Blog

Yoga

Now Offering: Live Yoga Online via Zoom!

I am so excited to announce that I am now offering live yoga classes ONLINE via Zoom!

Join me every Sunday morning (10 am MT/11 am CST) for a 45 minute Gentle Flow yoga class.

These classes will be calming, grounding and meditative, and will help release tension in your body and mind. 💕🙏🏼💕 

Once you register for the class (via the link below) you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Register in advance for these classes each week via this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5Ukd-ivpjop0ikCIDIw0r8SQ5YtGEB5bw?fbclid=IwAR3BChSKj-gULs7uf9wi3tvTR–MN2XVw-6ZisXjxxzuFJ1j3pYQmP3JbmY

These classes are donation based. If you would like to offer a donation you can do that with the following link:  Click here to make a donation! I know this is a difficult time for everyone, so if you aren’t able to donate, that is absolutely fine. Everyone is welcome! 💗

Stay tuned for more classes and more offerings coming SOON! You can keep up to date on my yoga offerings in the YOGA section on my page.

Anxiety, Life, Self-Care

You Are Not Your Anxiety

Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest taken between two deep breaths.” – Etty Hillesum

Anxiety is a bitch. Plain and simple. Anxiety is something I have dealt with, in one capacity or another, my entire life. I know I am not alone in this! I believe that some of us are born with more anxiety-prone tendencies than others and are more anxious in nature. However, I also believe that the world we live in basically promotes stress and anxiety.

If you struggle with anxiety, you are definitely not alone! It’s almost impossible to not be stressed by something or another these days. In the age of social media, the internet and instant information we are constantly being bombarded with news stories, politics, advice, and stories on a continuous loop, 24/7. The majority of stuff we see is negative and daunting. We are also watching everyone else’s highlight reel on the daily and it’s easy to go down the rabbit hole of feeling like we are not good enough, are behind in life or that somehow we don’t measure up. We may feel like we need to to do better, be better and be perfect. We may feel like we aren’t good enough.

GAH! I’m feeling anxious just talking about all of this. But my point is this: Life is hard enough without the added stress of the world we live in, plus the unrealistic expectations social media often provides. Of course we fail to meet these crazy expectations, which can easily contribute to our self esteem, stress and anxiety issues. No wonder so many people struggle with anxiety!

It’s also possible to be anxious for seemingly no reason. When you’re prone to being anxious your mind likes to find anything and everything to worry about. It’s easy to get stuck in your head and always focus on the negative. To over-think and obsess.

Anxiety is tough, but I am here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be this way!

You are not your anxiety! 

Anxiety is something I know all too well. I know what it feels like when your mind just won’t quit and will find anything and everything to worry about. It’s exhausting and often leaves you feeling paralyzed.

For so many years my thoughts and anxiety controlled my life. Every decision I made, every conversation I had, every plan, every thought, every day. Everything from what shampoo to use in the shower that morning to what to eat for breakfast to what clothes to wear.  I remember I used to feel anxious or upset when I realized I wasn’t worrying about something. Like I forgot what I was supposed to be worried about. And it was somehow a problem. Umm…What? How messed up is that?

  For years I tried different therapy and medications, but none of that seemed to help. In a way, I gave up. Surrendered to the fact that this was my normal. I thought it was just who I was and how I was. Me and my anxiety were one and the same. A package deal. I had no idea life could be any other way. That I could be any other way.

Then one day (per recommendation of my amazing, mama!) I went to a yoga class. She heard yoga was good for anxiety. I figured I had nothing to lose! During that yoga class it was the first time EVER that my mind was calm. My thoughts weren’t racing. I felt quiet and peaceful. I was amazed! I could barely believe it.  My curiosity was peaked and so I continued to practice regularly. I also started exploring meditation – with the same result. I learned that I am separate from my thoughts. I learned how to be present.

By incorporating yoga and mediation into my life the result was a more peaceful mind and heart. My anxiety started to ease up. My life was changing. I was changing! I finally realized that I am not my anxiety.

The tools I gained from my own practice and the shifts in my anxiety and my life are what inspired me to become a yoga teacher. I knew that if these amazing practices could help me (seemingly someone who was beyond help), then I KNEW it could help so many others. I felt called to teach with the hope that I would be able to help people learn these amazing tools to help reduce their stress and anxiety. While practice yoga or meditating can be helpful and are a huge part of what helped me — there are also so many other, simple tools I learned along the way that helped me.

