Self Care Tip: Schedule Yourself A Break

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

This time of year is busy, busy, busy. Report cards, field trips, high stakes state testing wrap up, finals, marathon grading sessions, end-of-the-year celebration planning and all those hormonal students with spring fever… it is enough to make anyone want to schedule a mental health holiday.

The end of the school year always reminds me of a championship baseball game that has just gone into extra innings. Everything feels completely necessary and like every second counts.

My friend and author, Rosie Molinary used to think, “Maybe something mildly bad will happen, like a really bad flu or a minor car accident, so that I can take a little bit of time off.”

Sound like something you might say to yourself? Me too.

Let’s face it, even if you don’t work in a school, spring is an extra busy time. Even nature is going a million miles a minute: the birds, the bees, the pollen and the trees.

Stress city!

So rather than trying to keep going and going and going until you completely burn out, why not schedule yourself a break?

Start with an hour for yourself in the next couple of weeks: a restorative yoga class, a nap, a massage, a manicure or pedicure, a run outside without any distraction.

Then why not schedule a half day? A hike at a nearby river or lake, a picnic by a stream, a good book under a tree, a yoga workshop with your favorite teacher, an afternoon taking pictures of signs of spring, writing in your journal in a café.

Then try a whole day and schedule absolutely nothing and see how the day unfolds. Maybe try a pajama day and see how you feel.

The idea behind these breaks is to give yourself a bit of space and breathing room. You may find you are happier and even more productive than you would have been without the break.

Does the idea of scheduling a break freak you out or are you already grabbing your planner? Please share in the comments.

Post inspired by Beautiful You: A Daily Guide to Radical Self-Acceptance by Rosie Molinary. Specifically Day 306: Take a Personal Health Day and Day 57 Schedule Breaks.

Image Source: Serenity Retreat – Early Fall by FreeWine on Flickr (cc)

Mother’s Day Gift Guide for the Yoga Mama in Your Life

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

So I’m a yoga mama and these are things and experiences that I would love for my family to share with me this Mother’s Day. Maybe something here strikes your fancy too and you can share this list with your family.

A home-cooked brunch with her best friends. We’ve started a Mother’s Day tradition which involves my husband making waffles with all the fixins for me and one of my best girls and our families at home instead of fighting Mom’s Day crowds. We round out the meal with fresh berries, juice and coffee/tea and have the luxury of no waiting and actually delicious food when we want it. {Don’t forget to clean the kitchen after!}

The gift of time…. at the studio. Why not treat your favorite yoga mama to a private session, a restorative yoga party with her friends, a new class card or a workshop with her favorite teacher?

{Be sure to include taking the kids to the park certificates with the studio time.}

The gift of books…and time to read them. Amazon or Powell’s gift card and if you need a list of good reads check out the link.

The gift of time….in nature. Why not plan a picnic and a half day get away to a quiet slice of nature for some family bonding time? Just remember this is about treating mama to a day, so please pack the sunscreen, cold drinks and a way to corral the little ones.

We love spending time out in the UC Davis Arboretum, out by the South Yuba River and by the water in the East Bay.

The gift of quiet….at home. My restorative home practice helps me keep up with my ridiculously active two-year old. I highly recommend these props to aid the relaxation.

The bible. I carry this book with me all the time. Helps with sequencing, props, pose ideas.

The bolster. A key prop for super relaxation. I love mine so much I sleep with it. I get no props for my love note about these props, so feel free to take my word they rock the relaxation.

The eye pillow. Love the weight, the sweet lavender smell and the peach skin feeling. I’ve recently starting using 3 during my practice {one for the eyes and one for each hand} – delicious.

The sandbag. What can I say? I love the feeling of grounding that comes from the weighted props.

What would you like to receive this Mother’s Day?

Image source: heart en route by rosmary on Flickr (cc)

How To Make It Through The Afternoon Without More Coffee or Trip to the Vending Machine

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

Alternate post title: Turn Your Work Day Upside Down (In the Best Possible Way)

Do you often wonder how you are going to get through the rest of your workday? Or do you just get over yourself and order another coffee or pick up a sugar snack from the vending machine?

I have another way! It’s free and easy and will leave you feeling pretty dang refreshed.

I used to do it at recess or lunch break when I was teaching and it totally helped me not grab for the extra caffeine and sugar which would ultimately leave me with an energy slump soon after.

If you ever get a chance to take a live class with me, at some point I will give you a daily yoga challenge/prescription that will change your life should you choose to accept it.

15 minutes of Viparita Karani or Legs Up the Wall.

After taking a full 90 minute restorative class with me recently, Jeanne took that challenge back to her office.

I asked Jeanne about her office yoga experiment and here’s what she have to say about it.

How many people participate?

JH: 3-8 people, depending on the day/time. We meet at 10 am and 3 pm each day.

How long do you practice?

JH: We started with 5 minutes, now we are doing 10 minutes.

What’s the instruction?

JH: I show people how to get set up and they follow. I tell them to let it all go – notice if they are trying to hold themselves off of the floor. Remind them to breathe. There is often a lot of chatter, so I suggest that we do not talk. Sometimes this works, most times it does not.

What’s the tone of the time in legs up the wall?

JH: The tone in our office is pretty relaxed – we are perpetually busy, but we try to have fun doing it. So at 10 am, everyone is jacked on coffee and getting their morning underway, so the 10 am time is very nice to break up the morning crack-heads. The afternoon is more of a refresher, to get through the remaining time in the day.

How are people feeling before, during and after the legs up the wall party?

JH: As I mentioned, before our session, people are either cracked out (10 am) or in a Food coma/end of day lull (3 pm). But regardless, during the mood is SO relaxed and goofy.

Everyone begins by cracking jokes, laughing, sighing, and ultimately silence does come at the last few minutes.

After the session, everyone rolls onto their side in a fetal position for at least 10 seconds before they come up. I have told them to TAKE THEIR TIME coming up. Afterward everyone moves a bit slower and has a smile.

How has this changed the atmosphere in the office?

JH: The atmosphere has always been fun, but I think it’s created a different bond between certain people. We recently consolidated operations and had 6 people move from an office in Salinas to our office in Loomis. Combining forces has been great so far, and we have invited some of the new additions, and one did join (a male)! I think people feel more easy going and less apprehensive with each other, when they have a work-related issue- we can “out” ourselves on a mistake or an area of lacking knowledge, without feeling inferior. It’s more playful and “chill”.

What do you think, friends? Would you try yoga at work?

You Become What You Pay Attention To

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

In class each week I try to share some nugget of wisdom I’ve picked up along the way. Recently most of what I’m sharing comes from my friend, Rosie’s book, Beautiful You.

Day 23: Realize That You Are What You Pay Attention To

She writes -

Consider this very simple truth. What we pay attention to, what we put our energy into, is a statement about what is important to us. It is a reflection of who we are.

She goes on to challenge the reader to examine and reflect where their attention and energy is spent and to make adjustments if they don’t like what they find.

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I’ve been limiting my intake of things that I don’t find helpful or kind (no more Law and Order SVU marathons for me) and I’ve found I’ve felt more at ease as a result.

Here are a few things I have found quite helpful lately.

Megan Francis’ The Kitchen Hour podcast. Specifically the episode with Math For Grownups author Laura Laing. In this podcast they talk about how to help your kids with math homework, online resources and how to deal with that pesky “new math”. I was completely riveted and wish I had known about this website and book earlier.

Joy the Baker podcast. Good lord, where do I start? My child sings the theme song. Let’s just say these ladies have made their presence known (and loved) in our household. Can not say enough how much I crack up in every episode. I’ll bet you’ll want to be their best friends too.

Body Positive Yoga’s videos have brightened this curvy girl’s day. Amber is super funny and she knows her modifications for the three B’s: booty, belly and boobs. Such a great resource!

How to Be Fascinating – Marie Forleo’s interview with Sally Hogshead. I was lucky enough to get a free deal because I subscribe to Marie’s weekly emails (and I will say I actually look forward to getting them each week because they are so good.) Turns out I’m a trendsetter – I see the future and would like you all to come with me. Sounds exactly right! In a world full of power yoga, I’m asking people to lay down and be quiet.

What Can I Do When My Toddler Won’t Stop Running Away From Me? Dude. I asked this exact question to the universe and BAM! Answer right in my Google Reader the exact.same.day. Whaaaat? I know.

Brene Brown (one of my all time favorites) is sharing her favorite books. This is ridiculously exciting for a book nerd like me.

My friend Rosie is a genius (this post is inspired by something in one of her books!) and she has figured out the secret to life: unscheduled days. I know. Brilliant!

What are you putting your energy and attention these days?

10 Self-Care Ideas That Take 10 Minutes or Less

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

Do you feel like you don’t have the time to do self-care because you don’t have an hour plus a day to devote to it?

I definitely have a long history of not doing things because I couldn’t do them perfectly or the way I thought they “should” be done. I figured the small things didn’t really matter, but boy I was wrong.

The first time I really noticed how small things added up was when I was taking a self-guided classroom management course. As a life long procrastinating perfectionist with an already over booked schedule, I was anxious about finding the time to actually get all the work done.

My plan was to work for 20 minutes every day on it. Just 20 minutes. My promise to myself was that I would stop working as soon as the timer went off even if I had’t finished anything. I just needed to start something.

Well, two weeks later of daily 20 minute bursts of actual work (it’s really hard to procrastinate when you only have 20 minutes) and I was finished with the class and feeling quite accomplished.

With that success under my belt, I started looking for other areas in my life where I could put 20 minutes of attention.

Kitchen duty that used to completely overwhelm me? – Done.

Mounds of laundry? – Done.

Yoga home practice? – Done.

If you are looking for ways to help take care of yourself, why not start with small ways that don’t take much time?

10 Self-Care Ideas That Take 10 Minutes or Less

1. Sip a cup of tea in silence.

2. Go to bed 10 minutes earlier and get a bit more shut eye.

3. Read a book for pleasure.

4. A single restorative yoga pose.

5. Schedule a massage, a much needed doctor appointment or a visit with your insurance agent to review your life insurance policy (ok, maybe that one is for me).

6. Slather lotion on your hands and feet and let it soak in before you move.

7. Snuggle with your sweetheart.

8. Cook a warm breakfast or make a green smoothie to go.

9. Take yourself on a walk.

10. Make an appointment to talk to a therapist if you are really struggling.

How do you manage your self-care?

Image source via pinterest.

Less Talking, More Listening

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

Just for a day, what would it be like to really listen?

Instead of thinking of the next witty response or check mate argument ender, why not just quietly listen to what others are saying.

What could we learn – from others? From ourselves? From the silence?

This post was inspired by Day 339 in Beautiful You: A Daily Resource for Radical Self-Acceptance by Rosie Molinary.

Do you struggle with listening and silence (or is that just me)? What have you learned from being quiet?

