So the weather goddess really took this last-day-of-summer stuff seriously on Labor Day! When the weather transitions, I feel like there are so many new possibilities. It’s a reminder that everything changes and things become new again.

At our Town Hall meeting about future possibilities for breathe books, many folks told me about their passion and love for the store and its’ programs. It was overwhelming and a little embarrassing, but at the end of the day, it was empowering. Many great ideas flowed out of the group brainstorm.

Stay tuned for new thoughts and directions, but at the same time, keeping the best of breathe books and doing it even better! Thank you all so much for your input — keep it coming!

Now we move full steam ahead with many amazing events this Fall. Meir Schneider expands on his previous standing-room only visit to breathe with a weekend workshop teaching Healing Through Self-Movement designed to strengthen and improve vision. Space is limited! Please call soon to hold your space (September 17 &18)

And very very very big…Mike Dooley (tut.com) is coming on October 2! Please sign up soon so we know what kind of space we need to hold his talk. Mike has over 44,000 fans on Facebook — make me feel like a schlump!

All this and more below, including other October highlights. Remember that Fall is a wonderful time to transition your health! Sign up for an Ayurvedic Consult with me in September or October and take $10 off of Ayurvedic Cooking class (October 9)! You’ll be amazed at how small changes can have dramatic results.

See our entire newsletter, including events here: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs009/1101497121160/archive/1107400722380.html

And here’s your Ella photo of the week:

Ella says, where did summer go?

I’ve been thinking A LOT about this lately. We sell less books; you buy less books, but maybe more ebooks or books online – which is fine! It’s just the way things are, but we don’t sell ebooks and I can’t compete with online sales, and even if we did, the margin of profit is pennies on the dollar. I’d rather let Amazon, B&N and others deal with that right now.

So I just have to do what I do best (and I’m constantly re-evaluating that!) What is it that we do best at breathe and how do we monetize that so that I can pay the rent, pay my staff and make a living for myself and be around to create more?

I’m working on the answer to these questions and would love to hear your thoughts (email me at susan@breathebooks.com or comment here).

Our comfy little shop is the fertile ground upon which so many interesting things grow. As many of you know, breathe books has presented me with several life-changing gifts over the years, including meeting my husband Larry and our new puppy Ella Shakti!

Ella Shakti Weis-Bohlen

So while I try to figure out the new economic reality and what it means to you and me, I can also just play with my puppy.

After we got her, the book by Eckhart Tolle, Guardians of Beings, kept coming into my mind. I took it home and read it the other day – tears filled my eyes. My little puppy is here with us for so many reasons – our little Guardian of Being who teaches us to constantly be in the moment. I think all she remembers of the past is how warm her mommy felt, and how safe she kept her. Her thoughts of the future are probably more of that – can I snuggle with mommy and daddy? Will they keep me warm and fed? Can I run around a lot today? She looks at us with those amazingly human eyes and just exudes love and gratitude. I try to shine those feelings right back to her.

Stay in the moment. Everything is fine right here. It will all work out as long as we keep doing the best we can…I want to do the best for my husband, my puppy, the store and the community. And, oh yeah, and me too! So I’m going to play with my puppy now.

Hi All — the following is a letter I posted on Facebook recently. I send it with an open heart to all our wonderful supporters and customers:

Dear breathe books customer,

I need your help.

Throughout the almost six years since I opened breathe books we’ve been quite successful. We attract authors and presenters from around the world, we have turned a profit every year since we opened, and we hired Jenn Northington as full-time manager late last year.  It is a good business. Classes are often full and people show a great interest in our programs, but the truth of the matter is that people are simply not buying as much as they used to.

Still we have had such wonderful success, but I am not immune to the current economic situation. It’s become increasingly difficult to keep cash flow at a level to cover operating costs. That money allows us to pay presenters to come to breathe, and to stock the great variety of books, music, gifts and other items on our shelves, drawing a diverse group of customers. Inventory is a major investment.

To address this we’re doing something that may sound counter-intuitive: we’re going to expand. I believe that I need to bring you more of what you want.  In order to adapt to this new reality, breathe books is launching an expansion program.

