withINtention

Last night was the night.  The night I finally decided that "B" and I deserved to get back to sleeping six or more hours straight . For the past few weeks she has been crying in the middle of the night (eyes mostly closed).  It could take minutes or an hour to soothe her back to sleep.  I read all of the books.  I asked all of my friends.  I finally found the support and the strength to do it.  I let her cry.  I tried a few nights earlier.  I failed.  What seemed like hours was only five minutes!  I was sure that I could do at least ten the next night.  So, the next setting sun came and went, and it was that time again.  Five minutes.  That's all I could do. 

A couple of interrupted sleeps followed, and then I was ready to try it again.  This little, precious baby was all smiles and laughter during the day.  She fell asleep easily.  She woke up happy.  There were just a few hours in between that were so unpredictable.  I resigned myself to what I always thought I would never do.  I was going to let her cry.  I'd let her go as long as it had taken to soothe her on the most challenging night.  1 hr.  I would need backup though. 

The midnight hour came and went, and at 3:45am on the dot the cries came in with a vengeance. I watched the clock... one minute... two... three...

Five minutes was my breaking point.  So I went and checked on her.  She was not tangled in her blankets, or stuck in a corner with her face smushed.  She wasn't hyperventiallting.  I told her I loved her (best advice I'd recieved) and that I knew she would be just fine.  I went back to my bed, ipod in hand, and asked Krishna Das to soothe my soul.  This continued for another twenty minutes, with me checking on the babe every 5 minutes or so (and when I say or so, I mean every 4min and 58sec).  She was still crying off and on, and I was still not at peace with my decision, but was reminding myself how much better we would both feel when this was all over. 

This is the moment that my own will and intuition took over.  The books no longer mattered.  I forgot all about the doctors and the "experts."  I finally was able to hear my own voice through all of the cries and Om Namah Shivayas.  I needed a pen and paper.  I was actually inspired!

Pen to the paper and all of a sudden a rush of words came streaming out of the pen as if I found the kink in the hose that was backing up the water supply.  WOOOSH!

After the pen was finished extracting all of the emotion from within me, I read and re-read the words of wisdom aloud.  I read to myself.  I read to B. I felt calmness overcome me.  As the words stood still on the rose tinted paper, their meaning was coming alive; with that aliveness came peace.  And quiet. 

I channel all of the women who came before me and all that will come after me for the strength we both need.

I share my prana, life-force, calming breath, and faith with you, B, knowing that we both desire peace.

It is with love and a nurturing heart that I persevere-- for our health and well-being.

I channel all of the women who came before me and all that will come after me for the wisdom we both need.

I share my prana, life-force, calming breath and faith with you, B, knowing that we both desire peace.

It is with love and a nurturing heart that I persevere-- for our health and well-being.

If you or any woman you know has a story of intuition, rather than statistics or research, getting you and your child through a difficult moment, please post, or email to rbeccaeagle@gmail.com.  Inspire others to look within!

Yin & Yang

Balance is something we strive for throughout our entire lives. As an infant we struggle to find our footing, literally grasping for whatever is in our reach in order to lift ourselves off of the ground. Lying on our backs, we begin by lifting our head and when we find enough strength we may even try to pull ourselves to our feet. But with too much strength and power, we may overcompensate, and find ourselves flat on our bellies. Through trial and error, and lessons learned, we may finally find just the right amount of strength, mixed with the perfect amount of patience and care, or softness, that we can finally pull ourselves up to stand on both feet.

This process is something we repeat throughout our life cycles. Once we have owned the standing, walking, balancing act, we move on to more challenges. We try to balance roles in our lives, parent, child, friend, student, teacher, sibling, partner. We discover what the “right” amount of sleep is for us— although we may not always follow through with it. In the same light, we discover our ideal serving of each of our life’s endeavors.

This is Yin and Yang. It is the experience of finding balance in all that we do and all that we are. Although we may pigeonhole ourselves, (or others may do it for us!) we are not wholly one thing or another. We, like everything in the universe, is defined by a balance of Yin and Yang. We are feminine and masculine. We are body and spirit.

Just how we, in our yoga practice, move fluidly while also remaining still and finding stillness in each of our movements; we find the softness in the strength, and the strength and power in the softness. Off of our mat, we take the practice of yoga with us. We do this by finding stillness and peace during a hectic moment at work. We discover strength and power as we experience pain and loss. We find the ability to give and be open to receiving all at once. It is when we can tap into the union of opposites, that we can experience divine consciousness, wholeness, enlightenment.

Top 5 Reasons Wall Street Needs Yoga

We all know about the financial crisis.  Pundits spend hours analyzing what got us here, who is at fault and when we will rise again.  There are those that are pointing fingers.  This is for the ones being pointed at. 

