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Turn Your Gaze Inward

12/29/2022

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"if you want the moon . . . 
do not hide at night.
if you want the rose . . .
do not run from the thorns
if you want love . . .
do not hide from yourself."

~ rumi
Hello, friends!

How are you weathering the holiday season? ☃️❄️⛄️

Sorry. 😉 I couldn't help myself. It seems every aspect of this year's holiday plans, feasts, and festivities were impacted by Mother Nature. 

I hope everyone in your orbit remains healthy and cozy. 

I am so grateful that we never lost power, that we didn't have to travel, and that we had all the ingredients for frivolity and delight right in our own home. 

Thank goodness my husband likes to plow and shovel. The little dog track he created for Javi in our backyard? It's fantastic.

Thank you to local friends who made room for us at their tables. You all know how to feast! Our time together was deeply nourishing. 

And, I am so. darned. grateful for my practice. Yes, my time in asana, physical postures, served me well. This holiday season I definitely leaned into aparigraha, or non-attachment. Releasing expectations, and surrendering into presence, helped me flow and kept me feeling whole. ​

Caroline Myss recently published a beautiful blog that posed Seven Questions for the New Year. 

While I found each of the questions interesting and helpful, I was especiallytaken with these three:

​Click here to continue reading . . . 
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Triple The Power

12/22/2022

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"Years wrinkle the skin,
but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul."
~ Swami Bua
Wow! What a powerful moment. Poised between Winter Solstice and New Moon, I hope today you will create the spaciousness to Rest, Reflect, and Rejoice. 

If that's not possible today, how about intentionally setting aside some time for these three R's before the New Year?

My recent time spent in rest and reflection has brought forth so many reasons to rejoice! Here are just a couple . . .

To continue reading, click here.
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Respond Rather Than React

12/15/2022

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"manage your reactions,
but do not suppress your emotions"

~ yung pueblo
Beautiful friends,

Hello! How's your holiday season so far?
  • Festive and fun?
  • Stretched thin and stressed?
  • Incessant and indulgent?
  • Quiet and calm? 

​Today, simply 
a moment for us to pause. And check in. Deep within. Right now, many lovely routines of my daily life have been interrupted. By our construction project. By our adorable puppy. By additional social activities, festivities, and family gatherings. 

I have chosen to spend my energy in these ways. I am grateful for the connectivity, the nourishing conversations, the full belly laughs, the delicious foods, and the sparkle of the season. 

Directly alongside the joy, I understand that my sleep has been impacted. My patience has splintered. My self-care has started to slide.

This brings me to the concise and powerful quotation above by yung pueblo. Please, take another look. 

For me, this message holds a lifetime of learning . 

We want to respond, rather than react. 

We cannot choose, nor control, how others engage, act, or behave.

We can only chose how we respond. 

We want to know ourselves fully. Feel all the feelings.
With full permission and an open heart. 

And, as we head towards Winter Solstice, I hope we all sit with both thedarkness, and the light, that makes up who we are. 

I know that I want to learn from it all, continue to expand, and love myself completely.

Want to know more about how to continue shining our own light?
​Click here to continue reading more. 
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Let Go To Grow

12/8/2022

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"We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned,
so as to have the life that is waiting for us.
The old skin has to be shed
before the new one can come."
~ Joseph Campbell
Hello, beauties!

Thank you so much for all the comments and conversations around setting healthy boundaries. I appreciate your insights, suggestions, and your courage to share! 

It's interesting. Some of you say that boundary setting is easy at work, but difficult at home. Others say exactly the opposite. Sounds like many of us view setting healthy boundaries as an area where we can grow. Believe me, I'm definitely a work in progress in this category. 

If you missed last week's deep dive, or you simply want to revisit and refresh, you'll find the entire newsletter here. ​

"The beginning is always today."
~ Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
And, WOW! A HUGE thank you for the outpouring of interest in my New Year's program: Let Go To Grow. ✨ This six-week online yoga journey begins Sunday, January 1. Now's the time to join! ​

​
To continue reading this week's newsletter, simply click here. 
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Healthy Boundaries

12/1/2022

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"Boundaries help you thrive."
~ Yung Pueblo
Hello, friends!

Be sure not to miss the exciting announcement at the end.
Hint: It's in the P.S ✨


Happy first day of December! This may sound really strange, but as we enter the holiday season, I find myself thinking about boundaries.
This word gets used a lot lately. For example, I keep hearing about, "Setting healthy boundaries." That sounds good, but . . .  
  • What does that actually mean?
  • How do we go about implementing these boundaries? 
  • If we do succeed, how do healthy boundaries benefit us?  
If healthy boundaries are impactful, then I want to understand deeply enough that this means something in my brain, my body, and my being. A catch phrase just doesn't cut it. If it's worthwhile? Then it will become part of my practice. 

I've gotten better at not being super over-scheduled. However, I still find it difficult to prioritize my own solitude. My need to rest and reset.

So, as we approach the sparkle and cheer of the holidays, I'd love to be better about honoring my own energy. My own nervous system. And, I'd love to do this in a way that is clear and kind to all those I interact with. (Yep. The thought of "disappointing" someone remains troublesome for me 😉). 

Setting healthy boundaries sounds like something super powerful to build into our toolkits. Let's take a deeper look. 

To learn more about empowering ourselves by setting healthy boundaries, click here. 
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    Author

    Michelle Shaw:
    A student, and a teacher, who's
    insatiably curious and loves living well. 

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