Waves of Joy Yoga (2025)

05/10/2021

In the midst of it all, all the chaos or difficulties or ups and downs or unexpected changes in life, don’t forget that:

🌊 happiness is a choice

🌊 optimism is a choice

🌊 attitude is a choice

🌊 kindness is a choice

🌊 giving is a choice

🌊 respect is a choice

Nothing will make you happy until you choose to be happy. No person will make you happy unless you decide to be happy. Your happiness will not come to you. It can only come from you.

When things get stormy, make your choice. Choose wisely. It will work out.

You are stronger than the biggest wave; you always have a choice.

25/09/2021

Good morning!!!!!! ☀️

Happy weekend!

Are you a morning person?

I loooove mornings! It’s my favorite time of day. Every morning is a fresh start and a chance for you to make this day whatever you want it to be.

How do you feel about mornings? Do you hit that snooze button all the time? Dread the early wake up?

If you feel sluggish or just hate the AM grind, here are some ideas to help you revamp your morning, embrace the day, and boost your mood:

☀️ drink some water first thing - add lemon for some zip and to jumpstart digestion
☀️put on some happy, upbeat tunes - anything that makes you wanna dance
☀️write in your journal for 5-10 min
☀️roll out your yoga mat and stretch it out
☀️do some deep breathing exercises
☀️meditate
☀️go for a run or walk. Aim for an hour, but if you’re not already active or if an hour is tough for you and your schedule, go for at least 30 min.
☀️practice gratitude - say 3-5 things you’re grateful for aloud or write them down
☀️hug your loved one or your kids or your pet
☀️diffuse some essential oil - I like peppermint or citrus first thing in the morning to energize and invigorate
☀️make a list of what you’ll accomplish today (if you didn’t do that last night)
☀️have a healthy breakfast

One of my favorite things to do, weather permitting, is catch the sunrise! Here’s a throwback to an early morning in Maui a few months back. I woke up at 5am daily, took my mat to the beach and did a morning yoga session to greet the sun. Such a beautiful way to wake up and greet the day 🧘🏻‍♀️

Do you have a morning routine?

Wishing you a happy, healthy weekend, lovelies!

23/09/2021

It is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life.

- J.R.R. Tolkien

Embracing simplicity so much as of late.

🌊Less time online. More time in-person

🌊Running in the rain on forest trails

🌊Weekends with family hiking and gardening and completely out of the norm for me, watching a few or maybe a lot, okay, binge watching an HBO series. Have you seen Nine Perfect Strangers 😱 Not a fan of the second half, but character development in first half was solid.

🌊Appreciating that first cup of coffee in the morning in front of the wood stove fire

🌊Getting up a little earlier to get that extra mile in on my run and that pre or post-yoga mat time in = instant mood booster and distress sesh

🌊Extra scratches behind the ears for Bear and long, slow walks with music on repeat

🌊At work, I’m diving into a selection of Athabascan garments and birch bark basketry that I hadn’t previously really examined so closely.

Mostly, I am outside more, save for that one recent Saturday night, in nature more and feeling, observing and just being.

How do you appreciate simplicity? What simple things are you celebrating in your life now?

Artist: Naomi Tydeman

14/09/2021

Mussel vs. muscle ? 💪

If you are feeling like you’re overwhelmed or stuck, remember:

your

strength

is stronger

than

your

stress

Artist: Mark Pierce

10/09/2021

How well are you riding the waves?
Are you even aware of how you feel?
How well do you understand how you feel and why you feel that way?
What is your self-awareness like?

How well we manipulate our feelings and efficiently use them makes us more resilient and immune to stress.

One of the reasons I love yoga is because I feel like it can get me in touch with my emotions - especially those hip openers! But sometimes, it helps to take a different approach.

At the end of the day, try to jot down all the feelings you recollect experiencing that day. Really try naming each feeling you can. Once you’ve got the words down, write out why you felt that way for every word. How many positive and negative feelings did you have? What cause them? Which ones affected you the most today? Just writing all of this down will better familiarize you with yourself. There’s no right or wrong. There’s only understanding 💙

If all else fails, take it to the mat and then try this exercise a second time!

09/09/2021

This past long weekend I had such a big to do list. Lots of errands. Household chores. Gardening tasks - weeding, “dressing” the winter plantings I put in the greenhouse. Prep for yoga class. Cook / prep meals for the week. Pay bills. Internet stuff. Go to the grocery store. Go to the bank. Pick up the dry cleaning. Drop off books and clothes for donating. Laundry. Etc., etc. You get the idea!

I was feeling so tired and so burned out that I decided to allow myself to not do everything on the list. To not even try to do everything on the list. I chose to not do any weeding (in the rain). I chose to not dress the plantings. Sure, I exercised 4xs and did plenty of tasks on my list, but if felt so good to actually say NO to some things I didn’t feel like doing 🙌

What did I do instead?

