Friday, July 30, 2010

The yin and yang.....

A day of stress, chaos, depletion, emptiness, inadequacy, overwhelm, sadness, frustration. A night of calm, peace, compassion, softness, kindness, love and warmth. Thank you yin yoga class - you saved me today.

How much do I love you? Let me count the ways....


To My Dearest Little Man,
On the eve of your second "Happy Birthday" (as you call it) I wanted to record all your amazingness and convey just how much you fill my heart with joy. Even though your independence is challenging your mummy alot lately (trying to get you to understand that you do not require a hair straightener at this stage of your life is a daily battle), I love that you have a fiery spirit and a will to learn and do things for yourself (those Leo characteristics really are shining through right now!). When you wrap your little arms around my neck to huggle me as you go to sleep, my heart bursts. When you sneak into my bedroom and climb up onto my desk to get chocolate, I laugh at how sneaky you are. When you make me do duets with you singing the theme song to Two and a Half Men, I can sing a rainbow, and Baa Baa Haveeanywool (your pronunciation, not mine) into our makeshift microphone, I want the moment to last forever (even though there are only so many times a person can sing Men men men men manly men men men over and over again without going insane). You are really coordinated at hitting and throwing, although our apartment and furniture are bearing the brunt of your need to throw everything, regardless of whether it should be thrown (ie throwing the tv control at the tv is never going to end well). You love horses, particularly saying "Horse Poo" (I blame your father). My favourite time of the day is when I come to daycare to pick you up and you see me and proclaim "My Mummy!" and run to me - breaks my heart every time.

There are so many other wonderful and funny things I could tell you about yourself here, but I would be here all day. So I will finish up by saying you are the most magical person who ever came into my life and I am so privileged that you chose me to be your mummy. I will always be here to love you and support you and that will never ever change. I can't wait to have an amazing Happy Birthday Party with you tomorrow. x your mummy

Today I am Grateful For....

Having the time to get some 'life admin' done.

Doing an extremely sweaty Power Yoga class.

Getting some hot new lululemon gear.

Receiving the cutest gifts from a friend who has just returned from a trip to Japan.

Inspiring conversations with people on my team and different guests at work.

Having 1 sleep to go before my Little Man's 2nd Birthday!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

The lulu's have my back.....

What better way to begin your process of standing in your own power than by surrounding yourself with your amazing gal pals? I got the opportunity to do this last night, with 7 of my bestest lululemon girlfriends. We had a dinner together at one of our houses as part of a farewell to our lovely Sue. As I sat at the table and listened to them speak I stopped to appreciate how lucky I am that these women have come into my life and how grateful I am to each and every one of them for what is is that they give to me through who they are. I know that I have the strength to take myself through whatever will come my way, but it sure does help to know that your lulu's also have your back. Much love to each and every one of you. x

P.S. Kimmy Kimmy I am holding you to going on Master Chef - you are a cooking genius!

Friday, July 23, 2010

Revolt

My lack of posts in the past week is due to illness. My body is in revolt it seems. The flu, followed by tonsilitis followed by the current sinus infection (Never had one of these before and Good Lord, never, ever want one again). I firmly believe that all the trapped emotions that I have been experiencing due to my current life situation have blocked the flow of energy in my body and it is quite simply telling me this cannot go on. My body knows it and I can also say that, finally, my mind knows it too. This week sooooo many light bulbs have been turning on for me and I will definitely be sharing them here as soon as I can drain my sinuses (oh, did I mention that the best way to clear your sinuses is to have hot, steamy showers and that the shower in the apartment has been broken for the past week? Kind of sums everything up at the moment......!). Seriously, the univerese is definitely telling me "You are in a bad place and its time to stand in your power to get you to where you need to go". Stay tuned for 'Operation Power'...........

Friday, July 16, 2010

The Manifesto of Encouragement...by Danielle Laporte

right now:

there are Tibetan Buddhist monks in a temple in the Himalayas endlessly reciting mantras for the cessation of your suffering and for the flourishing of your happiness.

Someone you haven't met yet is already dreaming of adoring you.

Someone is writing a book that you will read in the next two years that will change how you look at life.

Nun's in the Alps are in endless vigil, praying for the Holy Spirit to alight the hearts of all of God's children.

Someone wants to kiss you, to hold you, to make tea for you. Someone is willing to lend you money, wants to know what your favourite food is, and treat you to a movie. Someone in your orbit has something immensely valuable to give you - for free.

Something is being invented this year that will change how your generation lives, communicates, heals and passes on.

The next great song is being rehearsed.

Thousands of people are in yoga classes right now intentionally sending light out from their heart chakras and wrapping it around the earth.

Millions of children are assuming that everything is amazing and that it will always be that way.

Someone is in profound pain, and a few months from now, they will be thriving like never before. They just can't see it from where they're at.

