Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing with you a few of my favorite body image action steps! They’re a taste of what we’ll work on in the Body Peace series at Carrboro Yoga in August, and the tip of the iceberg of what my body image journeying clients celebrate in coaching. There’s so much body judgment we consume every day, that we’d probably need to hole up in an power-free cabin in the woods to escape all of it! Since that’s not realistic, and you’d never finish Orange I

Eight years ago, before I really learned how to nurture myself, I was convinced for a while that slowing down might break me. When I got home at the end of a long day, I was often so tired that all I wanted to do was flop on the couch, but as soon as I did, I felt restless and anxious. As soon as I closed my eyes to meditate, I’d either break into tears or a cold sweat. For the life of me, I couldn’t lure my body into a full night’s sleep. I sometimes see this in clients a

After what feels like weeks upon weeks of rain, the sun has finally emerged here in Chapel Hill. The past few days have been beautiful, balmy, and nearly 90 degrees, and after being in a bit of a funk, the lure of light is irresistible. My yoga mat has a few bits of fresh bark ground into it from practicing on the porch, and I’ve got a funny tan on my lower legs from wearing my capris for meditation in the sun. In honor of one of my favorite outdoor yoga seasons, I’m off

This past year, I’ve been grieving. Grief can be an alarmingly unpredictable thing, swinging you perilously between panic, numbness, stomach-turning sadness, and peace, sometimes within the course of a day, an hour, even a minute. And oh boy, the tears. We have a difficult time with tears in our culture, don’t we? There are times, of course, when crying is inconvenient or feels inappropriate. There are other times when crying is thoroughly inescapable and you hav

The summer before I started yoga teacher training, I aggravated an old running injury and found myself with continuous knee pain. Most movement and even some sitting and lying positions hurt. So nearly every evening that summer, I showed up to my yoga mat with the same intention: to be gentle. I chanted it to myself before every sun salutation, every forward bend, every hip opener, every last movement: “Be gentle.” If any hint of pain or tweaking arose, I would again finel

Americans are big fans of ambition and productivity. We work long hours, wear “busyness as a badge of honor,” and set New Year’s resolutions designed to take us from non-runners to marathoners in a flash. This can lead to advances in science, humanitarian contributions that help the world become a better place, and professional success. When it comes to lifestyle change, however, we can feel as though we’ve failed if we fall short of our high expectations. Here’s an

You don't need to toil through the work week, just hoping to make it through till it's finally time for your weekly yoga class or private yoga session. Sneak in mindful movement and deep breath anytime you can throughout the day! This cat/cow flow can be done at your desk and will help you slow down and relax, especially on a stressful day. Give yourself at least 5 full breaths in and out and be sure to notice what happens. Check in with both the obvious and more subtle chang

I don’t know about you, but for me, the chaos and grief in the world has seemed particularly loud this year. In the past, these might be times when I just accepted that I was going to slip into an incapacitated sadness of sorts, anticipating that my emotions would become too raw for me to do anything but get by in my daily life, let alone take action. I've learned over the years that to avoid reaching that state (and fast-tracking myself to depression), it can help to creat

When I work with private yoga clients, we co-create homework assignments. These may include poses, breath work, and meditation. But there’s one pose that I recommend to everyone, since it always fits into at least one of the purposes that brought us to work together. This pose is one I often teach in group classes, especially during the fall and winter months, when I know more people are experiencing seasonal affective disorder and missing the light. It’s also one that

I have the great privilege of working with and being cared for by some truly big-hearted people. They are parents, siblings, caregivers, service workers, social justice advocates, volunteers, environmentalists, and animal lovers. They’re attuned to the world and care deeply for its inhabitants. Sometimes they can be painfully awake to the suffering of others. That sensitivity is a superpower that can make the world a better place. It can also be a source of great heartache. A