Gratitude  - after my heart upgrade I've had 6 cardiologist appointments and several echo cardiograms.
Just last month, the cardiologist said there is no reason for me to come back anymore or have any further testing. In other words, I am heart healthy. I am so grateful for this.

My Heart Upgrade

Morning of March 30th- Day of the Surgery…..

From Rochelle:

The day for David’s Mitral Valve Repair has come. We are referring to it as his 2011 upgrade. The general medical opinion is that he has felt a gradual degenerative affect of his mitral valve malfunction for many years as the valve’s ability to close tightly has gradually deteriorated. His only symptom has been being tired. Does not seem like a serious symptom to treat. We want to thank Dr. Lubow is General Doctor for noticing his heart murmur so early and minimizing damage to his heart.

He is really looking forward to having this repair to his heart completed so that he can get back to his regularly busy life. David likes to fit in as many experience as he possible can. Living with him is a little like watching someone fit together a life puzzle? He is always looks for a way to fill up any open space with another experience or friend.

David promised me some new experiences when I meet him. I just wanted to go on date and have some fun. Instead my whole life changesd. Like many who meet David they find their lives changed also by his gentle, fun and determined nature.

From David:

Life has funny way of shifting our plans and priorities.
I thought April would find me teaching a group in Kansas City and starting up a couple new classes here in Denver. Instead I find my self planning for open heart surgery with a recovery adventure that will last up to 10 weeks.

To my friends and family I know that this experience simply brings into focus that teaching meditation and intuitive development is what I am inspired to share with others. The blessing and rewards for all are cosmic.

Rochelle and I have been reminded of all our blessing in every one of you. Your interest and compassion during our challenges gives us an explosion of hope and enthusiasm.
Doc. I promised I only eat like this once per week.

Details of the Operation Today:

David arrived here at the hospital at 5:30 am, after being prepped for surgery, and meeting the big hitters on his team they gave him some happy juice and off he went into surgery at about 7:30am.

They began the incision and opening of his chest at 8:40 am. The surgery staff will keep me posted as he progresses through each step. David is healthy and this is a standard procedure so know one is expecting any thing dramatic to happen other than he will have a gnarly scare and a heart that works much better when it is all over.
If they stay with the plan of a Mitral Valve repair he should be in recovery by noonish today.

As soon as he is out of surgery I will send a quick update to all on this list.




This is the last thing that David Remembers:)!

Visiting at University Hospital:
Love to see you….. It is expected that David will be fairly out of it the balance of today and much of Thursday. I would suggest that you touch base with me if you want to visit before Saturday.

FYI-He is planning to watch the Nuggets tonight and is worried they will not have the correct cable channel here at the hospital.


The History:
I do not mind answering any questions you have about why David is having this surgery. I love hearing about your similar health related stories. They have greatly reduced our fears and worries. I wanted to share a brief overview of his condition and how we discovered it. As you can image I have repeated this story many times. I want everyone to have the same information.

As many of you know David discover about a year ago that he had a Mitral Valve in his heart that was not closing tightly. It is a common birth abnormality that often never gets worse and is never issue. His mitral valve allows blood to flow back into his left upper ventricle of his heart every time it beats. This makes his heart work harder to compensate the heart squeezes harder to move more blood. Over time this could lead to many other problems. By doing the surgery now he can avoid any damage to his heart and he will lead a normal life.

He did not have any symptoms until his heart went into fibulation March 5th. This put him in the hospital until they could get his heart into a normal rhythm again.

We meet with his cardiac surgeon Dr. Joe Cleveland who told us that his mitral valve needs this repair right away to avoid further complications.


They estimate his hospital stay to be from 4 to 10 days then he will have another 8 weeks to what they consider full recover. Pretty amazing really when you consider that they open the Chest and stop his heart and a machine will circulate his blood and breathe for him for up to 4 hours during the surgery.

You are on a distribution list. I will keep everyone up to date-
· When he is out of surgery
· When he is out of the ICU
· The Day we head for home

I will be with him during the hospital stay and full time for at least the first week at home.

Feel free to e-mail, Text or call me. My number is 303-549-6502
rochellef@yogaofthemind.com

What an INTENSE day!

It is 6:30 PM. David has been out of surgery since 12:30 today. For the information that you most want to know he is doing really good!!!. He came out of surgery with really stable vitals. He is only on two medications one for pain and one to stabilize his heart until it settles down from the surgery.

