Blog
Spring isn't just a season of external transformation; it's also a time when our internal energies awaken. It's associated with new life and fresh beginnings, coaxing forth the dormant plans and aspirations we've nurtured during the quieter winter months.
You never know when a burst of grief will happen. I’ve had my moments at work, in the park, in church, while having lunch with friends. Feeling the emotion bubble up and then letting the tears flow was cathartic but also a little embarrassing. Release of emotion can be self-soothing and help with relaxation.
In our journey through life, both physical possessions and mental narratives can serve as anchors, preventing us from fully embracing the present and moving forward. By adopting rituals for letting go and challenging self-limiting stories, we can shed the weight that holds us back, paving the way for a lighter, more liberated tomorrow.
Have you ever found yourself at the crossroads of love and heartbreak? The pain and grief that accompany a broken heart are inevitable when we choose to love. Recognize the strength in vulnerability and the courage it takes to open your heart despite the risk of heartbreak.
During the month of November, the themes of gratitude and grace come to the forefront as many of us gather at the Thanksgiving table with family and friends. What does grace mean to you?
The "5 Weeks to Grief Relief Program" evolved over the course of three years of facilitating grief yoga classes. It was conceived based on the valuable feedback received from participants, many of whom were looking for a sense of community where yoga could offer solace.
In the initial stages of grief, did you ever struggle with the simple act of reading? It's a common experience. The weight of your sorrow can be so overwhelming, making it nearly impossible to concentrate on anything.
Sometimes, in the heaviness of grief, we long for peacefulness. A calming of the “monkey mind”, a relaxation of the physical body, a letting go of expectations. Guided meditations can help because they are designed to take the focus off the self and onto the voice of the person speaking.
You’ve just experienced the death of a loved one. Or maybe the break-up of a relationship, loss of a job, a home, normalcy. You may feel sad, angry, anxious. You may feel nothing at all – just a void. You may be wondering if these feelings are normal (yes, they are).
You don’t need any one’s permission to grieve the way you need to. However, at some point during this journey you will find the desire to, maybe even a need to, build physical, emotional, spiritual and mental strength during the grieving process.
Anger is a powerful emotion and one that may overshadow other grief emotions. Practicing yoga poses and movements that allow you to release this emotion and transform your anger into potent action. The following 5 poses can help open these areas, letting the energy flow freely, helping you become less reactive to what caused your anger so you can respond more compassionately.
Are you traveling to Cape Cod this summer? Whether it’s your first time or your 50th, you can find some great things to do – beaches, restaurants, theater, music, and Yoga!
Ten years ago this month my son died suddenly. As I reflect on this grief journey, there are key points in time that frame my healing process and have brought me to where I am today. In this blog post, I want to give hope to those who are grieving loss, especially those who’ve lost a child. Your life will be different, but you can find joy and happiness.
We are all weary. We are all left wondering. We need to find ways to beat stress, especially during these winter months and the continuing pandemic. You may feel depressed, blue, unmotivated, and uninspired. So, what can you do? How do you shake off these winter blues and start being your best self?
Over the past year or so, I’ve been struggling with getting a good night’s sleep. Tossing and turning, waking up in the middle of the night, thoughts running through my head. Of course, this could be pandemic related as I, like a lot of people, seem to drift through the day wondering when it’s all going to end.
Grief can sap your strength. You may feel like caving in, or maybe that you have lost control over your own life. But as you begin to move those grief emotions out of the body, you may discover that there is strength inside you that you didn’t realize. Draw from this well of strength from within to find the courage to move forward in your life.
Grief can be debilitating. It can sap your energy. When we suffer a loss, we feel a swirl of emotions – sadness, depression, anger, anxiety, guilt, and other – and physical symptoms like breathlessness, fatigue, digestive issues, and aches and pain. To ease these symptoms, it’s helpful to move the body in ways that this pain can be released.
Sometimes it’s hard to notice where your grief lives in your body. Maybe you’ve never thought about it before or maybe you didn’t connect the dots between your grief and your physical pain. Becoming aware of where this pain lives is the first step to releasing it from the body.
There are many emotions that surface when you are grieving a loss and anxiety is one that is very common.
I was staring at the tree a couple of days ago and I realized I know the origin of most of the ornaments. There’s the felt mouse, complete with a bow on its tail, sitting in a walnut shell that I bought at a Christmas fair back in the late 1970’s when I was in college.
This year has been like no other in my memory. A collective experience of pain, suffering and raw emotion, amidst a global pandemic in a fractured nation. That’s one way to look at this year, and maybe the scales are tipped that way. If we leave it this way, and only focus on the negative, we risk disharmony in our own lives. And this disharmony emanates from the individual out to the family, community, country and world.
Talking with my friends recently on Zoom the topic of conversation turned to how tired we all were from video calls. On top of work calls we are all on social video calls with parents, children, grandchildren or friends.
Video chat is beginning to take its toll.
When I started going to yoga classes after my son died, I noticed right away that by practicing various breathing techniques in the class or at home, I felt less anxious and more physically relaxed.
How are you today? I don’t know your situation, but I suspect we’ve been feeling very similar emotions. I realized yesterday that the emotions I’ve been feeling – disjointed, sad, frustrated, a feeling of being in a surreal time, loss of control – I’ve experienced with other loss in my life. This is a feeling of grief. Grief from a loss of “normal life”.
Over the past 5 years I’ve practiced a “morning routine” that grew out of a 30-day sadhana, a requirement for my first teacher training. In Sanskrit, sadhana means “an effort exercised towards the achievement of a purpose.”
Recently I had the opportunity to offer video-based yoga classes to employees of my former employer. It was a great experience for both the company and for myself. Although I’ve been teaching yoga for a few years,
In the beginning of each January there is an onslaught of press about making a resolution for the new year - Lose weight? Quit smoking? Be nicer? – you know what I mean. For me, the problem with a resolution is that it doesn’t stick.
I think it’s fun to shop locally and there are so many shops and crafts fairs on Cape Cod this time of year. If you are searching for just the right gift for the yogi in your life, check out some of the ideas below.
Or maybe you want to add these to your wish list!
Have you seen those skeleton figures in yoga poses in stores or on Amazon.com? They seem to be “the” Halloween decoration for yoga aficionados here on Cape Cod. They are cute and fun, but remember in real life yoga isn’t about rigidity and certainly no grimaces or painful expressions.
One morning in January, 2018 I awoke with this thought: I’m going to leave my job a year from now to focus on teaching yoga. A great thought no doubt, but was I really ready to make that change?