Stress Relief and Focus:A Simple Meditation Practice

Black & White Flower

How Mindfulness, Breathwork, and Gratitude Can Help You Find Calm in the Workplace

In today’s fast-paced world, stress is something nearly everyone can relate to. Whether you’re managing deadlines, handling multiple tasks, or juggling personal responsibilities, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But there’s a way to reset your mind and body during a busy day—through meditation and mindfulness.

In this blog post, I’ll walk you through a simple meditation practice designed to reduce stress, increase focus, and cultivate gratitude—tools that help you find clarity and calm during your day, even when life feels chaotic.

Why Mindfulness and Meditation Matter

Mindfulness is being fully present at the moment and paying attention without judgment. It has been shown to:

• Reduce Stress: Mindfulness can help lower cortisol (the stress hormone) levels, allowing you to feel more relaxed and in control.

• Improve Focus: Regular meditation strengthens your ability to stay focused, even when distractions arise.

• Boost Emotional Resilience: Mindfulness improves emotional regulation, making it easier to remain calm in stressful situations.

• Enhance Creativity: A peaceful, clear mind can lead to fresh ideas and improved problem-solving.

When integrated into your routine, these practices can improve mental health and support physical well-being. Let’s take a look at a simple meditation you can practice any time during the day to reduce stress and re-center yourself.

A Guided Meditation for Stress Relief and Focus

In my latest Sit Walk Work podcast episode, I guide you through a meditation practice focusing on breathwork, body awareness, and gratitude. Here you can practice these techniques:

1. Ground Yourself with Breathwork

   Start by finding a comfortable seated or lying position. Take a few moments to observe how your body feels. Notice any tension or discomfort, then focus on your breath. Feel your body expand; with each exhale, feel the body soften. This grounding breathwork helps you release tension and return your focus to the present moment.

   Quick Tip: If you're at work or home, take a 3-5 minute break and focus solely on your breath. Close your eyes, breathe deeply, and notice how you feel afterward.

2. Tune Into Your Body

   Once you've established a steady breathing rhythm, tune into your body's sensations. Notice where you might be holding tension, such as in your shoulders, neck, or jaw. As you exhale, imagine breathing out that tension, allowing your body to relax with every breath.

   Quick Tip: Check in with your body throughout the day, especially during busy or stressful moments. Are you tense? Pause, take a few breaths, and gently release any discomfort.

3. Use a Mantra for Focus

   A mantra is a word or phrase you can repeat to yourself during meditation. For this practice, we use the phrase, “B” still and know that I am.” “his mantra helps anchor your mind, allowing you to bring your focus back when distractions arise. You can repeat it silently as you inhale and exhale, letting the words guide your attention.

   Quick Tip: If you feel distracted, stressed, or overwhelmed, try repeating a mantra like “I am calm” or " I am here” to bring your focus back to the present.

4. Invite Gratitude Into the Practice

   After you've focused on your breath and body, take a moment to reflect on something you're grateful for. Gratitude is a powerful tool for shifting your mindset. It helps cultivate positive emotions and can reduce feelings of stress. Whether it’s something simple, like a supportive friend or a recent accomplishment, letting gratitude flow during meditation can help you feel more grounded and appreciative.

   Quick Tip: Reflect on moments that brought you joy today or even small things you are thankful for. A gratitude practice helps shift your perspective and invites positivity into your day.

Why This Meditation Practice is Effective

This meditation isn’t just about relaxation; it isn't about creating a mental-emotional shift. When practiced regularly, it can have a significant impact on:

• Clarity of Thought: By calming the mind, you can make decisions more clearly and confidently.

• Improved Focus: Regular practice helps train the brain to stay focused, even in a world of distractions.

• Emotional Balance: Meditation helps you stay centered in stressful moments, leading to better emotional resilience and adaptability.

• Increased Productivity: The calm, clarity, and focus gained through meditation help you approach tasks with a clear mind and energy, ultimately boosting productivity.