The toughest part was the breathing tube that had to stay in until he was awake enough to breath on his own. The nurses gave me the breath coaching job for an hour. David really wanted the tube out. He did really good staying relaxed and remembering to breath.

Thanks to all who provided healing and guides during the surgery. David really appreciates your efforts and knows that it contributed to his Amazingly Successful Mitral Valve Repair surgery.

For those of you that might want to know more details below is a photo that Dr. Cleveland took of the damaged mitral valve with his iphone during the surgery. COOL!!!! (You know the medical junkie in me loved this)

What you are looking at here is the problem flap in the mitral valve- The surgeon removed this flap of tissue because 3 of the tissue strings that open and close the flap were detached and this flap was allowing the flow of blood back into the upper left Ventricle. Thus the problem. Very Bad! Makes you feel fatigued and short of breath. Long term this would have caused congestive heart failure. Really Not Good!
In summary David’s Mitral Valve is a repair. He has no back flow of blood. Not a drop. Huge success!!! Thanks Dr. Cleveland and team.

David is currently watching the Nuggets Game and napping. He feels pretty good considering what his body just went through. Getting his pain meds just right so he can make friends with his new friend "Chest Pain".

David’s throat is really sore from the breathing tube so the phone is not good for him. I will update everyone on Thursday but the ICU nurses are thinking he might be sent to a regular cardiac room by Friday afternoon. Which would be awesome?

March 31st I did a short list update:
For those of you that are following along a little more closely I thought you would enjoy seeing the below picture of David just 24 hours after Heart Surgery. Amazing.

David is resting now. Not much sleep last night. They did not have the pain meds adjusted perfectly They have gotten him on oral pain meds now and the new combination is working much better. Vicodin and Oxycodoni. Physical therapy will be by later today to get him up and moving around. His high tech arterial monitors in his neck and wrist will be coming out in the next few hours as well. No pain with this just a cannot move around easily.

Phone calls and or visits will be welcome on Friday. Today he is still getting his footing.
I will do the group e-mail later today with a more detailed update and hopefully our room number after we move to the general Cardiac area of the hospital on the 10th floor.

thanks for all your support.

We Have Moved!
More stuff is being removed- One less chest drain tube, removed the surgical dressing on his chest. Kind of disappointing he will barely have any visible scar:)! I told him he will have to get it tattoo so it looks more impressive.

They have the pain meds just right. He is feeling pretty good for guy that just had his chest opened up and his heart stopped.

We all cheered David as he walked around the ICU this morning. Just like your child taking their first steps. It is scaring make these first steps to be up and under your own steam. He really enjoyed the movement. It gave him a bunch of confidence and he is looking forward to his next big outing after lunch.

David’s first steps!

Say high to his ICU Nurse Robert…. He is the first nurse that would let me take a picture for the photo album. Shy bunch except for if someone messes with their patient. Then they can be very bold. We are really enjoying the nursing staff here at University. Top Notch Group!





We are moving! Headed to the top- 10th floor room 1012- Plenty of room and a nice view. Come on by and give David some encouragement. Please let me know when you are coming by just in case he has an appt to be somewhere else we do not want to miss your visit.
University of Colorado Hospital
12605 E. 16th Ave
Main Hospital entrance to the West of Emergency Doors.
10th Floor Room 1012
Please call instead of coming by if you are not feeling well. Doctors Orders.



Call me if you want to stop by
303-549-6502, text or e-mail






Going Home Today!
We want to thank everyone for the in person visits, calls, e-mails and text messages. David has enjoyed every one of them. It is very inspiring to have contact with the outside world when you are in a hospital healing.

We are back at home as of today April 6th.
David is really looking forward to a good nights sleep. He is completely exhausted from the constant 24 hour per day monitoring of his body.



A special THANKS to our friends Dr. Jose Melendez, (Anesthesiology, Senior Medical Director, at the University of Colorado Hospital) and his wife, Chiara Del Monico who also works at the Hospital. Chiara lovingly made the Italian Wedding Soup picnic that you see in these pictures. It was such a refreashing splash of color and gourmet seasonings.
Jose is responsible for setting David up with Dr. Cleveland, who has given David the gift of many more years of life with an ideal Mitral Valve Repair.






From David:

“This has been a life changing journey with many lessons, challenges and break throughs. A hundred years ago, I would not been long for this world.

But due to the dedication, research, and courage of many people, my heart flaw is corrected; I have been given the gift of many more years of life.

