New Autumn Classes

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When September hits, it's always a shuffle. Have you been staying ahead of your grind? It's been a bit of a transition for me, but together let's mindfully cruise into October awake and breathing.  

I am happy to announce some new opportunities to practice with me publicly this fall:

Sundays 6pm Vinyasa at Coolidge Corner Yoga

Mondays 6:15pm Prenatal at Radiant Yoga Boston  

Thursdays 2:00pm Mommy & Baby Yoga at Radiant Yoga Boston

Thursdays 5:45pm Fundamentals of Alingnment at JP Centre Yoga (moved from Weds 6pm)

 

Staycation

Summah in the hahbah

Summah in the hahbah

When you love where you live, why leave? This week I played tourist in my forever home of New England, and I can't begin to tell you all I ate, slept, or how many hours I spent butt-in-sand. I've read 2 books and hope to make it 3 tomorrow. I've tried some new studios and even scratched a few items off the to do list. I feel as though I crammed an entire summer into this vaca week! Yoga is always reminding us to be present, and I love summer so much that I make it a priority to enjoy it. It's drifting away slowly. Please remember to stop and get your feet wet, enjoy a breeze or soak up a gulp of vitamin D. A few deep breaths of the warm, salty, humid air will be a welcome memory come January. 

Streaks

You know when you get in a streak? Eating healthy, meditating, going to bed on time, practicing or exercising regularly, limiting stimulants, putting the screens away a couple hours before bed, or even just flossing? 

Then you one day, for no reason or for a good reason, you stop and it's all over. Never again. You failed and it was a good idea but oh well. Let's just get unhealthy and depressed and look at glowing objects designed to sell us stuff. 

I love the idea of being consistent and following through with discipline. But I'm on vacation. I drink a beer because someone else is having one, I  eat a danish, I sit on the beach for hours. And it's awesome.

One reason I think we may struggle so much with discipline is that our expectations are not realistic and we get down on ourselves after perceiving that we have, "failed." If we don't give ourselves room to stop, sip, sample, or sleep, we start to feel like we are missing out because our culture is SATURATED with things like cheese and cupcakes and funny late night talk shows. 

Do your best and start small. When others try to pull you from your resolve, don't give in. Or, give in, but don't the next time. Set simple goals for yourself. If you do it a few days in a row, be like my friend Susie and give yourself a hi-five. If you fall off, say "oh well" and get yo ass right back on. Streaks are great, but it's the effort over time that builds consistency, discipline, healthy patterns, and ultimately the real growth. I love a good streak because it's a sign that I am getting better. These are the building blocks for our palace of bliss! Build on.

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Teach peace

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So every day, you do something peaceful. You hear the trauma and you feel the intensity and you turn your heart towards compassion. Teach peace, even if it means teaching yourself to make eye contact with a homeless person, teaching yourself to acknowledge the small efforts of your loved ones, or being brave enough to speak out to others and advocate for compassion. We are all one human race. To get better as a whole we all must strive to be better, to ALWAYS be kind, to realize it starts with us and our families. Give your immediate world and your community your love, assistance, and effort. It's work. Start now or keep it going. Each tragedy that comes feels like a new numb layer of fear and powerlessness to try and blind us. But I won't stop working. Teach peace. Teach peace. Teach peace.

Memories

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"Did you once teach at Work Out World in Medford?" She asked me this, though she already knew the answer. This is one of my favorite, and rarest, questions to get, as this was my very first yoga job 8 years ago. "I came to class at 6:30 this morning because I thought I recognized your name.... You are the reason I gave yoga a second chance all those years ago, and now I practice all the time! I couldn't believe you were subbing, and my boyfriend couldn't believe I left the house so early!"

When I took the job at WOW in 2008, I had just turned down a PA job at WGBH after my first yoga training. I had decided to leave the life of documentary production and go to teaching yoga and meditation. Nowadays, lots more people are taking that jump. I don't regret it, but I am glad I did it before the market is as saturated as it is now. 

Thank you- Meghan- for coming out this morning and making me feel special. I am so glad you have continued your practice!  I will always remember WOW Medford, its students, and even its filthy floors, with love.

Yoga in the Rockies

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If I told you, you wouldn't believe it! I feel so grateful for this place- a true touchstone for modern yogis to connect to some deep roots. There was much practice, and teaching, today.  Teaching highlights include a private prenatal with my sangha sis, a 2 hr gentle yoga and meditation class, and wrapping the day with a sleepy bedtime restorative. Have you danced around a fire with fifty other happy yogis? Maybe you'd like it. I am just tickled that students from Boston (and Buffalo and Maine!) came out with me to experience it themselves. More soon!

Converse

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Persistence! Today I got my badge! Sometimes it's luck that gets you in, other times connection. Other times it's straight up persistence over time, sprinkled with gentle reminder emails. I definitely wrote the manager of the Group Ex at Converse probably 20x over the last 5 months. He assured me it would happen, but corporate hoops really are time consuming! We jumped them, though! So amped to get started and see what we can do with yoga at Converse. Yoga pix in chucks imminent.