Special Celebration

Respect & Gratitude​
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Last Saturday I had the privilege of teaching these beauties a private class. They were staying along the lakeshore for a bachelorette party.

We settled into presence, stretched, relaxed, laughed, and celebrated love. I have so much respect for the courage and vulnerability it takes to walk into an unknown space with an instructor whom you do not know.

What a special way to come together and create a lasting memory. I’m grateful for the opportunity and the trust.  🙏🏽

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“The stress cycle needs to complete,
and just eliminating the stressor isn’t enough to do that.”
~ Emily Nagoski

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Stress vs. Stressor
Complete the Cycle

Hi beauties!

I love writing to you each week, for so many reasons, but today it’s primarily because the newsletter provides me with a platform to share in more depth.

I am deeply committed to the premise that each and every yoga class I teach must move beyond the physical body. Yes, it’s wonderful to loosen up, gain strength, and improve balance through physical postures (asanas), but that’s just a tiny bit of what yoga is about. So, I try and share more as we move through our asanas; however, there’s only so much talking that can happen while we are holding Warrior II?! 😉

(I know, I know . . . many of you are rolling your eyes and thinking: Michelle, you talk WAY too long when we are in Boat and Chair pose! 🤣)

Today, I want to share some of what I talk about when hired to speak to groups.

We all know about stress. Or, at least we think we know all about it because each of us experiences stress, and stress is something that’s readily talked about.

However, did you know that there is a difference between stress and the stressor?

Okay, it’s that time of year, so I’ll use filing taxes as the example. (Ugh. Sigh.)

Maybe you fly right through it, but for many of us, filing our taxes (or preparing for someone else to file them) isn’t simple, easy, nor fun. In fact, for most, it’s downright stressful.

That entire process of filing our taxes is what Emily and Amelia Nagoski, in their book Burnout, refer to as the stressor. Filing taxes, the stressor, is the thing that causes the stress.

Oftentimes we think that as soon as we provide that final signature, or hit “SEND” and actually file those taxes, then we are finished.
Task completed. Stress removed.

Right?

Unfortunately, not so.

You see, when we are being impacted by a stressor (working on filing our taxes), our body experiences an entire range of responses.

When we finish filing, our body doesn’t really understand that we have completed the task. There is no “off switch” for the chemicals we have been stewing in while under the influence of that stressor.

In other words, while the task may be completed, our cycle of being stressed is not.

Take another look at that picture of me and Javi out on the pier. That was taken this past Sunday when the snow on the ground was gone. And yet, look at the giant pile of snow, and sand, and grit, and debris behind me. Yep, that’s what’s left after our winter storm.

That’s sort of how stress is in our body. It builds up and doesn’t immediately dissipate nor automatically disappear.  In fact, we have to move through our cycle of stress in order for the stress to be removed.

HOW do we move through our stress cycle and get it to leave our bodies?

Thankfully, there are effective strategies, and we’ll talk more about them in future letters. But, sneak peek . . . Breath and Movement top the list! 🥰

So, please be kind to yourself. Even those of us with privileged lives can experience a lot of stress and/or live under a chronic low-level of stress. This stress does impact our body and our well-being. And, it’s not enough to simply brush it off and announce we’re fine.

We are worth much better self-care, and we can support one another on our path of living well.

Big love,

~ m

P.S. Did you miss it last week? I wrote a guest blog post for One Bigg Island in Space. Check it out! You can find it here. ​