lions in your home

Wired for Joy is one of the books I'm currently reading. It's written by Laurel Mellin, and while interesting, quite honestly, it has a bit too much of a text-book type feel for my personal preference. With this being said, I continue to read it because the topic is fascinating, and I'm learning. Essentially it's about rewiring the circuits in our brain to be joyful rather than stressful.

I do believe that being "stressed out" is almost celebrated in our culture today. Even as I write this I am thinking of how ludicrous that statement sounds, but I personally believe it. Seriously, if a person isn't busy and stressed there must be something wrong with them or missing in their life, right? We can become completely identified with our "stressed out" selves and our brain can become wired to be habitually stressed. Being stressed is a bad habit--period.

So, I'm working on this...it's a process, that's for sure. While Laurel Mellin wrote an entire book on the topic, so far I think there are two poignant statements that sum it all up quite simply:

"'Stress is optional. There are no lions in your home.'"

I'm going to try to remember this next time I'm feeling like there are!

Namaste'
Leslie

changing names

I've been thinking about changing the name of my blog to SavorLifeStudios.blogspot.com I haven't decided for sure just yet, but I have been feeling like that name encompasses more of the direction I want this blog to go. So, if I decide to take the plunge and change the name, I invite you to follow.

Namaste'
Leslie

gratitude

Today I'm thankful for:

*the upcoming weekend (& much needed downtime)
*perfect football weather tonight for Homecoming
*my home
*fresh, new pair of contact lenses
*hot pink wool to knit my first pair of slippers
*light classical music station on tv

What's on your gratitude list today?

Namaste'
Leslie

sleeping in a wine cellar

This weekend my Sweet Husband and I went to a B & B in Hermann with some friends. This was my first trip to Hermann, and we had a great time. The Bed & Breakfast we stayed in was Murphy's B & B (Murphy is a sweet boxer pup). Our room was actually a converted wine cellar. When we booked the room, I was just a little hesitant about sleeping in a wine cellar, as I thought it might be dark and gloomy; however, thankfully, that was not at all the case. It was bright, charming, and very cozy. Here are a few photos from our trip:

Hope you had a charming weekend, too!

Namaste'

Leslie

iphone and yoga apps

I LOVE my iphone. Before I had an iphone, I'd never been "into" phones, and the phone I had was old and one that I'm pretty sure I got for practically free with my plan. When I purchased my first iphone, I felt like such a diva, it prompted me to change the name of this blog! Now that I've had an iphone, I don't know that I could ever turn back!

One of the best things about the phone is definitely all the apps. This afternoon, I just purchased two new ones: Yoga Quiz & Yoga Deck. I haven't had a chance to use them, but I'm hoping to find them both useful.

For all you iphone users out there, I'd love to hear what your favorite apps are. Please share the iphone app love!

Happy Friday.

Namaste'
Leslie

another one

Emiliana Torrini...check her out!

I LOVE Pandora.

What are your favorite stations?

Namste'
Leslie

my new favorite pandora station

Donna De Lory...check her out.

Namaste'
Leslie

fall wardrobe must-haves

I love everything about fall...the leaves turning colors, apple cider, pumpkins, the cool, crisp air, bonfires, hayrides, and mostly--fall clothes. Today, I moved my fall clothing from the spare bedroom closet into my closet. Here are some of my fall wardrobe must-haves:

Comfy Black Pant (I got this exact pair at Target).
Jewel Colored Cami's with lace (deep fuchsia, dark plum, & turquoise blue).

Love me some arm warmers...and scarves!

Great, funky-cut sweater to wear over the cami's. (Layer, layer, layer).

CND Shellac Nail polish in Fedora.

Fun, extra long silver necklaces.

This is what you'll find me in this fall!

Have fun. Express yourself. Get creative with your fall wardrobe.

Namaste'
Leslie

good news challenge

Today I had a student stop by to tell me good news. (Gotta love this!) Essentially, earlier in the week she came by because she was very frustrated with a situation with a teacher, and she reacted to the situation in a not so good way. We talked about how she could approach the teacher and have a mature conversation to try and right the situation. Today she came in and told me she talked with him and it went very well. This is a HUGE deal for this kid. She said the entire time she was talking with him she had my words in the back of her head (Double love this!).

When I first started my counseling program, I felt a lot of pressure (from myself) to "fix" people and "fix" situations. I remember one of my favorite instructors and mentors saying there is no such things as "fixing"--all you can do is plant seeds...just keep planting seeds. It's so exciting to see seeds I've planted over the last 2 years with my students starting to grow.

