 Written by:
Jacquline Stahl
One of my earliest teaching positions was at a Public School in New York City. I taught over three hundred and fifty students a week, with 32-35 students assigned to a class. I was the head of the Theater Department and the only Drama teacher on staff. After the first couple of weeks, I realized that memorizing hundreds of names and faces would be just one of the many challenges I’d face every day.
My classes were held in an auditorium, which housed the main stage. I referred to it as the sacred space, which prompted all who entered to lower their voices. Attendance was well received, because I sang my students names out loud (which in turn embedded them into my long term memory). For example, one of my student’s names was Roland. I would sing “Roland, Roland, Roland by the River!” Surprisingly, the kids laughed every time I attached music to their name.
Yet, the most magical part of my teaching experience was the warm up. I began every class with shavasana (“corpse pose”). The students quietly arranged themselves in a circle on the stage with just enough space to stretch out, palms open. After the giggles and anxious chatter subsided, I would guide them through a visualization and breath work. Then, we would all sit in some variation of lotus pose and collectively meditate. It really didn’t matter if the student was in 6th grade, 8th grade or a second semester senior. They wanted to be there. They looked forward to being still. One 6th grade boy, who was sent daily to the office for acting out in his other classes, sent me a letter. He wrote: “Dear Jackie, Thank you for letting me quiet the dragon inside of me long enough to see the peaceful me resting there all along.”
I have incorporated meditation, breath-work and mindfulness techniques into my work for many years. I have observed my students and clients connect with a part of themselves that is already healed, strong and aware. When our minds are at peace, our work and our intentions are genuine. As we become internally quieter, our capacity for self-observation deepens. We then have the capacity to tap into our own reset button.
We live in a world that wrestles with time and the pressures of being productive and successful, and we forget that through our breath and awareness, anxiety loses its weight. We can choose to simply surrender, to practice and to gracefully change.
So much is possible when we are able to be still, quiet our minds and communicate from the center of our existence. May we all open our minds before opening our mouths.
Namaste.
Jacqueline Stahl
 Written by: Betsy KarpStarting something new is very challenging and can be a test of your resiliency. It takes a lot of belief, patience, faith and a really big dose of courage. ORANGE is the COLOR of courage and it is all around me right now. My screen saver is a bright ORANGE and I’ve been eating so many ORANGE foods filled with beta-carotene and healthy nutrients, giving me that internal boost. Sometimes, in the darkest of times, when you just want to give up is when you have to be your strongest, telling yourself it's going to be OK and to take it Step-by-Step. Let go of the control and release it to the universe. Trust that there is a higher calling and a greater good, and that the universe has your back. It’s a step-by-step process of putting one foot in front of the other. Taking action and doing something everyday is what gets you results, and I mean EVERY DAY action. It can be the littlest thing like answering an email that you have been putting off. JUST DO ONE SMALL THING EVERY DAY! By taking action we learn, we grow and we adjust. It’s in the doing that progress occurs. Don’t wait to make it perfect. Just do it and make adjustments as you go. As we move the universe moves with us. Fear pushes us to move forward. Without fear we wouldn’t grow or do very much. We need some fear in our lives, but the key is to embrace our fears with love. This is when the breakthroughs and the “ah ha” moments happen. Life is a process. It is about building and taking that step, after step, after step, and not giving up even when you want to. It’s the small steps that get us to where we want to be. Without them we really can’t move forward. Let and allow the feelings to come up and know that LOVE is the only way you want to be. Each step and movement feeds on the next. Sometimes it takes a really long time to get there. Everything comes in the right time and in its divine order if you keep moving forward Step-by-Step. So how do we find love for ourselves and get out of fear? It’s about taking a deep breath and getting calm within. It’s about letting go of the ego and the perfectionism of how it’s all going to end up. It’s learning how to just be and accept all that is in this precious moment. Unleash the negative, bratty voices and focus on the positive. Make that call you have been putting off for days (maybe even weeks) and connect with an old friend or business associate. Ask for help and support. Just do ONE thing! People can’t read your mind and know what you need. Reach out and ask someone for help. It’s amazing how everyone wants to help if they can. I have been connecting with so many people and asking for help in the last few weeks. I am amazed at the synchronicity of it all. For example, I am about to launch my i adore me Kids Program. With this on my mind, I bumped into someone today I hadn’t seen in years. Her husband, also a friend, is in the NYC school system. How perfect is that? Everything comes in the RIGHT TIME, so I decided to reach out and ask for his help. I now have an appointment with his son’s principal to discuss my i adore me Kids Program. Now, none of this would have happened if I didn’t pay attention to the signs, reach out and make that call, asking for help and being open to connect. Life is about giving and receiving. Be in the moment and make it happen. Connecting and sharing our life and love with others helps us to feel and find the love within us. It's good to be vulnerable. It's real. Be the authentic you. Don’t be afraid. Get out of your own way and share: connect and communicate, and do it all with LOVE…Step-by-Step. Now doesn’t that feel better?! *Please comment below and share with your friends.* Have a Colorful Day, Betsy Karp, Founder of i adore me
 Written by: Jacqueline Stahl
Side orders just for your enjoyment...
