As inspiring as Tiny Buddha was yesterday, there really are soo many more people to thank as this year comes to a close. And while this post will hardly do justice, it will serve as a small token to the remarkable people in my life.

Bro, simply put, my life is mo’bettah because of you. You are a girls best friend, my confidant and the keel to my ship. I am so proud to be your sister (did you know that?); I adore you. Thank you for being you, really.

DLP, you are a soul sistah; a life line when all life lines have been used and the first person I call when good news strikes. And above that, you are the most humble celeb i know. That lil man of yours, he too is something special. Thank you for opening your home, at every hour, to the Corkers.

Lehms….life changed with you and you were my rock. You taught me the power of laughing your patoot off on the beach and the belief that everyone can do a handstand. Because of you, one day, i will kick up goshdarnnit…

TeamS+S+D, you are the sweatiest people i know. Thank you for waiting for me when i’m consistently late to every workout (it will change in 2012!), not ditching me when I prairie-dog + pretending i don’t have mascara all over my face at morning runs. Here’s to dreams coming true…because you aren’t in my age group:)

Mr. Maan, there is no one like you on this planet. From kayaks to gay swimming to Shanghai Tangin’ it with Uncle Eddie, life with you is never (ever!) boring. Let’s celebrate…I have a bottle of Dom;)

Teamlululemon….ApplesJackiJurgsWhartyAlishaCourtJoelErikaMikeyJRobKKwanJaciMargo, you are treasured people who I’m so grateful to spend my days with. Life is sweet in luon; you make it even sweeter.

Hudson, you remind me that it is all possible. From finish lines to power cleans + paleo, while I might suck at being in touch, you leave me inspired daily. Our adventures are some of my fondest memories and meeting FatFrank will go down as one of the top 10 days of my life!

Rachel Ross, you are a living example of The Secret. And meeting you in the flesh was even more epic. Feeding you a finish line burger while women gawked at your 6pack was also rad. You are an inspiration pretty lady.

Blessed yogi’s Mike + Meghan, Chloe + Nico, you are beautiful human beings with exploding hearts. I’m so glad you are doing your life’s work because we all reap the benefits of you following your bliss.

Of course, Mama + Pops, there is no love on this earth like your love. I have two simple wishes: that you will feel my immense gratitude and that one day I will be able to be of similar awesomeness to the next generation.

And lastly, my cyber friends, some of whom I might actually know, others who I don’t know at all. Ya know, new friends and old friends. Those of you who sent notes during dark days and high fives when the sun was shining. I appreciate all of you, always.

Good Night 2011.

Taken directly from the always-inspiring Tiny Buddha, this post seemed exceptionally appropriate to repost to ensure that you too soaked it in. As we wrap 2011 in a pretty lil bow, my wish for you is that you will thank yourself for the great, the good + the ugly…

Last year, someone asked me in an interview what I’d say to myself, from 10 years ago, if I could meet that person now. I said something along the lines of, “Be good to yourself—you’re doing the best you can.”

She then asked what I’d say to myself 50 years in the future, if I could meet that version of me now. I answered that, to that Lori, I would say, “Thank you.”

I realized after the fact that I thanked my 80 year old self because that version of me would have presumably done everything I wanted to do in this world, and using the wisdom I gave younger me, she would hopefully have done it being good to herself.

But I recognized that it was equally important to thank myself at each step of the way—regardless of what I did, and even when I stumbled. Why? Because I was doing the best I can, and that is something worth recognizing and appreciating, not just in hindsight, but right now.

This is the time of year when many of us look back at the 365 days past and measure how much we’ve accomplished—and then look into the next 365 to detail everything we’d like to achieve.

There’s nothing wrong with making goals; in fact, I’m a huge proponent. But as we go into the next year, I invite you to join me in thanking the “us” from 2011—not just for the things we’ve crossed off our to-do and bucket lists, but for all the courage, passion, strength, and just plain good-heartedness we demonstrated.

Here is my list of “Thank yous” to me:

• Thank you for growing a little every day.
• Thank you for forgiving yourself when you stumbled.
• Thank you for loving fully and vulnerably.
• Thank you for trying new things, even when you felt scared.
• Thank you for cutting yourself some slack when you did nothing because you were scared.
• Thank you for using the wisdom you gained, instead of just acquiring knowledge.
• Thank you for taking care of yourself, physically, mentally, and emotionally, more often than not.
• Thank you for loving yourself, regardless of what you achieved.

