Perhaps you read about our adventurous ski weekend in last week’s instalment. If not, click here to hear about smoothie disasters, whiteout conditions and how yoga played a part in all of that.

This week, I wanted to share another surprising way that yoga helped me on the mountain with long, heavy fibreglass boards strapped onto my wildly uncomfortable boots. 

Over the course of the last 4 years, yoga has played a significant role in my life. I’ve been on the mat daily for sun salutations and have done 3-4 longer classes each week. 

One of the things I love about yoga is that it helps you develop an intimate and embodied relationship with your growth edge. 

In any given posture/asana, we’re encouraged to go to the edge and melt into it. You never want to push through that edge or override pain. You just want to become familiar with where it is and see what lies just on the other side. 

Because I’ve been there so many times on the mat, I...

We just returned from a short and sweet trip to Banff with a day of skiing at Sunshine (with no sunshine to be had.)

Here's a collage for you:

The weekend was both magnificent and filled with growth opportunities - which is the best kind of travel, don’t you think?

As I contemplated the learnings and takeaways from the trip, I noticed that yoga played a big part (even though I only did my daily sun salutations and nothing out of the ordinary). 

The thing I love about the style of yoga I do (Body Awake Yoga® or BAY) is that it promises to improve one’s life both on and off the mat. This promise was very evident on our trip and so, of course, I have to share it with you!

I’ll break it up into 3 posts so that you don’t get overwhelmed. Today’s surprising way that yoga helped me on my ski weekend is this: 

BAY helps you approach life’s occurrences with “Grand Neutrality”

Grand neutrality means that you’re so connected...

It’s still January! There have been a lot of Tuesdays thus far... 5 in fact. What abundance!

Toward the end of the month, I always start looking forward to the next one because I love novelty and newness. If you’re the same way, February is just around the corner.

Speaking of novelty, did you know your brain thrives on it? To keep a healthy, functioning noggin, it’s important to purposefully build novelty into your life. When you do the same old, same old, your brain can easily fall into a rut and then your energy plummets as does your motivation. 

To stay energized, fresh and feeling fully alive, turn to novelty. It’s an amazing self-care practice. 

Here’s a little story for you about novelty

Last weekend, Paul, Zoe and I found ourselves with a free evening (which was a novelty in and of itself). We asked each other, “What do you want to do?” 

To avoid the ol’ “I don’t know... what do you want to...

Today, I’m writing to you from a parking lot where we pulled over when got a flat tire on the way to the kids’ martial arts class. I popped them in an Uber so they’re all set, my husband is on his way from school in another Uber and I’m loving our heated seats and the warm laptop. (It’s -22 Celsius right now so I’m very grateful for all the layers I put on.)

Roadside assistance is booked (and has a wait time of 2 hours), so what better way to wait it out than to do some writing? 

Fortunately, I have a thermos full of hot water and some walnuts that just happen to be in the car. What an adventure!

Anyway, what I wanted to write about today are the benefits of softening on the inside. 

Several years ago, when I started learning from Dr Sue Morter, one of her promises was that by implementing what she taught, you would soften on the inside. Although that sounded good to me, I really had no frame of reference for what she meant.

Five...

As we’re feeling into this brand-new year, I want to share with you the self-care must-have I could never go without.

If you’re expecting some lovely skin-care product or herbal tea, then think again because we’re going much deeper and broader. 

I love the idea that a single thought can change your life, so it’s more along those lines. 

The idea I’m going to share with you shortly has made my life better every single day for probably about 15 years. It’s helped me understand life more deeply, it’s helped me get to know myself more intimately and it’s even helped to explain the inexplicable. 

Ready for the big reveal?

The self-care must-have I’m talking about is (*play fanfare in your head) >>> determining a theme for the year. 

In case you're not yet wowed, let me explain. 

Themes - The How-To

A theme for the year is an overarching idea that becomes your guiding light. It’s almost like a...