Someone who is craving to be partnered, to be acknowledged, to ARRIVE, will get precisely what they want - and even more. And because that gift will be so fantastical in its reach and sweetness, it will quite magically alter their memory of angsty longing and render it all "so worth the wait."

Someone has recently cracked open their joyous, genuine nature because they did the hard work of hauling years of oppression off of their psyche - this luminous juju is floating in the ether and is accessible to you.

Someone, just this second, wished for world peace in earnest.

Someone is fighting the fight so that you don't have to.

Some civil servant is making sure that you get your mail, and your garbage is picked up, that the trains are running on time and that you are generally safe. Someone is dedicating their days to protecting your civil liberties and clean drinking water.

Someone is regaining their sanity. Someone is coming back from the dead. Someone is genuinely forgiving the seemingly unforgivable. Someone is curing the incurable.

You. Me. Some. One. Now.


All I have to say is 'Wow'. Read Danielle Laporte's blog today. It will change your life.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Crazy Busy Week....

A crazy busy past week for me. I am now actually sick, which is probably no surprise given how busy I've been (and that the little man has also been sick). This morning my lululemon team and I went to a 6:15am power yoga class at Power Living so we could propose to a potential ambassador. For anyone who doesn't know, every lululemon store has Ambassadors who are yogi's or PT's etc who are guru's in their field. They are like an extension of the lululemon family but they don't actually work in the store. Anyway, today's potential Ambassador said yes, which is awesome because she is amazing. If anyone who is reading this has the chance to check out Tobie's class at Power Living Manly, you should! The class was followed by a staff meeting and then me dashing off to work to open the store. A productive morning but I've now reached my threshold and am going to take the next two days off due to sickness. Time to slow down and get over this flu/chest infection thing I have had going on all week.

This has also been a huge week of realisations for me (to be honest most of my weeks lately have been full of mental challenges and lessons). For the past two weeks I've been a person I don't want to be and this week I realised that it was all due to fear. Whilst fear is not something we can eliminate from our lives, it is something that can be transformed depending upon our reaction to it. Last week I let it get the better of me and slipped back into my 'act'. I reverted back to being the Bel who questioned or even denied her strength, and I let everything get on top of me. I knew that I was sabotaging myself and letting myself down right when I needed to take a stand the most. Luckily for me, the universe conspired to help me recognise this in the form of some very inspiring e-magazines on fear and, primarily, through an amazing email from my sister. The change in my twin sister over the past few months in particular has been so great. She was great before this but recently, she has just made such awesome progress in terms of looking after her own mental, spiritual and physical health. This is reflected in how grounded she is and in what she is able to give to others (particularly when she is 9 months pregnant and no-one would expect her to have anything to give). If anything though, she has been my rock over the last 3 months or so and I am basically in awe of her. She also suffered from postnatal depression with her first child but rather than letting this weigh on her the second time around, she has been so proactive in doing yoga and meditation and getting acupuncture etc. She acknowledges that the fear is there but rather than letting it get the better of her, she has asked herself what she can do to turn the situation around and has used this as an opportunity to learn something and to grow. So even though there will be some fear within her, she has control over it, and that makes all the difference. I don't know whether the postnatal depression will elude her this time (though obviously I'm praying for her that it will). But what I do know is that whatever happens, she is going to get through it, she will continue to be an amazing mother and that I will be right by her side every step of the way. Much love sis. x

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Become Incredible.....

image by rogvon via flickr
The GM of Store Operations for lululemon athletica Australia has offered to mentor/coach me. I feel really privileged that she is giving up part of her already ridiculously busy life to include me in it in this way. One of the first tasks she asked me to complete was a questionnaire regarding my life and different aspects of it, which really required me to think quite hard and challenge myself to go deeper in some areas. She is so great though because she doesn't let me 'get away' with anything and will call me on things, especially when I'm being mediocre.
The second thing I have done is to read a book called "Become Incredible" by internationally acclaimed self-made millionaire, Jordan Wirsz. There were some great exercises in the book to to get me clear on what motivates me and the 'whys' that are behind my passions in life. Part of this process involved me writing my mission statement. It felt so good to get back on track with this, as I have been missing having this strong sense of 'me' and how I want to live my life. So here is my mission statement. I'm putting it out into the universe because speaking it makes it real. Also, feel free to hold me accountable to being the person I describe here!

I, Bel Youll, choose to live my life being the most amazing person I can be each and every day. I am unique, creative and powerful and I am destined for greatness. I am a leader who leads by example at all times and I use my talents to inspire and empower people all over the world to live their lives to the full. I am a strong female role model for my son and I am the possibility of unconditional love and inspiration for everyone around me. I choose to live my life with passion and positivity and I love every minute of my extraordinary life.