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Celebrate the festival of changing seasons by gaining tools

to create growth and joy in your life!

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When:   Wed., May 1st, 7:00-8:30 pm

Where:   Storm Wisdom, 3375 E Shea Blvd., Phoenix, Arizona

May Day is a pivot point of the year for many ancient traditions, marking the tide of rebirth and a time to observe with reverence the changing seasons. On this day, the small star group of the Pleiades begins to rise in the Northern Hemisphere, as they are setting in the Southern Hemisphere.

• Please join Robin for an inspirational book signing to celebrate a rebirth in your own life.
• Stories from her transformational journey, humorously told from her book, Do You Think You Will Break?, will help you begin creating something new for yourself.

Certified life coach Robin Patino utilized the power of yoga to transform her life on a two-year journey of healing and self-discovery. She left a 20-year corporate career in Manhattan to live and train as a yoga teacher in the Costa Rican jungle, and walked a 400-mile pilgrimage in Spain on a hip she saved from replacement surgery through a daily Yin yoga practice.

For more information, see the flyer below or email Robin at robin@robinpatino.com.

Few things will put you back in the present moment like a taste of your favorite thing. For me, it is yummy avocado. But what to do when it seems that avocados are no longer in season?

I was confronted with just such a situation last week, when after a day of travel, I needed that creamy green oval of nutrition. As I wandered, searching, around the produce section of my supermarket, I finally spotted an end bin with about six sacks of sadly expired avocados. Amongst them was also a terminally hard green one, not likely ever to ripen.

Pausing briefly to mourn the passing of my avocado desire, I released attachment to it and opened myself to receive something else that would nourish me as much. I rounded the corner, and beheld a special display of organic black beans on sale (also on my list of favorite things) .

Such abundance is available when not attached to the specifics!

But to be unattached to the specifics, you have to get to know yourself and what you need in detail. From that self-knowledge, you can create a list of what best nourishes you. Memorize that list and use it when what you think you want is not available. In this case, limiting yourself to a list of what best serves you does not mean a loss of possibilities. It means being open enough to allow other options to flow in.

“Far from being negative, limitation creates a container that allows energy to build and gel into substance. To manifest, we must be willing to accept limitation.” – Anodea Judith, Wheels of Life

Self-knowledge creates a certain level of specificity that allows us to manifest what is needed. When we are unclear with ourselves about what we need, we cannot produce or attract it – it has no specifications. As an example of being specific, I offer my own list of The Necessities of Life.

We are not limited in our ability to add to our lists as we get to know ourselves better. We can have it all, if we let go of the scarcity mentality that tells us we can´t.

What nourishes you may change over time, so it is important to keep the practices that encourage self-knowledge going even after it has served its initial purpose. Keep your lists updated. The practice is life and life is the journey. Following a path takes you to where you want to go.

And remember that the key to flow described in The Avocado Syndrome is self-mastery, which is enabled by self-knowledge.  The steps described in this series are one way to access those qualities (see Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 and Webinar).

Stay tuned for my next blog series on techniques to increase self-knowledge.

Not all of us are blessed with the ability to drop out of life for a period to focus on answering this question.  Even while living in the press of daily life and its obligations, there are options for gaining the clarity and self-knowledge that will support a happy, healthy and less stressful life.  (See my recent blog, Five Steps for Creating A New Now, for practical advice on how.)

Following are the necessities of life that I developed for myself after a one year sabbatical in Costa Rica. I hope they serve as an inspiration in finding your own!

“So what had I learned about myself and what nurtured and supported me? I spent January 2010 tucked into my family´s cozy beach cottage integrating my experiences and practicing gratitude for all of the beautiful people who crossed my path.

My necessities of life after one year on the jungle path:

• A yoga mat and time to practice
• An uncluttered space
• A deep, hot soaking tub
• A romantic relationship with the right man
• A morning walk in nature
• A home that feels comfortable
• A goal to work towards
• The belief that I am exactly where I need to be
• Peace and privacy, as well as ready access to a like-minded community
• An abundant income

Not so much really, I thought, amazed at the simplicity. It takes concentrated energy to determine what you want. Once expended, however, you can relax, place yourself in circumstances likely to contain what you want, and observe what life presents you until the right situation manifests. Your energy can be focused productively on other areas.”

(Excerpt from Do You Think You Will Break?)

 If you would like some help in starting the process of developing your necessities of life, please sign up below for a free 25 minute mentoring session.

Sign up for free session now:

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In Part 3 of my series on The Avocado Syndrome (see also Screaming Down the Mountain), I explore the fine art of releasing.  When we hold onto events – both pleasant and unpleasant – we are taking up space that could be used for creating something new.  We remain locked in the past, instead of living in the now.  Our energy is focused on holding on, instead of being open to receive.