How to Make Meditation a Regular Part of Your Routine

Meditation doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. Here’s how you can start incorporating there's your daily life:

• Take Quick Breaks: If you’re feeling stressed, take a 3-5 minute break to refocus your energy.

• Create a Calm Space: Find a quiet spot in your home or office to practice mindfulness without distractions. This space can become your go-to spot for meditation and reflection.

• Be Consistent: Like any habit, meditation is most effective when practiced regularly. Try adding it to your morning or evening routine, or take a moment throughout the day to re-center.

Conclusion

Mindfulness, breathwork, and gratitude aren’t just for relaxation—they’re powerful tools that can help you improve your mental clarity, reduce stress, and boost focus. By incorporating a simple meditation practice into your day, you’ll develop resilience and presence and stay calm and productive in even the busiest moments.

Try these techniques today, and notice how they can transform your life. Whether you’re navigating a hectic schedule or experiencing a moment of peace, meditation is a practice that helps you find calm, clarity, and connection to yourself.

The Filters of Perception: Harnessing Discernment to Shape Our Reality

Colorful leaves on a string symbolize mindfulness and the spectrum of perception.

What Are Filters of Perception?

Have you ever wondered how we see color? It’s a fascinating phenomenon. While all colors are always present, our eyes are built to perceive only a specific spectrum range. This might seem like an oversimplification, but it speaks volumes about how we experience the world—not as it truly is but through the lens of our perception.

Our bodies are remarkable filters. They are designed to help us focus on what matters most for our survival and well-being. Imagine, for a moment, being fully aware of every sensation, sound, and sight around you all at once. The sheer volume of sensory information would be overwhelming. If you’ve ever been to a concert where your senses were bombarded by pulsating lights, booming sounds, and even the lingering scents of the crowd and venue, you’ve likely experienced the limits of sensory overload.

Our filters help us manage this flood of input by selecting what to focus on. However, this process of filtering isn’t just biological—it’s deeply influenced by our past experiences, emotions, and choices. This is where practices like yoga become transformative. Yoga doesn’t remove sensory noise, but it offers us a new lens through which to process it, enabling us to discern what truly matters in any given moment.

Viveka: Yoga’s Lens of Discernment

In the Yoga Sutras, this lens is described as viveka, or discernment. Viveka is the practice of discriminative wisdom—the ability to distinguish between two objects, qualities, or activities. The sutras teach us that the remedy for ignorance, or avidya, is an unwavering flow of this discriminative discernment. It’s the clarity that allows us to see beyond distractions and illusions, enabling us to focus on what is real, meaningful, and beneficial.

We all use discernment in everyday life. Think about the lessons you’ve learned from past mistakes. Over time, those lessons become part of your decision-making framework to navigate challenges, improve your outcomes, and increase your chances of success. This is one-way discernment shows up: as the wisdom we gain from experience.

But discernment isn’t just about avoiding pitfalls or making better decisions. It’s also about choosing what we allow into our awareness. Gratitude, joy, and appreciation are always present, just like all the colors in the spectrum. They’re waiting for us to notice them, to acknowledge their presence in our lives. We can focus on these qualities through discernment, letting them enrich our experience of the present moment.

Gratitude and Joy: Choosing Your Focus

A personal story comes to mind for me when I think of this concept. A few months ago, I was rushing through a particularly stressful day. My to-do list was endless, and I felt like I was running on autopilot. But as I walked outside to my car, something small but profound happened—a breeze passed by, carrying the scent of fresh rain with it. For a brief moment, I paused and allowed myself to experience it fully.

In that pause, everything shifted. The stress didn’t vanish, but I suddenly felt connected to something bigger than my to-do list—a sense of gratitude for nature, for the simple joy of being present. That fleeting moment reminded me how much beauty surrounds us when we choose to see it.

Yoga teaches us that while we cannot control everything about the flow of sensory input in our lives, we can influence how we respond to it. By practicing discernment, we shape the lens through which we view the world. We learn to filter out what doesn’t serve us—fear, negativity, and distraction—and to amplify what does: gratitude, compassion, and joy.