One thing it has shown me is how important all the people in my life are to me. Thanks to everyone who visited, called, texted, prayed and sent healing energy. All of you are very dear to me and are helping me heal.”


Many of you have offered to help and we know it is hard to know exactly what would be helpful: So we thought we would let you know that one of the main needs in the coming weeks will be driving David around to run his accounting tasks and meetings during the day. There are probably some other tasks that he can use some help with that we have not figured out yet. If you would like offer your time during the day or night to help out let us know with a reply to this e-mail and David will give you a call to talked about what you would like to do and when you might have time to do it. Remember this all very flexible and on your schedule so it is OK if you can only help out one time and help only if it works for you.

Chriss Lemmon & Deborah Martin
They did a remote group healing during the surgery to reduce blood loss and remove the affects of aesthesia. David had no blood loss and awakened easily after the surgery.
Lourdes and David












Scott and Michael

Scott provided many hours Spiritual Human Yoga Healing.













Elizabeth and Lori

Time to Rest

Our society is overly values activity. People brag about how much they work and how little they sleep. We admire someone who is "hard-working" and have suspicion if not disdain for someone who let's us know they are "well-rested".

I tend toward work-aholism and have much of the Protestant work ethic than others do. But more and more I see the value of rest, sleep, naps, dreams, meditation, travel (inner or outer),
vacation and leaving some room for divine inspiration. Many inventions and creative thoughts have occurred during these times.

Give yourself a mental break - spend 10 minutes a day for the next week - just sitting quietly and observing your breath.

In addition to the above, which I've done consistently for 40 years, longer breaks are also necessary, So to celebrate my 52nd birthday this week - I am taking a week off to meditate, go to the mountains, and re-balance.

Swirling Waves of Success

I've kept journals since I was 9 years old. One thing I've noticed
is the better my life has been going the less entries I made in my
journal. It's the same with blogs.

I teach a class Creating and Manifesting - during which we
pick three goals and do a unique, short and powerful meditation
on them daily. Back in March 2 one of my goals were to do more psychic
house clearings. Throuugh following my intuition and my inspirations, I was interviewed
by The Denver Post about my house clearings and have done more in the last
three months, than in the previous three years. They did a great video on me
which you can see on my website http://www.yogaofthemind.com/ - my site shows
up 8 times on the first page when you google "yoga of the mind" - previously
I was lucky if it showed up on the second page.

I am so grateful and appreciative of everything and everyone who has contributed
to all this - which I call the swirling waves of success. I will be writing more
about my insights and the new spiritual information that I am receiving every day.
If what I am sharing has made your life better in any way - that makes my heart soar.
Thank you for your interest and support.

Remarkable Weight Loss

I have just completed 23 of the 26 day Dr. Simeon protocol.
working with Dr. Howton.
Here are some of my remarkable results:

1
I lost 27 lbs - I am the thinnest I have been in 6 years.

2
Most of the weight was from my abdomen and other
places where I've put on abnormal fat the last few years.
One particularly gratifying place I've lost weight is
my shrinking double chin.

3
I feel that I can breathe at least 50% more deeply.
This feels very very good.

4
My flexability has increased. I am able to cross
my legs at the knee and touch my toes with straight legs,
and sit for several minutes in a kneeling position.
These were not possible a month ago.

5
My energy level is better than ever. I am feeling
much more rested from sleep.

6
I am able to work out harder aerobically.
Before it was a challenge to get my pulse to 110.
Now I can easily get it to 125 or more.

7
I feel significatly deprogrammed from many
of my food trips. I no longer interpert every
abdominal sensatioin as a signal to eat.

8
After going from 252.8 to 225.8, I am very inspired
to continue. I have another 15-20 lbs of belly fat
that I want to get rid of. I will see how I do on
the protein phase, and the "normal" phase, and
then decide to whether to do another round.

9
A week later, I have stabilized at 226 lbs.
I am loosing the fear that the weight will come back
because it hasn't. The protein phase is not
hard to do at all. I am so grateful for this progress.

Eating Awareness

Eating Awareness

What are some of the traditional messages about eating? Perhaps you’ve heard your mother say chew your food, come to the table to eat, take smaller bites (don’t wolf your food down).

How far most of us have gotten from this good advice. We watch TV or work on the computer while eating. We eat in a hurry and don’t chew much (this includes avoiding food that requires much chewing). Some people I know were talking about the best lunch to order at a fast food restaurant to best avoid spilling food on yourself while driving around.

