GRATITUDES + BREAKTHROUGHS // JANUARY 17, 2017

Gratitudes

Happiest of birthdays to my baby sister Kensey!

Yoga continues to provide me with a safe space to explore, learn and heal. This weekend I signed up for an Arm Balance + Inversion Clinic at Stafford House of  Yoga. I dragged along my friend Sally who also completed teacher training. It was so fun being able to enjoy an open class with questions and guidance for flying. For those who aren’t familiar with yoga, flying would be considered any balancing on your forearms or hands. There are so many medical benefits to inversions, but for the time being the biggest benefit I felt was a gaining a different point of view and the feeling of new potential.

On Sunday night I met up with my yoga teacher tribe and we officially celebrated our accomplishment. The weekend of our graduation was jam-packed with yoga classes, training and practicing that even after our final “namaste” and champagne pop most of us had to run home to prep for the new week starting. This time though we were able to sit and marinate on our accomplishment. We shared our favorite stories, poses, activities and caught each other up on our progress. Some are already teaching regular classes, others are co-teaching, another is working at the studio and a few like myself are working on steadying their personal practice before gaining the confidence to share and teach with others.

Earlier in the week when it was warm, I loaded up the pups to a friend for a long walk on the farm. We envisioned a peaceful walk followed by a cup of coffee on the porch, what we got was a disaster brought to you by my animals 100%. Mosby – bless is heart – is a big huge ball of endless energy and he also really loves the taste of poop. So walking him on trail where horses run regularly lead to a midday feast for him. He gobbled and munched so much horse poop I eventually gave up trying to discipline him or stop him, I mean, who am I to judge his personal tastes? Ava, my dear little side kick, she also fancied the horse feces and while she enjoyed a bite or two also loved rubbing her neck in it for a brand new scent. Yelling at her also got tiring so I let it go. Little Ollie who isn’t familiar with farm life was having a great time on his field trip when he started having digestive issues, to the point it scared me so we headed back early for the cup of coffee. I felt exhausted and embarrassed by their behavior. Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, Mosby found what I can only assume was a deer spine – bright white, picked clean and intact. He rolled on it like a personalized back scratcher and picked it up in his mouth and would run with it. At that point I cancelled coffee, loaded the pups up in the car and told them they were all grounded. I’m sure you’re asking why I’m grateful for this story? I’m grateful because it’s real life, it’s messy, sometimes gross, but totally entertaining. Besides, I’m a pushover and they were only grounded until the next day when we went for another long walk.

I don’t watch a lot of tv, or get caught up in the latest seasons of things. Sometimes I’ll turn on Netflix just to have noise throughout the day besides hearing the heater cut on and off every hour. There are some days where I don’t even turn it on, instead I pass the time by keeping busy; cleaning, organizing, business tasks, laundry, naps, baths, yoga, the endless scroll etc. I wanted to start reading again and incorporate that into my daily life. I struggle between loving my iPad with my iBook app, so many books at my fingertips without the weight of the books. But then, after a long day of editing and social media scheduling I long to feel the paper between my fingertips, smell the ink on the pages and use a lamp for light instead of the bright white illuminated screen. That’s a topic of another day though. I have a few paperback yoga + business books that I’ve been flipping through, however I decided to download and read How to Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee again. I got super excited when her new book was released two years ago and never read it so now I’m catching up.

I was debating between a true red like “Big Apple Red” or a black like”Can Never Have Too Mani Friends,” black one for this week. I think it’s because it’s so cold, I feel like I can’t get warm at all unless I’m 100% tucked into bed or sweating on the mat. If you read this blog and remember (fist pound to you) I bought this color back in July to take with me to Italy. I was scared of black but ended up really loving it. It felt feminine and chic even in the midst of summer. I like how it’s deep and glossy, so much so that I don’t need a top coat, but I love the added shine. If you’re hesitant to go full black, try something like “My Gondola Or Yours?” It’s also a black but not as deep and dark, with a touch of shimmer. It feels less intimidating.

Breakthroughs

This one is physical more than mental or emotional. During teacher training I kept feeling immense pain in my shoulders with the rigorous workouts and training, plus the fact that on weekends I tote around 10-15 pounds of camera gear on each shoulder for 8-10 hours. I kept thinking that I must not be in good enough shape if I felt that bad, so I tried to take it easy and push when I could to build the strength. More recently I’ve fallen into the Power Flow series by Baron Baptiste, but what I didn’t learn was proper mechanics and alignment for chaturanga (high to low push-up). The lack of proper execution was creating the pain that I was trying to ignore. While I should be disappointed in myself, I’m not. I’m celebrating a new breakthrough and growth. That’s why I like yoga, I like that I’m constantly learning and growing on my own time. Maybe I wasn’t receptive to the lesson before – hence the pushing through – maybe right now in my off season is when I’m suppose to practice this self care that I wanted to bring into 2017. The universe allows things to come into your life at the right time for the right reasons. Right now, you’ll find me working on my high to low, up dog to down dog.

I wonder what else I’ll learn on the mat this year.

As always thanks for stopping by, xoxo.