I took Bear for a long hike 🥾
I went swimming with friends in the ocean early in the morning 🏊‍♀️
I baked bread 🍞
I finished reading my book 📖
I made a nice fire in the wood stove, lit a candle, and just sat on the floor for a bit and pet my pup 🐶
I got 8 solid hours of sleep 🛌
I watched a movie 🎥
I did a sleep meditation before bed 🧘🏼‍♀️

And it was fantaaaaaastic!

Just a reminder that sometimes saying, “No,” means saying “Yes” to yourself 💙

02/09/2021

A lot of yoga classes begin with a teacher suggesting students set an intention for their class. I am really fond of this practice, though I do not do it in all of my classes.

What if we set an intention for our whole day, week or year? What if we focused on the word or phrase and instead of setting it and forgetting it, we came back to it repeatedly.

Your intention can be something you want more of in your life, a quality you want to embody more of, or something you want to do more of.

Single word intentions might be ease, peace, joy, self-care, wholeheartedness, healthy, mindful, present, etc.

Phrases of intention might include to find beauty in everything, to let go, to create more simplicity in your life, to show up for yourself, to follow the flow, or to gain strength, etc.

You can channel your energy towards your intention and hold it close to you every day by journaling your word or phrase each morning. You might leave sticky notes around the house in places you’ll see them regularly or meditate on your intention, repeating it silently to yourself or aloud during meditation.

My personal intentions right now are to surrender and let go and to trust that everything is working out just as it should.

Do you set intentions when you practice yoga? Do you set intentions off the mat? What is your intention?

Artist: Erin Hanson

14/08/2021

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. ✨

- Albert Einstein

Is your heart open to all of the miracles?

13/08/2021

Always remember that we are under the same sky, looking at the same moon.

- unknown

How are you doing?

To be honest, I’ve had a week…but today not one, but three friends called me and I had a phone date with one I haven’t talked to in forever, because, well, we are busy. I received an unexpected brighten-your-day-kind of email from another friend. And when I went to teach class tonight, it was full. I even came home to an email asking if there was space at the studio.

I connected with beautiful, good, kind souls today over the phone, online, and on the mat through movement and breath-work.

In these moments, I share and receive joy.

No matter what your day or week or year throws at you. No matter what feelings of isolation or loneliness are weighing you down or have been the last year and a half, know that you are not alone.

Someone is thinking of you now. Someone wants to share some of their joy with you, connect with you. Someone, everyone, all of us - we are together under this same sky.

✨💙🌛

Artist: Cindy Lane

#2020

10/08/2021

One day

you will look back

and see

that all along,

you were blooming.

- Morgan Harper Nichols

09/08/2021

Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It’s a way of entering into the quiet that’s already there.

- Deepak Chopra

To meditate, set up your space. Turn off any distractions. Find a quiet place - a room you’ve decluttered or someplace outside like your garden or by the ocean. If you’re indoors, feel free to place a pillow down to sit upon. Turn off any distractions.

Sit down comfortably with a tall spine. Your back should be straight, but not too rigid or loose.

Once you’ve found your comfortable seat, close the eyes or soften the gaze and look downwards.

Scan your body from head to toe, sensing any discomfort or tightness.

Begin to breathe in and out the nose, breathing out and releasing any tension you’ve sensed, from one place in the body at a time, working from the top to bottom of the body.

If the mind wanders, just acknowledge the thought without judgement and focus on the breath.

Just 5 minutes of meditation before work or at the end of your day can make you feel more relaxed, at peace, and connected to that inner quiet and serenity that’s already within. It may be challenging at first, but the more you practice, the easier it will become.

I definitely practice yoga more than meditation, but I’ve been working on setting time aside to meditate lately and I’m really enjoying the process and benefits.

Do you practice meditation?

Artist: David Lloyd Glover

08/08/2021

6 Types of Self-Care

Physical Self-Care
💙work out
💙go for a run
💙hike on a trail
💙eat more veggies and fruit
💙practice yoga

Emotional Self-Care
💙journal
💙meditate
💙express emotions through drawing, cooking, writing or some other creative outlet

Spiritual Self-Care
💙spend time in nature
💙donate to a charity or important cause
💙it doesn’t have to be religious, but if that’s your thing, maybe say a prayer

Intellectual Self-Care
💙read a book
💙learn something new
💙watch a documentary

Social Self-Care
💙spend time with family
💙go for coffee with a friend
💙go on a date with your other half, maybe a double date

Sensory Self-Care
Take time to nourish your senses
💙burn a candle
💙listen to music
💙walk barefoot in the grass or sand

What are your favorite ways to practice self-care?

Waves of Joy Yoga

05/10/2021

25/09/2021

23/09/2021

14/09/2021

10/09/2021

09/09/2021

02/09/2021

14/08/2021

13/08/2021

10/08/2021

09/08/2021

08/08/2021

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