... and my favorite shoes don't fit me anymore

Wow! I've been gone for awhile! But here I am again. Hoyt is in school a few hours a week and with that my mind feels a little clearer. One of my college professor's once told me "you know Kathleen you really can't do EVERYTHING." I didn't really agree with her at the time. I wanted to at least try to do everything.  Finally I realized you really can't do everything at least ALL AT ONCE. I felt inspired again to come back to this blog and I couldn't help but share this great quote of Hoyt's today and it's impression on me. As many things in my life do, this quote offers great insight and inspiration for my yoga classes. So here's the quote...

"God made me, ME, and then he put me in an egg... and I grew Bigger and BIGGER!!! and now my favorite shoes don't fit me anymore..... where are my dinosaurs?"

The truth is we are always outgrowing our favorite and most comfortable "things" without even trying! Many of us continue to hold on to stuff well past their most functional time. Over time we get weighed down and worn out from carrying everything from our past. Fall is in the air and it is the prime time for letting all of our used up stuff go. The bonus is that when we let go of the old we make room  in our lives for new favorites and a feeling of freshness, clarity and vitality. I think letting go and finding new favorites is an essential part of a joyful life and is part surrender and part effort.

You may or may not have a lot of old material stuff but many of us also hang on to  patterns of moving, thinking and even feeling that regrettably aren't good for us anymore. Yoga is one way to process and release these old habits and patterns. I teach Anusara Inspired Yoga. In this practice, we use a concept called "Beginner's Mind." When you adopt a "Beginner's Mind" you let go of all the stuff you think you already know so that you can experience yourself and your world clearly as you truly are today unaffected by the filters of the past and future. Once you see where you really are, you can better assess what is adding to your life and what is draining or wearing you down. With this new awareness, making changes in your life becomes empowering and energizing rather than hard or sad.

The trick to beginner's mind is to really try to surrender, to be humble, to open to Grace and to let go of any preconceptions or judgements. In this state of curiosity and inner quiet you become more receptive to feedback from your body, heart and the CURRENT state of your mind.

You might image that wide-eyed look of an infant gazing out into an unfamiliar world and gaining true pleasure from the simplest of things... eye contact, a familiar voice, something... anything to touch or hold or taste. Life is so full of things that can give us pleasure if we open ourselves up to seeing what else is out there for us and each other.

We'll be working on this concept along with improving the alignment of our neck, shoulders and heads by releasing old postural patterns and creating new ones at Mulvaney's Personal Training Center tonight from 7-8. I hope you can join us. More details about location and such is on my website www.flourishunlited.com

Stay Curious!

Flourish Yoga and Fitness Fusion

I'm gearing up to teach a brand new class today in Western Hills. I'm very excited about this class because it feels to be a culmination of much of my fitness experience and teaching over the past (dare I say it)... 15 years! It's a big priority for me to try build a stronger wellness-minded community in my part of town. The best way I know how to contribute is through fitness and yoga. I have to say it would be easier and likely more profitable for me to teach somewhere else, but more than that I would love to see my friends and neighbors prosper because of quality exercise for body - mind - and heart.

Flourish Yoga and Integrated Fitness is a fusion of Anusara-inspired yoga, resistance training, functional fitness, martial arts, and much more. It was created to give you a complete body-mind-spirit training experience in a short amount of time. This class is focused on providing you with a balanced mix of lifestyle components including: strength, core power, cardiovascular improvement through breath-work, flexibility, muscle tone, mental clarity, self-confidence, spiritual connection, emotional balance, relaxation, and joy!

I'd love for you to join us!!!! For more info visit www.flourishunlimited.com

Location Details:

Mulvaney’s Personal Training Center

5981 Harrison Avenue • Oak Crest Plaza Suite 8

Cincinnati, OH 45248

(From the Oak Crest Parking lot drive down the hill and around the back.)

STARTS TODAY!!!! Thursday, April 15th from 6:30 - 7:45

Special introductory price through April - just $10 per class

We hope you can take advantage of this excellent offering.

The Power of Perspective

St. Patrick's day is always a special day for me. My dad was born in Ireland and after a tragic childhood left his homeland behind in hopes of a brighter future. As most Irish are, he was very proud of his heritage and belonged to several Irish groups. Being the Historian for one, he shared many Irish stories and songs of love and loss. You always hear about the Luck 'O the Irish but I doubt many have stopped to consider what that really means - beyond the obvious Leprechaun's Gold of course;-)

The people of Ireland were severely oppressed for much of history. The "lucky" aspect is that they have somehow managed to come out a free nation. If you look back without the final outcome, you might say that they were quite an UNlucky group of people. So here is where perspective has a power play. Because they stayed positive and fought for what they loved, they persevered. Not only did they make it through the rough times, they did it singing and dancing and drinking (of course).

