As we begin this new year there are many opportunities and possibilities ahead, yet there are also many reasons for concern and trepidation. Given this it can feel daunting to take on the weight of the year ahead. Turning our attention a little closer and a little deeper, back home to our inner selves can feel more manageable.

I hope you all are caring for yourselves as you need to through this week of holidays. As we wind down the final days of the year, may we offer ourselves gratitude for all we have accomplished and learned and grace for all we have endured and overcome. Each year, each day, each moment is an opportunity to learn a little more about ourselves, to grow and awaken to our true nature, and to offer ourselves compassion when we don’t live up to our own expectations.

The Winter Solstice is almost upon us and I am excited for the opportunity to honor it with you through our Saturday Morning Yoga class as well as the Winter Solstice Retreat for Rest & Renewal. There are only a few retreat spaces left, so sign up soon!

One of the things I enjoy most about the approach of winter is the opportunity for stillness. The natural world has turned inward and is resting and regenerating. The trees stand stark and steady, a visual reminder that stillness is a part of the seasonal cycle.

Recently, I was listening to an interview with Prune Harris, an energy medicine practitioner and teacher, and she said, “the seasons are not outside of us, the seasons are within us.” I found this such a powerful reminder that we can and need to allow our own rhythms to follow the cues the seasons are giving us rather than expecting ourselves to be full of summertime energy all year long.

As I have been processing the election, its consequences, and my own response, I have been thinking a lot about the indigenous story of the two wolves within us. Which wolf do I feed in this moment, the wolf of anger or the wolf of love? Each of us must make our own decisions each moment, each day as to how we will respond.

This is coming a day later than usual as I had the privilege of spending the last fews days in Santa Fe with my niece. We set out on our adventure with the mindset of seeing what the universe had to show us and we were not disappointed. The freedom of letting go of expectations for ourselves, for others, for what and how things should be allowed us to experience things as they were in the moment. It gave us the opportunity to let life unfold moment by moment without trying to control or manage it. Consequently, we saw and experienced joys, insights, connections, and inspirations we could not have predicted.

For many of us this week has brought anxiety, grief, fear, anger, and disbelief. Our hopes and dreams of moving our country forward toward more kindness, compassion, and humanity have been shockingly interrupted by the choice of millions of Americans to choose hatred, discrimination, and dehumanization instead. As we grapple with this, it is essential that we hold onto our own values with integrity and compassion and resist the urge to respond in kind to those who made the choices impacting us. Please take the time to experience your emotions and connect with those who can offer you the support you need to keep your inner light aflame. Then, when you are ready, when you feel strong enough, find some way to take action to make a positive difference that is meaningful to you. (This article from Waging Nonviolence may be helpful.)

The celebrations of Halloween, Diwali, and the Day of the Dead over the next few days coincide with the New Moon in Scorpio. Tomorrow is also 111. All of these events invite us to be introspective, reflecting on our lives and noticing all we have to be grateful for. It is a time to tune into our intuition, trust our inner wisdom, and trust that each step we take on our path is supported by the universe. When we we act from a place of love and compassion for ourselves and others rather than from a place of fear, we will always be on the right path. I invite you to take some time over these next few days to move your body, sit in meditation, spend time in nature, and listen to the wisdom that arises from within.

As part of honoring the energy of yesterday’s new moon and solar eclipse I had the pleasure of offering two sound baths. One was a surprise wellness opportunity for the lovely staff at Dalton Elementary and the other was in support of Michelle Voeller’s benefit to raise funds for a food bank in Asheville, NC, which has been hit hard by flooding from Hurricane Helene. Both brought me so much joy as I shared the sound healing practice I love with and for people I care about.

I am so grateful to have spent the last week honoring the changing of the season with dear friends from our Harmony Yoga days and a couple of new ones as well. The opportunity to balance movement and stillness, community and solitude, socializing and introspection truly mirrored the lessons of the equinox. We spent a lot of time at the beach observing and experiencing the power of the ocean as well as its soothing and healing qualities. On my last day as I stood at the water’s edge watching the waves, I thought, “even the ocean rests between each wave.” It was like watching the earth breathe as the waves flowed in and out, another reminder to balance action and rest and that our strength to act comes from the pause in between.