So, here’s a question: What filters are you using today? Are you focusing on the noise, or are you letting the colors of joy, gratitude, and appreciation come into view?

A Simple Meditation to Practice Discernment

Take five minutes to practice this meditation and tune your lens toward clarity and gratitude:

1. Find a comfortable position: Sit or lie down in a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths, letting your body relax.

2. Focus on your breath: Let your awareness settle on the natural rhythm of your breath. Feel the rise and fall of your chest or the sensation of air moving in and out through your nostrils.

3. Notice what arises: As you breathe, pay attention to the flow of thoughts, sensations, or emotions. Without judgment, simply notice them, as if you are observing clouds passing in the sky.

4. Choose your focus: Now, gently guide your awareness to something you feel grateful for. It could be a recent kind act, a personal achievement, or even the simple act of breathing. Allow yourself to linger on this feeling of gratitude.

5. Discern your attention: As distractions arise, practice discernment by letting them go and returning to your chosen focus. Remind yourself that you have the power to choose where your attention flows.

6. Close with intention: After a few minutes, take a deep breath and slowly open your eyes. Carry this sense of clarity and gratitude with you into the rest of your day.

   Discernment is a skill, and like any skill, it strengthens with practice. By filtering out the unnecessary and focusing on what truly matters, we can shape a life that reflects the beauty and depth we aspire to experience.

What will you choose to see today?

Walking Meditation: Harmonizing Breath, Step, and Awareness

What is walking meditation?

It's a discipline often interspersed with sitting meditation to give yourself a break from the physical stress of sitting. You take the principles of sitting meditation and apply them to a walking environment.

Only now are we focusing on our steps and each sensation we feel as we move across an area? This can be interesting because, in walking meditation, you have the option to notice each step, each breath, or any combination thereof.

You can control the cadence or the speed of your walk so you can slow down or speed up to kind of accommodate what you're doing or any body limitations. And if you get distracted, or your mind wanders, or you start focusing on anything other than your breath or your step.

Then, you simply do what you would in any other meditation: redirect and bring your attention back.

It doesn't matter if you have a lot of space or a little space to work with because you can pace a little with this technique. So if you want to try it, you're in an area where you're free and safe to walk around.

You can simply get up and start to take a walk, focusing on each step that you may. One of the other things you can focus on is your actual breathing. Feel your breath in the center of your chest as you move, and notice the rhythm of your breath in conjunction with the rhythms of your step.

Give it A try

1. Decide where you want to focus your attention. If you don't have an area or a path to walk along, find a small area where you can move back and forth, pacing and paying attention to your steps.

2. As you begin the walk, notice the speed at which you're walking and how applying your attention to walking influences the speed at which you're walking.

3. Feel the next step as the ball of your foot touches the ground or your heel strikes. Where is the weight being distributed in your legs?

4. What and how does your breath feel as you're walking?

5. Notice that your attention is not just held to the sensations of each step or breath, but it's distributed. So, hear the sounds and rhythm that surround you as you move through the space and when you get distracted because chances are you will.

6. That's the practice where you can simply return to the observation, the observation of your breath, the observation of your step, and the rhythm of your experience

Exploring the Synchrony of Mind and Body: The Intersection of Running and Meditation

As a meditation student and teacher, I have spent years building a sustainable practice habit that flexes with my active, busy lifestyle. My practices range from 10 minutes to 2 hours. Meditation cushions are stationed wherever I frequent—office, bedroom, living room—so I have no excuse to skip sitting. Twice-daily reminders also help ensure I make time amidst a busy workload. Creating systems reflects the importance I place on simply being still.

I began meditating to curb anxiety, which was becoming all-consuming. I worried about everything - work responsibilities, marriage, parenting style. Earnestly, I desired to be a "high-value" man caring deeply about all my responsibilities. Yet part of caring for others is self-care. In pursuing personal growth and mind-body understanding, I've explored how two seemingly distinct practices - long-distance running and meditation - profoundly intersect. They empower mindfulness beyond formal practice, embrace struggle's value, and allow setting intentions with commitment.