Image source:Quiet Please by bixentro on Flickr (cc)

Classroom Teachers Who Inspire

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

One of the best parts of being a classroom teacher is being inspired and awed by your co-workers – the big ones and the little ones.

Classroom teachers are freaking amazing, multi-talented people. And these teachers are truly inspirational. They not only spend their days in the classroom, they also spend time on a yoga mat.

Find out who and what inspires them:

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Jenna Francisco of This is My Happiness:

People who are kind, simple, and interested in the betterment of all humans. People, especially quirky or creative ones, who are 100% comfortable being themselves. Societies that value slowness, simplicity, and equality.

I’m inspired to be in the moment every day, whether it’s just relaxing, spending time with my sons, or even going to work. I’m inspired by history and art, and I won’t lie—I love to travel and want to live overseas, (both very outside-of-the-moment!), so I’m inspired to see as much of this world as I can in my short life.

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Amy Estes (formerly of Just a Titch) and now Coffee and Sunshine

I think working in a profession where I’m forced to be creative is good for inspiration—teenagers see the world so differently than I do, and also, kids are brutally honest about how they’re feeling, which definitely inspires thoughts. Otherwise, I find inspiration in a good book, a song that makes me want to dance or cry, conversations with my closest friends, a long drive on a sunny day, in cooking or baking, during a long bath or shower and the things that I write off-line, in my paper journal.

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Jed Brewer of Lather Records

I’m drawn to people that are smart, creative, and weird. Occasionally, I need some boring down time to recover from everything, but I like watching, hearing, and talking to people that let it all hang out. People that risk embarrassment or being misunderstood to do something that’s a little different. Not the Jackass people, but creative or even political people.

I also get off on stuff from the natural world. I’m fascinated by topography – land shapes, gorges, mountains, rivers, etc. And animals, of course. The Amazing Yans inspires me just about every day.

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Ryan Fong of Deep Homework

I have many people who inspire me.

My partner, Eric, inspires me to see myself in the way that he sees me—with unconditional love and compassion.
My uncle is an inspiration for a life lived well and very mindfully. He’s a friend, mentor, and model in addition to being my blood relative.
I’m inspired, as I think many of us at IAY are, by the way the community there supports us in experiencing the challenges and joys of really embracing it *all* as yoga.
But mostly, I’m inspired by the universe’s generosity in giving us this present moment to do and be right. Not right as in correct, but as in right here, right now and just right.

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Who or what inspires you?

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Want to learn more about the Teacher Goes Back to School Featured Teachers? Here’s the full archive.

Do you know a kick ass yoga practicing classroom teacher? Is that you? Please let me know!

Image source: Abstract light photography pink heart bokeh photography … by mylittlepixels on Etsy

Yoga Teachers Who Inspire

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

Over the years I’ve interviewed some of my favorite yoga teachers.

Here are the highlights:

You’ve said yoga will “ruin” your life as you know it… What did you mean by that? And how has it ruined yours?

It’s completely ruined mine! I think you’re never off the hook. Once you know about the philosophy and “the path,” you know when you’re off it.

Recently I went to a party and some friends were talking about another person who was not there. The talk was not kind (*not* ahimsa) and probably not entirely true (*not* satya).

I didn’t get up and leave the conversation and it’s really heavy on me this morning. My body told me to get up—I felt a little nauseas (another way you’re *ruined*—you’re more aware of your physical and emotional feelings). I even had dreams about it last night.

But I didn’t say anything or excuse myself, and I can’t change it, and there’s no sense in berating myself (back to ahimsa). So I take this experience and set the intention to do it differently next time.

For more with Michelle Marlahan proprietress of It’s All Yoga (Sacramento) – my primary teacher - excerpt from Part 2.

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Madeleine Lohman describing her first yoga class.…

It was a beginner’s class, but an accelerated one intended for folks who were already “in shape.” I don’t know what led me to believe that described me. I’ll never forget the teacher kneeling beside me trying to encourage me to roll back into plough pose. All my efforts produced almost no movement, only grunting.

I do remember that I did my first handstand in that class. I actually cried out: “Jeezus!!!”

The teacher didn’t find it funny.

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Speaking of laughing and yoga….here’s how Anna Guest-Jelley describes her yoga classes.

I like to describe my classes as a choose-your-own-adventure book. Remember those? I give lots of different options during class. I always talk with my students before class to check in and see what’s going on with them so I have an idea of what modifications to offer. The classes themselves are usually quiet with some bursts of laughter.

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Who or what inspires you? Who are your favorite yoga teachers?

Interested in learning more about our Featured Teachers? Here’s the full archive.

Are you interested in being a Teacher Goes Back to School Featured Teacher? Contact me at TGBTS blog AT g mail dot com – subject line: Featured Teacher

Image: sudheer and son mayan riviera by lululemon athletica on Flickr (cc)

How-to Feel Refreshed After Spring Break

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

Tip #1 Don’t over schedule yourself.

Allow for down time to just hang out and do nothing. I know it is tempting to try to catch up on some grading or planning or housework, but don’t forget to take time for yourself.

Need some do nothing inspiration? Check out one of my favorite sites: Love Wasting Time: A Pause In A World of Bigger, Better, Faster, More.

Tip #2 Sleep a little more at night.

My own sleep is much more restful in the hours before midnight so I try to get as many of those as possible. That may be because I get up ridiculously early with my daughter, but whatever. I try to be in bed by nine and asleep by 10. I know, I’m an early bird! However you stock up on your own sleep, please do. The more the merrier when it comes to sleep!

For some interesting facts about sleep click here.

Tip #3 Nap during the day or practice some restorative yoga.

It has been said restorative yoga can feel more refreshing than taking a nap. I have to agree (except of course when I’m too tired and I just fall asleep).

Practice with me.

A little home retreat for 90 minutes.

At home mini vacation for 15 minutes.

Tip #4 Take time away from working/computer/screens and step into nature.

The NY Times explains the science behind what we already instinctively know: a break from technology is a good thing.

You don’t have to go far – the back yard, a local park or lake – just take your shoes off, lay a blanket on the grass and look up at the sky.

Tip #5 Exercise.

Sometime this is the first thing to go when things at work get busy, so while on break take advantage of this extra time to take care of yourself. Exercise is nature’s anti-depressant.

Maybe you check out a class usually out of reach because you are at work. Now’s the time to try that morning Zumba, weight lifting or ballet class. Why not try some Pilates or kickboxing? Or just grab your shoes and a friend and head out for a leisurely stroll around your neighborhood. Instead of driving to your coffee date, dust off your bike and cruise on over.

Tip #6 Connect with friends or family.

It’s during school breaks that I get to go out to lunch. Oh how I miss this during the year. So if you are like me and love a leisurely midday meal with a friend or close family member, get it on the schedule now.

Do you have any tried and true ways to make sure you return to school after break feeling refreshed and ready to face the end of the school year?

Please share in the comments and if you found these tips helpful, please share with your friends and family.

Image source: dandelion photography Fine art photography – botanical 8×8 … by mylittlepixels on Etsy

What If I Fall Asleep In Class? FAQ About Restorative Yoga – PART 1

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

As many of you have noticed, I’m posting much more about restorative yoga here on the blog, mostly in an effort to explain what has helped improve my mental and physical health over the last few years. If it inspires you to take a restorative class or pick up a book or just take a break – hooray!

Some feedback I’ve gotten as a result has come in the form of questions, so today I offer you some answers to those you might be too embarrassed to ask.

Let’s start at the beginning.

What IS restorative yoga?

Restorative yoga classes are much different from regular classes. The biggest difference is that in restorative yoga we lie down with blankets, bolsters, blocks, straps, sandbags, over chairs and then we lie down some more.

In other words, probably the most difficult part of the class is making it there on time.

Once you’re there, we just lie down.

If you can easily get down on the floor and up again an hour or so later, we’re golden. We get comfy and let the props do the work.

Other people may have a more technical explanation, but I feel like lying down with the purpose of relaxing the body and brain is a good way to put it.

What if I fall asleep during class?

When was the last time you completely relaxed your body and didn’t fall asleep?

For most people, it’s been a while. Plus most of us are pretty tired.

So, what happens if you fall asleep during class?

Nothing.

Well, you may get a little nap in.

I’m not going to call attention to you or make you feel like a horrible person or even think badly of you. I’m honestly going to think that you are tired.

I bring this up during every class, especially with new people, because I know I’ve felt embarrassed when I’ve fallen asleep in class. I am pretty sure if you are falling asleep, it means you are tired and it’s a good thing you are there taking a break.

What if I snore?

It happens. Waking yourself up with a snore is usually how you know you were really asleep and not just spacing out thinking about other stuff. Again, this is a pretty good sign you are tired.

How do you know so much about this sleeping in yoga business?

It used to happen to me ALL.THE.TIME. Dude, sometimes I’d fall asleep in the 5 minute savasana at the end of a regular class. Apparently, I have a long history of being tired.

In fact, it still happens to me. Just the other day I was practicing some restorative poses (ok, one pose) at home and I *totally* fell asleep.

How do I know I really fell asleep and wasn’t just thinking about other stuff?

Because the church bells alarm woke me up. {#protip – set an alarm when you practice at home}

What if I toot ?

Same as snoring. It happens. And then we don’t worry about it because it doesn’t matter.

So we’re all lying around over bolsters and propped up with blankets and blocks and then what? What are we D-O-I-N-G?

The short answer is we are doing nothing other than taking a little break from the constant go go go.

The longer answer is making your body comfortable enough for muscles to be able to really let go and relax and rest. During class I try to keep my talking to a minimum so you have a chance to experience physical relaxation and quiet at the same time.

We don’t get to do that every much in our modern constantly connected world. It can sometimes feel like a mini vacation.

So, do you have anything you’d like to know about restorative yoga?

Free Restorative Yoga for Sacramento Area School Teachers to Celebrate National Teacher Appreciation Week

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

National Teacher Appreciation Week is coming up – May 6-10th and to show my gratitude to my fellow educators, I’m offering a FREE restorative yoga class at It’s All Yoga.

Why?

Because I know how hard teachers work and I feel like they deserve a little mini vacation during the school year. I’d like to share a little rest and relaxation with my colleagues and friends. Plus I’d like them to indulge in a little self-care.

If you are a school teacher in the Sacramento area – you are invited!

This class is limited to 16 lucky teachers and will fill up. If you would like to reserve a place, please register online and click the workshops tab.

Want to learn more about restorative yoga? Try here.

Still have questions? Contact me – Tami – tgbtsblog AT gmail Dot com.

How will you celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week?

15 Minute Mini Vacation

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

Friends, how about that Daylight Saving Time? I don’t know about you, but our house is full of what would seem to be hungover people. It is not pretty.

Yesterday was National Napping Day and I celebrated with a 15 minute mini vacation because I was simply too tired/wired to really nap and sometimes there just isn’t enough time or energy to do a whole yoga practice.

