“My Better Day” newsletter contains tips for your yoga practice, yoga quotes to bring yoga off the mat and into your life, affirmations to brighten your day and motivate, and more! It is my wish for your well-being that I send this newsletter to help make your day a Better Day!
As a reminder, in response to my reader’s feedback, as well as my own “2012 Intention” to spend less time glued to the computer, I have shortened the newsletter format by eliminating the “Featured Deck and Quote” section, and changing the timing of my newsletter to every two months versus every month.
I continue to stock and sell one of my absolute favorite decks from local artist, Suzanne Vadnais Monson on my product page!
In this issue: Yoga quote, Practice yoga pose, Meditation on the go, Chakrascope, Hand Mudra, Healthy News, Featured Recipe, Favorite Yoga Music / DVD, Happenings at Better Day Yoga LLC, Final Relaxation Quote.
*By the way–this newsletter is one of the 8 part/posts newsletters. They took quite a bit of time so I began doing single post newsletters after the February/March 2014 newsletter. That being said, if you want all of the posts of one newsletter for the 8 part/posts, please hit the back button to go back to all the posts listed with the newsletter your’re reading. Hope that makes sense!
Namasté,
Sandy Krzyzanowski
Founder, Better Day Yoga LLC
“Some people say they haven’t yet found themselves. But the self is not something one finds; it is something one creates.” ~ Thomas Szasz, Hungarian psychiatrist
I have been going through a transformation with my yoga business. Those of you who read my blog on one of my teacher’s Prana Pages (no longer active), know that I’ve been following what seems like explicit instructions from the Universe. All within one week’s time I found out my studio’s building was sold with plans to turn it into a senior center, and my second location’s retail owner lost her lease and was moving to a new location with no room for yoga.
Two weeks prior to all of this I’d met the owner of my new location at a fair I was exhibiting my yoga business at, and she wanted me to teach at her location. I was wondering just where in the heck I’d fit her into my already full schedule. We were set to meet the week after the week I found out about the demise of my two locations.
The Universe works in mysterious ways. It knew I’d need the comfort of a new location before being told the other two were gone. I can’t previously recall the Universe ever spelling out my next move so clearly, and I am humbled by it.
“That which you are seeking is also seeking you.” ~ Rumi.
I’ve always loved that quote by Rumi. Yet recent events steering me to my current new location really brought the meaning of Rumi’s quote home. The Universe really is conspiring for my full expression! (One of my favorite affirmations committed to memory.)
I have been affirming having a perfect yoga space for so long; I almost forgot it was I who set the wheels into motion for making a change. I knew eventually my current location would be too small, and its size has limited me from going hog-wild advertising it. I kept holding on, thinking I should wait until I literally outgrew the current location, but that was a slow process. So I held on to what was comfortable.
“Intuitive guidance means having the self-esteem to recognize that the discomfort or confusion that a person feels is actually directing him to take charge of his life and make choices that will break him out of stagnation or misery. And, while we measure our own success in terms of our personal comfort and security, the universe measures our success by how much we have learned.” ~ Caroline Myss.
Comfort is highly over-rated. At least the Universe thinks so! As you shift and change, it will be uncomfortable, but it is required that you do things differently if you want different results. One of my favorite quotes is “If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’ll keep getting what you’ve been getting!”
I’ve been gathering positive affirmations in a journal for several years now. It all started when I purchased the book New Moon Astrology, by Jan Spiller. I wasn’t necessarily “into” astrology so much, it was all of the affirmations in the book that attracted me; and if there was a magical time with more power to use affirmations, well why not? What I didn’t know was that I purchased the book right in the midst of what Jan refers to as my “granddaddy power period”—an especially abundant time for me to work with affirmations based upon my birth date. Interestingly, the transition of my businesses is now happening during that period. As Gibb’s would say on NCIS—there is no such thing as coincidence! (Want to know when yours is? The previous link to her page has the Grandaddy Power Period link. Just scroll down!
This journal has been a part of my life for so long now, that when a friend suggested it wasn’t just the Universe pushing me along to my new location—this outside force I have no control over—it was me, well of course, I intuitively knew that. I had been using the principles of vision-boarding by writing down affirmations monthly and repeating them as part of my morning rituals.
It’s so hard to acknowledge your power within, isn’t it? Well acknowledge it!
“I am the cause of this reflection. I am in control of what I see. The world is a reflection of what is inside of me. I create my reality.” (I wrote this one in my journal without the source. It is not mine, but I love it.)
“I am a creator. And I create with my words. I honor my words. My words honor me. As I speak, so it shall be.” ~Sonia Choquette quote from her excellent book, Your Heart’s Desire: Instructions for Creating the Life You Really Want.
So as you change, you may wonder if you are changing in the right direction:
First off, the dramatic alignment of losing both of my locations within a couple of days of each other and having already had a third location lined up wanting me to teach there is a huge high sign for me! As I’d mentioned in the “Prana Pages” blog I referenced earlier, I feel it is my only option to acquiesce to the Universe. I can’t previously recall the Universe ever directing me on my next step so clearly and succinctly.
I’ve heard it said that if you don’t follow obvious signs, the future signs become a little bit more drastic. I’m not sure I want to see the next sign I’ll be sent if I don’t take this obvious direction!
I also align myself with the belief that the reason you should detach from the outcomes of your goals, or the “how to’s” to get there, is because the Universe has much bigger and more unique plans than you can imagine.
