Everyone’s process is a little bit different.  Our daily lives, our experiences, our bodies.  Yoga teaches us this, that our mat is our own little corner of the Universe.  We have a zillion variations of poses, endless props, and enough instructors to populate a small country, all because our unique styles, abilities and needs require and respect our diversity.  Our individualism.  Our differences.  Everybody has their something.  Yoga spirit celebrates it all.

But it’s hard to remember that sometimes.  Even as a teacher, I forgot it for a while … for months, actually.  I didn’t end my personal yoga practice, or quit helping others continue their practices.  I stopped doing something else that nourishes my soul.   (more…)

The workday begins early.  I wake around 4:45 a.m.  I meditate for a 10 minute-or-so stretch, roll out of bed for a few sun salutations.  Complete a speed-ready regimen: teeth, contact lenses, mascara, blush, hair brush.  Out the door before 5:15.  First client of the day, done at 7, back in the city by 8.  It’s time for the second start.

I arrive home, good morning hello for the cats who greet me at the door, breakfast of whole grain toast with sliced avocado (freshly-cracked black pepper, sprinkle of sea salt), gathering of the notebooks.

Then, the coffeehouse.  Caffeine courtesy of a cortado.  Separately, a shot of hesitation begins pumping in like little sparks of electricity.  That’s called Fear, and its malignant cells multiply to make Overwhelm.  I mean, have you ever noticed that 98% of your body can say “go,” but 2% of paralysis can nail your ass to your seat?

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Okay, in the interests of full disclosure, I’m just going to put it out there: I haven’t been at my best lately.  I’ve missed some deadlines (however self-imposed), let a few things fall by the wayside (again, however self-established), made some questionable decisions, and have been managing so many things that I’ve generally just felt a little off my game.

At first, I naturally felt uncomfortable about this… and then I realized that it all brings me back to one of my favorite, although sometimes forgotten, mantras:

I am an imperfect person.

Oh, ah, the relief of resting in divine imperfection.  (more…)

Last month we celebrated the start of the new year with the first 10 of a top 20 list: selected suggestions on ways to rock out your 2011.

So, you can guess what I’ve got for you this month: the next 10.

These aren’t your usual tips (well, okay, you might be able to guess the first one).  They are, however, all things that I’ve used, that my clients use, that have offered results and infused light into many, many lives.

Which will you choose to help guide you towards a better-than-ever year?

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So, you probably already know this, but the “New Year, New You” craze is absolutely, positively huge in my industry.  If there’s a month for fitness, January is it.

This is the time to find specials on gyms, discounts on health-related services, advertisements for super-cleansing detox diets.  Everybody wants to lose the holiday pounds, and start a new chapter with a pretty, clean, smooth slate.  Time automatically hand-delivers that fresh start at midnight… but then what?

How, exactly, do you kick off 2011 in a kick-ass way?

If you feel even 0.001% overwhelmed, unsure, or frozen in the face of the big, BIG possibility of the new year, don’t even sweat it — you’re about to get 20 easy, practical, to-do ideas that will turn 2011 from a year of potential into one of promise.

Now, I know 20 new things to do might be a bit overwhelming — especially with that standard January resolution push — so you’re only getting 10 to try on this month.  And this first one’ll lift the pressure right off your shoulders: (more…)

Early Winter in Washington

I bought a book recently called “The Gift of Nothing,” by Patrick McDonnell.  It’s an awesome children’s story about two best friends, and one of them is brainstorming like mad about what gift to give to the other.  Finally, he decides: nothing!  But it isn’t like he’s given up or gotten cheap or anything — he wraps this “nothing” up in a box, slaps a big, fat bow around it, and beams triumphantly.

I adore this story.  No, I A-D-O-R-E this story.  I adore it because of the lesson that things don’t necessarily show appreciation.  I adore it because of the gesture from one friend to another, the thought of how, exactly, to effectively manifest love, the verb.  I adore it because of the subtle truth that, sometimes, the best gift you can give is nothing at all, except for yourself.

I recently rewarded myself with a similar nothingness, and I’m tellin’ you… (more…)

Hey everyone, I’m breaking from the usual posting schedule to spread the word about AMEX’s first-ever Small Business Saturday event, a nationwide movement to get shoppers into the local business community.

Basically, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, November 27th, 2010, you can make a recession-battling, economy-boosting difference.  I’m supporting the effort by committing to shop accordingly that day (tough job but, hey, I’m a giver).  I’m also extending a new discount on Higher Ground’s specialty yoga services.

Mark Small Business Saturday’s shopping on your calendar, and take an extra 15% off of any single HGY session you buy that day.* Plus, if you already get The Monthly Message, let me know and I’ll add this on top of the awesome specials featured last month.

Given the nature of what we do here at Higher Ground, it makes sense for you to check in early and learn more about classes, pricing, etc., but any service you purchase on November 27th will be 15% off.  Totally easy, totally awesome.

For more info, and a list of businesses you can support on SBS: http://www.smallbusinesssaturday.com/

* The discount doesn’t apply to items at the HGY Online Shop, unfortunately, but you can just balance that out by wearing what you buy at your Small Business Saturday-discounted session, right? Right!

(c) 2010 G. Loiseau

Happy birthday, Higher Ground.  Yep, this month, my first company marks its first year of business.  It’s an effort that has offered me a lot of happiness and extreme challenge; something that’s let me help others, yet still take care of both my expenses and sanity.  However much work I did to create this, I often think: “How lucky am I??”  My work is a privilege.  Not many people can say that.

The end of this 12-month period marks a perfect time to do an Annual Review.  Forget financials, though. I’m talking intangibles: the emotional and other components that make up a business’ success and failure.

Of course, this applies to you, too.

Maybe you don’t manage a business, but you do manage your own life.  How often do you take time out to really look around, be mindful, and evaluate how you’re doing? Do you know who and what rocks your world, moving you forward?  What sucks the life out of you, potentially sabotaging your success?

If you don’t know, wouldn’t it be easier to catapult forward on your journey if you did? (more…)

(c) 2010 Margaret Ward.

You know how for years, pageant contestants used to say they really wanted world peace?  I gotta’ tell you, I think inner peace would be a pretty good start.

I say this as I’m en route to New York City, not the most peaceful place on the planet.  It is home to my lovely little “home yoga studio,” located on a loud, dirty, rambunctious Manhattan street, not exactly the model of serenity. Interestingly enough, though, that place taught me one of my most important yoga/life lessons about staying calm.  It all happened during one of my classes, when I was in downward facing dog.

I decided right there, upside down, that after years of great classes marred with street commotion, that I’d had enough.  (more…)

First, let’s get physical:

Most people don’t have favorite muscles, but I do.  In fact, I have several, but we’re all busy people so I’ll discuss only one: the transversus abdominis (TVA).  This is a deep belly muscle that wraps around the torso like a corset, nestled under the more glamorous rectus abdominis and obliques.  It adds definition to the waist, helps internal organ placement, and stabilizes the body during movement.  That’s why I love the TVA.  It acts as the body’s physical “inner core,” and, as such, it is also synonymous with my focus here: our emotional centers.

I discovered the emotional inner core concept years ago, when I had a debilitating injury and learned first-hand that, while yoga’s awesome for your anatomy, its non-physical benefits are at least equally important.  Strengthening my emotional core was harder than getting a six-pack, but as I did, something incredible happened…  (more…)