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In my own journey and in working with hundreds of people of all ages looking to change their bodies (and their relationship with it), these are the things that I see make the difference time and time again.
They aren’t sexy or earth shattering but they work.
These simple (but powerful) keys 🔑 🔑 🔑 make the difference in sticking with something until it becomes a habit.
Read moreWhat's the famous John Steinbeck quote about the best laid plans of mice and men? If you're like me, you mean well. You have every good intention of eating better, working out more, stressing less, spending less, sleeping more and generally being kinder and happier.
And then. . .
Are you sick and tired of feeling broken? Ready to live without the pain and frustration of chronic injury and/or self-defeating beliefs (I suck at this. There’s no way I can do this. Etc. . .)? Want to find the strength and confidence to go after something that feels out of reach?
This one simple question will help get you there. . .
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Each day we make decisions and take actions, small and big, that either lead us closer to the person we want to be and the life we want to create or further from it. Intent is our internal road map, guiding us forward toward our goals. Without intent, we're walking SOMEWHERE, yet without direction.
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Whether it's rolling out a yoga mat for the first time, creating your first piece of art, traveling somewhere new or learning a new skill; there is something magical and terrifying about trying something for the first time.
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In the busyness of life, it’s easy to go into autopilot. Feelings get shut down and pushed aside in order to get through yet they show up in other ways: a stiff back and shoulders, jaw and neck tension, increased blood pressure, poor sleep or digestion and so on.
Without taking the time to pause, observe and release these tensions, they build, slowly draining our energy and vitality til the day we no longer recognize (or like) who we’ve become.
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We feel great after class and promise to get there more often. . . then life happens. We get busy. Schedules change. We get injured. Suddenly we can't do what we did before and we have a choice to make - do we give up or do we go deeper? And what exactly does it mean to go deeper?
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It sounds too simple, too new age, but ask yourself, if your goal was to truly love your body the way you love your child, best friend or partner, what behaviors would you need to change?
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The first time I met Ana Forrest (creatrix of Forrest Yoga) was at an event for her book, Fierce Medicine, where she spoke and signed copies of the book. I nervously waited in line to meet the woman whose teachings had been so powerful in my life. I walked up to the table she was sitting at and stumbled right into it, knocking it in to her. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" I squeaked. Then I knocked her cup over. "Sorry again." I was dying of embarrassment. She was so poised and calm and I was a hot mess. We chatted while she signed my book then she handed it back and I walked away. . .
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Photo credit: Steve Adams
This simple change is a radical act. It changes the whole paradigm of working out from a task necessary for our own or others’ approval to a self-care ritual that will make coming back to your mat something that you want to do, rather than something you “should do.”
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My body was trying to do what my mind couldn’t – get me to slow down long enough to be present, to absorb everything I had accomplished and to cultivate compassion for myself, even when I couldn’t make it through more than a single item on my to do list.
My limitations challenged me to up-level my practice by feeling, rather than doing, more.
Read moreThat’s a Sun Salutation and that’s life. . . a continuous cycle where glorious highs are followed by slides back down. Sometimes then, the biggest step forward means just pausing and breathing – recognizing what’s happening and what we’re capable of doing in that moment and that moment only.
Yoga reminds us it’s not about perfection or arriving at the end destination. It’s about the journey there. We come to our mat to feel and to be – to just be – without the need to explain or apologize or be any different. To show up, to breathe and keep moving. To fall over, to modify, to rest when needed and just stay present.
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Abbie conquering her self-doubt on the Trapeze table
Peeking my head into the Pilates room, I thought to myself, "OMG, what is with the machines?"
Through the lens of my clumsy, often-awkward body, the Reformers looked like little death traps – with straps and odd springs everywhere. Um, no. . .
Then my friend and fellow Forrest Yoga teacher Lisa Day became a Pilates instructor and you know what Forrest Yoga teachers do? We support each other.
So one Wednesday evening, I took the plunge. . . And like most everything else in life that I said I couldn’t do or wouldn’t do and definitely wouldn’t like – I loved it.
As a yoga practitioner, I have always struggled with numbness in my low back, tailbone, and sacrum. In just one session of Pilates, I was more aware of the exact places that were shut down. As we did the simplest of roll downs, my body lit up with sensations that I had never felt before.
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What’s your weakness? Tight hamstrings? Tweaky low back? Joint aches from an old injury? Most of us have one – or at least we tell ourselves that we do – a reason why we’re in pain, why we can’t/don’t do more, why we aren’t as good as the person on the mat next to us.
Ultimately our “weak,” “bad,” or injured areas can be our greatest teachers – if we’re willing to listen. They show us how to move and live differently, with more care and connection to our bodies.
By ignoring and pushing through the pain or oppositely, diving into our stories about how broken we are, we stay stuck, robbing ourselves of the opportunity to grow, to learn and to move vibrantly and easefully through life.
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Ch-ch-changes . . . Sometimes they’re baby steps, sometimes they’re giant leaps and sometimes they only look that way.
Change of any sort is scary and let’s get clear on this - there’s no such thing as fearless. To be brave, you must first be afraid. Courage doesn’t exist without fear and in an ironically cruel twist of the universe, the things that light us up are rarely waiting inside our comfort zone.
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