I’m still basking in the freshness of this spectacular new year. Are you? 

We got a fresh coat of snow over here so that’s helping.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking a lot about overwhelm lately because so many of my clients mention it as a major hurdle. 

On my freezing cold but very refreshing walk the other night under the stars, I reflected on how I almost never feel overwhelmed anymore.

Maybe in a given moment here or there if something really chaotic is happening, but I’ve noticed a distinct absence of overwhelm as a perpetual state of being. 

I was curious about what has shifted because that certainly didn’t use to be the case. As a high school teacher, Overwhelm was my middle name. I was overwhelmed for years!

As a young mom, pretty much everything in my world changed - except for the brand new and exciting experience of getting almost no sleep - and thus the overwhelm intensified. 

After a few years of that,...

Happy New Year!

I hope you’ve been having as much fun with year-end and new beginnings as we have over here.

Our Courageous Self-Care Conscious New Year’s Celebration was so sacred and special. Thank you to all who attended. 

On the home front, our family has been enjoying the mild winter weather during our daily walks and we’ve been taking as much downtime as possible.

We’ve been enjoying meals out (Indian and Thai are our favourites), movies and even a couple of rounds of bowling to ring in 2024. (Bowling is not my preferred way to spend time, but Oakley absolutely loves it and requested that we do that on New Year's Day. Zoe was in a benevolent mood and agreed that we should do some 10-pin and so it was.)

One movie that Oakley and I enjoyed was Christmas As Usual on Netflix. It’s a story about cultures colliding when a newly engaged couple tries to navigate the delicate balance between tradition (on the Norwegian side) and trying new things...

We just finished up our Year End Retrospective and wowee - it was amazing. An important part of reducing overwhelm is to pause and reflect on a regular basis.

If you weren’t able to join us, you can still get your hot little hands on the replay by registering for the event. Or maybe you’re doing your own kind of review. I highly recommend - for your sanity and satisfaction - to take stock of 2023 in some way before charging forward into the new year. 

As you reflect, here’s a concept that has helped me more deeply understand life and how it works. 

Challenges and growth opportunities, only ever happen for one reason and one reason only. 

Although it may not feel like it as you’re going through the challenge, tuck this little nugget in your snazzy back pocket: The challenges are happening for you. 

“Yes, Christina, I’ve already heard that before,” you might think. Stay with me, though, because there’s more to it than...

The other day, my daughter, Zoe, told me that she had seen a post on Instagram that she wanted to share with me. 

She said, “The lady who wrote the post said that people who are celebrating the holidays this year should be ashamed of themselves. With so much going on in the world, especially the wars, celebrating is a terrible thing to do.”

Of course, I immediately wanted to vehemently tell Zoe why that post was so wrong but I stopped myself short to get curious about her thoughts first.

“What do you think about that?” I asked (with tremendous restraint - *giving myself a little pat on the back right now).

Zoe said, “I don’t think that’s true. There’s always something to celebrate. That’s how people get through challenging times.”

“Exactly!” I cried enthusiastically (with a little inner cheer that Zoe already knew what I was going to tell her). 

“During the First and Second World Wars, people...

Before we dive into this week’s message, a friendly reminder that we have 2 amazing and transcendent events happening at the end of December; The Year End Retrospective (or Review - apparently it has two distinct titles) and the Conscious New Year’s Celebration.

If you would like to be filled with wonder, awe, self-appreciation and the energy of celebration, please join us. You can just attend one event (for $47) or you can email [email protected] to get the special discount coupon code and come to both for a mere $67 (all in Canadian $ - which makes it even more mere for some of you).

And now… the Power of Suggestion.

A few weeks ago, I went for one of my favourite experiences; a cosmic facial which has not only the facial but also energy work, crystal bowls, crystals and sacred geometry incorporated into the mix. (Plus a foot massage! It’s just the best.)

At the end, the practitioner shared what came through in the energy healing component. As...