Around Here Lately

Hi Everyone,It's October...yippeee! Another autumn full of gorgeous colored leaves, sweater days (& BOOTS), fresh apple pie out of the oven, evenings chilly enough for fires (& SNUGGLING), big pots of soup that make the kitchenwindows steamy and the excitement of the holidays in the air! Yes, I do indeed love you, Autumn :)...you are one of my favorites!September came and went in a flash...one day I woke up and it was September and then the next time I woke up it was October....crazy busy times my friends, are you all feeling the same way as me?For me, September was full of a little bit of the sickies (but now I'm all better), lots of fun design work (like the piece above...you can see my other designs here), a 28-day on-line, photo journey class called Be Your Own Beloved and getting the opportunity to see Oprah and some of her "spiritual trailblazers" LIVE. It was awesome to hear Elizabeth Gilbert talk about her EAT, PRAY, LOVE experience as well as a lot of other inspiring speakers and their stories on what happened when they LISTENED TO THEIR GUT, FOLLOWED THEIR HEARTS and ALIGNED THEMSELVES WITH THE DIVINE. Definitely a very inspiring weekend.And then the last 10 days of the month, my husband and I took the time to do a little spiritual retreat, called an anuthan. In the Indian lunar calendar, these 10 days are called Navratri (click here if you want to learn more). An anusthan is when you choose to do X number of spiritual practices for X amount of time/quantity a day and for X number of days. There have been years when I have taken all 10 days off completely, so that I can FULLY retreat and then there are other years, like this year, that feel more like a stay-cation :)... We stay engaged in our work and everyday lives while getting up a little earlier and staying up a little later in the evening to fit in our malas (japa) & some amazing meditations. There's definitely something magical about these annual 10 days of focusing inwards! It fills me up in a completely different way than normal day-to-day activities, relationships and events do :)...it's LOVELY!So, in a nutshell that's what I've been up to these days...what about you? How are you keeping inspired through your daily grind these days :)?Be Well,xo,Kajalp.s. I'm going to INDIA in November, I'm soooo excited!