Life will be stressful from time to time, or things will happen that are our of our control. That is life! There will always be the good and the bad and that’s okay. There will always be things to worry about, but there IS another way. Sometimes your anxiety feels like it’s in the driver’s seat, but there IS another way. You are not your anxiety! There are practices and tools you can use to help manage your anxiety so it no longer controls you.

I want to share these amazing tools with the world, so I created a free guide for you called ‘Being Peacefully Present: Four Ways to Calm Your Mind Right Now’. 

I am beyond excited to share this guide with you! This guide includes my four favorite tools to help reduce stress and anxiety. These are tools I use in my own life, every single day. They are simple and effective, and you can literally do them ANYWHERE!

If you are interested in receiving this FREE guide just fill out the form and it will be sent directly to your inbox!

Uncategorized

It is Safe to Feel

As a human we experience an intense variety of emotions every day, and whether we want to do not, we have to deal with all of the highs and lows of life. While this can be joyful and beautiful, it can also be heartbreaking and exhausting. Especially if you are highly sensitive person like me. I feel it all and I feel it all very intensely.

Continue reading “It is Safe to Feel”

Self-Awareness, Self-Care, Self-Love

You Are Not Your Weight

And I said to my body, softly, ‘I want to be your friend.’ It took a long breath. And replied, ‘I have been waiting my whole life for this.’  -Nayyirah Waheed

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Weight and body image are things I have struggled with for as long as I can remember. I think I am safe to assume that I am not alone in this.

We live in a world that basically grooms us to hate ourselves. Everything we are exposed to and everything we watch, do and read is set up to make us feel like we aren’t good enough and that there is something wrong with us. Advertisers bank on this. It’s how they sell basically everything. An even bigger part of the problem is society’s focus on weight.

Continue reading “You Are Not Your Weight”

Life, Yoga

Yoga, I’m back!

“There is no passion to be found in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”  – Nelson Mandela 

Yoga, I have missed you. With every muscle, bone and cell in my body.

While I have been practicing yoga at home and occasionally going to yoga events in the park or classes at the YMCA, I haven’t stepped foot into a yoga studio since we moved to Denver. Why? I don’t have a good answer for that. I still wanted to be doing yoga, but going to a new studio? Yikes! Scary. No one will like me. I won’t ‘fit in’ in the yoga community here. I’m not good enough. It’s too expensive. Yadda, yadda, yadda. The list goes on.  I think FEAR and/or missing my home away from home studio in MN, Green Lotus, was holding me back. I was worried nothing else would compare. How silly is that? It’s ridiculous, but these were the stories I kept telling myself.

Continue reading “Yoga, I’m back!”

Life

Birthdays, Aging and This Amazing Thing Called Life…

“I don’t acknowledge age. I’m not afraid of what’s called age. The only thing that would ever frighten me would be losing my vitality or energy or the stars in my eyes or love for life. And I don’t believe that’s connected with numbers.”

– Dyan Cannon

With my 33rd Birthday quickly approaching, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about how birthdays tend to bring up a lot of negative feelings for people. I understand that certain aspects of aging aren’t fun or they might be frustrating or uncomfortable, however – if you really think about what getting older actually means….how, in any way, can we actually be upset about it?

Seriously.

Think about it.

We have one life. ONE. That’s it.  This life is not a dress rehearsal. Life is a gift and so is the ability to grow and age.

If you don’t get the opportunity to grow older, it means that you died.  How is that a better alternative?

Continue reading “Birthdays, Aging and This Amazing Thing Called Life…”

Follow Your Heart, Music

Wedding Singer

Last week I had the honor of singing at a good friend’s wedding down in Florida. It was an amazing experience and I am so grateful they wanted me to be a part of their special day. It was my first time singing and playing the ukulele in public. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. Performing in front of people alone is never something I have been comfortable with or had the guts to do. I have wanted to be a singer for as long as I can remember. That day, as my big performance was quickly approaching- it hit me: I AM a singer. Not just a shower or car singer anymore either. That day I was a wedding singer. I felt grounded, calm and more than ready. It was a feeling I didn’t expect, as I tend to be an anxious worrier, especially when it comes to stuff like this. It was the most amazing feeling in the world realizing that one of my life long dreams was coming true.

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Follow Your Heart, Music, Self-Awareness, Self-Love

I’m Alive

I have always loved singing . I have also always wanted to learn to play the ukulele. In September my dad gave me his ukulele and I immediately fell in love with it. Learning to play has been so calming and therapeutic for me. The first time I heard the song ‘Proof’ by Alex G it took my breath away. The lyrics, the message. It’s perfect. I knew I needed to learn how to play this song.

Continue reading “I’m Alive”