January brings us all back to square one. We flip to a fresh page of the calendar, open a fresh daily planner, we see the next 12 months before us often in a linear fashion. There is something exciting about this, even though we know it's cyclical, we have an extra spark within us honoring time to start anew and create "resolutions".
I am finishing the journal I have repeatedly mentioned: "This Year I will...A 52 Week Guided Journal to Achieve your Goals" by Tiffany Louise."
The journal prompts you to reflect on your goals each week and to reflect on your self-talk and self-care.
I highly recommend it if you are searching for a place to jot down progress. The prompts Tiffany uses are helpful (she is licensed behavior/cognitive therapist, so she knows what's up:)
The space to write is rather small which I have enjoyed in one sense: it doesn't feel intimidating. Yet, I also kept a blank journal nearby if one of the prompts inspired deeper, longer reflections.
As much as using a fresh calendar to set intentions can be exciting, we know nature does not work in this linear fashion. Nature is a force as it is evident in the universe that we are all part of a circle of life, not a line of life!
So, how does intention setting mesh within the circle? As we greet each day on our journey we may do so conjuring awareness, balance, purpose and respect.
“Part of being a revolutionary is creating a vision that is more humane. That is more fun, too. That is more loving. It's really working to create something more beautiful." ~Assata Shakur~
These four aspects are mentioned by Musician Dallas Arcand, from the Alexander (Kipohtakaw) Cree Nation. Dallas reminds us music is the universal language of the world. He shares a powerful 18 minutes with his mesmerizing hoop dance: Living a Circular Life with Dallas Arcand
During his performance he reminds us of the four parts of the person: spirit, body, mental, emotional. In order to stay in tune with ourselves he recommends reflecting daily on four aspects: awareness, balancing the elements of the medicine wheel, purpose and respect.
Living these aspects looks a little different for each of us. For me, one of 2020's greatest lessons was allowing myself to sit with both grief and joy simultaneously. In the past year I have lost 6 souls very dear to me. Although we know life and death are part of the same cycle it, our mortal mind often wants to cling to the physical aspect of these souls. Knowing we can have grief in our heart but also make space to feel joy (and even bliss) takes practice.
So, then, how do we find joy in the face of life's inevitable suffering? I present to you: The Book of Joy by Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu.
This is a gem of a book. Two of my heroes share their wisdom, daily practices and a lot of humor of how they have gotten though apartheid, exile and war not only surviving but thriving.
This January I am teaching a J-term course on Movement, Art & Music in the Montessori classroom for the University of Wisconsin River Falls. For our first discussion my students and I are diving into this poignant episode of Black Oxygen podcast by Angela Russell . In this episode Artist and Educator Alice Traore joins Angela Russell and the two revolutionary women discuss "community, stillness and making sanctuary portable as three instruments of freedom". I recommend this episode to go deeper into your own reflection of what portable sanctuary looks/feels like to you and how intentionally building community allows us to to create connections and fan the flames of each other through awareness, balance, purpose and respect.
My gift to you: I feel inspired to share Laughter Yoga FREE on Sundays in January starting this Sunday!
Join me for fun, silliness and joy. Each class I will review the principles and benefits of Laughter Yoga. We will do a few laughter activities and pranayama (breath-work) and end each class with a straight minute of laughter for World Peace. With Laughter Yoga eye contact is very important so you will be asked to have your camera on. This class ranges from 45-60 minutes and the benefits of laughter are too many to count:)
Stay tuned for "Yoga for Winter Sports" and "Children's Yoga" coming later this month!
Oops, I almost forgot to say thank you Emily for the month of FREE laughter yoga sessions!! It was amazing to see so many people form so many places enjoy safe, relaxing, laughter together!! And, going forward, it is so good of you to now offer laughter yoga on a sliding price scale. Thank you!! <3
I just read Emily's blog for January....so many wonderful, helpful resources are mentioned. Upon reflecting on Emily's post anyone who has practiced with Emily, knows that Emily embodies awareness, balance, purpose and respect in each of her yoga sessions. No matter if you are in chair yoga, laughter, gentle. vinyasa, restorative, meditative, reiki, any and all of her yoga practices are overflowing with these essential humane characteristics. Remember how important you are to the flow of your/our community. We are all connected and truly need to take time to be more aware, take time to balance our lives, find our purpose and work towards those goals, and all along the way, be respectful to ourselves and to one another.…