bright & beautiful

NEW YOGA BLOG!

2011-04-25T18:22:00.000-07:00

oh, my poor blog, i fell out of love with blogging here because i got busy, because i didn't have enough focus, because i'm too excited about everything to write it down.

i've started a new YOGA BLOG right over here. more focus, more updates, more photos.

...& we're off to start a new blogging life! see you at MiaParkYoga.com, friends.

long time, no see!

2011-02-02T13:17:00.000-08:00

the blizzard of 2011 has come and gone, her effects lingering lazily, actively keeping us mere humans reacting. as we should! we should always consider mother nature's state as we interact with her.

i'm home and so happy for it. i'm considering my state as i interact with the inter net and my blogging has been slim pickings lately because i spend a *lot* of time online. now that i am a social media consultant, i'm looking at this glowing screen very often.

and i love it.

and i need to balance how much i love the internet and social media. for now, i will work on the mighty bright and beautiful newsletter and nibble on organic cheddar cheese as i look onto the very snowy porch from my huge kitchen window.

happy winter day if you're internetting or if you're out and about.

cold.

2011-01-04T14:49:00.000-08:00

happiest 2011 and happiest new year. i have a cold, one that i started in brooklyn and finished at the himalyan institute. even pandatji, the main speaker and spiritual head of the institute was a little sick.

in order to better fight this cold, i have inside of me:
home made ginger tea
echinechea
kefir coconut water
vitamins
green powdery drink
herbal chai
grapefruit seed extract
zinc
chawanprash
triphala
ayuvedic herbs
and what else? i can't even remember. and now...rest. i need to rest to take on the "rest" or 2011! happy new year in korean: say hay bohk manee bahdo say yoh!

snow. s n o w.

2010-12-27T07:35:00.000-08:00

i'm in brooklyn and the blizzard has shut this work horse city down. it's lovely. it snowed 20" over night and the snow was up to my knees this morning. i love being influenced by nature, accepting what she provides and working harmoniously with it. our human nature is so influx, so ruled by the mind and emotions. mother nature has her own agenda and it behooves us to be in tune with her. the effective but challenging issue is that the more we're in tune with ourselves, the more we're in tune with mother nature. but sitting still with ourselves in order to know ourselves is...so...challenging.

when i started a regular meditation practice, i had huge energy bursts, shivers, freak outs - all terribly uncomfortable. i wanted to pull my hair out and rip out my heart. i made myself sit through it and with proper guidance, that energy, prana, finally worked it's way out of my body and mind after being contained within so tightly for so long. elizabeth gilbert talks about this experience in her book, "eat. pray. love". she also had shakes and uncontrollable movements when she sat to meditate, to go deeper inside herself.

knowing ourselves and mother nature is not easy, not for those unwilling to evolve, not truly productive if tried once or twice. knowing ourselves and mother nature takes building an intimate, strong relationship with our inner spirit (not mind) and is rewarding beyond description. truly, freedom only comes when we are able to face our inner demons, embrace every layer of thought and feeling, and love ourselves. and consciousness rises. in drips. and with every drip, our hearts become lighter, we have more humor and love in our hearts and the glorious nyc snow storm in december of 2010 becomes the most wondrous thing you've ever walked into.

what a great way to end 2010 and welcome the new year!

heavy mind. light heart.

2010-12-17T18:58:00.000-08:00

when i cross bridges, i often fear that the surface below me will fall straight down and i'll plummet into whatever is below me, which, in chicago, is usually dark, cold water. my heart is heavy with holiday sadness and family problems. today, i told myself to fall into the water. i said aloud, "mia, just let go. fall. into. the. abyss." i will. i'll do it, i'll fall into the great unknown and see what happens. if i try to control too much, i'll stand above what i don't know, forever frozen and not knowing what's below, what can happen next. the opportunity to grow is a woven into every breath. i will take advantage of this chance to evolve and let the shaky bridge that connects past to present to future fall away from under me. woah, what an exciting way to end the best year of my life! and what a great way to begin the next best year.

Chic-A-Go-Go: The Superions (Fred Schneider)

2010-12-07T14:51:00.002-08:00

happiness!

2010-12-06T12:38:00.000-08:00

woohoo! i'm cranking on my parayoga level one test. i'm so surprised about how much i know already. there are certainly things i need to research in this open book test, but knowing the practicals of this practice is so far so good. there's still soooo much i don't know, it's overwhelming. so, taking a small bite of this giant sweet dessert of knowledge is a great start.

i also got the OK to assist rod stryker, my main yoga man, in minneapolis in january. brr! woah! but we're studying the sutras at yoga center minneapolis and if that won't create internal heat, i don't know what will.

the way i'm taking this yoga test is crazy, it's so hard for me to sit sill and finish. my vata/wind energy imbalance, i guess. i'm getting it done, though. and i'm cooking and doing laundry in my kitchen, all at the same time. mia! oh, i do so much.

the food i made was so good, though: roasted brussel sprout soup. danggg, so good. i ate it with multi grain crackers (i can eat wheat again!) and brie, thank you very much, trader joe's.

i'm so excited about the next few months! finishing this yoga written test and it's other components, going to nyc and the himalayan institute for christmas and new years, assisting my yoga teacher in january, my birthday in february and mexico in march/april to train with my teacher, again.

lucky little girl i am...and a hard working woman, too.

december is her name

2010-12-04T07:11:00.001-08:00

sorry that this alignment is so jacked. for the full effect of the latest
bight & beautiful newsletter, go here. thanks.

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Welcome to the
Bright & Beautiful Newsletter

Winter

The cold, the cold. Winter is time to comfort yourself and those you love. For the holidays, comfort yourself with consciousness by purchasing mindful gifts or making your own. Also, create heat by igniting the spark inside you to do what you truly love and help others do the same. Imagine all the people, doing what they love. I bet you a roasted chestnut that we'd be a happier world.

"Local" and "Everywhere" information:

Local News

Food Drive Rock Show
Our fun, multi-vocal rock band, Tiny Bones, plays a food drive holiday show. Guitarist Debbie and I are making the boys play two holiday songs with our original set. Enjoy your guilty holiday song pleasures and sing along, lyric provided. Most importantly, bring packaged food to donate. See you there, we're on at 9PM.

December 16, 2010. Show starts 8:30PM. 21+. Abbey Pub.
Magic Gloves. Tiny Bones. The Sentinels. Hifi Superstar.
$12 at the door or $10 with a packaged food donation for the Greater Chicago Food Depository
Chic-A-Go-Go Tapings
December 4, 3-6PM
Our annual HOLIDAY & NEW YEARS studio episodes. It will be jingle-tastic! SCHEDULED GUESTS INCLUDE:
legendary 80s art punks TOOTHPASTE
X-mas rockers SNOW ANGELS
Chicago's own DREAM STREET SHAKERS
The studio shows takes place at the Chicago Access Network Studios, located at 322 S. Green St. (one block west of Halsted, half block north of Van Buren). There is free street parking and low cost lots in the neighborhood, but we are also very accessible by public transportation, as the Halsted bus stops near us and the Blue Line’s UIC-Halsted stop is only a block and half from the studio. Dress casual or wear a costume, no invitations or reservations required, come one come all!
December 16, 6:30-7:30PM
Organic pastries prepared live by Michelle Garcia of Bleeding Heart Bakery. Flamin' banjo player, Al Scorch. Miss Mia and puppet Ratso hosting kids dancing in a giant kitchen TV studio. Free. All ages. What? Word. See you at the Kenmore Live Studio, 678 N. Wells, Chicago. If you can't make it, tune in for a LIVE webcast at 7pm here. December 16. Doors at 6PM. Watch the promo video here.
Stuffed Animal
and Book Drive
Bloodshot Records wants to do good with your donations. Check it out here. Rob Miller's a softie, don't let him fool you.
Car For Sale: "1996, Outback wagon, about 177K miles. AWD, Stick, Red/Black, some rust, interior faded, but completely intact. Runs well, rides well, and is going to need some work. Gets about 25 to 27 MPG. I'm asking $1000.00, but there is proly some wiggle room...Christopher 773 732 6086"
Great Spaces For Rent:
$1,000 - 2br apartment. Great West Lakeview Apartment for Grabs near Belmont and Ravenswood: jawnwilson@gmail.com

900-ish sq feet with amazing light (ceiling is basically all skylights). Great neighbors. Perfect spot for yoga/Pilates studio. Rent is $1100-1200. Hayes Properties, 773 929 7050. Tell them acupuncturist Kristen Hart from Magnolia House sent you.

DISCOUNTED GYM MEMBERSHIP:

This is a serious deal. $55/month, no sign up fee, no contract, all access to the three gyms where I teach yoga: West Loop, Lincoln Park, Lakeview. All gyms have heated pools, dry and wet saunas, hot tubs, work out machines, group classes and all that razzmatazz. I really love teaching at these fitness clubs. I was initially dubious and was thankfully proven wrong to doubt the quality of people who work and work out here. Join and let's practice yoga together. Call DAVID at LPAC (773) 529-2022. You must mention me to get this killer deal. This is a great gift idea. Buy them their first month and watch them get healthy. Go!

Everywhere News
Awesome yoga teacher and gorgeous soul Courtney Riley will climb 19,340 ft. to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro for the Global Alliance for Africa’s annual Kilimanjaro Climb to Benefit Children Orphaned by HIV/AIDS. In addition to climbing this huge ass mountain, she's committed to raising a minimum of $5,000 to contribute to the overall trip goal of raising $50,000 that will support children who have lost one or both of their parents to AIDS.
To make an on-line donation, please visit here. Locate the Personal Page section on the upper left corner of the home page and select View existing campaigns. Identify Courtney Riley's campaign and select View. Enter the amount of your donation and select Support Me Now. The system will walk you through the rest of the donation process. If you have any questions, please contact GAA at 312.382.0607. Go Courtney!
LEARN SPANISH:
Holistic Spanish for intermediate and advanced students.
Gift Ideas:

For holiday greetings, I sometimes make cards with messages like Peace and Hope. I would mail these.

Other years I had stickers printed with messages like Don't Give Up in English or Korean. I also mailed these. I even had buttons made with the hobo symbol for Don't Give Up. These were also mailed. These last few years, I've donated the money I'd spend on manufacturing and postage to non-profits I really believe in and meditated on this gesture as a global greeting card. I've donated to places like World Wildlife Federation, Himalayan Institute, The Carter Foundation (go Jimmy!), Green America and the Global Water Fund. Sorry if I don't give you the satisfaction of opening something, but I really think that this world is filled with too much stuff, even if that stuff has the best intention ever behind it. I do still buy a handful of gifts, but this year, as my global greeting card, I donated a lump sum to World Vision. They do have an intense Christian agenda, but this doesn't bother me because they really do great work. Plus, when you donate, you receive things to pass onto people like fair trade coffee, hand made crafts, and even a stuffed chick. You can give these to people whose name you donated in. Happiest holidays, everyone!
Linkage:
I frikkin' dig Groupons even though it's making me broke. But I love them. Lookie here .

Half price theater and spa tickets for everywhere found here.

Micro-lend to hard working folks here.

Yoga

Give the gift of health and well being. Guaranteed more meaningful than a fruit cake. I offer mindful private yoga instruction to individuals and groups. Whether it's a yoga tune up for you, a fun group activity with your friends, or a basics class for your office, consider giving yoga guidance this holiday season. Serious group discounts and gift certificates available. Please email Mia@MiaPark.com for details.

Los Angeles yoga teacher Lewis Victor and I at the Himalayan Institute
Make this a Season of Gratitude. Gratitude is the foundation for setting your sankalpa, an intention for a positive change in your life in the next six to eighteen months. Take the time to stop, like right now!, and cultivate the feeling of gratitude. Allow yourself to feel appreciation for every person, decision and action that's led you to this moment.