Stories of the Unfaithful...
For two years I led a woman's group focused on love stories, fulfilled and unrequited. The women shared the pain of their affairs, their lover's affairs and the prospect of ending what they thought was the real thing.
The boldest woman in the group was an actress in her early 30's, newly engaged to a shy and talented artist. Her daily schedule was earmarked for workouts, acting classes, therapy, and writing poetry. The group was formed shortly after her mother died of stage four lung cancer. Each week she arrived late, her face powdered with grief and her mouth firing nonstop about the unfairness of life. The other women didn't wilt under her feisty commentary about the "ugly bitches" she met at auditions and the vast amount of alcohol she put away on every shift.
They let her rip until she cried. After one of these emotional breakthroughs, she shared a story of a man that came into a hotel restaurant where she waited tables. He was from Florence, worked for a clothing retail company and traveled to New York every month for one week. Her description of him wasn't flattering, but his shortage of hair and his below average command of English didn't discourage her from venturing into danger.
Over the next few weeks, the women in the group leaned in as she read his emails and texts.
Everyone, including myself was captivated by this foreign Man.
He promised her, "I will wait for you till my last breath." He wrote that he fell in love with her laugh and beautiful eyes. "Do you accept my true sweet words?" He swore, "If I do not honor this divine and powerful force I may as well die. Ciao Bella un bacio!"
One of the women who had recently moved in with her girlfriend laughed out loud: "You have to sleep with him, you don't want his divine death on your conscience."
With every opinion and reflection shared, no one said "end" the relationship. Instead, they encouraged it. Everyone in the group remarked on how much happier she seemed and how radiant she looked.
The little Italian man continued to court her and plan cultural excursions on his days off. They went to the Met, the MOMA and drank champagne at the Peninsula. He planned to take her sailing in Croatia and Italia. Yet, they still had not consummated the relationship.
The fair skinned and provocative Violinist in the group told everyone that this little man was "poetically inserting himself into her life so he has something to look forward to. She's a safe bet, she's engaged, and looking for a distraction from her unsuccessful existence." Then she mumbled, "he probably has a really small..."
The lunging happened first and then a real fist and face slapping fight broke out in my 300 square foot office. Screaming, hair pulling and the C word vibrating off the walls.
"That is enough!" I shouted louder than I ever have in my life. "Sit down and don't say a word until I am finished. This group was not created so we can sit here week after week formulating judgments about one another. We are here to actively listen and genuinely share our lives with each other. We don't always agree with each other, because our personal experiences inform the way we analyze and perceive each moment. Feeling compelled to blatantly hurt or undermine someone is not only unproductive, it is cruel. We are also here so we can safely make mistakes and then apologize and move forward. Let's begin again."
The violinist stood up and walked over to the chair where the actress was sitting and reached out her hand. "I behaved like a little $h!t and I'm sorry. I think I'm jealous of you. You are engaged to a nice guy and you have this International unrequited love affair going on. I have such a boring life and I'm angry at myself...not you. I didn't mean what I said."
The actress nodded her head and said, "He does have a really small..."
The group roared and we were out of time.
Ciao Bellas,
Jacqueline Stahl
*Please Comment Below*
 Written by: Katie Cohen
Everybody expects their first kiss to be this monumental moment when gravity miraculously stops and you find yourself floating above the ground and gasping for air. Who even decided that it was supposed to be like that? I never understood the appeal.
Getting swept off your feet inevitably ends in a painful fall and having your breath taken away is a guaranteed trip to the emergency room. For a close friend of mine, it literally was a trip to the hospital, but not because she was gasping for air. Rather, because she woke up the next morning with a small bump on her lip after some eighth-grade stud took her kissing virginity. When her dermatologist quickly diagnosed this nasty little thing as a flat wart, my friend was sent home with a very strong cream to apply on the affected area before bedtime.
