by Brianna | Jan 15, 2012 | gratitude, Healing
This morning I shopped at the new grocery store (if you live in Baltimore you know exactly which one I mean) and because of that coupled by its oddly suburban feel, I wandered every aisle. Typically I shop the perimeter of the store. I find, for the most part, that is where the real unprocessed food is located. Although I forget for long periods of time that they exist I happen to love Gingersnaps. In fact I have a visceral reaction when I see them. My response to Gingersnaps is not based in my childhood. Instead that feeling evolved from an experience I had living in D.C. This pictures was taken right before I left New Mexico to move to D.C. at 21 For the record my Mother hated my apartment. At 21 I thought she was being ridiculous but in reflection I understand why she hated it so. The main reason for the loathing was based on the fact that the one exit I had was through a security gate that you had to key in and out of. For security sake all of the windows were also barred. Basically if there had been a fire I very easily could have perished. But boy did I ever have fun times in that place. There were no flames but one day in a very real way I did get trapped. I was rushing and raced out my door into the building hallway. I pulled it closed and it locked in place. It was two beats later when I went to key out of the security gate that I realized...
by Brianna | Nov 17, 2011 | gratitude
Every Thanksgiving of my childhood my family traveled from Maine in order to spend time with my Armenian family. Those gatherings were meaningful to me and through them I forged very close bonds with my cousins and many of my elders. It was mainly through those gatherings that I was able to spend time with my Great-grandmother. She was a force at 4’9” and to this day she is my personal hero. She lived until I was 7 and I remember that she had orthopedic shoes, black clothes, and a voice thick with her accent. I also remember that she loved me. I think of her often but at this time of year she looms large in my mind. My inheritance from her is her story and a worn-out apron that I wear whenever I make Armenian food for my family. When the Armenian Genocide started my grandmother was 14. My family at that time was wealthy and my Great-great-grandfather was in the first wave of killings. To help her daughter escape, my Great-great-grandmother lined a dress for her with gold coins. My Great-grandmother, her cousin and a handful of other children, left the next day walking from Armenia. Two years of walking. Many Armenians were marching to their death and my Great-grandmother was moving foot following foot towards hope. In China she boarded a boat and landed in California. She was detained for not being married. Luckily the Armenian network was strong and it was strangers that found her an Armenian man to marry. He was 20 years her senior and lived in Massachusetts. She boarded the train...
by Brianna | Oct 6, 2011 | Affirmations, gratitude, Healing
“It’s as if before you there are countless doorways, all leading to new and different hallways. So you wonder and think, calculate and stress, over whether or not you’ll knock on the “right” one. But what you can’t yet see, Brianna, is that all of the hallways beyond all of the doorways eventually lead to the same great room, in the same great house, with the same great party. So, may as well pick the one you want? Huh?” The Universe I met Mike Dooley, the man behind Notes from The Universe this week. Not to dork out but I was pretty excited to thank him. Mike’s work (his message) has impacted my life in many positive ways and for that I am grateful. Each weekday a personalized note from The Universe arrives (via email) and no matter how busy or rushed I feel, I take that moment and pause to read it. I find that those thirty seconds might gift me with a moment of grace, joy, or even a full mind reset. Past notes have made me experience a gamut of emotions. I have laughed out loud, felt deep gratitude, come to a compassionate understanding, or (like today) been provided with a broader perspective. Sometimes they simply and maybe most importantly just make me feel the love. I have come to expect when I read my morning note, that I am lighter for it. Mike, in all sincerity, I really cannot thank you enough. Oh and by the way it is...
by Brianna | Aug 23, 2011 | Affirmations, gratitude
Cooking was my first passion. Even as a little girl I loved it and cooked on my own, oven involved, before I was five. I couldn’t read but I could cook. If you are cringing at the thought of a five year old on a stool creating recipes out of her head just remember it was the early 80’s and things were different then. Plus my parents were trusting hippies who didn’t want to kill my creativity and therefore gave me free range in their kitchen. Just for the record I never burned anything down. I did however make many inedible and elfin sized things. When people tell me they don’t enjoy cooking it is really hard for me to understand because from my perspective there is so much to enjoy. Plus there are very few things that are as simple to do as cooking. It doesn’t have to be fancy. In fact, simple is best. Did you know that most chefs are known for their least complex dishes? My mom’s best friend Pam was the best cook I have ever known. She would give you the recipe. Tell you exactly what she did but it NEVER tasted the same as when she made it. As a little girl I always thought that the ingredient we were missing was Pam and as the years have rolled by I still feel the exact same way. I wanted to talk today about cooking with intention because I think the intention behind the act is often missed. Whenever I cook, whether it is a simple salad or a complex dish I take...
by Brianna | Mar 24, 2011 | Chanting, gratitude, Healing
Almost twenty years ago, when I was a teenager I became interested in psychic phenomenon. Because of that fascination my Mom arranged an appointment for me with an acclaimed medium. During my session, she said to me, “I don’t understand this but they say you will. They want you to know that: ‘We are all one. It is we who are the universe.’” At that time I really didn’t understand it either but I never forgot it. Although I had been raised Christian, and deeply respected my Reverend, I spent most of my late teens and very early twenties trying on other peoples beliefs like clothing. It is not all that rare after all, I was young and I was seeking. At different times I practiced being: Agnostic, Buddhist, Jewish, Sufi, and Wiccan – to name just a few. Where I landed is a very personal place as all belief is. From my experience if you put two people of any tradition together and ask them to define their belief, you best step back and simply watch those sparks fly. Debating faith, which is literally man’s ability to believe that which he knows not to be true, is fascinating. As years have passed, and my understandings have shifted through both trial and joy, I can summarize my belief like this: “We are all one. It is we who are the universe.” The Lamps are different, But the Light is the same One matter, one energy, one Light, one Light-Mind. ~Rumi This weekend at Charm City Yoga (www.charmcityyoga.com), I am teaching a Yoga Benefit for Japan with Kim Manfredi....
