Virtual Poetry Reading with Poetry of Yoga Project, Sianna Sherman, David Newman and Dave Stringer
by Jessica Durivage-Kerridge | May 12, 2016 | Live Events, Women's Conference |
If Where is My Guru is about anything, it’s about community and bringing people together for the very best of reasons. One of our favorite community builders out there is HawaH Kasat, founder of The Poetry of Yoga Project, a two volume anthology of poems submitted by yogis from all over the world. The books have quickly become a staple on any spiritual book shelf to induce bliss at sunrise, sunset or at the end of any savasana.
April was National Poetry month and the stars aligned for a very special virtual poetry reading to happen right in the main hall of Where is My Guru’s digital temple. As we remembered the life of the recent passing of Prince through lyric and prose, HawaH caught up with a few of his Poetry of Yoga contributors and friends.
We were joined by David Newman aka Durga Das, Sianna Sherman and Dave Stringer with their offerings of love and devotion through word and song.
Watch our online yoga party below. 🙂
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Connect with HawaH at Poetry of Yoga or with his amazing non-profit, One Common Unity.
Join Sianna Sherman this summer right here at Where is My Guru for the Sex, God & Yoga Conference. Learn more here.
by Jessica Durivage-Kerridge | Apr 10, 2016 | Events, God & Yoga, Podcast, Soul School, Spirituality, Uncategorized, Women's Conference |
Where is My Guru’s Jessica Durivage sat down for a literal “other side of the world” skype interview with Emma Mildon, author of The Soul Searchers Handbook. New Zealand native, avid surfer, lover of all things that tickle and awaken the third eye AND even more passionate about sharing the tools in her toolbox with others so they can live a curious and inspired life.
Watch the interview !
Learn more about Emma, get her book and connect with her myriad resources on her fabulous website to keep reminding your soul of it’s job to wake up and know itself. Thank you for all you do, Emma! We love you!
Get more Emma this summer as Emma is part of our Sex, God & Yoga online women’s conference. Sign up to get more information here!
by Jessica Durivage-Kerridge | Mar 18, 2016 | Slow Living, Soul School, Wellness |
Check out this interview with our resident feel good guru, Moira Nordholt. She heads up our virtual vegan kitchen and creates 21-day feel good fast experiences to take your tastebuds and your knowledge of what it means to feel lean, cook green and reconnect to a healthy and sustainable lifestyle!
Want to get cleansed but don’t know where to turn? Some tips from an expert!
Ideally, all we’d ever have to do is focus on eating healthy, exercising our bodies and minds, and thinking happy, healthy thoughts. With summer right around the corner, now’s a great time to lighten up, break some bad habits, and kick-start a new routine, but incorporating change can seem overwhelming when there are little things called “work,” “family,” and “needing to do 800 things in the next five minutes thank you very much” in our lives. Enter the online cleanse. In the new world of digital everything, the spa comes right to your screen with tips, recipes, and support. VN talked with healthy-living guru Moira Nordholt about an online 21-day cleanse that she’ll be supervising.
VegNews: Is it important for everyone to do a cleanse?
Moira Nordholt: Yes. No matter how healthy we think we are, we can always go a step further toward impeccable health. We’re living in a toxic world. Almost everything we inhale, ingest, and absorb contaminates our body. But the awesome thing about our body is that it’s self-healing. When given an opportunity, it will perform miracles.
VN: What kinds of foods should one eliminate when on a cleanse?
MN: All fast food, fried food, processed food, packaged food, most restaurant food, meat, wheat, dairy, coffee, sugar, white flour, white table salt, any refined sugars—like corn syrup—alcohol, tobacco and recreational drugs, anything that irritates or inflames, of course, anything that’s been proven to be an allergen to you, soda pop, hydrogenated and saturated fats, empty calories like chips and crackers, anything with more that one or two ingredients listed on the can, ans basically anything refined beyond recognition as a whole seed, nut, grain, or plant.
VN: What foods will you feature throughout the cleanse?
MN: I’ll be featuring super, simple, seasonal, and sustainable foods throughout the 21 days. “Super” are foods recognized to have awesome healing benefits to the body, like garlic, ginger, pumpkin seeds, tomatoes, walnuts, spinach, kale, hemp, shiitakes, sea vegetables, and miso. “Simple” are everyday fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and seeds you can find in their whole form at your local farmers’ market or health food store. “Seasonal” is what’s available in North America right now. “Sustainable” means realistic, down-to-earth preparation that won’t overwhelm or have you spending all day in the kitchen.
VN: How do participants balance their cleanse with their real lives?
MN: This cleanse is designed for people at home who can’t make it to a spa for an intensive cleanse. The way I integrate it into my life is to let everyone around me know I’m doing it (that in itself often inspires others to do it along with me and now I have a support group of friends). I prepare mentally in advance by clearing off my calendar as much as possible and literally booking time for myself as if it’s the highest priority. I refrain from eating in restaurants as much as possible, but of course it’s almost impossible to go three weeks without having to meet someone for lunch or coffee, so I just choose the healthiest restaurant in town. And I don’t beat myself up if I screw up a day.
