Overthinking? Or, how I lost 5lbs over Passover…

If you’ve been following my fitness journey thus far, you know I’m a geek and I tend to love diving feet first into different plans and systems. Since July, I’ve been doing Ultimate Portion Fix and for the past several months, I’ve been doing timed nutrition. Basically, this means I’ve been carefully measuring my portions

Why I Do NOT Call Myself a Yogi or Yogini…and Why I Won’t Call You One, Either

Words often have their meaning watered down in translation. I can remember when I lived in France realizing that somethings I really could only fully express in French and others only in English. Every time I lived abroad and came home, I always came home speaking a mix of English and whatever language I’d been

Don’t be Fooled By “Instagram Yoga”

If you look for examples of yoga poses online, you’ll often find tall, lanky people contorting themselves into all kinds of artistic positions. It can be discouraging if you’re just starting out in yoga or consider starting it due to some physical issues. It can look like yoga is only for the very flexible, very

Often, what I Least Desire is what I Most Need

Yesterday was…a day. Both at home and at work, things just seemed to go sideways and by late afternoon I had that craving for chocolate. I was tempted to EAT ALL THE CHOCOLATE. Or…something. I craved comfort. My daughter’s oral surgery issues were continuing, work was driving me up the wall, my husband has surgery

Embracing Rejection and Failure is Essential to Success

I’ve sent out resumes and applied to teaching positions, but I haven’t even heard back on volunteer positions. At this point…I can’t give yoga away. It’s very tempting to give up, but I’m not going to. Instead, I am reaching out and starting my own free class for friends and continuing to learn and grow.

How Routines Bring Freedom

I used to crave variety…in everything. A little bit of this, a dash of that. Unpredictability was exciting. It was also, unfortunately, exhausting and made it difficult to develop good habits. Routines, I thought, were confining and boring, life of beige in a world full of colors. Over the years, I’ve definitely changed my feelings

The Difference is what You Do AFTER

Yesterday was what a favorite children’s book calls an “all bad, no good, very bad day.” Of course, in hindsight, I can see how my thoughts spiraled to make it seem like that, but in the midst of it all…I lost that perspective. It all started with my daughter having some very painful complications from

How to Eat an Elephant

I was recently talking with a dear friend who is planning a move across the country. She was describing how overwhelming all the details were. Remembering our own move from Alaska to the midwest, I was reminded of how there were times I had no idea how everything was going to work out. We had

Planning for Passover (or insert your diet-busting holiday here)!

I refuse to even consider that Passover is coming until after we get past Purim. I prefer to live in sweet denial up to that point, basking in the quiet period between holidays. Eventually, though, it comes time to start planning. I’m pretty sure every culture has holidays like this that are anticipated both with

What Stops Me?

I’m half-watching a yoga therapy anatomy conference presentation as I write up tickets for work…as one does, when a slide catches my attention and pokes at my brain in a certain way…there’s something here beyond just yoga anatomy. “What Stops Me?” In this context, the speaker is talking about normal variation in anatomy and how