2011 It is time to say goodbye.

No school curriculum has even gotten close to the lessons I have learned in 2011.

Traveling.
Fear.
Other peoples fears.
Emotions.
Insane stress.
Love.
Blessings.
Preparedness.
Loss.
Release.
Creativity.
Skills.
Giant projects.
Letting go.

Letting go of expectations has been a great lesson. Therefore I choose to not start a new year off with what we call "New Years Resolutions". Why? Simply because it is a set up to expect myself to do something. Just like at Christmas time, children now a days may not even understand the true meaning of Christmas..their parents are out on Thanksgiving night standing in long lines in the cold to still pay too much money on cheaply made toys. Do not get me wrong I too have bought my daughter a few of these cheaply made toys. But very very few...no video games either. My point.. we have created so many expectations in our lives it would make an alien look at us like we are freaking nuts! We have choices. If you are really into setting up a resolution for yourself ..make one and only one..one big goal. Make it your focus for the year and I bet you get to that goal.

Also take the time to think about the last year of your life. What did you do that you loved? What did you accomplish? there must be something..take this moment to hug yourself for all that you have done in 2011. Take the time to just appreciate who you are...what you have done...even if you did not do one thing on your last years new years resolutions list..you still did enough in life to keep your life going day by day.

2012 brings a lot of expectations..a lot of theories are ahead of us..but truly no one knows what will happen. All we know is that we will and can deal with what 2012 brings our way..one step at a time. Be light on yourself and keep going..do what you love..be love..spread love.

Happy 2012.

Sayonara 2011. Thank you for all you taught me. The strength you have given me is unexplainable.

Slivered Moon..Cold Brisk Night

New Obsession

Okay maybe not an obsession..but here I am back on Blogger. I will be shutting down my Mandalalove website at the beginning of 2012. I started I Change You Change after about a year of being in Japan..I moved everything to Mandala love and now I am back on blogger and happy about it. Enjoy my past posts..enjoy my in the now stories.

Windows around the world

Things are Changing

Things are changing...
2010 has brought so much my way already..
For the last year I have had 3 blogs ..and truly it has been alot of work...
So I have brought Healthy Japan Life recipe blog and Heather Dettmann Minowa art blog and soon this blog...Is now all in one place.. my new website link is
http://mandalalove.weebly.com/
please take note..this website has so much to offer.
have an amazing year
heather minowa

LOVE

confusion

illusions

vibration

feel

I AM

destruction

celebration

emotions

world

YOU ARE

knowing

intentions

shine

It is the deep winter..2~4~2010
in Japan.

Mountain here we come!

Just got back from some need R&R with the husband...mountain bliss...hot springs..snowy fun! and yummy veggie japanese food!
At times I find myself struggling with where I feel at home...Japan or America..
As I layed in the hot spring taking in the cold fresh air and soaking my body in the hot water...I quickly realized that "home" is my body...you know as people say home is where the heart is....I was thinking about this phrase and quickly realized that home is my body...cuz no matter where I am I should feel at home...my heart is in my body so why do I have to pick a place on the globe to call home?



Whenever I go into the mountains it almost always opens me up to understanding a little bit more about me..I love being in nature..so oceans..mountains..forests..what have you..they always bring strong realizations my way...

January 1st 2010

It most certainly feels interesting to be writing the year 2010!
As a child I remember thinking ...WOW 2010 is so future..we are all
going to be floating around in our little spaceships! lol..well not quite!

The first day of 2010 was chill..walking in the park and visiting nature..a great way to start the new year...

2009 has come to an end...

Time to clean up! and let go! 2009 is over...from season to season I will briefly review the last year of my life...




Winter 2009 ...seems so far away now..tho the year also seemed to fly by...by the time January/February 2009 came around my daughter had mastered the art of walking...she fell in love with the concept of stairs..she began to show love and my 13yr old cat(at the time) helped my daughter show love, she adored him so much! everything was a huge discovery. In January the sun comes around for me again and it is my birthday..I turned 36yrs old in 2009..I always enjoyed having my birthday fall a week after New Years...It's like we have all these holidays and parties in December and then it all ends and everyone faces the cold days ahead till the flowers start blooming..but wait it's my birthday so let's keep the celebration alive in January...Winter no matter what year it is in Japan its time for visits to the onsens(hot springs) for some serious relaxation...after my birthday and some onsening the reality of saving money set in for our big honeymoon to the Maldives...at the end of March we flew off to the Maldives for 8 days...




And paradise it was...seriously the most amazing and the most expensive (lol) place I have every been to in my life...we will go back again one day...we both fell in love again...

Spring 2009



The days are getting warmer and lighter and lighter for longer and longer...spring has arrived and my baby girl is growing and talking more and more each day...
After returning from the Maldives alot of new things opened up for me...I helped open a new school for the company I was working for..it was a challenge I was not expecting...I went to an amazing womens workshop with Shivani in the springtime, it was an amazing experience and it helped me believe that Japan does have the spiritual life I am so deeply in love with..that is just being..being a woman..being in love with the self..spreading the love to all and living life the way I dream of living my life..thank you Shivani...http://www.livingshizen.com/
Soon I started a new project called mint...yet another unexpected challenge yet a beautiful learning experience ...