This incident also got me thinking about how glad I was she came back to share her good news with me. It seems people share complaints and frustrations much more readily than good news (and I'm not talking about in a counseling situation here--just in daily conversations). At times, I believe complaining can almost become a habit--and a not-so-good one, at that. Although I did have many situations today that wouldn't be considered "good news," that one small victory is what is really standing out in my mind and is most important. Oh how the world would be different if everyone shared at least one piece of good news with everyone they encounter...

So, that's my September challenge to you--share a piece of good news (no matter how big or small) with at least one person a day throughout the month of September.

Spread the goodness.

Namaste'
Leslie

home photos

I always enjoy seeing shots of other people's homes. Overall, I think our home is a good reflection of us and is starting to feel very cozy. One of the ways I find to express my creativity is through decorating. I am a bargain shopper (love me some TJ Maxx, Marshalls, & Gordmans), and I love when I find the perfect accessory.

Namaste'

Leslie

voluntary simplicity

"Voluntary simplicity means going fewer places in one day rather than more, seeing less so I can see more, doing less so I can do more, acquiring less so I can have more...Slowing everything down is a big part of this. Telling my mind and body to stay put with my daughter rather than answering the phone, not reacting to inner impulses to call someone who 'needs calling' right in that moment, choosing not to acquire new things on impulse, or even to automatically answer the siren call of magazines or television or movies on the first ring are all ways to simplify one's life a little. Others are maybe just to sit for an evening and do nothing, or to read a book, or go for a walk alone or with a child or with my wife, to restack the woodpile or look at the moon, or feel the air on my face under the trees, or go to sleep early.

I practice saying no to keep my life simple, and I find I never do it enough. It's an ardous discipline all its own, and well worth the effort. Yet it is also tricky. There are needs and opportunities to which one must respond. A commitment to simplicity in the midst of the world is a delicate balancing act. It is always in need or retuning, further inquiry, attention. But I find the notion of voluntary simplicity keeps me mindful of what is important, of an ecology of mind and body and world in which everthing is interconnected and every choice has far reaching consequences. You don't get to control it all. But choosing simplicity whenever possible adds to life and element of deepest freedom which so easily eludes us, and many opportunities to discover that less is actually more." --Jon Kabat-Zinn Wherever You Go, There You Are

I'm going to practice some volunary simplicity this Labor Day Weekend! Want to join me?

Namaste'
Leslie

welcome september

September Intentions:

*Spend a weekend in Hermann w/ Sweet husband and friends
*Playdate w/ Hayley at Summit Lake Winery
*Finish reading Fly Away Home and Women, Food, & God (didn't happen last month, as I had hoped....I just read too many books at one time!)
*Teach 3 donation yoga classes at work in honor of National Yoga Month
*Play piano at least 1 time a week (went down from 3--I think this is more do-able for me right now)
*Learn 3 guitar chords (hoping Sweet Husband puts new strings on his guitar soon, as one is broken)
*Final summer pool party at my Momma's new pool
*Morning hike through the woods w/ Sweet Husband
*Start reading Yoga Adjustments book again

What do you have planned for the divine month of September?

Namaste'
Leslie

being a witness

Another theme I often use in yoga classes is the idea of being a witness...allowing ourselves to just observe our thoughts, our sensations, our reactions without any sort of judgment or attachment or resistance. This can be a difficult task, but I have found the more I open to the idea of witnessing myself, the more I am able to simply witness others. Try it during your next yoga class or if you don't practice yoga, just give it a try in your daily life for a day or two. Notice how this small, yet powerful, shift in awareness makes you feel.

Here's a bit more on the idea of letting go of judgment and simply becoming a witness from Jon Kabat-Zinn's book Wherever You Go, There You Are. (Side note: I am LOVING this book! Not sure why I haven't read it before now.)

"Imagine how it might feel to suspend all your judging and instead to let each moment be just as it is, without attempting to evaluate it as 'good' or 'bad.' This would be a true stillness, a true liberation.

Meditation means cultivating a non-judging attitude toward what comes up in the mind, come what may. Without it, you are not practicing meditation. That doesn't mean judging won't be going on. Of course it will, because it is the very nature of the mind to compare and judge and evaluate. When it occurs we don't try to stop it or ignore it, any more than we would try to stop any other thoughts that might come through our mind.

