"The Universe is not outside of you.
​Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you already are."
~ Rumi

Hello, my friends!

From January 1 until the first New Moon of the year (this Saturday, January 21!), I like to reflect, and dream, and get very clear within. 

As I reflect, I am full of gratitude. 

• I'm deeply grateful (and wildly surprised!) that I have successfully extended my service and outreach through Digital Course offerings. If you had told me in early 2021 that I would connect with yogis across the country in this way? I would not have believed you!
• I'm especially thankful for the return to Italy for the Yoga, Food, and Wine Tour with Butch's Culinary Wine Tours. What a trip! What a GROUP!
• I'm still amazed and humbled by the opportunity to speak to the teachers and staff of Clawson Public Schools. Helping you start your school year was a highlight of my professional year! Thank you!
• And, I'm profoundly grateful for you. Writing each week is an offering that I bring my whole heart to. But, I am now beginning to understand how much energy is exchanged here! Thank you for showing up, open hearted, and meeting me here. I'm so thankful we are on this journey together.  

Click here to continue reading about my dreams of service moving forward! 

"Life gives you plenty of time to do whatever you want to do if you stay in the present moment."
~ Deepak Chopra

Namasté, friends!

For those of us in West Michigan, we are experiencing grey days.

A lot of grey days.

In fact, people are quoting and posting statistics about the amount of sunshine we have seen since the beginning of December. I can't bring myself to share the numbers with you; somehow, reading those scant figures further cements the grey into my brain and my being. 😅

And yet, these grey days are a beautiful reminder of what yoga is all about. Being present in this moment. Open to all that is within and around us. 

As it turns out, even these grey days are abundantly beautiful. I am grateful to live in a place that is full of natural wonder. Lake Michigan is an expansive wilderness, and especially this time of year, it truly can be wild. ​

"let your growth and healing attract emotionally mature people and good situations. when you change from within, your outer world gets brighter."
~ yung pueblo

Hello, beautiful beings!

We've turned the page to 2023. The end of a year always has me thinking about new beginnings. And, I hear lots of talk about resolutions.

Making a resolution usually begins with, "This year, I am going to . . . " Fill in the blank with any and all goals that are set. Maybe this year we will all to our goals. However, it seems most people do not. The statistics, from Discover Happy Habits, are not encouraging: 

• According to a 2016 study, of the 41% of Americans who make New Years resolutions, by the end of the year only 9% feel they are successful in keeping them.

• An earlier study in 2007 showed that 12% of people who set resolutions are successful even though 52% of the participants were confident of success at the beginning.

But, why? 

When resolutions are made, people have been reflective and determined what it is they want to change. The desire to change is both genuine and heartfelt. So, what goes wrong? Or, maybe more importantly, how can we approach our resolutions differently? ​

Learn more about committing your best self and sticking to it, by clicking here. 

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. ​

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.

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. 

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. ​

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. 

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. 

"Today, let us swim wildly, joyously, in gratitude."
~ Rumi

Beautiful yogis,

I have SO MUCH to be grateful for.

Thank you. Thank you for the gift of your presence in my life. I am deeply grateful for the light you shine in my world.

My wish? That we transcend this day of giving thanks and commit to living a life full of gratitude. 

First, let's get clear about what it means to practice gratitude. According to Robert Emmons, psychology professor and gratitude researcher at the University of California, Davis, there are two key components:

• We affirm the good things we have received;
• We acknowledge the role other people play in providing our lives with goodness.

A few fantastic ways to deepen our practice of gratitude? Click here