Thank you (and a little gift)!!

As my "birthday month" comes to a close I wanted to take a moment to say Thank You to everyone, students and teachers alike, past and present, in our Forever Yoga community. While running any kind of business is never an easy thing, as I look back over the last nearly 7 years I realize how fortunate I am to do what I do. When I moved to NH 8 years ago this month, I had the deepest desire to share with others what my teachers had given to me. I was pulled to offer up the tools I had been given because they had been so life changing and I knew that my experience was not unique. I knew that this practice was such a gift and I *so* wanted to give others the opportunity to experience that transformation. 

What I didn't realize was how much *I* would be changed by doing so. How I would also grow, change and benefit from doing this work as a teacher and then as a business owner. I cannot begin to put into words what all of You have taught Me. About yoga, about life and so much more. 

Over the years you've also given me the chance to continue to hone my skills as a teacher. To experience and practice things that I might not have gotten the opportunity to do otherwise. I've then done my best to bring back what I've learned to you, so that you can continue to grow and learn. And so the cycle continues...

There have been sacrifices along the way of course. Priorities had to be set. Choices had to be made. And one of the choices I had to continue to make was to delay continuing my formal yoga teaching education. There are only so many hours in a day, so much energy (and let's face it, so much money) to go around. But I'm happy to tell you that's about to change.

I'll be sharing more in the coming months, but I recently made the commitment to get my "masters degree" in teaching yoga. It's been a long time coming. I'm both nervous and excited for what's in front of me. But most of all I'm grateful to each and every one of you, whether you've taken one class or one hundred, whether you've subbed one class or taught one hundred, for making it possible for me to continue to hone my skills, so our community can continue to move forward on our path together.

As a small gift of appreciation I want to give you something that I have found so beneficial in my practice and my life. Now through March 31st, 2019 you can download from the website the mantra recording "Om Gum Ganapatayei Namaha" for FREE with the code THANKYOU19. Play it in your office, chant with it in the car, leave it on in the background while you do the dishes, fall asleep to it if you like. This mantra has meant so much to me. May it bless you with a clear path to whatever is calling to your heart the most.

And thank you for everything. I look forward to continuing this journey with all of you!

Get your download here!

The definition of insanity...

They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result. As far as I can tell, by that measure that means most of us are bat sh*t crazy! LOL! In all seriousness, I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Many of us have things we’d like to change in our lives. I know I do! But how many of us actually take positive steps forward to create those changes without getting overwhelmed by the seeming enormity of the task or just don’t even bother getting started in the first place?

If we want to loose weight we suddenly think we’re going to start on a specific date and completely change our diet or start an entirely new exercise program. And then by the second week or so we’re off the wagon and wondering where the days have gone. We end up feeling like change is impossible and give up.

If we want to change something in a relationship we sit down and have that Come to Jesus talk with the other person, lay out everything that’s wrong, agree to change and then realize a week or two later that we’ve fallen back into the same habits with that person again. We feel like change is impossible and give up, only to be unhappy and perhaps have another emotional explosion come again in the future.

If we just don’t feel great maybe we decide to start a meditation practice because we heard that would be good for us. So we sit down and try to do 20 minutes the first time out, end up looking at the timer approximately 3 billion times in the first 5 minutes and then think we just can’t do meditation and give up on ourselves.

Any of this sound familiar?

Yeah. Me too. But if the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result, but then we try and make some change and it “doesn’t work”, what is there to do?

We live in world where we’ve been conditioned to think we can just “fix it” right now. We can take a pill and everything will be all better. We want instant results. We want instant change.

But when was the last time that actually happened? Even if you have something you need to take an antibiotic for, it takes several days for that antibiotic to work! You aren’t cured instantly.

When you take that antibiotic you are doing one small thing, very consistently for a short period of time and then you measure the results. Maybe you take that pill once or twice a day. That probably takes you about 30 seconds. You do that for five days and then you measure the results. If all is well, great! If not, you go back to the doctor.

What if we applied this idea to the big changes we want to make in our lives? What if instead of changing our whole diet we picked something small like eating an extra serving of vegetables at dinner each night for a week and then noticed the change that created? What if instead of trying to change our whole relationship overnight we just chose to speak to them kindly when they forgot to take the trash out again instead of yelling about it and then ask that person how they felt at the end of the week? What if instead of trying to do 20 minutes of meditation every day we started with 1 minute 4 days this week and then wrote down how we felt after each session to see if there was improvement?

It takes time to see change. We can start without doing everything at once. And if we check in with ourselves consistently, we can see that these small acts start to pile up. It takes patience.

This month I want to encourage you to make a small change that will help you see that small changes can add up. I’m bringing back our annual gratitude challenge but in a shorter easier to manage format.

Starting today - grab a journal or a notebook and write down three things you’re grateful for each day. Do so every day through November 26th (that’s 21 days, which some studies show is what it takes to start a new habit). Show it to me by December 1st and you’ll get a little prize (you can leave it at the studio with your teacher if you won’t be able to see me during that time). This may seem like a small practice, but it can really make a big change in the way you see the world.

