Soul and Surfin'

Yesterday I surfed and hung with my buddy Tony who I met in Sri Lanka this year. Though I am a die-hard logger, only riding boards 9' and bigger, I have Tonys 5'6" biscuit.l a go and I loved it (but don't tell anyone). In the evening the two of us headed to south Hollywood and boogied down to Orgone at The Rocy with my friend Marina, whom I met last year in Sri Lanka. It was a full blown dance party reunion. Let the good times roll...

6 Week Series....

I'm super excited about the two 6-week series that I will be leading in New Jersey this summer. There will be a YIN YOGA series at Grace and Glory yoga in Northfield, and a DEVIS & DHARMA series at Dragonfly Yoga in Clermont!! Reserve your spot today!!

Slowly heading South...

I'm slowly making my way south. Well...kinda. I left Jamie's and went to Sarah and Kenny's house. Sarah is the esthetician that does the yoga retreats with me and she is ammmmazing. I love, love, love her. So it was great to be able to hang out with her without any obligations to clients. She waxed me, rubbed me and scrubbed me and I left feeling physically and spiritually lighter and more radiant. In the morning I said goodbye and met up with my lifelong friend, Andy (aka AJW or Andrew Welker). He's added an 8th office now to his real estate empire, and this ones in Cali, so here he is. We had a perfect day. We started with a delicious breakfast, then had some time in the office (which I was so grateful for and got so much done!), then ventured out for a wheatgrass shot and a fresh juice before doing a bit more work. In the evening we ate at the BEST seafood spot that I've ever been to in Cali, and topped it off with a sunset walk along the pier, indulging in a chocolate covered banana. Yum. I said goodbye, hopped back into the car (that Sarah and Kenny have so generously lent me) and now I'm back at JamieD's. Tomorrow I meet up with an old friend, Thoralf, a German surfer whom I met years and years ago in Costa Rica and who I haven't seen since then! Let the social rendezvous continue....!

Jammmmz

JamDizzle (aka Jammie, JamD, Jamie D'Arc) and I have been friends for a long ass time now. She's one of the tired and true...my "ride or die bitch" bahaha. We have surfed waves all over Central America together, laughed so hard we have wet our pants, shared a few heavy life experiences and enjoyed many a meal together. She's a straight educated-ratchet-gangsta-hood-rat. She's the one responsible for turning me onto HipHop music and she continues educating me to this day. Yesterday we did an epic hike and nourished ourselves with the most delightful breakfast at Beachwood Cafe (almond milk latte, braised kale topped with poached eggs and Harissa, and BACON) before retiring ourselves to a friends roof where we soaked up some sun, sipped Hennessey and listened to HipHop. We always pick up exactly where we left off, and the laughter never stops. Whether we are sliding waves or sipping coffee,whether we are on the east coast or west coast- my time with Jammie is always cherished as a most heart-filling, nourishing laugh-fest. We keep it light, but that's because it runs so deep. Much love for my soul sista who keeps me in check. Holla.

Cleansing...and not.

I went off of my cleanse and drank too much last night at sushi dinner with my Auntie D and her best friend Jim. Then this morning Jim made us a most decadent, un-candida-friendly and incredibly delicious breakfast! That was followed up by mani-pedis, lounging on the couch, watching game of thrones, a yoga class and a dinner out for MEAT. Oh yeah, then champagne. I'm going to candida hell, but I'm savoring it for today. Ah, back in the USA.

Bye Bye Baja

I'm teaching class early tomorrow am and then we are having breakfast, packing the car, and we're off! I'll be arriving in Los Angeles, California just in time for dinner. Baja has been an absolute BLAST, and the laughter has been non-stop. I'm so grateful for another adventure and I'm excited for all that Cali has in store for this month ahead!

I got a big dick!

I love teaching yoga, and I love HipHop...I especially love combining the two. The other day we threw down a full-power vinyasa under the incredibly hot Mexican sun. We were shouting and laughing, twerking and "holla'ing" and just having a hell of a good time. At one point in the vinyasa I told everyone to channel their inner gangsta and as they moved into a backbend to shout some hip-hop-holla-bullshit-nonsense. For some reason, "I GOT A BIG DICK!!" came out of my mouth! Bahahaha. We all erupted in laughter. Earlier in the day I had been feeling a bit defeated, but the flow and the tunes pumped me up and I felt empowered once again-- and apparently, if I was some badass hip hopper, I felt that that was something that would come out of my mouth. I have never laughed so hard in a HipHop class before, and I was grateful for the ludicrous, totally ridiculous, incredibly sweaty and intense flow.