The expansion plans include diversification of products, the addition of new classes, and ultimately the purchase a beautiful space to hold more classes, workshops, concerts, cooking classes and more. Here is where we need your help.  In order to finance the new business plan, we are starting a community investment program, modeled after a successful program in Brooklyn where the community recently supported the creation of a new bookstore in their neighborhood.

So I’m asking you today to help breathe books thrive as a center of community and learning. You can either donate money, invest in the store and receive interest on your principal (2% – 4% – you choose your interest), or purchase gift cards that never expire but have a start date one-year from purchase. Rather than having money sit in a CD in a bank, every time you come to breathe you will actually see your money at work. This is not only an investment in breathe books, it’s an investment in our community.

Please let me know if you are interested in learning more.  I’d be happy to send you the promissory note, investor’s agreement, and a business disclosure form, per Maryland State law. And of course I’d be happy to talk to you about how we will use the money raised in order to create a deeper foundation for the bookstore and continue to offer classes, books, products and experiences that enrich us all.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter and for considering becoming a breathe books community investor!

With much love and gratitude,

Susan L. Weis

proprietress, breathe books, LLC

Lake Titicaca

Back from Peru. We arrived home Friday night – at least I think we did. Some part of me is still floating above Lake Titicaca. While we were visiting this magical lake, we met with the hotel and tour company owner Jorge Luis Delgado. Jorge is also the author of the book The Andean Awakening.

Jorge and our guide and Shaman, Amaru Li, are very old friends. Amaru asked Jorge to meet with us, so he joined our group as we sat outside in the brilliant Andean sun on the shores of Lake Titicaca. His hotel, the Taypikala Puno, is designed so that you can see the lake from practically every angle. (I was able to just roll over in bed at 5:30 in the morning and watch the sun rise over the lake. Spectacular.)

So, meeting with Jorge…he told us the most incredible stories about Lake Titicaca and it’s energetic connections to the other planetary ley lines and high vibrational centers on our planet. He also told us about supposed tunnels under the lake which connect to other portals. He spoke about our “space brothers” and their visits to the lake and the region. Jorge spoke with such clarity and integrity. He is a great Shaman and teacher and it was an honor to spend time with him.

Jorge is hosting a gathering of masters and teachers at the Taypikala Puno on February 14, 2010. I woke up the day after our talk and went down to the front desk and made my reservations for February. I don’t want to miss this.

This trip to Peru was profound. It seems like it’s taken me to another level, another state of awareness. This heightened state began in earnest in February 2007 when I went to Glastonbury, Avebury and Stonehenge to prepare for the trip I would take with a group in July of that year. Since then I’ve been on some incredible trajectory which has included visiting India for the second time, and my deep immersion into Ayurveda. I’ve traveled some of the most powerful ley lines on the planet, spent time in crop circles, and ventured into the depths of my own being. Somehow it’s all lining up in an astonishing way.

I know this is a lot to share, but I want you to know what traveling the world’s energy lines and chakra sites can do to you. Just be open to the possibilities and receive, receive, receive. I have a favorite line from the Borg…resistance in futile.

Receive.

see photos from the trip at: www.facebook.com/susan.l.weis.

Our day at Machu Picchu ended with a train ride to Ollantaytambo and a bus ride to Cusco. But on the way we had what Melissa described as a Bollywood moment –when a normal scene suddenly erupts into song and dance and just as quickly all goes back to normal again.

While on the train — and chatting with some lovely people who work in Antarctica “on the ice” — suddenly the lights came up and a man dressed as a Peruvian clown, carrying a stuffed baby llama, began dancing down the isle, tickling or maybe threatening people with the llama! After his dance we were treated to an alpaca fashion show! Two of the train attendants took turns strolling down the isle in beautiful alpaca wool clothes, to the sounds of Abba and others. It was alternatively hysterical and delightful! A totally unexpected experience.

What was even more fun was watching a parallel universe unfold as the same show (with different models but the same clothes) was unfolding at exactly the same time in the car in front of ours. It was so bizarre! Then just a quickly it was over…clothes folded and brought down the isle for sale and then back to normal, as we had not just witnessed a fashion show on the train from Aguas Calliente to Ollantaytambo.