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Embracing the Synchrony of Mind and Body

At first glance, the rhythmic pounding of feet and the stillness of seated meditation appear worlds apart. However, both demands heightened present-moment awareness. In running, this manifests as acute attentiveness to breath, stride, and surroundings. When focused on my breathing, I slip between open awareness of its natural flow and concentrated breath counting. Similarly, I cultivate unwavering focus in meditation by observing the breath's natural arising or counting. Breath is one of many sensations capturing my attention, along with bodily sensations, thoughts, emotions, and sounds.

Empowering Mindfulness Beyond the Cushion

While meditation often evokes stillness, mindfulness principles extend beyond formal practice. Running offers a unique active mindfulness, where each stride becomes a meditation in motion - a microcosm of the more extensive training. When synchronizing breath and stride, I enter a flow state where worries dissipate, and only the present exists. This dynamic mindfulness enhances athletic performance and deepens self-connection and environmental bonds.

Embracing the Value of Physical and Mental Struggle

In both running and meditation, growth's path is paved with challenges and discomfort—long-distance running forces confrontation with physical exhaustion, muscle fatigue, and relentless self-doubt echoing internally. The longer the run, the louder that voice becomes. Similarly, mental barriers arise during meditation - restless thoughts and discomfort sitting with unresolved emotions. The longer the meditation, the more pronounced these obstacles feel. Yet through these struggles, resilience is forged and inner strength cultivated. Embracing pain and struggle - on the course and cushion - allows transcending limitations and unlocking unknown potential. I am most emotionally raw after these experiences, forced to let go of limitations as daily activities cannot. The process's results can even become addictive suffering if allowed.

Setting and Honoring Intentions

My runs begin with clear intention - pushing physical limits, finding solace in nature, clearing my mind, and building endurance or speed. Setting meditation intentions provides a similar guiding focus - cultivating compassion, gratitude, inner peace, or open awareness. When lost in life's pressures, I lose sight of change's nature and what's important. Honoring these intentions with unwavering commitment cultivates purpose in athletic pursuits and spiritual journeys. The more I explore these practices, the more alike they seem. If these activities interrelate, what else might?

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The parallels between long-distance running and meditation serve as powerful reminders of the mind-body interconnectedness. Embracing their synchrony empowers mindfulness exploration beyond formal practice, struggle's value, and setting intentions with commitment. Whether in the mountains or on the cushion, self-discovery and personal growth begin with a single step - one breath, one stride at a time.

“The marathon continues”- Nipsey Hussle

Corporate Mindfulness:Organizations and Employees Benefits

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Meditation is an ancient practice that has gained popularity recently, especially in corporate environments. More and more companies are recognizing the benefits of meditation for their employees and are incorporating it into their workplace wellness programs. In this blog post, we will discuss the benefits of meditation for corporate environments and employees.

Leaders Set The Tone

As employers, there are ways to create spaces where meditation and mindfulness can thrive in work environments. By setting the pace and tone for the behavior to take hold, we can allow employees to reach their most significant potential to benefit them and the organization. A few years back I went overseas for a deployment and me and the team I am a part of experienced our fair share of challenges, COVID, unexpected mission challenges, and even loss. I knew it was critical that when I returned I would need to seek mental health services and I made sure to stress this to my team each time I could. It wasn’t till about 6 months after returning I was thanked by the head of behavioral health program for the amount of partciaption recieved from our team. Your teams are always watching and looking to model what you do.

Model Mindful Behavior

Leaders within your organization can model mindful behavior by practicing mindfulness themselves. This can involve taking mindfulness breaks, prioritizing self-care, and encouraging open communication with employees. Making it safe for employees to perform the same behaviors.

