also an option of biking to West Vail, hopping on the bus that leaves from Intermountain to Vail Village, which cuts my trip down to 4.2 miles instead of 9.5. I think I'll start with that :)

Blessings, Positivity, and Love!
SK

Goodbye White Bird and Mahalo for your Kokua (Thank You for your Cooperation)

On the road for a summer in Crested Butte, CO

My car is probably my second highest expense. It gets OK gas mileage at about 20-25 miles to the gallon, but also requires yearly state registration (about $60), monthly insurance payments (mine are $110 a month), and repairs .. more of them if you drive like a dummy like I do ...

I didn't notice I had a flat tire until this happened..

Tire damage: one of the minor things that I have put this Bird through; dirt roads are harsh on wheels but they sho' are purty and usually bring you to really majestic places. Unless they don't .. and you end up at some hillbilly ranch in the middle of no where and things start to get real weird real fast .... but I digress.


Maybe you noticed that beautiful second pair of wheels I tote around on the back of this gas guzzling beauty. I am making it a point this summer to use exclusively my bicycle, feet, hitch hiking, ride sharing, and free bus services for transportation. Currently the car is unregistered, un-insured, so I would have to be a certified ding dong to keep driving it around. (I am using it today and tomorrow to pick up my dogs and a spare bike tire tube and hoping for no police intervention.) For now I am not going to sell my car because God knows I have said that I was going to do many things in the past, and then later given up.

I am excited to explore the Vail Valley on leg-powered wheels and cut out a huge expense out of my lifestyle right from the beginning.

Update on my first bike ride from Minturn to Vail soon to come :)

With love and abundance,
SK

Welcome to the Freely Living blog!

Welcome Friend!
Did you know that you are a truly amazing human being who is capable of living a spectacular life? So what is stopping you? 

Me, Adventuring in the Holy Cross National Forest near Vail, CO in 2010

The Freely Living Blog aims to re-claim our innate freedom, energy, and desire to live the life we LOVE and dream of.

"If the world is to be healed through human efforts, I am convinced it will be by ordinary people, people whose love for this life is even greater than their fear. " - Joanna Macy

How do we do that?

Freely Living aims to be a lifestyle blog following my journey as I attempts to use resourceful creativity to utilize a wide spectrum of modalities to live more freely.

Reducing, re-using, re-cycling, DIY-ing, bartering, foraging, hitch-hiking, and employing strategies of Freeganism to live with more financial freedom.

"Earth provides enough to sustain every man's need, but not every man's greed." Ghandi

Practicing yoga, meditation, self-help techniques, spirituality, mindfulness, and letting go of belief systems that no longer serve me to live with more mental and emotional freedom. Freely Thinking, exploring, and questioning.

Finding health, vitality, and flexibility in a more physically free body through nutrition and exercise :)

Freely sharing information openly, without reservation or fear of judgement.

Freely allowing myself to engage in the present moment.

Freely giving and freely receiving.

Freely giving and receiving love and support wherever and whenever it is needed.

"Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking; where it is absent, discussion is apt to become worse than useless." - Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoi - (1828-1910) Russian writer Source: On Life and Essays on Religion 

It is my intention that other people who are also interested in Freely Living, sustainably, and with great passion toward the life they choose to live will learn from this blog and offer me helpful tips and support along the way :)
Check out the different sections of this blog to see how I am manifesting Freely Living on all levels of my life! You may sometimes find the same post in more than one section since I write in a free flowing style that tends to touch on a variety of subjects throughout one stream of thought / post. 

                <<<<Eagle County Residents and Visitors!!! >>>>
Check out the Vail Valley Free Community Events page and Like! the associated Facebook Page to get updates about awesome, fun, and (mostly) FREE events, services, and community projects! 


Thank You for stopping by! Leave any comments, questions, or feedback you have :) Subscribe to this blog if you feel like it could be of service to you on your journey, and add me as a friend on Facebook. I am sure we will learn a lot from each other! Namaste.

                                A Personal Affirmation and Intention
Soon to come...

Bunches of bananas grown and harvested on property at
Hedonisia  Eco-Hostel and Rainforest Retreat on the Big Island of Hawaii
where I volunteered for six weeks in the spring of 2012.
Cant get more local or Freely-Living than that!
Check out Hedonisia Hawaii !