V is for Village....Vantage point

The women stared at me, expressionless, as I began to teach their first. ever. yoga class. Throughout the day, I taught them about “grounding” themselves for protection in their work. I read, what I hoped to be, inspiring poetry. I never felt so “californian” before. These amazing, accomplished young women who do enormous work to help others were looking at me as though I was speaking not just a foreign language, but also talking foreign concepts. Mindfulness. Self-care. Refueling oneself. Deep 3-part breathing. Not to mention alternate nostril breathing. And as I led the class through asanas, they followed my lead, but without any show of emotion. And yet when I gave them the anonymous choice to be touched or not during the class, they all chose to be touched. Absorbed. open. And this morning, the debriefing revealed how much the yoga class meant to them. In a conference room. In a hotel. Overlooking the sea and a sea of refugees below. I put so much pressure on myself to make this “transformatiVe“ for them. And really, being present was enough. Life lessons. #reallife #venturavie.org #vboutiquesf #yogaislife #bepresent # universal

consciousness

Bad-Ass Women

Looking around at the powerful brave women in this room, discussing ways they empower disenfranchised women and girls in their countries, I am proud that they are all wearing the intention bracelets I gave them from V Boutique when I met them last night. Their wrists bear witness to the bracelet messages: “she is fierce” “she believes she could” “Be a bad-a.ss every day” “live light love”, but they are truly living these messages. I cannot show photos of these women, nor tell you exactly where they are from in order to protect their safety. But their images will forever be burned in my heart. This morning, I led an intention ceremony to open the day to bring everyone into the moment and to recognize the sisterhood and strength in the room. These young women tell stories which reveal their warrior-women power. They do not ask for permission to create more protection and safer situation. Rather, they create change by creating safeguards and insisting the system accommodate to their needs. It is truly remarkable. I am honored, and humbled, to be in this room and to help, even in a small way, to create a safe space to grow and learn. #fashion #compassion #community #women #worldwide #venturavie #vboutique #loveislove #warriorwomen #amazed

The High Cost of Survival.....

Imagine being a child, alone, living on the street, in a new country where the language is not your own and where you must rely on your own to survive as your parents are dead? Who can you trust? Who really cares about you? Who preys on you in the depths of night? Where there is a system that provides you with some food and assistance during the day, but at night, there is no help for you because there is no foster type system and like 1 shelter, which has a 1year waiting list? Or imagine being a a single parent of 5 children under 12-years-old, seeking asylum to escape gender-based-violence and learning to trust, again without knowing the language or the system of norms living in a group home. These are some of the stories I heard today based on the women in the trenches in the Balkans. I can show some of the pictures, but to in the interest of cyber security, I cannot give names or show photos #elevateoneanother #venturvie.org #vitalvoices #inspired #compassion #community #loveislove