Hello Everyone,

“None of the ideas are MY ideas.”

His answer stopped me cold.  The questions was: “What makes you so successful?”

Author and speaker Srikumar Rao, whose ‘Personal Mastery’ class was one of the most popular offered in Columbia’s MBA program, had answered without a second’s hesitation. He said, "I am successful because none of the ideas are MY ideas.”  He went on to say, “I borrowed from great masters. They understood the human predicament. They came up with solutions. Tested for millennia, they work.”

Tested for millennia. Not millennials, people. For Millennia.

TikTok is THE resource for modern parents. Every day my daughter is enlightened or freaked out by it. Sleeping positions, who can kiss the baby, how to set boundaries with visitors, train the dog to understand that it is a baby. Everything.

I didn’t have TikTok, so I almost can’t believe my own kids are alive. I didn’t have a baby monitor either. Also, sometimes I let them sleep face down … in my bed! I likely have not sufficiently apologized for these heinous parenting sins.

Help, solutions, knowledge.

We want these things FAST and perfectly summarized into a 30/45/60 second clip.  Problem, pain, anxiety, fear … search, click, idea, solution! Relief.  FAST.

A friend has children approaching the teen years. They are a delight in her life. She sighed happily. “It’s perfect right now.”

I remember those days. My daughters adored me.  Then they turned into teenagers full of hormones and stress and individuation (look it up, it means they hate you for a while). It was hard. My ego was destroyed.

“I know it won’t last,” said my friend tremulously. “At least I have yoga.”

I knew exactly what she meant.  Yoga taught us both how to calm our minds.  Not everyone wants to practice yoga.  But all of us have stress. All of us want to feel calm and supported in the world.  We all can benefit from inviting in the idea of being consciously in practice. You already are in practice in many parts of your life. Up level your practice by going old school.

"When I run after what I think I want, my days are a furnace of stress and anxiety; if I sit in my own place of patience, what I need flows to me, and without pain. From this I understand that what I want also wants me, is looking for me and attracting me. There is a great secret here for anyone who can grasp it."  ~ Rumi

Srikumar Rao’s success is not simply the teaching of ancient ideas. He’s a translator, a remix DJ. He connects ancient teachings to modern life.  Proven teachings that ‘understand the human predicament’ offer soothing that cracks us open to wisdom. Grounding, meditation, self-care, raising our vibrations. Practicing. Not scrolling. Practicing.

Practicing consciously has the power to transform your life. Like Dr. Rao, I am a translator.  I took my messy experiences of being a lovestruck fearful single parent, an autoimmune patient, a blindly brave entrepreneur and student of yoga, and I stirred them with my need to serve my family and my deep desire to feel calm, safe and supported by the world. I DJ'd this into elements of my modern practice.

This practice is proving to be a popular playlist people spin and customize to up level into greater abundance, joy, sovereignty and safety in the world.