Monday, February 27, 2012

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Gratitude

"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us."~Albert Schweitzer

Yoga Brain

So, my yoga business was listed in both of the local papers today in the business sections, I gave my first workshop today (it felt great!) and am currently filling out invites to my grand opening party on March 15th. What a crazy, whirlwind year it has been~falling in love with yoga and having it become such a huge part of my everyday life.  I feel so blessed and thank God every day for giving me this gift and allowing me to successfully share it with others. 


Sometime soon, though, I would like to take a vacation in order to shut down from all of the activity, physically and mentally. (Even though I'm sure that I would still practice on vacation! Envisioning beach yoga...which I have yet to experience! Anyone care to share their most amazing yoga experience, whether on a beach or otherwise?)


I love love loooove my new yoga studio, my new yoga students and am so excited to fall into this path and find that it is my own. However, just as I talk about in class sometimes (and as we've all heard from people much wiser than myself) balance is necessary. I've heard tell of yoga teacher burnout and do not want that to happen to me! Within the next month or two, I hope to gain a little balance in the form of a vacation on a hot, still beach with some beautiful ocean waves to sing me to sleep. ahhhhhh. I just had a mini vacation in my mind. :)


In the meantime, the yo-journey continues... Yin workshop on Wednesday night. If you're local, I hope to see you there!! Yin is a chance to slow it down, create more flexibility and reconnect with ourselves. I'm looking forward to it!! 


And now, back to addressing those invites...


xoxo


Erin

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Saying Goodbye/New Beginnings

Last night, I went to Studio Oxygen for Tara's final yoga class. She is moving to Florida and opening a brand new yoga studio and it sounds like she has a very bright yoga future ahead of her. Still, I imagine, it is hard to let go of the old, the familiar and the well loved yoga community she has woven for herself here in Ohio.


Tara is a phenomenal yoga teacher and even though I don't know her personally that well, I got a little teared up near the end for her. She led an amazing flow class and after Savasana (Corpse Pose) she told us how we had changed her life. This may sound hokey to some but as a yoga teacher I totally get it. You are privileged to be a part of these people's day or night when they slow down enough to come back to their breath and themselves, healing themselves, making themselves stronger, or more flexible and more at peace. That energy circulates around the room and you, as the teacher get to see it on their faces and in their bodies. You notice when they are uneasy with a stillness or when they are confident in a new pose. Tears are not uncommon here and neither are smiles. We definitely run the gamut in a good yoga class.


Tara has shared many moments on her yoga journey and though her path may be seemingly ending in Ohio, it's not true. The seeds that she has planted in people has changed their lives and so the journey continues onto places that she will never know, just like a river that flows does not know what it may give life to further down the way.


I am so happy to have found yoga. And I wish Tara the best and know that she has many more lives to touch!


Namaste.


E

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day!

I really don't have anything spectacular to talk about today. I love the romance of Valentine's Day but as my husband says, every day is Christmas and I think that we feel pretty much the same about Valentine's Day as well. Don't think that I'm saying this in a disappointed tone, it takes on that meaning when other people hear it. But I'm just being honest. We will give each other cards and have dinner but there is no big flowery show of being "Valentines" around here. No house full of roses and candles, not that there's anything wrong with that! The thing is you can do that stuff on any given day.


I wanted to share with you an excerpt from Elephant Journal that I read today. "Even for those who fall in love in high school and get married and live happily ever after, their love begins anew each morning, each moment. Love is a practice much like meditation- and just like meditation, I and many others can be pretty bad at it."


Love is a practice. Just like yoga! You choose it daily, choose to give just a little extra when your spouse really needs it, such as a backrub even though you might be exhausted. Focus on the good that your spouse provides for you instead of the fact that maybe he works too much. Look at them and wonder what is it in them that you have never seen before because every day is a new day and just as your cells regenerate, so do human beings as a whole! Be present, be grateful, be in love.


And for those of you who may not have a Valentine, Happy Valentine's Day. You are enough. Sometimes, we can feel differently but you are a miracle. For real.


Hearts,


E

Monday, February 13, 2012

Morning Joe

Good morning, blogoshpere! It is 8:47 in the morning and I am having an organic banana with all natural almond butter on it. And coffee.


