I got the opportunity recently to sit in a room with a couple hundred women to listen to their words of wisdom. It was an invitation I couldn’t refuse, and let me just tell you, this room was packed with so much energy, love, and power – I was on a goddess-infused high for the rest of the day.

This women-only forum, aptly named “The Sisterhood,” was held during one of the at-sea days on a Dave Koz jazz cruise and featured a star-studded panel of incredible females including Mindi Abair, Keiko Matsui, Glynis Albright, Pat Prescott, Talaya Trigueros, and Sheila E.

The panel and the participants in the room were all asked to share words of wisdom from their lives. The discussion ranged from how to experience more joy and peace, to what has helped foster healthy relationships and communication. Some of the wisdom came from their mothers, some from the school of hard knocks, some from personal experience, but it all came from the heart.

A Panel

Part of the panel: Glynis Albright, Sheila E, Mindi Abair, and Talaya Trigueros

What were some of the words of wisdom?

  • Have gratitude and love in your life. It’s easy to feel gratitude when you first wake up, but inevitably something bad can happen that can overtake your day, something that causes you to take your focus away from the good. Don’t let that happen; stay focused on the good things in life!
  • When you look at things through the eyes of compassion, you can let go of your judgment and everything just seems to be alright.
  • Don’t hate. Congratulate!
  • Be gentle and kind to yourself.
  • Tell the truth, for it will set you free.

Of course, I was taking copious notes during the session, and as I was writing all these words of wisdom down, I couldn’t help but smile. No, this wasn’t a yoga retreat. These were jazz musicians, radio hosts, and wives of musicians, and they were all sharing pieces of their wisdom. But to me, all this wisdom appeared tied to the teachings of yoga.

Having gratitude for what you have in your life is the same as santosha, one of the niyamas from the eight limbs of yoga as outlined in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

Being compassionate and lifting up people who are successful instead of being jealous of them are both part of the four keys to happiness as outlined in the yoga sutras.

Being gentle and kind to you is the same concept of practicing ahimsa, one of the yamas, which covers the practice of non-harmful behavior.

And telling the truth is the same thing as satya, another one of the yamas.

How cool is it that these women in essence were all speaking about what we do both on and off our mats when we practice yoga? This makes me feel very wise indeed!

Not all of the wisdom imparted applied directly to the teachings of yoga, but I want to share a few more of these pearls of wisdom regardless.

a keiko

Keiko Matsui talking about making dreams come true!

Keiko Matsui talked about the importance of visualizing your dreams. She explained that when she can visualize a dream, as long as she believes in the dream and applies hard work to it, the reality of it comes faster and faster.

Glynis Albright encouraged all of the women to learn to be sisters again, to love one another and not be so hard on each other. We need to be more kind to the women in our lives, to lift them up and support them. Amen, Glynis!

There was a lot of love in that cruise ship lounge, and I promise to write more about this event, but I’ll leave you with one last thought that was shared by Sheila E. She reminded us that we have so much power that we don’t realize we have. Make sure you use your power for good and share it with others –this can be as simple as sharing a smile or a hug.

I’ll take you out with a song by Mindi Abair, dedicated to all the ladies and a reminder that we are all beautiful! I’m thinking “Be Beautiful” is making it to a yoga class playlist real soon!

[youtube]http://youtu.be/N2rerpg-Gss?t=28s[/youtube]