In this fertile soil of gratitude, plant the seed of your sankalpa, your resolve to better your wellness and life. This is a beautiful practice that I highly recommend. Be diligent about your practice. Rewards take hard work. Dedicate yourself towards self evolution and observe how life seems easier and abundant. Express gratitude for this. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
to my public class schedule:
Tuesdays, noon-1PM, Level 1-2
@ Moksha Yoga
Tuesdays, 8-9:30PM, Intro
@ Tejas Yoga
STARTING IN JANUARY:
Fridays, 12-1:30PM, Open Level
@ Tejas Yoga

I also teach at LPAC, LVAC, WAC, Akal Yoga and to private clients. My full yoga teaching schedule is here .

I'm currently taking the ParaYoga Level I certification test with my teacher, Yogarupa Rod Stryker . The test taking is going great. I'm taking a break to send out this newsletter, then it's back to seven more days of writing. Taking this test is confirming my place in this lineage. So far, so great!

Hello, I'm Ambassador Park.
I'm a proud product ambassador for Manduka (my favorite mats) and for the terribly clever Three Minute Egg. If you shop for this wonderful yoga egg prop, use code 3MEAMP for a nice discount.

Acting

I performed staged readings this year and took a break from theater. I miss the stage, but am enjoying my time focusing on yoga. Thankfully, the commercial world is still kind to me. In 2010, some characters I played include a few doctors, a coffee spitting office Jane, and Attila the Hun's wife. I loved my pelt!

I serve on the Board of Chicago's newest Asian American theater company, A-Squared Theatre Workshop.

For the actor in your life,
a great gift idea is the

Act One Report.

For just $25 a year, you can have all the information you need to become a successful actor in Chicago. The
Act One Reports provides you with regularly updated information:
Instructional Videos
Agents & Casting Directors
Photographers
Resources
Unions
Theatres
Industry News
If you're changing careers, curious about acting, or ready to fulfill a life long dream, start with the Act One Reports . Take classes, get out there and have fun. It's working for me!

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day." Edith Lovejoy Pierce

"There's more, much more, to Christmas Than candlelight and cheer; It's the spirit of sweet friendship That brightens all year. It's thoughtfulness and kindness, It's hope reborn again, For peace, for understanding, And for goodwill to men!” John Greenleaf Whittier

“Our biggest fear is that we are going to go into a vacuum over Christmas and that people that are ill-disposed towards the peace process can use that vacuum to destabilize the entire peace process.” Martin McGuinness quotes

"The invisible fabric that pervade and support our world are made of two strands: love and wisdom. No wonder the more we love and serve and learn to align ourselves to Presence, the happier we are and the less we do, the less we are. In this holiday season may you be blessed with a new bounty of both, love and wisdom, as well as the vision and strength to share their blessings." Yogarupa Rod Stryker

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“all journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.”
– martin buber

test day 2!

2010-12-02T21:29:00.000-08:00

parayoga test, day 2. i'm answering the questions that i know off the top of my head. i'll edit later to better articulate. wrote for 2 hours today, gotta pick it up, i think, especially when i get to the questions i'll need to research.

i'm having a very good week, test stress aside. fantastic band practice, great yoga classes, clipped my cat's claws without incident.

it's just cold in my apartment. like, i'm all bundled up and my fingers are starting to itch from the cold. gonna turn in soon and stay warm in the ol' loft bed, close to the ceiling where the heat rises. i'm being conservative with heat because money is always a factor as a yoga teacher and actress making a living in the big city, especially when one of my classes can't pay me since the school is broke. um...i have faith that they'll rise above their financial woes and eventually pay me. but, for now, it's cold in here.

i'll just have to roast chestnuts when i write tomorrow to keep the kitchen warm. good stuff!

ok, off to bed to dream of warm skies and intelligent decisions.

warm bed, here i come!

parayoga® test: day one

2010-12-01T20:44:00.000-08:00

this amazing photo of our yoga teacher, rod stryker, by ana bartlett from the miami yoga journal convention in november, 2011.

day one of the parayoga (registered mark goes here) level one test! i joke about the registered mark because it's odd to brand yoga, but in this day and age, branding is a way to make a living and i want my yoga teacher to thrive in order to teach and fulfill his dharma.

anyway, it's important for me to be certified in this lineage because i want to fully represent the kind of yoga i practice and teach. i'm not very rebellious when it comes to what i really want. i shop at whole foods even though it's trendy and expensive. i buy aveda face products even though it's trendy and expensive. and i'm becoming a certified parayoga (r in a circle) yoga teacher...not because it's trendy or expensive (have you seen how much aadil palkhivala charges for his trainings?), but because i want to honor the teachings and my teacher by making it legit, yo.

also, i like having deadlines and assignments, being the project oriented person that i am. i like writing book reports and researching answers to these open book test questions. i'm kinda stressed about this process, but here i go.

day one, in the can. i worked over 2.5 hours on the test. i can totally do this. i basically know the answers to all (yes, i think all!) of the questions, but it's nice having the option to research the answers so i can explain them better.

haven't found my voice answering the questions, yet, but i will. i'm just writing info right now. i'll personalize the answers soon enough. i have until 12/11 to submit the answers. end of day one. ding!

when it rains, it pours

2010-11-29T21:14:00.000-08:00

this is my 12 or 13 year old cat, zero. he shudders during thunder storms and burrows when it snows. i should be as in tune to nature as he is. it's raining cold drops on a warmish autumn night right now and zero is resting. i, on the other hand, am sucked into the internet, blogging, facebooking, mixclouding, & just starting to think about resting for the night.

when i get started on a raindrop of an idea like, "i'll check email even though it's getting late. i'll be quick," my actions follow through like a storm. next thing i know, i've got 5 websites open and i'm reading all of them. i tend to move as fast as sheets of rain pounding on a highway windshield. and sometimes i'm also that blinded.

rain can blind, but it also washes away dirt and nourishes the earth. destructive. constructive. rain! i'm off to bed, to lay on my back, snuggle with zero and listen to his purring drown out the raindrops tapping against the bedroom window.

fire. gratitude. grace.

2010-11-26T13:12:00.000-08:00

flame = agni. gratitude = honesty. grace = being in the moment.

food drive and poetry

2010-11-22T21:58:00.000-08:00

i've never seriously written poetry. i remember plenty of angsty periods of trying my hand at prose and sometimes writing things that moved me. whether they moved anyone else, i don't know. if it did move them, it may have moved them away from me. today i emailed haikus i wrote for a ticket give away contest. here they are, the theme is autumn:

her name, november
texas memories of love
brown and underage

morning thunderstorm
dry leaves now wet, still grounded
all day gray sky smiles

i can't remember if haikus are allowed to have commas. eh, i comma-ed them. ah well. and, drum roll please (i have to ask for one because my drum roll kinda sucks)...a poster for our new rock show!

thanks for another great poster, steve walters. it's a food drive. maybe we'll write haikus about the hungry to recite. but then you may not come. eh, come anyway. it's for a great cause!

what i need right now. sigh.

2010-11-20T12:39:00.000-08:00

wow, i've had the craziest day of what seems like colloasal time wasting. i worked for 90 minutes on the newest bright and beautiful newsletter that only 25% of was saved. chimpmail (boo) says that it autosaves your work every 20 seconds. but it didn't. not even close. when i chatted w/their text support they said that there's nothing they could do to retrieve the lost work and they suggested that i work offline next time using dreamweaver. great, i'm supposed to buy, learn and use another program to post a newsletter online through a service that supposedly specializes in printing newsletters. i spent an additional 20+ minutes chatting all that out.

earlier today, i was also having connectivity issues. i spent over an hour on the phone with clear (boo) who said that i should move the modem 1/4 of an inch and wait 10 seconds to find where i get the best reception. a) i've done this twice already b) i have 7 windows in my apartment, one of them 4 feet wide. 1/4" at 10 seconds at a time is a long time and hoping for one more reception light on the modem c) there's nothing more they can do to provide more consistent service.

are these two issues related? probably, as far as this earthly plane goes. are they related on the cosmic plane? absolutely. i need get off line (what am i doing now?), slow down, and cultivate some...patience. another very long day to relearn a valuable lesson.

Chic-A-Go-Go on "You & Me" (WCIU)

2010-11-18T06:14:00.000-08:00

decisions, decisions...

2010-11-15T11:38:00.000-08:00

oh, what a lucky lucky gal i am. today, i booked a local commercial, bought a bunch of groceries at whole paycheck for under $30, i cleaned the worm compost to bring those bad boys indoors, picked the last of the green tomatoes and now wonder if i should bake bread with it, chutney, or jam. mmm....how lucky am i to have these decisions to make?

what i should be working on is finishing my book report on yoga sutras. but i'm being productive! but i'm taking care of my home! but i'm listening to yogarupa talking as a ponder what to cook!

good, mia, that's great. do what you want, but get that book report done. SOON!

(i love it when i talk to myself!)

rats, chickens, public radio

2010-11-12T14:04:00.000-08:00

oh boy, do i have a great life! last night, ratso & i interviewed mexican wrestlers for chic-a-go-go and this morning, i was a guest on chicago public radio's local show, 848. i recommended what to do in chicago this weekend.

and here is the best interview. EVER:

fear and love

2010-11-07T14:22:00.000-08:00

i remember in college a dear friend who is exactly 10 years and 3 days older than me told me that it's either fear or love that makes people act. i even included this line in a song i wrote years after called, "i miss you". the line goes something like, "its either fear or it's love that directs what we do in our lives. and i'm almost always afraid. i miss you." of course, i wrote that song about my boyfriend at the time who was constantly on tour.

i've been posting great quotes on over coming fear on my facebook wall, recently. here are a few:

"Flowers grow out of darker moments." Corita Kent

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our
deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light
not our darkness that frightens us. We ask ourselves 'who am I to be
brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. Marianne Williamson

Fear is static that prevents me from hearing myself. ~ Samuel Butler

i really like that last one, it's very tantric in the sense that if we're able to hear ourselves, then we can hear the divine sound of god inside of us. that's yoga - the science of self knowledge. we have to hear ourselves, know ourselves, see ourselves.

i've got a huge life challenge i'm facing in the next few months and i finally feel ready to reduce the static of fear so i can hear myself better and evolve. my dharma (purpose) on earth is to evolve and to help others evolve. i am limiting myself by letting fear hold me down.

abhinivesa is the fear of death in yoga talk and we all have a big mean streak of this in our spines. if we're secure in our after lives, then this fear should be minimal. self evolution has to come with just the right amount of fear if you want to survive. but in order to thrive, abhinivesa must go out of style like the sony walkman.

my favorite tv show

2010-11-04T15:49:00.000-07:00

study study study!

2010-11-02T13:30:00.000-07:00

i'm in a nice plac, perfect to study in. i'm with my friend who is working on his phD, so studying now makes sense. instead, i'm updating my blog!

get to work mia!

i'm studying for the level one parayoga test and plan to take it in just one month.

i
will
do
it.

study. take the test. pass the test. and...go.

2010-10-31T17:28:00.000-07:00

"Loneliness is less about isolation from others and missing their would-be love and more a symptom of being disconnected––the same noxious seed for so many other ills of the heart. The solution is to listen to your inner spark that needs no thing and no one to be content. Searching for what no one other than you can heal will only fuel your troubles. Just rest and take your medicine from your heart’s joyful roar." - Yogarupa Rod Stryker

it's nice to hear these words right now. my heart is sore from romance issues and mid-life contemplations. although, i feel stronger and more confident than ever. not so long ago, i'd be tremendously sad and distraught under the same conditions. right now, i'm better focused, better prioritized, more happy, and more healthy than ever before. but emotionally (which is really a function of the mind, according to vedantic yoga), my yoga teacher's quote makes my heart feel better. my inner spark says, "practice yoga right now, then have a gluten free muffin that you're baking as you type." inner spark, you're so right! see ya soon, blog.

brrrrrr!

