yogamonth 09.09

With August coming to a close, National Yoga Month is quickly approaching. For more information on yogamonth, you can go here.

Want to know 10 good reasons to give yoga a try or continue your practice? Go here.

Enjoy your weekend!

Namaste'
Leslie

friday love

I am definitely in love with Fridays! Tonight my sweet husband and I will be going out for a celebration dinner. What are we celebrating? The last day of schedule changes!!!! I've been essentially working on schedules since Aug. 4, and I am so glad to be finished with them.

This weekend we have long open spaces with nothing at all planned, and I am also very excited about that. Sunday we will be having an Open House. Please send lots of good vibes our way, as I'm really hoping a lot of people come to the open house, and at least one of them falls in love with it and makes an offer...

I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Namaste'
Leslie

yogathought

"The phrase I expect miracles is more than a New Age slogan, it's how you feel when you live each day in-Spirit. You leave the world of anxiety, fear, doubt, and impossibility and enter a new, wonderful world where all things are possible." --Wayne Dyer

Namaste'
Leslie

almost autumn

This weekend the weather has felt much more like early fall than late summer. Although, I love summers, I am excited that autumn is right around the corner. Here are some of my favorite things about fall:

*leaves turning colors
*hot cups of coffee on cool mornings
*opening the windows in the house
*fall smells--apple and pumpkin in particular
*fall colors for fingernails and toes
*planting mums
*sipping hot apple cider with lots of whipcream on top

I really appreciate living where there is a major distinction between the four seasons (although I must admit, I do wish winter lasted only 6 weeks). With each season, there is a renewed sense of excitement and hope. It's a reminder to me that there is definitely an amazing, loving God (Universe, Allah--whatever name you prefer) who has much bigger plans for us than we can ever imagine ourselves.

Namaste'
Leslie

great yoga read

For a while now, I've been reading the book Kripalu Yoga: A Guide to Practice On and Off the Mat. (It's taking me a while because I tend to read a bunch of books all at once, and then I end up getting through them slowly.) Overall, I think this book is a great yoga read. Although the style of yoga I teach is power yoga, so far, I would say that most all of what I've read completely aligns with my philosophies and how I teach. Someday I plan on having a teacher training program, and so far, this book is good enough that I would consider using it as part of a training program.

Here are just a few of the great quotes from this book:

"Be prepared for the mind to put up a fight. At the beginning of a session, it often feels like the mind simply won't let go, and that the effort to breathe, relax, and feel is a futile exercise. Resistance arises and the mind loudly cries out in protest. Then something shifts. As the body softens and the mind comes to focus, what seemed impossible a few moments ago happens effortlessly."

"So much of yoga comes naturally if you can just remember to breathe."

"Practicing at the edge assures that you will encounter a broad range of sensations and emotions. Kripalu Yoga postures are intended to evoke a depth of feeling, as this provides an opportunity for the deeper work of regaining emotional sensitivity and balance. Resist the tendency to go 'into your head' and try to understand or fix your feelings. Simply breath, relax, and feel, letting sensation and emotion flow through you. Over time, areas of numbness wake up, buried and banished feelings surface to be felt, and emotional armoring melts away. Celebrate this process of opening to feeling the pathway to greater vitality and full aliveness."

Namaste'
Leslie

inner peace

"There are moments when everything just feels right. Your mind is still, your body relaxed, your spirit fed, and you find, if only for a moment, peace. These moments are hard to plan; they usually just well up in you. It could be an evening spent gazing at the twinkling city lights from a hilltop, hearing your favorite song played live, or taking a walk on a crisp fall day. You may not be able to bottle the feeling, but you can cultivate it. Internal turmoil isn't always avoidable, but here are ways to widen your reserves on inner strength, still the tremors of anxiety, and let go of regret and fear. Whether you listen to your heartbeat or listen to the sound of waves crashing on a beach, quiet your mind, find balance, and engender a sense of wholeness that will radiate outward.