I had been holding on for some time at the current location not sure how to grow since the current location is a smaller space with no walk-in traffic in an industrial type area. A desire to stay near my current student base adds to the equation, as does the excellent rent. When the news of my two locations closing hit me, it was then that I emotionally detached from the outcome and the “how to” grow. Perhaps it was simply that I surrendered and perhaps that’s what the Universe was looking for me to do all along. If the perspective new location appointment I had set up wasn’t a blinking neon sign, then I didn’t know what was! I decided to go with the flow downstream vs. fight it upstream. (More on that later in the Chakrascope section!)
My new location is not necessarily near my old one, but it is in a very high traffic area with excellent rent. It’s also closer to my residence and in an area I’ve always personally considered one of my favorites in the Cities. I have been affirming that “I want to easily find myself in perfect new location that is just right for me.” This one has all the earmarks—high traffic, larger space, and excellent rent. The added benefit of less drive time is a bonus. So it is with a full heart that I surrender again to the Universe trusting that it will direct those who will benefit from my offerings appropriately to me. I wish all of my students the joy of exactly what they need for their personal journey.
Look for the signs—they’re there! Yesterday was the first of my classes at the closing studio to have its final class there. I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it through the class without some emotion breaking through. If you’re like me, you might find yourself needing constant reassurance of your choices as you grow. The Universe is only too happy to send you a sign if you are open to receiving them. So look for the signs!
The Yoga Journal email I received that same day was about how massage and yoga go hand in hand as healing modalities. The new location I’m moving to just happens to be a massage studio. I considered this email newsletter a high sign from the Universe reminding me the move was a good one—divine intervention even.
The new location being a massage studio environment will also allow me to slowly expand into working one-on-one with clients using my current training toward a yoga therapy certification. Full disclosure—I have been a bit…um..hesitant to take the leap into pursuing more one-on-one appointments—there’s that tendency of mind to hold on to the comfortable again.
Also on the same day, I ran across an article about Hanuman’s pose reminding me that Hanuman didn’t know he had the power to take the “greatest leap ever taken” until he did it. His love of serving others brought out this unknown power. (The highlighted yoga pose in this newsletter is Anjaneyasana, which is another name for Hanuman and chosen for this very reason.)
As I mentioned my goal to the owner of my new location, I added that I want to “grow into that” as I get more comfortable with it. Within a matter of a few thoughts and sentences, she was thinking of three massage clients she would refer to me.
Apparently, the Universe must want me to grow quickly vs. slowly! “They say” be careful what you wish for—affirming my goals to be in a perfect location, and to continue to grow in my yoga career in the direction best serving those that cross my path has nudged me along to where I am today.
I end every yoga class I teach with an internal prayer: “Perfect God within me, perfect life within me which is God, come forth as expression through me as that which I am.” ~ Derived from a quote from Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes. Their magazine is one of my perennial favorites too! Energy follows thought. “Thoughts become things. Choose good ones!” ~ Mike Dooley (Oh please, dear reader, subscribe to his emails—they deliver such heart-felt, wonderful messages personalized with your name. I mention this several times in my newsletters for a reason!)
I had been afraid to say out loud that I want to grow toward more private consultations / one-on-one yoga therapy as I work toward then, 800 hour International Association of Yoga Therapists certification. It subsequently turned into a 945 hour program which I have completed some time ago as I update this in 2023. I purposely made myself mention it to the new owner so it would be “out there” as a goal with no turning back because I’m afraid. Hanuman reminded me that I, too, have the power within, even in the midst of eternal self-doubt; and yes, I should take the leap and know the net will appear.
You can do that too. Say your goal out loud. Write it down. Make it happen—yes I own the book by that title too, by Henriette Anne Klauser. I recommend it highly!
“Henriette Anne Klauser, Ph.D., explains how simply writing down your goals in life is the first step toward achieving them. Writing can even help you understand what you want. (I didn’t necessarily know what I wanted in a “perfect location”.)”
Another great suggestion pertains here from Tara Mohr:
“Question the voice that says ‘I’m not ready yet.’ I know, I know. Because you are so brilliant and have such high standards, you see every way that you could be more qualified. You notice every part of your idea that is not perfected yet. While you are waiting to be ready, gathering more experience, sitting on your ideas, our friends referenced in rule five are being anointed industry visionaries, getting raises, and seeing their ideas come to life in the world. They are no more ready than you, and perhaps less. Jump in the sandbox now, and start playing full out. Find out just how ready you are.” ~ Tips for Transformation. 10 Rules for Brilliant Women. by Tara Sophia Mohr
Speaking and writing your goals are the fast track to making them happen. If you don’t zero in on exactly what you desire, how will you find it? If you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you get there? If you don’t make plans for your life, others will make plans for you and your life will be filled with other people’s plans. Affirm what you are reaching for—speak it, write it, believe it is happening—and let this help you remember who you are becoming. Put one small intrepid step out there in the direction of your dreams, and watch the Universal wind tunnel carry you off in the direction of your desire! Your life is still unwritten! Write it! Today is where your book begins!
…Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
Therefore dharma—your life purpose—is action that arises from the feeling of being you. These are the actions that will support and uphold you, actions that support the right use of everything. ~ Dr Swami Shankardev Saraswati and Jayne Stevenson http://www.bigshakti.com/how-to-find-your-life-purpose/
