Life is Not Supposed to be Easy

Life is Not Supposed to be Easy

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“If life is a bowl of cherries then what am I doing in the pits?”
There seems to be a common human delusion that if we’re “good” and do “good things” that life will respond by being “good” back. This belief creates an innate resistance to life’s challenging or uncomfortable moments. In fact, the most meaningful moments in my life, the times when I’ve learned and grown the most, have sprung from challenging, uncomfortable, and even painful times. I suspect this is true for you as well. Read on to learn how to practice struggling optimistically and gracefully.

Some Participation Required

Some Participation Required

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My favorite yoga quote is “Yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory” mostly because if the way it guides us to live life off our mats. As important as it is to study, to ponder, to cogitate, to process, to synthesize, it is 99 times more important that you, to quote Nike, “just do it.” Participation is the key to living fully. So, whatever it is that has captured your attention – ready, set, go for it!

Busy Times are Important Times to Practice

Busy Times are Important Times to Practice

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It’s September and the world around us is swinging back into action from its summer lull. As this happens, we too are shifting gears – most of us from low(er) to high(er). You would be far from alone if your reaction to the suggestion that you add a mindfulness practice to your days right now is a resounding, “No way. That is crazy. I don’t have time for that.” But I will tell you, quite insistently, that there is no better time for you to practice than when you don’t feel like you have the time to practice.

You are Perfectly OK Right Now

You are Perfectly OK Right Now

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Perhaps the most meaningful yoga classes I have ever taught were for girls in middle school. It felt like a healing ministry to share yoga’s message of “you’re OK exactly as you are right now.” I felt as though I were slipping them a protective shield to deflect the debilitating messages of “No, you’re not.” that they were just starting to notice coming from the world around them.
This is a shield every one of us could use. If we all practiced self-acceptance, every single on of our relationships would improve. The better terms we are on with ourselves, the better terms we will be on with others.

Feeling Is Good for Your Health

Feeling Is Good for Your Health

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Why is being emotional seen as a weakness? When we experience our emotions freely – without judgment or attachment – they will flow fluidly through us without impacting our health. It’s the feelings that we don’t feel, the ones we repress or “stuff,” that can cause the most havoc. These unfelt feelings can actually make us sick. All of which is to invite you to allow yourself the freedom to be emotional. Your feelings are a part of how you respond to life. While you may not choose to act on every feeling you feel, give yourself the space to feel them. Letting your feelings flow through you leaves you free to receive and to respond to each moment as it comes. Go ahead. Feel all the feels. It’s good for you!

We Have Many Right Paths to Choose From

We Have Many Right Paths to Choose From

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If you are navigating a change in life, this one’s for you! A trip to visit a beloved old home made clear to me the wealth of options for happiness that we each have in life. There is more than one path to fulfillment for each of us. I do not believe it is possible to miss out on the life that we’re meant to live. The spirit of life is just too creative and loving for that to happen.

A Practice of Homecoming

A Practice of Homecoming

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As you move through your day, be on the lookout for moments of coming home – for example, when you come downstairs in the morning, when you come in from an errand, or when you sit down to dinner after a long day of work (even if you, like so many of us, have been working from home). Pause in these moments to savor or even create a deep sense of being welcomed. Really experience your comfort. Take a deep breath and feel a warm, welcoming hug from yourself. These quiet moments of coming home – to a place, but more importantly, to yourself – can fill you with love, happiness, peace, and the confidence to head back out into the big, wide world to live the life you’ve been given to live. Welcome home.

A Glimpse of the Whole of Which We’re Part

A Glimpse of the Whole of Which We’re Part

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I saw something pretty special this week:  a small, but exquisite murmuration of a flock of birds. This sight affirmed for me that the “work” you and I do – the way we love the people around us, the way we stick to our principles, the way we try to live our values, the way we can choose to make our faith a way of life rather than a way of thinking – all matters tremendously to the world around us. I can imagine, one day, getting such a perspective that we could see the great “murmuration” of which you and I are parts – the graceful artistry of the dance of Life. Each person doing their own small part to add to the magical harmony of the whole.

The Practice of Changed Plans

The Practice of Changed Plans

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When life takes a twist or a turn, try to resist the impulse to grit your teeth, squinch your eyes, and white-knuckle life back onto its “proper” (a.k.a. planned by you) path. Instead, practice the willingness to change our plans at a moment’s notice. “We will not be upset if our plans are upset” if we are determined to stay open to what is.