Mindful Monday: The Secret to Happiness

Good morning and Happy Monday, mindful one!

Would you like to know the secret to happiness?

*keep scrolling

Be happy!

Super simple, right?

You seem disappointed.

Well, it’s certainly not EASY! Who likes easy, anyway? We’re here for maximum growth and transformation! And that kind of magical stuff is never, ever as boring and mundane as … easy.

The truth is our natural state of being is one of happiness. Pure, sublime, delicious and simple happiness.

Here are the top ten ways that we give away our happiness every day. Relinquishing our own power and control of our life experiences. (Seems so insane when you think of it like that, right?)

1. Choosing to be unhappy rather than happy.

2. Fear of anything, especially of being a radiant, shiny rockstar or of falling in love over and over and over again.

3. Waiting for everything to be “just right” and in “perfect order” before jumping off that bridge.

4. Getting caught up in silly, irrelevant trivialities

5. Worrying what others will think and seeking validation from others

6. Attaching happiness to anything external, like: the weather (friendly reminder that you live in the Midwest amidst FOUR seasons); how other people drive, look, breathe, think, and live their lives; life unfolding in its own perfection and timetable

7. Focusing on what you don’t have rather than being eternally grateful for all you DO HAVE right now

8. Thinking of all the different ways things might go wrong rather than trusting and believing that everything is RIGHT, especially the detours and the so-called setbacks

9. Wasting even a single precious second on self-doubt. Please see #2

10. Cultivating negativity in thoughts, words and actions.

Ok, my little dove, go forth and soar like the radiant, creative, gorgeous being we all know you are.

Have a great week, friends!

Wellness Wednesday: Your Daily Scan

Sometimes we may be so caught up in sensation, feeling and emotion we forget our physical body goes through great stress. As a reminder we must give our body the loving care it needs as it is a tool in which we experience life but so often we treat it with indifference and dislike.

A brief moment to take a body scan may be the thing we need to softly come back to earth. This brief moment can bring us to be sensitive to the sensations that arise in the body. We may notice aches, a shift in temperature, the subtle flow of breath in and out the nose. This scan can help us draw awareness to the areas where we feel “stuck”. Generally correlating to where energy is stuck. This can teach us something as it is believed the body never lies.

Any sensation that’s arises can be looked at as a piece of wisdom from the body. Any injury or discomfort can teach us to slow down and reflect what it is we need in order to create balance as a whole. The more we scan ourselves the more hypersensitive we are to imbalances that may be occuring in other aspects in our life other than physical.

Namaste!

Angie

Mindful Monday: the Journey

Getting upside down at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville

Good morning and happy Monday, mindful ones!!!

It was Family Day at Vanderbilt this past weekend – the first time I’ve seen my baby boy since we said our farewells outside of Murray Hall on Sunday, August 18th.

We had a blast this weekend! Nashville is a thriving and beautiful city with so much to offer. It is overflowing with entertainment, amazing food and lovely people.

And to see my son in his beautiful new life and to hear him say that he made the right choice for himself is an indescribable medley of emotions: pure joy, happiness, pride, gratitude and comfort. He compared Vandy to the other top 15 schools he was accepted to, and said that Vandy students are ranked as among the happiest in the nation!

And I have to remind myself that the road to get here was certainly not a smoothly paved, perfectly straight path. It was far from that!

But the journey was worth it. A billion times over.

And those times where we struggled (he’s more stubborn than me!!) are now funny stories. And the big, significant milestone moments are precious memories that warm the heart.

And the every day grind times are the memories most cherished. The mundane, every day stuff that at the time felt routine and tedious and sometimes boring and annoying are what I miss the most during the course of my day.

But I certainly don’t dwell on that! I shift my focus and awareness to Julian, and we are so excited to see the amazing things unfolding in this young man’s future.

After only a month, he seems taller and he’s definitely filling out his frame with wider shoulders and more meat on his bones! 🤣😍

And watching his journey is a constant reminder to me to stay grounded in the present. To anchor my awareness to right now. And that it’s OK to feel whatever it is I’m feeling in each moment, as long as it’s honest and authentic.

Family day was experienced with my parents and my ex-husband. Just like the 18 year journey to get Julian settled into “the Harvard of the South” was rocky and less than smooth; this weekend also had its ups and downs. Lol.

The majority of ups! But a few instances where we were annoyed with one another. Lol. That’s called family living or just life itself!

The trick is to anchor down (<<< see what I did there?) into the present and love and accept every single moment. Even when you want to strangle someone. Or wrap them in your arms and never let go. It’s all good stuff. All of it!

Have a great week, my lovely friends! Embrace all of it!

Make it the best week ever!

September 2019 POTM: Anahatasana or Melting Heart Pose

Happy September, yogis!