Cailin Callahan
www.cailincallahan.blogspot.com

Radiance Sutras

Drop the thought,
"I am this body,"
Abandon the limitation,
"I am only here in this specific place and time."

Embrace instead,
I am not my body.
I am not this place.
I am not this time.
There is no place.
There is no time.

Realize,
I am everywhere,
Sustained by infinite bliss.

Soul Exploration

Just met with the owner of Baja Zen, where we will be hosting Golden Buddha Yogas first INTERNATIONAL TEACHER TRAINING and SOUL EXPLORATION! I am so grateful to have Sarra Kaufman and Pepper Monroe on board, with the three of us offering up a beautiful, dynamic soul immersion in a most breathtaking location! Check out my website for more details, or send me a message with any questions or inquiries.

Devis and Dharma

Sign up now to save your spot for my six week DEVIS AND DHARMA series at Dragonfly Yoga studio in Clermont (offshore, between sea isle and Avalon). It's filling up fast and there's only a few spots left!! Go to www.dragonflywellnessnj.com to sign up (under their "workshops" tab).

Ugly Duckling

Clarissa Pinkola Estes is amazing. Her book "Women Who Run With the Wolves" has been one that I open every single day, because every morning it has a powerful message for me. This collection of short stories is great because Estes then spends pages and pages and pages diving deeper into the meaning of the story and helping us to understand on a higher level. Yesterday I read the "Ugly Duckling" story, and so much of it hit home with me. Being bullied in high school was traumatizing at the time, but upon reflection I realize it was one of the greatest things that ever happened to me -- because that's when my search began....when I stopped trying to "fit in" and instead started to look for my spiritual family. I'll share {Estes writes}...

"The core meanings we are concerned with are these: The duckling of the story is symbolic of the WILD NATURE, which, when pressed into circumstances of little nurture, instinctively strives to continue no matter what. The wild nature instinctively holds on and holds out, sometimes with style, other times with little grace, but holds on nevertheless. And thank goodness for that. For the wildish woman, duration is one of her greatest strengths.

The other important aspect of the story is that when an individual's particular kind of soulfulness, which is both an instinctual and a spiritual identity, is surrounded by psychic acknowledgment and acceptance, that person feels like and power as never before. Ascertaining one's own psychic family brings a person vitality and belongingness.

The ugly duckling goes from pillar to post trying to find a place to be at rest. While the instinct about exactly where to go may not be fully developed, the instinct to rove until one finds what one needs is well intact.

If you have attempted to fit whatever mold and failed to do so, you are probably lucky. You may be an exile of some sort, but you have sheltered your soul. There is an odd phenomenon that occurs when one keeps trying to fit and fails. Even though the outcast is driven away, she is at the same time driven right into the arms of her psychic and true kin, whether these be a course of study, an art form, or a group of people. It is worse to stay where one does not belong at all than to wander about lost for a while and looking for the psychic and soulful kindship one requires. It is never a mistake to search for what one requires. Never.

One is being made strong by this exile. While this situation is not one we would wish on anyone for any reason, its effect is similar to pure natural carbon under pressure producing diamonds- it leads eventually to a profound magnitude and clarity of psyche. It takes out weakness by the pounding. It removes whininess, enables acute insight, heightens intuition, grants the power of keen observation and perspective that the "insider" can never achieve. The wild psyche can endure exile. It makes a woman go on looking, and if she cannot find the culture that encourages her, then she usually decides to construct one herself. And that is good, for if she builds it, others who have been looking for a long time will mysteriously arrive one day enthusiastically proclaiming that they have been looking for this all along. "

With that said, I am soooo looking forward to being reunited with the community that has been created in South Jersey!!! I will be posting my schedule for this summer later this week and I cannot wait to see you all!!!!!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles!

