Life . Yoga . Coach

06/11/2026

Cultivate Gratitude

6/11/26

Atlas of the Heart ~ Brené Brown

In her book, she writes, there is overwhelming evidence that gratitude is good for us physically emotionally, and mentally there’s research that shows that gratitude is correlated with better sleep, increased creativity, decreased entitlement, decreased hostility, and aggression, increased decision-making skills, decrease blood pressure the list goes on. The research is persuasive, and I’ve read countless articles and books on gratitude, but I still struggle to understand exactly why it helps so much until I read this by Robert Emmons. Robert is the world‘s leading scientific expert on gratitude.

“Research and motion shows that positive emotions were off quickly. Our emotional systems like newness. They like novelty. They like change. We adapt to positive life circumstances so that before too long the new car, the new spouse, the new house – they don’t feel so new and exciting anymore.

But gratitude makes us appreciate the value of something, and when we appreciate the value of something, we extract more benefits from it; we’re less likely to take it for granted.

In fact, I think gratitude allows us to participate more in life. We notice the positives more, and that magnifies the pleasures you get from life. Instead of adapting to goodness, we celebrate goodness. We spend so much time watching things-movies, computer screens, sports – but with gratitude we become greater participants in our lives as opposed to spectators.”

05/21/2026

I grew up with watching my in home nanny exercise to Jack LaLanne 🥰

The body adapts at any age when you give it a reason to.

Your muscles don’t know how old you are.
They respond to challenge.

Your heart responds to movement.
Your bones respond to resistance.
Your balance improves when you practice it.

That’s how the body works.

When you ask more of it, it begins to change.

Walk consistently and your endurance improves.
Lift weights and your muscles grow stronger.
Stretch regularly and your mobility returns.

The goal isn’t to be younger.
The goal is to become more capable.

Age may influence how you train, but it does not eliminate your ability to improve.

Give your body a reason to respond.
Then stay consistent long enough to see what it can do.

04/28/2026

A word about Prayer 🙏🏻

A few years ago, one of the most influential Zen masters of our time, Thich Nhat Hanh, departed his physical body at age 95. Lovingly known as the “father of mindfulness,” his wisdom lives on and continues to heal and inspire millions worldwide.

To celebrate his life, I’ve included a powerful Buddhist prayer below. But first, here is some advice from Thich Nhat Hanh on the “right way to pray.”

When I first read these words from him, they blew me away...

“If you are standing on one shore and want to cross over to the other shore, you have to use a boat or swim across. You cannot just pray, ‘Oh, other shore, please come over here for me to step across!’ To a Buddhist, praying without also practicing is not real prayer.

“In a real prayer, you ask only for the things you really need, things that are necessary for your well-being, such as peace, solidity, and freedom... freedom from anger, fear and craving. Happiness and well-being are not possible without peace, solidity and freedom. Most of our desires are not for our peace, solidity and freedom.

“While you pray, you are deeply aware of what you really need and what is just the object of your desire. This kind of prayer is the light of God that shines upon you, telling you which way to go in order to obtain peace, solidity and freedom. In a real prayer, you also touch the wholesome seeds in your consciousness and water them. These are seeds of compassion, love, understanding, forgiveness and joy.

“If while praying you can recognize these seeds in you and help them grow, your prayer is already a deep practice.”

I hope this deep reflection touched something within you, as it did me.

📸 & artwork by .creative.nature

04/24/2026

If you live, you must learn 🙏🏻💗☀️📚

I used to think that spiritual teachers lived in a different world. A world of peace. A world of certainty. A world where the floor never fell out from under them. I imagined Pema Chödrön, the Tibetan Buddhist nun with the warm voice and the shaved head, waking up each morning to a mind as still as a mountain lake. I imagined her untouched by the anxiety, the rage, the despair that seemed to follow me like a shadow.

Then I read Welcoming the Unwelcome. And on page something, she told me about the time she wanted to punch someone.

Not metaphorically. Not "in her heart." She wanted to actually, physically, close her fist and swing. She was in a meeting. Someone said something that triggered her. The anger rose like a wave. She felt it in her chest, her throat, her hands. She wanted to lash out. She wanted to hurt.

She did not. She breathed. She stayed. She let the wave pass. But the desire—the raw, human, embarrassing desire to hit another person, was there. And she admitted it. In a book. For the world to see.

That is when I knew I could trust her.

5 Lessons That Will Change How You Live:

1. The Only Way Out Is Through
This is the book's central teaching. You cannot outrun your pain. You cannot numb it, distract it, or rationalize it away. The only way to heal is to feel. To sit with the discomfort. To let it move through you. To learn, slowly, that you can survive it.

2. Fear Is Not the Enemy. It Is the Doorway.
We spend so much energy trying to get rid of fear. Chödrön argues that fear is not the problem. It is a sign that we are approaching something real. The question is not how to eliminate fear. The question is how to relate to it.