2010-10-28T10:43:00.000-07:00

woah, what happened? it got cold. COLD! i spent 3 hours last wednesday closing up the back porch garden, just in time. nothing is freezing yet, but dying things need to die in peace. we had a CRAZY wind storm these last two days that pretty much killed my dahlia flowers that were left on the porch. every other vulnerable plant was already tucked away. i love this season. autumn is a radical change from summer and serves as a transition to my former favorite season, winter.

i think i love the colder seasons because i'm forced to consider warmth. i don't mind working to be warm, but i mind working to cool off. perhaps this is because i have lots of heat already, lots of energy, and i'm always burning candles on all ends. this autumn is different, though. i'm not burning as many candles and i'm excited to learn how to keep warm with out burning out.

and oh, here is a photo of a car that hit me from behind last month, then the guy tried to blame me at the police station. sweet. he was an attorney dressed in all white, even his shoes and his teeth. i wondered if he were a member of some cult but i don't think cult members would be the type to blame others since they're so absorbed in being told how to think.

shows shows shows!

2010-10-18T20:31:00.000-07:00

whew, what an autumn weekend. i saw a different performance every night. chicago is so great for weekends like this. i've been studying and preoccupying myself with hosting visitors and finishing my 2009 taxes that i haven't gone out in a while, it seems. i certainly made up for lost shows.

friday 10/15 i saw "six stories up: ellis island", where i co-wrote a short play with a 14 year old named emily. this is a great theater company that uses actors of all demograhics, from 8 year olds to actors with disabilities to asian american to...you name it. tellin' tales theater company told some good ones on friday.

on saturday, i saw the great margaret cho, whom i taught yoga to and whom i blogged about already. she must be the hardest working woman in show business. she put on a full tilt show.

sunday, 10/17, i saw a-squared theatre workshop's newest production, "the other shore". i'm very very pound of my co-theater peeps who worked so very hard to put this amazing show together. i was honestly relieved and happily surprised that the show is as good as it is. i heard rumors about the show being a train wreck, even during tech, but sometimes a fire under actor's assess can make them memorize lines. i've been one of those actors before, too. memorize they did and interpret a difficulty script into a moving piece of art they also did. giau, the director, is very creative. congratulations to the cast and crew!

and thank you, chicago, for being a great place to be active.

choga

2010-10-16T16:09:00.000-07:00

so, i just taught yoga to margaret cho, and i'm calling it "choga". i'm a fan because she's a pioneer on so many fronts. she's an inspirational korean american performer and note that she's korean AMERICAN. her view is totally unique to media as an american born korean performer. i dig her work and, to boot, she's really really nice.

i taught choga to her, her opening act john and the merch woman, jessie. a great group with nice energy. i'm looking forward to seeing her perform tonight at the chicago theater! i want to ask her to sing in my dream band, KGA, korean girl army. we didn't really have time to talk, so i'm totally emailing her management and asking. i'd love to play a show with her. i hope that KGA plays the annual rock show benefit that i produce, "covers for cover", 12/23/10.

go cho! go choga! rock.

crankies

2010-10-13T20:26:00.000-07:00

my sister tells her son to throw the crankies away. sometimes i feel like doing the same thing, except as a yoga teacher, i now see the world in yogic terms. so if i'm feeling cranky, i'm feeling rajasic, my pitta is out of balance and i try to practice yoga to create samana. i still get cranky, but now i can be a better detective to figure out why i am so cranky. is it the food i eat? do i need more sleep? i should definitely meditate more. and talk less.

like a scientist, i create a hypothesis to why i'm feeling a certain way and test it, using the yoga tools that i have. i can see what works and what doesn't, knowing that what doesn't work now may work another time. when i get too into my head, i get cranky. when i try too hard, i get cranky. when i'm afraid of something at a such a subtle level that i don't even realize it's fear, i get cranky.

and on those notes, off to bed! let's see if more sleep will crank the crankies out of me.

food!

2010-10-05T15:16:00.000-07:00

i'm not the hugest foodie, food blogger or food tv show watcher, but i do do do love cooking. i have so much deliciousness from the last two csa yummy veggie boxes that i'm cooking enough food for a few armies.

for dinner, i'm having fried indian style cabbage and swiss baked potato pie. they actually taste really good together! there's no way i can finish all this food, including the yummy noodle/greens/raisin/lemon dish that i made yesterday.

now to find out what i can freeze and what to share. i am in awe of what is going on in my kitchen this week.

i am so appreciative for this food and for this opportunity to nourish myself. thank you. i surely am a rich person!

here is a photo of food from the best ethiopean restaurant in the city, abyssinia.

japanese garden time

2010-10-03T18:44:00.000-07:00

so, since i didn't get the sear's santa gig, i can truly enjoy the season that we're in: autumn. my favorite. it's so easy to be in love in autumn. it's an elegant time to love nature, people, food, and discovering new places. new spaces. i visited the anderson gardens, which is a 14 acre japanese garden in rockford, il. who knew? it was a wonderful time to explore, walk, take pictures, feed the lovely fish. and to be in love. i highly recommend this place!

a finalist? me? sure!

2010-09-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

ok, so now i'm a finalist in the sears savvy santa contest. really, this would be a fun gig for me & honestly, the pay seems to be so good that i'll be able to focus my hard working self towards yoga studies and more volunteer teachings in the future. we live our lives to the best that we can, and sometimes a boon will present itself to us. do we go for it, let it come to us or ignore it? i'm going for it. again, this would be a great acting gig for me - not too much of a stretch because i really do love christmas time and i feel savvy with my time and resources, anyway. if you are so inclined, please watch my video and leave comments every day. thank you so so much! ho ho ho!

WATCH HERE!

bob randall on "the story"!

2010-09-17T08:18:00.000-07:00

Brown Skin Baby

there's a link above to my friend, bob randall, on national public radio's show, the story. i sent them an email about bob in hopes that they'd feature him...and they did! please listen in. bob is a very very special person to know, i'm blessed to have known him in australia and in life.

fall over. autumn brigade.

2010-09-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

there's a poster for a rock show with my new band, "tiny bones". we're so excited to play this show! it's technically our 3rd show, really our first show where we're playing a full set, which for us is 30 minutes. short & sweet! kinda like debbie, our lead singer.

this is my favorite time of year, so playing a big rock show during my fave season is double the joy. autumn colors warm me, the bright and cooler sun delights me, and somehow the green colors of the back porch garden seem richer.

time to ground myself, since it's vata (wind - this is yoga/ayurvedic talk) season. move towards eating cooked veggies over raw ones and practice more grounding yoga. time to embrace autumn and ROCK OUT.

mia in the papers

2010-09-10T14:12:00.000-07:00

check it, here i am in the chicago reader, in the "gossip wolf" section. it's about me wanting to be that savvy santa for sears. there's a funny pic of me by my homie and excellent photpgrapher, jim newberry. this shot was taken during the soul train homage episode of the kid's tv show i host, chic-a-go-go, which we taped 1-2 years ago (already!). anyway, i appreciate the press. i do hope that i get to be a savvy santa - it sounds like lots of fun. i'll get to travel, meet many people and hopefully bring some joy, lightness and inspiration.

ambassador? me? sure!

2010-09-08T10:49:00.000-07:00

ok, i'm putting myself out there quite a bit these days! online mia. i do remember life before the internet. i feel like my apartment was cleaner back then. i'm now a manduka brand ambassador! i love these mats, they are indestructible. my black mat pro was a life investment i made years ago and the 2lb travel mat i have is natural rubber. it was so great to have in colorado on recent travels. anyway, i do love this company - they do good things and have great intentions. i'm happy to be part of the family.

santa? savvy? ME? sure!

2010-09-04T15:47:00.000-07:00

Check out this entry I found on Sears Santa Casting Call.

so, i auditioned for this role as a santa clause type for a nation wide, 4 month campaign and had a great time at the audition. i actually dig christmas. i'm not ironic or cool about it and i don't have to earn cool points from anyone...i like christmas! i have a shopping bag filled with an apartment sized tree and decorations that i've moved from place to place for over a decade. i decorate every holiday time and love the many christmas cd compilations i've collected over the years. i play them every year.

i'd love to win this competition and although it's not judged by popularity, i.e., how many "likes" there are or how many times a video is watched, i'm still reminding my friends every day to watch my video and leave nice comments for me. why not? can't hurt to show that people support me. and how blessed i am that people support me so much! i would love this gig because it'd be lots of fun, i could spread light to people by setting a good example of being a decent human being, and i would do great things with the compensation, like save money for my nephew's education, help my mom pay off her house, donate to so many non-profit groups (many of whom i donate to already), and i'd like to start or volunteer at a foster home. i've always wanted to help with kids in transition and kids without parents and the money i'd earn could really help with this. of course. there'd be a yoga program at the foster home!

it's not too early to say happy holidays. it's always a great time to share joy, peace and love. commercially drive or otherwise, the intent should be real. let's make it so!

a really wise tooth

2010-08-18T11:50:00.000-07:00

ah, a pulled tooth. i don't mind that a wisdom tooth with a root canal in it was pulled out of my mouth, but i'm waiting to feel better. apparently, my head got infected. it's fine, i just can't seem to stop feeling waves of exhaustion and i can't seem to stop weeping. i am a big time crying lady, but i think only when they are honest tears. i've been honestly weeping all morning. my head hurts. now that i know it's infected, i can relax and stop trying to brave it all. wahhhh, my mouth hurts!

there, i feel better.

it's such a nice change for me to want to rest. i like it! i don't believe in accidents, so i'll take advantage of wanting to chill out by reading and napping. nice!

so i owe thanks to the wise tooth and to the infection for making me slow down & prioritize. ok, time to lay down...

rock on!

2010-08-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

i just love my new band. i mean, loooooove my new band. tiny bones. that's us! woohoo!

not only do we have a great deal of respect for each other, but we play music well together, too. we loves us some each-other! this is the smoothest band i've been in. rehearsals are easy, song writing is easy, getting gigs has been kinda easy so far.

i'm not sure musically how to describe us. we're kinda indie pop, kinda pop punk, very vocally. it's nice. i'm glad to take a break from theater acting, so far this year. my creative energies are well used every day by my many activities, but playing fun rock music has second nature to me for over twenty years. that's a long time!

our music.

tantra...kosha....yoga, heat, and august 2010

2010-08-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

here is a photo of me at golgusa, a zen korean buddhist temple in south korea from march, 2010. this teacher's name is musan & he is a french fellow who is most awesome at sunmudoh, a korean zen martial art. i stayed here for only two days and i'm still ready for more of this experience. i'll so be back. photo by my russian friend, alexander pototsky.

august is a hot & humid marshmallow sitting on everyone's lap. it's just so darn heavy...a real challenge to keep cool inside and out. i'm taking two teacher trainings with yogarupa rod stryker and i'm so excited! like, so so excited! i love being in this world of yoga people, parayogis are really the most interesting people i've met.

i learned about tantra (not the sex, silly) and will learn about kosha. just the very beginning of these huge fields. so much to learn. very humbling. especially in this oppressive heat. time to law low, move slow and t h i n k.

power ON!