Less than 24 hours later, I received a call from a panicking teenager who insisted that her lips had tripled in size. When I entered my friend’s apartment with a sympathy tub of rocky road ice cream, and got my first glimpse of her blowfish lips, I realized that her mini tantrum was completely justified.
Another week went by, and the lip swelling only got worse, and was eventually accompanied by spiking. It was discovered that the severe reactions were side effects from the cream that was being used to treat the flat wart, which turned out to be a pimple according to the results of the biopsy. This cream that destroyed my friends mucosal membrane (particularly her lips) and compromised her good health is now recognized as extremely hazardous to the human body and is prescribed with great caution by doctors. More recent medical research has shown that the strong concentration of harmful chemicals in the formula can be “criminally dangerous” when applied to specific areas.
Unfortunately, so many of the ingredients in body and skincare products we use daily contain ingredients that are identical to those in the cream that my friend applied to her “wart”. Some of them are Paraben based, meaning they contain chemicals like Methylparaben, Propylparaben, IIsoparaben, Butylparaben. Phthalates are additional chemicals that should be avoided at all costs. It is outrageous that there are only minimal efforts made to expose the important truths behind the products we use, and even more astonishing that the majority of the products do more harm to us than they do good.
Our skin is a major player in our first line of defense, constantly fighting off harmful bacteria and toxins that our bodies come into contact with every day. So while we all want soft, clear, and youthful looking skin, we sometimes fail to remember that keeping our skin healthy has greater benefits than those at the aesthetic level! It is important to treat it with the proper care that it deserves by introducing treatments into our cleansing regiments that keep our skin clean without a toxic solution. It is counterproductive to clean your face with products that only contaminate your skin more in the end!
*Please Comment Below*
 Written by: Katie Cohen
 Written by: Betsy Karp
My entire family and I went to go see one of the last shows of “War Horse” at Lincoln Center in NYC. I’m not sure what all the hoop-la was all about. We found it very hard to sit through and six out of the eight of us really had a hard time keeping our eyes open. My mother and father managed to stay awake even though this was their second time seeing it. How they did that, I don’t know. So many people loved it. I found it to be painful and boring.
We went to go eat afterwards at P.J. Clarks and had the perfect table downstairs in the back. It was a round table with a red and white checkered tablecloth that sat all eight of us. I was telling everyone about the workshop I went to and how we were asked to name one thing or one person we were grateful for. Scott, the eldest grandson who adores my father, blurted out with great enthusiasm, “Papa, you are caring and generous and you always put everyone before yourself. There isn’t anybody that can say ONE negative thing about you. You are the most well rounded person I know and I love that!”
Marc, the youngest grandson, chimed in, “Papa, you are my role model and you give and give without ever taking. You are so generous, caring, hardworking and intelligent and you are the best grandfather I could ask for.“
My mom had tears rolling down her face and I saw my father’s eyes swell a little. My dad said, “See sometimes going to a bad show brings out the best in all. Thank you!”
My sister interrupted and said, “Wait! I have something to say. Thanks Dad for always being there. You are my friend, my mentor and my hero. I admire and respect you, and love you with all my heart. I am proud to be your daughter.”
So then it was my turn and I stated, “Dad you are Remarkable! You are the most devoted, dedicated and compassionate father, as well as the hardest working, honest, and warmest man I know. Actually, I think you are getting younger than older in your years and I adore you.”
All you have to do is meet my father to see what everyone is talking about. My Turkish friend Sumru recently met him and said, “your father’s warmth radiates from him and his being. He is even warmer and nicer than you described”.
My father has taught me so many invaluable life lessons and he is the one person I look up to and always want to make proud. He, in turn, makes all of us so proud and we are grateful that he is our Dad and Papa too!
Who are you grateful for in your life? Reach out and make that person feel great today too!
*Please comment below and share with your friends.*
Hugs,
Betsy Karp,
Founder of i adore me
 Written by: Betsy Karp
What are you NOT doing right now that you WANT to do? Procrastination is more fear based than anything else: fear of failure or fear of success. It’s amazing how you can do everything under the sun than do the thing you truly want to accomplish.
You can make an entire day out of errands and find five hundred things to do (laundry, going to a movie, naps, etc…), but you aren’t sitting down to complete that one specific goal. Maybe by putting some Orange in front of you, it will inspire your courage and creativity. As soon as you see the color orange it will raise your vibration into a positive state. You can also eat some orange foods like carrots and pumpkin squash. These foods give you energy. They have a lot of beta-carotene, vitamin A and vitamin C.