VN: How have you benefitted from regular cleanses?
MN: Cleansing has become an essential part of my healthy lifestyle. Four times a year, I look forward to preparing food from scratch, spending more time in the kitchen, eating very consciously, pampering myself as if I’m at a really nice detox center. It’s done wonders for me and I’m convinced that when practiced regularly, cleansing can stabilize weight, bring emotions into balance, strengthen your organs, energize your spirit, and jump start your life into new areas you may have once found too challenging.
(first published over at VegNews)
by Jessica Durivage-Kerridge | Mar 14, 2016 | Mindful Living, Slow Living, Soul School, Spirituality, Uncategorized, Wellness, Women's Conference |
Remember when you were in elementary school and every day of the week had a selected elective or theme where you’d get a break from class with? For instance: Monday was P.E., Tuesday was art, Wednesday was computer class, Thursday was Language, and Friday was Music. Well that’s pretty much was Jack Dorsey’s secret to success in running two companies at the same time!
Now it’s not exactly like the former elementary schedule, but the concept is pretty genius. Taking two different businesses, the same business foundational pillars were compartmentalized as the focus in a single day structure. This allowed him to work across the board with both businesses.
What if we took themed days to help us out on our spiritual growth?
We DO run two different ‘businesses’ every single day. We run our personal lives and our business lives. We merge it and internalize everything in our bodies and minds. So we have our business model, where is our spiritual one?
There are a number of things you have to do everyday that you could delegate in a business that you can’t in your personal life. Start somewhere and realized there is a need to make realistic commitments. You want to have the most efficiency and fun in your week. Think of this themed week as an brainstorm to help you make your week the most positive and productive for you!
Take away and always remember – Food is fuel. Sleep is recovery. The pulses and pauses are the beating heart of our life and business. Enjoy and cherish all these little moments, so that you love the big picture.
Designed by: Crystal Lynn Eaddy
by Jessica Durivage-Kerridge | Feb 18, 2016 | Mindful Living, Soul School, Spirituality |
There’s a storm.
Lightning strikes in the distance. It begins to creep closer. Rain neither here nor there, but close, so very close. The sky’s greyness begins touching everything. It’s diluting the colors until their saturation goes into only black and white. It begins to get darker, and then you realize that it’s all in your mind. Only a vivid description of how it feels to be hurting, to be stressed, to be in the divide of the mind and body.
Some of the prettiest pictures started in black and white. It wasn’t until later that the artist added color and textures. It it in those times that we truly find ourselves. Some of our storms are blessings in disguise. Storms are naturally occurring after all. Maybe they are present to make a cleared mat so that something else can be built on it. It is usually during these times that we start seeking and asking questions about what speaks to us. We ask ourselves if everything was stripped from us tomorrow, what would still help get us out of bed every morning?
Maybe you never asked yourself this? When it hits you, it is like a bag of bricks in a hot yoga class. It creates a desire for you to began researching because there is a longing for devotion.
At WIMG you can find a variety of devotees living their truths. Whether that be subscribing to Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Paganism, they all are here striving for inner connection of the highest love song and they have a love of devotion. The way they accomplish their spiritual goals depends on who you talk to. It might be yoga, it might be meditation, it could be self-study and reading, or it could be basking in the moonlight. One thing is certain, though, you would catch them all singing in the shower!
We all love music, it’s amazing how it brings everyone together regardless of chosen disciplines. It is a powerful gift,
“Music that creates bridges. Music that unites hearts and cultures. Ultimately, it’s music that brings peace.”
If math is the universal language, is it possible music is the native tongue?
If you’re in a dark place in your life, or perhaps the lights have dimmed, then think of this as all of WIMG, their teachers, and their students standing in front of you… Then one of them tosses you a flashlight. It’s your life, it’s your journey, you’ll have to find the next set of batteries.
We all are exploring our life paths. Whether you’re wanting to Feel Good Fast, are looking for Bhakti Awakening, are hoping to , there is a place for you. While you’re looking for your inspiration, remember: it is always darkest before the dawn, but look at the darkness only as a time to give you rest before “finally opening up to love.”
We’ll see you there!
by Jessica Durivage-Kerridge | Nov 19, 2015 | Uncategorized |
I’ve been accused (more than once) of giving away the farm.
Whether it was business advice, personal time, working for free or less than what I should have been paid – you name it. It was never my intention to work for free. It was just, well… time and time again I would find myself in a place where what I was giving was not lining up with what I was receiving. While I knew that there was some sort of imbalance there, I could not quite put my finger on it, and so the cycle and pattern continued on for many years. My own personal projects and family priorities were what kept ending up on the back burner – and while I loved helping people out, giving the “friend” discount for my services and offering my gifts and talents for free – it was eating up my self worth and creating a distorted view of how I was valued by myself and others.
