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Begin Again, Again

How do you prepare for the new year? Are you a resolution setter? A Vision Board builder? A dreamer, a planner, or a fly-by-the seat-of-your-pants-er? Or maybe you’re more of a nay-sayer when it comes to setting intentions and aspirations?

My mission, my passion, my BIGGEST goal is to provide you with everything you need in support of an authentic, inspired practice of living your best life. I’m not interested in fluff or canned spirituality with a glossy finish. It’s okay if people enjoy that, but that’s not what I do. 😉

And, that’s not who I’m here for.

I’m here to support YOU. I’m here to give you a safe place to come, to ask questions, to be inspired, to find the tools you need for lasting, positive transformation and to just be. No matter what format you chose for our work together: yoga practice, coaching, mentoring or training, this is my pledge to you: I will show up fully, authentically.

You are the reason I do my work. So, raise a glass, (mine is sparkling water with a hint of orange), and let’s make a toast to you! Here’s to getting real and honest with each other. Here’s to working together. And, here’s to choosing this path, and choosing to walk side by side! Here’s to beginning again, again.

I’ve tried it all!

From written plans and reciting positive affirmations to identifying motivations and declaring desires, I have found that when I actually give attention to “it” (my life), things go smoother and feel more fulfilling. In other words, there is not ONE WAY to live well, and yet it all begins with mindful attention to the questions.

I am a HUGE advocate for dream casting, vision board building and life planning. I feel so strongly about the power of dream casting, I’ve made it an annual tradition and a key ingredient to the Inspired Living program. In fact, I’m hosting a newly revised Vision Board workshop in January! Maybe this is the year for you to join us.

Hosting a Vision Board workshop has become an annual tradition not just to support my own commitment to dream casting but to cultivate community and accountability within our Life’sWork Community. Each offering brings together folks of all mind sets, Doubters who hedge their bets, Nay-sayers looking for evidence to support their cause, and Believers who help inspire the rest. All, yes ALL, leave feeling more hopeful and committed to living well.

The reason Vision Boards and dream casting works is because we all benefit from clarity and inspiration and so many of us have little to no experience with planning our day-to-day lives. Vision Board is an accessible first step to reconnecting with inspiration and creative play to Begin Again in living mindfully and intimately with joy and inspiration. And provides a focal point for our attention every time we gaze upon it. With a vision well established, the next step is crafting the plan, a Life’sWork Plan 😊Check out my OnPurpose Living LIVE workshop in February!

 

A plan for living well.

We all want a plan for living well. That’s NOT the challenge. The challenge rests in answering the questions for ourselves, knowing what we value, what matters most, and what we are willing to learn, unlearn or shift to make that possible. In other words, can you answer the question: What does Living Well mean?

“Living well” is living in alignment, living in accordance with our values and concent of our circumstances; accepting responsibility for our actions and their consequences; and choosing to show up authentically in relationship with others. It’s harder than it sounds. I know. AND it’s worth it.

In order for any plan to work, it has to be based on a sound practice of intentional self-care. This is where most people fail. This is the purpose Life’sWork Yoga Living program, to help participants establish the foundation of daily habits that maintain and nurture balanced, easeful living.

 

Yoga is the practice of living well.

People ask me all the time, “Do you do yoga every day?” The question is not do I do yoga, but rather: what will my yoga look like today?

So, to answer your question, Yes, I do yoga every day. The more yoga I do, the better I feel in mind, body and spirit.

Yoga is more than the practice of moving our body in to shapes on our mats. Yoga is the way to frame our world view, the foundation of every decision and the fuel for every action. Yoga is the web of interconnected energies, efforts and intentions of life. Yoga is my plan for living well. If you want more Yoga philosophy and real life applications of yoga teachings in your life, consider joining us for Book Club, or explore Yoga Living!

 

Self-care is the foundation

(as tested and confirmed during the COVID-19 pandemic!)

  1. Self-care is the priority. Self-care is not indulgence or negligence. Self-care is the practice of offering compassion to one’s well-being. As an extension of one’s personal self care, extending this same care and compassion to others from our abundance (whatever extra we have) is how we build a community of support and connection. As Anthony Fauci said, “Now is always the BEST time to selflessly care for others.”
  2. Attention is energy intentionally applied. What we give our attention to grows. This year I learned to harness my attention and focus even more than I ever imagined I could. I worked hard. But I worked even harder to protect the vital energy to which I had access. I scheduled REST regularly. Conserving my energy for the actions I intentionally want to give my energy to was even more important this year. The more structure in my day (and life) the less energy lost, wasted or allowed to breed fear.
  3. Structure gives you freedom. The Bhagavad Gita teaches that form is an illusion and yet it is form that provides the firm foundation on which we ground to build the practices of daily living. I have taught the importance in INTENTION for years, but it really proved its value this year when all my systems became moot. The foundation of habits and ritual in practice provided a basis from which I could safely assess and determine where and how to shift and rebuild in order to work within the parameters of our “new normal”.
  4. Ask for help. I often tease that breathing is the only requirement. But once breath is established and steady, we might just need to invest in help. I used a lot of props in my practice this year. I hired a Coach, enrolled in a learning program and hired experts to help me build components of my business that are outside my expertise (i.e. everything that’s not yoga. Wait, #itsallyoga! LOL!) I also relied on friends to help me reframe mental anxiety, overwhelm and loneliness when the studio was forced to close. I cried a lot of tears this year.
  5. Surrender. One of the hardest things for me to declare is my own greatness. Maybe this sounds contrary to surrender, but what I discovered this year is that surrender is about trusting the process. I am a work in process. Aren’t we all? But being in process also means there is progress in terms of learning new skills, having new insight and seeing opportunities when they arise if we surrender to being in process.
  6. Opportunities always exist. Oh my, do they ever. This year was filled with abundant opportunities. For the first time ever, the entire world was forced online. What a gift… a lot of the barriers to operating online were broken which opened the floodgates. Its about learning to reframe our mindset from lack and what ISN’T to abundance and what IS. I call it Reframe from Love and its helped me find the silver lining but also the opportunity to reach those who really need my service and support.
  7. Change is always an option. If I don’t like it, I change it– it’s that simple. I’ve done this my entire life. I make decisions. Execute them. If I don’t like it, I change it. Quickly. But when things, BIG things, are outside of your control, change can feel nearly impossible. Even if we don’t know HOW to change, fix, or modify IT, remembering that change is always an option gives us a redirection for our attention to reframe the question from love. What CAN I do rather than what can’t I do. If something isn’t working for me, I have the right to change it. And so do you. Even if the thing that isn’t working is a big thing or a big deal to others. If it’s not working for you, change it.

We’ve been through something historic, and yet, we have every day tasks to do and lives to live. Without denying the obstacles and challenges that lay ahead, what would make this your best year yet? What needs to shift or change for you to embrace the beauty and ease of living well?

How can we help support your intentional self-care as the foundation to your own growth and transformation? How can we encourage your continued growth and adventure in becoming your best self living your best life? Whether it’s a community practice, book club discussion, personal coaching or therapeutic treatments, we want to support you in living well.

I’d love to hear how you plan to show up in 2022!