2010-07-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

ok, this book is kicking my butt. more than the city of chicago giving me $470 worth of fines in july alone. i'm reading the first 93 pages to write a book report for a parayoga teacher training this weekend at kripalu. i'm so excited to study with yogarupa rod stryer again!

i'm in the middle of a true spiritual growth spurt. it's amazing...& very uncomfortable. with the brighter light of changing my defensive identification comes dwelling in the darkness of grief and remembrance in order to release it. it's a true journey.

and releasing the dormant kundalini in me is part of this journey. the knowledge of how to travel the path wisely and progressively is out there. let's do it!

don't go breakin my heart

2010-07-27T13:31:00.000-07:00

that's an image of a "tantric goddess". i really enjoyed teaching the "intro to tantric meditation" workshop last saturday at tejas yoga studio. maybe i spent too much time on the history of yoga, but i wanted to place tantra in it's context by comparing it to classical yoga.next time i teach it, i'll focus more on patanjali/classical yoga & tantra, as opposed to the entire history of yoga & tantra. tantra has so many meanings & applications.

some of my favorite meanings are:

that tantra is the only philosophy & science that uses all the tools of yoga including the bandas, asana, pranayama, the chakras, mantra, dhyana, & so on. weaving everything together.

that it is developed to bring the change we need quickly in order to reveal that divine spark in all of us.

that tantra focuses on energy/prana as a way to clear the fluctuations of the mind, as patanjali says is the meaning of yoga.

it's through tantric yoga that i've found what calmness i have and that i'll continue to find. this isn't an easy ride...this life thing. we're here and we're obliged to do better than hang in there. we have a responsibility to become the best we can be to spiritually help others and also to stop our own suffering. kind of like "shin byung", spirit sickness, with korean shamans. shamans get really sick (suffering) until the answer the call from the gods to become shamans and serve them (their dharma).

is our suffering meant to guide us towards our true path since if we follow it, we won't suffer? it kinda sounds self serving to serve others just to remove your own suffering. but with the correct intention, everything lines up and the lessening of suffering and the increasing of universal joy justifies all actions.

we all need some hope to encourage us to stay in this existence. according to the teachings, if your heart is strong enough, no one can break it. i'm certainly not there because my heart breaks so very often. but it breaks apart lesser apart then it used to and the cracks fill with deeper joy more quickly than it used to.

but it still breaks. more practice. more practice. more practice.

oh, the noive! ("nerve!")

2010-07-22T22:27:00.000-07:00

i'm a bit nervous to teach my first workshop on tantric meditation. i can't believe where my yoga teaching has taken me. it's amazing!

i've always loved teaching - ESOL, the u.s. citizenship test, homework tutoring...and now a meditation workshop. who would have thunk? to be honest, my meditation practice is shorter than i want it to be. why is that?

i'm so good at administrative duties, at organizing, at everything but getting down to work, honestly. the older i get the more i realize that if i want to get anything *real* done, i should just do IT and not the things that support it.

if i want to do dishes, rather than put more soap in the dispenser, wash out the drying rack and get out a new sponge, i should just DO the dishes! imagine my focus for this meditation workshop. whoosh.

the workshop is 7/24/10 at tejas yoga studio. i'm excited!

tiny bones record "aim"

2010-07-16T04:43:00.000-07:00

here is our fabulous rock band recording in a 90 degree room. debbie is 9 months pregnant! how cool is that?

what do you want?

2010-07-01T20:24:00.000-07:00

so today i posted this on facebook:

Mia Park What do you do if you really want something and can't get it?

...& received these amazing comments:

Tom Davoren

I try to think about why I want it, is it a need or want, what it will cost me now and later.

If it still seems important after all that, I make changes so I CAN get it.

;-)... See More

7 hours ago · ·

Danny Ahlfeld

Start Breaking Shit! LMAO

7 hours ago · ·

Liz Cochran

pretend I have it

6 hours ago · ·

Neal Durando

Yeah, I say break that piece of shit. With a vvvvvengence.

6 hours ago · ·

Danny Ahlfeld

but Pretending that you have it is totally right...thanks Liz! Deadly On! Deadly ON!

6 hours ago · ·

Ruth Lipman

First acknowledge that I want it; allow myself to be sad about it; and then be grateful that life goes on with an awareness of all that I do have.

6 hours ago · ·

Jeffrey Hari-Om Halverson

be patient. if you're meant to have it, then it will come to you

6 hours ago · ·

Greg Hardigan

Move on.

6 hours ago · ·

Alice Singleton

Is the reason why you want it because you can't get it?

6 hours ago · ·

Sara Fly Strother

visualize, be clear, and ask the universe. then toss it into the fire of your heart and wait it out.

5 hours ago · ·

Aaron Cohen

Ah, whatever it is has got too many calories. I'll stick to the salad recipe you posted.

5 hours ago · ·

John Stoner

what is it you want?

5 hours ago · ·

Sue Pak

You go get it.

5 hours ago · ·

Ed Alvarez

Second Sue. If money is involved just wait or get the cheaper version.

4 hours ago · ·

Maggie Litgen

please let me know when you figure this out. ♥

2 hours ago · ·

Sarah Krajewski

manifest it.... works every time

about an hour ago · ·

Kirsten Chan

i've heard making a vision board works....

about an hour ago · ·

Julia V. McDonough

write a song about it!

27 minutes ago · ·

Lauren Bradberry

get it

4 minutes ago · ·

Mia Park

wow...you guys rule! what a great response. i can tell everyone's personalities based on these comments. lovely insight to you all. thank you. yes to all of you.

a few seconds ago · ·

zurich...!

2010-06-16T05:33:00.001-07:00

oh, i haven't blogged because i got bogged. bogged down with organizing a successful yet frustrating benefit for our asian american theater company. right now i'm blogging from zurich, switzerland, a gorgeous place! talk about a great way to re-set my bones. more soon.

spritual journey, part I: fulfill this

2010-05-10T22:55:00.000-07:00

i will document the amazing spiritual experiences i've had on my trip to australia and korea in march/april 2010. i want to keep the warm buzz of these encounters going and thank my sweet friends, gretchen and jim, for the encouragement.

this vacation was truly a journey of my internal self. i feel mentally and spiritually different since i returned three weeks ago. i'm less anxious, but more restless. more content, and also more driven. better focused, but still doing too much at once. things are changing inside of me in a more tangible way. i feel more concerned about my immediate world, but also more distant. hmm. new perspective is the greatest gift.

part one of the trip began before i left chicago. i was so happy to study with my yoga teacher, rod stryker in march. i work for him while he's in town and felt joyous to help. he's a very special person and i have great respect for him and his teachings. we studied the sun, moon and fire practices in the burbs and then a yoga teacher training, "the yoga of fulfillment", in the city. two of my yoga students came to the burbs and a co-worker teacher studied with him in the city because of my recommendations. i'm tickled to be part of the transference of knowledge.

in the burbs, we did a yoga pose that made me feel emotionally uncomfortable. i held the pose, despite my wanting to squirm out of it and scream. driving back to the city that night, i was actually glad that traffic was terrible so i could cry more than drive. i listened to my friend's band, judson claiborne, sing their gorgeous song, "twilight spirit" over and over again. it was my soundtrack on the highway as i held my forehead and cried. these emotional bursts happen often in yoga. to me, at least. my dear friend jim bennitt says he's never had an emotional upheaval in yoga. hmm, different karmas for different dharmas. (i just made that up. i'm sure it's been said before. what a great line!)

at rod's yoga training in chicago, we wrote down many emotionally uncomfortable ideas, including our "deepest driving desire". this is the idea that truly motivates us to do what we do. it's sometimes dark. after days of asana (physical poses), pranayama (breath/energy movement) and meditation, we were raw and ready to dig deep to find our truths. my deepest driving desire is sad and has to do with the ancient idea of "deserving" love. my friend, sue, says that we inherit our mother's, mother's mother's and their mother's pains and histories through the land, through our DNA, through our lineage. i kind of agree with her.

even though this was the second time i've taken this teacher training, i'm still digging for my dharma code, my personal mission statement. the verbiage will evolve but the basic gist is that i'm here to help people and inspire them. great work if you can get it. and you can get it if you try.

working for yogarupa is a great way to be involved in this parayoga community that i love. although i am distracted with managing staff and making sure the training runs smoothly, i feel honored to be trusted enough to help. i've met some wonderful yogis, including mark and margherita from london. mark is the best person to take pictures with because he makes you laugh really hard before the shutter is clicked. it's really fun - take a photo with him if you see him:

while training with yogarupa and the best yogis in the world, i made major changes to the australia portion of the upcoming trip. i decided not to travel with my original travel mate and couchsurfed another travel friend from vienna, daniel. the stars lined up, or, in yoga talk, i followed my dharma because doors flew wide open as soon as i changed plans. for example, i found a fantastic subletter to take care of wonder kitty, zero, and who only killed three houseplants. most importantly, kitty is fine. she took this lovely photo of our furry friend:

vienna daniel and i had the same interest to spend 5 days in the austrailan desert at uluru. we agreed over email to split rental car costs and stay at the same back packer hotel at uluru. i was to fly from sydney to melbourne to alice springs and after a 4 hour lay over, fly to uluru. at the time i thought this was a crazy itinerary with too much hopping around. this nutty flight schedule and following that ol' dharma put me in the right place at the right time to meet a group of people in the alice springs airport that changed everything. just, everything.

my intention at uluru was to walk around it; absorb it's spiritual energy (shakti) and contribute some of mine (prana). daniel wanted to climb it...ugh. i held my tongue because i would never think of climbing such a sacred place. it's like scaling the inside of the sistine chapel naked or playing hopscotch at mecca in spiked leather boots. he did change his mind, but it took an aboriginal elder, a korean zen buddhist monk and an out of tune 12 string guitar to convince him. the delicious, homemade, vegetarain kimchee probably didn't hurt, either. part II coming soon.

korea 2010

2010-04-28T21:09:00.000-07:00

here is an email i sent to friends from my trip to korea in april, 2010. korea's life style has changed so much! i really loved being there...feeling good in the place of my roots is a spiritual blessing.

"so austraila was AMAZING. i want to move there. i spent a week in the desert and was so spiritually moved that when i even picture that place in my mind, i'm calm. in fact, i loved the desert so much that i paid out of my nose for a ticket to fly back there after just a few days in melbourne. the yoga workshop i taught went great in melbourne. it's a very special city. syndey is great, too, but wicked expensive. the only down side to my aussie trip was the aboriginal situation. it's really incredible how the indigenous people are treated and how they behave after being treated so badly. i didn't see a single indigenous person in sydney. when i spoke to my many white aussie friends about this, they agree that the situation is "out of sight out of mind". incredible. read more about it here: http://www.generationone.org.au/ ...& remind me to tell you more in person about the korean monk in the desert, bob randall the aboriginal elder whom i stayed with, and about the many wonderful desert sunsets and sunrises with new, life long friends. and the stars, the stars, the stars. and the moon. the full moon. laying out under the full moon in the australian desert. my heart still bursts.

so korea is AMAZING. i want to move here. i can not comprehend how much seoul has changed. even korean and ex-pats say that this city is changing so rapidly that it's head spinning. in a good way. there is SO much opportunity here for everything. i can't believe how much money foreigners make teaching english and working a myriad of neat jobs. i'm staying with my dear friend john lee who makes a living doing voice overs for tv and radio. he works less than 40 hours a month!

i've been here for 48 hours & have made friends with both the NPR (she's hmong american) and the ny times (she's korean australian) correspondents in seoul, american yoga teachers, a canadian book publisher, french teachers from belgium and france, an iraqi diplomat who wants to take me salsa dancing, a greek australian social worker, indian restaurant owners and progressive koreans who lived abroad but have returned. i've also met a smart brazilian on a university scholarship, a nigerian who teaches literature at the best university in seoul and a professor of pancha kosha yoga therapy from india. like, he teaches this yoga therapy class as a university course. WOW.

today, i practiced yoga with an english speaking teacher and studied at a yoga sutras practicum with indians, canadians and americans. i'm in heaven! & speaking of which, earlier i went to an english speaking church where my cutie pie cousin is an assistant pastor. happy easter!

every single person i've met (& you know how i do, i've met even more than i listed), LOVES living in korea. the rent is dirt cheap for huge places. the pay is high for foreigners and the cost of living is way lower than chicago. now i understand why there are so many ex-pats. and you don't need to speak much korean to live here. i'm seriously thinking about moving here. really. plus, it's cool talking to people from all over the world in korean. like, seeing indian people talk about yoga in korean is so cute!!!

