What Matters in Our Community

The first Expedition Bhutan: Experience ‘What Matters’ presentation is on, April 27, 6:30 PM, 1818 Felt Street in Santa Cruz. This wine social and silent auction will be inclusive of presentations by me and the founders of the Music of Bhutan Research Center. Come and meet the Expedition Team as well as the director of our expedition film and see a teaser of the film! Our hosts will be the Santa Cruz Triathlon Association (SCTA)— and our efforts are about raising funds for people in Bhutan and in our own community to help them participate in sport. You can get tickets to this exciting evening on active.com. See the below info poster for more details. For the weeks leading into this local community [...]

Category: Adventure

A Fresh Year of Possibility

This year is already shaping up to be just as enriching as last—is that possible!? I’ve got a fresh view, new clients, a new website, am diving into a couple new classes and seminars and several new projects—including organizing how I’ll be sharing my amazing journey in Bhutan via slide shows and in my writing. And I’ll be returning to Bhutan to volunteer to help out the Bhutan Olympic Committee! My multi-media presentation of Expedition Bhutan will peruse ‘What Matters’, as per our inquiry in Bhutan. And in addition to presenting to your company or work team, I’ll be offering it as a fundraiser for schools and non-profits for something that matters to me in our communities—helping schools, teams and [...]

Category: Events

A Sprint to the….Start

There is a solid reason why no one has done an adventure like Expedition Bhutan. Because organizing it in total has been multi-dimensionally more arduous than the expedition itself will be! One of the reasons for the rigors in the planning process is highly admirable—the Bhutanese are very particular about how guests experience their country. One does not throw one’s backpack on, swoop into Bhutan on American Airlines and have your way with the geography at will. Each moment in Bhutan is scrutinized, planned, and overseen by the Bhutanese. This process helps keep the rif-raf out, while ensuring that each guest will have a memorable experience. For those of us to tend to like to ‘load and go’ this has [...]

Category: Adventure

50

I was interviewed last week for a book that is being written about a big handful of athletes/artists/musicians/notable folks who are turning 50 this year. One of the obvious questions on the front end of what turned out to be a really fun interview was, “How are you feeling about turning 50?”

My response: “I’m psyched!”

I’m not psyched that our bodies change up when we reach 50 in a way that isn’t terribly useful for an athlete, nor that we have to consider reading glasses or that our memory tends to wane a bit now and then. My 50th year alone has been a doozy of crazy life challenges and its only June! (much more to share soon).

Category: Events

(an excellent) Holding Pattern

I wanted to check in with a quick update. With the royal wedding changing up our expedition dates a bit, the president of BOC reviewing our proposed route for approval, and continued conversations with film staff, we have been in a slight holding pattern with Expedition Bhutan prep. We’ve been quite busy in our holding pattern but, holding none the less. One of the things I am continually an excellently reminded of is that not every nations culture embodies the blind, frenetic, passionate, results driven work habits—of Americans. So it is important for us to calmly wait—especially when respecting working relationships—when what we really want is to keep driving forward at our crazy pace. An excellent reminder. That said, we [...]

Category: Adventure

Why Mindful Running?

Mindfulness is being attentive to and aware of the present moment. As westerners we may hear the word ‘mindfulness’ and conjure up images of candles or incense burning by chanting monks in maroon robes. Though mindfulness is the basis for the teaching of meditation in Buddhism it is not solely a religious concept but rather a means to a focused, aware and powerful mind in everything we do. Even the most learned Buddhist teacher will tell you that one need not study the dharma to realize the immense value gained from regular mindfulness practice. Research has shown that training mindfulness can offer a variety of outcomes toward well being on many levels. In fact many practitioners of western psychology use [...]

Category: Events