Foster a Mindful Culture

Employers can foster a mindful culture in the workplace by incorporating mindfulness into company values and goals. This can involve promoting a work-life balance, encouraging self-care, and prioritizing employee well-being. Tactically, it can be as simple as opening a meeting with a moment of mindfulness.

Recognize and Reward Mindful Behavior

Employers can recognize and reward employees who practice mindfulness or make efforts to improve their well-being. This can help encourage employees to prioritize self-care and mindfulness in the workplace. Employess are driven by what is incentivized if you want a culture that is mindul consider that as you look at what behaviors are rewarded.

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Whats In It For Me (WIIFM)

Mindfulness is a practice that involves being present at the moment and fully engaged in the task at hand. It can be a valuable tool for employees who want to improve their productivity, reduce stress, and enhance their well-being. It isn’t just meditation that is one way to achieve the end result of mindfulness, it is about being intentional in how your energy and attention are used.

Reduces Stress

One of the most significant benefits of meditation is stress reduction. Corporate environments are high-pressure, hustle-and-bustle places that generate stress, leading to burnout, decreased productivity, and poor employee morale. Regular meditation practice can help employees manage stress levels and increase their overall well-being.

Improves Focus and Productivity

Our work environments mirror our lives, full of distractions. Yet, our ability to earn is predicated on pushing out distractions when needed and focusing on doing our jobs. Meditation can help us to improve focus and productivity in the workplace. Meditating trains our minds to stay present and focused, which can translate into increased concentration and efficiency in our work. Studies have shown that meditation can improve cognitive function, including memory, attention, and decision-making.

Boosts Emotional Intelligence

How many times have we heard that a person lacks EQ? Yet how to develop it is not spoken to enough. Meditation is one way to improve emotional intelligence, which is an essential skill in the workplace. Meditating makes us more aware of our emotions and creates the space to learn how to regulate them. Only when we learn how to control ourselves can we start to understand the emotions of others and how they handle and manage their emotions. This can lead to better communication and positive relationships with ourselves and colleagues.

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Where Can I Start?

Practice Mindful Breathing

Taking a few deep breaths before starting a task can help employees calm their minds and focus their attention. They can also practice mindful breathing throughout the day, taking a few moments to pause and focus on their breath. While this may not be a formal meditation practice it is the start of one. Focusing for a short period of time on your breath is the first step in building the habit of meditation.

Take Breaks

Taking regular breaks throughout the day can help you recharge and reduce stress.  In the middle of a chaotic workday, pulling away can be almost impossible. In some ways, you have to fight for it. I do. You can take short breaks to practice mindfulness (see previous step) or simply step away from work for a few minutes.

Practice Gratitude

Practicing gratitude can help employees cultivate a positive mindset and improve their well-being. Taking a few moments at the beginning or end of the day to reflect on what you are grateful for helps to keep you focused on the present rather than being pulled towards the last project you finished or the next on the horizon. It is easy to get lost in all the things not right in a situation it is what our brain is designed to naturally do. It is much harder to actively choose to find the good but as with most great things it is totally worth it.

Be Present in Meetings

Employees can be more mindful in meetings by being fully present and engaged. How often have you heard or said this: Sorry, can you repeat that I was multitasking?  The pace of work and the deadlines creates the behavior of doing as much as possible to complete everything. The opposite of this is to actively listen to what others are saying, focus on the discussion at hand, and avoid multitasking or checking their phones. By giving yourself permission to focus you start to remove stress, trim down on busy work, and give yourself the space you need to make intentional choices.

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In conclusion, incorporating meditation into corporate environments can have significant benefits for employees and the company as a whole. By reducing stress, improving focus and productivity, enhancing creativity, boosting emotional intelligence, and improving health and well-being, meditation can help create a more positive and productive workplace. It can also help your employees be better people not only for your organiation but overall as well.