i leave tomorrow to fulfill my main mission for coming here, to visit my 90+ year old great aunt in mokpo, a southern coastal city. it's yellow dust season now and it covers everyone and everything. i'll use this fine silt of yellow sand blown here from china like a membrane to protect me from the harsh reality that this is probably the last time i'll see her. she's a very, very special woman who has brought so much light to this world. i'd love to tell you about her in person. my heart bursts in this way, too.

next week i'll go to the ancient capital of shilla, the city of gyeoungju, where i'll stay at a buddhist temple for 2 days and practice zen buddhist korean martial arts with monks. we'll wake up at 4AM! dang, those monks get up early. i'm looking forward to it. i'm also looking forward to seeing the cherry blossoms that are in full bloom now. i'll also tour southern coastal islands where "hey nyuh" work - the korean fisher women who hold their breath for 10 minutes & dive in the ocean to catch seafood with their bare hands to kill in front of you to eat fresh. woah!

then, back to seoul for more urban hedonism before i come home. there are art openings and rock shows to catch next weekend with new international friends. so start planning your move to korea with me so we can begin our own movements. yoga. music. acting. art. what the heck?

much love from the not-no-hermit-no-more-kingdom,
m

australia 2010

2010-04-26T13:31:00.000-07:00

here is an email i sent to friends while in australia. how i love the desert. how i want to go back...

i am having the most amazing time here...like indescribably a very unique time. sydney was amazing, hung out at coogee beach and walked 2.5 hours along the pacific coast my 1st day here. 2 days & many great meals later, i hopped on a plane to the dang very center of australia: uluru. at the alice springs city airport, i met a korean zen monk on a mission to present a giant spiritual painting to bob randall, a famous aborginal leader who is a traditional father of uluru, a sacred site & the biggest most beautiful natural wonder you'll ever see. here is bob: http://www.kanyini.com/subject.html

i am now writing from bob's house on restricted access land, the anungu people's community land to the east of uluru. i've been here for 3 days as their guest because the culture is so friendly & especially because i helped translate for the monk & his helpers (culturally if not language). 2 days ago, the monk, his 2 helpers, 2 europeans i met, bob's wife & other guests & i performed both aboriginal and korean buddhist sun ceremonies on a hill in the red earth during sun rise with full view of uluru. as the light shined on the big rock, i wept because of the spiritual power & the absolute beauty. we walked in circles in each other's foot steps to symbolize unity during the aboriginal ceremony. then we bowed with prayer hands towards the rising sun chanting in korean. just amazing...talk about sun salutes.

for breakfast after the sun ceremony, we had kimchee ramen soup with fermented vegetables and hot peppers at bob's house. needless to say, us koreans were the only ones who ate second helpings because eating kimchee soup at 7:30AM ain't for everyone. & yes, the koreans packed a giant tub of their own korean food with them from brisbaine, where the helpers live. the venerable monk lives in korea and smiled non-stop for 2 days...EXCEPT for when he lectured us with passion on how adolf hitler was a korean buddhist monk in his previous life. FOR REAL. he has proof of this.

you can't make this stuff up. having kimchee soup in the australian desert at 7:30AM with an aboriginal leader & a korean monk telling us that hitler was a powerful buddhist who never found his teacher in his previous life which is why he went rogue in his next life & killed so many people. we nodded and said that we understood.

the monks left & i'm still at bob & barbara's house (his american wife from connecticut). i'm still jet lagged & spent the last 2 nights "sleeping" in a swag (aussie "sleeping bag") under the stars outdoors.

i have never seen so many stars in my life.

just stunning. how could i sleep with such a display of amazement above me? between staring at the milky way, the rabbits, the crows, the magpies, the dogs and the BUGS, i've been sleeping just ok. all good - afternoon yoga nidra to the rescue.

ok, signing off for now. i've been in australia for only 6 days & am already tingly amazed. thank you, universe! photos coming soon! like, AMAZING photos.

home!

2010-04-18T23:43:00.000-07:00

more soon! i just returned from a month long trip. it was AMAZING. thank you, world.

my teacher! woohoo!

2010-03-15T19:18:00.000-07:00

i just wrapped up spending 10 days with my yoga teacher, rod stryker. he is the coolest, really. it's easy to idol worship someone you respect, but seriously, if you met him you'd see what a great guy he is. he's charming, likable, a great conversationalist, intelligent, interesting & someone you would hang out with despite the fact that he is a yoga master.

i learned lots during this training...the yoga of fulfillment. we searched for our mission statements, our jiva code. we promised to give up a bad habit for 40 days. we set forth an intention.

my working dharma code (personal mission statement) is: "i turn towards spirit to share warmth and love". my bad habit i'm happy to KICK is multi-tasking. i'm out of control in this department. the intention i set forth is, "i am silent to make peace with my family", which means that i'll meditate & be quiet every day in order to be calm in the storm that is my family. i don't need luck, just determination. i'm going to meditate right now.

i hope that everyone can do this training - it's powerful mojo. magical science, this yoga stuff! thank you, yogarupa.

muck and mire

2010-03-03T20:11:00.000-08:00

i used to feel like i was standing in a deep swamp of connections to past experiences with pain and pleasure. i had to tilt my face to the sky just to gasp for air. in the yoga world, these connections to past experiences of pain and pleasure are two of five kleshas, deep impressions in our psyche that cause suffering. i'm glad to say that i now feel like i'm up to my waist in the swamppy muck and mire. i can breathe freely and see clearly, but i'm totally stuck and can't move my feet. i can't move forward & i can't even move backwards. it's frustrating, not being able to grow and move as fast as i want to. but i need to realize that i am growing at a rate that i control & that this pace is ok. letting go of past experiences is so hard! we are all stuck in this swamppy place where our fears and disappointments thrive. truly living in the moment continues to challenge me! there are so many levels to living in the moment. it's a life long process and then some...and we're all on the journey together. whew!

homeward bound

2010-02-27T20:18:00.000-08:00

i think of simon & garfunkel when i hear the phrase, "homeward bound". when i was a kid & heard that song, i thought of traveling towards a building where my things were. now when i think of homeward bound, i think of the space in my heart that opens when i listen to nick drake's "pink moon". or the place that tingles after i meditate. or the place that allows all feelings to play through after i make the right decision, no matter how difficult.

tonight, i'm homeward bound in all meanings of the world. i've been working my butt off at various acting jobs, teaching yoga, booking a benefit music show, practicing with our new band "the tiny bones" & even more. i'm so good at being busy. tonight, i like being good at staying home.

i'm soaking my feet in a giant soup pot of warm water and chamomile oil, after i steamed my face in the calming concoction. i'm tidying up, cooking, relaxing.

honestly, once i recently made a huge, difficult leap in the right life direction, my heart feels lighter and i want to be more still. it's nice! i hope to always make the wisest decision, especially if it calms me down enough to where i want to be home listening to music and painting my toe nails. nice!

it's still bright & beautiful no matter what.

2010-02-22T23:22:00.000-08:00

we loose our hair, our teeth, our hearts. glasses break, minds break, backs break. eras end. life begins! so much change and all we can do is pray to our god for love. the kind of unconditional love that soothes criminals who hate themselves. we need it for ourselves so we can give it others. it's a warrior's path. and we all should take it.

throat & presidents

2010-02-15T11:31:00.000-08:00

here i am with good friend john greenfield & our fabulous band mates, brent and rob. happy bday lincon & washington! men with vision to change history. some people change history and the future by accident. these men intentionally set out to alter our country and the way we live. huge f-ing deal!

we can also change our own history with the same intelligence and strength that our country's forefather's had. we all have the ability to dig deep inside for the smarts and spiritual muscle to CHANGE and act on what's best.

...even with a sore throat like i have now!

calm calm calm

2010-02-10T14:51:00.000-08:00

this is a cat i used to have..."nasty". joe cannon named her because she had a nasty, neurotic disposition. she used to jump vertically to get onto my kitchen shelves and knock down everything from jars of sugar to dishes.

once, in a wild rage, i whipped her with a pair of wet blue jeans. i reacted very poorly to her uncontrollably anxious behavior. i let her bring out the worst in me...i had to be the more neurotic of the two of us. me vs cat...& actually, she won because i acted out of my dharma, my natural code. she had no choice but to be a cat; a nervous, annoying, jittery cat. i had the choice to be human, for goodness' sake, and i acted like a primate around her. often. i only beat her with wet blue jeans once, but i yelled at her often.

she tested every part of my organized mind! ah....nasty. in the end, she found a home with someone who not only tolerated her behavior, but likes it. good for them. two peas in a pod, i say, for me, i was the nastier of the two of us. & no, i didn't do much yoga when she lived with me!

yoga matic

2010-02-02T15:12:00.000-08:00

i've been practicing more yoga lately & feel all the better for it. i still need to commit to a regular mediation practice, but that's getting better, too. it's so easy to let a day go by with out connecting to the universe by meditating. then another day goes by. and another. but ahimsa is the first rule of social conduct for a reason. we need to be gentle with ourselves first and foremost. so, i will gently encourage myself to sit on the meditation cushion.

meanwhile, in the asana world, i've been practicing the physical poses just about daily for a month. and i feel great. no more achy back. even the tricky left shoulder feels better because i'm practicing more mindfully. the more i practice, the more sensitive i become to how and what i practice.

if i'm going in for an intense physical practice, like geri bleier's class at yogaview, then i need to make quiet time for my energy levels that day. i do enjoy her teachings - she's so articulate when teaching. every class i take with her, i'm reminded of how to be in the poses. i'm now squeezing my forearms together tighter in down dog & ta-dum, my shoulder feels better!

i don't practice ashtanga, but p jois' saying, "practice and all is coming" is true. try it!

addicted and busted

2010-01-28T20:51:00.000-08:00

i am addicted to the internet. it's a way of communication for me, for validation, for avoidance of other activities that will actually fulfill me.

i get a rush when i turn on the computer. i find a million reasons to avoid doing what i need to do on the internet. i should be finishing a grant application. i'm not. i should be writing a letter to my great aunt in korea. i'm not.

i crowd my mind w/internet activity because having a busy mind is familiar to me. silence is harder. and the more i allow myself silence with meditation, the less addicted i feel to busying my already active head. i really am addicted! & now, to turn it off for a little while...until tomorrow AM!

travel planning excitement...in the moment.

2010-01-24T17:38:00.000-08:00

i spent over four hours at a local coffee shop yesterday emailing and researching our upcoming trip to OZ & south korea. i'm very excited! i'm trying to stay in the moment outside of this computer screen. i've been staring at this glowing screen for so long that when i stand up to walk to the bathroom, i forget where i am. by staying in the moment, i take pause to hear the sounds around me, smell the smells around me, and try to remain being the witness to my physical body.

it's challenging being the witness because i am so easily over stimulated. i can't play music, write and talk to someone at the same time with out getting slightly freaked out. too much input while trying to output words. a glass of wine thrown into that mix doesn't help calm the stimulation, either. even though alcohol dulls the senses, that's not the same effect as being detached enough from your gross bodily experiences enough to stay internally calm.

becoming the witness means residing in the internal spiritual space that this mortal flesh houses. as this mortal form wanders down under and in korea soon, i hope to keep in the moment enough to appreciate everything i see! working on staying the witness will help me achieve this.

teaching yoga over seas?!

2010-01-23T14:53:00.000-08:00

i'm going to australia and south korea in march & april and hope to teach yoga there.

i'm traveling for a month and i've never gone for that long with out teaching since i started instructing in 2007. i'd miss not teaching for 4 weeks...and i'm excited at the thought of sharing this great yoga practice with others down under and in the mutha-land!

i think that ashtanga is popular in south korea and this makes sense to me because of koreans' mindset of order and hard work. i think that all styles are a-go down under and am about to research different studios in australia now. how fun! i'm so excited to have this opportunity to travel. thank you, universe.

amen. ohm.