Are you in?

15 Minute Mini Vacation

You will need:

15 minutes alone

three pillows or rolled towels or bolster plus two blocks

this Tara Brach podcast and something to listen to it on

Do this:

Set yourself up in reclined cobbler’s pose – a pillow under spine/head, soles of feet together, knees splayed out resting on pillows or towels.

Here’s a picture:

Listen to the podcast.

Breathe.

Ta da! A 15 minute mini vacation.

I feel much better now. Don’t you?

If you’d like an entire restorative practice and are in Sacramento, come on by It’s All Yoga at 7:15 tonight.

Image 1: pinterest

Image 2: VanderbiltHealth.com

Health Benefits of Practicing Restorative Yoga

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

Do you practice restorative yoga?

Do you need a little proof that this practice is more than just lying around?

Restorative yoga alleviates depression in women suffering from breast cancer while increasing their well-being and outlook on life.

Restorative yoga resolves metabolic syndrome which increases the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease (more information here). Those in the study had reduced blood pressure, a significant increase in energy levels, lower stress levels and an overall improvement in well-being.

Restorative yoga improves the quality of sleep.

Restorative yoga may even help people lose some belly fat.

Scientific evidence that restorative yoga decreases depression, blood pressure, stress, and belly fat while increases well-being, outlook of life, energy level and sleep.

Now let’s all lay down and relax a bit.

Do you have any questions about restorative yoga? Leave them in the comment section and I’ll be glad to find out the answer for you.

Image Credit: Manduka Equa Towel for Bikram yoga class by lululemon athletica on Flickr (cc)

8 Tips To Bring More Relaxation Into Your Life

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

When was the last time you relaxed?

I mean, really relaxed?

Like turn the phone off, shut the laptop and watched the leaves swaying in the breeze relaxed?

It’s probably been a while because most of us simply feel like we don’t have the time to relax.

Or the idea of relaxing brings up voices in your head that sound a lot like “relaxing is for vacation only!” or “that’s for lazy people!” or my favorite – “I’m too damn busy to relax!“.

Between back-to-back meetings, driving carpool, commuting to work, liking your brother-in-law barber’s vacation photos on Facebook, making dinner and watching the latest episode of the most talked about TV show, there isn’t much time for just lounging around. Most of us spend so much time going, going, going that we forget to stop and just be for a while.

And if we’re really honest, we really like being busy. Or at least feel trapped by being busy and we’re just not sure how to jump off the treadmill of modern life.

So rather than wring our hands lamenting about our collective state of busyness, my challenge is to schedule in some relaxation time this month.

Seriously.

Schedule some down time/relaxation for 20 minutes a day.

If you are suddenly very irritated with me and how I don’t understand how busy you are, then you may need to double your relaxation time this month.

There is an old Zen saying:

“You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day—unless you are too busy; then you should sit for an hour.”

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.

Where will you find these 20 minutes for relaxation?

Mostly I find mine when I close my laptop and/or switch off whatever screen is captivating my attention. Turn off the Facebook, friends!

It also helps to write it in your schedule as an appointment to yourself. If is feels silly writing “relax” on your calendar, feel free to give it a code name.

Tips To Bring More Relaxation Into Your Life:

While on transit to and from work, put your phone in your bag and close your eyes for a few minutes to just breathe.
If you drive to work, turn off the sounds. No music, no podcast, no nothing. Enjoy the silence for the entire drive.
If you have an office you could close the door, silence the phone and massage your face for a few minutes.
Sit by the river/lake/stream/pond/urban body of water and listen to the birds.
Lay on the grass and watch the leaves flutter in the breeze.
Make snow angels if you like that sort of thing.
Meditate using a mantra. Here’s mine.

Of course, you could take a restorative yoga class. Or you could practice one restorative yoga pose at home before you go to sleep. Here’s one of my favorites.

What are other ways to relax? Do you schedule your relaxation? What are your feelings on relaxation?

Image Source: Just Relax 97/365 by SashaW on Flickr (cc)

Savasana: A Love Story

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to talk to some Yoga Basics students about coming to my classes. Here’s what I told them.

Savasana: A Love Story

During the first year or so of going to yoga classes around town, I fell in love. That overwhelming feeling of I-just-can’t-get-enough kind of love. An obsession, really.

At the beginning, I didn’t know its name. I called it “that lying down part at the end”. My secret wish was that each class I took would end with “that lying down part”.

I fell in love with Savasana.

What’s to love?

I loved that feeling of my body letting go of tension, releasing the urge to work, and falling into relaxation and rest at the end of class. Even if we only were there for a few minutes, that was the part I liked the most. I felt its power of rest like nothing I’d ever experienced, except maybe for an actual nap.

After each class, my mind felt calmer, my body relaxed and for a brief time, I felt peaceful.

For a super Type-A, pitta-deranged, smart Alec with amazing perfectionist tendencies, peaceful was something I’d never felt before.

And I liked it.

So I kept going back, week after week, hoping that we would end with “that lying down part”.

It surprises me now – a decade plus past my first class – that not one time, in any class I took that first year, did any teacher mention that every class ends with “that lying down part”.

Imagine my delight when I finally asked someone and they explained that EVERY yoga class ends that way!

To this day I love Savasana.

In fact, I’ve dedicated my yoga teaching to the lying down part! We pretty much do that the whole time in my classes. And while, yes, it can be hard to do – it is worth it.

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Interested in starting a love affair with “that lying down part”? Check out my class schedule and come rest with me.

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What yoga pose would you write a love story about?

Photo credit: Robert Bejil Photography on Flickr (cc)

That Time I Knew I Was Going To The Nervous Hospital: AKA My First Restorative Yoga Class

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

A person who recently took a restorative yoga class with me told the owner of the studio where I work that my class was hard.

Like, really hard.

Surprisingly hard.

When she asked why, the response she got may surprise you.

It was the quiet.

The quiet was the hard part.

The doing nothing while laying down with nothing to do was the hard part.

I was taken aback for a minute when she told me and then I remembered my first restorative yoga class.

Picture this: My body was supported in legs up the wall (just like the picture above), I was carefully covered with a soft, clean smelling blanket, my eye pillow rested over my eyes and then BAM!

No joke, within five minutes I truly believed I was going to have to live in the nervous hospital. I was clearly insane. The voices in my head got louder and louder the longer I stayed still. I kept wondering when the men in the padded van were going to come wrap my clearly crazy self up in a straight jacket and take me out of there.

My mind wouldn’t quit.

The deep dark hidden secrets I successfully avoided by staying busy had finally caught up to me when my body got quiet.

Basically, my mind kicked my ass for an hour and a half while I laid there in the quiet waiting for the padded room dudes to come get me.

Needless to say, It was quite a workout.

So I get it.

The quiet IS the hard part.

Sometimes I forget that laying down quietly with your body fully supported can be difficult.

I get it.

It clearly happens to us all.

I also get that sometimes we need to challenge ourselves to do hard things that are good for us.

Recently the New York Times published an article about how if you Relax! You’ll Be More Productive that has been widely across social media. I share it here with you because it perfectly illustrates my point about how lying down often, taking naps, taking vacations and breaks from your online world are hard, but totally worthwhile.

This gist of the article is exactly what I’ve said in my classes for years:

The less you do sometimes directly relates to how much more you can do other times.

So this, friends, is my invitation to you. Tuesday nights (and the first Sunday of each month) I teach how to live in the quiet. A nice supportive place to make friends with your inner critics.

Join me? It’s All Yoga in Sacramento, CA. Public and classes are available.

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Have you ever tried restorative yoga? Do you have a regular practice? What’s your experience?

Blogs I Love: Curvy Yoga

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

Blog I Love: Curvy Yoga

Who they are:

Anna Guest-Jelley is the mastermind behind Curvy Yoga – a training and inspiration portal for curvy yogis and their allies and teachers.

I was fortunate enough to meet Anna pretty quickly after my yoga teacher training and had the opportunity to interview her for our Featured Teacher Series. You can check out those interviews here and here.

Basically, she is a rock star.

Recently she guest posted here at TGBTS about How Restorative Yoga Healed My Body Image – which includes a free restorative section from her book Permission to Curve.

Anna organized the Curvy Yoga community to send photos to the Yoga Journal Model Contest and published all the photos on her site. If you look you may even find some familiar faces.

Some local Sacramento Curvy Yogis from It’s All Yoga and I talked with Anna about our Curvy Yogi photo shoot, radical insight and the subversiveness of acceptance and the interviews are here and here.

In other words, Anna has been a TGBTS ally since the start and she is not only a warm, generous person, but also an inspiration. I am so happy to have Anna in my corner.

Why I love Curvy Yoga and what I learn from it:

Anna writes thoughtful, thought-provoking posts and provides information I haven’t found anywhere else. She inspires me to bring yoga to people who may believe they can not do it for whatever reason.

Posts I find inspiring:

Why Touching Your Toes Doesn’t Matter

Restorative Yoga (a simple practice for home)

25 Ways to Add Yoga to Your Life

13 Ways of Looking At A Yoga Pose

Weighty Words

Dear Yoga Journal

Curvy Yogis, Represent!

Yogi Imperfect

Are You Advanced In Your Practice?

Finding Your Teacher

Yoga From the Wounded Place

If you haven’t already, go check out Curvy Yoga and then tell me what you think.

What blogs do you love?

Who Is Your Go-To Girl?

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

Do you have someone you trust to help you in times of transition? Someone you can call to help you sort through personal and/or professional issues?

According to Rosie Molinary in Beautiful You: A Daily Guide To Radical Self-Acceptance:

Every woman should have a person she goes to when she needs understanding, perspective, comfort or commiseration….sharing problems helps you put worries into perspective, offers you fresh solutions and can help halt the cycle of negative thoughts.”

So hand-to-the-forehead simple! I couldn’t agree more. My friends are smart, funny, ass-kicking and most importantly, think I am too.

So why haven’t I calling them more often?

My word for 2013 is connection.

One of the reasons I chose this word is because I’ve gotten out of the habit of reaching out to friends and co-workers when I need them because everyone is so busy, the false sense of connection through social media and if I’m being really honest, I didn’t want to be any trouble. {Whaaat? I know. Probably deserves its own therapy session.}

Anyway, I am currently confronting a situation which has lead to much hand wringing and early morning wake-ups. I haven’t been getting very far on my own so I decided to rally my troops.

In a recent call with one of my Go-To Girls, I was able to not only run through various scenarios from worst-to-best case, I was able to write a timeline of action and quickly come up with a list of people I need to connect with in order to solve said issue. My Go-To Girl, not only helped me problem solve, but also reminded me what a fighter I’ve been in the past and how she had great confidence in me and my abilities. I got off the phone feeling pretty damn great about the situation and myself.

Left to my own devices I’m pretty sure I’d still be wringing my hands and plotting revenge fantasies.