I wanted to shift this pattern. I NEEDED to shift this pattern. For not only the sake of my mortgage but also my marriage and the future of my own dreams and desires.
I began in internal process of investigating WHY I felt the need to give my services away without expecting anything in return. Well, right there (without expecting anything in return) was a big “aha!” moment for me. I was taking a spiritual principle about non-attachment and manipulating it so I could use it against myself. Beneath this idea of “working for free” was a deeply embedded belief that I was “not worthy.” Hmmm. That was pretty darn interesting. I began to quietly invite this feeling of “not being worthy” into my meditation practice, into conversations with my husband about bills. I began to notice how much resistance I had around “feeling valued.” This practice of “just noticing” turned up opportunities to dig a little deeper and ask more questions.
What was my intention around giving myself away like this?
The answer that kept showing up over and over again was “a desire to serve.” I wanted to make myself available to be of service to my community and show up to help in whatever ways I could offer. That beneath all of it, I felt that my life was a gift and that by God’s Grace, I have been blessed. Now, I felt as if it was my turn to give back.
OK! Another “aha” moment! The desire I felt was “to serve.” And serving my friends and the community was great and wonderful – but when my own family and my personal relationships suffered because it it, I realized that maybe all I needed to do was some soul searching around re-prioritizing what was truly important to me and where I wanted to be of service. So, I made a list of the top three important things in my life:
1. Family
2. Spiritual Practice
3. Writing
Interesting.
I then made another list of where I felt I need to create value and understand my worth so that I could “serve” what was important to me (are you still with me?):
1. My Social Media Business
2. Teaching/Speaking Career
3. Collaborative & creative endeavors
Another aha moment! It seemed as if my two lists were a bit backwards. I was placing more importance on my external world rather than my internal world. Seem familiar?
Being able to name what was most important to me and go back to it everyday has slowly started to reshape my self worth and how I view myself. When I am able to properly apply the principle of “giving without expecting anything in return” in the areas of my life that are most important to me, I find that I do get back way more in return than I ever anticipated. When I move back into the world, where it is important to me to feel valued, I am more aligned with negotiating my needs. If what the world is offering does not serve what is most important to me, then it is not the right fit.
I am (this is) a daily work in progress.
I have lots of moments where I feel I could so easily slip back into my old habits and patterns. I want to be able to lend a helping hand. I want to give back. I want to support my community and those around me. I am redefining my definition of service. Perhaps today it is sending a good thought, or sharing a compliment. Or simply choosing, in my own self, to do what is most important to be so I can show up as a brighter light for those around me.
Three Habits of a Lifelong Learner
by Jessica Durivage-Kerridge | Nov 13, 2015 | Uncategorized |
We have a mantra here at Where is My Guru – #neverstoplearning. Whether you are learning from others or from your own life experience, the opportunity to gain wisdom and knowledge is always at our fingertips.
When we are young, the whole world is our oyster. There is something brand new and shiny around every corner. As we get older, something starts to happen to our passion for learning – and often times fear or failure and disappoint replaces that burning passion to continue to expand our minds and hearts. (more…)
Let’s have Dinner and Talk About Drugs
by Jessica Durivage-Kerridge | Nov 8, 2015 | Uncategorized, Women's Conference |
Our founder, Jessica Durivage, was beyond thrilled to interview WIMG course facilitator for Mantra Yoga + Health’s latest issue. Angel is a part of two incredibly special projects that are bringing thousands of people together around the dinner table, literally, to talk about what some may say are touchy and taboo topics in our society – Death and Drugs. Let’s Have Dinner and Talk About Death and Drugs Over Dinner were created to initiate compassionate, meaningful and much needed conversation around sensitive topics that so badly need our societies attention.
Here is an expert from the the interview:
Change starts with conversation. Millions of conversations take place every day while sitting at dinner tables around the world. What if we got passionate about creating meaningful dinner conversation with the goal to inspire change? That is exactly what Angel Grant, co-founder of Drugs Over Dinner (DOD), is doing. Her goal is to inspire one million people over the next year to gather together and have compassionate conversations about drugs and addiction.
Jessica Durivage-Kerridge: Many individuals find themselves on the spiritual path spurred by their own recovery from addiction. Why do you think this is?
Angel Grant: We take drugs because we want to feel a sense of connection, and we seek God for the same reason. The search, no matter where it’s directed—divine union or cocaine—begins with pain that comes from believing you’re separate from love. The key is using spiritual practice to turn inward, toward awareness, which is what we actually are.
Pick up a copy of Mantra Yoga + Health at any of these locations to read the full interview!
Angel is teaching “How do YOU do Conflict?” spring 2016 – for more information about when course registration opens, sign up for our newsletter .
by Jessica Durivage-Kerridge | Oct 28, 2015 | Uncategorized, Women's Conference |
Have you ever even ASKED yourself that question?
When you address yourself, when you look in the mirror and converse with the person gazing back at you — what is the tone of your voice? What kinds of words do you use? How do you navigate conversations with yourself as you move about your day? (more…)