It all began on the 15th...I left the east coast of Sri Lanka at 7pm, packed into a taxi with Brian and Lindsay, headed to the south coast. Six hours later we dropped them off in midigama and then continued around and up the coast to the airport in Colombo. It took 3 hours and we stopped twice for tea. At 3am we arrived and I had 3 hours until my flight. At 6am we flew from Colombo to neighboring India, landing in Mumbai at breakfast time. I had a 16.5hr layover so I hopped a cab to the 5-star Hyatt Regency and treated myself to a day at their pool, doing yoga in the gym, getting a massage and enjoying some DELICIOUS FOOD. Back to airport, back through security lines and waiting by the gate. Then began my SIXTEEN HOUR flight to Newark, New Jersey. I couldn't sleep so I wrote up business plans, read, drafted emails, watched movies, and rocked out to tunes. Then there was a three hour layover in Newark. I was delirious and hungry, so I cheated and had a toasted bagel with cream cheese. God almighty it was delicious. Back on my flight, an hour on the runway, then a 6 hour flight to Cabo, Mexico. This flight was bullshit- no movies, no food-- just some overpriced "snack boxes", which I bought because I'm a sucker for almond butter. I arrived in Mexico, and then stood in more immigration lines and checkpoints. "Uncle Chuckles (Nina's uncle) picked me up and then it was about 2 hours drive to Todos Santos...the ultimate destination. We stopped off once to eat pastoras...a blog to follow later because they were the most goddamn delicious things in the whole world. When we got to chucks ammmmmmmazing home, he set me up in my private casita where I crashed for an hour before dinner time. I don't think that I was speaking English during dinner, and I'm pretty sure that I was crosseyed from delirium, but three days in transit and IVE ARRIVED.

Reduce Reuse Recycle...!

Hooray! Tea, please! United Airways is finally starting to get things right! I have always hated ordering tea because they use styrofoam. And to make it even worse they waste a plastic cup to put your stirrer and packet of sugar in. So much waste. I hate it! I always hold onto my plastic cup and my styrofoam cup throughout the flight despite the stewardesses attempts to take it. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. And now, United has recyclable Eco-friendly tea cups!! The general population is starting to care, (I hope)!!! Most of us are so disconnected from our waste and our impact on the environment, but I feel like I am face to face with it living in third world countries. Everyone talks about how dirty India is...there is trash EVERYWHERE. They look at it in disgust and I want to shake these people- because in the East we produce far more garbage- we are just rich enough to have someone remove it from our sight. But I assure you- your garbage doesn't just "vanish". Plastic is plastic, whether it's in the US or in Asia...and unfortunately, plastic doesn't do much good for our environment.

It was the Sinhalese/Tamil New Year the other day, so the beach was swarmed by local tourists playing in the sea and enjoying themselves. They left garbage everywhere, which of course ends up in the ocean, in addition to just being an eyesore along the beach. Part of me forgives this laziness, because it's a lack of education. But I notice the same thing happens in the States- and that is completely inexcusable. But moving past the obvious [picking up your shit and putting it in the rubbish bin], I am challenging you to HONESTLY look at your consumption. Are you doing your best to consume just what you need? Are you making your best effort to compost, recycle and reduce general garbage? Do you reach for a plastic water bottle everyday, use a roll of paper towels to clean the kitchen- and speaking of cleaning, are you still that outdated that you are using chemicals to clean?!? There are endless websites that are incredibly informative about homemade, all natural ways to clean your home with ingredients as simple (and as cheap) as vinegar and baking soda. It use to only happen every once and a while- but now, I regularly have to stop myself so I can attempt to wrap my head around the magnificence of this world around me, and of my existence within it. The fact that a flower blooms...that it just knows how to unfold into a flower from a seed. The INTELLIGENCE of the Universe that pulses through all of us. Stop being so jaded and take a moment to appreciate this miracle of being able to wake up every morning and breathe. Every day is as beautiful as you open your eyes and allow it to be. So picking up your fucking garbage, make a commitment to the "practice" of admiring the miraculous beauty around you and within you, and try your hardest to give a shit about where and how your consumption is affecting everything around you. I was made much more aware of how much garbage I create when I was face to face with it in Asia-- it's my job to burn the plastic bottles I used, the plastic bags that I used because I was too lazy to bring my reusable bags....Maybe make a commitment to just one week of tracking your garbage: every receipt, plastic fork, and napkin. And then watch "HOME" on YouTube, and acknowledge the most fascinating miracle that is here and now. Let's preserve it for a bit longer...