One of my best self-care practices is reaching out when I’m in need. I may have to get a tattoo of this one to remind me when I’m down.

Do you have a Go-To Girl? Are you someone’s Go-To Girl?

Image Source: We Heart It

Taking It Easy

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

I am taking it easy today. Between massive seasonal allergies, a sick kiddo and the promise of rain, I’m calling in the self-care.

How are you taking care of you today?

Image Source: Pinterest

Be Your Own Valentine!

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

February is all about the love, obvs. But rather than focusing on other people’s love and such, I’m inviting you (and me) to be our own Valentines this month.

We can create some self-love by practicing extreme self-care this month. I’ll be posting some ideas during the month and I’ll keep you posted how I’m doing as well.

My first self-love/self-care challenge comes from Rosie Molinary‘s book, Beautiful You:

Day 223: Listen to Your Body and Respond

We spend a whole lot of time berating our bodies and not nearly enough time caring for them. It’s time to start focusing on being responsive to our body’s needs.

Challenge: Every hour stop and ask yourself “What am I feeling right now? What do I need?”

If you discover you need water, get some and drink. If you need to stretch your legs, take a short walk. If you need some connection, reach out to a friend. Whatever the need, take a few minutes to take care of it. Your body will thank you.

How are you planning to love yourself this month?

If you’d like to spend some time taking it easy and deeply relaxing in the company of others, come join me at It’s All Yoga on Tuesday nights at 7:15 for restorative yoga.

Image Source: Pinterest

Chosen It

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

Image source: Pinterest

Talk about shifting gears, this quote is helping me move from the poor-me-nothing-is-working-quite-right aka everyone is an idiot mindset I’ve been stuck in the last few days, to a much better place.

How do you cope when things aren’t going your way?

43 Books: A Short Guide to A Happy Life by Anna Quindlen

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

As part of my 43 Before 43, I’m reading 43 books.

A Short Guide to A Happy Life is a very quick read that gave me pause.

Let me start with what I liked about the book:

The title. So many key elements for wanting to read this book: short, guide and happy.
It mostly felt fresh and heartfelt.
She talks about being in sole custody of your life. – In my mind both daunting and exhilarating.
She talks about living a full life beyond work, school, achievements and developing your soul. – I couldn’t agree more. There is so much more to life than working.
I read it in less than half an hour – (plus I could add another read to my list!) – and it left enough of an impression I wanted to tell others about it.

An excerpt and my favorite part:

But you are the only person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk, or your life on the bus, or in the car, or at the computer. Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank account, but your soul.

A couple of things that weren’t my favorite:

In some places it felt a bit dated (published in 2000). Post 9/11 writing has a different feeling.
The quotes definitely have been used a lot since publication – example: ”No man ever said on his deathbed I wish I had spent more time at the office.” – Paul Tsongas

The all important question – would I want to be friends with the author?

Yes. She seems to have a lot to teach (and so many books for me to catch up on).

Should you read A Short Guide to a Happy Life?

Yes. I think most of us could use a bit more happiness in our lives and development of our souls.

Have you read A Short Guide to a Happy Life? What did you think?

Taking Nonviolence One Step Further

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence, but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

We have been exploring the concept of self-acceptance all month in class and last week I reminded students of the first yama (rule) of yoga- ahimsa or non violence.

When most people think of violence, images of war or fist fighting come to mind, but when it comes down to it listening to your inner critic can also be considered a form of violence.

Wouldn’t life be so much happier if we all stopped hating ourselves and other people and started accepting ourselves and others for who we are?

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Want some tips to get you started on your self-acceptance journey?

Image source: Wikipedia

Inspiration for Self Acceptance Self-Study

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

This month in class, I’ve been asking students to explore the concept of self-acceptance and have been met with nervous giggles, sighs of knowing recognition and blank stares. I’m pretty sure most people starting or returning to yoga in January thought we’d be talking about “real” resolutions like losing weight or starting a fitness program and finally sticking to it.

Instead I’ve been asking people (myself included) to practice being ok with what is, right now. Seems simple. Until you try it and are met with various layers of distraction or resistance.

I know these intimately because I’m practicing this too! So today I’ve decided to share my resources for self-study on self-acceptance for this month.

Podcast: I love a good dharma talk. Recently I’ve discovered Tara Brach, an American Buddhist teacher/author of Radical Self-Acceptance, and I’m inspired. Finding True Refuge is definitely worth a listen.

Do you have any dharma talks that you love? Please let a comment so I can listen too.

Book: Beautiful You: A Daily Guide to Radical Self-Acceptance by Rosie Molinary.

Friends, I have been “trying” to read this book for years. Fact: It’s been sitting on my to-read self for years. Basically, I’ve read every other book on every other shelf and avoided this book.

What’s been the resistance? The daily practice part – I’m only now learning to love that learning is a process rather than something you either do or are.

The self-acceptance part. Truth: I felt I didn’t need it. I believed I loved myself. Or at least that’s what I defensively told myself, dammit. And then I got quiet and realized I struggle with feeling good enough. It’s a very quiet, but extremely pervasive voice.

Adding to this crazy is how I absolutely devour all of Rosie’s blog posts and our adoptive mama correspondence. I love her. She has so much wisdom and I have learned so much from her.

So I’ve been soaking up all the daily lessons. This time just reading, but I think this will turn into a journaling practice. Or maybe a series of posts and reader challenges. There is some damn good stuff in here.

As it turns out, self-acceptance – at least how Rosie defines it – isn’t so scary after all!

Favorite exercises so far include:

Name Your Inner Critic – I’m thinking Blanche. As in, “For god’s sake Blanche, just shut it all ready.” We’ll see.

Realize That Your Dissatisfaction Is Not About Your Body

Banish “Have You Lost Weight?” From Your Vocabulary — my friend Rebekah wrote about this here.

Have A Comeback

Consider the Time You Have Lost

Quiet Your Critic

Go To Bed Earlier

Schedule Breaks

Are you intrigued? Want to have a book club with Beautiful You? We totally could do one online. Leave me a comment if you are interested.

Blog: Curvy Yoga is always on my must read list. I love Anna’s list of 15 Books that Shaped My Body Lovin’ Journey.

I highly recommend reading:

Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown (really all her books).

Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott (really all of her books)

A Path With A Heart by Jack Kornfield (my favorite is The Beginner’s Guide to Forgiveness)

Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

I want to read:

Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach

Mega Yoga by Megan Garcia

Yoga From the Inside Out by Christina Sell

Do you have any acceptance or yoga books to recommend?

Tell me – how is your resolve to be with what is going?

Image source: Pinterest

A Resolution for Self-Acceptance

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

In preparation for planning my yoga classes for the month of January, I settled in on the notion of resolutions or the need for change. I, myself, have made countless promises to myself to finally get it right this year.

Each New Year, I promise myself and set out to to become the new and improved version of me, one with no more of those pesky flaws I tend to worry about when no one else is paying attention. I suspect they may be too busy running themselves into the ground to worry about me.

As most of us have made resolutions each year and wholeheartedly and with great enthusiasm pursued our freshly flossed teeth, countless miles on the running trail and ingesting everything green in the grocery store, only to burn ourselves out by February and return to our previous state of unflossed teeth, couch/channel surfing and emotionally eating comfort foods because we have once again failed to change ourselves for the “better”.

What if we decided to do it differently this year?

What if we resolved to spend all our enthusiastic January energy into accepting ourselves for how we are, flaws and all?

What would life feel like in February?

In Beautiful You: A Daily Guide to Radical Self-Acceptance, author Rosie Molinary, challenges readers to Accept Your Imperfections and to “give up the perfection facade and just be who you are.”

This, my friends, is my challenge to you this month. And by you, I mean me.

Can we just practice letting things be as they are and learn to finally accept who we really are?

What are your thoughts or resolutions and self-acceptance? I would love to connect, so please let me a comment.

Also, if you’d like to practice letting things be, I am teaching restorative yoga at It’s All Yoga on Tuesday nights at 7:15.

Image source: pinterest

Word for 2013

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Teacher Goes Back to School

This time of year, a lot of people are setting intentions and making resolutions, myself included most years. As it turns out, I’m less good at resolutions than one would like. So rather than doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, I’ve decided to try something different.

This year I’ve decided to go with a single feeling/theme I would like to cultivate in my life and not just another list of do’s and don’ts.

This feeling idea had been floating around in my head all month and was solidified when I overheard some yogi friends talking on Twitter about their year words {listening and compassion}, when Ashlee posted hers, Amy posted hers and Rosie posted this.

The feeling I most want to cultivate this new year is CONNECTION.

Connection – just the word brings up warm and fuzzy feelings for me. I am imaging a year full of new holiday traditions, lots of hugs and hand holding, cooking and eating with friends, snuggles under the covers with books and movies, book club meetings, phone/Skype dates, road trips/vacations, meeting friends for tea, lunch and movies, communing with nature as much as possible and finding time on my mat just being quiet.

What about you? What comes to mind when you hear the word CONNECTION? What word or theme speaks to you this year?

Image source: We Heart It

How I Overcame the Holiday Humbug In 7 Steps

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Teacher Goes Back to School

image source: we heart it

I have a long history of hating the holidays. All of them, but especially the ones the last six weeks of the year.

Yes, even as a kid.

Maybe it was the high expectations for fun or the knowing one side of your family was disappointed because you were with the other or the shuttling from place to place to place…

In any case, the holidays used to fill me with dread and a heavier dose of SAD than the average gal.

That is until recently.

Three years ago, I signed up for a Yoga for Holiday Stress workshop at It’s All Yoga with my good friend, Madeleine. I thought if nothing else, I will have a nice day of yoga with one of my favorite teachers, but what I ended up with was nothing short of revolutionary.

The best take away from Madeleine’s workshop: if the holidays get you down, find new traditions that make your heart sing.

New Holiday Traditions Maybe You’d Like to Try:

1. Take a yearly workshop in December – mine is yoga, but maybe yours is cooking, crafting or reading. Do something fun for yourself either with a friend or on your own. You may even make new friends there.

When will you find the time in an already stuffed full calendar you ask? I started saying no to things that weren’t working for me any longer (or never had and I had been doing them because of tradition or other people’s expectations). Once I started saying no, I was able to find time to do activities that made me happy.

Was it uncomfortable at first? Oh, yes! Disappointing people isn’t my strong suit, however, the trade off ended up being worth it.

2. Listen to holiday music that doesn’t make you cringe – mine is the Do They Know It’s Christmas (best.song.ever) station on Pandora. They played lots of Wham’s Last Christmas and Bruce Springsteen and Bing Crosby and Elvis. Even the Waitresses made the cut. Now when little Ruby hears Christmas music she pumps her little fist in the air and dances along.

As cute as you might expect.