The tack we take in meditation is simply to witness whatever comes up in the mind or the body and to recognize it without condemning it or pursuing it, knowing that our judgments are unavoidable and necessarily limiting thoughts about experience. What we are interested in in meditation is direct contact with the experience itself--whether it is of an inbreath, an outbreath, a sensation of feeling, a sound, an impulse, a thought, a perception, or a judgment. And we remain attentive to the possibility of getting caught up in judging the judging itself, or in the labeling some judgments good and others bad." --Jon Kabat-Zinn

I have found the moments I able to truly become a witness, I feel so present and alive and connected. It is divine. Give it a try.

Namaste'
Leslie

letting go yoga instruction

This afternoon, I've been reading Jon Kabat-Zinn's Wherever You Go, There You Are, and there was a great paragraph on letting go which reminded me of a letting go progressive muscle relaxation exercise I like to do at the end of yoga classes right before savasana. So, for those of you who teach yoga, I've written out an example of the wording I use. Feel free to borrow! :) For those of you who aren't teachers, try it on your own. It feels SO YUMMY! Enjoy!

Here's the quote from the book:
"Letting go means just what it says. It's an invitation to cease clinging to anything--whether it be an idea, a thing, an event, a particular time, or view, or desire. It is a conscious decision to release with full acceptance into the stream of present moments as they are unfolding. To let go means to give up coercing, resisting, or struggling, in exchange for something more powerful and wholesome which comes out of allowing things to be as they are without getting caught up in your attraction to or rejection of them, in the intrinsic stickiness of wanting, of liking and disliking. It's akin to letting your palm open to unhand something you have been holding on to." --Jon Kabat-Zinn

Here's the exercise in letting go (imagine calm, relaxing music, and my soothing voice):

"Now lying on our backs with our arms straight out to the sides and our legs a little wider than mat distance apart, just allow yourself to settle into this star position. Close your eyes, and let me lead you through this progressive muscle relaxation exercise. For some people relaxing can be incredibly difficult, so this can help. We will actually be contracting muscles in order to more fully relax them. I will cue you, connecting the breath to the movements, and we will hold our breaths just a moment before relaxing fully.

Let's get started with our right leg. Let all your awareness move down to your right leg. Actually begin to contract and tighten all the muscles in the right leg. Squeeze your muscles, pointing your toes on the right foot. Squeeze tightly up into your glutes and maybe even lift your right leg a few inches off the floor. Now let's take a big, deep, full breath in through the nose. Hold the breath a moment, and then completely and totally relax and release the leg heavy toward the floor as your exhale fully.

(Repeat this on the left leg).

Notice how your lower body feels compared to your upper body....Now let's bring your awareness up into your right arm. And, just as sometimes we need to work to consciously relax the body, the same is true for the mind. So, if you'd like, imagine placing anything your need to let go of mentally-anger, fear, anxiety, negativity, anything-into your right hand. Now close your right fist and squeeze tightly. Begin squeezing all the way up the right arm into the shoulder. Take a deep, full breath in. Hold the breath a moment. Now, as you exhale open your fist, release and just...let...go.

(Repeat this on the left arm. I usually say if they weren't able to totally let go, they can put the same thought in the left hand, or they can choose something else they are tired of holding on to.)"

After this exercise, we bring our legs closer together, move the arms inward, and relax deeply into savasana.

Hope you enjoy this exercise in letting go.

Namaste'
Leslie

all we need is love

"Deep in the center of my being there is an infinite well of love. I now allow this love to flow to the surface. It fills my body, my mind, my consciousness, my very being, and radiates out from me in all directions and returns to me multiplied. The more love I use and give, the more I have to give, the supply is endless. The use of love makes me feel good, it is an expression of my inner joy. I love myself, therefore, I take loving care of my body. I lovingly feed it nourishing food and beverages. I lovingly groom it and dress it, and my body lovingly responds to me with vibrant health and energy. I love myself therefore, I provide for myself a comfortable home, one that fills all my needs and is a pleasure to be in. I fill the rooms with the vibration of love so that all who enter, myself included, will feel this love and be nourished by it. I love myself therefore, I work at a job that I truly enjoy doing, one that uses my creative talents and abilities, working with and for people that I love and love me, and earning a good income. I love myself therefore, I behave and think in a loving way to all people for I know that that which I give out returns to me multiplied. I only attract loving people in my world for they are a mirror of what I am. I love myself therefore, I forgive and totally release the past experiences and I am free. I love myself therefore, I live totally in the now, experiencing each moment as good and knowing that my future is bright and joyous and secure for I am a beloved child of the universe and the universe lovingly takes care of me now and forever more. And so it is."--Louise L Hay

Namaste'
Leslie