So while many use St. Paddy's day and an excuse to party, I also remember the power of perspective, positive living, patience and perseverance.

I am grateful to my dad for teaching me to live positively through example in the hardest times of his life. Even though he has been gone for over four years, I can still hear him say "keep your chin up" or when he was feeling poetic he might say... "let a smile be your umbrella on a rainy rainy day."

Here's my Irish blessing for you this year...
May you make the most of what you have in each moment
May you see the beauty of life even in the presence of pain or doubt
And, may you persevere through life with a light in your heart and a twinkle in your eye.

Love you dad!

On Not Enough Time

“There is more to life than increasing its speed.”

—  Mohandas K. Gandhi

As I mentioned in the beginning of this blog, I wanted to create it as a space to organize inspirational quotes and photos for daily inspiration. Well, daily doses proved to be too much for me to commit to but I am always looking for good material to keep me as motivated and uplifted as possible. This quote which came from an email quote of the day felt so good, I just had to take the time to share. This quote came from Oprah.com and another good source is realsimple.com's thought of the day.

This quote really got me to thinking today. I hear it almost every day (and think it too)... "wow time is just flying by!" There are some individuals out there who are saying that time actually is speeding up. We've created all these conveniences to make things happen more quickly and easily yet many of us feel like we have less free time than ever. 

I know this is true for me. But I'm pretty sure that having children has something to do with it though. And believe me I know that there are even stronger time and energy zappers like caring for loved ones with illness. I grew up stuffing as much as I could into my days. I got used to do lots of work and lots of fun. These days I feel like I barely have enough time to do the things that feel like basic care - like cook healthy meals and for goodness sake - get a good night's sleep.

I also think it's crazy how fast people expect things to happen these days. It's really hard to slow down and relax when everyone else seems to be expecting us to live up to these ideals of super-fast. I think some of it is innate. I see it in my daughter. For her, first is best no matter what! I think first would be great if there was some consideration in the mix. I'm thinking of all the things that get lost when fast is the only thing that matters... quality, consideration, cohesiveness, harmony. If I wasn't ready to be done writing, I could think of more but I have bedtime stories to read and moments to be savored with my little children. 

Time you enjoyed wasting, 

was not wasted. 

— John Lennon

My challenge this week... be more patient with others, relish time rather than fill it up, and most importantly stop doing the things that feel like a waste of time. There is so much I want to do in life why waste any moment on anything that isn't fulfilling to me or helpful to others. 

Peace!

Snow Ice Cream

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.
When life hands you snow, make SNOW ICE CREAM!

Recently the kids spent the night at their grandparents house and came home raving about the snow ice cream they made with grannee and popa. They also came home with the recipe. It seems like today might be the last day for snow around here.They are predicting rain and hopefully warmer temps. Here's the recipe in case you are inspired to whip up a batch before the fluffy stuff is gone. You can make it in minutes and it really is pretty yummy.

Snow Ice Cream

2 cups milk
1 cup condensed milk
1 cup sugar
2 Tbs. vanilla
Fresh Snow!

Mix all ingredients thoroughly and then keep adding fresh snow until the mixture is stiff. We used 1 1/2 large bowls of snow. Enjoy!

CHERISH LIFE'S PRECIOUS MOMENTS

The old gray face of time reminds us to take nothing for granted and to cherish life's precious moments.

a few armfuls of "sugar"

I know there are a lot of snow-haters out there right now but this is the stuff memories are made of! Yes it's tough feeling like your stuck inside and yes we all have to exercise a bit more shoveling the driveways (Claire, I do feel for you!) and yes we all have to drive a little slower, but there are at least a few of us enjoying it. I have to admit I didn't really want to go outside this afternoon but yesterday I made the challenge to get more fresh air this week and my kids really had some steam to blow off. As usual there was the prodding and coraling the kids to get bundled up, but it paid off big. I built the kids their first igloo and we were all aglow with playfulness and wonder. As I dug out the little snow fort, the Mary Poppins song ran through my brain... "just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, the medicine go down..." As I was simultaneously sweating and feeling the chill of ice crystals falling down the back of my neck, I felt like I was heaping up big arm fulls of frozen sugar that I knew would put smiles on my kids faces now and on mine when I look back at these photos remembering these precious fleeting moments. I'll keep saying it - "it really is worth it to do the extras that make life more energizing and fulfilling." What extras have you been considering but have put off because they take too much effort or time? As my friend Jodi, reminded my throughout last year in her email signature - "life is short" - you might as well make some time for fun. xoxo