Yoga With Kelly

Gratitude is defined as: the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.* In the month of November we find ourselves thinking about all of the things we are grateful for. Maybe we do extra kind acts during this month, maybe we practice a little more yoga, maybe we thank a higher power for all of the things in our lives. But what about the rest of the year? Why is it that we are make a bigger deal about being more grateful during the month of November than we do any other time? Is it because of the Holiday? The one that we as a society have chosen to overlook? We make the giving holiday a holiday all about me, me, me... about shopping and buying the latest high tech gadget and once those doors open we do not care about anyone else. We only care about being the first to get that new gadget. We fight people over it, we are rude to sales people and our fellow citizens, and we fork out tons of money for something we ultimately may not n...

Lately I've been struggling with my disdain for most people. It bothers me that I am having such a hard time liking other people in society; outside of my friends, family, and coworkers and that is already a small group. There has to be a reason I am feeling this way, right?! So I took some time to think about why I am feeling this way... I pondered on some questions... Why am I finding it so hard to like the rest of society? I am a  genuinely nice person. I lend a helping hand when I can. I work hard. For the most part I follow the rules. But I will admit I bend them every now and then... So  let me elaborate. The other day I was walking along the street after just getting my coffee and breakfast. I passed a gentleman walking in the opposite direction, I gave him a smile (as I do to every person I pass). He simply just kept on walking with a smug face. Wow, kind of soul crushing. Is this how we want to treat other people who are being kind to us? No wonde...

For the past couple of weeks I have been feeling pent up with anger, stress, and a constant nagging chronic pain in my shoulder that just won't leave me alone. I'd dealing with a lot of tension coming from work, struggling to find my passion there and a scheduled that was demanding more time from me than I could give and it was slowly starting to chisel away at my spirit. I was being broken down and all that was left was anger and resentment.  I found myself constantly complaining about things and then turning around doing the same things I was complaining about. I was often asking myself 'What are you doing?' 'What is wrong with you?' I struggled with these questions for what seemed like weeks. I couldn't get a handle on anything. I was slowly falling a part. I often have conversations with myself, back and forth, like talking with a therapist but the conversation is just between me and myself.  I will break everything down. I will ask myself question...

Today I feel it is necessary to talk about the breath. Lately it seems like I am being constantly told to take a breath... I began to see that I have not been taking enough time to take care of myself. I was wound up tight. And the spool was just getting tighter and tighter. I had too much going on.  Eventually it seemed like everything was falling a part. But in hindsight I am only human. I was asking too much of me. And not doing enough to properly care for me. I cannot expect me to take care of everything all at once, even though I am the only one taking care of myself. There is no one around to help me. No one is going to come around and do my dishes or clean my bathroom or sweep the floors let alone make sure the bills get paid on time. If things do not get done they don't get done. I began to realize I was putting too much on myself. I was working too much and having a hard time switching over my mindset between managing a gymnastics gym front desk to teaching relaxation yo...

You... Yes you. Sitting there on the couch, 4 seasons deep in a Netflix binge. You say you can't do yoga?! I say you can. Part of yoga is just showing up to the mat. The rest we can work with. Yoga is a learning process. It is about progress. It's about dedication, commitment, time... It's about connecting with yourself, finding out who you really are. And these things are scary. But they don't have to be. Yoga instructors are there to help guide you to a better you. They want to help you succeed. They want you to feel relief. It is difficult to let go of things. These things that we hold on to, cling to. We have a hard time parting with them. They hold memories, maybe pain, maybe pleasure, happy/sad. They may no longer be serving us, but yet we refuse to let go. Yoga is about letting go. It is about release. It is about finding joy when you can now stretch a little farther into a pose you were struggling with. Yoga is about balance, unity, dev...

Yoga isn't always about the postures, the poses themselves. Yoga is more than that... It is about finding balance in every day life. A balance between the good and the bad. I have some terrible road rage. But I work to be friendly in every other aspect of life. I am lazy and enjoy my rest. But I work hard. It is always about the balance. Even when doing the poses they are used to balance both sides of the body. When we find our lives off balance it is more difficult to appreciate the little things. We fall into turmoil and depression and anxiety. And sometimes, if you are like me, your physical yoga practice suffers. In those times I have to remind myself that yoga can be done in other ways. When I tend my garden and take time to admire it, I am practicing yoga. When I take time to respect nature, I am practicing yoga. When I take time to smile at someone, I am practicing yoga. When I am open minded and take time to see another's point of view, I am practicin...