3. Make a different kind of tree each year – seems like a lot of work I know, but knowing my little monkey will climb anything and every thing the idea of putting a tree in my house just seemed completely nuts. Plus I’m less into the 3D tree than most. Don’t get me wrong, I like looking at them a lot – in public places and at your house…. kinda like how I love other people’s dogs.

4. Saying no to shopping – what???? I know. But hear me out.We have a really small house and we’re trying to keep the clutter monster from eating us alive, so not bringing more gear into the house ourselves helps toward that end.

The Hubs and the Girl’s birthdays are in December so those two are presented up right before Christmas. We usually make a present of some sort of the grandparents (which requires us to get our act together way before December) and we decided years ago to forgo presents for each other so we can have less stress and get better birthday gifts. We see it as a win, win. Plus our girl is tiny right now and doesn’t really get the present thing, so…. we’ll check in later on this business. But just know, for now, it totally works for us.

5. Saying yes to experiences - the zoo on Christmas Eve morning, White Christmas on the big screen, walking around midtown looking at Christmas lights. I’m hoping to add seeing the Nutcracker and ice skating once little girl is a bigger girl. I figure we are saving lots of time cutting out baking, shopping, and wrapping, so we might as well have fun.

6. Healthy eating and walking daily – this one is new this year and I feel so much better because of it. Every morning this month I’ve been drinking warm lemon water as soon as I get up (before !) and drinking either a green smoothie or vegetable soup to start the day with lots of vitamins and fiber. What a huge difference this has made! I don’t know about you, but when I start my day in a healthful/intentional way, that’s usually how my day goes. I think I’ll keep it up after the holidays.

7. Stay mindful. Or at least keep coming back to the moment. This is a good practice all year long. Most moments are pretty darn good, if I’m leaving the past and future where they belong. A mindful practice can look like a formal meditation sit, but usually looks more like a nature walk in the early morning or washing dishes for the thousandth time.

Tell me about the holiday traditions and winter activities that you love. I’m always interested in adding new fun winter activities to our calendar.

10 Ways To Practice Self Care

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Teacher Goes Back to School

Earlier this fall, Ashley of Our Little Apartment – wrote a post called How I Practice Self-Care and I have been inspired to share my self-care regimen.

Image source: Google images

Before we get to the good stuff, can we all have a collective groan/shutter/giggle at the phrase self-care? I am not a fan, but it is what it is. Being able to take better care of ourselves so we can really be there to take care of others is what is up. Like it or not.

Without further ado, 10 Ways To Practice Self Care.

1. Go to yoga class. I go even when I don’t want to. Especially when I don’t want to. I find the more resistance I have to going – too tired, too cranky, too busy, too…, the more I need it. My people thank me for going. Yours probably will too.

Classes can be expensive, but there are ways to work around that. Practicing at home on your own, with a video or podcast. Attending community classes or classes with new teachers. One studio in Sacramento is by donation only. When I wanted to go to more classes than I could afford, I started volunteering at the front desk at my yoga studio in exchange for classes. It never hurts to ask.

2. Lay down often. Sometimes on my yoga mat with props (and I feel very virtuous for practicing restorative yoga on my own) and most days with my daughter in her bed for a couple of hours. There are days (usually in a row) when I am so tired by nap time I sleep with her and wake up with her patting my face and other days when I watch Netflix or catch up on my blog reading.

Most nights I am in bed ready for sleep in the nine o’clock hour. Going to bed on time is a struggle and I know it’s early, but I’ve got to be rested in order to keep up with the baby.

How much sleep do we really need? Probably more than you think.

3. Cook at home. I derive a huge amount of accomplishment from having cooked, so there you go. Plus I am allergic to dairy and oh so many other foods that eating out or packaged foods is a pain. Feeding myself well and gold stars? Sign me up!

I live a dairy-free life and am always in search of yummy recipes. If you are interested in my treasures, check out my Food Finds Board for recipe ideas.

4. Read a book every day. Some days it is just a few pages, but I make sure I do it. Reading is what makes me happy.

Looking for something good to read?

5. Go for a walk. Usually with Ruby in the stroller or Ergo, although recently I’ve been having her walk to wear her out for her nap. In any case, my feet are hitting the pavement every day and I feel so much better for it.

Need help getting started?

6. Connect with friends. Park dates, walks with kids, brunches, yoga classes, texts, phone dates, Facebook messaging – I make time for connecting with people I love.

The upshot of 50 years of happiness research is that the quantity and quality of a person’s social connections—friendships, relationships with family members, closeness to neighbors, etc.—is so closely related to well-being and personal happiness the two can practically be equated. People with many friendships are less likely to experience sadness, loneliness, low self-esteem, and problems with eating and sleeping. Source: Happiness Is Being Socially Connected

7. Kid-free time – daily. Luckily my husband is a teacher and can come home in the afternoon to take care of little girl before dinner. Mama needs some time to herself. Most of the self-care tips mentioned here aren’t for toddlers.

8. Couple time – this is new. Very, very new. And may become my new favorite thing. Thanks, Grandma!

9. No television news or women’s magazines. I’ve learned I’m a pretty delicate flower prone to depression, so I keep the visuals of depressing things to a minimum. I get my news from NPR and Twitter. I’m fancy that way. My ears do not betray me the same way my eyes do.

Body acceptance is always a work in progress and so keeping women’s magazines full of air-brushed images and “tips” for “improving” me out of my life also helps.

According to one study conducted by researchers at the University of Missouri, after just one to three minutes of exposure to the types of images routinely found in women’s magazines, young women hate themselves more than they already do. Source: Excerpt from Airbrushed Nation found on Rosie Molinary’s blog.

10. Ask for help where I need it and live with good enough rather than seek out perfect. Recently someone posted on my Facebook wall a card saying “Cleaning house with kids around is like brushing your teeth while eating Oreos.” Um, yes. So twice a month California Green Clean comes and cleans while I take the tiny mess maker out of the house. It usually lasts until the next meal, but it is totally worth it for my sanity alone.

Does the mothering olympics make you crazy? Check out Good Enough Is The New Perfect.

So tell me, how do you take care of yourself?

How Restorative Yoga Healed My Body Image – A Guest Post from Anna Guest-Jelly of Curvy Yoga

Posted on October 30, 2012 by Teacher Goes Back to School

How Restorative Yoga Healed My Body Image

Let’s party like it’s 1999.

Or, let’s at least go back there in our minds. Picture this: I’m a curvy gal in my first year of college. I’m away from home. I have terrible migraines (this is nothing new). I hear that yoga can be good for pain, so I somehow get my hands on a Rodney Yee VHS tape and start practicing.

Only when my roommate is in class. Always with the door locked.

As I practice, I like it. I love it, in fact (which is weird because I have never liked any form of anything that looks remotely like exercise). So I want more of it — but I want more of what I see on the videos.

More tone on my body, more gymnast-like flexibility, more speed — more, more, more.

More to Less

As the years went by, I did get more of that — mostly the speed and flexibility. But then things shifted in my body: my curves got curvier, and I couldn’t go as far into poses as I used to.

To say this was a hit to my already fragile body image was an understatement.

I think I took about a year off practice at this point. I was so discouraged that I couldn’t do the poses I used to that I thought I shouldn’t bother. I thought I had finally reached that point where I was just “too big” for yoga, so it was time to move on.

Except, of course, I couldn’t. I still found myself surreptitiously doing poses — but “just to stretch,” of course. Not yoga.

Gimme Gimme

During my more, more, more days, no one could have convinced me to do a restorative yoga pose. One of my teachers would teach Savasana and then leave the room; students could leave whenever they wanted. The intention was to give people the space to take their time.

I took it as the opposite, though. I usually reached for my car keys while we were getting into position. Then I would politely wait as long as I could and bolt for the door. I’d say on my more restrained days that this took approximately 42 seconds.

I just didn’t see the point.

But then one day after my self-induced yoga break, after feeling particularly stressed from work and school, I decided to indulge myself in a full restorative workshop. What possessed me to do this, I’ll never know. (I think I thought of it more like a massage than yoga, so that made it okay with me.)

All I know is that after the careful precision of set-up, the internal (and sometimes external) groan of delight after settling in and then fully letting go into the poses, something shifted.

I felt relaxed, grounded and centered. And, yeah, I wanted more again — but this time it was totally different.

Me Time

You see, restorative yoga is all about y-o-u (or, in this case, m-e). Everyone’s set-up is slightly different. This is really the goal of all yoga, but restorative invites you into it differently. The goal is to make yourself as fully comfortable and supported as possible. This was new to me as I’d been “raised” in a yoga environment where competition wasn’t explicitly encouraged, but it also wasn’t exactly discouraged.

This restorative yoga was about meeting yourself exactly where you are — and loving every minute of it.

When I realized that, I felt a marked turn in my relationship toward my body. For the first time, rest, ease and letting go entered the equation. For the first time, self-care became my priority, not what I tried to avoid.

After that, you couldn’t get me out of a restorative pose if you wanted to (but who would want that anyway?).

Thank goodness.

Want the low-down on Anna’s restoratives? Click here to download the Restoratives chapter from her book, “Permission to Curve,” for free!

Meditation Mantra Or How To Stay In The Moment Without Losing Your Marbles

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Teacher Goes Back to School

Does your mind become really active and agitated in quiet yoga poses and when you sit in meditation? Like there is a pack of wild cracked-up monkeys living it up in there?

Me too.

My secret to not losing my marbles during quiet times is to give my brain a job to do while I am in a restorative pose or sitting for meditation. My now employed monkey mind brain can do a job while I keep my focus on the present moment – where the happiness lives.

What I say:

May I be filled with lovingkindness

May I be well

My I be peaceful and at ease

May I be happy.

I repeat this until my mind settles down or until my sit/pose is finished. Some days I am still saying it when the timer goes off and other days I am able to settle in and focus.

Why focus on my own well-being instead of wishing these things for others?

It’s exactly like what they say when traveling with someone who needs help on an airplane, take care of yourself first so you can take care of others.

When I say it:

I use this mantra during my sits and long stays on my mat. I also say it while I am driving somewhere stressful or on my way to work in the car or when I am wanting to punch the person at the grocery store in front of me in the head. These words also come in handy when I am lying down with my daughter wishing more than anything that she’d go to sleep already.

Basically when I feel my body get stressed out because of modern life, I try to quiet my monkey mind by repeating this mantra.

How to spread the love into the world:

After I feel all full of love for myself, I substitute the name of a person I love dearly where I had been saying I. Now that I’ve been practicing with this mantra for a few years, I am able to send some lovingkindness to others. Needless to say, it took me a really, really long time to get there.

That’s how I stay in the moment without losing my marbles.

What’s your secret? How do you stay in the present? Do you use a mantra?

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Based on teachings from Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living by Pema Chodron and Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness by Sharon Salzberg

Image source: We Heart It.