Over the past few days, I have gone through a major process of releasing the past.  My four month old laptop died on Friday, in a horrific symphony of cycling clicks and whining beeps, combined with a recurring and never ending reboot message on a black DOS screen.  The spinner in the hard drive is defective, I have been told, making all data unrecoverable.  Not to worry, I say to myself, turning to my trusty and reliable external backup drive, only to find that it has also chosen this time to emphatically declare that it was tired of this phase of our journey together.  It released a critical part of its hardware into its interior, making it impossible to access or recover any data.

Can there be a more literal opportunity for me to release the past, I question myself? I face the loss of all of my creative writing, photos, music, business plans, and all the work I have done on my new book.

After several hours in a fetal position weeping (my personal release process), and as many on my mat in Headstand (my personal power pose), I made the conscious choice to be grateful for the Vipassana retreat I have just left.  My time there gave me the tools to view the ever changing experience of life from a place of equanimity.  My dearly departed laptop gives me the opportunity to take my meditation practice off the cushion and into the real world.

When something like this happens, it is our choice whether to suffer greatly over the turn of events and take the “woe-is-me” slide … or, to see it as a sign to create something new with the space that has opened up.

One phase is ending, a new one beginning.  I have a blank page.  I get to choose what to put on it.

Please join me next week for the final installment of this series, which explores the principal of specificity in manifesting what you want.

In the meantime, please check out this free webinar on The Avocado Syndrome, where international best-selling author Stephanie Gunning and I have a conversation on how to apply the process to your own life.

(Blog Series: (1) The Avocado Syndrome, (2) Screaming Down the Mountain, (3) Technical Difficulties, (4) Favorite Things and Webinar)

]]> http://robinpatino.com/2013/03/do-you-think-you-will-break-book-reading/feed/ 0 http://robinpatino.com/2013/03/screaming-down-the-mountain/ http://robinpatino.com/2013/03/screaming-down-the-mountain/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:04:26 +0000 Robin http://robinpatino.com/?p=938 Have you ever felt yourself caught up in a negative thought pattern?  Your heart is racing, your blood is boiling, your jaw is clenching … you feel stressed out by the thoughts you are thinking.

Continuing in my series of articles on self-mastery (see last week´s The Avocado Syndrome), I call this experience “screaming down the mountain.”  Something triggers you, and you disrupt the flow in your life by allowing your thoughts to create an uncomfortable and often painful reality for yourself.  Your energy becomes negative.

In the beautiful mountain air and stunning sea views of Spain, I recently found myself situated with one such opportunity for growing my own self-mastery.  My personal trigger point: judgment.  My situation: after a morning of listening to my roommate´s list of my minor housekeeping inadequacies, he chastised me for the level of water in the dog´s bowl instead of filling it himself.

Kaboom!  I wound my way around the hairpin turns down the mountain road seething with anger and arguing with him in my mind.  Not a very productive – or safe – mode of behavior given where I was and the tiny car I was driving.  I could feel what it was doing to my body, my energy, and my state of mind.  I knew that state did not feel good, and was preventing me from seeing the beauty all around me.  I decided to change it by actively shifting my thought patterns.

Hoʻoponopono, an ancient Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness, offered a simple, effective way to do so.  This practice works in the same way that affirmations do, but I find it feels more fun and somehow more authentic.  Following are the phrases to repeat, as well as my interpretation of their meaning:

Repeat that 10-15 times, and I guarantee that your mood will shift and a smile may creep across your lips.  It has worked wonders for me and for my clients in separating from the triggers that bump us out of flow.

In life, it is inevitable that we will have to deal with someone who triggers strong reactions in us.  How we handle those reactions is our choice.

If we can re-pattern our thoughts when we begin to spin off into these cycles of negative self-talk, we keep ourselves open to creating and receiving the things we want in our lives.  We retain our power by not allowing our triggered responses to determine the world we see around us.

Stay tuned, and next week I´ll discuss another technique for optimizing self-mastery and bringing The Avocado Syndrome into your own life.

(Blog Series: (1) The Avocado Syndrome, (2) Screaming Down the Mountain, (3) Technical Difficulties, (4) Favorite Things and Webinar)

In said avocado experience, I had a random conversation with my mother about how much I love the luscious fruit (vegetable?) and how my body was feeling the need to eat more of them. Being a person prone to strong feelings, I experienced a moment of deep gratitude for the existence of such creamy green goodness in the world. My mother offered me one, which I ate with deep enjoyment.

Later that night, I was returning from the local grocery store where I had forgotten to stock up on them. As I exited my car in the dark and cold suburban night, a voice floated to me from the street: “do you like avocados?”

I jumped and clutched my keys defensively, a holdover from my days of living in Manhattan, when a sudden voice in the darkness was a matter for concern. Relaxing, I noticed it was only the friendly neighbor woman walking her dog. She explained that she had bought too many avocados and that they were all ripe. She hated to see them go to waste, and was wondering if I would like them. I have been in avocado heaven for days.

Over the past few months, especially since following my heart to set up a home in Spain, these types of things have been occurring at an almost unimaginable rate. A sanctuary in which to acclimate to the new city, a conscious community, a dream project, a house straight from my vision board, a car, warm bedding for the winter, a printer, a dog looking like my beloved Lucy, and even a pair of slippers materialized almost magically once I identified the need and spoke it out loud.