I have always enjoyed gardens and nature. They bring life and beauty to this world. I enjoy having plants in my home for these reasons. Also because they bring purpose. It takes a lot to tend a garden. Plants are alive and it takes attention to detail to care for them. They need water and sunlight and overall care. But I don't have to tell you that.... I have never lived in a place, outside of my parents house, that has allowed me to have an outdoor garden. But I have always wanted a garden. I have had indoor plants at the various places I lived but they for one reason or another never survived for very long. It could have been due to a lack of many things. This year, however, I live in a beautiful apartment on the top floor with wonderful big windows that provide plenty of sunshine and lots of air flow. I decided that this year I am going to have an indoor garden. I have a perfect place for it and it brings me joy to take care of plants. Mother's Day weekend my mom and I w...

What led me to yoga teacher training and some of the best weekends of my life was a journey that I never dreamed my life would take. Due to a series of events I ended up in YTT, as we yogis like to call it in January of 2017. I had made a move from my home in Florida to a friend’s house in Ohio. I quickly began a job at a day care as a preschool assistant. Later on I was promoted to lead teacher. Then another year down the road I was in yoga teacher training with Carrie Treister and a wonderful group of other trainees. The weekends were long, I learned a lot about myself, and there was so much yoga. I was in yoga nirvana. When I began teaching preschool as a lead teacher I fell in love with teaching. I had people asking me why I didn’t go get my teaching certificate. At the point yoga had become increasingly more active in my life, a more important part of my life. Shortly after I took over lead teaching I was asked to teach the children a yoga class once a week, that was 4...

My yoga opened my heart to light, love, peace and honor. It has done wonderful things to change my life. I believe all things are beautiful and I invite more peace into my heart. I began yoga because I hated working out at the gym but knew I needed to do some sort of physical activity, other than walking. I fell in love with yoga because it brought me happiness. I felt energized, I felt peaceful, and I felt good in my body after every class. It was a beautiful form of practice, like a dance. I felt free. After working on my physical practice for a few years I wanted to know more about where yoga came from and what it was all about. I began studying yoga on a deeper level. I realized that yoga was about more than just the poses. The yoga philosophy really spoke to me. And the more I read the more I wanted to know. Yoga philosophy teaches us peace, love and honor among many other things. It teaches us about joining the body, mind and spirit into one entity. And above all i...

When life gives you light and a fire in your belly you go after it. You follow it where ever it may take you. My yoga practice has definitely changed since I took my first studio class back in the mid 2000’s. My family and I were on a cruise to the Bahamas, my second time visiting the island by boat. One of the things that I wanted to do while on the ship was take a yoga class. I read through all of the classes they had to offer, picked one and told my brother he was coming along with me. I had no idea what to expect but the view of the ocean sailing along in front of us   and my brother by my side I was ready for whatever the class would bring. What it brought was new light into the yoga community for me. I wanted to take more classes and move my home based practice into a studio practice. When we got back from that trip I finally decided to see a chiropractor about my chronic migraines. Instead I found out about my scoliosis and how yoga could be beneficial to the ove...

How to Build and start a Home Practice A good foundation is the base for a well built house, building, apartment, store front, etc we all know that. A well built yoga practice also begins with a good foundation. Building a home practice allows you to move at your own pace and get into your body and explore the many benefits of yoga. It is a way for you to find out more about yourself and your body. My yoga journey began as a home practice. While yoga in a studio is a wonderful experience it can be intimidating – too fast passed, costly, too far away or have an inconvenient schedule. A home practice is on your time, at your pace and in an environment you find comfortable. As I mentioned my yoga practice began as a home practice. I was unsure of where to being. I first used books that I had found at the bookstore and a mat my mom had given me that she had received from a work contest. I then moved up to videos, dvds and then eventually moved on to YouTube videos unt...