This winter holiday season is a time when schedules tend to kick-up a notch (or ten), we develop a sixth-sense awareness of the needs and feelings of people around us, and we might experience positive or negative feelings as we reflect on our past and current circumstances and how they reflect our personal and family traditions.

No matter what your past traditions have been, and no matter how satisfied or peaceful you feel with your current situation, there is always room to introduce new holiday traditions to infuse your soul with deepened gratitude and peace. Consider choosing one or more selections from our holiday buffet of ‘new traditions’ selections

Did you know that cultivating gratitude is a skill? It’s a mindset, it’s a way of life. It’s also a very worthwhile pursuit because of the incredible benefits of cultivating gratitude – we recommend starting by spending 5 minutes/day in a gratitude journal. Interestingly, we start experiencing MORE of these benefits the longer we consistently keep a gratitude journal.

To reflect on inner strength from a yogic perspective, we want to consider all the ways we yoke our practice, so that we look from the angles of physical strength, emotional stability, and spiritual steadfastness.  We can find that our understanding of Santosa (pronounced Sahn – toe – sha), the Niyama (“rules” for self-observance),   which means contentment, holds the key to offering us another facet for contemplation on strength and grace.

Excess tension is stealing not only our peace, but the quality of our lives. Physically, when the body is under tension, the cardiovascular system is challenged, cholesterol and blood pressure increase, the breath becomes fast and shallow, nutrition is compromised as the body excretes vitamins and minerals rather than absorbing optimally from foods, muscles hold unnecessary tension for prolonged periods, and adequate sleep becomes harder to access.

What a month it’s been! Beliefs are fascinating, because they really do generate thoughts, feelings and action that impact our entire lives. And we often aren’t even aware that we hold certain beliefs until we map them out (or get external feedback from someone who isn’t confined to our personal paradigm.)

Are you ready for some serious creation? Last week you identified some things you really want – maybe it had to do with how you look, attributes you’d like to develop, material possessions you’d like to own or income you’d like to make, experiences you want to have, or relationships you want to improve (or even start). This is the fun part

Have you ever wondered why you just can’t seem to accomplish some goals that you have? Or have you ever taken a look at your life (including where you live, where you work, you income, your lifestyle, your physical health, your relationships), and thought to yourself, “How did I get here?