Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

This is where meditation can be a great asset. Just taking time to pause and separate yourself from your own mind. Observe your thoughts as they come and go without attachment or judgement. Get curious, watch yourself think. It can also be extremely helpful to have a coach to help tease from your the deep, dank thoughts and beliefs that haven’t shone themselves to you in some time. When you start to clearly see your thoughts that drive your feelings that create your actions, you empower yourself to make the decision whether or not you actually want to change. Maybe, when push comes to shove, you actually don’t? But trying to change from the action level alone without this behind-the-scenes sleuthing will be most likely frustrating, and perhaps even futile. Instead, look into the big WHY you’re doing or not doing something. It may take a bit of reverse engineering.

Give some thought to the relationships in your life. Is there one that stands out? Is there a partnership you can pinpoint as the most important? Who has made an imprint on your heart and soul? Is it a partner? A parent? A best friend? A spiritual guide? It’s normal to forget about the relationship which you didn’t technically sign up for but the one that will last an entire lifetime. It is your relationship with yourself. It’s arguably the most important relationship to stay aware of, and put love into. You make a choice to stay committed to yourself, by getting out of bed each morning. But sometimes we are neglectful of this relationship to ourself, and can simply sleep walk or auto-pilot through our waking hours. But, you have an ability to go above and beyond the most basic commitments to yourself and merely going through the motions. You have the ability to put love, attention, nurture, and care, into how you treat and show up for yourself. Emphasis on this relationship with yourself, and cultivating healthy self-love, has the ability to change your life for the better.

We all have that friend who seems naturally confident and fearless about being exactly who they are, regardless of the situation. Or, perhaps you are the confident one and have learned to tap into your true self and exhibit your personal power. A healthy amount of ego can be a good thing—a strong sense of self-confidence drives success and helps us live an authentic life. True confidence comes from within and self-assurance is a quality that can be cultivated, practiced, and strengthened. It's not just something that comes naturally to some people, and not to others, with nothing we can do to improve our sense of self-confidence. Utilizing yogic techniques of asana, pranayama, and meditation, we can uncover and address the layers of insecurity obscuring our inner strength and practice improving our own self-confidence. Sound good? How can yoga work to help you feel more self-assured in public or be able to speak your truth in a difficult relationship? Yoga can help balance your Manipura chakra, which is associated with the ego, self-confidence, willpower, self-discipline, and fire.

Yoga tells us that karma is certain. Every thought, word, and action has a vibrational energy that consciously, or unconsciously, creates our reality and experience. In simplest terms, this is karma. Einstein told us that the Universe is curved, supporting Newton’s Law and the Law of Karma, that everything will eventually, and inevitably come back to us. You don't have to believe in past lives or anything esoteric to understand karma. It's the idea that everything we do, or think, has a reaction and a result. It's a simple law of cause and effect. The lessons of karma have an important role for our evolution. It guides us like a treasure map to journey into the mysteries of who we are and what we desire. However, not all experiences of our karma feel good. The challenges we’ve faced like a “bad” relationship, job, illness, addiction, etc. are a result of our karma, and are actually guiding us. The guidance leads us to know with certainty what kind of relationship, job, lifestyle, or behavior we want. Karma can remind us that we deserve the best that we can imagine for ourselves, and if things aren’t going so good, it’s time to change.

Do you label your feelings as good vs bad? Do you push away the painful and only welcome the pleasant? Do you offer each of your emotions and experiences the same amount of energy? Do you ever feel grateful for your anger? Most of us, the answer is a simple no. We prefer the feel good over the fear based. It can be said it's better to be in a state of positive emotional health, more than in despair and suffering. Still, a full range of feelings is an inevitable part of the human experience and each unique emotion has the potential to teach us something worthwhile. For many, we welcome positive emotions with open arms, and kick and scream when negative emotions such as anger, disappointment, and sadness, are felt. If the end goal is one of acceptance and self-love, shouldn’t we have as much acceptance for our perceived weaknesses and uncomfortable emotions, as we do in our celebrated emotional triumphs and perceived strengths? We can only truly be at peace with ourselves, when we are able to experience peace even in the midst of uncomfortable emotions.

The last year has been full of doubt and uncertainty in my own craft. I’ve been teaching yoga and barre full-time for nine years and I’ve felt far less sure and confident of myself today than I did in the beginning. In a world where our worth as a yoga or fitness teacher seems dependent on class numbers, high amounts of followers and likes, and publicly-available Classpass and Google reviews, I have felt like I can’t compete. I’m not a competitive person and I never have been. I feel the pressure to be something extraordinary, to become a celebrity, to get people’s attention and have them care about me and praise me. I see the efforts that others in my community put into their social media and a sense of failure immediately fills my being. Everyone seems to have a professional photographer with them at all times, has unsurmountable inspiration and motivation while sporting the newest gear, the most perfect hair and a perfectly toned body to match.