2010-01-20T06:57:00.000-08:00

i've always loved churches and holy places. spaces used with the intention of worship are special. if you're still enough, you can feel their energy. the more intention towards worship that you bring to that space will obviously make it more sacred for you. here are some spaces i love:

This is the main Hindu temple in New Delhi. No images of holy beings here.

This is Moksha Yoga studio, my home base where I teach and where I've practiced since 2002.

To the right is a medieval church in Toledo, Spain. Just look at the effort.

I also love Chartres in France and the big ass Buddhist sculpture at a monastery in South Korea whose name I forget right now.

I make my home a sacred place of intention to be quiet and to talk to God, the inner divine light, Chenrezig (Tibetan Buddha of compassion). I take my shoes off when I'm hone. I light candles to symbolize divine light. I meditate and practice yoga in my living room in front of my shrine. I invite friends over to commune over tea and warm food. Most importantly, holy spaces should be made internally, as well. Our internal spaces can be more beautiful than any church or temple ever created!

yikes. YIKES!

2010-01-17T12:11:00.000-08:00

so i made a gorgeous pot of korean soup with kimchi, mushrooms, an egg and korean brown rice.

about half way thru chowing on my fave comfort food, a small, dried brown worm floated to the top. i'm pretty sure it's a dried up maggot, the exact same color and size of a brown rice grain. oh crap, now what? i tried fishing the worm out but since it's just a light worm shell, it submerged quickly. i found it again, and it sank again as i tried spooning it out. what do i do? i may eaten 10 worms already & i'm fine. now that i know that there's a worm there, though...i'm kind of freaked out. i'll probably finish the soup because it's such a shame to waste it, but i'll keep my eye out for the worm.

it's funny how quickly opinions and appetites change. perspective is one of the most important things we can change. i was fine before the worm. i saw the worm and lost my appetite. if i can change my perspective to accepting the worm as a part of this meal, then i should be fine again. as it is, the soup returns to the fridge.

new!

2010-01-13T20:29:00.000-08:00

whoosh, long time not to blog & there's so much to say. well, i was in nyc 4 times in december, how's that for commuting for work?

more soon, i'm updating my new website very soon, finishing my 2008 taxes (!!!), submitting 2 proposals for collaboraction's sketchbook festival and maybe applying for an artists grant.

then off to OZ & korea in march & april, after studying with my yoga teacher, rod stryker. 2010 is off & running to a great start!

Covers for Cover II

2009-12-04T22:07:00.000-08:00

Mia produces and plays drums in this fun music benefit:

Who: Female musicians playing in cover bands benefiting Connections for Abused Women and their Children

What: “Covers for Cover II”, a music show benefit. 18 and over. Cover charge is $12 or $10 with donation of new toiletry

Where: Lincoln Hall, 2424 N Lincoln Ave Chicago, IL, 773-525-2508

When: Wednesday, December 23, 2009. Doors open at 7PM, show starts at 8PM

Why: In this season of giving thanks, local female musicians give back to the Chicago community at “Covers to Cover II”. After years of performing original music shows, these musicians pay homage to their favorite bands to benefit CAWC Greenhouse Shelter, a place where women can establish independence from their abusers.

The musicians include members of The Mekons, The Dials, The Venom Lords, Kim, CHIRP DJs and more. These one-time-only bands play cover songs from bands like The Cars, Kiss, David Bowie, The Breeders and more. The music styles range from alt-country to new wave to Hawaiian to rock and roll. This fun benefit is MCed by Rattina, the female rat puppet co-host of kid’s music TV show, “Chic-A-Go-Go!”.

Connections for Abused Women and their Children is committed to ending domestic violence. Using a self-help, empowerment approach, they provide shelter for women and children, counseling, advocacy, and a 24-hour hotline for people affected by domestic violence. They work for social change through education, service collaboration and institutional advocacy.

$1,500.00 was raised for the woman's homeless shelter, Deborah's Place, at the first "Covers for Cover" show in 2006. "Covers for Covers II" hopes to raise even more money and social consciousness for vulnerable women and their children.

The bands in order of appearance & show times:
8-8:20 - Yoko Noge: Shippie Wallace
8:30-8:50 - IRIS: The Breeders
9-9:20 - Sally Timms: Nico from The Velvet Underground
9:30-9:50 - The Maybenauts: David Bowie
10-10:20 - Aloha Lives does NOT play Tiny Bubbles
10:30-10:50 Double Life: The Cars
11-11:20 - Dressed in Black: The Gossip
11:30-11:50 - Slutter: Kiss

autumn love

2009-11-20T14:24:00.001-08:00

hi! so much to work on! still doing my 2008 taxes (the gov owes me money, so no deadline), my new website (launching soon!), the parayoga book reports (writing with fannie tomorrow), organizing a benefit rock show...whew!

thank goodness i have yoga and god to help me along. also, great people in my life who love and support me like janet, patricia, sonia and gordon. ah-men & ohm!

oh my!

2009-11-03T06:21:00.000-08:00

it's been so long since i blogged. i actually forgot about sharing myself on the internets these last few months, mostly because i've gotten so amazingly ACTIVE!

acting has picked up like mad. this has been the busiest acting season in 10 years. thank you, acting gods!

yoga teaching and teacher training has been intense since september, as well. go yoga. i worked hard on making my yoga teaching demo video!

i'm working on my 2008 taxes (still!), my new website (still!), cleaning my house (still!).

it's all good things. as my teacher, rod stryker says, "make time for stillness. make time for stillness. make time for stillness."

more soon!

2009-09-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

My yoga teaching reel. Many thanks to Jake Austen , Brian Carmany, Richard Bluestein , and the popular yoga teacher, Jim Bennitt.

secret camping

2009-09-10T15:14:00.000-07:00

well, labor day weekend proved to be the perfect time to camp this year, despite waiting until the last minute to plan. i found a secret campsite that no one knows about in southern wisconsin - the internet says so & so do the locals! i love discovering charming local spots like the mystery x campsite the mighty G & i found.

it was a lovely full moon - the lunar energy was palpable. G built a super fire that lasted for decades. it took lots of all kinds of liquids to put that sucker out the next day.

we biked along the sugar river trail where we stumbled upon the "crossover cafe", a lovely homemade cafe run by frank. he also runs a wonderful guest house called little sugar river farm. the cafe was wonderful - home made smoothies with home grown berries and honey! yes, even the honey was from the farm. wonderful.

i thought i lost my wallet on the trail so we biked an extra 8 miles up & down the trail, only to find the wallet in the bottom of G's bag.

then there was the aggro chicken who chased G out of the asparagus field. it was odd & charming seeing a big strong man loosing a quick battle to a fluffy chicken. i love wisconsin!

2009-08-26T20:35:00.000-07:00

From my dear friend, Lauren Toolin. She's so great & so is this message:

Greatness is sourced from a strong and solid relationship to your Purpose, if fueled and 'right sized' by the following (feel free to add to or subtract from this list as befits you):

Study Up: read the scriptures, spend time with inspiring and experienced teachers, challenge yourself to learn.
Clean Up your Act: minimize toxins, including crappy food, crappy TV, negative talk, and constant multitasking.
Do the Work: Get to know yourself, and then get over yourself. Scour out your limitations and polish up your character. Both of these monumental tasks come, in part, through meditation.
Show up: drop your 'baggage' as often as possible, so that you can see the world with unburdened eyes. We love to hold onto the negative aspects of our stories, and minimize our accomplishments. Why?
Reach Out: Be generous and yet, humble. Serve others without expectation of reward or acknowledgment.
Practice: Commit to your greatness by getting on your mat, zafu, pranayama bolster every day.

humanity rules

2009-08-21T14:27:00.000-07:00

a fews days ago i lost my phone. totally gone. thank gawd i was early to attend a theater meeting in the south loop. i wandered from building to building, taking random elevators trying to remember where the silk road theatre workshop office was. their address & phone number were in my phone. ugh.

i decided to ask to use the internet & phone at a local book store when i ran into fawzia, just a kick ass human being & fabulous actress who is also involved in the same theater workshop. we found the place together. oddly coincidental, the phones at their office were broken so i couldn't make out going calls to find my phone &, unrelated, we couldn't get into the building because someone from their office forgot to hang up their...phone...to buzz us in. phone-tastic drama!

i used our stage manager's phone to call my phone to no avail. hours later, she sent me an email with a man named chris' phone number. he found my phone in the bike lane of augusta blvd & kindly picked it up. he called her phone since it was on my phone's caller ID (& it wasn't even the last number! he kept calling til he reached someone. so sweet!). i called him, using my neighbor's phone & zipped over to his house to get my electronic lifeline.

he gave me the most exquisitely detailed directions to his difficult to reach house & i brought him a giant bag of fresh basil. he called me his hero for bringing him fresh basil & refused the money i offered him. i gave him a big hug, telling him that he's a fine example of the humanity's greatest. yes, we are a great creature.

summer time reality

2009-08-13T20:41:00.000-07:00

check out this chillin' puerto rican kitty! i wish we could lay on a car and stick out our tongues. or lie on the ground and expose our bellies. wouldn't that feel nice? to let go of our inhibitions and protections and lie down on the street, on the pavement, in the road?

they repaved the alley behind my apartment last month & it was the best lookin', cleanest alley you'd ever want to lie down in. within weeks there was a nasty old couch, 600 juiced orange halves and a cabbie pissing all over the place in the alley. then the heat wave hit. the pigeons didn't mind the heat, couch or pissing cabbie as long as they had rotting orange rinds to eat. summer time alley action.

a few days ago, i found maggots in an avocado. i put the whole thing into my worm compost to let them duke it out. the back porch veggies are freakin' out! i finally have lovely tomatoes and more basil than i know what to cook with. i'm happy about this. summer time back porch action.

inside my heart, reality ripens like the cherry tomatoes on my porch. reality is gorgeous and sad. reality has so many levels! some things seem so NOW, so REAL, so IMPORTANT. then perspectives change and you settle into a new reality. the ripened tomatoes geet eaten. the ripened heart continues to bloom.

Dear Mr. President...

2009-08-08T09:11:00.001-07:00

Here's a letter I wrote today to Mr. Obama:

Hello, Mr. President. I'm a big fan. During your election campaign, I knocked on doors in Indiana, donated cash and sent hundreds of emails supporting you. Thank you for accepting the responsibility to fix our country. I support you and your ideas. I love that we have the same home base. I admire your wife, with her role model intelligence and grace. Because I'm such a big fan, I want to share my feelings of guilt with you.

In Chicago, I teach yoga and act for a living. I'm blessed to live an eclectic and fulfilling life style. As an actress, I often audition for jobs whose products I don't believe in. It's part of my job as an actress to fill roles with honest emotion to translate my experience to the audience. Through my commercial acting career, I've sold credit services, AOL, and SUV's - none of which I actually use or endorse.

Yesterday, I auditioned for a TV commercial sponsored by Republicans. The commercial is propaganda against your health care reform, which I support. In the audition, I played a shocked office worker learning that my employer is forcing us to use public insurance. My lines were, "We have no choice? But I like my current health insurance!"

I think the Republicans use fear and lowest common denominator tactics to squash your health care policy. And I auditioned for a TV commercial in this campaign. If I'm chosen for this commercial I may take the gig, because I think I need the money. Times are tough for artists! But I don't believe in their message. I already feel guilty by auditioning for it. As an actress, I'm usually able to detach from the product and "act". I'm torn this time. So I'm writing you to confess my guilt.

In reality, I support you. You have the toughest job in the world. Everyone is watching you. Thanks again for accepting the responsibility. Maybe I'll accept my own responsibility and turn down this Republican gig if i get it?!

