Hi friends & blog followers!! I am so excited to back, talking about food, yoga, self-love, and all kinds of good stuff. I hope you'll join me in conversation about how we can all live healthier, happier, and more peaceful lives.
I knew I needed to get back to writing last week during a particularly overwhelming and stressful couple of days. As many of you know, I am crazy busy this fall as I complete my last year of school and continue to teach yoga and study astrology. Last week I felt totally exhausted and like my body was running on empty; my muscles and bones felt like sludge during my yoga practice, and my mood was a little low. This is nothing new for me, especially during this time of year. As the seasons transition from summer into fall and fall into winter, I notice a palpable change in my mood and energy. It's really helpful for me to have some extra support systems already in place, before it gets too cold and too dark outside. Last winter, my blog was one of those support systems, and since I know I'm not the only one who feels a change in bodymindspirit during winter, I thought we could all benefit from this open space to talk and share.
I have to say, I am not very proud of how I handled my low levels of energy last week. My first reaction was to get really angry at my body for not performing the way I wanted it to, and to then freak out that focusing more on school this year means that my yoga practice (read: flexibility) is going to slip away. It felt like yoga was being taken away from me, and I did not like that. More than a few times I caught myself beating myself up, saying really mean things like "you aren't good enough" and "if you can't be perfectly awake and open and flexible in class then you're an embarrassment as a teacher." WHOA!! Now that I write it out, seems a bit extreme, no?!
Then, it suddenly hit me: YOGA IS FOR HEALING. My time on my mat should be a place where I can just be, where I don't have to do or teach or behave in any kind of way that doesn't feel natural. If you took one of my yoga classes last week after I had this remembrance, I shared it with you and reminded you to be as gentle as possible with yourself as you moved through your flow. Well, I want to extend that further and invite everyone, myself included, to be as gentle as possible to ourselves as we move through our lives. We might not be able to do it at every moment, but we can try. Change doesn't happen, well-being and health don't happen, when we are berating ourselves. We can't beat ourselves into feeling good, yet we still try to do it all the time. Instead, let's try and be a little more compassionate with who we are.
The answer is always self-love. Every. Single. Time. There's no way around it, so we might as well just start there.
Have a wonderful day, everyone, and I look forward to blogging with you again!!!
Lots of love,
Nina
I knew I needed to get back to writing last week during a particularly overwhelming and stressful couple of days. As many of you know, I am crazy busy this fall as I complete my last year of school and continue to teach yoga and study astrology. Last week I felt totally exhausted and like my body was running on empty; my muscles and bones felt like sludge during my yoga practice, and my mood was a little low. This is nothing new for me, especially during this time of year. As the seasons transition from summer into fall and fall into winter, I notice a palpable change in my mood and energy. It's really helpful for me to have some extra support systems already in place, before it gets too cold and too dark outside. Last winter, my blog was one of those support systems, and since I know I'm not the only one who feels a change in bodymindspirit during winter, I thought we could all benefit from this open space to talk and share.
I have to say, I am not very proud of how I handled my low levels of energy last week. My first reaction was to get really angry at my body for not performing the way I wanted it to, and to then freak out that focusing more on school this year means that my yoga practice (read: flexibility) is going to slip away. It felt like yoga was being taken away from me, and I did not like that. More than a few times I caught myself beating myself up, saying really mean things like "you aren't good enough" and "if you can't be perfectly awake and open and flexible in class then you're an embarrassment as a teacher." WHOA!! Now that I write it out, seems a bit extreme, no?!
Then, it suddenly hit me: YOGA IS FOR HEALING. My time on my mat should be a place where I can just be, where I don't have to do or teach or behave in any kind of way that doesn't feel natural. If you took one of my yoga classes last week after I had this remembrance, I shared it with you and reminded you to be as gentle as possible with yourself as you moved through your flow. Well, I want to extend that further and invite everyone, myself included, to be as gentle as possible to ourselves as we move through our lives. We might not be able to do it at every moment, but we can try. Change doesn't happen, well-being and health don't happen, when we are berating ourselves. We can't beat ourselves into feeling good, yet we still try to do it all the time. Instead, let's try and be a little more compassionate with who we are.
The answer is always self-love. Every. Single. Time. There's no way around it, so we might as well just start there.
Have a wonderful day, everyone, and I look forward to blogging with you again!!!
Lots of love,
Nina