So today, Sunday, we are spending a free day exploring Cusco before flying to Puno tomorrow morning. Then we will spend three days at the worlds highest lake, Lake Titicaca.

We have all been so taken by the stars in the Southern Hemisphere that I cannot even begin to imagine the star show we will receive at Lake Titicaca.  Everything here is so beautiful and experiences are heightened by the subtle and not so subtle energies running through this country.

More soon…(forgive typos! typing on a spnish keyboard…can{t find all the signs and symbols!)

Mother Earth

First of all I have to say that this post will be full of typos and other errors because I´m typing on a keyboard with half the letters rubbed off, and it´s in Spanish. ) If it wasn´t for the Conquistadors I´d be writing in Qatchua.) So please forgive me!
I´m sitting in our lovely hotel in Machu Piccu. We spent the day climbing among the ruins here. It was magnificent. Our group of 7 has already taken in so much of Peru and we still have a 6 days to go!
I just keep using the word ¨stunning¨reálizing that I´ve got to come up with another word to describe what we have seen, but I´m hard pressed to do so. Each day is more beautiful than the one before.
We arrived last Sunday night June 7 and it was quickly on to Cusco from Lima. When we stepped out of the airplane in Cusco the air had a stillness to it I´ve never experienced. At 12,500 feet, the altitude was up there! But it didn´t effect me in a negativeve way. Rather I think I felt a little high. I don´t know if it was the air or the beauty.
Cusco is said to be the old spiritual center of the country. It has a feel of Nepal or Tibet in the way the energy moves. Stunning. Unfortunatly, all the major Incan sites were destroyed by the Spanish who, in turn, built Catholic Churches over the ruins of the Incan Temples. At least they knew were the spiritual energy was…

But I digress…
One really funny thing…hot stone massage Incan style. Fellow travelers Ann, Melissa and I decided to try this out. Three of us in one room with three young Peruvian girls. I was face down on my table listening to the lilting sounds of Enya when suddenly my girl hopped up on my table and planted her feet on my butt and began some sort of introduction to the massage with her hands and feet alternatively walking on me and squatting over me. I hadn´t even seen her face! It was just so hysterical to me I began laughing with my face down in a hole in the table. It was one of those uncontrollable laughing fits. Melissa and Ann couldn´t see me as their faces were buried in the their holes too. I was laughing too hard to explain what was going on , but they soon found out! Finally she hopped down and I was able to see the face of the sweet young thing, Marie, who introduced herself to me by walking on my back.

This had to be the deepest massage I´ve ever had. As I didn´t know how to say ‘ not so hard,¨ I would say ¨no mas forte¨ — sounded good to me! She would just look at me and say, ¨mas forte?¨ oy….it was so funny. And actually a really good massage!

Oh now back to the trip! Pisac. Wonderful market. Bumped into a past life soul mate named Jose Luis. (I love when this happens!) and on to the amazing (and, ok, stunning) Sacred Valley. As soon as I can I´ll post photos and more comments.

But before this we had seen the ruins at Saxxywaman – yes, stunning. You see, everything here is so overwhelmingly gorgeous and moving that it´s hard to keep track of. I could have spent three days in each spot so far and still not have seen or felt enough. There is so much to take in and so much to appreciate.

I fell in love with a rock at the ruins of Olataytambo. I do believe it is the sister of another rock I love so much in Avebury. Somehow they were separated at birth and one landed in England and the other in Peru. Not so far fetched when you see these sites.

Our guide, Amaru Li, has arranged the most beautiful trip for us, down to the very last detail. The hotels are the best in the country, including a place called The Bountiful Lodge in Olataytambo. It´s run by a fantastic guy named Emillio who is half Chinese and half Peruvian and 100 percent awesome. The Lodge in on a rushing river with those enormous rocks and the Andes for a backdrop. Um…stunning.

So, tomorrow morning we will arrive back to Machu Piccu for sunrise around 6:30 a.m. I know a few hundred others will be there too, but I am so honored to be among them. When we arrived at Machu Piccu this morning  thought to myself, well, now I´ve seen everything. At 46 I have seen so much — of this world — and others.  I can´t even begin to understand how blessed I am.

