I am particularly excited and proud to announce that my “new project” is about meditation and asanas. I am looking for devoted yogis that understand and appreciate yoga and meditation and that will help me capture the spiritual value of these ancient practices. Through this project I want to emphasize our connection with nature and the universe. I am very excited to find the perfect candidates that share my passion. If you consider yourself a true follower of yoga (or you know someone who is ) and meditation and have the ability to move your body and create different poses please enter my contest to find my next beautiful subject.  

Here is what you have to do to participate: 

1. Follow my account 
2. Like the post
3. Comment to nominate yourself or someone you think will be perfect for this
4. Share this post on your story and tag me 

Contrary to what many people may think, the beneficial changes that yoga can produce in our brain are countless. So much so, that meditation and yoga has influenced the way I perceive the world that surrounds me. Yoga and deep meditation have physical and mental effects on our brain that we should not ignore. Yoga combines physical exercise and movement that enables us to connect with our inner self, while meditation provides the tools to live a happy and fulfilled life. Controlling your own breathing, practicing abstraction and concentration, becoming aware of yourself, your mind and your own body is a first step to ascend to the next level and reach total relaxation. Since I started practicing yoga and meditation I lead a more peaceful and healthy life. Especially now that we are restrained from moving and physical activity, yoga is great for your body and mental health and you can do it alone at home.

The strange and unexacting ways we meet people in our lives is just incredible… I was walking through an antique store, looking for props and met the owner. After a heated negotiation on a chair I wanted, she asked me what I needed it for and I said "an art project". I showed her my work and she noticed my love for flowers, so she gave me the contact of a florist in Maryland. I instantly loved her flowers! They looked so alive and beautiful, unlike the artificial looking ones.

We got together and began working on several projects. While working together she shared with me her personal story, about her, her daughter and the struggle they overcame of fighting for that little 10 year old girl's life.

This image is very special to me, it tells a story about survival and unconditional love of a mother to her daughter. She fought for her life for years as a child and had multiple brain surgeries. This story is a happy one! That girl is now a woman, alive and well and the mother who I personally know, never let the pain harden her heart. She is an amazing person and is just as loving as before towards everyone around her. We stayed close friends and she shared this with me: 

A letter from a mother: It was the headaches that first upended our life. When she was 10 years old, my daughter started getting sudden, excruciating headaches that made her vomit and pass out. Later she would be fine. Months later, she started laughing about “seeing two of everything,” I realized we needed to see a pediatric neurologist because this must be serious, I thought, like migraines. The neurologist looked into her eyes with a pen light, she suggested she go to the MRI, “just to see.” Afterwards the doctor called me and only me into her office. She sat in her chair in front of mine, set her hands on mine and very slowly said: “you’re daughter has a brain tumor. It is quite large. You need to go to the hospital now.” The surgeries that saved her life also left her with traumatic brain injury and so we’ve spent a decade feeling our way through a maze of medical visits to figure out what to do about her anxiety, mood disturbances and panic attacks. But through it all, my daughter remained a force of nature.

GIRLS!

Throughout the past 2 years , I have been unofficially mentoring my friend’s children by providing advice and direction on various topics.

This year I was asked if I would like to mentor young people who are children of members of YPO, a global business leadership member-based organization.

I agreed, I had to select a topic to talk about in the next 6 month with them. This was very difficult as there are so many interesting topics worth exploring such as how to start a business for example.

After carefully considering pros and cons in various subjects, I decided to call my mentorship program " Women in Leadership."

Apparently that happened to be a very hot topic and I received the most applications for this program. It made me very happy that so many young women were interested. However, I I had to select only 4 young women to mentor in order to make it productive. 

I am really looking forward to beginning the mentorship program and to meet the girls via zoom.

I think giving back is an important way to contribute to society and the lives of others. 

We will have a lot to discuss like nurturing a healthy self-esteem to be the best you can be at any age or point in your life. One thing that is uncomfortable for women is being assertive and taking charge. We don't want to seem "bossy". Like I always say to anyone who called me bossy - if I was a man, would you call me that? Or will you say that I am assertive and know what I want? It is not easy to be a leader, it sounds intriguing but it carries a lot of responsibility for others and the world among other things. 

Being a leader is challenging in every step of the way in your career and business, and staying healthy is something that should not be taken lightly. Therefore, I will be also adding a session on talking about mental and physical health, healthy dieting and the importance of recognizing when to stop and take care of yourself.

In my next few blog posts I will be sharing with you tips from the mentoring program as well as inspiring stories and more. Stay tuned!