During our weekend with Baron (I wonder how long I will be referencing it? lol) he mentioned coffee as if it were seen in a bad light with yogis. He asked us if we ever felt like we were a little bit hypocrites or inauthentic sometimes when we did something that was out of context with our yoga values. (He was also drinking coffee with a smile on his face while he asked us). Everyone was shaking their head yes and I didn't realize I was shaking my head no until he looked at me!! Inside I was dying. He was probably thinking, wow, this girl thinks she's perfect! NOT THE CASE, Sir Baron! :) I was just having a hard time even talking badly about my poor little coffee. 


If coffee is wrong, I don't want to be right.


I will say that I also drink hot tea and I have tried to incorporate hot water with lemon sometimes that Baron talks about in Journey Into Power and Kathryn Budig talked about in some internet video where she discussed her daily diet. The interviewer in said video asks Kathryn if she drinks coffee and she, literally, gasps. I love Kathryn Budig but when she gasped, my first thought was, 'oh, she must be allergic.' :/


I'm sorry. I'm just not there yet. If this were an asana (pose) I was trying to perfect, I would still be a MAJOR beginner. But that's life, eh? One step at a time. It may be already inside of me not to drink coffee but the moment has not come to fruition.


But how about that organic banana, huh?? Good stuff.


Love!


E

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Shine On

As some of you know, I had this blog for awhile, deleted it and brought it back. I have in the past been afraid to let my voice be heard. I get shy in front of masses of people (even if I can't see them! :)).Yoga has helped me greatly with this, and I'm glad to be on here sharing with you.


I hope this journey is one you will join with me! Hope to see you in yoga class if you're local and if you're not, I hope this online community is one that you'll share with me. There will be lots to talk about!!


E

Not Just For Decoration!


Recovering

So, I'm just last night recovering from my devil cold! I truly believe that I have run down my immune system and I keep getting the colds to prove it!


Physically, I'm in the best shape of my life! Mind you, that does not mean the lowest weight...skinny doesn't necessarily equal healthy!! I AM thinner than I've been in a long while and that is completely thanks to yoga. My abs are tighter, my BUTT is SMALLER! (this is huge people, as I've always had what my family refers to as the Owens butt, thank you mother's side genetics!). And there are a multitude of other bonuses including better posture! Yes!


But, I still have such a hectic lifestyle with my husband owning and running the restaurant. Besides, trying to open and jump start a yoga business, I get up early (ish) and we go to bed at 12p or 1a. Sleep has a lot to do with health, I have determined. For all of you that now know what a genius I am for this last statement....thank you. :) (sense of humor appreciated here!)


I have made some changes and I feel like they might stick this time! This is, in part, due to my weekend with Baron and my cohorts from Cleveland Yoga who all inspired me!


  1. Fruits now not only occupy a bowl on my dining room table but in my belly as well. What a novel idea not just to DECORATE with fruit!! AND I am actually starting to be drawn to them!
  2. I don't finish my plate just because the food feels good on my taste buds! This is a completely foreign concept to me and I am in awe of this person who is now inhabiting my body.
  3. I'm in love with chocolate cake. There was a piece in front of me last night and I DIDN'T EAT IT. (what?).
  4. I am taking vitamins on a daily basis. (again, what?)
  5. What? There should be more? What do you want, my first born child?? (again, joking!) 
I'm so grateful to be a healthier me today and I hope that this alien who has taken over things around here is happy to stick around! I love her! And I love you guys, whoever you might be, for reading my post! I'll be back! I hope you will too. <3

Erin

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Diet

Mine has been horrible lately. I'd say for the last three weeks. Probably why I'm getting sick on the eve of my yoga workshop. (Rolling my eyes but still accepting cuz I'm a yoga girl).


So I went shopping and bought healthy stuff. Apples, bananas, almond butter, etc.. I also made some fresh guacamole. I'd probably marry guacamole if it was a human being, regardless of what sex it appeared as. That's how much I love it. I would change my sexual orientation for it. That's pretty serious love.


I'll let you know how this healthy eating thing goes this time around. I also made banana bread  just yesterday. Not so healthy, but it does have bananas in it!! I'm trying people, I'm trying... Wish me luck!!


Hearts!



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