In Part 1 of the Mindful Human series, we imagined what the world would be like if it were filled with people who were mindful.  People who paused and responded rather than reacted. People who looked up with a kind smile for you. People who paused to understand rather than made assumptions or judged? I challenged you to decide whether to choose to be a...

The post #38 Mindful Human Series: Part II – Why Practicing Mindfulness Is Necessary appeared first on Shift for Wellness.

Imagine moving through your day free from worry, being nonjudgmental, and with a kindness in your heart for yourself and others.  People that pay attention and are aware of the world around them and the space they occupy is what our world needs now more than ever.  This is the practice of Mindfulness.   The practice of mindfulness is about the sensory experience.  It’s an awareness...

The post #37 Mindful Human Series: Part 1 – What Mindfulness Is and What It Isn’t appeared first on Shift for Wellness.

I’m often asked by friends and family where I teach yoga and when I tell them I don’t work in a studio, I choose to simply teach the faculty and staff I work with after school once a week. I also remind them I teach the kids in class as well, and it’s then that they ask me if I would teach them private yoga...

The post #36 5 Steps To Overcoming Yoga Intimidation While Creating Your Own Yoga Practice appeared first on Shift for Wellness.

Isn’t it funny where life takes us? If you’re like me, every day you create an agenda, a “to do” list, for what you’d like to accomplish.  Some days you actually make it through that list and other days you wonder why am I even bothering to make one.   I set a goal for myself back in the fall 2017 which was to have all...

The post #35 I’m Glad You’re Here appeared first on Shift for Wellness.

The pangs of waking up to bright lights creeping underneath the crack of my door as they light the way to the bathroom for me churn deep in my gut. This morning I will not breathe the stale hotel room air and bend to pick up the newspaper that’s been slipped through the crack of the door at an ungodly hour by a no doubt too tired hotel worker.

Tosha’s message is very simple:  Offer it up. Let the Big Guy take over; or as Tosha writes, “She”.  This shift in my daily prayers has transformed everything for me.  Like many of you, I am a multi-tasker despite continually pretending that I am not. I'm an over-planner. An obnoxious “To Do List” maker. A payer of attention to too many details. A people pleaser.

Backward? By backward, do you mean honoring my truth? Following my heart?  Do you mean challenging myself to run a semi-self-contained classroom which I’ve never experienced?  Do you mean going beyond what common sense will allow? Denying the truth that runs through my veins?

Since I began the Shift for Wellness journey back in 2013, I always felt a little awkward about defining myself; particularly as a “survivor”.   Social media profiles are always asking you to define who you are.  What am I supposed to write?

If you're still working on allowing yourself to put yourself first guilt-free, you better snap to it! Even in an airplane emergency, you’re directed to put the oxygen mask on yourself first before assisting other people.  Without the main life support for yourself, your not good to anyone.