“I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life
which are the real ones after all.”
- Laura Ingalls Wilder
There is something to be said for doing things the old-fashioned way. In our rush to keep up with our busy lives we take shortcuts. We grab something prepared for dinner as we rush home from work and we lose the joy of hearing a stew simmering away on the stove. We buy bread at the grocery store and never experience the feeling of our hands kneading dough or the taste of bread just out of the oven. In other words, modern life makes things easy & convenient in a million little ways but, does something important get lost along the way? For all our modern conveniences are we better off than our grandparents or great-grandparents? (more…)
“The true harvest of my life is intangible–a little stardust caught, a portion of the rainbow that I have clutched.” – Henry David Thoreau
It’s harvest time in wine regions across the Northern hemisphere. From Napa to Burgundy, rows and rows of grapes are paitently ripening and waiting to be turned into wine. It’s a great time of year to think about what you are harvesting from your own life. Will you harvest the little joys? Like Thoreau, will you slow down enough to tune into the seasons, the ’stardust’ and the simple moments that make life special? This fall—make a resolution to put down the smart phone and make some time to open up that bottle of wine that you have been saving, pick apples with your kids or just curl up in front of a crackling fire with someone you love. Life is short. What will you choose to harvest?
Fall is also the perfect time to start a home practice. Click HERE for a ‘Harvest Moon’ playlist that’s perfect for a home practice!
“Optimist; Daydreamer more elegantly spelled”- Mark Twain
This weekend I had the pleasure to attend a 70th wedding anniversary party. Statistically, getting to 70 years of marriage has to be about as likely as getting struck by lightning. In today’s world it is nothing short of a miracle. So when you see two happy, healthy people in their 90s, getting decked out in corsages and boutonnieres, to celebrate a milestone like a 70th wedding anniversary you have to stop and take notice. (more…)
“We live in a river of change, and a river of change lives within us. Every day we’re given a choice: We can relax and float in the direction that the water flows, or we can swim hard against it. If we go with the river, the energy of a thousand streams will be with us, filling our hearts with courage and enthusiasm. If we resist the river, we will feel rankled and tired as we tread water, stuck in the same place”- Elizabeth Lesser (more…)
A recent study came out that shows that women in demanding jobs are 43% more likely to have a heart attack than their peers in less demanding jobs. The truth is that stress, for both women and men, is epidemic in our culture. How can we take the lessons that we learn on our yoga mat into the workplace and into our daily lives? Here are 5 quick tips to reduce stress. (more…)
I have been on a bit of a blogging hiatus for the last few months working on my latest project…..the new, second location of Bliss Flow Yoga in Madison. I am proud to say that after lots of painting, cleaning and general busy-ness we are now up and running! Lots of gratitude goes out to my family, friends and staff for all of the hard work and love that they put into making this a reality. Check out the pictures (more below)of the newly transformed space. If you are a Madison yogi or yogini, I hope to see you on the mat checking out our new space and sipping a cup of tea sometime very soon. Check out our website at www.blissflowyoga.com for directions and class schedules. As for my blog-stay tuned for new food, wine, yoga and travel blog posts coming soon, as well as info on Yoga & Wine retreats that are in the works. Glad to be back in the blogosphere!
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It’s easy to fall into the self defeating pattern of thinking we will be happy when something specific happens in our lives. For some of us the ‘when’ is when we find the perfect job, the perfect partner or move to the perfect place. What if we were able to open ourselves up to the joys of the present instead of waiting for the illusion of the perfect life that waits just around the corner? Perhaps we could start to find happiness in today, just as it is, instead of waiting for tommorow. So stop and smell the proverbial roses. Open up that bottle of wine you have been saving for a special occasion. Dance more. Call your best friend and laugh about something silly. Roll down your windows and turn up the volume on your favorite song. Embrace the present moment here and now. Enjoy the playlist and the quote….see you in class soon!
“We spend our lives in anticipation-in determining to be vastly happy at some point in the future when we have time. But the present time has one advantage over every other. It is our own. Past opportunites are gone. The future is yet to come. We may lay in a stock of pleasures, as we would lay in a stock of wine, but if we defer the tasting of them too long we should find that both are soured by age.” -Charles Caleb Colton
Click HERE to enjoy the playlist from last night’s Candlelight Yoga class
It’s easy this time of year to get caught up in old, unhealthy patterns. The sky is grey and hibernating can sometimes seem like the best option. When we step onto our yoga mat we have the power to change all that. We can let the movement, the breath and the music help us blossom open. It may not be spring outside, but we can let in the light and start to find that first warm breeze inside of ourselves.
Check out the playlist from today’s Yoga Flow class by clicking HERE. Hope it makes you feel like spring is just around the corner. I am loving the version of ‘Ooh Child’ by Beth Orton and ‘Wheat Kings’ by the Tragically Hip. ‘Brown Sugar’ by the Rolling Stones is a great song to make you want to rock out on your yoga mat. Enjoy!
I wanted to share a quote from this evening’s class and encourage all of you to tap into your own brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous selves!
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be! Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking. We were born to manifest the glory that is within us. It is not just in some of us….it is in everyone.” – Marianne Williamson
Click HERE to enjoy the playlist from tonight’s class.
Yoga can help us find grace in the midst of challenge. As many of us know all to well, we can’t always control or change the storms that life puts in our path, but we can learn to weather those storms with grace and fortitude. Yoga can also teach us ways to make our lives less challenging, to improve our health, our mental state and our spiritual selves so that we are able to function with greater ease and grace. As Iyengar explains, our yoga practice can help us learn how to accept that which we cannot change with serenity and learn to move forward and change that which we can.
“Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what can not be cured.” B. K. S. Iyengar
Enjoy tonight’s playlist!
