This week my the focus of my self-care practice has been breathing. My lingering cough and asthma symptoms have pushed me to be more aware of my breathing and advocate for more medical intervention. It has also pushed me to be more in tune with my body, differentiating when I need extra care and rest and when I have the ability to do more.

Most of the time our breathing is something we aren’t required to pay attention to. Yet how we breath can have such a profound impact on our physical, mental, and emotional health. When I am struggling with my breathing, I notice that I am breathing more shallowly and consequently am more tired, irritable, and easily dysregulated. When I am breathing with more ease, my breath is deeper and slower, leading me to feel more energized, focused, and relaxed. Pausing to notice our breath is an important self-care practice. It gives us information about how we are feeling and provides the opportunity to actively care for ourselves with a few deep breaths, engaging our parasympathetic nervous system and decreasing our stress levels.

Hello Yogis -

Happy June! We are fully into late spring and enjoying the abundance of blooming flowers and unfurling trees, only a few weeks away from the summer solstice. Lena from The Power Path describes the theme of June as an ”Intuitive Choices" encouraging us to trust our hearts and sense of curiosity. This weekend is a new moon in Sagittarius bringing energy of both playfulness and meeting responsibilities. Finding the balance between these things may be the challenge for the month. Practicing pausing and being present in the moment can support us in tuning into our intuition and trusting our choices.

Please join me Saturday, June 17 from 3-4 pm for a New Moon Crystal Singing Bowl Sound Bath. Give yourself the gift of rest and relaxation, allowing the vibrations of the singing bowls to soothe your mind, ease your body and fill your spirit. The event will be in person at On the Move Studio, 925 S. Niagara, Denver, CO. Space is limited, so reserve your spot asap - Crystal Singing Bowl Sound Bath.

One more day and it’s summertime, summertime, sum sum summertime!! (Well, unofficial summer anyway 😉) While not everyone has the summer off, summer is a wonderful time to slow down and create intentional routines of rest and rejuvenation. Many of us plow through our days without pausing to breathe, move, connect with others around non-work topics, or go outside and soak up some sunshine. All of these activities improve our overall wellbeing along with reducing our stress levels and all the accompanying issues stress brings on. How will you create space for your own wellbeing in your life this summer? Sometimes in order to find this space, we need to ask others to take on some tasks or responsibilities for us. This can be challenging for some of us, but we are all worth it.

In my work world we are approaching the final week of the school year and most of us are sliding into the finish line on fumes. It is a pattern that has only intensified in the decades I have worked in education. Over the past five years my colleagues and I have worked to develop resources and programming to support staff wellness in our district with the goal of changing the culture of education into a system that supports everyone in thriving and performing at their best through caring for themselves. The more I speak with people in other professions, I realize it is not just education that needs this change. I believe we truly need to change the culture of work in our entire country.

I hope you all are safe in the midst of the dramatic spring weather we’ve been having. All this rain has been quite a change in our semi-arid climate.

I had a chance to do my first sound bath with my new crystal singing bowls for some educators in my district. It was so lovely to share the beautiful, healing sounds and experience them myself as well. Here is a recording for your enjoyment - Singing Bowls for Deep Relaxation.

I hope you are enjoying the amazing spring weather we have been gifted this week. The warm and sunny days combined with the blooming spring flowers and trees are lifting my spirits and sparking my excitement about the coming summer.

I recently completed a Sound Healing Certification and am excited to add this healing modality to my offerings. Sound healing sessions can provide a deep sense of relaxation, help to balance the chakras, and provide the opportunity to release energetic and emotional blockages. Sound healing can also be combined with yoga, meditation, and energy healing sessions. I would love to share the soothing sounds of my beautiful chakra crystal singing bowls with you. Please let me know If you’d like to schedule a session (in person or virtually) or group sound bath.

Over the last couple of weeks the universe has continued to remind me that rest is an essential part of caring for myself. After three years of dodging it, I came down with Covid. Fortunately, it has been relatively mild and I am slowly regaining my energy and stamina through listening to my body’s messages, caring for myself, asking for help, and resting.

It is not lost on me that a book I was waiting for from the library was ready for me to borrow this week - Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey. Just when I was returning to work and likely to slip into to doing too much too quickly, Tricia reminded me “I am enough now.” I don’t need to prove myself through doing or wearing myself out. I have more to offer the world when I am rested and rejuvenated.

I missed you all last week, but enjoyed presenting about mindfulness and sharing yoga with social workers at the National School Social Workers conference. It was inspiring to connect with and learn from my social work colleagues from across the country and around the world working for social justice and advocating for students, teachers, and families. The multitude of challenges we are facing as a county were at the forefront in the keynotes, presentations, and conversations throughout the conference. While those topics can be discouraging and overwhelming, being with hundreds of people focused on finding solutions buoyed my spirit and reinvigorated my resolve to keep doing everything I can to make a difference. Each one of us makes a difference in our circle of influence and those ripples becomes waves of change.