When we face difficult transitions or periods of great change in our life, it is essential to keep the faith. Sailing through difficulties with as much equanimity as possible, and releasing them once they have passed, allows us to learn the lesson they had to teach. By letting them go once they have served their purpose, we keep ourselves open to receiving more of the things we want in life.

How does this happen? How do we release into the flow of life, and stay there regardless of what is tossed at us?

For me, the answer lies in the process of self-mastery.

There are many ways to access self-mastery. Please join me over the next few weeks as I discuss the ways that have worked for me and my clients.

(Blog Series: (1) The Avocado Syndrome, (2) Screaming Down the Mountain, (3) Technical Difficulties, (4) Favorite Things and Webinar)

Learn how to create a life more in line with your hopes and desires.

When we hold on to our memories or experiences of the past, we block our ability to live a life full of the things we want in our future. Our energy is directed into remembering versus living in the now.

Releasing the past is simply a decision. It is a choice to create a new habit that brings us closer to what we want in the future.

Please join Silver Kim and me at a special retreat from March 21-24 to bring the Spring back into our lives by doing our own internal housecleaning. We will explore and release the habits that have been holding us back, and create new ones that will enable us to live with more happiness and fulfillment. We will all come away revitalized and refreshed, with new practices that fit easily in our everyday lives.

For five easy steps to begin creating your new now in advance of the retreat, please read my recent blog in Lehigh Valley Style.

REGISTER NOW

REGISTER NOW

Crunching up the rocky path behind you, your lean silhouette is a dark spot in the night´s shadows pulling farther ahead with the span of your long legs. Will I always be following behind, barely able to see? You pass out of sight and I continue on alone guided by the sound of your boots and the weak light of the stars.

It feels good to be out in the night walking again without artificial light. My feet find their place with security when given the time to walk at their own pace.

Where are we going? How much further until we stop?

On the top of the mountain, the wind swirls and snatches at my hair. An abandoned house looms large and we circle the grounds, losing each other in the woods and finding each other again on the empty terrace. Through an overgrown garden we go and then backtrack, until I choose the direction and settle on an old covered well.

The night quiets, the stars brighten. “There is no moon,” you comment.

“The new moon is the dark phase, a time of renewal,” I reply. “It´s when the witch in me comes out.”  A moment of silence, and then I tease, “don´t be afraid.”

Memories float by of other dark nights, warm tropical beaches and another man with whom I could speak my soul but who was also unavailable. I lay on my back dissolving into the field of stars. I desire, I deserve, I expect … I set and release my intentions to the new moon. It is time for them to manifest.

After a while, I sit up and together we watch a shooting star streak past in space and speak of intimate things for hours.

Two weeks later, I sit alone under the full moon, remembering all that has happened in one month. Miracles, tragedy, life, death, joy, sorrow, intimacy, aloneness, rage, laughter, weakness and strength.

Next week, I will leave my new island home for a time. The law of impermanence, the constancy of change: that is the lesson to remember, the key to peace. All of my intentions did manifest for a time – home, love, abundance – and then passed on. The important thing is that for a moment I had all that I wanted, and can believe it will come again even though I can´t see how or when.

It already has in my dreams.

I know there are many saying this tonight, after yet another school shooting. Enough. Our children are being killed.

What has happened to our society? This is not okay. The time has passed to cluck our tongues and turn the channel, to drown ourselves in our addictions so that we don´t notice what is happening in the world around us.

We have the power to make a change, to shift the way the world is headed. Now is the time. How many more must suffer?

Thirteen years ago, I sat in a very different seat than I do today. I sat in a posh office in the Los Angeles headquarters of the Motion Picture Association, pouring my life energy into defending big business interests when another atrocious and shocking school shooting occurred in Colorado. My task was to defend the film industry, to disown any responsibility of those pouring negative examples into the social consciousness because it couldn’t be scientifically proven that violence in media impacted the behavior of youth.

Common sense tells us that everything we take into ourselves impacts who we are, what we become. Would you drink poison and then wonder why you felt ill? Violent images and negative energy filling your sensory experience either produces an addiction or a desensitization to violent stimulus. This is especially true for impressionable youth, in this crazy modern world where mature and socially responsible guidance can be difficult to come by.

Days like today bring me a remembered shame of that day in Hollywood, and also gratitude for the shift it began in me. I said enough that day, quietly at first, but with gathering strength.

We have the power to change where the world is headed – to take a more active role in who we are becoming as a people. We have the power to choose what experiences, images, and messages we allow into our personal world. We have the power to say that it is not all about making money and maximizing profit. That motivation has brought us to this state.

How many children have to die before we stand up and do something?

Change requires courage. It requires the ability to withstand discomfort for a greater good. What greater good is there than the future of our children? If we continue the way we are going, our children will not have one. Many children lost their future today.

Stand up and say enough. Say it with your hearts, with your words, and most importantly, with your wallets.