*Create a Zen garden
*Practice yoga
*Find a balance between the things I want to do and the things I need to do
*Worry less
*Breathe deeply
*Look for the positive in every situation
*See the beauty in every person
*Take a hot bath by candlelight
*Listen to my inner voice"

--From Dream It. List It. Do It.

Trying to start the week by cultivating inner peace...wish me luck!

Namaste'
Leslie

self-care

Knowing that when I returned to work the first week of Aug. it would be incredibly busy, I made self-care appointments toward the end of each of the past two weeks to help ensure I wouldn't feel completely depleted and unbalanced from work.

This week, I got a 45 minute "pick-me-up facial." This was my second facial ever. The first one was at a cosmetology school a few years ago, and while it was nice, I definitely knew that I'd much rather spend my self-care time and money getting a massage. I decided to try out getting a facial again because I had a coupon that made it practically free. And, it was heavenly and oh so relaxing! Now, I'm thinking facials might just rate right up there with massages!

Here are some more self-care ideas:

*mani's and pedi's
*getting your hair done (cut, color, etc.)
*browsing a bookstore
*chilling at a coffee shop reading and/or writing
*turning the cell phone off for an entire evening
*doing yoga
*saying no to requests you would usually say yes to out of feelings of guilt or obligation
*going to dinner at your favorite restaurant with yourself (sushi would be my choice)

When's the last time you scheduled a self-care date? What are your favorite self-care activities?

Namaste'
Leslie

surrender...a work in progress

I have to be honest here...I am having a little bit (or maybe a lot) of trouble with surrender lately. You see, my sweet husband and I found a house we really, really love and it's in the perfect location (close to my work and yoga studio). It is an older home (which we tend to like since they usually have much more character), and it's been updated just a little, but there is still so much more we can do to personalize it and make it our own. We weren't really actively looking for houses, but we found this one like it was just meant to be. So, we made the decision to make an offer on it and put our house (which we also really love)on the market.

We now are in waiting. The contract on our new house is contingent on the sale of our house, so we are just hoping and waiting and waiting and hoping that our house sells before anyone else decides that the house we want is for them! Obviously, the surrender part isn't going that well. I will say this whole situation has made my return to work much easier since it keeps my mind busy, so I'm not spending all day wondering what will happen! Truly, I am trying to surrender. And, I do have brief moments where I trust and know it will all work out as it should, and then I think, but I want that house!

It's always interesting to me how life seems to give us the lessons we need right when we need them. I will continue to try to let go...definitely a work in progress!

On another note, the yoga studio has now been open a little more than a month, and it is going fabulously! I am excited to have so many of my former clients now with me in my new space. I've also had a few additional new yoginis join me, too! Really, my biggest concern at this point (which isn't a bad concern to have) is that in the very near future I might not have enough space! At that point, I guess I'll just have to get creative!

Namaste'
Leslie

yogathought

"Make an attempt to spend time each day in a state of meditation, wherein you let go of all ideas about time, space, and linear directionality. Just allow yourself to be..." --Wayne Dyer

Namaste'
Leslie

too cute

4 years

Last night, my sweet husband and I celebrated our 4th wedding Anniversary. It's really hard to believe we've been married four years! In honor of our four years of marriage, I made him a book filled with memories and photos from our past. We had decided not to buy any gifts for each other, so I decided I'd make him one! Homemade gifts can be so much fun, and the time and energy that go into them are priceless.

What are your favorite homemade gifts?

Namaste'
Leslie

summer list

It's hard to believe I have just 2 more days of summer break. This morning I took a look at my summer to-do list that I had created before summer started and was glad to see that most(although not all) of the activities on my list have been completed plus some. So, here's a look at my summer in list form (I love lists...)

*opening and remodeling yoga studio
*Father's day BBQ
*float trip
*trip to KC
*4th of July BBQ at my brother's house
*Girls' weekend at my house
*afternoons in coffee shops reading and writing
*spent oodles of quality time with my pups
*cleaned out closets
*completed 3 hour graduate class
*transferred itunes to new computer
*spent a few afternoons at the pool

All in all it's been a great summer! What's on your summer list?

Namaste'
Leslie