Yoga Girl

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Juliana and Jessica and I met her tonight and I am in love! She’s kind of like a big deal and has written a New York Times Bestseller. Rachel Brathen, you’re my girl crush!!

I don’t remember when we first met, or why – I’m guessing someone shared a photo or something on Facebook and then I started following her years ago on Instagram. She has a BOGA Yoga board just like me, so she’s really RAD!

She has used social media to build a huge following and now has a best seller book. How cool is that?

She reminds me of Jessica Herrin, from Stella & Dot, using social media to build her empire. She could totally build one if she wanted to and I have a feeing she just might. I’m loving watching her journey and seeing where she goes and what she builds.

She was in Mountain View tonight for a book signing and we had front row seats where I could see her eyes sparkle.

She speaks from the heart and is authentic and real and patient and kind. I loved how she lovingly answered questions from the sold out crowd and how she made people happy.

I asked her how she took care of herself, after sharing so much of herself freely with the world and traveling everywhere. She said she makes appointments for herself to do her own yoga practice, meditations, acupuncture, dates with her husband, etc, and drinks a lot of wine. She is my twin!! Can you see why I love her?

If you haven’t discovered her yet, check her out for inspiration!

Instagram: @yoga_girl

Website: http://rachelbrathen.com

Thank you Rachel for signing my book and for the hug and photo together. I love that you brought along your husband and Ringo and your friends and photographer. They all seem so proud and supportive of you too. You are beautiful inside and out.

You made my day and I wish you well!

nAMaste

1Dec2014

Accomplished

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Jessica Herrin, a wonderfully talented, well rounded woman and the founder of Stella and Dot, just celebrated her birthday after Thanksgiving. She posted a picture of a card that one of her daughters gave her that stood out to me. The card mentioned all the things her daughter loved about her. I found this incredibly charming.

One of the adjectives she used to describe Jessica was accomplished, in addition to many other kind words such as loving, beautiful, witty, unique, forgiving, caring and strong to name a few. The accomplished one really stood out to me and I wondered about it.

How did her young daughter realize how accomplished her mother really was? Is this something she heard people say about her? Is this something she says about herself? I liked all the other adjectives too, but this one shined. Her daughter sees her mother as accomplished and she admires her. This is a beautiful thing.

I love this.

Jessica Herrin is accomplished and has accomplished many wonderful things. She has built a successful company, has helped so many women build careers for themselves, given back to the community, and has a supportive husband, and loving and daughters. She is smart, kind, genuine and is also a Christian. She is definitely accomplished in many areas and her daughter admires her. This is a wonderful gift for both of them.

I looked up the definition of this word and it means highly trained or skilled. I next wondered if I was accomplished and how would I know and what would I be accomplished at?

Then later during the weekend, Jeff and I were talking and he described me as accomplished and I stood back thinking this was too weird as I mentioned I was wondering about this word and now he was using it to describe me, even though I never mentioned Jessica’s birthday card and my curiosity. Weird.

So I wondered some more. How am I accomplished and what do I want to accomplish?

I feel that I am accomplished as a mother now that I have many years of experience and continue to practice daily. I feel successful so far in my role as a parent, even though there is always more work to be done. I’m sure this is true for every profession. I feel accomplished in my marriage, now that I’ve been married for many years and still love and admire my life partner. This feels good to me. I feel accomplished in my community and know that I have more to do and will never be done. So yes, I like this word and want to continue practicing this life practice that is my path and I want to continue adding to my list of accomplishments, whatever those might be.

I am getting ready to celebrate the accomplishments of my sisters who are graduating and becoming a teacher and a nurse this month. I am so excited for them and happy to see that their hard work and tenacity is paying off. They have accomplished so much and I am proud of them.

How are you accomplished? What are you highly trained and skilled at doing? Are you practicing what you love and sharing your strengths? We all have gifts and talents. What are yours? Celebrate wonderful you. xo Namaste

10Jan2014

Three Gifts

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I am still sick but the good news is I was able to lift my head up today. I don’t think I’ve ever been this sick in my life. I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel I think. My appetite came back a bit and I didn’t mind the sunshine coming in. I was able to focus a bit longer and actually could read my book.

I am reading Positive Intelligence by Shirzad Chamine. I love this guy! And I love that I found him via Stella & Dot. He was the guest speaker this week at the Director’s Conference. Jessica Herrin, the CEO and founder of Stella & Dot, is a very positive, authentic, and influential woman. It’s fitting that she chose Shirzad to present to the leaders of the company and that they shared the video presentation with all Stylists.

The way we think creates our happiness and success. This is a premise I’ve carried all my life and keep practicing daily. This book teaches you how to increase your positive intelligence to achieve greater potential.