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The Cookie Jar: Why Everyone Should Have One

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You, Me, & Leonard

In 2000 one of my favorite directors Christopher Nolan put out the sleeper film of the year Memento. That film would go on to make 40 million dollars and catapult him to the national stage. It is a movie about a guy named Leonard who has an accident after which he losses his ability to make long term memories. He also happens to be trying to solve his wife’s murder using a system of reminders consisting of post a notes, poloriads, even tattoos to try to remember what is going. I want spoil it for you, but you should watch the film. You, me, and most people do the exact same thing when it comes to tracking our success or even knowing what we are good at. When we are in the moment we think we will never forget, and boom just like that it is gone and we slip back into our old self defeating ways at worst. At best we just forget what we are capable of.

Everything is a matter of perspective

Glass half empty or half full. We have all heard this or a variation of it. There is no official answer and most of us split the difference by saying it is a matter of perspective. What we fail to include is that your choice has a long term effect on how you see other things in your life. I am not scientist and I don’t play one on the internet but I do know this. If you choose to have a perspective that is limited, lacks to give insight on how to improve, or is otherwise half empty. Life will not be enjoyable. How could it be ? A constant sense of waiting for the other shoe to drop and dread lurking around the corner. I would rather not live like that. I am not knocking it if that is a choice you make. I just find that my mind can’t play in the negative space for long. I don’t see it being a good long term strategy.

A picture (frame) is worth a thousand words

Look frames don’t get the love they deserve everybody is always focused on the picture they surround. An image can be beautiful all on its own but when it is framed nicely it transcends and becomes something else. Cognitive reframing events in your life can have the same effect, just make sure you are being realistic. It is a technique used in therapy to help create a different way of looking at a situation, person, or relationship by expanding its meaning. The essential idea behind reframing is that a person's point-of-view depends on the frame it is viewed in. When the frame is shifted, the meaning changes and thinking and behavior often change along with it. When I went thru my divorce I thought it was the worst thing in my life. All I saw was the loss and pain, but after talking it over with my therapist I realized that while there was pain there was joy too. I gave up some of my bad behaviors like smoking, I picked up exercise, which lead to my current movement practice. Now I now longer look at the painting of my past with distain but with gratitude. That is what reframing does it lets you process the whole event not just the pieces that fit your narrative.

The past can determine your future

When the past is over we often like to leave where we found it. Oh but the reflection on it is different when you do so with a sense of curiosity attempting to tease out how or why you got the result will help you to avoid pitfalls in the future. The life we live is cyclical and if you have done the work of deep reflection you can almost be certain that when those past behaviors return you have a fighting chance against them. However if you haven’t made friends with them they will be there to sabotage your hopes and dreams. Stop running from yourself and start running toward yourself. It is your only true path to freedom.

Bob tell em what they won: All the cookies you want

Ever heard of negativity bias ? If not it means something very positive will generally have less of an impact on a person's behavior and cognition than something equally emotional but negative. Aka we remember bad things more than good it is the way our brains are designed and it is probable why you're alive right now. It is our default mode. If this where we naturally begin what do we do ? Make an effort to spot the good in your life there are various ways of doing it from writing your successes in a success journal to praying about the things you are grateful for prior to eating a meal. In David Goggins bestselling book Can’t Hurt Me he uses a technique called the cookie jar which is using your past achievements to motivate yourself when you’re struggling. You make a mental list of all your victories and triumphs along with obstacles and challenges you have overcome. They serve as an imaginary cookie jar to remind and motivate yourself of what you are capable of. So reflect on your successes and make sure you know what you have won. Start building your cookie jar today.

Even the gods of old understood this was a thing

In The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 2.33, Swami Satchidananda says “Vitarka badhane pratipakasa bhavanam” which tranlastes too. When disturbed by negative thoughts, opposite (positive) ones should be thought of.

The Bible says “As someone thinks within himself, so he is.”-Proverbs 23:7

In other words choose useful thinking. These principles have been around longer than you and I and will be here long after we are gone. When I notice principles that have survived and continue to add value I tend to adopt them. There is a a reason they have survived even as the world around them changed.

