Ojai, CA Part 2 of my Personal Retreat

I arrived in Ojai on Tuesday and check into the Ojai Retreat Bed and Breakfast. After driving up a long road to the top of a hill I found the office, got my key and drove round to the "Oak Room" which is where I stayed.  My room had a bed, a little table and chairs, refrigerator and private bath and a bay window that looked out onto the mountains.  Outside my room was my own private patio with a table and 4 chairs.  That afternoon I met with a yoga instructor, Mihaela, who came to my room to do yoga with me.  And there on my patio, I spent two and a half hours learning yoga from this amazing and inspirational woman. I had only done yoga a few times before and had not been able to do any kind of stretching until now, since my back surgery in October.  I learned about Yuan Miao and bought the book "Dancing of Rooftops with Dragons, The Yoga of Joy," which I started reading right away.  I loved it and it was just what I needed to learn about. On Wednesday morning when I opened the door, I saw a tree, surrounded by the morning mist, mountains in the background and flowers that were pink and purple in the bushes all around my patio.  The birds were singing and the air was crisp and fresh.  I had slept straight through the night again and felt rested and peaceful when I woke up.  I went for a walk down the nature path and onto a meadow and followed the trail around the property... I saw many baby quail and their parents scurrying along the path, chirping and hiding.  It was a long walk and it felt good to be by myself in nature, noticing the tiniest little flowers that grow out of the brown dirt, yellow and purple and sometimes red.  I heard noises of animals in the brush as they heard me getting close to where they were.  Being a former city girl, I became aware of the sounds and cautious as if someone or something might jump out of the bushes and attack me.  And when that moment passed, I was back in my country girl skin enjoying the smells of sage and hot pine needles all around me.

It's been a long time coming...

I've been out of touch.... literally.  Not just with my blog, but with myself.  I needed to take some time to be still, quiet and just listen... to nature, to the wind, to myself.  So I took a 5 day personal retreat and started it off by driving down to San Diego to see the amazing Claire Cook, best-selling author give a talk as her newest book, "Seven Year Switch"  was just released and is now in book stores everywhere! I met another twitter friend/author, Dawn Maria, before the talk and had a fantastic dinner. I stayed in San Diego for 2 days, thanks to a generous friend who gave me points to stay at the Sheraton down there.  I pampered myself with a massage and sat by the pool reading Claire's book and eating caesar salad and herbal iced tea.  I went to sleep early, never turned on the television and slept straight through to the morning...something I hadn't done in - I don't know how long!  Wow.. it was amazing...I felt so rejuvenated just by getting that kind of sleep.
I'll share more about my "retreat" and photos too - soon...  just wanted to touch base and let you know  I'm still here... just working on the "engine" to keep the machine running.  Hope you are too!

What's YOUR Seven Year Switch? http://bit.ly/bYhy1D

Janey Cutler - Still singing - after all these years....

80 years young and singing like never before!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SrZJexfl94


Check her out, you'll be glad you did!

Beauty of Wisdom article by Fine Art Photographer, Bob Killen

I am so honored and excited to share this article!


http://bobkillenphotographyblog.com/2010/05/robbie-kaye-beauty-of-wisdom/

Growing Boulder Interview

I am thrilled to share this link to my interview with Katy Widrick from Growing Boulder, a fantastic organization who supports that age is all about attitude and beauty is timeless.
http://growingbolder.com/media/gb-exclusives/webchats/gb-webchat-robbie-kaye-616416.html

Please take the time to peruse their website - there are so many amazing videos there!!
Shine on!
Robbie

The Amara Rose Interviews - Feminine Wisdom

Here is a link to an article, "Feminine Wisdom." written by Amara Rose. It is so poignant and wonderful I whole-heartedly recommend it and while you are there, visit her website - it is a treasure trove of inspiration.

http://www.liveyourlight.com/mind/Feminine.html

In this article she interviews a woman who at the age of 101, still runs her household with minimal help.


As a "midwife for the soul," Amara Rose offers life purpose coaching, talks, tapes/CDs, e-courses, playshops, retreats, and a FREE inspirational monthly newsletter, "What Shines." Please visit LiveYourLight.com to learn more. Contact Amara at amara@liveyourlight.com, or call: 1-800-862-0157 within the USA.

(Photo by: Robbie Kaye 2009 - "Florette" Marina Del Rey, CA)

Embracing Maturity

This is an amazing piece of writing about embracing maturity by a woman who contributes her talents to reminding women that they are beautiful at any age. Thank you so much June!

Embracing Maturity

As a woman approaching her mid-fifties and living in a society where there is huge pressure placed on looking good, I have now come to realise beauty and the definition surrounding it, is not all about looking ten years younger than your actual age or turning heads in the street. That is not to say that like other woman of my age, I am of course, concerned about my body visibly deteriorating and getting older but I firmly believe that we should embrace maturity and learn to work with and enhance what we already have.

We always tend to focus on our imperfections and fail to realise that other people never actually see us how we see ourselves. Therefore if we do want to change our appearance in any way be it with diet, exercise or even cosmetic procedures, we should always do it for ourselves and never for someone else. It would not be right (and is probably impossible!) to have reached your mid-fifties and not have any wrinkles; in fact every wrinkle tells a story about the laughter and the tears that has made you the person that you are today and is merely a physical and positive sign of what life is all about.

Don’t wake up in the morning and think ' I'm getting old'. With determination, you can embrace your increasing maturity and learn to enhance yourself and your self esteem. With the ability to love the fact that you are maturing woman, you can be full of vitality and life. The simple and honest fact is that there will never be a magic formula to physically turn back the clock. Look at what you like about yourself and focus on that, try to be positive about life because inner peace and being positive works wonders on your physical appearance and will make far more difference than any expensive potion in a jar. Regardless of age, if you are happy and have a positive outlook, it will always show on the outside. Try to change things that make you unhappy - at our age we know we need to invest time in looking and feeling the best we can, and if you look your best, that in turn gives you confidence. Beauty is not about being glamorous, but really does come from within and if you are happy with yourself then you will sparkle and your attitude will change - happiness is infectious and if you walk down the street full of inner confidence others will be sure to notice too!

Being middle aged does not mean dressing dowdy or giving up on being stylish. If we look at women in their fifties today, we are so different from our Mother's time - I could never have imagined my Mum wearing jeans! Our daughters now ask to borrow our clothes and makeup and there has never been a better time to be middle aged. This is now the time we can truly focus on ourselves. We’ve brought up our children and worked hard and now it’s time to be a little selfish! Make the best of yourself, embrace everyday and you will find that everyday will embrace you!

My make-up, beauty, and styling videos for mature women over 50 can be found at http://www.youtube.com/user/june9097