So try for one day to eat in an unhurried fashion. Take a three relaxing deep breaths before you start. Sit at a table. Chew each bite many times, really tasting the food. Put your fork or spoon down between bites. Let your eating environment be free from TV and computers. Pause for a minute after completing your meal to appreciate the experience.

What I found from doing the above consistently for the last few weeks, is that I am naturally making healthier food choices, I am satisfied with less food, I realize when I’ve had enough to eat, and my digestion is much better. This is an amazing payoff for a few additional minutes spent eating. Try it and let me know what you think.

Tribute to my dog Dingo

This post is personal, biographical, and indulgent - read at your own risk:

On Nov 2nd, sometime between 4 and 6pm, my 15 ½ year old Australian Sheppard Dingo had a stroke. This little dog – the poochie love of my life became partially disabled.

I met her in September of 1992; she was a “stray” puppy who bit my feet as I was changing the oil on my car in front of my parent’s home on W 12th St in Pueblo, CO. She was hungry and we began feeding her. Her “owners”, the DeHerrera family let us officially have her on 11/11/1992 – Veterans Day.

She was an artful survivor in those days, one time I saw her stick her nose in a clump of grass and come out with a grasshopper which she then ate. She had a taste for junk food, probably from the young boys, Nick and Eddie DeHerrera giving her candy and anything else from 7-11.

She also had a dislike of brooms, probably from Mrs. DeHerrera shooing her with one. One time we left her in the car with a newly purchased broom for a few minutes. She got even – tearing it up as much as she could in the time she had.

She spent her first few weeks in the front yard of my parent’s home. She spent much of her last weeks in the front yard of our home. She loved sitting in recliners and other comfortable chairs. She loved being outside.

She loved to play ball. One place we lived, a second story flat at 18th and High in Denver, had an indoor stairway that was carpeted. I would begin playing ball with her, throwing it down the stairs for her to retrieve and run up with it. After a while, she would refuse to get it. And I would go down the steps and throw it up to her at the top of the stairs. She would bunt it with her nose back down to me. So, she trained me to play catch.

Often if you were petting and scratching her – she would take your hand in her mouth and re-direct it to a preferred spot.

Regarding junk food, one time we gave her an organic corn chip and a nacho-cheese Dorito, placing both on the floor in front of her. She ate the Dorito and left the organic chip.

When she was six months old, we were living in a rented town home in Aurora at Iliff and Buckley. I was talking on the phone, she tried to get my attention but I continued my conversation. Finally she squatted over the open Yellow pages and made them a little more yellow, showing me why she needed my attention by urinating on them.

Everyone has a story about how smart their dog is – here’s mine: One time when we were moving, we got some fried rice. I ate half of my beef fried rice and Loretta decided to eat her chicken fried rice later. I said I would give the rest of my beef fried rice to Dingo when we got to our new apartment. We stopped at Walgreens at Race and Colfax and left her in the car. When we had come out, she had eaten all the remainder of the beef fried rice and left the chicken fried rice untouched. Both were in closed take out containers inside a paper sack. What a smart dog!

She was always much more interested in people than other dogs. People can pet you and give you food. What can other dogs do for you? I remember taking her to a dog park at 26th and Kearney. She showed no interest in the other dogs but great interest in the other owners, especially those eating Kentucky Fried Chicken.

She loved to ride in the car. Many times I would take her, always being careful to park in the shade. She liked to sit above the back seats in the back window when the car was parked and generally liked to be behind the driver’s seat when the car was in motion.
Onetime while at Walgreens at 2nd and Broadway, I went to pay for my purchases and could not find my wallet. I came out to the car and searched and searched. Finally Dingo moved slightly from her perch in the back window to reveal she had taken the wallet and had been laying on it the whole time.

I have many more stories which I’ll add later about this amazing friend. I’ve cried several times while writing this.

She is in transition now – perhaps for a few months – perhaps just a few days. This just makes me realize how very much I love her and value her spirit – as I anticipate missing her physical presence. She is such a noble, regal, earnest, kind, loving and amazing friend! I love you Dingo.

(This was written while on a flight to Los Angeles on November 9th, Dingo left her body on November 13th, 2007, shortly after our return to Denver).

Although I teach people how to enrich their lives, I don’t pretend to know everything that life is about. I do know one thing. We are hear to love and enjoy and relish in the lives that we both create and are given. While Dingo’s transition brings tears and her last days were challenging, I am so very grateful for the over 5600 wonderful days I spent with her. Her presence and enthusiasm are gifts that continue to enrich my life.