Ask yourself, “What is it that I really need to do and get done?” An easy way to help you in this process is to find an accountability partner. Find someone who will give you tough love and make you accountable, not someone that will lick your wounds. When we are accountable to someone other than ourselves we feel responsibility and we don’t want to dishonor our commitment to our partner and ourselves. This will help you with one stage of procrastination.
The second stage is about being disciplined. Make a schedule and find 30 minutes to work towards your goal each and every day. Persistence is what you need here. If you make this pact with yourself and honor it, everything starts to fall into alignment. Before you know it you will have completed the process.
So I’m really curious…what is it that you are going to do? Don’t procrastinate. Take charge, take action and surround yourself with orange. Let the courage and creativity of the color empower you to move forward. Aren't you ready to really start this new year?
*Please comment below and share with your friends.*
Hugs,
Betsy Karp,
Founder of i adore me
 By: Betsy karp Happy New Year! Start it off with a gift to yourself. Pass these inspiring questions along to people you love. Whoever gets the most people to answer these questions under the comment section below and "like" my Facebook page, gets 20% off any program of their choice.
Rules:
1. Whomever comments below must put the full name of the person who sent them here at the top of their comment (yes, you and your answer counts as well).
2. Whoever likes my Facebook page must post the full name of the person who sent them there on my wall.
Take a few minutes today and fill in the blanks. See what you get. Don’t edit. Let these uplift and inspire you to be the best you and let 2013 bring you more of all of these wonderful things. Love is __________________________________________________ I’m grateful for __________________________________________________ I believe __________________________________________________ The world needs __________________________________________________ I hope for __________________________________________________ Life depends on __________________________________________________ Sex invigorates my __________________________________________________ Hold on to __________________________________________________ I crave some __________________________________________________ The moment is __________________________________________________ It’s time to __________________________________________________ Believe in __________________________________________________ Trust that __________________________________________________ My success depends on __________________________________________________ My appreciation is __________________________________________________
***Comment Below with your inspiring answers***
 1. Keep Giving love
2. Make time for yourself
3. Get out of your own way
4. Stay present
5. Use color to uplift you
6. Eat healthily
7. Get out in nature
8. Help others
9. Take a chance on yourself
10. Give up criticism and complaining
11. Be generous
12. Make a contribution
13. Open up
14. Communicate
15. Surround yourself with friends and loved ones
16. Take yourself on a date once a week
17. Meditate
18. Eat something you loved eating as a child
19. Laugh
20. Give hugs
21. Get a good night’s sleep
22. Exercise
23. Focus on gratitude
24. Believe in yourself
25. Live for the journey instead of the result
*Please comment below and share with your friends.*
Hugs,
Betsy Karp,
Founder of i adore me
 Written by: Betsy Karp
I can’t stop thinking about the tragedy and massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Fri, Dec. 14th. My heart and my condolences go out to all of those who lost anyone in this unthinkable, unfathomable occurrence. I am sending wishes and love to all those that are mourning and in deep, terrible pain.
I keep having this vivid visualization of 20 little, white angels in a beautiful circle, all holding hands with white snow coming down all around them. They are warm and toasty in their beautiful, white, down jackets and matching fleece berets, and they’re singing “Jingle Bells.” Everything is so pure and white, clear and clean, and the sky is lit up with so many beautiful stars. But there are perfectly, 20, brilliant stars shining down on each one of them. They are joyful and their spirits are so filled with love.
I keep picturing this over and over so that I can let go of some of the dark, angry, black and horrible feelings I have of this terrible tragedy. 20 little angels are singing, are loving and their spirits and souls are forever in our hearts. They are so pure and so loved, even for those who did not know them.
Take a minute now, close your eyes and envision what I have been visualizing. See if you can try to imagine these beautiful, 20, white, little angels. It is said that our spirits and our souls leave our bodies when we pass on, so let’s all remember and embrace them. If we all put our energy and love together for these families, just think how much lighter they will start to feel.
Life is so precious. It could be gone in an instant. So take some time today and remember how special the people in your life are. Don’t take anything for granted, because we don’t know when our time on this planet will be up. Look up in the sky tonight and let those 20 little angels shine on you.
Please comment below and share with your friends.*
Hugs,
Betsy Karp,
Founder of i adore me
Enjoy this video. I hope it inspires you as much as it inspires me.
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