All Together Now….A Long, Steady Exhale

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Teacher Goes Back to School

{via}

Michelle wrote an excellent piece about breathing called Epidemic Inhale. Please go read it.

No, really.

Go.

Read.

It.

Ok, while you were there did you follow her directions for a long, slow, steady exhale?

Feels good, doesn’t it?

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This is what yoga is for me now: one giant exhale.

A time and a place to just LET.IT.BE.

Reminders to pause, yawn, and be conscious of my breathing and how my body feels.

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It hasn’t always been this way.

I’m pretty sure most people are thinking I’m making funny shapes with my body when I’m “at yoga” and for a long time that is exactly what I did. The more difficult the class, the better.

I was ‘doing’ yoga, damnit.

But now, I’m focusing on the not doing. Letting things go. Asking myself what my body really needs in this moment.

More often than not, my body is craving rest.

And exhaling.

As a culture we spend so much going, going, going. Always pushing forward and racing from one project, meeting, soccer game to the next. I am totally do this too. Even as I sit here with seven open tabs on my computer – including three email accounts, Twitter and Facebook.

So I rest.

You can too.

Ready?

All together now:

A long, steady exhale.

7 Steps to Jump Start Your Meditation Practice

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Teacher Goes Back to School

1. Read every meditation book you can get your hands on.

2. Think about meditation. A lot.

3. Sign up for a group meditation.

4. Collect meditation accessories – bolster, block, blankets, scarf, cushion, timer, candle, mantra, essential oils, CDs.

5. Check Facebook, Twitter and Google Reader to see if you are missing anything.

6. Check your phone. In case you missed a call.

7. Sit down, set the timer, press start.

SIT. {Really the ONLY step necessary}.

5 minutes daily to start.

We can do anything for 5 minutes a day. Even listen to the crazy people screaming in your head.

Image Source 1: We Heart It

Image Source 2: We Heart It.

Clearly this is my reminder to myself to sit.

Do you have a meditation practice?

Do tell me all about it.

Don’t Take It Personally and Other New {School} Year Resolutions

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Teacher Goes Back to School

New years just beg for resolutions in my opinion. Since my brain works on the school year calendar, new years start in the fall. By January I’m all resolutioned out.

Last {working} school year, my mantra/resolution/intention was to Not Take It Personally. This pretty much changed everything about my life.

In my quest to not take things personally, I managed to listen more than I talked, I quieted down, really listened and let other people be the expert (pretty major for a know-it-all like me) and I let go of things that weren’t working for me.

Work relationships got easier, parent interactions (something I struggled with in the past) were more clear, professional and well, easier. Even my personal life felt lighter and more fun.

Since school just started in this house, I’ve been recently thinking about what my intention for this school year will be. I know I’m not in the classroom, so why have one? To be honest, since I’ve started having an intention for the school year my professional life has greatly improved in the areas where I put my focus. Plus I’m already thinking about next school year and I’m getting a bit anxious.

Where will I be teaching?

What will I be teaching?

Who will I be teaching?

Will I secure a job share?

Where will Ruby spend her time while I’m at work?

See what I mean? So many unanswered questions with so many possible answers. So many, in fact, I’m not quite sure how to wrap my brain around all the possibilities and all these loose ends are already making me tighten and grasp and grab at answers. I don’t know about you, but I’m sure my best decisions are not made while totally stressing about the outcome.

So, what’s a teacher/planner/mama/not-so-secret-control-freak to do?

I’ve decided my intention for this school year is to say yes.

For me,

Saying yes means I am open to all the possibilities, even the ones I am not sure exist yet.
Saying yes, means not having to know right now what will happen next school year (or even next week).
Saying yes means not getting mired in the details and letting the unknown suck the fun out of life right now.
Saying yes means finding ease instead of grabbing, grasping and holding.

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So, friends, how do you handle the big unknowns in your life?

Do you make resolutions or set intentions during times of transitions?

Do you have any words of wisdom for a current stay-at-home-mama needing to send her bebe to childcare in the relatively near future?

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Image source 1: We Heart It

Image source 2: We Heart It

Awesome Yoga Happenings In Sacramento and Elsewhere

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Teacher Goes Back to School

Labor Day weekend. You are all invited. There is a good chance I’ll be teaching and I am totally going to class too. Join me?

Be sure to “like” Sacramento Free Day of Yoga on Facebook to get all the details.

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I wish I had a dime for every time someone asked about a book club. And don’t get me started on the scheduling!

Meredith from the Pondering Yogini has the answer: Online Yoga Book Club!

Join me?

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I know this isn’t happening until October, but I’ve already signed up. Anna is such an inspiration to me and I am thrilled to have a chance to practice with her.

Please join me and sign up today.

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Tell me about the awesome yoga happenings/events in your life.

Mother’s Day Gift Guide for the Yoga Momma

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Teacher Goes Back to School

Mother’s Day in the United States is Sunday, May 13th and I’m so excited because it is my first.

It’s recently come to my attention, thanks to Twitter, that Mother’s Day gifts need not be heart-shaped jewelry or flowers. Not that there’s anything wrong with those gifts (if you like those sorts of things), but not all mommas are into them.

So if you have a yoga momma in your life or if are a yoga momma yourself, here are some Mother’s Day gift ideas.

Photo credit: Vanessa Vitchit-Vadakan

Idea#1 – A Yoga Workshop

If I were to pick a workshop, I’d choose Mary Paffard’s Circles, Cycles and Spirals: Yoga and Ayerveda for Women’s Health. It’s being co-taught by Mary and her daughter, Cyd on Sunday, June 3rd.

If you haven’t had the pleasure of taking a workshop with Mary, I highly recommend it. She’s wickedly, yet understatedly funny, infinitely knowledgable and is a huge proponent of rest. Clearly a teacher after my heart. Plus she has a British accent!

Idea #2 – A One Day Yoga Retreat

One of my 43 Before 43 was to attend a yoga retreat. I’ve already been to two in the last six months. I’m telling you, this is the absolute best spa day ever. Way better than actually going to a spa.

Michelle’s retreat (July 22nd) includes restorative yoga poses, journaling, silence, a delicious vegetarian lunch and a whole lot of heartwarming community. I couldn’t recommend it higher. Simply the best way to spend a day.

Idea #3 – A Private Yoga Session

Have you ever wanted to get pointers on a pose that just isn’t quite working for you? Do you have an injury or are you recuperating from an illness? Have you ever wanted the teacher in a regular class to focus on a particular area of the body?

Those are some of the reasons to have a private session with a favorite yoga teacher.

Idea #4 – At Home Yoga Practice with MY favorite teacher

Sometimes life gets in the way of going somewhere else to practice. Wouldn’t it be nice to have what you needed to get on your mat at home?

Not sure where to start?

My favorite teacher, Michelle, has some videos for what ails you.

Work on your computer too much? Try this heart openers class

Feeling scattered and like your feet aren’t quite touching the ground? Try this grounding class.

Idea #5 – Yoga Props for Restorative Yoga at Home

I’m not going to lie, these props make me a happy, happy momma.

Click on the image for purchase information.

This list turns out to be MY real Mother’s Day wish list. Obviously not everyone is in Sacramento and able to come to workshops at It’s All Yoga, but there are studios close to where you live that your yoga momma might want a gift from.

Happy Mother’s Day!

What’s on your wish list?

The Comparison Blues

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Teacher Goes Back to School

Truer words have not been spoken.

Friends, I’ve been quietly suffering from a serious case of Internet envy as of late and it’s made me a bit quiet and introspective.

This Twitter friend is buying a house! That Twitter friend is training for a half marathon! Those Twitter friends are having babies!

And just what am I doing?

Where is all my BIG LIFE EXCITEMENT? {I wonder very judgmentally.}

The interesting thing is I already have all those things. I bought a house (holy crap! over a decade ago), trained for a half (and almost made it to the race) and I HAVE a baby.

So what is up with the envy?

After spending many nap hours pondering this question, I’ve come up with an answer for myself which I will share with you.

The life I’ve chosen to live these days is a pretty quiet one. I’m not documenting every minute and sometimes it feels like don’t have much to say because people all over the world have kids and clearly what we’re doing over here isn’t revolutionary or mind-blowingly different from what everyone is doing. I didn’t invent motherhood and I’m clearly not pretending I did.

When I do try to document our little life my main partner in crime is either trying to smack my camera Sean Penn style, swatting at my iPod when I’m trying to tweet and yelling no, or running away from me.

In other words, I just can’t document my life and really be present with Ruby. Lesson learned.

Also, I’m not sure my readers, besides my mom (hi mom!), really care about the moment to moment action of me and the little bear.

This, I assure you, isn’t a cry for comments about how you really, really do want me to live-tweet my action packed mornings or write about the wackiness of new motherhood (more than I already do). I am just trying to get my head around my recent comparisons and the resulting bout of jealous gloominess.

To be honest, I feel better just admitting I was comparing my life to other people’s. Life is moving at a baby’s pace right now and won’t be like this forever, so I better slow down and enjoy it while it lasts. Not in that everything is precious way, but in they are going to make me go back to work at some point and I will only get to hang with the little one after school and clearly I am so not ready for that.

Do you ever get the comparison blues?

A Reminder

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Teacher Goes Back to School

Recently I’ve been plagued by a serious case of the worries ranging from something life threatening happening to Ruby to future school yard bullies and everything in between.

A few minutes into my most recent session with my therapist and she reminded me what I already knew – when I focus on the here and now – life is pretty damn great.

So I’ve decided to make a choice to not worry now and to deal with stuff as it comes up.

Yes, I know this isn’t revolutionary. I needed the reminder and thought I’d save you some therapy bucks.

What’s on your mind lately?

Self Acceptance Through Yoga: aka Back Off Beeotch

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Teacher Goes Back to School

image: WeHeartIt

Today you’ll find me guest posting on Rosie Molinary’s blog. Please check it out and be sure to leave a comment to let me know you stopped by. Yes, it’s a reprint…one worth repeating if you ask me.

While you’re there please be sure to poke around in Rosie’s archives. She’s got a bunch of excellent work on self-worth, beauty, self-acceptance and adoption.

43 Books – Learning To Breathe: My Yearlong Quest to Bring Calm to My Life

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Teacher Goes Back to School

As part of my 43 Before 43 I’m reading 43 Books.

photo credit: ponderingyogini.org

After a lifetime of panic attacks, author Pris Warner decided she would like the brain of a monk and all that comes along with it – peace, tranquility, compassion, loving kindness, wisdom and patience.

In Learning To Breathe, she takes a year to discover the path to peace.

Friends, I loved almost everything about this book.

I immersed myself in the author’s story and admired the author for facing her fears. I found her immediately likable and I really cared whether she would be relieved from her panic attacks in the end. Reading quickly over three days I was reminded of my own lifelong desire for inner peace.

Hmmm, maybe I need to get myself back on the cushion.