Happy Spring! I hope you are feeling some of the forward moving energy from the Spring Equinox that helps us get moving out of winter’s heaviness.

In my last newsletter I mentioned the turbulent shifts that March was bringing astrologically. We all respond differently to these shifts and they can often be challenging for us, even leading to crisis. The Denver community experienced another significant gun related crisis yesterday, which has impacted us individually and communally. In the moment such events can cause us to feel helpless and hopeless. While difficult, allowing ourselves to sit with those feelings is important to our healing. Offering ourselves compassion for the suffering we are experiencing allows us to accept that our feelings are valid, that we are not alone in our suffering, and that we are worthy of kindness. This practice is called the Self-Compassion Break and can be a supportive tool in navigating the way forward.

Hello Yogis -

Last weekend we had playful class working our way toward natarajasana, dancer pose. We hadn’t practice the asana together in awhile and it was fun to explore where we were with the pose that particular day. It was a reminder of what I often say, “our bodies are a little bit different each time we do yoga.”

Well, this has been a week. My oldest son is a graduate student at Michigan State University. Gratefully, he was not on campus when this week’s mass shooting occurred, but, along with the grief we all feel for the young lives senselessly lost, the hours of fear thinking the assailant could show up in his neighborhood or his house took a toll on all of us. Then, yesterday yet another shooting occurred in El Paso, terrorizing a community that has been impacted far too much in the past few years. I am a naturally optimistic person, yet weeks like this test my resolve. I have been turning to Reiki and lovingkindness practices this week to keep me grounded and hopeful in our shared humanity. We all need to care for ourselves in finding the balance between processing these traumas, caring for ourselves, and taking action to make a difference in the world. Please be gentle with yourself as you again experience this communal grief and find the path of healing and action that feels right for you.

This week has been interesting with the effects of the full moon and some funky planet transits. The theme of setting boundaries has come up in many conversations with friends and colleagues throughout the week. Boundary setting can be challenging for many of us, especially since we were raised in a society that typically doesn’t model or support them. We can set boundaries by saying yes to ourselves and to the things, situations, and people that bring us joy and fill our cups. We can set boundaries by saying no to the things, situations, and people that drain our energy and leave us feeling worse. Asking for help from others is also a way to support the choices we want to make to care for ourselves. Finding the balance between saying yes and saying no can be challenging and that balance may look different day to day. As you practice remember to be gentle with yourself, you’re developing a new skill.

Hello Yogis -

As we celebrate Black History Month, honoring those who have come before us and celebrating their work and lives, it is also important to continue the work of social and racial justice ourselves. One step I am taking is reading The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness by Dr. Rhonda Magee. If you are interested in joining me and connecting to discuss it, please let me know.

I hope you’re able to get out and enjoy a bit of Friday’s warmer weather before we drop into another round of deep freeze. This colder than usual January has provided ample opportunity for slowing down, wintering, and practicing hygge. Hygge is the danish practice of getting cozy and engaging in the quiet pleasures of life either by yourself or with those whose company you enjoy.

I hope you have shoveled out from this week’s storm and are ready for a bit more snow this weekend. Saturday is a new moon in Aquarius and, along with the end of Mercury in retrograde, should bring new energy and clarity to things that have felt stuck or stagnant. It is an opportunity to set some intentions and plant the seeds of things you want to create or accomplish this year.

I hope this finds you well as we move quickly to the middle of January. We have a few more days of Mercury in retrograde when any stuck or sluggish energy should begin moving forward. Tomorrow is Friday the 13, which prior to its patriarchal association with bad luck was considered the Day of the Goddess honoring the Divine Feminine in all of us. So instead of stepping into tomorrow with trepidation, I invite you step into your power and honor the strength of your feminine qualities. You can read more from Forever Conscious.

Happy New Year! I hope this first week of 2023 has been a good one. And if it hasn’t, I hope you were able to find ways to care for yourself as you addressed any difficulties.

We have come to the last days of 2022. As we prepare to shift into the new year, it is natural to look back at the past year as well as forward into the next. At the end of the year, the weight of whatever has happened in our last few weeks or months is often the filter through which we view the entire year. This can lead to forgetting the ways we’ve grown and changed, the challenges we’ve overcome, and the joy, wonder, and awe we have experienced. Reviewing our year month by month can support us in acknowledging and validating all we have experienced over the past 365 days.

Please join me for a New Year’s Eve morning practice which will provide us an opportunity to release that which we want to leave in 2022 and create space for what the new year has to offer. I hope you will join me.

I hope you are all staying warm on this frigid night. Winter certainly showed up in full force this winter solstice. Whatever holiday you are celebrating this year, may you pause, turn inward, and allow yourself time to rest in your own light.

We are just a few days away from the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. The lights of the season always brighten my spirits and particularly remind me of my aunt, whose house was always a sparkling with light and love through the holidays. The season and the darkness can often bring a mix of emotions. Connecting with each other, checking in with ourselves, and focusing on the parts of the season that bring us joy can be helpful in navigating whatever arises.