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I knew it was only a matter of time, like a final destination for fitness. Carrying weights to and from my mat for four years, I was amazed one had never slipped out of my grasp. I worried it was too good to be true, and played out worst case scenarios in my head, figuring if I acknowledged the possibility it couldn’t happen {which I do with many things, and have found as normal as it sounds in your head, these thoughts always get weird and concerned looks}.

That’s why last week at 5:30 a.m. I wasn’t genuinely surprised when a dumbbell slipped out my hand and landed firmly on my pinky toe. What I was surprised by was discovering how much credit that little guy deserves.

I was able to teach my 6:00 a.m. sculpt class, but modified with far less demonstration. I limped around my office barefoot {after a few tears were shed in my commute} and although I’d love to skip the pain in the future, I got much more than a great excuse to work from home out of the experience-

1. Express gratitude– There is a laundry list of cliche quotes to express this sentiment, so please choose whichever you like, and then recognize how lucky you are for each and every functioning body part. I had no idea my pinky toe contributed so much to my walking and overall fitness game. I also took the time to acknowledge how much worse any injury could have been and the frustration and pain that brings an individual. As I a ask my yoga students to do often, take a deep inhale and exhale, and say I am so lucky.
2. Walk a mile– Not everyone is fortunate enough to be able-bodied, in good health, or free from chronic pain. Limping through the skyways on my way to work and getting odd looks from polished men and women in suits, I was surprised by my reaction. I wanted to explain to each stranger my situation, all the while realizing I was living just a few days in many people’s lives. No, a bruised toe doesn’t compare; but I think if an experience opens your eyes to those around you in any way, you should soak that in. I don’t think we give these daily warriors enough credit.
3. Take a moment– Anyone who knows me well can tell you I am rarely an advocate for rest; until I started working full time, I operated under the impression that more than 5 hours of sleep a night was an optional luxury. However, I knew I needed to take time to rest, elevate my foot, and slow down, even if it meant losing my FitBit Weekday Warrior Challenge that week.
4. Pay attention– bruise or bone injury, never assume something is completely healed. It’s  important to continue being aware of how different movements and factors can impact the injury. For example I haven’t worn ballet flats since due to the pressure on the toe, and I wore cross training shoes in yoga for a few classes to provide extra support.
5. Modify whenever needed– I have noticed in and out of classes for years that yogis tend to hate modifying. I think there can be a stigma surrounding modifications that you’re not working as hard, rather than recognizing that every body comes with a different story. I started to understand this pressure more, as I once again wanted a chance to explain myself. This is only a problem that comes when we stop focusing on our practice and start having a wandering eye that leads to comparison. A well known yogi once said “you shouldn’t even know the person next to you is wearing,” that’s the level of presence to strive for.

Injuries, accidents, and things out of our control will happen. It’s what we make out of each and every experience that guarantee the health and happiness we can tend to take for granted. Namaste group, please keep your dumbbells in line.

Think of how many times a day you hear “should.” Maybe it’s not even spoken; but it’s small talk with the person in the position you want, it’s scrolling past the Instagram of the to-die-for vacation, reading about the tireless and dedicated volunteer, and you think I should be there, that should be me, I should do that.

“Should”s can be positive too; those same thoughts can be the voice that reminds you of your calling, your passion, your joy that got lost in the shuffle. It all comes back to our intention.

The health and fitness world is often associated with this S-word. If you’re not a part of it, you should be; if you are, you shouldn’t be eating that donut. However, these are just stories that we have created; and rather than motivating us to change, they paralyze us in our patterns.

This week, I had plans to attend an outdoor yoga class at Lake Calhoun (aka everything I could ever want out of an evening). But it was a hard day at work, plans were complicated, my head was throbbing, it just didn’t seem easy.

Instead of giving into these excuses, stories, and complaints, I did my best to counteract them.

I walked home from work instead of taking the bus to clear my mind, I biked to Calhoun instead of driving to avoid traffic jam stress, and I met my best up-for-anything friend, Rebecca, for outdoor yoga because I knew that’s what would make me happiest.

As I laid my mat down among one hundred others, I realized I wasn’t here for myself, for Rebecca, or for the workout. As I exhaled my busy thoughts and released stress through my sweat, I was helping the strangers around me do the same. They reminded me to stay present, to twist a bit deeper, to take a courageous variation, all by doing so themselves.

