Embrace the wobble

I love yoga so much.

I really got into yoga about a year or two ago, and I’m so happy to have it as a part of my life. 

Being a little crunched for time the last few months between awesome tour & travel, Chip’s health, getting started on my newest studio project, and buying a new car, I missed out on yoga for a while.

I brought yoga with me on a lot of the trips - most notably, while I was in Nicaragua, and I even took a class with my mom when I was out in Wisconsin, but I hadn’t been to my class for a while.

And I LOVE my class with my teacher. It’s this communal experience where everyone is super focused (or else you fall down) and super sweaty (did I mention, it’s hot yoga?), so nobody’s judging anybody.

The reason I love this challenging class is because it’s so hot, so hard, and so great, that I can literally think of nothing else.

I have to focus.

I have to be in the moment.

Being present and being in the moment, is a life skill that I’m working on. (I’ve learned a bit about it from Chip, but still have some room for improvement.)

So today - I set my alarm, made it to my class, sweat it out, and had a great time…being.

During one of the balance poses, my/our teacher (I shouldn’t be selfish), Caroline, said to us…

“Embrace the wobble.”

I giggled, because I love it.

Embrace the wobble.

It’s even fun to say! (Try it - it might give you a laugh…)

She told us not to give ourselves a hard time, or be disappointed when we’re trying to balance and find ourselves a little wobbly. Instead, focus on the fact that the wobble is your body’s effort to recenter.

I don’t need to spell out the metaphor for you on this one - but think about how great it would be to embrace the wobble.

Embrace the wobble.

Instead of getting frustrated when I don’t practice enough, when I don’t sing enough, when I don’t have enough shows, when I feel like my songs aren’t good enough - my new plan is to embrace the wobble. 

My new plan is to take all of these thoughts as lessons instead of failures, and allow them to help me recenter. 

Realign. 

Refocus. 

Embrace the wobble.

Have a beautiful, wobbly day,

Kristen

Balance Part 2

I'm trying. I really am. I find it so hard to pull myself from booking another show or sitting at the piano to go take a jog. Or do some yoga.

I love all of these things.

It's very difficult for me to know when I'm doing too much of one- because I love it.

I'm trying though.

Dusted off the old yoga mat today and am hoping that's a start!

How's your balance seeking going? Kristen Ps...I'm seriously asking. Not rhetorically.

Ohm.

There is a yoga class that I love to take. It's at 9:30 on Thursday mornings. (In Westport if you'd like to join me!) It's relaxing to start, kills me somewhere in the middle, reminds me that flexibility is fun, inspires me to try head stands, and then relaxes me again at the end.

I leave a bit of a sweaty mess, but feel amazingly clean, and really peaceful.

I want this peace for so many people. It's why I thought bringing yoga mats to the reservation would be a good idea. It's why I annoy Bryan to come to classes with me (I've succeeded exactly once.)

In these moments, right after leaving class, I find empathy for evangelists and fundamentalist Christians. I've met and dealt with a lot of born-again missionaries through the work that I love to do with Simply Smiles. We agree on certain things and disagree on most others.

But if what they feel about religion is as peaceful as I feel when leaving this yoga class, I can almost understand a bit better.

Replacing one hot topic with another...

I think that all world leaders need to get into yoga. And I think it will change the world. And maybe end a war or two, or all.

Peace and Just Be Nice!

(A pretty tree for you to peacefully daydream in...)