PS – I’d be honored to instruct yoga to you & your family anytime! I think you’ll love it.

stillness scares me

2009-08-01T16:57:00.000-07:00

i returned from puerto rico a few days ago & slammed into the ground bolting. i tend to do run myself so ragged, trying to get everything done & feeling OK with not finishing everything cuz that means i get to continue working on it.

i make myself so busy that i neglect my close friends and family. it's an awful habit - i must still be afraid of stillness. i'm much better at cultivating the ability to be still, but it's so tempting to be "productive" and "busy".

there's a very special doctor in NJ named wilbur pan & he once told me that he wants to stop saying that he's "busy" because it prevented him from truly engaging with someone, even himself. i agree. if i stay super busy, then i have an excuse to be emotionally distant, not present. true dat.

true to form, i was extremely productive in the last 4 days. i've had 4 auditions, booked a gig, worked on my new website, taught 4 yoga classes, worked at the downtown office job, shopped, cooked, had korean drum rehearsal, practiced yoga, went sailing on lake michigan, had meals with friends and, today, attended 3 events at the 10 year anniversary of my favorite yoga studio - leaving and returning each time.

i love every moment of my life. when i get stressed, i think of sam cooke harmonies and the fact that we're made from stardust. when i'm busy, i get stressed easier. i'd enjoy music and the cosmos much better if i wasn't so darned busy...! elegance and efficiency, right? right? stillness leads to elegant and efficient behavior. meditation is the Rx!

camuy!

2009-07-23T09:25:00.000-07:00

this weekend i return to puerto rico and will speelunk! that's speeeeeeelunk! i'm exploring the 2nd largest limestone cavern in the world in lovely puerto rico. who knew?

my last visit to PR a few weeks ago was wonderful. the people, even the non-tourist industry folks, were super friendly & helpful. we ate at cafe mandolin in old san juan with the locals & were very satisfied. the food in PR is kinda greasy fried & it's challenging to find a healthy, balanced meal (especially if you don't eat fur or feathers like me), but a fried mofonogo filled with beans and rice can sure satisfy the palate occasionally.

i'll visit tibes, swim in the caribbean ocean and - YES - explore the caves at camuy. i have to find the best way to get down on in there. a guided day long tour? hiking alone? either way, i'm excited. sonia, my sister, & i love caves. she loves caves more than mountains & i love mountains more than caves. but we do love both. what would freud say?!

2009-07-16T12:45:00.000-07:00

TWISTIN'! i just love twists. in fact, i'm teaching a yoga workshop on twisting poses on 8/15 @ nature yoga studio.

twisting poses cleanse your physical and energetic bodies. they wring out toxins and strengthen the spine. mmmm-MM! i love me some twists.

twists are also really great in the summer time because they energetically soothe and calm. who don't need some of that anyway, especially in the hot days of summertime?

some people (quinn from yogaview) don't actually enjoy twists and i can't understand this for the life of me. when i finish a twisting yoga practice, i feel 2 inches taller and my back muscles feel juiced up and flexible. i also poop better. twists do all this and more!

i bet chubbey checker would have loved twisiting yoga poses. depending on how corny i feel before & after the twisting yoga workshop, i'll play songs with a twist theme to them. i'm pretty darn corny so expect this!

"don't peh-nik, cawl at-lehn-tic"

2009-07-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

friends, puerto rico is a lovely place to visit. the people are as warm as the sun and, friends, the ocean in PR can't be the same atlantic ocean that i grew up with on the jersey shore. the PR atlantic is warmer, more complex, saltier. maybe that's because i'm more of those things, too. above and below are pics of my bro-in-law, tom, & i honoring our favorite PR parrot. this parrot's head is cocked to a side and he climbs using his beak sideways. smart birdy! i'll try that after i'm less salty.

wanna be startin' something

2009-06-27T14:12:00.000-07:00

i ain't denying dharma, kids. below text is from my facebook posting.

You, Sabrina Craig, Mis ha Ben-Safed Wallace, Brooke Benjamin and 14 others like this.

Stacey Earley at 2:55pm June 26

Say it, girl. Too damn true.

Emily Nelson at 2:58pm June 26

I agree, thousands of people die we never even hear about...

Dennis Kelly at 2:58pm June 26

I totally agree! There are far more people more deserving who have sacrificed their own lives for others and they're never as newsworthy for some reason...???

Marcus Farne at 3:01pm June 26

right on.

Doreen Davidson at 3:10pm June 26

Amen to that girlfriend.

Lynn Renee Persin at 3:28pm June 26

'Tis true, however, you can't downplay the international impact Michael Jackson has made on the music world, and on the African American Community. He really cleared the path for today's performers.
I am sure, as well, that plenty of people who also make huge impacts in our worlds are never fully recognized or appreciated and it would be good to know more about them.

Annika Seitz at 3:55pm June 26

I agree with Lynn. To a certain extent, we mourn the nameless and faceless when we mourn the icons. We are reminded of our own mortality and the mortality of those we can actually really love intimately. It's important for people to have reasons to come together, whether it's for a political jubilee (Yes we did!) or to bear witness to the ... Read Morepassing of time in the form of pop-star death. What 11 year old didn't have a copy of "Thriller" on vinyl in 1982? Also, I think that there is a big difference between "celebrity" and someone who made a big splash and had artistic integrity. I vote for MJ as the latter. "Celebrity" just doesn't fit when you're talking about him, regardless of if if you think he was a pedophile or you feel his music in your bones or not. This is a loss to the culture, dominant though it may be. Yes, there are big issues with that, but we all participate to a degree. Peace, yo.

Marc Paez at 4:25pm June 26

If you want a footnote in history you have to get a gimmick. Feathery hair, great nipples or a really good moonwalk are already taken. Elvis did it right by faking his death so he could enjoy seeing his legacy live on while he got to enjoy retirement out of the limelight. Not to mention the joke he got to play on everyone with that whole toilet ... Read Moredeath fiasco.

If your ego isn't all that huge, just enjoy this life NOW and don't worry about who cares about you when you're dead. I do have a pretty good moonwalk though. :D

Brooke Benjamin at 7:42pm June 26

i experience the emotional reactions to celebrities' deaths that i am not allowed to have at work.

Brian Page at 9:51pm June 26

I'm with you Mia. But I have to say R.I.P. to Sky Saxon of the Seeds (d. 6/25/09).

sisyphus' parking garage

2009-06-24T20:59:00.000-07:00

images have meaning

2009-06-22T15:46:00.000-07:00

i've been researching the news story of the young lady who was shot in the heart in tehran during the recent election protests and thought about putting her picture on this blog to commemorate her passing. if you google "girl shot" images, all kinds of disturbing pictures come up.

here's why i didn't post the girl's image. first of all, we release prana (chi, life force, energy) through our eyes. i found myself staring at the bloody images of young women from all over the world and felt the prana draining out of me and anxiety building. i closed the web browser and posted a cosmos flower image instead because of the 2nd reason why i didn't post the girl's image. the idea of a yantra is to use a symbolic image for divine or spiritual purposes during meditation. i think that girl's face is becoming a yantra for the protest in tehran and i don't think that using her face this way creates positive energy. i don't get clean vibes when i see her. we still need to understand what's going on in tehran, but not through looking at her lovely face. instead, i posted this bright, beautiful cosmos flower in her honor and in honor of all who've innocently died. i'm confident that her next life will be filled with joy and an abundance of love since she served as a sad and shocking call for peace in this life.

kiwi strawberry ice cream and the himalayas

2009-06-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

my best friend janet's been making raw, vegan ice cream with a schmancy ice cream maker & i can't wait to taste it! me, i'm making organic strawberry, kiwi, aloe vera ice cream with organic agave nectar and cow's milk in my tustly vitamix. i've reintroduced mik to my diet for ayurvedic reasons and so far, so good. i hope to build ojas, although ice cream may not be the best way to build it!

this fiery chap would love my homemade ice cream, i'm sure. he's in bhutan at a pre-festival festival in ura, which is in middle bhutan. i visited there for almost a month in 2005 and man, was it a trip! travel stories on this gentle and disturbing country later. my good friend and tour guide, phintso dorji, currently wants me to sponsor him to visit the states and work here. i'm not sure how this would work, but i'm willing to give it a shot. he works for the UN in thimpu, the capital of bhutan.

during our trek in the himilayas four years ago, phintso unfortunately proposed a more intimate relationship with me in the tent that we were forced to share during a rain storm. i politely declined and this incident changed our relationship for the rest of my stay in this small and pretty country. i was so upset! for being a buddhist country, bhutan sure has a long way to go towards gender equalization. the idea of accepting everything gracefully with a buddhist-like temperament hasn't served the women in this country. the men have earned an unspoken right to sneak into women's homes in the middle of the night and have sex with them and take off, often leaving behind fatherless children to raise. this is called "night hunting". when i was there, the bhutanese i met said night hunting only takes place in eastern bhutan, where the hillbillies live i supposed. while i was there, one of the king's four wives was touring the country giving out condoms in hopes of preventing STDs during these night hunts. even though the hunts may only occur in eastern bhutan, she was certainly making the rounds.

anyway, i'm now fine with phintso's & my relationship. he has a lovely wife and son whom i hung out with in thimpu. there were true cultural differences that both phintso and myself could have been more sensitive about for sure. i shouldn't have given condoms to our driver so freeley (after that, the men thought i was "loose") & he shouldn't have assumed that since i'm a foreigner, i was there for sex (like the OL's from japan).

anyway, maybe phintso can come to the states this year - i think he'd like chicago. it's *really* different from the foothills of the himalayas, that's for sure. i will make phintso the best strawberry ice cream ever to welcome him!

yogarupa and thincrust

2009-06-15T18:03:00.000-07:00

what a lovely day in chicago, finally. the sun shined so brightly as i ran ran *ran* around our city of big shoulders, going from teaching yoga to two auditions to interviewing a band to checking in on an office furniture promotion i helped manage. just another miapark day.

here is an image of yogarupa, rod stryker. the prana teacher training he led as amazing. i finally feel like i'm starting to soak more & more of the information he shares into my bones, into my soul. it's hard not to sound so dang SERIOUS when it comes to yoga talk, but this process is profound. really, really deep and magical. yogarupa isn't a magician, but he is a master of sharing this ancient knowledge with such ease and grace. we're so fortunate to be able to study with him. we have food and shelter. we have sound enough minds and bodies. our lives are safe and we can order pizza delivered right to our door anytime. i hope to live up to the quality of these teachings by practicing and transmitting them every day. and by tipping the pizza delivery guy more next time.

from rod, i received an additional practice to add to my existing mantra & i'm excited to practice it. i like memorizing information with intentioin. like, not just learning a phone number from dialing it so many times (who does that anymore?), but to study something with the desire to learn it and learn it so well that the knowledge becomes as familiar and intimate as breath. nice.

damp weather, warm heart.

2009-06-11T18:38:00.000-07:00

woohoo! i'm glad to be bloggin my noggin again. i've been ssooo wonderfully active with so much yoga goodness. yoga really is a spiritual practice and i think it can serve anyone! sounds like i drank the punch for sure because it works for me and so many others. you don't have to change any belief systems for this science to work. i love that yoga is a SYSTEM. you can do an x amount of z poses, a y amount of this or that breathing and this or that kriya meditation & viola! you *will* have an amazing experience that will change your energy. it's lots to take in. i'll esplain more later, lucy. hari ohm.

three days in a tree.