I spoke with representatives of the "pointed" both on and off Wall Street.  One thing they all have in common- and this comes as no surprise- they are all stressed.  This is not news to me, of course, but I realized how vital and life saving the simple practice of yoga can be.  For all of us.  If the people who deal with our money and have an undeniable impact on our economy are healthy in mind, body and spirit, we all stand to benefit. 

Mark Nordlicht, founder of Platinum Partners, a New York based hedge fund, shared his experience with a corporate yoga session. 

"At first, I was hesitant.  Anyone will tell you that we don't have much "free time" in our day.  I wasn't convinced that doing a down-dog was going to improve our output." 

Ultimately, Mark, along with his managing partner, Uri Landesman came around.  Mark concedes:

"Two minutes into the breathing exercises I completely felt my shoulders relax.  I never had the time or space to notice my shoulders creeping up to my ears!" 

Mark and Uri said their employees went back to work for the "two o'clock push" with enriched vigor.  The employees of Platinum Partners are looking forward to their next session.  And the yoga instructor who offered the class admits that "a roomful of men in suits" can be intimidating, but you'd be surprised how flexible these suits really are!

Well, here they are. 

The Top 5 Reasons

Wall Street Needs Yoga

1.  No one knows how to hedge better than a Yogi.

A yogi is always in pursuit of balance.  Yogis live by the philosophy of Yin-Yang.  They can find both the softness and the strength in a pose on the  mat and in life off the mat.  Yoga teaches you to work to the point of discomfort but not pain, and when you reach your absolute edge, yoga reminds you to... 

2. B-R-E-A-T-H-E.

Learning to manage stress may be one of life's great challenges.  For those with a stressful job and/or home life you may be thinking, "I don't have TIME to learn how to manage stress.  I just manage."

Having a regular yoga practice will ingrain this life-saving skill so deep into your being that you won't even realize you are spending time doing it.  Breathing.

If you have ever had one of these moments, you may be in need of this simple reminder:

Waiting for THAT call.  You know the one.  The one that either makes today the day you will never forget, or the day you will spend the rest of your life trying to forget.

It is your kid's theatrical debut- he's the tree in the Thanksgiving play.  The tree?!  And you, of course, are attending to your work duties.  Why should you have to explain yourself AGAIN-- this is your job. Your family depends on it. 

If you see one more article, blog, commentator or politician blaming the industry, or worse, you, for being greedy, dishonest or criminal, you'll just... you'll just...

BREATHE.  Be. Here. Now.  Take a deep breath.  Start with one.  Then two, three.  A few deep breaths can mean the difference between totally losing your shit AGAIN and taking years off your life, OR finding some serenity for a moment and potentially prevent damaging domestic, business or personal turbulence.

3. Be Flexible.  Stay Strong.

You carry enough weight.  What will benefit you most is finding a healthy way to carry the weight you already own.  Yoga has been known to lengthen and strengthen muscles at the same time.  So when you are feeling low back pain from driving in traffic, sitting in a chair all day, or just stress, did you know that some simple poses could help you build the strength AND flexibility your low back and abs need in order to sit comfortably?  And no, by comfortably, I don't mean with your legs behind your head like a pretzel.  One step at a time.

4. Intuition and Ethics.

Yoga practitioners are not perfect at Yoga (or anything else!).  This is why Yoga is always referred to as a "practice."  Two things Yogis are constantly working toward is tuning in with their own mind/body connection (intuition) and living a life true to the Yamas (principles). If one follows the Yamas-- truthfulness, non-harming, non-stealing, greedlessness, and sexual responsibility-- they are including these outward practices in their daily life.  For many, the practice of Yoga only begins on the mat.  It is how you integrate that practice into your life off of the mat that determines how advanced of a Yogi you become.  Hedge fund managers are especially notorious for their intuition.  Of course they have to be in tune!  No one knows how they determine the investment opportunities that will be best for their clients-- it must be intuition!  What better way to hone that skill than to practice it each day for an hour and a half?

5. Meditate.

"How do you do that?"  I could explain it to you, but you still wouldn't understand.  You just have to be involved in order to get it.  Most likely your family or friends not in the industry have asked you  what you actually do.  You may have launched into a lengthy description of your daily tasks, detailing the ins and outs of your week only to recognize that all too familiar look of "huh?" on your brother-in-law's face.  This experience alone gives you an insight into what meditation is all about.  You just have to do it.  There may be someone playing the role of your guide, but ultimately, you follow your instincts just like you did on your first day in the office.  Once you realize this, meditation is not easy, but it is available.  Just two of the many benefits of meditation that will enhance your output:  normalizes blood pressure, and strengthens immune system.  Feel better, work better!