Finding Compassion

Good morning my dears. I hope all of you are doing well. The past few days, I have woken up feeling more like myself, than I have in months. As I have started to settle into everything.... a new town, new house, and a new business, my heart is feeling light again, instead of plagued by heaviness. I teach yoga every day or almost every day and I have to say that there is nothing in the world I would rather be doing than what I am doing right now. Pretty cool, huh? I don't think I have ever really felt this way before. I saw a sign the other day and it said, if you had all the money in the world, all the time in the world, and all the resources in the world, what would you do? My answer that I silently said to myself... I am doing it....

However, even though I have known this, there was something keeping me from fully enjoying it. I would get home from classes and sometimes cry and replay back all the things I did wrong in class or I would find myself worrying about the business. But, the past week or so, I have slowly let go of my attachment to the classes. I no longer bury my head and cry (I mean sob) after class, and think of all the things I did wrong when I get home... I have realized that there is no possible way I will be able to control what people think about the classes. Each and every person who does yoga is looking for something different. I have a certain teaching style and am learning to have the courage, strength and confidence to just let it be, and not try to change it. I talk a lot about having compassion for who we are in class and you know what? I think I am finally learning to have compassion for myself, as a very imperfect human being and teacher. All I can do, is put my heart and soul into each class, give my all... and then, let it go.

Isn't that all any of us can do? Give it our best and let go of the results? It's a lot less stressful than worrying so much and it gives us permission to enjoy. Enjoy the experience. Enjoy the journey. The only thing required: is to show up, for yourself and your life and to notice when you are happy.

So right now, I would like to acknowledge the fact, that I have put my heart and soul into this yoga studio, and I am so blessed  to go there and teach every day. I wouldn't have it any other way...
Thank you to all of those who have supported me in this and who have been there in class breathing, helping me to let go a little more each and every class. I am not really a teacher... just a co-creater of this practice and I feel honored each and every time I'm given the opportunity to guide a class.

Anyway, I just wanted to share all of that. Lately, I have just been a little depleted and once I find myself some space and time at my computer I have been tending to sit here like a bump on a log not knowing what to share. This morning, I woke up with a very different feeling, not one of depletion, but instead one of sheer and utter happiness. :)

{Happy Friday!!}

 Funky designs for sports bras from lotus eater yoga! :) They are so cute!!! 

I absolutely love this mission statement from Sarah Barrow! She is awesome to work with and I feel so blessed have her help! 

 This was taken after a very sweaty class last weekend!! Amie, from Yoga Ananda came up to help me teach! :)

Very blessed have support near and far. These flowers were sweetly given by my bff in NYC. 


Hello my dears! Happy Friday! I hope all of you had a great week. Things are starting to slowly calm down and come together with the yoga studio. Even though, everything has basically been done, I have still been working on getting some fun things going-- designing tote bags, postcards, and my friend is also making hand-dyed yoga clothes, made just for the studio, which is awesome! It is great to know where the clothes are coming from and that they are being made with lots of love and intention. Thank you, Rebekah and Sarah and to all the other people who have been so supportive from the beginning of all of this!

It has been really hard for me to gather my thoughts lately and just sit down and write. I don't know if it's because I try to give as much of myself to my students and then once I'm done teaching, I'm completely spent, or if I am just not sitting down long enough to focus. Either way, I really do hope to get back to a normal blogging schedule. :)

Yesterday, I taught my 6:30pm class with the intention or the theme of stepping out of your comfort zone. And you know what? That is exactly how I have felt lately... Not with the teaching part, but just in starting something... I don't think I have ever really put myself out there like this and I do completely feel like I am out there... on a ledge. Naked! Almost like my heart and soul are out there for everyone to see. Which is great, but at the same time it makes me want to freak out! So, I ask you to bear with me during this transition. I'm having to dig deep for lots of courage, faith and compassion for myself at this time, simply because it has been very easy for me to get in my head and get  discouraged. I think with anything different... we all have to have is faith, because you never know how things are going to go. Right now, I have to completely let go, and let God with this and trust that the decisions I have made, have been the right ones.