2009-05-21T12:56:00.000-07:00

it's another glorious day in brooklyn! my mom, sister & i enjoy our pedicures (mom's first!) as we lay around eating gooey korean rice cakes (dduk)
and choco-pies (korean moon pie. SO bad they're good.)

to the left is my bro-in-law & my nephew, maddox, both on their best behavior this trip. aren't they handsome? in the center is a "prisoner" that the world's cutest nephew holds captive in a bonzai olive tree on the dining room table. this guilty playmobile knight has been tree bound for the last three days. i asked if the prisoner had to pee and maddox answered, "NO, emoh! (korean for aunt)" me: "why not? he's been in a tree for 3 days. wouldn't you have to pee if you were stuck in a tree for three days?" maddy: "no, he doesn't have to pee because he's a PRISONER. prisoner's don't pee." me: "true dat, kiddo." to the right is me & maddy on his 5th b-day! heart. he's pouring mia emoh more sake. good newphew.

here are images from the beloved himalayan institute in the pocono mountains. to the left is my homie, lewis w victor, & i at the waterfall. he's a good friend from moksha yoga studio. he's at HI to clear his head and heart. he's so in the right place. in the center is tree sap, ready for its close up. this is a tree trunk with three deep hexagon holes. very accurate woodpeckers, i'd say. to the right is baby chard in the wonderful garden that the lovely gardener tom manages. there was frost the night before but the teenager plants survived! i had a full 34 hours at HI. besides cruising the waterfall & garden, i had lunch with longtime HI residents larry & his wife, discussing swami rama's sex scandel. i also posed in asana for a photo shoot, taught a hatha class at their main street store & studied the yoga sutras with the amazing sandy anderson. my meditation that night was short but effective. i also bought the book, "path of fire and light" & got a new mala. japa. japa! here i come!

here are shots from the nyc yoga journal conference. to the left is the *lovely* miss kelly. i do adore her. she's a fellow parayogini. at the conference, we practiced kalari with shiva rea. it's an intense indian martial art that's very different from the korean tae kyun and shoalin kung fu i've practiced. shiva's cool! it was my first time studying with her. the freaked out indian guy in the center is lali, as in "lali lali lali get your adverbs here!". he's a vedic palm reader who blustered in late to the conference every day. he kept knocking his signs over all day. note that one sign says, "i'm not good, i'm the best" & that another sign is held up with blue painter's tape. i don't know if he was more of a spazz or a flirt, but he did read many palms using a desk lamp and a pile of colored stones. on the right is my three minute egg pal, jason. we had a great time rocking the yoga market place & sold lots of eggs. during the little downtime i had at the conference, i was lucky enough to study again with aadil palkhivala and my yoga homie, gary kraftsow. i honor gary's teachings so very much. he's so incredibly knowledgeable and is a *great* teacher. after i finish my studies with my main yoga man, rod stryker, i'm viniyoga all the way. ooooohhh, i love yoga sooooo much!

to the left is my sister & her hubby showing affection. this is so rare that i had to take a photo of it. theirs is an internal kinda love. their dying cat looks on, trying to cash in on some of that attention. my bro-in-law simply calls her, "deadcat". she's 15, poor girl. below is a great street sign in williamsburg, brooklyn. the mighty peter mcd, his boyfriend & i had drinks in willamsburg at a fun bar called "trophy", where two ladies recognized me as hosting chic-a-go-go. years ago, i made a verb out of this recognition (which i love), saying that i got "chic-a-go-goed". how fun to get chic-a-go-goed in nyc (again)! the guys & i moved on to eat dinner at a cozy place called "motto" where i ran into a former kick boxing student of mine who now lives in colorado. dig that! i love the chicago(go)-williamsburg connection! i have to admit that it's fun getting recognized in brooklyn. although, the ego plays tricks, i know, i know. it's all good.

"The wise man in the storm prays to God, not for safety from danger, but for deliverance from fear."
	Ralph Waldo Emerson

new york city is a pretty, nitty gritty, bit of a city

2009-05-14T09:48:00.000-07:00

i'm off to the big apple for a while, rocking the nyc yoga journal conference & visiting the world's cutest (& most precociously stubborn) nephew. i'm demon-strating the nifty three minute egg yoga prop in the market place at the conference. it's a clever little block that looks like, um... an egg! check it out.

i'm sssooo happy to visit the himalayan institute while i'm out east. this is the 3rd year in a row that i've visited there. during my first visit, i had what may have been a shaktipat experience from swami rama, the spiritual founder of HI and all around freaky cool yogi who could stop his heart beat. i tossed & turned every night during that 14 day stay, mostly because my mind wasn't used to the stillness and tranquility that permeates the pocono mountain ashram. nina in the pharmacy suggested that, for better sleep, i should hold the middle finger of my right hand with the palm of my left hand to calm the spleen. cool trick, right? try it now.

do you feel more calm?

that night i still couldn't sleep. so there i was, laying in bed, holding my finger and trying to calm my spleen at 3AM. i raised my hands over head to relax and all of a sudden i felt a huge wave of energy push it's way from my lowest belly (2nd chakra again!) through my torso, across my chest and through the top of my head. following this intense wave of energy was an indian man's very deep voice, saying, "vah!". my eyes snapped open & i said out loud, "what the F*CK was that?!" i didn't know then that the sound of the 2nd chakra is "vahng". maybe swamiji bowled a big ol' shaktipat ball up the alley of my spine, starting at my 2nd chakra and ending with a strike at the top of my skull. instead of yelling, "go left! now go right! spin. spin!", he cried, "vahng!" (which might actually be sanskrit for "fore". every word in sanksrit meas, like, 5 things). anyway, i do love HI & hope to visit it every year for as long as i can.

"It is not funny that anything else should fall down; only that a man should fall down. Why do we laugh? Because it is a gravely religious matter: it is the Fall of Man. Only man can be absurd: for only man can be dignified." Gilbert K. Chesterton

the greenfest is on my porch

2009-05-11T14:35:00.000-07:00

the backporch garden is off to a roaring start. i started the beans in february, indoors. i'm sure i'm going to run into massive gardening issues as a naive & over ambitious urbanite. (so much pitta, mia.) i see these urban garden blogs filled with lush photos of successful growth in the city & i want to belong! when i talk about my potential beans and forthcoming tomatoes, a yogi i know shakes her head, saying, "the hardest thing is keeping them watered. the hardest thing is keeping them watered. really, the hardest thing is..." she's a landscaper and has an incredibly strong back.

above are the 3 carrots i planted. carrots?! what was i thinking? to the right is part of the green porch spread. because i use composted dirt from my worm farm, there are mystery little green guys that appear in the pots. the photo on the lower right are mystery green growths. maybe peppers? hm!

the lovely brenna taught a rocking yoga class this AM, emphasizing the shoulders, neck and hamstrings. we also did many forward folds that activate the 2nd chakra, svadistana. in sivasana, we meditated on bringing orange light to any place where healing is needed, in our bodies or in the universe. i was knocked *out* during sivasana so i heard most of it subconsciously. nice. so nice!

quote of the post:
Albert Einstein:The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.

one whole piece of fruit

2009-05-09T21:38:00.000-07:00

i'm eating one whole piece of fruit for 40 days. today was a strawberry. yesterday was a kiwi. the day before was a "beh", a korean apple/pear. "beh" in korean also means boat & stomach. huh!

i had an uh-may-zing day. it was chicago cold. i taught yoga, helped G burn agave stalks to make a didgeridoo, watched "team america" & performed at sketchbook. finally, i hung out with my rocking asian acting peeps who rock my world. i'm just so thankful for the energy.

in meditation today, the enlightened being whom i ask a question to from my heart was straight up black jesus. seriously. i've never felt close to white jesus. he's always seemed too much of an authority figure to get the WarmFuzzy. today, black jesus warmed my heart and i tingled all over to look at him. fer real. i'm seeking a black jesus for my shrine at home. botanica, here i come!

quote of the post:
A nation's culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.
Mohandas Gandhi
(f*ck yah!)

friday's on my mind

2009-05-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

what a great weekend coming up! despite waking up feeling dizzy and my left nostril slightly bleeding, i feel plugged into the universe and ready to roll.

i did a nice meditation this AM where a divine being walks on water towards me, filled with love. this divine being takes on many shapes. sometimes it's jesus, sometimes she's the buddha of compassion, sometimes he's an alien with black asian eyes. this AM she was a big old white stone buddha, probably chinese. those tricky asians work their way into my life all the time.

today i'm at my part time office job that i'm very lucky to have. i set my own hours and it's in a fun location in downtown chicago. i like the people here very much and being near office equipment soothes me.

tonight i teach yoga at LPAC and hope to see the darling gregg m, who also teaches yoga. we both love rod stryker's teachings. he's our yoga teacher with the mostest. sigh...i do love studying with rod stryker. when i told my korean mom that i study yoga and meditation she asked in her charming korean accent, "mia...dis yoga...is it deh-bill?" (meaning, "is it devil?" she's super christian). i answered, "no, mom...it's kinda like breathing and stretching. ok?" i love my mom. we're both nutty.

then i'm watching a footy game, austrailain rules football. i can thank G for exposing me onto these new things. guys running around in tight shorts chasing a yellow ball are too cute to even describe here. right? silly & cute to think of. right? totally.

& then, & then...our play, "the big tent" closes this weekend as part of the most fancy sketchbook festival. i just love this theatre company. i did a frikking fantastic play called "the intelligent design of jenny chow" with them 2 years ago & it changed my life in many ways. that was my first "real" play and ho boy, did i learn lots. i can still get so fussy when i do things and fussy i was during that long running show. i did love the experience so much. now i'm doing another great project with them! use code 261 to save $3 off tickets and maybe i'll get a prize, too. if i win something, i'll split it with you. fer rizzle. "the big tent" goes on tonight at 8. woohoo!

my back porch garden patiently, patiently waits for me to water her, re-pot her, fertilize her. the farmer's bean plants (really, that's their name) are already flowering! i wonder if i need bees for them to fertilize? meanwhile, i'm waiting for the gold finches to return. i cheaped out & left their feeders empty for too long. they all split the scene and now there's not a feather in site. sigh. they'll be back. i bought a $50 bag of nyger seed to ensure it.

quote of the post:
Follow the three R's:
Respect for yourself.
Respect for others.
Responsibility for all your actions.
~H.H. The Dali Lama~

bright & beautiful

NEW YOGA BLOG!

long time, no see!

cold.

snow. s n o w.

heavy mind. light heart.

Chic-A-Go-Go: The Superions (Fred Schneider)

happiness!

december is her name

Stuffed Animaland Book Drive

test day 2!

parayoga® test: day one

when it rains, it pours

fire. gratitude. grace.

food drive and poetry

what i need right now. sigh.

Chic-A-Go-Go on "You & Me" (WCIU)

decisions, decisions...

rats, chickens, public radio

fear and love

"Flowers grow out of darker moments." Corita Kent

Fear is static that prevents me from hearing myself. ~ Samuel Butler

i really like that last one, it's very tantric in the sense that if we're able to hear ourselves, then we can hear the divine sound of god inside of us. that's yoga - the science of self knowledge. we have to hear ourselves, know ourselves, see ourselves.

i've got a huge life challenge i'm facing in the next few months and i finally feel ready to reduce the static of fear so i can hear myself better and evolve. my dharma (purpose) on earth is to evolve and to help others evolve. i am limiting myself by letting fear hold me down.

my favorite tv show

study study study!

brrrrrr!

shows shows shows!

choga

crankies

food!

japanese garden time

a finalist? me? sure!

bob randall on "the story"!

fall over. autumn brigade.

mia in the papers

ambassador? me? sure!

santa? savvy? ME? sure!

a really wise tooth

rock on!

tantra...kosha....yoga, heat, and august 2010

power ON!

don't go breakin my heart

oh, the noive! ("nerve!")

tiny bones record "aim"

what do you want?

Mia Park What do you do if you really want something and can't get it?

zurich...!

spritual journey, part I: fulfill this

korea 2010

australia 2010

home!

my teacher! woohoo!

muck and mire

homeward bound

it's still bright & beautiful no matter what.

throat & presidents

calm calm calm

yoga matic

addicted and busted

travel planning excitement...in the moment.

teaching yoga over seas?!

amen. ohm.

yikes. YIKES!

new!

Covers for Cover II

autumn love

oh my!

secret camping

humanity rules

summer time reality

Dear Mr. President...

stillness scares me

camuy!

"don't peh-nik, cawl at-lehn-tic"

wanna be startin' something

sisyphus' parking garage

images have meaning

kiwi strawberry ice cream and the himalayas

yogarupa and thincrust

Stuffed Animal
and Book Drive