If falling in love is the best thing in the world, heartbreak has to be the worst. Heartbreaks are tough and understandably so; what you just believed to be true is no longer the case. While it may seem like your life is over, please know its not and you will get through this. Having gone through a recent heartbreak myself, I feel you. After I realized another romantic relationship had come to an end, I experienced many peaks and valleys of emotions. Luckily, my yoga practice has taught me many things like patience, non-attachment and compassion so I was able process the breakup in a healthy way. If you’re going through a heartbreak right now, please know you are loved by many. Then read on and test out my 10 steps to break away and return to you. STEP 1: Breathe. Take a deep breath. Inhale through the nose. Exhale out the mouth. Repeat as many times as you need to calm your nerves. Your breath is your strength, your energy, your life force. Even in times you find yourself in complete disbelief, just breathe. When you heart is broken and you can’t imagine another day without him, just breathe.

Within us all, rests a powerful warrior. An ally, full of belief, support and courage. A passionate protector, ready to go into battle when there is risk. When harm comes your way, your inner warrior rises into full defense. The reaction of your inner warrior is usually not to external threats, but to the struggles which we create ourselves. Called to action by ego, doubt, fear, ignorance, self-sabotage and neglect. The battle of your inner warrior, is to restore and reveal your best self. Fueled by passion, the inner warrior is strengthened by being open, raw and real. Life experience cultivates wisdom and calling on our inner warrior inspires resilience. Intelligent and articulate, our warrior is fine tuned to rise when needed, acting in support of our highest self. Think of your warrior as your biggest cheerleader.

Aim to live in a perpetual whirl of inspiration. The source of inspiration is different for each individual but produces the same result- a feeling of peace, acceptance, surrender, and excitement for the flow of life. Ahhh, how great does it feel to pop out of bed, ready to kick the days booty?! If only we could infuse our lives with a constant feeling of inspiration… maybe it’s not as hard as we think. Often, you’ll find inspiration within your own heart- guiding you fearlessly and motivating your actions. Acknowledge this- inspiration will naturally arise depending on your day, your activities, and your life situation. Some periods of your life will flow abundantly with creative energy while other times, you might feel as if you’re sleepwalking through existence. Of course circumstances occur which you cannot control. You’re not alone if you find yourself on a constant rollercoaster of inspirational ups and downs. However, you do have a choice to make habit and consistency of bathing in inspiration every morning.

When we think of power, we tend to think of domination or control. A few years ago, though, I heard of a healthier and more yogic definition of power which resonated with me: power can be measured by how quickly you can make your desire into a reality. When we are in our personal power, we get what we want so easily, as if in the blink of an eye. To access the kind of personal power that allows us to quickly transform what we want into what we have, we must have a clear vision of which possibilities we actually desire. Visualization and goal setting can be a helpful practice to turn the gaze inward and initiate this kind of alchemy.

This week we celebrate freedom and the right to live the lives of our dreams. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an incredible inspiration for all of us, as exemplified in his iconic “I have a dream” speech. His courage and bravery to fight for the rights of all people resonates today and for all time.

With not only holidays, but particularly Christmas very much upon on, the whole dash to find the perfect gift has surely begun. And while I can't actually help you find the present (despite the fact that I would love to), I am here to help you with make the present look beautiful.

A confession: I’m a book worm. I was recently asked by a teacher during a guided meditation, “Where do you find refuge?”. In other words, where do I go for support, reassurance, and inspiration? Where is my safe harbour? I immediately thought of my books! My library of spiritual guides and how-tos of yoga practice and meditation shout pretty loud and clear to me “You are not alone. Many have walked this path.” I take refuge in this great tradition of teaching and go to it when my spirits are low or if I need a good kick in the bum. Whenever I am lost in this big world of yoga, I recall Joan Didion’s directive from The Year of Magical Thinking: “Read, learn, work it up, go to the literature.” Here are my essentials.

The Full moon in Aries invites us to take charge of our lives and think outside the box. You know you have it in you: the will to do what inspires you most. Take advantage of this sacred energy and put this power to use. Aries carries the energy and passion of our drives and urges into the world. When used wisely, this energy is unstoppable and a force for positive change and growth. If you’ve been playing small up until now…stop. It doesn’t serve you or your gifts. Those who would benefit from what you have to share are waiting for you to make your move.

Like eating a healthy breakfast, doing yoga before you start your day can raise your energy levels and boost your metabolism. It also reduces anxiety by letting you start off each day with a clean slate, free of distractions and in touch with yourself.