More soon…adios. Buenas noche. (please forgive typos!!)

susan

I just got back from New York and Book Expo America. The show felt very different this year. It was quieter. Booksellers were all asking each other how things were going with true concern. For the most part the answer seemed to be that it felt kind of unpredictable. Some days were great. Others not so great. It seems to be a question of balance and figuring out how best to serve the public while serving ourselves as well.

At Book Expo the American Booksellers Association (the ABA) offers a day of educational programming geared toward booksellers. The classes are always well-attended and informative. We are all looking for ways to be be successful in this new economy. Looking at all the angles. Looking into the deep, dark corners. Planning for the long run. The ABA is a great support for us.

Besides bookseller and publisher angst there were plenty of high moments. For me it was practically sitting at the feet of Richard Russo and John Irving as they were being interviewed for a small group that gathered on the trade show floor. Oh that was amazing! To be so close to two of my favorite writers and to hear their candid thoughts on writing, reading and publishing.

Both of them now write screenplays almost as much as they write their novels. John Irving said he does them both at the same time. I’m not sure if that takes away from the novel — they both agreed that books are better than the movies! Russo said what movies show you, a writer needs to describe, so he always feels that challenge to “show” what he is talking about.

They both spoke about the structure of their novels. John Irving joked that they always involved a single mother, a dead child, and a town in New England. Both said they needed that drama to grab the writer. Russo said he often cringes when he gets to the point where he needs to describe some terrible scene, but it’s so key to the narrative.

It was such a revealing conversation. It’s moments like these that make me so so happy to sell books. To get the inside scoop from an author and pass it on to a reader. I love this.

ah. processing panchakarma. Ayurvedic detox and rejuvenation. I just returned from a week at the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque — Dr. Vasant Lad and Ed Danaher. Slathered in oil for days from head to toe. Treatments with ghee and herbs. No TV, no radio, no computer, no facebook! Just me, the therapists, the oil, Muktananda and Mararishi Mahesh Yogi (books, not in person – but maybe spiritually present!) I’m writing in these weird, incomplete sentences because I can’t really form the thoughts just yet. All I know is that this was my third panchakarma in a year and a half, and the effects build up one upon the other and it’s deeply — and simply — profound.

more to come.

So this is my fifth holiday season in business. I can’t – and can – believe it! I can’t believe it because it all seems to have gone by so fast. A real testament to the fact that time is accelerating. And I can believe it because I have learned so much. I feel like I have received a lifetime of information on the past five years. 

When I opened breathe books in October 2004, I was a girl (well, I was 41 years old!) who had faced her own death (at age 13), came back (also at age 13! only gone for probably 10 minutes), stopped eating meat at 16, lived almost a decade overseas, began meditating and practicing yoga and studied Buddhism. I thought I knew a lot. I had no idea how much more there was (and is) to learn. 

I’m simply astounding at how much the Universe has opened up to me. breathe books has allowed me to explore and expand in ways I didn’t know were possible. People often send me emails and letters about how breathe books as changed their life in some way. If you only knew how it’s changed me.

I almost feel as if I have nothing to do with breathe books. It was an entity waiting for someone to come along and direct it. I’m so lucky it allowed me to take stewardship for a while. I remember hearing Dr. David Simon in a lecture speak about how nothing really belongs to us – how people say “my wife, my house, my dog” etc. He told us we are just taking care of these things for a while. I thank my house every evening when I come home for allowing me to live here. And I thank breathe books every morning for allowing me to be there. And I thank you for supporting the store and allowing it to continue.

I am a different person because of breathe books. Perhaps I am the person I was meant to be. I believe I had to wait until my forties to be given this gift. I now have countless gifts. A new body. New thoughts. New friends. New relationships. New visions. So much love. 

So these are the gifts of the season. I hope you feel as lucky as I do. My gratitude to you all and the Universe is infinite. You are allowing me to live this amazing life. I’m so happy to share it with you. The essence of non-duality is highlighted to me everyday as I realize more and more how there is no separation between us. We all benefit from the love and happiness we offer to each other. And the love and happiness we give to ourselves.

Please feel love. Feel happy. Share it. That’s the gift.

happy holidays,

susan