Today we’re talking about the 10th leading cause of death in the United States: suicide. To put it bluntly – and I say this numerous times on the show – suicide sucks so don’t f**king do it! Because not only does it eliminate nearly 50,000 lives every year, that’s 1 death every 11 minutes, it has far-reaching impacts including serious emotional, physical and economic costs to society. With depression and anxiety among teens and young adults at an all time high, especially with the fear mongering from COVID and Omicron, suicide has to be thwarted and stopped. Not to mention that anxiety affects 1/3 of adults and adolescents in the United States today, further complicating matters. And kudos to all schools K-12 for their prevention efforts against bullying and other forms of abuse that adversely affect students of all ages. So what should you do if you’re anxious and distraught: save yourself with fitness and yoga, and more specifically, come take my Tola Yoga class at Plano Athletic Club starting this Saturday at 12:30p. That’s right, Tola Yoga is back, and I’d love to see you there front and center. Because who doesn’t want to empower their mind, body and soul while drinking from the Fountain of Youth? Plus kudos to the David Bowie estate as well as Bruce Springsteen, aka The Boss, for such massive sales of their music publishing rights. PS – good luck to my father with his cancer surgery at Sloan Kettering today…you’re gonna rock it! Peace – R
Another Teaching Milestone…600th Class in Chicago
I Just taught my 600th Yoga class since arriving in The Windy City last September.
And what an amazing time I had teaching thousands of yogis and yoginis in 12 different neighborhoods including Lincoln Park, Lincoln Square, Lakeview, West Loop, Uptown, Andersonville, Wicker Park, Bucktown, Highland Park, Evanston, Streeterville and the South Loop.
Have an awesome week everyone!
Peace – R
That’s a Wrap…YogaStyles Pilot Coming Soon!
Get ready for some really cool Yoga filmed at some really cool Chicago landmarks with some really cool – and Almost Famous – people. Here’s a behind the scenes look at our Yoga class with The Namaste Five filmed at the super cool Damen Silos…in 100 degree heat I might add!
Stay tuned for more on YogaStyles of RICH and the Almost Famous: Chicago. Peace – R
Keep Kindness in Your Soul
When you lookup the word ‘humankind’ in the dictionary it says “human beings collectively”. Let’s go one step further and add “who are implicitly kind to one another”, and make that a requirement for the entire human race. At the very least, shouldn’t we always respect ourselves and be respectful and kind to others as we journey along this amazing ride called life? And more importantly is our ability to take this unreserved kindness we’re born with – because we all start as little babies that are sweet and kind, right – and Keep Kindness in Your Soul. Forever would be good…just keep it going into adolescence and throughout adulthood.
About 10 minutes into our trek I reached for my cellphone. Hmm, that’s odd, nowhere to be found. I immediately retraced my steps and figured it was somewhere between me and my previous seat. No worries, I’ll just remain calm and confident that someone has found it, and more importantly, that this someone has the KINDNESS in their SOUL to return it. Not to mention the good character to do the right thing. Interestingly, I really believed one of these Zoo-going kids would return it and save me from that nightmare of losing your phone!
So I stood up and shouted, “Excuse me, did anyone in the front of the bus find a little black phone”. A youngster immediately raised his hand and said yes. A rush of excitement washed over me as I saw the greatness of ‘humankind’ in that one boy. Way to go kid! Way to have KINDNESS in your SOUL…and way to set a great example for each and every one of us.
Keep Kindness in Your Soul, my friends, for as long as humanly possible.
Happy Thanksgiving & Hanukkah everyone! Enjoy – R
Friends and honesty, do they match?
I was speaking with a friend this morning about telling your best friend something that’s true, but may hurt their feelings. Or worse yet, may drive your best friend away, especially if they’re in a difficult place in their life. Like my friend’s best friend, who’s responding to adversity with an eating disorder. The thing is, with friends it’s oftentimes difficult to be brutally honest, especially if the truth is difficult to swallow. And since the truth can be as painful to give as it is to receive, it’s always best to proceed with sensitivity and compassion. For those of you who have seen my film, Boulevard Zen, you know that my character, Bobby D’Angelo, inspires others to overcome adversity while communicating the truth through example. He uses the healing powers of yoga to help students deal with their depression, infertility, hypertension and anorexia. So be sensitive with your truth telling, especially if it involves something serious and beyond your expertise. And always encourage your friends to make that mind-body connection with some form of fitness, especially yoga. So enjoy restoring your body with today’s 5 Minute Fat Burning Workout #77 – Restorative Legs, Core & Abs II – R