Sometimes the messages we need to hear and to share come in our dreams. This morning I awoke with this message, “You don’t have to be perfect to be loved. You deserve love simply because you are you.” This felt like it came deep from my inner knowing and the wisdom of the universe as a rearranging of the old messages in my head I’ve been working on rewiring for 40 years. This message is true for all of us and I hope it will support you in offering yourself the lovingkindness you need in difficult moments.

It was such a pleasure to present to an engaged and energetic group at the Strengthening Colorado Families & Communities Conference today. The opportunity to share practical, accessible mindfulness practices with professionals in the trenches supporting and caring for our families brought me so much joy. These providers need these practices every bit as much as our educators do and I am grateful to have had the chance to be part of their journey. If you or your organization would like to explore integrating mindfulness and wellness practices into your routines and culture, I would be glad to support you as well.

As I’ve been preparing for my conference presentation next week on Everyday Mindfulness, I am reminded yet again of how simple mindfulness practices can make such a big difference in our sense of well-being and our overall stress and health. I always say that I teach what I need to hear and this is no exception. 😊 Regular brief pauses for breathing, grounding, and releasing tension allow us to down regulate and come back to the present moment. I invite you all to identify at least one time each day when you consistently take an extra moment to pause and engage in a mindfulness practice. If you need some ideas or support in integrating mindfulness into your daily life, reach out and we can schedule a consultation or coaching session.

Today is the Lion’s Gate Portal 8/8, which is amplified as our year also adds up to 8. It is a powerful day to set intentions, spark creativity, reconnect with our authentic selves, and recall our spirit energy back to ourselves. To learn more and explore practices to take advantage of this fortuitous energy portal read this from Forever Conscious.

Welcome to August! As we move into this new month I am grateful to have had the time to rest and allow my body to recover from my illness. While I am still not one hundred percent, I am definitely on the mend and feeling a little better each day.

I hope this finds you well. We returned yesterday from our adventures in England and France and while we had an amazing time, we are glad to be home. Traveling is such good practice in being present in the moment and going with the flow. We experienced many bumps in the road as we navigated through our journey and enjoyed ourselves so much more when we focused on what was instead of what wasn’t which reminded me of Jon Kabat-Zinn’s quote, “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” We also went into our trip with very little expectation, which truly allowed us to be present to whatever opportunities arose.

I hope this finds you all safe and well as our country celebrates the 4th of July amidst the turmoil of recent events here and abroad. It is yet another opportunity for practicing equanimity and truly holding all that is present as it is. Celebrating all the good in our country and its potential, while recognizing, acknowledging, and taking action to make a difference in its harms is one way of practicing equanimity. We can sometimes feel daunted by our own personal challenges not to mention the breadth and depth of all the difficulties beyond us. I encourage you to pause, take a breath, and do the next right thing that you can. Remember that you don’t have to change it all at once and you don’t have to do it alone.

I hope you’ve been soaking up this first full week of summer and finding time for rest and joy. I have slowed down this week to recharge and have been loving both quiet time to myself as well as sweet connections with friends and family. In reflecting on what kind of rest I needed I found that unscheduled time, following my intuition toward activity or naps, and allowing myself to just be without expectation have brought me both peace and joy.

Happy Summer Solstice!!☀️ As a summer baby summertime has always been my favorite time of year. I love the time to play, explore, connect, be outdoors, and savor the abundance of the season. I am grateful to have spent this week leading up to the solstice with a wonderful group of educators in the beautiful setting of Drala Mountain Resort. We explored and practiced tuning into our intuition and offering ourselves compassion. Dedicating the time and space to truly care for ourselves is a revolutionary act that can change the quality and often the direction of our lives.