The part that relates to being sick today is that when we are presented with a bad situation, we have choices where we can turn the supposedly bad situation into a gift or opportunity. This is how I typically see things, and try to very quickly. I try not to dwell on the negative feelings and try to see things as gifts or opportunities. Shirzad calls this the three-gifts technique.

The three gifts from being sick this week for me are the following: (1). My kids are very resourceful and independent. They can make their own food, help with the chores, look out for each other and get their homework done without my nagging. They also do know how to be quiet!; (2) My friends and family are amazing and empathetic and giving and loving. It’s ok to receive help and I feel extremely grateful, especially to my husband who took over my duties in addition to his own; (3) I got to slow down, and let things go and relax and things didn’t really fall apart.

I am thankful that I had more energy today and hope this continues tomorrow, as I continue to take it easy. As Shirzad says so eloquently, “We can’t control or choose much of what happens in work or in life. We can, however, determine the impact that these events have on us by choosing how we respond.”

So if you’re facing a challenge this week, try and see if there is a hidden gift or opportunity that might come from your “bad” situation.

Namaste

20Nov2013

GGG – Day 20 – Time

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Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of. ~Benjamin Franklin

How do you choose to spend your time? Are you proactively setting up your days to do what you really want to do? This is what I’m thinking about today as I think about the gift of time we all are given. We are all busy, but we can always make time for what we love and want, if we know what it is we really want and how to plan for it and do the work.

We all are given equal hours every day. No one is different in this context. Whether you’re the President of the United States, a mom, a CEO, a student, an employee, a child, we all get the same number of hours. How fair is that? I kinda like that thought. So it’s up to us and our circumstances how we choose to live them up.

The other day I was listening to a 30 minute podcast by Jessica Herrin, the founder of Stella & Dot, in the car while I was driving home from the gym. She was talking about this subject of time mastery and I was totally intrigued how she described time as needing to be mastered versus managed. We have to link what we choose to do with our core values and be sure to set boundaries to protect our time. We have to learn to say no and to not feel guilty when we choose to say yes to time spent doing what we’re good at and what we want to do.

Right now I’m thinking about my time on the micro level and planning how I want to choose to spend my hours on any given day. I’d like to get better at this and practice mapping out bigger projects too, so they actually get done versus just me thinking about doing them. I practiced assigning tasks that I’ve been wanting to complete to the hour or half hour windows that were open throughout my day. The cool thing is that my task list suddenly became a priority and I have been able to say no to other distractions. And guess what? I am getting things done that I’ve been wanting to do and the procrastination and time spent on social media and gaming has decreased dramatically. I learned that many times when I don’t know what I want to do, time gets sucked into the vortex of online screen time and house cleaning. Those things are always there and “want” my attention. I want to be more accountable for my time and with the choices I’m making to make my time more meaningful. I want to carve out some time to be creative, mindful, to read, to be a better friend, to exercise, and to sleep more, in addition to my responsibilities. And so I am.

How are you choosing to spend your hours?

One last thought, before I get to bed early tonight since I’m actively choosing to get more sleep… I am fully aware how quickly a year goes by after living overseas for a year and being back again already for four months now. When you’re in the moment, it feels like forever. But looking back, I realize and can feel how fast that year sped by and it’s already gone. Where did the time go? I know… it’s just a rhetorical question… Good night.

“While we are postponing, life speeds by.”
Seneca

4Oct2013

Stella & Dot

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Tonight I hosted a Stella & Dot trunk show with several of my girlfriends. Stella & Dot was the entertainment for the evening, with women trying on jewelry and enjoying wine and nibbles and each other’s company.

I love when I have company over to the house because I clean and have a delicious smelling, uncluttered house! My floors are shiny and everything is in it’s place. I worked hard to get ready for tonight and was happy to open my home for several girlfriends.

I loved seeing everyone and watching them mingle and get to know each other, trying on jewelry and just having a good time.

I love that Stella & Dot was started by such an inspiring woman, Jessica Herrin, and that she shared her vision with other women and built a soon to be billion dollar company. Anyone can join and make it what they want it to be. For me, I do this as a hobby to afford my love of the jewelry and accessories and to get together with other women. Some women do this as a career and make six digit salaries! Some women build a team of women and coach and inspire other women to reach their dreams. I love that you can build your business to be what you want it to be and you can be part of a great team.

I had so much fun seeing everyone and only wish I would have had more time to socialize. Let’s get together again soon!

If you’re interested in checking out the company and spoiling yourself, come shopping online with me: http://www.stelladot.com/adrianahartley . If you want to earn jewelry for free, call me to host a party for you with your friends. And if you’re wanting to do more and become a stylist, I can help hook you up. Just send me a reply. All the best!