wellbalanced.me - Sharing ideas for a balanced life.

24/01/2026

Sit like a mountain. You are the sky…everything else is just the weather.

Sometimes in teaching meditation we say, “Sit like a mountain. Sit with a sense of strength and dignity. Be steadfast, be majestic, be natural and at ease in awareness. No matter how many winds are blowing, no matter how many clouds are swirling, no matter how many lions are prowling, be intimate with everything and sit like a mountain.” This is an image of equanimity. We feel everything, without exception, and we relate to it through our own strength of awareness, not through habitual reactions. Practice sitting like a mountain sometime, allowing all images and feelings and sensations to come and go, as you reside in steadfastness, watching it all arise and pass away.

23/01/2026

Yoga (as many of you already know) is so much more than getting flexible. It's full of tools to help keep your mind, heart and body healthy and well.

The feeling you feel just the few moments after savasana is just a sample of the peace that is available within (always present...always available....it just gets buried.) 😀

Want to dive deeper into this rich practice of self care with a teacher (and a wonderful group of women) who keeps it real, fun all while being surrounded by the beautiful nature in Schweibenalp and nourishing yourself with the delicous, healthy meals? Join me!

You will learn practical tools to help quiet your mind, keep you resilient in everyday life and bottom line, you'll have fun and return with a sense of ease in your body, mind and heart.

p.s. Springtime is amazing in Schweibenalp! Join me: April 24-26, 2026.

www.wellbalanced.me/retreats

19/01/2026

What if the practice is simply this: to treat our bodies as deserving of time, of patience, and love.

This is yoga to me. This is mindfulness. This is healing.

15/01/2026

Dive deeper into the practice of yoga with my latest blog post! Discover the importance of pelvic floor exercises and how they contribute to core stability and balance in your practice. Read more here: https://wix.to/S0M5U1k

15/01/2026

This...

✍️ Finding Peace in What We Cannot Control - Everything in life unfolds in ways we cannot predict. We wake each morning not knowing what the day will bring, what emotions will surface, or what circumstances will shift without warning.

Even our own happiness can feel elusive—arriving and vanishing like weather we cannot command. Our emotions rise and fall like tides, often defying our wish to feel differently than we do. If guiding our own hearts feels this difficult, how much more futile is it to try to control others? To demand they think or feel exactly as we wish?

The truth is both humbling and freeing: everything happens in its own way, following rhythms we did not write.

But here is what we can do: We can be at peace when things happen. We can meet whatever arises—joy or sorrow, gain or loss—with a steady mind and an open heart.

• If something can be changed: We do not need to worry—we simply take action with clear intention.

• If something cannot be changed: We also do not need to worry—we accept what is and save our energy for what we can actually influence.

This doesn't mean we stop caring. It means we stop adding unnecessary suffering to our lives. We stop exhausting ourselves trying to control the uncontrollable and focus on the one thing we can genuinely influence: our own response.

We do this through mindfulness. By returning to our breath, we anchor ourselves in the present. We notice when we are reacting unconsciously and choose to respond with understanding instead.

This is how we bring peace back to our inner landscape. We cannot control the storms that come, but we can learn to remain peaceful within them. We cannot dictate how others behave, but we can always choose how we respond.

May you and all beings be well, happy and at peace. 🙏

14/01/2026

The key to your physical and emotional stability and mobility is sometimes in your hips...

14/01/2026

The Psoas Muscle...Can your hips hold emotions?

The psoas is a deep core muscle, actually a pair of them, running on either side of the spine. It starts at the lower thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, T12 through L5, and travels down through the pelvis to attach at the top of the femur on the inner hip. You can’t see it, it's hard to touch it. It lives behind the organs, the surface muscles, woven into the your body that literally holds you upright. It is the only muscle that directly connects your spine to your legs (your upper body with your lower body) which informs you about how safe it is to stand, move, or exist.

Because of where it sits, the psoas is in constant conversation with the nervous system. It responds reflexively to threat, contracting to flex the hips and protect the vital organs, pulling the body into a defensive fetal position or preparing it to flee. This physiological response happens faster than thought. Before you label fear or decide anything, the psoas has already tightened. It is a survival muscle first, a movement muscle second, and it has memory. This response can often happen when we are doing something as simple as reading troubling news.

When fear is repeated, chronic, or unresolved, the psoas stays short. It holds that pattern as a kind of embodied memory. Not a story you can recall on demand, but a background tension that shapes posture, our breath, and emotions (keeps us feeling "small"). This is why the psoas carries so much of the body’s stress load. It is key to nervous system regulation, quietly determining whether you feel safe enough to soften or if you need to stay braced against the world.

