Colorado Hemp Honey with Nick French
Monday, February 25th at 8pm ET/5pm PT

Nick French is the owner of Frangiosa Farms. He is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and has gained knowledge through his time and travels in the U.S. Marine Corps and through traditional education. He has studied biology, tropical marine biology in Australia, microbiology, and finance. Nick is also passionate about urban farming and has a love of beekeeping that has grown over the years. He has been keeping bees since 2008 in urban farms, on rooftops, and in backyards. The farm that started it all, Frangiosa Farms, has over a hundred hives at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. https://coloradohemphoney.com

State of Slim with James Hill PhD & Holly Wyatt MD
Monday, November 26th at 8pm ET/5pm PT

Dr. Holly Wyatt earned her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and completed her internal medicine and endocrinology training at the University of Colorado. She has been involved in the field of obesity, weight management and metabolism her entire career and personally struggled with her weight and maintaining a reduced healthy body weight earlier in her life. Dr. Holly has guided participants in ABC’s Extreme Weight Loss & The Biggest Loser series.

Dr. James Hill is an internationally recognized leader in weight management. He has a Ph.D. from the University of New Hampshire in physiological psychology. Dr. Hill has spent the past 35 years conducting research to understand why obesity develops and how it can be prevented and treated. He was a co-founder of America On the Move and a co-founder of the National Weight Control Registry.  https://www.stateofslim.com 

How Our Perception Changes Our World

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With so much going on in the world, how we choose to perceive things seems to be more important than ever.  While putting on rose-colored glasses isn’t something that I would suggest, choosing to change our perception of the challenges we face gives us the opportunity not only to shift how we show up in the world, but also allows us the opportunity to view the outer world and our inner world with more compassionate and grace.  This discussion often has me thinking about this quote from the Dalai Lama:

We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.

If we’re having a difficult time liking ourselves, how can we like those around us?  If we allow ourselves to fall into judgement or criticize those that are different, how can we love the uniqueness that we alone bring to the world?

The journey of developing and maintaining inner peace  traverses a road with no end, yet the journey itself offers new vistas, plateaus and valleys of who we really are. Thus granting us a deeper awareness and understanding that we truly are one, regardless of our outer world and differences.
Wishing you much peace, grace and love.

Make Every Moment Count!

Marianne

Give It Away

654120dd-946a-4821-b59a-18f2fb6afde5I recently attended a workshop that Judy Goodman spoke at in Denver, Colorado, and she said something that resonated with me to the core.

“Whatever is lacking in your life, give it away and it will return to you seven-fold”

What a true statement that is!  As I look back at some of the difficult times in my own life, when I had felt exceptionally lonely, disconnected or was having a difficult time, reaching out and being of service is what got me through.

Staying connected with others is often a very conscious act, requiring that we make the effort and that time is involved. In a world where we are the most connect and at the same time the most disconnected, finding “time” to reach out and spend with others or being of service is often pushed to the back burner. This brings the cycle full circle, often returning us to our starting point of feeling alone and disconnected.

If you are missing something in your life, I urge you to give it away to others with an open heart. Your life will be more full than you could ever imagine.

Make Every Moment Count!

Marianne

Social Media for Artists at aBuzz Gallery in Denver, Colorado

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Today I had the honor of presenting to a group of artist at the request of  aBuzz Gallery owner, highly acclaimed fiber artist and Craftsy instructor Carol Ann Waugh.

Everything I’ve learned about connecting with people through social media, I learned from my friend Marianne Pestana. She stopped by my gallery today to teach my mentorship students the ins and outs of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Just love her! – Carol Ann Waugh

Make sure to check out Carol Ann’s gallery located in the RiNO District in Denver‬Colorado‬ this coming First Friday!, June 3rd.  The exhibits aBuzz Gallery has always amazes!  www.aBuzzGallery.com

Gratitude for 2015

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A couple months ago, a dear friend of mine came to visit from Ohio. As a good hostess, I made plans everyday so she could see as much of the beauty that Colorado had to offer during her stay. One day I had special plans to take her to Shambhala Mountain Center in Red Feather, otherwise known as the Stupa. For me, there is a lot of magic in visiting this Buddhist Temple.

The Stupa itself is a grand building, mostly white and gold, accented with a few brilliant colors, looking like a perfectly wrapped gift in its picturesque setting. Surrounded by aspens, pines, and tall grass, the majestic building is tucked away in a small valley in the Rockies. A gentle river ribbons down the hillside, humming a melody that only the wind, trees, and occasional eagle joins in chorus. The Temple’s site was specifically chosen for the good prana quality of earth, sky, and water. While previously visiting the Stupa, it has always felt more like heaven on earth to me with its gentle winds and the crisp smell of pine filling the air.

For the pilgrim or visitor, the journey starts with a serene walk up the Path of Enlightenment. Along the path, pebbles are left behind, representing worldly worries or thoughts that travelers have discarded. This is one of the gifts of the Stupa, being in the present moment, which is something to revel in.

Many people bring prayer requests, leaving them at different places around the Temple. After a prayer meditation, the Stupa has another gift for all that visit: a tiny red marble symbolizing a seed from a pomegranate. This is beautifully inset among the many stone designs of the temple floor.

Many people don’t know, but I almost didn’t live to see this beautiful place again.

The two-lane highway, winds around open fields of flowing grass that nestle against the mountains. The sky is a brilliant blue, with an occasional white cloud slowly making its way across, just to give the brilliant blue contrast. A gentle breeze dances along the tall grasses, and cows and their calves lazily wander the countryside softly calling to one another.

Laughing and enjoying the beauty of the moment, there was only fun and friendship that filled the air. As we rounded the next turn, a little red car coming from the opposite direction was headed straight for us. The driver’s head was down, and I could see his cell phone in his hand as he was texting someone. Missing the curve of the road completely, he was now approaching a head-on collision with us. At the rate of speed he was going, there wasn’t even time to honk the horn.

Our joyful conversation immediately stopped, and the car became chillingly quiet. I veered off the road onto the foot-and-a-half shoulder, with the oncoming driver now headed directly toward me. In that split second, everything slowed down, I was hoping not to roll the car in the ditch and down the hillside that followed the small shoulder where we currently were. I hoped that my friend would survive the crash and that she wouldn’t be confined to a wheelchair or hospital bed. I thought to myself that I wasn’t going to make it, and I thought of the pain that would surely ensue.

At the last second, the driver looked up and slammed on his breaks while simultaneously turning the wheel. He was within inches of my car — so close that I could see down into his. I could see his well-worn red and black plaid shirt and his disheveled black hair. Dropping his phone and with both hands now on the steering wheel, he angled his body as if willing his car to move in a different direction. Tires screeched and by some miracle, he missed my car. Immediately, he then sped up and was gone over the next hill.

I pulled over, more in shock than shaken, and a car behind us pulled over to see if we were okay, having nearly witnessed my last few moments on this planet. I got out and looked at my car, not a scratch on it. My very talkative and cheerful friend was now extremely quiet, and we both continued our journey in silence.

When we arrived at the Stupa, the prayer requests that I had thoughtfully written out the night before were now irrelevant and meaningless. As we stared up the path, I took a moment and closed my eyes, letting the sunshine wash over me and feeling a gentle breeze on my face. I was filled with an immense feeling of gratitude: I am so grateful to be alive.