Convo + Connection

Some grumble that roses have thorns. I’m thankful that thorns have roses. Life’s complex. Best to look at it with loving perspective & embrace it all.

CONNECTION

Whether it’s WiFi or relationships we call crave it. We all need it to feel happy, healthy and hopeful - especially these days.

A great way to boost that CONNECTION is through regular & meaningful conversation.

How to do that simply though? May I suggest we be inspired by the flowers, specifically roses.

Sharing Roses, Buds & Thorns is a quick way to connect heart to heart. It provides a structure and space to make conversations & relationships BLOOM.

It’s something I like to do regularly with a small group of friends/family I love.

Here’s how it works:

Each person shares their Rose, Bud, and Thorn for the day/week/month/year. You choose the time frame. Try to be detailed as you share however, each person spends no more than 2 minutes talking and no one is allowed to interrupt. Open conversation between each speaker is fine. You can do this with different or even no time constraints. You may even drop the interrupting rule, but that makes it easy to get off topic and accidentally not get to someone if your time together is limited.

Your Rose is something positive, an opportunity for us to celebrate or revel in a happy moment together. Examples of Roses could be:

• “I got a promotion/got hired for a new job."


• “We helped push a car out of the snow successfully."


• “I kept to my self-care schedule this week and it felt amazing”

Your Bud is either something that shows promise and/or something bittersweet. This is how we know what you’re working on so we can encourage you in the days ahead. Examples of Buds might be:

• "I’m learning how to play chess for the first time."


• "I have been trying new soup recipies…some actually taste great!"


• I’m relearning how to speak Spanish.”

Your Thorn is a challenge, frustration, or sadness. This is your opportunity for a bit of cathartic group therapy and to lean into our collective support. Examples of Thorns include:

• "I found a leak under our kitchen sink and had to clean it out & get it fixed."


• “I really miss my friends and traveling.”

• “I’m worried about my partner going into work safely.”


Rose = Gratitude

Bud = Hope

Thorn = Support

Can you see the simple beauty here?

Everyone has a chance to speak. Everyone is heard about stuff that matters - the struggles and joys all of our hearts go through in life.

Great done with family, friends or even colleagues.

Let me know it you try this out this week and how it goes?

And if life’s been serving up lots of thorns and you find yourself needing a little extra support, treat yourself to this Gentle Yoga practice. I hope it’ll be a rose for you.

Wishing you strong connections & ALL GOOD THINGS always,

Mary

What We All Need

With Valentine’s around the corner I just can’t help myself. I wanna talk about LOVE. It comes in many forms and brings magic to our lives.

Attention is the most basic form of love. So simple & powerful.

Think about it. Isn’t it wonderful to feel seen, heard and understood.

Every year I send snail mail short & sweet notes to my family and friends for Valentine’s day. Why? I want to show them my attention and I just love love. Plus, I know how good it feels when I get a little thoughtful note or surprise. It lights me up a little and that’s how I want the people in my life to feel - lit up by LOVE.

So take this as your invitation today to call someone. Tell them you love them, are proud of them or even just thinking about them. Tell them you appreciate them just for existing. We all need to hear these things.

It doesn’t take much to make a difference.

Who will you reach out to today?

Remember, it doesn’t need to be showy or complicated K. I. S. S. (read last week’s blog if you don’t know what I mean).

You can start by sharing this post with someone you think would enjoy it. Bonus: You’ll open an opportunity to move together!

A shared experience is more important now than ever before. You can set up a private lesson with me customized for you, your fam or friends. Join one of my live Zoom classes together (all Pay What You Can). Gentle Yoga Mondays at 6PM and Mixed Level Flow Saturday at 9AM.

Or practice my latest Mixed Level YouTube video release together. It would light you & your friend up and you’d make my day too!

Sending you loads of love & appreciation for being you and giving me the honor of your attention!

Wishing you a happy heart & ALL GOOD THINGS this Valentine’s Day (and every day)!

Mary

K.I.S.S. with me!

Spun out. That’s how all the “pivoting” of 2020 and now the first month of 2021 gone by has left me feeling. Noticing I’ve developed the not so healthy habit of working just 2 minutes more (always turns into hours). I’m giving myself permission to KISS this month - Keep It Super Simple.

That means giving my best in a reasonable time frame and letting it be enough. Honoring my stop times. Realizing I could do more, but being better because I’m not.

Yep. Better.

Letting less truly be more.

We all need time to play. Explore. Rest. Just be.

This fills our tank. Fuels our creativity and energizes us to keep going when we truly need to.

So I invite you to KISS this new month with me too!

Simplify wherever and whenever you can. Meals, work, communications. Do less of what you think you should do. Do what you need to do. Do it well enough and then let it be. Don’t “should” all over yourself.

KISS - today. KISS this month. Invite a friend to KISS with you! And please let me know how it goes!

Want more inspo like this & connection to community who’ll join you in practices like this? Move with me on the yoga mat & meet ALL GOOD PEOPLE! I teach weekly Zoom classes Gentle Yoga Mondays at 6PM and Mixed Level Flow Saturday at 9AM. Messages like this one always infused into the flow. Also dropping a Mixed Level Flow class recording for you to try out: 65 Minute Less Is More Practice. Enjoy!

Receive more by doing less. A slower, conscious practice, we'll hold postures longer and more with awareness about what rises up in the body and mind. Move c...

Cheers to KISS-ing & ALL GOOD THINGS my friends!

Mary

How We Heal

Do you want to feel good about the world and the humans you share it with?

Begin with yourself. Be honest.

What’s the first thing you think of when you encounter someone?

Does your guard automatically go up?

Do you soften and greet them with curiosity?

Do you allow yourself to notice the details before you instead of letting your mind come up with a story?

Last year I began practicing looking for the good, assuming the best about all humans around me - not just the ones I knew and liked. I made it a goal to genuinely compliment (sometimes just silently to myself) everyone I interacted with. Believe me I still employed my street smarts as necessary. I just didn’t let them run wild anymore and take over. It was so refreshing & uplifting! Little did I know I was putting into practice a form of Tikkun Olam - repairing the world.

I shared this passage with my yoga classes explaining what Tikkun Olam is last week and I’m leaving it here because I believe it’s just that good:

Tikkun Olam: A dedication to the healing of the world. A creation story.

In the beginning of creation something happened and the original light of the universe was shattered into countless pieces. It lodged itself inside every aspect of the creation. And the highest human calling is to look for this light, point it out when we see it, to gather it up. To see it reflected, pay attention to it and in doing so we repair the world.

This simple shift in assuming good is lodged into us all somewhere gave me hope for humanity and energized my encounters and relationships with others. It’s not difficult and it doesn’t cost a thing. But boy is it valuable! And you can do it too! Just try it out for a day and see how you feel.

Expect the best, or at least look for some light in others and I guarantee you’ll start to find it and feel lighter yourself too!

Cheers to seeing & being the light in the world and ALL GOOD THINGS my friends!

P.S. Want more ways to feel good? Move with me on the yoga mat & meet ALL GOOD PEOPLE! I teach weekly Zoom classes Gentle Yoga Mondays at 6PM and Mixed Level Flow Saturday at 9AM.