What gets measured gets managed- Peter Drucker

Start making note of when you are successful so when the hard time comes as they do you can remind yourself of who you are.

When Peter Drucker made this quote I don’t think he was talking about about people but none the less it is applicable. In a world where we are required to manage so many things we should include ourselves on that list. We are indeed the most important asset we have

“Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself; he also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace.”

— James Allen

The Do’s and Don’ts of your First Yoga Class

If you’re reading this I would imagine that you’re probably in one of two places. On the fence about going to your first yoga class, or you have gone to your first yoga class and had a less than ideal time. Regardless of which camp you fall into. Use these tips to help improve you’re overall yoga experience

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Do arrive early

Being early is relaxing and will put you into the correct mind state to practice. Yes yoga helps reduce stress but why add any extra to the mix. Also it allows you fill out paperwork, and secure a comfortable spot in the room. Getting a good spot in the room can also help reduce your anxiety and allow you to focus more on your body and practice.

Do listen to your body

During practice I will commonly tell my students at any point if I ask you to perform an activity that you’re not comfortable with or do not feel like doing make a different choice. I do provide that choice but my overall goal is to get students and trust their intuition. Society has created environments that don’t require use of our intuition and as a result we have become disconnected from the voice in our head that knows what you need. Overtime trust in your intuition becomes trust in yourself.

Do hydrate

Both before, during and after practice. I primarily teach hot yoga where this is extra important and easily makes the top of the list. It does however apply to all types of yoga since water helps hydrate the body and tissues, aids recovery, and is all around a great habit regardless of your yoga practice.

Do have fun

One of the by products of adulthood is being serious. It is as if by becoming adults our instincts switch to we are important and must be serious. I think there is a time and place for all of that, but we also have to know when to let that shit go. Your yoga class is a great and safe place to start; not your boardroom. I try to encourage students to smile, laugh and when appropriate be ok with the awkwardness of things happening in class. The common way I do this is by poking fun at myself or calling out my mistakes. In the moment I can never tell if folks think I am crazy or not but after class there is always one student that tells me that it was fun. Something I said or did was fun. To which I say it should be fun or why are we here.

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Don’t talk poorly to yourself

Yoga to the west can be summed up in a few boxes, something women do to get firmer butts, tighter abs, or bend into a pretzel. The truth behind all of those generalizations is that there is so much more to it. If you practice consistently and long enough it will also introduce you too your inner voices. We all know the critic that lives in your mind, questioning why we are here, how fat you look, how strong you use to be, how you can’t or won’t do that thing, and how come Karen on the other side of the room can pull off that handstand. That voice we know all too well, the one we are less familiar with is the positive one because it is overshadowed by the negative one. Spoiler alert you can exhale the negativity, and leave space for the positive alternative. Trust the positive of that voice. Just know if you would not say it to your friend don’t say it to yourself.

Don’t worry about your neighbors

Stay in your lane when doing your practice it is easy to get outside ourselves with comparisons to what is happening with the people around us. Wondering how or why they can do a move you can’t do. The truth is their path belongs to them and is one that you’re not familiar with. You’re energy would be better served focusing on showing gratitude for the progress your making in your journey. Know that you will be where you want in time that is your journey so enjoy it.

Don’t expect practice to be the same as yesterday

Yoga is about showing up on the mat. The expectation that your practice will be what it was yesterday is more of a story and exception that you have set for yourself. The thing about expectations is that they tend to leave you feeling let down when they are not met. This is not what yoga is meant to do or be. Know that everyday when you arrive at the mat your body and practice will unfold in a natural way. Consistency over time will take care of the rest.

Don’t listen to your teacher over your body

Teachers myself included are guides and when we ask you to perform an asana/pose it is an invitation to sit with your body and mind to find peace, and clarity. The thing is if you can’t do what is being asked of you or do it the way it is being asked you can’t find peace or clarity. I encourage you to hear what is being asked of you and allow your mind and body to guide to what it needs. Your intuition knows what you need.