Additionally, there's a direct connection between the psoas muscle and your diaphragm, through a ligament which passes through the psoas called the "medial arcuate ligament." Because of this direct link, tightness or dysfunction in the psoas can directly affect the diaphragm's core stability and our ability to breathe deeply.

At my last Women's Yoga and Mindfulness Retreat, we dove deeper into releasing and strengthening this important stability and mobility muscle with a workshop I called, "Happy, healthy (and stable) hips." 😀

Releasing the psoas can sometimes feel strangely emotional, disorienting, or relieving in ways people don’t expect. You’re signaling safety to one of the oldest survival systems in your body; your sympathetic nervous system (your fight/flight/freeze response in the body). The release happens slowly, through ease rather than force, because the psoas only lets go when it trusts that the "danger" is over.

This is where the phrase “emotions reside in the hips” comes from as physiological experience. When the psoas softens, the spine adjusts, the breath softens, the nervous system shifts out of fight or flight mode and into rest mode (from the sympathetic nervous system to your parasympathetic nervous system). People report feeling grounded, present, expansive and inhabiting their bodies more fully.

Your psoas needs attention, and when it finally receives it, it gives back something profound...a body that no longer has to hold fear in place just to keep you alive.

If you'd like to dive deeper into practices that can help you feel and stay grounded, stable and ease, join me for my next retreat; April 24-26, 2026.

12/01/2026

As we step into this new year, here's an invitation (not a resolution...not another thing to strive for...but a gentle reminder).

May you honor your own rhythm.
Not the pace the world demands.
Not anyone else’s timeline.
But the natural rhythm of your body.

May you allow yourself stillness when you need it, without guilt or explanation.
Stillness is not falling behind.
It is a pause, where your nervous system settles and your energy can returns.

And may you follow what quietly opens your heart.
Not what drains you.
Not what overwhelms you.
But what brings a sense of peace or subtle joy.
Those gentle openings are often your soul’s way of guiding you.

This year does not have to be about doing more or fixing or improving yourself.
It can be about listening more deeply.
Trusting yourself more fully.

Wherever you are right now, you are exactly where you need to be.
There is no rush.

Cheers to a year of presence, compassion, and following the path that feels right for your mind, heart and body.

Happy New Year.🙏

09/01/2026

Today, Switzerland pauses.

Friday, January 9 has been designated a National Day of Mourning, a rare and symbolic moment in our country’s history. A collective breath and shared silence. A recognition of a tragedy and loss.

At 14:00, church bells will ring across Switzerland. Flags are lowered. People are invited to stop, wherever they are, and remember. In Martigny, a national memorial ceremony will gather leaders, families, and representatives from many nation, reminding us that this tragedy touches not only one place, but many hearts.

In moments like this, I am reminded of the power of community, presence and allowing ourselves to feel...together.

Sending love to all those affected. .🙏

03/01/2026

The holidays are beautiful. They are also intense.

Our attention moves outward, our energy is pulled in many directions and without realizing it, the inner balance of our system shifts.

In yoga, we understand that everything in nature, including our own minds and bodies, is shaped by three fundamental energies called the "gunas." Which are comprised of:

Tamas; the energy of rest and grounding.
Rajas; the energy of movement, action, and motivation.
Sattva; the energy of awareness, clarity, calm, and inner harmony.

All of them are necessary...and often, when life becomes full, fast, and outward focused, these energies easily fall out of balance.

We sleep less.
We do more.
We consume more (food, digital content, etc.)
And eventually, the body and nervous system begin to show signs that we are out of balance.

This is where practice becomes medicine.

When we step onto our mat, we are not just stretching and stregthening our bodies; we are rebalancing or harmonizing our minds, hearts, and bodies.

Through rest, we nourish the grounding "tamas."
Through mindful, perhaps energetic movement, we activate, "rajas."
Through the breath and awareness (presence), we cultivate sattva.

And slowly, gently, our entire system remembers how to live in harmony again.

I sometimes say in classes or retreats:
"Practice in the body, the mind will follow."

What happens on your mat does not stay on the mat.

When we practice, we show up for life with more balance in our actions, more steadiness in our emotions, and more kindness in our relationships.

Not because life becomes easier. But because we become more resourced and resilient.

If the holidays have left you feeling tired, scattered, or disconnected, this is your reminder:

Your mat is waiting. Balance is closer than you think.
..join me for a retreat; April 24-26, 2026 to dive deeper into the healing practice of yoga....or just dip your toe in the water and join me for a class. :)

Your body, mind and heart will thank you.