It is a common misassumption that a disability means having limitations and weaknesses, and disabled individuals often feel pitied or belittled. But in realty having a disability can help build your character and strength. I feel that because of my disabilities I am a strong advocate willing to go the distance to overcome any obstacles that come my way. It has also helped me develop compassion, awareness and acceptance for others. More importantly, it has led me to my purpose of helping and inspiring people through my words. I am proud of who I am today and would not change one thing.

I often compare my husband and I to one of my favorite TV shows Dharma & Greg mainly because the story is about a
Lawyer married to married to free spirit yoga teacher. My husband is one the smartest lawyers who is also a serious logical thinker dealing with facts and the law. While am a free spirit yogi dealing with spirituality, feelings and emotions so in our case opposites do attract. It is about finding a balance while respecting each other individuality. Even though we had many lively discussions we never force our beliefs or try to change each other. The key is love, respect and acceptance.

We all go through periods of self loathing or comparing our saves to others. But it can also be very harmful, negative and causes depression. As writer and yogini I often have to remind my self to follow my own advice and practice what I preach. Yoga teaches us to come into the movement embracing life as it is. Meditation allows us to become familiar and focus on our strengths. I believe our strengths will over power our weakness just like positives always win over the negative. The best way to promote self-love is to respect your body through eating healthy, exercising and putting your health first. I have always felt any negative can be reverse through hard work. There is always a way all you need is the will. Yoga also teaches us to practice acceptance because we are all wonderful unique individuals with something to offer to the world.

My favorite yoga pose is the warrior it represents strength, steadiness, integrity and fierce determination. It symbolizes a spiritual warrior who does battle with the universe for truth and justice.  I identify with this pose because of my experiences a woman with disabilities. Through my life I have always been a strong fighter from fighting my own personal battles, proving my self, stigma and discrimination.

Being a warrior has help me become an advocate and foster my passion of writing to help and inspire others. When I am in the warrior position I always tap into my internal power to visualize reversing the sigma people with disabilities. I also focus on being positive, loving, happy and peaceful to myself and others.

Many deaf and hard of hearing individuals are unable to experience the beauty of music. Allyson Townsend a deaf education teacher who was always passionate about singing and music. She created a music video using sign language, facial expressions and body movement to bring the joy of music to a friend who was deaf. The experience inspired Allyson to create more videos on you tube that is view by over 15,000 people. Music can brighten our mood, comfort us and energizes us. It can also help us release many feelings from happiness, anger and sadness. It is some thing that should be enjoyed and shared by everyone. Click and enjoy the music

Allyson face book page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ally-ASL/207129801391?v=wall

Allyson you tube page
http://www.youtube.com/allyballybabe#p/u/30/k4RrbL2eFhc

Check out my Carrie Writes column
http://www.masslive.com/holyokeplus/republican/index.ssf?/base/news…

http://www.masslive.com/neighborhoodsplus/republican/index.ssf?/bas…

January is mentoring month the time to honor those in our lives who have made an impact on us through our lives. We receive support and knowledge from our parents, teachers, friends and professionals. We can learn so much from others experiences, ideas and opinions. I also find I get a lot of my inspiration from listening to or reading other peoples stories. We all have some thing to offer the world
As writer I share self-improvement tips, my yoga practice and disability issues through my column, blog and motivational speeches to inspire and help people. Today I honor my mom who helped shape my values and my husband who is my hero. I also honor Seane Corn who inspired my yoga practice on and off the mat.

People with disabilities should not be defined by their disability because we are much more than that with so much to offer the world. Just like everyone else we have interests, talents, goals and dreams. I am not only a woman with disabilities but I am a writer, speaker, yogini and activist. My purpose and passion is to reverse the stigma of having a disability from negative to positive. My friend and mentor Gabrielle Bernstein creator of http://www.herfuture.com/ asked me to form a power posse group for people with disabilities and others to share experiences while discussing disability  issues that impact daily life. Visit http://www.herfuture.com/group/womenwithdisabilities to be inspired and to learn from one another.

I will also be turning thirty-nine years old this April.  As I look back on my thirties it is so amazing to see what have accomplished from finding my soul mate, getting married, moving to a new state and finding a job I love.  I also have no regrets about any decisions I made and cherish all the memories.

When I think about what I want the most to do in my last year of my thirties heading into my forties is to be in the best shape of my life. Over the past years I have gained some weight, develop some bad eating habits and develop a few health concerns.  The first step was realizing what I needed to change followed by setting up a plan to meet my goals.

After analyzing my diet I decided I need to focus on being a strict vegetarian while eliminating the following: soda, white foods, coffee, caffeine, fast food and meat.  I will focus on eating fruit, vegetables and whole-wheat products while drinking tons of water.  I am also reaffirming my commitment to my yoga practice by increasing practice time to seventy-five minutes every day . I also want to increase my endurance through biking and power walking.

Taking care of the mind is just as important as taking care of your body. As always I will face each day with love peace and happiness.  I will also continue to fill my life with positive energy while eliminating the negative.  My tools for this task are prayer, meditation and reading inspiring books.  I will also be fueling my creative passion with sketching, photography and journaling.

In my columns and blog I will continue sharing my passions of helping people, self improvement, yoga and disability issues.  Most importantly I will continue my focus on my roles as wife, writer, yogini and disability rights activist.  I have faith that I will meet my goals by time I turn forty years old.

I came across an article about a plan in Cambridge, MA where yoga poses are being displayed on parking tickets to defused frustrations. This idea left this yogi with mixed feelings. It is well known that yoga is great for reliving stress but it also has many other wonderful benefits from spiritual to fitness. Yoga isn’t about just doing or looking at one pose. It is about linking breath, mind and body through a series of movements to feel the joy of yoga. Take a look at the article and let me know what you think http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100922/od_yblog_upshot/city-hoping-yoga-imagery-will-curb-parking-ticket-anger

Miracles are small or big occurrences in our lives that are fulfilled by a divine intervention around us or from inside of us.  They happen through the law of attraction where we surround our selves with positive energy in order to receive positive results.  The key is to send out positive vibes while banishing the negativity. Miracles happen with believing, working hard and never giving up. A daily meditation practice is an excellent tool to clear the mind, focus and release any negativity. Once it is gone the positive energy can flow freely. I also find practicing yoga, journaling and positive affirmations are also helpful in the miracle process. With a positive life style miracles will happen.