Our POTM is Anahatasana, or Melting Heart pose (sometimes referred to as Extended Puppy pose). This beautiful backbend deeply opens the shoulders, pectoral muscles of the chest, thoracic spine, neck and lower back. Heart and lung meridians receive a fresh burst of prana. Try this yoga pose first thing in the morning to set the tone for the day ahead!

Here’s how:

From table top (hands and knees) position, slide your arms forward and begin to melt your heart towards the earth.

Listen carefully to your heart and body and move only to the degree that feels appropriate.

You can always layer a block under your sternum to help your heart meet the earth.

You can bring your forehead to your mat (or a block if necessary) and gently rock your forehead side to side, massaging your ajna or third eye chakra.

Ultimately your chest may lay on the ground, with the chin tilting up. This will compress and massage the back on the neck and must only be done if comfortable.

If your chest, throat and chin easily rest on your mat, you can tuck your toes, lift your knees off the mat and straighten your legs. Please note that this is an advanced variation, and should only be done if your chest can remain pinned to the earth.

Hold for 3-5 minutes, breathing deeply into the shoulders, neck, spine, chest and lower back. Always remember where your attention goes, energy flows and it is important in these more vulnerable yin, backbending poses to remain focused inwards and on your pranayama.

Observe the emotions rising in this yoga pose. Melting heart is particularly effective in releasing heavy, stagnant or sad feelings. It may trigger an emotional reaction and release, including the need to cry! By the end of the pose, you will feel joy and lightness.

Follow with Balasana, Child’s Pose.

Wellness Wednesday: You Never Know Until You Try

Just this past week I came across this photo I took for a couple of lovely daughters encouraging their mothers to try yoga for the first time with a private class I had taught them. The conversation sparked to how intimidating yoga can be for someone new to it. It can feel like immersing yourself into a whole unknown world of breathing, energy and making weird pretzel shapes with your body. At first it may seem like the last thing to come to mind when thinking of something relaxing but “you never know until you try”.

We have always heard this saying. It is often said we regret the things we never did during our lifetime. Our willingness to discover through doing can help us to explore our interests and produce a change in pace of our life. While each experience may not be in our best interest, we have given ourselves the opportunity to deepen our self knowledge.

Our ability to take a brief moment to ourself in silent reflection on the years we have lived can ensure we take advantage of each moment. We may realize we had a reoccurring closed mindset that stemmed from fear of judgement or failure. This realization can be just what we need to encourage us to try something new as we never know until we try it.

Namaste!

Angie

Mindful Monday: Winds of Change

Good morning and happy Monday, dearest ones!

The winds of change have arrived! This powerful vata, fall energy is the time of big, sweeping transitions!

Let’s take our lead from nature. See how the trees are on their final rally! Preparing their most vibrant and eye-catching colors. Living their best life, leaving nothing undone. Full on blaze of glory.

And they will then be ready to let go. To release every last attachment to the summer; to their beautiful leaves. Their only possessions.

And they will go dormant. Slowing down during the colder, darker months. Gathering energy as they rest, nourish, replenish, strengthen and prepare for the next phase of life. Trusting in the brilliance and knowledge of Nature.

Nature is all powerful and all knowing. How foolish we humans are as we continue to rally against the inevitable. Our human egos believe that we know better and that we can do better.

As we prepare to transition, here are some great questions you may ask of yourself:

What are some of my accomplishments thus far in 2019?

What are three challenges I have overcome? What are the lessons I learned from these challenges?

What are three things I’m so grateful for?

What are some things I’m willing to let go of with gratitude and appreciation?

What has held me back from experiencing true growth?

Let this be the starting point! Next week we will work on focusing on various aspects of our lives and growth.

Make it a great week, dearest ones!

Wellness Wednesday: Your Inner Circle

Happy Wellness Wednesday, guys!

This past month I have gravitated to the idea of spring cleaning of those I surround myself with. There come a point we feel the need to reevaluate the relationships we have in our life to ensure the relationships we hold are still warm and thriving. Little did I realize that I spent too much energy engaging in relationships that left me feeling apathetic, stagnant and exhausted. Recently I have longed for the relationships that left me nourished, back to my roots.

Life itself can be draining enough already without the ones that consume our energy levels constantly so its vital we plant ourselves in an inner circle that nourishes us to grow. This evaluation has little to do with being a selfish and everything to do with your well being. Our relationships should be mutual and synergistic. However, this could be difficult to learn as we may fall into the comfort of the length we have had this relationship. It may become blind to us that we no longer receive mutual support or we have kept ourselves trapped from negative energy, something we must give ourselves permission to free. While we may not want to completely eliminate a relationship, we have the ability to shift the boundaries of a relationship.

Doing so can give us the space we need within in order to grow and cultivate more ease in our life and inspire the ones we love to do the same.

Mindful Monday: Graceful Acceptance

Happy Monday, yogis!

It’s happening again, isn’t it? That final rallying that summer’s not really over.