Just as my walk and bike ride weren’t driven by a desire to please my FitBit, the intention of this yoga practice was to celebrate the community that is passionate enough to convince a yoga studio if they hold a donation yoga classes outdoors, the mats will follow.

That’s the beauty of a yoga practice, whether it’s done individually or in a class format, you need nothing other than yourself. It’s not contained to the walls of a gym, or a 60-minute format. Yogis are invited to set an intention before each practice, making every moment purposeful, unique, and rewarding. It’s your own, and at the same time, it is a part of something so much greater than yourself.

Yoga, nutrition, and fitness are never what I should do, they’re what I can’t not do. Find yours by silencing the “should’s” that don’t resonate—No, you do not need to run a marathon just because your neighbor did. Yes, that donut mentioned before is a fantastic idea {in moderation}— and follow what brings you health and happiness, the two are almost synonymous. Find what you can’t not do, and make time for it. You deserve it.

For more information about future Savasana at Sunset classes, click here and if you want to unroll your mat with me, find out more here Namaste.

My favorite part of college has been learning what makes me unique, by recognizing what skills come to me naturally that may be for someone else would take hours to even start to think about. Everyone has these, whatever they may be.

For me, it’s very communicative and very visual; I able to effectively express how I think and how I see the world to other people. Recognizing my gifts and learning to maximize the gifts of others has been the most significant and pivotal point of my education, career path, and of my future.

But self awareness isn’t the final prize; once we know it, we have to own it. For many, myself included, this is the hardest part. There will always be difficult situations we don’t know how to deal with; we don’t usually learn in school or at a work orientation how to console friends going through loss, excel in relationships, or engage the shy person in a group. These situations can only be conquered with what comes to us naturally, what doesn’t feel like work.

It was through deciding to minor in Leadership that I began to truly understand what elements of my life were not work, or as we say, were life-giving.

While the words “group project” tend to bring up emotions often associated with going to the dentist, I was fortunate enough to had a group that made this project continuously inspiring. This semester-long project started with extensive research on the topic, and comparing the US to countries chosen for their diverse approaches to this issues.

Rwanda acted as our bright spot—ranking #1 in the world—with a quota system that ensures women will hold government seats. We did take this with a grain of salt, seeing as Rwanda is a dictatorship and their leader has been charged with various human rights charges…(always good to scratch past the surface, apparently). Norway—ranked at #13—served as inspiration for their successful integration of a quota system that reserves 40% of corporate board membership for women. Finally, Japan—#115—as a comparison for a nation focusing on grassroots organization to begin focusing more on this issue. Important point of reference, the US comes in at #72. 

Once we started working on strategies for addressing this issue in the US, I was going to be tackling how to integrate a quota system in an adaptive way, except tackling implies me having a lot more energy than I did. As dedicated as I was to finding a way to ensure women would receiving the same amount of responsibility and respect not just filling a small role to meet numbers, there was something missing to really engage me.

While sitting peacefully on a early plane ride to St. Louis and thinking far from peacefully about our approaching deadline, I started to think about how I would change this assignment if I could. I decided instead of writing a paper about our strategies, we would need to implement them on a smaller scale in our community [low key, still think that’s a great idea]. Travelling down that rabbit hole, I pictured us interviewing people on campus and talking about female leaders that inspire them, and working with local boards and governments to see how this panned out in our community.

While it was a bit late in the game to ask everyone to change directions, this gave me the idea for work that wouldn’t feel like work. Developing Save Her Seat, I planned a strategic communications plan that would communicate to the American public the changes that were being made with the new quota system.

 

Landing in St. Louis (most productive flight of my life) I ran the plans for Save Her Seat by a few group members, hoping for their blessing to ditch the paper portion. After many long texts, a few prayer emojis, and consulting the rest of the group, it was a go. I am so grateful that I was able to work with such brilliant women that were kind enough to take a chance on my left-field ideas and all the things I “have done in my mind” on deadline days.

The complement to trusting your ideas and recognizing your gifts, is surrounding yourself with people who will do the same. 

This isn’t the last time I’ll be given a project or task that won’t exactly thrill me, but that doesn’t mean I won’t have other options. So join me, recognize what you bring to the table, why you were asked/should be considered to do [____] project, and why that will be unique as a result. We won’t always like what we’re given, but we can change how we give our time, energy, and most importantly, gifts to others.