Summer 2009





Ahhh the summer of fresh veggies...blowing bubbles in the yard with my Nina..working hard on mint and at my english teaching job...constantly in the yard with dirt..veggies...herbs..veggie bbq parties..a glass of chilled pino...and raw fruit pies! so much fun and so much YUM! love love love...

Fall 2009



Mandala work...I started an online mandala class with Rajita Sivananda(Judith Cornell)http://www.mandala-universe.com/welcome.html
amazing class..has helped me make alot of decisions for the new year...


The colors are so vibrant! fall is my most favorite time of the year!

I went to America in the fall..to see my grandmother..my father and aunt and uncle..I even had some time to see some of my amazing friends..what a total blessing!

I was also lucky enough to get to see an Andy Warhol exhibit in Milwaukee! loved it!


Fall was so busy and so awesome in so many ways...It seemed that the fall brought alot of truth my way...I learned so much! I also met another amazing woman in Japan...Deanne! from Hooplovers..http://www.hooplovers.com/
This is when I fell in love with hula hooping!
A week later I went to the midwest in America to see family and friends...I love getting out of Japan! lol! I really have a love/strongly dislike relationship with Japan and in order to keep my head straight I must leave Japan a few times a year... This time when I left for about a week and alot really opened up for me..I was seeing everything from a distance and it all looked very very different...
When I came back to Japan I let go of what seems like many things..mint for one..a beautiful project yet was not the right one for me in this lifetime..a wonderful learning experience..thank you to all involved with the project..I had to let go of friendships..and a job that was just not working for me...it was simply time to move on...so thankful for all of it because it really taught me alot about who I am and what I am capable of doing..

And back to Winter 2009..a full circle..


My amazing daughter turned 2yrs old!

The last day of 2009 it finally snowed..little tiny snowballs

And here we are with our 2nd full moon in December known as the blue moon

2009 and all that came into my life and left my life...what a true lesson..a true blissful blessing!
I am so very excited to start all my new projects and accomplish my dreams in 2010!
New books to start reading..New job to start teaching and so much more..thank you so much for each and everyone of you..you all inspire me in someway..much love respect..peace ..unity

Once in a Blue MOON

As the saying goes only once in a blue moon...
It is not too often that 2 full moons happen within
1 month..but this December 2009 we are having 2 full moons and the 2nd moon
the "blue moon" happens to fall exactly on New Years Eve...which is not such a common happening..
Not exactly sure what I will do this New Years...so undecided...
I am just going to go with the flow...
Whatever I do I will be bringing 2010 in with a new state of mind...
And many goals...
I am currently addicted to hula hooping so one of my biggest goals is to become
very very good at mastering my hoop!
so much more to come..so I ask you to come back to my blog ..visit me..
love me.. inspire me and leave comments.. dont be shy
heart heart love love

Dance Meditation Tokyo Japan December 2009

Beautiful Alter above...this so reminds me of my days setting up at events..
also above a view of part of the city from the yoga studio

Dance Meditation...14:50 Reception Open
15:00～15:30　Opening Ceremony & smudging by Sudha Sun Unimondy
15:30～16:30　Session A by DJ Hideyo Blackmoon (New Age Down Tempo)
16:30～17:00　Rest/Sharing
17:00～18:00　Session B by DJ marbo Tokyo Balearic (Balearic)
18:00～18:30　Rest/Sharing
18:30～19:30　Session C by DJ Hideyo Blackmoon (Techno, Minimal)
19:30～20:45　Rest/Sharing, Closing ceremony by Bonze Hirosuke
21:00 Close

Venue~ http://www.nirmalyoga.com/
Promoters~ http://naturalhighproduction.com/

This event was truly pure bliss..
The day was broken into 3 different sessions so people had the choice of going or staying..I chose to stay for all 3 sessions which was a blissful choice!
By the time session C came around the energy in the room was so amazing and thick...I truly have a hard time putting this day into words..I could barely talk when it ended..I wanted to say so much to so many but I was too blissed out to say a word ...which is fine by me cuz the look on my face probably said it all..

I will say that the djs and all the people involved with making this event happen are beautiful souls. I was lost in translation at times but dance and meditation need no words so I felt I understood all that was happening around me energetically.

I will for sure continue going to these events when they happen..
Going to dance in a yoga space where there is no smoking..no chatting..no drinking and no drug use is the best! pure L-O-V-E!!!
much love
h.star

Transition 2009 into 2010

It is truly hard to believe that it is almost 2010..I remember the whole Y2K in 2000..standing in front of some speakers in Minneapolis after spending the entire day setting up art at the event...standing there wondering is the world going to go crazy or change drastically tonight?? the answer was no...or maybe alot has changed but there was no Y2K...

Now... 2009... life is much different then the state of mind I was in that night when the clock struck midnight going from 1999 into 2000...I have to say those times were mega fun! I am thankful for where my life is now in Japan...

It is only December but I can already feel the changes coming into my life as we move into 2010...

2010 brings many new changes to my I Change U Change blog so...bookmark me

I look back into when I started this blog about change in September 2008...so much has changed since 2008!

I will include recipes in my blog ...mostly raw foods...something I am taking a very strong interest in lately..I would have to say my diet is current about 40% raw..which is not enough! I hope to be at about 70% raw in the year 2010. Posting raw recipes will inspire me to eat more of a raw diet..
As for the other changes on my blog...well....you will see

Have a beautiful transition into the new year my friends
PLUR
h.star