3. You Are Not Alone in Your Brokenness
One of the most comforting passages in the book is Chödrön's reflection on her own struggles. She admits that she still gets scared. Still gets angry. Still wants to run away. She is not a perfected being. She is a practitioner, someone who has been practicing for decades and still falls down.

4. Compassion Is Not about Fixing. It Is about Staying.
We think compassion means doing something, helping, solving, rescuing. Chödrön argues that the most compassionate thing we can do is simply stay present. To bear witness. To say: I see you. I hear you. I am not leaving. This is true for ourselves as well. Self-compassion is not about fixing our flaws. It is about staying with ourselves when we are at our worst. Not judging. Not fixing. Just staying.
5. The World Needs Your Broken Heart
The final section of the book is about taking this practice into the world. Chödrön argues that the world is not healed by experts or saviors. It is healed by ordinary people who have learned to stay present with their own pain and, from that place, reach out to others.

Welcoming the Unwelcome is not a book you read once and forget. It is a book you keep. It is a book you return to when life falls apart, which it will. It is a book that will not give you answers. It will give you a practice. And the practice is enough.

Chödrön writes: "The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently."

That is the book. That is the invitation. To stop running. To look honestly. To be gentle. To welcome the unwelcome.

I am still learning. I still run. I still numb. I still want to look away. But now, when I catch myself, I have a practice. I stop. I breathe. I say: Welcome. I have been expecting you.

It is not a cure. It is a beginning.

BOOK: https://amzn.to/4mDnERH

04/23/2026

This is what cleansing looks like🙏🏻💗☀️

04/04/2026

Root down and Rise tall like a tree🙏🏻💗☀️

Sadness gives depth. Happiness gives height.
Sadness gives roots. Happiness gives branches.
Happiness is like a tree going into the sky, and sadness is like the roots going down into the womb of the earth.
Both are needed, and the higher a tree goes, the deeper it goes, simultaneously.

Osho

04/01/2026

Morning Energy Flow🙏🏻💗☀️

Start your day with yoga & positive energy 🧘‍♀️

Good Morning 🌞🌹
Wake up your body and mind with this gentle morning yoga flow.

Just a few minutes of stretching and mindful breathing can boost your energy, improve flexibility and keep your mind calm all day.
Stay consistent, stay peaceful & let yoga transform your mornings 💛





Thank you.🙏🏻❤️

03/25/2026

Life IS Good 🙏🏻💗☀️

Your practice isn’t just what you do on the mat—
it’s how you show up in the world.

Through breath, awareness, and intention,
you carry that calm into your words, your actions, and your energy.

Be the peace you practice. 🧘‍♀️✨

02/11/2026

An Invitation to Let Go
~Joshua Fields Millburn~

“What are three things you’re struggling to jettison?”

That’s the question we posed to the thirty people who attended last year’s Simplehaven retreat in Ojai, California.

On the first morning—under the oak trees and dappled sunlight at the Ojai Art Center—we asked each participant to write down three things they wanted to let go of that weekend.

Some answers were familiar:

“My attic is full of my dead parents’ stuff.”
“I want to ditch my fifteen-year career.”
“I need to let go of a toxic family member.”

Then one woman, Gina, wrote something that stopped me cold:

“My hair.”

Huh?

Gina was a beautiful woman with a beautiful head of hair. I didn’t get it. Why let go of something that seemed to serve her so well?

Over the weekend, Ryan, T.K., and I worked through each person’s list. When we finally got to Gina, it became clear: it wasn’t her hair she wanted to release—it was the identity tangled up in it.

Her hair was just the symbol.

She wanted to let go of who she had been so she could move forward as who she was becoming.

That realization felt familiar.

Fifteen years ago, when I began minimizing my possessions, I wasn’t just decluttering stuff—I was untangling stories. My belongings had entwined with my identity, and I couldn’t move forward until I loosened that knot.

On the final day of Simplehaven, I predicted that Gina would email us in a few months saying she’d trimmed a few inches off her hair. That felt like a win.

Then something unexpected happened.

As everyone was preparing to leave, after the retreat's capstone musical performance, Gina asked if anyone had a pair of clippers.

Someone did.

Without ceremony or prompting, Gina shaved her head right there under the oak trees.

For a moment, I considered stopping her—Are you sure?—but I didn’t want to interrupt an act of letting go.

Everyone gathered as her hair fell to the ground.
With it went her old identity.
She looked lighter. Freer. Radiant.

Sometimes letting go isn’t subtle.
Sometimes it’s decisive.
Sometimes it’s exactly what you need.

Of course, you needn't shave your head.
But you might ask yourself:
What am I holding onto that no longer reflects who I am?
And what would happen if I finally let it go?

01/18/2026

Next New Moon practice 🙏🏻💗🌕

Flow gently with Moon Salutation (Chandra Namaskar) 🌙

A calming sequence to release tension, improve flexibility, and restore balance—perfect for evening practice and mindful movement.