….that makes everyone come out and shine their light. My daily blog traffic has been off the charts for the past couple of weeks and I can’t deny that I wish I was sharing my daily ramblings with you. I feel smothered in love that I didn’t even know existed in this lifetime. I am wrapped in gratitude for the remarkable human beings on this planet. I am blessed beyond measure of the power of girlfriends and boyfriends and brothers and mothers and fathers.

The winds of change are blowing and life is going to be coming back in a different package. For now, it will stay in savasana…resting in corpse pose…..waiting the fresh new year.

I hope your world is wrapped in as much love with lots of Christmas crafts (errr knitmuch?), cozy beverages + snowshoe adventures. It’s December tomorrow. Joy to the World! xo

Words to live+love+laugh+give by. Love, Jason Mraz

Through the darkness, we will find our light. 

…the days are dark…stephaniecorkerirwin.com will come back in a new light, in time… 

Until then,
ShineOn. xx

Something tells me that this weekend might be slightly indicative of future weekends to follow this winter…

SufferFests on the trainer in our make-shift version of “Hawaii” – bright lights + fans o’wind. These cats are way more talented than I am – they hammer while i sing; they know their cadence + i just count to 100; they sweat + i sweat…so it’s all totally cool:) And DJ Ramsey knows how to play angry music during our team time trials and hill climbs!

And then Sundays are Rundays! We went for half of our long run before the start line and then finished the run in a 10km race, just for fun. Susie knows how to run, fast. She exploded off the start…and finished in a beautiful 42min. I on the other hand suffered 4min back. Not a pb; not an easy run; not really great. But it was another start line. And sometimes, just showing up to start is what is necessary…

This picture is courtesy of Stef serving karma up to me after a season of fun bike rides, he so beautifully kicked my patoot today!

It’s winter here. It’s frickin’ chilly. It’s not difficult to dream of white sand….thankfully girlfriends know no season…

(Amir took some really freakin’ cool pics in Mexico….he takes cool pics all over the world!)

You have been telling people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you
must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour. And there are
things to be considered. . . .

Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?

Know your garden.
It is time to speak your truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for your leader.

Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said, “This could be a
good time! There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and
swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on
to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer
greatly. Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let
go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes
open, and our heads above the water.

And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in
history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves. For
the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves!
Banish the word ‘struggle’ from your attitude and your vocabulary. All
that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

Lehm’s is officially the taste-tester of smoothies-gone-crazay as we build our repertoire of smoothies for the Yoga Retreat Center:)

We’ve been inspired by Cafe Gratitude and called this one “I am Not Depressed (being back to work)”… so if you ever need a lil island lovin’, then we suggest throwing the following into your vitamix:

bananas/spinach/ avocado/ spoonful of organic pb/ wee spoonful of cacao/ 2 spoons of coconut butter/ splash of almond milk/ plain yog (if you fancy)/ a few ice cubes if you care to make it frothy + chilly//blend!

Taste test approved: Lehm’s gives it the thumbs up… (and doesn’t that colour green look so delicious!)

• Do yoga. Repeat daily.
• Eat vibrating food.
• Send random reminders to random friends in the form of photos/videos/one-liners. Bonus points if laughter erupts!
• Book another yoga retreat!
• Fly to Hawaii to build your own + then invite all of your friends to come!
• Turn on some Bob, really loud.
• Tune into QMFMfrom 5AM to 10AM daily. No excuses. Tara will crack you up!
  

  Trying not to crash or cry while listening to Tara!

• Plug the kettle into a room with a door that shuts to pretend you are living in the amazon. Kinda like this guy!
• Keep your panties at home. Just for fun:)
• Seriously, go book 2012…http://www.yyoga.ca/! They’ve already booked it and something tells me it will sell out FAST next year.

 (pssst…we have a really rad surprise coming for you if you need any additional convincing:))

It feels only appropriate to give last week a wrap…and marinade in all that was fabulous on a Monday back at the office. Christa + I crafted this list, in fits of laughter, on the plane ride home. The people sitting beside us thought we were wacked – if they only knew what we looked like rolling around half naked in the sand:)

What made MayaTulum something so special…(in no particular order, cause that’s just how we roll!)

