“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!
My primary goal for 2012 is to continue to share the transformative power of yoga and wellness with you. Can you help me with this goal? Here are a few ways that you could help:
- If you have enjoyed my offerings this past year including classes or newsletters, please let me know via an email testimonial or suggest new ways to improve my offerings.
- Spread the joy and wisdom of yoga and wellness by sharing my newsletters with friends and family
- If your company is interested in an on-site program, please inquire for details. Better Day Yoga LLC offers On-Site Corporate programs like Yoga, Meditation/Breathwork, and “At-the-desk” classes to fit your budget and benefit the physical and mental health of your employees. Let’s talk about the many benefits to both the employer and employee that Corporate On-Site Programs offer.
In response to reader feedback, as well as my own “New Years Intention” to spend less time glued to the computer, I am shortening the format by eliminating the “Featured Deck and Quote” section, and changing the timing of my newsletter to every two months versus every month. If I have something important to relay to you, I’ll send a dedicated email vs. a full newsletter, if need be, on the off months.
I will continue to stock and sell one of my absolute favorite decks from local artist, Suzanne Vadnais Monson on my product page! I hope you’ve enjoyed these highlights for the past two years and found them useful! Thanks for your continued interest!
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
“Have you ever noticed how grateful you are to see daylight again after coming through a long dark tunnel? Always try to see life around ya as if you’d just come out of a tunnel.”
~ Jefferson Smith quoting his dad in the movie, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, as played by Jimmy Stewart.
I love this month’s yoga quote. First off, I simply adore Jimmy Stewart. I always have. I know I’m not the only one. I also love that this is a quote Jimmy’s character remembers from his dad. I think each of us has some words of wisdom or piece of advice given to us by someone special that brings us strength when we recall it.
The favorite one from my dad is similar to one YOU might recall Winston Churchill having said. “Never, never, never give up.” I think my dad said to never, never, never quit. I’m sure my dad didn’t know this was a famous quote from Winston Churchill when he shared it with me. I mean, Winston Churchill doesn’t have the corner on telling someone not to give up, right? This quote from my father has carried me through many trying times and continues to be a source of comfort and willpower.
Jimmy Stewart’s quote is a unique reminder to appreciate and celebrate life—each and every precious, moment. Sometimes the stress in our lives makes us feel like we are in a tunnel, unable to see anything but the darkness of the moment.
By adopting a view of life as if you have always just come out of a tunnel, you learn to have what many Zen meditation books refer to as “beginner’s mind”. Beginner’s mind means you have no preconceived notions about what you are experiencing. It’s all fresh and new. Every day and everything in it is a new experience waiting to be enjoyed.
“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.” ~ Shunryu Suzuki-Roshi
If we had no preconceived notions about how things “should” be, we’d simply let things “be”. There would be no comparisons to an idealized perfection. Remember it’s our thoughts that dictate our reaction to a situation—good or bad. “It is what it is.” It is neither good nor bad. Adopting this attitude gives you a better chance to take on anything in your life. If you don’t label it as a stressor, maybe, just maybe, it won’t stress you. You can view the light at the end of the tunnel in two ways: as a reminder that “this too shall pass”, or as a possible oncoming train. Only you can decide.
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so”. ~ William Shakespeare
With a beginner’s mind, you have many possibilities available to you on your journey in life. You are not your age, your job title, your physique, or your possessions. When you are not defined by those things, you can be or do whatever you decide. When you don’t label yourself as good or bad, better or worse, too this or too that, you have unlimited potential. When you appreciate all of it, you have unlimited joy.
I’d read a story once about a mother who’d gone through tough times. She was out of a job, and had no money to pay rent. Rather than view her life as being in turmoil, she viewed it as having full potential because she was free—totally free—to do whatever she wanted to do. She shared a proud parent moment later in the book when her young adult son experienced several setbacks at once and announced his sudden realization that he, too, was “totally free!” What a gift she gave her son, and what a lesson to share in her book.
Perhaps it’s the time of year that invites seeing your “ordinary” life with fresh eyes. It’s a clean slate and a “do over” opportunity as we start a new year. Just as you don’t need Christmas or the holiday season to create the magic that always resides within, deep down you don’t need a date on a calendar to clean your slate or declare a “do over”! We are all always “totally free” to do whatever we want to in our lives. Sometimes it takes hard times to realize it. Why not realize it regardless of life circumstance?
If this time of year gives you a “clean slate” feeling, why not take advantage of that impetus? Accomplishment is fostered by the feelings and beliefs you hold inside. So run with it! With beginner’s mind, your mantra is always “begin again!” No matter what life hands you, begin again!
“Live …like someone left the gate open!” ~ Christine Jobe’s Photos
I think I will…Happy New Year!