Scoffing at pumpkin spice’s far too premature appearance. I mean seriously, my birthday is in September (oh, the 14th if you were wondering), and my birthday is literally always warm, bright and sunny. And I’m positive I saw pumpkin even before Labor Day!

Wearing shorts and tank tops, because, it’s like the first week of September! (Thank goodness I had my son’s track hoodie in my trunk for these early mornings.)

Still ordering iced chai rather than hot chai because I don’t need to warm my fingers – cold is like a mini Cryo treatment to my hands.

Then the realization that resisting the natural cycles of nature is just the same as complaining about the weather, which is my greatest pet peeve. Complaining about something that you have zero control or input over is an exercise in futility, frustration and insanity.

So today I ordered a hot coffee for myself and my friend Gina (not pumpkin) and felt gratitude for the chill breeze early this morning.

I admired how the trees are preparing for their big color show and inevitable release to bareness by slowly shedding extra leaves.

And I acknowledged the energetic effects of this transitional time on my body. It’s starting to slow down. It wants more rest and grounding.

The fall is characterized by vata dosha: airy, windy, cold, light, moving and dry.

As long as these qualities are in balance, a person whose dosha is predominantly vata (like me) will be healthy, creative, and exuberant. But when too much vata accumulates in the body and mind, the imbalance may manifest as physical or emotional disorders, including insomnia, dry skin, arthritis, constipation, high blood pressure, anxiety, and depression.

Many of us naturally and subconsciously move toward grounding ourselves during this windy, moving energy time. We move toward heavier, cooked foods that are filling and warming. We may see an increase in our appetites; be intuitive and take cues from your body on what it needs.

Tending toward softer, heavier fabrics in earth tones will ground and calm vata.

Even our yoga practice will reflect this transitional time: more stabilizing and grounding poses and flows.

As always, taking our cues from intuition and nature are the simplest ways we can gracefully weather life’s shifts and transitions. From the weather to kids back in school to shifts at work, in life and relationships, we learn to stabilize within and be more allowing to whatever flows our way.

Have a lovely week, friends!

Wellness Wednesday: Our Inner Child

As adults we are taught it is necessary to always act mature. We hide our lighthearted, playful sides and our work becomes dull. A spontaneous change in every day tasks may be the thing we need to free us from the all-seriousness life we live. If we continue to have a strict routine we are expected to live, we only become more numb as time goes on. We may forget the vibrancy that we can access at any time simply by becoming creative in our ordinary routine.

As we explore what spontaneous means to us, we transform what we once thought was mundane into experiencing life as if it was the first time just like a child. Letting the innocent part of us come out and play might be a way for us to feel the energy of our younger years as we also experience the notion of life in a pure way.

Consciously reminding ourselves of innocence we once had in our early years allows us to experience life fully with open arms. But as we grow older we acknowledge the problems of the world, we see the past as something negative. While we perceive these problems as negative, this negativity can impact the positivity in life. However a trip down memory lane ironically may be the thing we need to see that there is a wonder to everyday things. Connecting our inner child briefly here and there brings an uplift of interest to what we thought would never be lively again.

Namaste!

Angie

Mindful Monday: Happy Labor Day

Good morning and happy Monday, dearest mindful ones.

We have an abbreviated class schedule today in observance of Labor Day. We still have noons and 1:30 pms at our Downers Grove and Western Springs locations; there’s definitely still opportunity to get to your mat!

Remember, Labor Day, is your day.

No one deserves a break more than you do. And aside from BBQs and a fond farewell to summer, Labor Day is when we celebrate the economic and social contributions of workers, hard workers like you and me!

A few ways I love to observe Labor Day:

1. Take the day OFF. When I first started teaching, I worked every holiday! Now I allow myself the simple pleasure of turning it off to rest and recharge my mind, body and spirit.

2. No schedule and no pressure. If I feel like practicing yoga, I will. But if I’m not feeling it, I give myself permission to chill out. I can Netflix all day by myself if that’s what’s calling to my spirit – or if I’m feeling more social, I’ll hang out at a friend’s BBQ. No forcing or making myself rally to do something I don’t really want to do.

3. Sleep in. It is so amazing to go to bed Sunday night without setting an alarm. Staying up late having fun and then sleeping in and waking up naturally. And maybe even lingering in bed writing this blog.

4. Move. Even if it’s going to be a lazy day, I’ll definitely spend some time in nature: A long walk or even a light jog (ok probably more likely a long walk) to boost seratonin levels and endorphins. Movement is the quickest, simplest life hack to instantly boost feelings of well-being.

5. Quiet space. Per my normal routine, I always take some time to quietly meditate and cleanse and purify my thoughts. I’ll definitely take some extra time to reflect on all of my hard work, success and accomplishments over this past year!

Happy Labor Day, dearest friends. Thank you for all that you do each and every day!