My only issue is I found it to be a bit tidy. What do I mean by tidy? The author decided she wanted the brain of a monk and next thing you know she’s on the path to a daily 20 minute meditation practice.

I have been struggling with adding meditation to my life for years, so I wonder how this happened so effortlessly. She didn’t feel any resistance or forget just plain forget? I need some of that!

That was my only beef with the book.

I sped through each chapter which covers a month and a spiritual practice aimed at resolving her panic attacks.

While I don’t suffer specifically from panic attacks, I do suffer from complex PTSD and as a result have also used many of the therapies the author experiences in my quest to find a more peaceful existence.

The one hold out for me has been EMDR. As a result of reading about the author’s success, I decided to give it a try.

I may or may not be writing about that experience later, but I am hopeful that I will be able to move forward because if this treatment.

Do I recommend this book? Without a doubt.

Would I want to be friends with author? Yes, if for nothing else, to get some meditation tips.

Have you read Learning to Breathe? What did you think?

43 Books – Poser: My Life in 23 Yoga Poses by Claire Dederer

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Teacher Goes Back to School

As part of my 43 Before 43, I’m reading 43 books.

I am totally conflicted about this book. I didn’t put it down until I was finished despite having just come home with a new baby and a serious case of insomnia. And yet, I was irritated the whole time I was reading it.

Let me start with what I really liked about the book:

The title. I would have argued with the publisher to leave off the 23 poses part.
Each chapter is a pose name and the ones where the author tells about her childhood are called child’s pose – clever and it only took me half way through the book to figure that out. {see insomnia/stupidity}
The author and I each suffer from mama anxiety and use yoga as a way to find our sanity or at least a way to ease some of the pain in our aching backs.
Like most people, we both started out with a really physical practice and learned to quiet it down.
We are about the same age so our cultural references are spot on – apparently we love the 90′s.
The Pacific Northwest! I lived there (in the 90′s!) and could picture the setting perfectly.
Claire explores the others limbs of yoga besides asana and gets to the down and dirty of why yoga can be such a life changing practice.

So what was my problem?

I think I identified a little too closely for my comfort with Claire. This book could, in a lot of ways, be mine. Although at points it just sounds whiny and precious and all first-worldly and I wanted to smack both of us and quite frankly I’m not sure I wanted to tell this story yet (or ever), so it was shocking to see it on the page.

Claire’s yoga story is so similar to mine, with all it’s twists, turns and complaints, I felt like she’d some how inhabited my most annoying self and decided to let that cat out of the bag. It just isn’t the easy breezy side I’ve been trying to cultivate for the world to see and I’m at once horrified to see all “my” crap out there and secretly thrilled I’m not the only one with this particular brand of crazy.

In a completely petty side note, the mention that her brother was in a band that was super popular in the 90′s (and she named the band!) bugged the holy hell out of me. Why? I guess because it seemed all star-f*ckery and it totally wasn’t relavent to the story. Brother? Yes. Name of band? No.

The all important question – would I want to be friends with the author?

Absolutely. At the very least we could talk about how great the 90′s were.

Should you read Poser?

Yes, if you are someone exploring yoga beyond a Saturday morning exercise class or is interested in a brief look into the history of the other limbs of yoga.

Have you read Poser? What did you think?

Hard Life Lessons From a Cowboy

Posted on January 15, 2012 by Teacher Goes Back to School

“It’s not really about the horses, is it?”

No, no it’s not.

That’s the thing about this documentary about a boy horribly abused by his father who grows up to embody compassion, kindness and generosity of spirit. It’s not really about the horses. It’s about the resiliency of this man.

I sobbed my eyes out watching the documentary Buck.

Like some serious ugly-cry crying. Thank goodness for Netflix Watch Instantly – boy, this would have been much uglier in public.

What can I say? Kindness of this degree brings me to my knees.

We have a lot in common, me and this guy. Childhood harms that could have turned us into monsters {or at the very least really damaged people continuing the abuse} and yet we both have sought a path to change how the harsh world operates.

At one point, Buck says, “Horses are the mirrors to our souls.”

Not being a horse girl {though my eight year old self would have loved to have been} I would argue so are children. They hold up a mirror to all of our ugly places and unflattering traits, the ones the other adults in our lives rarely see because they are too caught up in hiding their own.

Children (and horses) just keep giving us lesson after lesson about kindness, compassion, generosity and living in the moment. In other words, the lessons we need to keep practicing until they become second nature.

So while on the surface this seems to be a horse movie, it really is about making a life worth living.

Finding My Voice As A Parent: Also See STFU

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Teacher Goes Back to School

Alternate post title: Quit effing telling me what I should and shouldn’t be doing with my kid.

Three months in and I’m already over people’s “helpful advice”.

Some advice for advice givers, just don’t.

Commiserating about being tired is welcome, but telling me things that start with “you should” or “you shouldn’t” or “don’t ever” isn’t welcome or helpful. What works for you and your family works for you. All kids, parents and families are different.

Including mine.

Recently someone asked me how I was and when I replied that I was exhausted because Ruby had been kicking me, hitting me and or bumping into me all night {while she was sound asleep}, the woman replied, ”You shouldn’t be sleeping with your baby!”

My eyes stung with tears (from exhaustion and let’s be honest, being admonished). I said through clenched teeth – “Well, we are. It is our decision to continue bonding with our newly adopted baby throughout the night. We have made our decision about what works for our family right now and when you are parenting an adopted kid please let me know.”

In case you are wondering, I’m still pissed.

This comment implies I haven’t thought carefully about this (and every other) decision we’ve been making in regard to parenting Ruby. I have been weighing my loss of sleep and the rage that accompanies it (which is a whole other issue unrelated to Ruby) and wanting to make up for those nine and a half months she wasn’t with us {also see: the dark ages}.

I’ve agonized over the “cry it out” people telling me I could train her to self-soothe by letting her sob alone in her crib. Dude, I’m not going to do it. So stop telling me how well it worked for your kid.

Friends, I’m new at this parenting thing and Ruby is a special girl with lots of people interested in her well-being. In other words, we’re doing this thing kind of more publicly than I’m comfortable with. Usually I like having at least a basic handle on things before I share them with the world. That doesn’t work in parenting. It changes by the moment and so does what works for your family.

It’s a lot like yoga in that way. What works for your body in this moment is what is right for you. Who am I to tell you are wrong because it looks different than what I would do?

I’m working on finding my own voice as a parent. As a natural worrier and as someone prone to deep feelings of shame over being “wrong”, please be kind and thoughtful in your comments about what I “should” and “shouldn’t” be doing.

Nobody likes when you do that.

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So tell me, how do you handle unsolicited advice?

Attitude of Gratitude Re-Cap

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Teacher Goes Back to School

Day 1 – thankful for Ruby and adoption for making us a family.

Day 2 – thankful for Jed – best husband and father.

Day 3 – thankful for sometimes waking up before the baby.

Day 4 – thankful for books. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t read and watching Ruby play with hers is the best gift.

Day 5 – thankful for healthcare coverage for my entire family and a clean bill of health for all.

Day 6 – thankful for sweater dresses and boot socks.

Day 7 – so thankful for my It’s All Yoga family.

Day 8 – thankful for generous friends.

Day 9 – thankful for a union job and parental leave so we can be at home to bond with our baby without worrying about our jobs.

Day 10 – thankful for massage.

Day 11 – thankful for the people in the armed services and their dedicated service to this country.

Day 12 – thankful for social media because it keeps me in touch with the outside world.

Day 13 – thankful for year round farmer’s markets.

Day 14 – thankful for long, hot baths after the baby goes to sleep.

Day 15 – thankful for music that inspires me to sing out loud.

Day 16 – thankful for the restorative powers of showers.

Day 17 - thankful for uninterrupted sleep in a way I never dreamed possible.

Day 18 - thankful for daily account summaries from my bank which remind me I’m not completely broke.

Day 19 - thankful for warm cozy blankets for naps on cool days.

Day 20 - thankful for central heat (and air).

Day 21 - thankful for early morning walks with lovely friends.

Day 22 - thankful for all the blogs I read and the Google Reader to keep them organized.

Day 23 - thankful for my yoga props: bolster, eye bag, strap, blankets, mat.

Day 24 - thankful for Ruby’s birth family. Our family wouldn’t be complete without their generosity.

Day 25 - thankful for the middle path.

Day 26 – thankful for whole days with nothing planned.

Day 27 – thankful for free shipping.

Day 28 – thankful for our house cleaning fairies.

Day 29 – thankful for YOU, my readers.

Day 30 – thankful for It’s All Yoga for the Attitude of Gratitude inspiration.

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A special thank you to Amy Shearn over at The Oprah Life Life blog for the Attitude of Gratitude post.

Want to see where it all started?

What are you thankful for?

Me Vs. Sunday

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Teacher Goes Back to School

I’ve always hated Sundays.

For me, Sunday marked the death of my freedom and were a weekly reminder of my responsibilities. Each week I’d dread the eventual coming of Sunday because it marked the end of doing what I wanted to do and began the obligatory chores: laundry, meal planning, food preparation and after a my career change, lesson planning.

I felt like my life was a series of Must-Dos instead of May-Dos.

Each week, I’d mourn the loss of my freedom.

Crazy as it sounds, some weeks I’d start feeling the loss on Friday night. You know, because the end of the weekend was right there, especially if I had a lot of things planned over a weekend. Even if they were fun plans, the cloud of dread hung over my head. A feeling of dread was my constant weekend companion.

So what happened to change my feelings about Sunday?

First, I quit my former career. The perpetual stomach ache disappeared, my insomnia lessened and my stress level decreased dramatically. Nothing like dropping an ill-suited career to bring a person back to life!

Starting my career in teaching was exhilarating and for the first couple years I was running on 100% adrenaline – even on Sunday. Nothing to dread because I was too busy still working. Nothing could stop my perpetual forward motion, except of course, for every single virus that walked into my classroom. Needless to say, I spend the first few years of teaching is a constant state of frazzle or on my deathbed sick.

As my husband told me over and over again (in regards to teaching)- you can’t sprint a marathon.

Three years ago, I started attending the Church of Yoga class held on Sunday mornings at It’s All Yoga. {It’s not really called that, but that’s what it feels like to me}.

90 minutes of glorious yoga community connection: poetry, asana, meditation.

It is a beautiful thing.

Recently, I’ve been attending the Church of Quiet.

{Sometimes not even on Sunday.}

So what’s this Church of Quiet?

The tiny spa in the basement of my gym houses a steam room, dry sauna and whirlpool tub.

{Shhhhhhh, don’t tell anyone. Hardly any one ever uses it.}

Once a week (if I’m lucky) I sneak down into the basement wrapped in my blue sarong I bought in Thailand (I’m modest that way) without my glasses and I get myself a cup of cold water and step into the steam room.

The hot, wet heat rises from the floor and envelopes me into its quiet. And I breathe.