Wow. That was my (recyclable Eco-friendly cupped) Tea-fueled tree-hugging rant! In summary: we were gifted a most beautiful planet that provides us with abundance and nourishment, the least that we can do is respect that and keep her clean.

A LOVER WHO WANTS HIS LOVERS NEAR : Rabia

"He is
sweet that way,
trying to coax the world to dance.

Look how the wind holds the trees in its hands
helping them to
sway.

Look how the sky takes the fields and the
oceans
and our bodies in its arms, and moves
all beings toward
His lips.

God must get hungry for us; why is He not also
a lover who wants His lovers
near?

Beauty
is my teacher
helping me to know He
cares for
me."


Cailin Callahan
www.cailincallahan.blogspot.com

Buffed and Beautiful.

Well, god dang. Sometimes you don't know how dirty you are until you've had a good scrub. I was sad to say "See you later" to Sri Lanka, but there are only exciting things ahead, and I'll be back 'home' in a few short months. So I wiped my tears, put on my big-girl-panties and got on the damn airplane. A short flight later I was in Mumbai for my *****16 HOUR LAYOVER*****. F*^% me. Thankfully I now have a ten year visa for India, so I was able to leave the airport and hop a cab around the corner to the luxury, five-star Hyatt Regency Hotel. For 6300 Indian rupees (about $100usd) you can purchase a package that includes

-60minute massage

-dinner

-airport transfer

-use of the pool, spa, and gym

-wifi

And a few other epic amenities. 

I haven't had a massage in forever, and after all of the surfing and long taxi rides, my body was READY! I slept for a few hours by the pool, and then spent a few hours (literally) moving from the sauna to the cold plunge, the steam room to the cold plunge, the whirlpool to the cold plunge...and then back again. I usually try to limit my towel usage whenever I'm at hotels, because I hate how all of their excessive washing wastes water and hurts the environment, but I was so filthy that I actually needed multiple towels and washcloths. As the heat of the sauna and steam room opened up my pores, they also helped to loosen the dirt and toxins have been all over my body. So I scrubbed, and scrubbed and scrubbed. I took a proper shower with SHAMPOO and CONDITIONER....and I even combed my hair!!!!! I just ate the most exotic, delicious fruit platter (and also one of the most expensive), and in between bites of stone fruit and kiwi I would run my hand over my skin and admire how smooth it was. Squeaky clean, fully satisfied, and ready for the adventures that are up ahead! 

Lanka Love.

This love is insatiable. It's never enough, and I always leave wanting more. Every day there is a new discovery, something magical being revealed, which adds depth to my growing devotion to this beautiful country. My love affair with Sri Lanka continues to evolve, as I fall under her spell, intoxicated by the bright green of the jungle, the intense heat of the suns rays, and the perfect, powerful, peeling waves. I feel in tune with the days here... the setting suns and rising moons. The simple days in this majestic Eastern oasis are more nourishing than the most exciting, luxury filled days in the West. I want for nothing when I'm here, only to be in Her presence. To feel a love like this is utterly terrifying. All guards are down, and I've given myself completely. Maybe it will end it heartbreak, but maybe it won't...no matter how it plays out I'm just grateful for each and every moment. And I tell you this, it doesn't come without it's challenges. Some days I fucking hate Sri Lanka! It's ass backwards and greedy and confusing and a real stubborn bitch at times-- but that's part of its magic I suppose, because I keep coming back for more, regardless of any of the struggles.

Every day has brought perfection in its simplicity, and I have had countless encounters that were fueled by incredible, raw love. But, there is a memory from my most recent rendezvous that I'm holding fondly in my heart. On Sunday evening, around half past seven, it rained. Just a light rain, only for a few minutes. The sun-saturated pavement ate up the shower, and the parched wild jungle soaked it up, with all of the bright greens shining a little brighter and standing a bit taller. There was a fresh smell to the heavy air, and though I was walking to meet a friend, I stopped- closed my eyes- and enjoyed a few deep breaths. It's moments like this that mean the most. And this moment I will continue to savor until I'm back, nestled in Her arms.