I look forward to hearing about what you’re grateful for in the coming weeks!

Working on overwhelm...

I had a student tell me the other day that what I have to share in class is often exactly what she seems to need to hear in the moment. As a teacher and student of yoga I have often had this same experience with my teachers. It's amazing what the universe can provide sometimes. 

But here's a little secret... 

What I talk about in classes is often what I need to hear for myself in a given moment. 

Inspiration comes from life and yoga is not separate from that after all. As I often say (and heard from my teachers), our mat is a laboratory for our lives. What happens there is not different or separate from what happens "out there". 

What I see in myself and others right now is overwhelm. You're done. You're spent. You've got not a whole lot left in the tank. You've given all you can and there's just not much left to give at home, at work, with your friends or family, or even to yourself.

And then you turn on the evening news and there's far more to be overwhelmed by. Some of it is very disturbing.    

Our modern lives are filled with TOO MUCH. TOO MUCH - Food, sugar, appointments, media, clutter, bills, stress, relationship woes, fear, sickness, responsibilities ... I could go on. It's one hell of a downward spiral. 

How to break that cycle of overwhelm then? How to dig out of a hole that seems so steep we can barely see the light at the end of the tunnel?

One small shift. You don't need to add to your TO DO list. You don't need to sign up for some big program or throw away everything in your refrigerator or your garage and start over. You just need to make One Small Shift. If you can do that you start the trend upward. You start to put one foot in front of the other and even if the steps are tiny, you are moving FORWARD instead of backward.

My shift this week was reaching out to have a long talk with a dear teacher and being reminded of an old friend. Gratitude. 

It's something that's been bouncing around in my thoughts since Iris shared the quote above with her class earlier this month, but I had pushed it to the side instead of really sitting with it because of all the TOO MUCH in my own life. That last line really hit me. "Remember what you have now was once among the things you only hoped for." Remember when you wanted that house? Or that job? Or that relationship? How did you feel then?

So now my little notebook is next to my bed and each night I'm writing down one thing I'm grateful for in relation to something in my life I'm finding overwhelming right now. It's a small thing. But I'm already noticing the difference.

Maybe gratitude isn't your thing. Maybe it's starting your day with three deep breaths instead of reading your email. Maybe it's making one snack in your day a little healthier. Maybe it's locking yourself in a bathroom stall for five minutes at work so no one can talk to you. Maybe it's answering the phone on the second or third ring instead of the first when that difficult relative calls you for the fifth time today.

Find one small thing. Take one small step.

We've got this. It can get better.

Wrapping up our 40 day Gratitude Practice

Watch this video to hear about the end of our 40 day Gratitude Challenge and watch me pick the winners!

2015 Gratitude Challenge!

2015 Gratitude Challenge!

It's that time of year again! Time for our annual Gratitude Challenge.

We do this every year at this time for so many reasons. Here are just a few:

1. Cultivating Gratitude this time a year is a great way to help us navigate the busy holiday season. A time when there can be great joy as we are surrounded by family and friends while we celebrate, and yet can have great challenges as we navigate those relationships and often times miss those that can't be with us.
2. Cultivating Gratitude is being proven by science as another way to increase your health and well being. Grateful people are shown to have more energy, be generally happier over longer periods of time and take care of themselves better. You can read more of these benefits here.
3. The end of another year is a great time to check in with ourselves and see where we are in our lives and on our path. The Cultivation of Gratitude is a great way to take a little time out of your day to see what your day was like, what your mindset is like and how it might be changing.

Why 40 days?

Many of you have had the opportunity to join some of these 40 day practices before, but if you haven't, 40 days is a key number for a practice as outlined in many of the great spiritual traditions. You may remember the story of Jesus wandering the desert for 40 days. In the yoga traditions, 40 days is the recommended amount of time for a spiritual discipline. This video also outlines how the energy of our practice is deeply imprinted on the physical body over this period of time.

How this Challenge will Work

Find a lovely journal.

Starting November 22, write down the date and 10 things you were grateful for that day, before you go to bed. I find this timing works best for me, but if you prefer to do it when you wake or mid day, that's fine.

Continue this EVERY DAY through December 31st.

In January, bring in your journal for one of our teachers to just briefly check through to make sure that you did it every day. We won't read each item as we know these things might be quite personal. We just want to see that you did the practice. Deadline to submit your journal is JANUARY 10, 2016.

By showing us your journal you will be entered to win one of these fabulous prizes!

Third Prize - A one hour Private Yoga Session with Jessica, a $50 in value!

Jessica

Second Prize - A Manduka Yoga mat of your choice from our current stock, up to $80 in value!

mat strap 2

Grand Prize - A FREE Monthly Membership for the month of February 2016! $100 value!!

So get your journals ready for what is sure to be a transformative experience! Let us know if you have any questions!