I formed my business in 2007, and in the month of May I received my first client payment as a self-employed woman. I can't believe it's been 10 years since then. My purpose has always been to connect with people through my teaching, helping them connect with themselves. We use movement, the body as the starting point to self. We weave mindfulness and embodiment into your daily life. Really, my work has always been about relationships. Relationship to self, mind and body, soul and spirit – like the hip joint, the femur head has a right relationship with the socket, or the acetabulum, in order to function well and last the whole lifespan. Being able to love and be loved by others depends on our ability to first befriend our own thoughts, holding more loosely our identity and leaving … [Read more...]
Birth and Rebirthing
It took me some time to feel like myself after the birth of this baby girl, to get to know her, and in reality - I've guarded these early hours and days for myself and for our new family of 3 to be together. I consciously did not make an announcement until now, 11 days later, allowing myself to rejoice and crumble and grieve and come up for air again and again. The process continues as I make her known to you today, and as we study each other for a lifetime. In birthing my daughter, I became a new mother, more deeply woman, and entered a new dynamic between my partner and I - it's all beautiful and necessary, often messy, and definitely worth it. Shape shifting. Magic. Please note that I'm not ready to publicly share details of the birthing process and the interventions that became … [Read more...]
Love: Sleeping better than she has in 20 years!
Life flows in seasons and I'm honored to have supported so many of YOU through your journey this past year in learning embodied practices and truly, embodied living. To me, yoga, fitness, meditation etc are all pointing us back to our relationship to ourselves and require us to be present, show up, grow and thrive in new ways. My current season as we enter spring is actually feeling like a fall season of shedding, saying no, setting down projects, letting go and even death...moving into a winter season of being inward, nourishing myself and preparing to enter into this next phase of life as a woman, wife and new mother. As I'm preparing to birth this child (come out and play, please!) I'm enjoying completing tasks that got set aside while teaching full time and yes - enjoying … [Read more...]
Why We Practice: Grief, Crisis and Getting Your Ticket Back From Crazy Town
The New Year is up on us, and so many people begin the year thinking about their body. Their health. Setting fitness goals. The classic 'resolutions' to do things differently and be 'better'. In my yoga classes yesterday here in Irvine, CA I had a full house both slots - bigger classes than I've experienced in months and I spoke candidly about how I hoped I'd continue to see them all month - and al year. That these practices steep into our cells and minds over time, creating a new way of being in the world when we commit to the process and practice diligently. We all have different reasons why we start paying attention to our body and our health, and generally these are the kinds of things clients first express when I do their first session: "I want to feel better" "I know I … [Read more...]
Let’s talk about privilege. Yes, again.
I talk and think a lot about embodiment and embodied living. It's also my business, my livelihood. Sometimes this implies my privilege - that we 'get to' enhance our physical and mental emotional health, have all our needs (and dreams) met, explore philosophy and daily practices, and celebrate through the freedom of our voices and movement. We use movement practices to remember how to be who we are. There's been plenty of talk about privilege in our US news and culture over the past few years, and I hope it continues. At least, I hope that I can use mine for the greater good. At the root of all other forms of 'higher' embodiment is safety. Our right to be here. To have our basic needs met. Many people have been made to feel unsafe through comments, assault, violence, … [Read more...]
Restorative Yoga: The Head Wonton
Today I'm giving you one of my favorite restorative yoga propping techniques. I originally learned this from my mentor, Donna Farhi, and have enjoyed seeing students settle in with a sigh of relief when tucked in properly. If you experience neck and shoulder tension, or feel overstimulated by the outside world, this can bring a soothing, cradling quality to a standard savasana. To the left, one of my dear students agreed to model for this blog - really, she was so comfortable that she didn't mind the extra time to soak in this pose! We took her wonton corners and tucked in her shoulders with a fairly large amount of the blanket, leaving the center of the blanket roll's height right at the base of her skull. She had another blanket underneath her torso for softness and support, … [Read more...]
It Ain’t All Roses: Practice Insights
It ain't all roses all the time, is it? In writing copy for my new website in the fall of 2015, I decided to share a brief glimpse of my 'dark ages'. My long term clients knew me then, some of them aware of the circumstances and others oblivious - only realizing when my name changed a year later when the divorce was final. Many of them didn't know I was pregnant, and somehow I worked through the fabulous first trimester all-day-sickness and found hope. It was a hell of a year losing a pregnancy I wanted, regretted, prayed over, learned to love again and then lost. All while separated from the relationship that made it came to be. Wanting to understand. Wanting him. Not wanting him. Hating him, and yes, forgiving him. Teaching my clients gave me a reason to get out of bed. To … [Read more...]
Vagal Tone
"It’s very clear that the human is one entity: mind and body are one. It sounds logical but it’s not how we looked at it before. We didn’t have the science to agree with what may seem intuitive. Now we have new data and new insights." How can we use this information? Meditation, vigorous exercise, and emotional resilience all relate to vagal tone, heart rate variability and deep internal health. Vagal tone might be a hot ticket item right now for teachers and neuro-geeks, but it doesn't help our students if we don't know how it applies to how we practice and live life, right? Basically, we can't do what we've always done the way we've always done it and expect to be healthy, people. Change it up. Take a risk. Get outside more. And move your body, mind, and life in NEW … [Read more...]