More health adventures...

To start, the moment where I ran into my old friend Zarah was caught by the school photographer!
Here is her response after we met up again after 3 years :)
It is my back.
I love it :)
The second weekend was a whirlwind of information. So many wonderful guest speakers ranging from food politics to raw food, to Oprah's physician to the notion of whole grains back to high carb/low carb diets and the study of water, air, macrobiotics, ect.
I stayed with Ms. Jema and BK in the city. Ran into a fellow boardie before the Stevie Wonder show, which I did not go to, he lived in Cranford the same town in which the girl sitting next to me in class was from! I spent the evening walking uptown through crowds of various people blissed out from the first day of class. It was a good day.
Sunday was great too. Had another synchronicity moment, at lunch Dawn was telling me about this Halloween costume she had, which was being one of Golden Girls and how awesome her wig was, and then during class the speaker mentioned The Golden Girls. I have not heard nor mentioned the Golden Girls in probably at least 2 years. It made me giggle.
This weekend we sang in class, which was truly energizing especially because of the sound in the place.
And had a dance party...good times for sure.
We also had a vocational class that Monday.
I decided I am not crazy enough to drive in and out of the city during rush hour so I took the train.
It was a beautiful morning at 5:30am. It was snowing and totally serene. I think I was buzzing from the past two days of class.
Got on the train and damn those commuters crazy. The second I went to transfer in Seacacus people were running and pushing. It was nuts. I vowed to never be a NYC commuter in my life. People were completely stressed and tired. I could see the sadness in people. I felt more than ever at that moment completely blessed to be in my position but also aware at how much the world needs Holistic Health Counselors. It was a bittersweet moment.
Once in class I was exhausted. I couldn't imagine making that commute then working a full day and going home. I was wiped.
Dawn and I decided this particular morning to sit in the pit near the front. Ended up Erica's two sisters sat next to us, our buddy Josh sat next to me, and three other women we knew sat in the row in front of us. It was very strange but nice to have familiar faces around us.
During one of the lectures I was doodling and taking notes. I was working on this one particular image and all of a sudden the speaker recommended a book. I was like wait I have that book. Sure enough the image I was drawing was on the cover of the book that was being recommended. At that I will finish my second weekend synopsis.
Beautiful things are happening. I wish any of you who are signing up for this program much luck. It will change your life :)

Here is the link again :)
IIN Website
Let them know I sent you :)

Time for change!

I am recollecting from a life-changing experience I had last year :)

So as some of you may know, I started at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in NYC this past weekend.
It could not have turned out any better. For anyone who was thinking about this school, all I can say from the first weekend...DO IT!!!! I was so very nervous the days leading up to class. I could barely sleep. I was getting directions of directions. I printed out a ton of maps in case I had to drive anywhere in the city and I brought a map. I was over prepared if there is such a thing. But nothing could have prepared me for what happened next...

I began by attempting to park across the street from Time Warner for $16 a day. Not too bad and just as expensive as the train. Unfortunately since I had arrived so ealry, the people on duty were sleeping or something no where to be in sight. I was freaking out. Class was in an hour and a half. .. Luckily I see this nice woman parked in front of me. I had the courage to ask real timidly, "Are you going to IIN?" Of course she replied, "Yes!." This was Paula. An amazingly kind woman. Finally the parking attendents come and park our cars. I must say they have amazing manuevering skills for such a small space.

We trek inside and find tihs big long line so naturally we get in it. Everyone was cheerful, slightly nervous, but all very nice.
Our classroom is inside the Time Warner building in the amazing Jazz Center. Supposively every seat in the place is soundly made meaning it will not effect the overall sound of the place. Not too sure what that means anyway. So after about a 45 minute wait they begin letting us inside. I meet up with my buddy Dawn and we go inside and find our seats.

Once inside this is when the weird things began to happen. The guy I sit next to is a professional musician and is already talkig to me about shooting him and his wife's gigs and what do I cost to shoot. This is 5 minutes into the room! He too is a super nice guy with a cheery persona and funny wit. Then class begins. Joshua, the founder of the school, begins to speak. Alas a school that teaches not only nutrition, but how to have a buisness, as well as spirituality. I was in shock. We stretched. We spoke to one another. We made instant friends with our classmates. But most of all we had a good time.

Joshua speaks calmly and slowly but with great intention. He is inspiring and his spirit radiates through the 1200 students there.
He related the class sessions to a rock concert. That when you leave a good show you leave energized and excited. You want to tell the world how great the band just was. This was exactly how I felt when I left that day. Although exhausted I was feeling brilliant and passionate.

IIN also speaks about synchronicity, the attraction of alike things. This happened to me several times throughout the weekend. I was leaving for lunch and I was thinking to myself how great it would be if I could crash in the city on these weekends rather than commuting and all of a sudden I hear my name. I turn around to find an old friend Zarah standing beside me. We exchanged our happy hellos, since we had not seen one another for four years and she says, "If you need a place to stay I live in Brooklyn."
I was thinking WOW. Then we go meet our counselor for lunch. It just so happens that my counselor is a graphic designer, photographer, likes music festivals, has ulcerative colitus, and loves cookies. It was like seeing a mirror image of myself.
Then on Sunday I am driving back into the parking garage for a second time and who else is parked in front of me but Paula! The woman from Saturday morning. Then while we were waiting in line, I introduce myself to the guy in front of me. Ends up he lives on the same street as me in the same town! Then during class I am sitting next to this older woman who turned me off at first because she would not shake my hand. Ends up she was super nice, was also a photographer, has published books with her images (something I have always wanted to do), and had major issues with food. All things that I could completely relate to.
It was a wonderful weekend filled with pleasant and truly amazing surprises.

We have only had 2 classes but I already feel I am on the right path.
I am making positive steps to creating the happy, healthy life that I deserve and it is exciting.
Thanks for reading!

"The more we live in balance and respect nature and ourselves, the more likely we are to be in the right place at the right time, all the time."