• Coconut slamming (juice, coffee + wine slamming too!)
• 5:55AM red-ball-of-fire-sunrises. Daily. No exceptions.
• Panties are for Canada. Just don’t bring them.
• Holy-Moly-Guacamole – at least an avocado a day!
• Entering the yoga palapa with 35 yogi’s you don’t know and leaving a week later with 35 new friends.
• Life altering, body elevating, on-the-edge-of-orgasmic clay massages.
• Octavio. (The Provider of #6)
• Full moon parties.
• Euro influx – ie. The best Italian restaurants just a few paces away down the beach (read: go visit for a bottle of wine + lobster feast!)
• 2.5hr power classes featuring daily inversions that become 3hr classes of laughter + pools of sweat
• 7AM morning meditation on the beach. Rolling in the sand, giggling on repeat – optional yet highly encouraged.
• Cabanas on the beach – 10 steps from the ocean, with fresh flower garnish in your foot bath.
• Fish. Tacos. #yes!
• Morning abundance of papaya. (The pineapple, cantaloupe, watermelon, granola + yog were pretty okay too!)
• Amir – the token photog guru who shot the raddest pics ever. (Seriously r-a-d.)
• The best + brightest yoga teachers of Vancouver who laugh at our jokes:) <teehee>
• Belize being just a few hours away creates ideas of possibility in never leaving….
• When was the last time you hung out with a radio talk show host, helicopter pilot, lawyer and the list goes on….#coolestchicsontheblock
• Travel mats + wunder unders – thanks @lululemon!
• Dessert.
• The bluest-greenest-crystal-clearest ocean you can possibility imagine…awaiting you to jump in!
• The whitest-purest-softest sand you’ve ever sunk your toes into (or kicked a handstand on!)
• Moon gazing cuddle fest – story telling with roars of laughter are simply the by-product + highly encouraged. (Varanasi circa 1999 anyone?)
•  Bike riding to town – doubling is twice as much fun!
• Cenotes  diving + snorkeling. Under water cameras are pretty much an afternoon of gaggles.
• Bucket Lists over Breakfast + Yoga retreat business plans over moonlight. #dreamingrules!
• SaltySandyKnarlyOceanHair – combing + washing is not required!
• Party tricks + video clips at dinner.
• Laughing. Laughing. Laughing even louder!
• Vibrating food …radiating broccoli
• Reading books on the beach – out loud is mo’better.
• Bob Marley at just the right time. Get up, stand up!
• A sea of Ommm’s …or several.

So apparently shoes, scarves + panties are now required…until we meet again under the blazing sun. Tomorrow we will publish how to survive post-vacay-depression:)

We had to leave Tulum yesterday. The final Funday Friday was as you’d guess….F-U-N!

I woke up for a magical swim with Paddi + Bobby (short for Robert!) out to the reef. Lehm’s decided to sleep off the bottle(s) of wine from the night before so I borrowed her fins and mask. We made it out to the reef, minus the bottoms of my bikini because they fall off (it’s the cost of no muffin top!). The reef was rad, the water was warm and it looked like purple kale was dancing on the bottom of the ocean. Sadly, upon arriving back to shore in all of my glee, I jumped out of the water onto the beach forgetting that my bottoms were wrapped around my knee. I quickly proceeded to penguin-waddle myself back into the ocean to ensure Bobby didn’t catch a glimpse…and POW! A wave comes and leaves me sans a mask and barely my bottoms. I walked back with my head in shame to a hardly-hung-over buddy who informed me that the fins from Malaysia might have been a showstopper but a mask can be replaced. #PHEW!!!

We then slammed coconuts + coffee and salivated over Mexican Bananas before our as per usual, two remarkable yoga classes.  Lehm’s rocked out the most beautiful kapotasana and felt her heart explode – she thought there was a scream of glee, but it didn’t actually come out:) We also jumped all over each other in downward dog + childs pose. And then watched Nico body slam Mike. It was the perfect finale. (These pics will come, i promise…perhaps on the rainiest Vancouver day!)

Lehm’s then proceeded to get the mud-rub…she levitated off the bed and into the ocean….(these pictures to follow might be as close to soft porn as this blog will ever experience!)

We walked along the beach under the moon light and decided that really…really…if we just kept walking we could be crossing the border to Belize by sunrise….

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end.”