Peace is a word you hear a lot in yoga culture. I teach peace in my classes. I use scripture to remind my students of the peace that comes from God. But what does it look like to live a life of peace?
Maybe someone who is not easily angered? Someone who is patient or someone who is happy and content? Yet I have been thinking about peace a lot lately and I realized that peace does not exclusively relate to our current conditions. Continue Reading…
It was a busy Thursday at the office and I sat down on my mat, my bare feet stared up at me, residues of dry skin and shoe dirt caked on my toes. Calluses worn from my shoes marked every one of them but yoga practice beckoned me to release my bare feet. Continue Reading…
Some days I feel ninety years old and yesterday was one of those days. I assume I suffer from arthritis. Since adolescence I can remember living with joint pain and inflammation. I am only 26 years old and very healthy, I believe. But days like yesterday make me feel like giving up. Continue Reading…
If you had to choose one word to assign to yourself, what would it be? If there was just one statement you could make to the world, a permanent mark for your body what would it say?
This is something I have been thinking about recently, as I have reflected upon myself as a Christian, yoga teacher and my plans to continue that journey for the rest of my life.
Permanence is a scary word, especially when we are young and prone to change as we grow and discover our passions and visions in life.
Yet, the older we get, the more we welcome commitment into our lives: marriage, a mortgage, a career, children. We find that loyalty and faith are beautiful and fulfilling things when we choose the right person or ideas to be loyal to.
Excuse my ramblings to reflect a moment on what commitments you have made. Do these commitments define who you are? If you could pick one work to mark on your body, what would it be?
Let’s be honest. Everyone has one. It’s just for some it works better than for others. Granted, some of you may have had it surgically removed. It’s ok. There’s medicine for that, because its function is vital to a fulfilled lifestyle for all.
Of course, I’m talking about your thyroid. Many women suffer from unbalanced thyroid hormones due to an under-active or overactive thyroid. Even men suffer from this too. Though it is most common with women.
I have been dying to write about this for months, since I had been discovered hypothyroid and started life changing medicine. My hypothyroidism was the only life I knew for so long: hazy brain, poor concentration, slurred words, chronic fatigue, cold body temperature. Starting a medication to regulate my thyroid is like being awake for the first time.
It is as if someone has adjusted the picture quality on the TV screen of my brain and I’m seeing everything in HD. Smells are stronger, the sun is warmer, and there is so much for the eye to discover. So many details I never knew were there. Not to mention the energy that has come back to me. I thought I liked to exercise before but look out world! I feel superhuman when I exercise now.
That’s what made me decide to write about thyroid disease this week. Waking up this morning, after increasing my medication to further balance my thyroid hormones, I felt like I had the strength of three Bethanys enjoying my workout routine, ready to take the world.
Do you suffer from lack of energy, no matter what you do? Maybe you have an underactive thyroid? Talk to your doctor. I praise God I did!
Whoever said laughter is the best medicine may not have been a scientific genius but there is so much truth in their words. How many of you have let a friend talk you into doing something you never would have imagined yourself doing? It may be an exercise class. It may be a contest or maybe a social gathering or a job interview. And how many of you found yourself a bit over your head and embarrassed? It’s okay. It happens to me a lot, actually.
But what amazed me about myself the other day is this: I tried some new yoga routines on a DVD my husband gave me. It was great! I loved it! But the first routine was a cardio workout to dance moves. Ask me to balance in strange positions and I’m in but move in coordinating rhythms? No. And I looked silly. I was so embarrassed! But here is the amazing thing. I was by myself. No one but me could see how silly I looked, and yet I was still embarrassed. That doesn’t make sense to me.
Why do I care so much about looking normal? Why do any of us let society’s definition of beautiful keep us from living and laughing at ourselves?
The truth is, we are all weird and awkward. Everyone in their own ways, just some of us hide it better than others. So take a deep breath and laugh at yourself. And try something unexpected. Who knows; maybe zumba is in my future.
What makes you laugh at yourself? Have you ever found yourself liking it after all?
A new year, for many, brings new goals. And different types of people have different perspectives and styles for their goal lists. For me and my husband, it is a very opposite scenario. He is very detail oriented and motivated. His lists are very well thought out and long. Mine are usually scribbled on scratch paper and bigger picture visions rather than detailed steps.
Although, I will not change my perspective on what is priority, I will continue to try to warm up to the idea of goal lists. Let me share some with you:
1. I want to be determined in my writing. I want to not neglect my posts here with you.
2. I want to edit my book, which still does not have a title.
3. I want to stop cutting off the “g” on the end of “ing” words. I live in Virginia now. It’s time I started talking like it.
4. I want to develop a meditation class for the studio. Among other ideas here and there.
5. I want to be available for others, making their time more important than my own.
What are some goals you have?
Have you ever been caught off guard by a song or a quote, maybe a story from a friend or passage in a book. You are carrying on your normal day to day business and a simple statement turns your world around. That is inspiration. It is so easy to become consumed with the mindless routine of your day. You wake up, do the same workout, eat the same breakfast, and go to work to do the same things, then come home and get ready to do it all over again. It is enough to make anyone numb to the vibrance of God and the world around us. Sometimes our minds are spinning with too many things to stop and think about one simple and beautiful truth.
But inspiration comes in many forms. It makes you swallow hard and choke on truth. It cuts deep through the numbness of life and shows you something deeper, something pure, something holy. It’s how I feel when I read Kisses From Katie, a story about a teenage girl who leaves everything in America to devote her life to Ugandan orphans. And it’s how I felt today when I heard the words of an old song on the radio. It’s a moving song about darkness and despair and a woman’s refusal to give in to it, but instead to help others with the eyes, the hands, the heart of God. See lyrics
I have never ran a race. I have never been skiing. I have never been to New York City. I have never jumped from a plane. I have never had wisdom teeth. I have never been a mother. There are many things I have not done, and some I may never choose to do but one thing I learned early in life: You don’t know if you like something until you try it.
When I was in jr. high school, I felt like public speaking was my biggest fear. I have always been small in stature and soft spoken. So the logical solution? I decided to join the speech team. I discovered that I loved public speaking and that I was actually good at it. I carried this passion through high school and college as well. Some of the most memorable relationships I had during those times were connected through the speech teams. Yet I would have never experienced any of it if I hadn’t dared to try something unknown and a little scary.
The same life strategy brought me to yoga. I first joined a yoga class when I was a senior in college. The university where me and two of my housemates attended offered classes to the students and we decided to give it a shot. I fell in love immediately with the culture and style. And I felt like it was something that had been a part of me my whole life.
You too have the opportunity to try something new. And its free. Tonight starts the first of three free class options. Come join me and others in a new experience. Details Here.
Part of what makes the holidays so sentimental are the traditions we count on from year to year. We cling to those traditions, because they remind us of the people with whom we formed them and the countless memories we acquired with them. Certain songs, smells, movies, or tastes, connect us to another time in our lives. Continue Reading…