When I run out of water or can’t stand it any more, I open the door and feel the relief of the cool room.

Another cup of water and I go into the dry sauna. For some reason I can’t figure out, I love the smell of the sauna. Laying down on the dry warm wooden bench, I close my eyes and breathe.

When I run out of water or can’t stand it any more, I open the door and feel the relief of the cool room.

After filling my cup once again, I turn the dial on the wall around the corner from the whirlpool.

I kick off my flip-flops and step into the deep, hot water. Letting my head rest back on the tiles, I close my eyes and breathe.

I know it is time to get out and head to the shower when the bubbles come to a rest.

All told this little spa day takes less than an hour, but restores me to better than new.

What about you? What do you do to restore yourself?

Letting Go of What Used to Be and Embracing What Is

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Teacher Goes Back to School

Today I have plagued with a touch of sadness of what used to be. I’d get up, get ready, go to work and come home and do whatever I felt like doing. Sometimes going to yoga, sometimes watching TV and sometimes talking for hours on the phone with girlfriends in other cities.

I’d also work on school projects and connect with other teachers about lessons for my class and respond to emails from families.

Connecting with others through blogging and social media online and in person were some of my favorite things to do. Who doesn’t love a long lunch or an extended happy hour?

The only thing controlling my time and how I spent it was me.

Even my husband didn’t make a lot of demands on my time. We somehow fell into a comfortable flow of me time, them time and our time over the course of our decade and a half long relationship.

Fast forward a month + into parenthood and it’s dawning on me that I’m not the one in charge anymore. In order for me to meet the needs of my family I need to simply be available to them when they need me. And for now, they need me most of the time.

While I am no longer able to be spontaneous and available to others, I am answering the call of a little dependent person. Something I’ve never done before.

I feel like I am disappointing others because things are not what they used to be and I’m sad to have to let go of my identity of always reliable go-to friend and feel a bit disappointed in myself for not being able to have things like they were.

And yet, really happy to have my new role as mama.

For now - I am increasing my tolerance for other people’s disappointment. {The words of my lovely friend Michelle from Love Wasting Time}

So I am trying to let go of what used to be and embracing what is and trying not to contribute to my own suffering for wanting things to be any different than what they are.

I am hoping this isn’t sounding like a whiny rant or a plea for sympathy, I am just noticing a huge, yet subtle change in my life and thought I would share.

How do you embrace change in your life?

How did you transition into your role as a parent?

Today We Rest

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Teacher Goes Back to School

The Nap Taker

by Shel Silverstein

No – I did not take a nap -
The nap – took – me
off the bed and out the window
far beyond the sea,
to a land where sleepy heads
read only comic books
and lock their naps in iron safes
so that they can’t get took.

And soon as I came to that land,
I also came to grief.
The people pointed at me, shouting,
“Where’s the nap, you thief?”
They took me to the courthouse.
The judge put on his cap.
He said, “My child, you are on trial
for taking someone’s nap.

“Yes, all you selfish children,
you think just of yourselves
and don’t care if the nap you take
belongs to someone else.
It happens that the nap you took
without a thought or care
belongs to Bonnie Bowlingbrook,
who’s sittin’ cryin’ there.

“She hasn’t slept in quite some time -
just see her eyelids flap.
She’s tired drowsy – cranky too,
’cause guess who took her nap?”
The jury cried, “You’re guilty, yes,
you’re guilty as can be.
But just return the nap you took
And we might set you free.”

“I did not take that nap,” I cried,
“I give my solemn vow,
and if I took it by mistake
I do not have it now.”
“Oh fiddle-fudge,” cried out the judge,
your record looks quite sour.
Last night I see you stole a kiss,
Last week you took a shower,

“You beat your eggs, you’ve whipped your cream,
at work you punched the clock,
You’ve even killed an hour or two,
we’ve heard you darn your socks.
We know you shot a basketball,
you’ve stolen second base,
and we can see you’re guilty
from the sleep that’s on your face.

“Go lie down on your blanket now
and cry your guilty tears.
I sentence you to one long nap
for ninety million years.
And when the other children see
this nap that never ends,
no child will ever dare to take
somebody’s nap again.”

+++++

Today we rest. I’ll be at It’s All Yoga, but feel free to join me in spirit while you are at home.

Also, if you’d like to come try a class during November, send me a message or leave me a comment and I’ll get you a card.

+++++

How are you resting today?

Free Yoga In Sacramento During November

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Teacher Goes Back to School

Interested?

All you have to do is ask me for a complimentary class card *** and promise to USE IT during November 2011. It is good for any class at It’s All Yoga, not just mine.

Why am I doing this?

A) Free yoga is good for everyone.

B) The teacher with the most new people coming in to the studio with their cards wins a massage with Kate Sullivan at Anatomy of Massage.

Win, win!

*** – cards are for new people only (or people who haven’t been to the studio in a year or more)

Sorry for those friends and students who already go to the studio. I’ll come up with some other giveaway or contest later.

Promise.

Attitude of Gratitude

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Teacher Goes Back to School

On Tuesday It’s All Yoga posted on Facebook:

For the month of November, we’re launching an Attitude of Gratitude campaign. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, you’re invited to dedicate one Facebook update per week to write what you’re thankful for.

We’ll go first: “We’re thankful for the beautiful ginkgo trees in front of the studio whose butterfly leaves will turn their signature golden yellow in just a couple of weeks. (It’s All Yoga Attitude of Gratitude)”

What do you say, will you join us in cultivating an Attitude of Gratitude? Be sure to tag It’s All Yoga in your posts so we can “hear” you. :)

+++++

Well, I misread that as sharing what you are thankful for EVERY DAY. I guess the Twitter #30DaysofThankfulness hashtag seeped into my brain and now I’m in.

Ever since reading Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project {3 times!} I’ve kept a one sentence journal. While I don’t write in it every day, when I do go back and reread it I am once again filled with gratitude.

+++++

At the end of the month I think I’ll compile my list and publish as one post. For now, I’m posting daily on Twitter and on Facebook.

Want to join me? Just post to Facebook or Twitter and be sure to tag me.

Happy November!

At Home Yoga Retreat {and Mini Restorative Yoga Class}

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Teacher Goes Back to School

This coming Sunday, November 6th, instead of teaching my regular Sunday Snooze restorative class at It’s All Yoga, I am lucky enough to be able to participate in the Emotional Rescue Retreat with Michelle from Love Wasting Time. {Don’t worry regular Snoozers, I’ll be back in the first Sunday of December}.

Check this out.

The purpose of the retreat is to:

• restore
• be pampered
• be in silence
• slow down, tune in, and align with your higher purpose
• reflect on the upcoming holiday season
• give yourself permission to take a day, just for you

A day of restorative postures, journaling, breath-work, discussion, meditation, an organic lunch and the support of a circle of women. Held in the sanctuary of the It’s All Yoga studio.

Sounds good, huh?

Want to join me in this day of retreating in the comfort of your own home?

What you’ll need:

45 to 90 minutes {or whatever you can do}

a quiet spot where you can be alone or with other retreaters

comfy, warm yoga clothes

yoga mat

pillows

blankets

eye pillow or dark scarf

ear plugs

blocks, bolster and straps if you have them {no biggie if you don’t}

quiet alarm

Or if you find this list to be too much, just yourself and a way to keep time.

To begin:

Turn off your phone, unplug your computer and shut off the TV.

Bring mat and all your props with you – including your quiet alarm.

Lie down in Constructive rest – flat on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor hip distance. Knees can be hip width or rest toward each other – whatever feels comfortable for your body. Hands can rest where they are comfortable.

Stay here and breathe normally 10 minutes.

When your alarm sounds, bring your knees to chest and gently rock side to side.

Find your favorite savasana (corpse) position using all the props you’d like. Some suggestions: knees over a bolster or pillow and covered up with a blanket, legs up the wall, a bolster running the length of your spine and soles of feet together with pillows/rolled blankets under the knees for support.

The idea is to make yourself as comfortable as possible so you can just relax. {For more information on restorative yoga}

Stay here and breathe normally for 30 minutes.

Yep, 30 minutes.

What if you fall asleep? You are probably tired.

What if your to-do list is suddenly in the fore front of your mind and you feel as if you must get up NOW? Let it go and know it will wait for you.

What if your mind jumps from topic to topic to topic? Just notice the breath coming in and out of your body and try to watch your mind instead of hanging on to each story.

When will the 30 minutes be over? In 30 minutes.

When your alarm sounds, gently awaken your body. Wiggle fingers and toes, slowly roll ankles and wrists, stretch arms over head and catch a deeper breath and maybe a yawn.

Wake yourself as if you’re sleeping in a really nice hotel and you have absolutely nothing to do.

Roll to the side – and rest – before you use your arms to push yourself to a comfortable seat on the floor.

Write about your experience while drinking a warm cup of your favorite tea and enjoying a healthy lunch.

+++++

Have you ever taken a day for restoration? How did it go? Please share your tips, fears and thoughts.

At Home Yoga For New Mamas

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Teacher Goes Back to School

In my pre-baby life I read somewhere that only doing yoga in a class setting was like exclusively going places by being driven around in a limousine. At some point, you are going to have to learn to drive if you want to get where you want to go.

Enter the home practice.

Friends, I’m not going to lie. Practicing yoga at home is hard, especially when you’ve been spoiled with excellent teachers like I have.

Where do I start?

What should I do?

What poses do I do?

How long do I do it for?

What does my body need right now?

What the hell does that even mean?

When practicing at home was first brought up in my yoga teacher training I may have actually guffawed. The joke is now on me.

I now have a home practice. I’m pretty sure it looks different from yours or his or hers, but I have one.

What changed?

I started teaching restorative yoga regularly (first Sunday of the month and needing to feel what I was teaching) and getting myself a baby thus limiting my time outside the house alone.

What does my home practice look like?

Depends on the day and what hurts or needs my attention.

Sometimes, like say when my brain is on overload or I’m so tired I can hardly stand it, I simply lay in Savasana (corpse) with Ruby on my chest while she has a nap. Since I usually don’t fall asleep, I just rest and try to quiet my mind without obsessively checking my Google Reader.

Sometimes, if my back hurts from all the constant forward bending and lifting from chasing an active 10 month old around, I will lay in Savasana with a bolster under my shoulder blades while she’s snoozing with Papa. If I don’t have a bolster around I use a rolled up blanket, towel or pillow. When my back is particularly sensitive, I’ll keep my knees bent and feet on the floor to have the stretch be a bit more gentle.

To come out of the heart roll, be sure to roll to one side off the support and rest for a minute or two before using your arms to help you up.

Other times, I’ll sneak in some gentle neck rolls, an easy twist or a puppy while playing on the floor with her

Every so often, I’ll let Ruby lead and we usually end up in Happy Baby.

What about you? How do/did you take care of yourself when your baby came home?

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