Today, this week, this weekend... give yourself a break. Let yourself have room to grow... even if it means stepping out of your comfort zone, and I will try to do the same!

Lots of love to you all!

Task of the day:

... to just enjoy it! To slow down, take a deep breath, and realize that everything is going to be okay.

"You are more than a series of experiences. You are the light that surrounds them.
And if you’re too busy to stop and actually look at what it’s all adding up to, then that’s what you should be busy with."

Wishing you all a lovely day. :)

 image via a ribbon at a time

Creating Space

Hi all! With lots of things going on, I feel like I am trying to keep my head above water and am finding it challenging just to find space and time to breathe. However, I did sign up today for Baron Baptiste's 40 Days to Personal Revolution. It is completely free and comes with practices, meditations, diet, basically everything I need in my life right now! Even though it has been a little hectic and a little crazy lately, I am feeling very grateful and extremely blessed. My friend Amie came in town to host a workshop with me and it was fantastic. We had the perfect amount of people in each class, which just happened to work out. It was really wonderful. :)

I am very thankful to everyone who came to the workshops and for all the support!

I hope you all have a great week!

And if you wish to do the 40 Days with me, you can sign up here: http://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1173289

You will get emails during the week, along with practices, meditations and principles to cleanse the diet.

"The greatest power we have over ourselves is our ability to change our minds about ourselves."

- Baron Baptiste

Hi all! Happy Tuesday. I hope all of you are having a great week so far. This is the first week that the yoga studio is "officially" open. I say officially because now I have a website, facebook page and a proper system set up to run a business. Woohoo! However, I have to admit that the overwhelming wonder if I have done the right thing by moving here, definitely seems to have me trapped in cement. I know it doesn't really matter now, because I'm here, but there is some part of me that wonders if I have the strength to do this. In some ways, I know I have already made the decision, but every now and then, something will pop into my head. Some doubt or fear about who I am as a person, and a facilitator of this practice. But, then something inevitably brings me back to the intention. The intention of simply sharing what I've been given through this practice. 

So today, I am going to wrap my arms around my inner self, and whisper that it's all right, because I believe, I have faith and I know that there must be really something great in this because I am scared shitless. 

Anytime, we have fear I think sometimes it us being fearful of it all. The success, the failure... everything. When the fears come up, come back to the intention and let everything else go...

Wishing all of you a wonderful day! 

Lots of love and light. 

[wow]

So, I have been slacking terribly on my blog and I have to say that I'm sorry! I was planning on posting a bit more, but time just got away from me. I have been working and working on hashing out some details for the studio and the blog has been falling by the waist side. However, this is an important outlet. One in which allows me to share and gives me a place to quiet down, listen to myself and process. In the midst of being with family, friends, sometimes it can be hard to hear ourselves. Although the winter holidays are one of my favorite times of the year, they can often go by in a flurry and when everything starts to settle it almost seems like I have to be integrated back into "real" life. When things calm down it often seems like I am left with myself and a plate of leftover cookies. But, it's nice... nice to take a deep, long breath and just be. After this long, deep breath, I got to thinking about 2013. What do I wish to give? Receive? What are my resolutions? Then, it kinda hit me. Sometimes I feel like we can get really wrapped into what we can do better. Eat better, look better, do better, work better... all of these things. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if someone came along and just told us that we are okay, exactly as we are, where we are right at this very moment. What would we do? I would argue and try to convince them that I'm not... But, what if we accepted ourselves a little more? Loved ourselves a little more and had a little bit more compassion for who we are? Hmm... would we have more fun?

Anyway, I just wanted to share that thought. I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday! Happy New Year from my heart to yours. Lots of love, lots of kindness and whole lot of blessings I'm sending your way. :)

image via The Queen of Re