Fall Asleep with a Smile

Last night I fell asleep thinking of you and I noticed myself smiling. - M. Bosak

These are words I could say many times in the last couple of weeks. Reflecting back on good times with the friends and family I get to share my life with. No, not everything is perfect, but it is exactly as it should be.

I've been trying something out lately. Intentionally going to sleep with a smile. I cannot remember when I received this advice or even who the source was. I kinda stuff my social media with mountains of positivity. Yes, I read news. Just as much as I need to. But, mostly I fill my feeds with people & posts I find uplifting, inspiring and educational. Things that will make me smile, learn and grow. Somewhere in that mountain of goodness I stumbled upon a link from a link, that led me to a YouTube video, that only had audio and a still picture, that I led me to a podcast. It was somewhere down this happy rabbit hole that I learned about the idea to pay attention to my feelings as I fall asleep. Basically just to take inventory at the end of the day before I close my eyes, checking in with how I'm feeling. And, in doing so redirect any negative feelings to positive ones. The point of all this: how you fall asleep is how you wake up.  At least that is what the podcast claimed.

At first I didn't really give it much notice. I listened to the podcast as I walked home one day and thought, "Yeah, this idea of checking your feelings before you go to bed is kinda like my gratitude journals. I should give that a try." But, the day was busy and I forgot about it. It was really busy. So busy I didn't even write in my gratitude journal that night - which happens more often than I like - and being tired, I forgot about the podcast too.

A few weeks passed. Another challenging day came up as they do from time to time and crawling into bed something stopped me. I paused. Noticing my feelings for a moment, I suddenly remembered the podcast and the idea to check and redirect my feelings. Without my gratitude journal near and not liking how I was feeling at all, I figured this was a good time to try this out. I certainly didn't want to wake up grumpy. So lying there in the dark I began to redirect my frustration. "At least I have a job. I have years of experience and a courageous soul. I have time to create. I have friends and family who show me support and care in the ways they can and know how to," I began saying to myself.  Essentially I was doing a mental form of my gratitude journal. But, most importantly, in addition to this I really focused on feeling good about the things I was thinking instead of just writing them down.

I've kept up this nightly routine sometimes with my gratitude journal and sometimes without. And, I've got to say it's quite amazing. Now don't get me wrong. I LOVE writing. I especially love writing things down that I am grateful for and have experienced the power of practicing that daily. And, I would strongly recommend you give a daily gratitude journal a try if you never have before. But, if you are short on time or if you'd like to go to sleep with a smile and wake up with a bright-eyed buoyancy I suggest this too, or maybe instead of the gratitude journal. Lie down and tune into how you feel. Really notice it. Allow whatever is there to come up. Seeing that your emotions pass before you. Judgement, nervousness, calmness, silliness. Just notice and be okay with what bubbles up. We all have different emotions as we go throughout our days and that's a good thing. Let them just be there. Then intentionally find something to be happy about and truly feel that too. Let happiness, however small, sink into your thoughts and bones. Look for ways you've been supported throughout the day. Be thankful for them and soon you'll find peace flowing in. Almost like a deep, relieving sigh and exhale, you'll likely find yourself smiling and dozing off to restful sleep and blissful dreams. It may not fix all your problems, but it will certainly give yourself a vacation from them. At least for the night. On good days, it will leave your heart feeling that much more fulfilled. Either way, this practice is a great way to set yourself up to wake up with a smile.

So in a nutshell, go to bed with a smile and you'll wake up with one too. Do it on purpose and soon your smiles will be finding you even before you begin to go looking for them.

Cheers to good nights, good mornings my friends!  Thank you so much for reading and as always. . . .

Here's to enjoying your life & ALL GOOD THINGS!

XOXO,

Mary

P.S. - There is some yoga wisdom that goes along with this. Yoga sutra 2.33 translated says "When disturbed by negative thoughts, opposite (positive) ones should be thought of. This is known as pratipaksha bhavana."

Happy Monday morning! ☀️ A new FREE yoga class is ready for you! 35 minutes to Strengthen & Stretch your whole body! Copy & paste the link below or go to my YouTube channel to start your practice now! https://youtu.be/zyr4PyxeDDg Enjoy!💛

Rainbows 🌈 & lightening ⚡️ Beauty after the storm & symbols of hope.

It’s never about how well you do the pose, it’s about how well you try. With patience, focus, consistency & compassion anything is possible. I’m not a natural back bender. They’re super hard for me, but feeling better all the time slowly, surely. Come practice yoga 🧘🏻‍♀️ with me on Zoom tomorrow morning 9AM to explore what’s possible! I promise you’ll be glad you did! All info & sign-up is on my website www.MaryBosak.com 💜

Flowers from My Love! 😍 Thank you @thebrianimal ❤️

Choose Your Mood

What you find in your mind is what you put in there. So, put good things in there. - Mary Ford

Bringing myself to teach yoga last week was tough for me. I've been sorting through some tough emotions and situations. I could feel my pace being slower than usual as I walked my way to the studio each day. 

Realizing this mood was doing me no good and definitely would not serve others I began to look for things to be thankful for. Why? Because gratitude is a game changer. And given that it was the week of Thanksgiving it just kind of made a lot of sense. Also, I have been reading in more places than one lately about the power to choose your mood. So, I decided I wanted mine to be happy and turned toward thankfulness. I began very small & simply as I walked. "Thank you for my legs. Thank you for all the incredible music I have right at my fingertips on my phone. Thank you for the sunny day. Thank you for the opportunity to teach and share this practice (I could be scrubbing toilets instead), etc..." As I continued to walk, I put on some tunes to lift up my mood too.

Not quite where I wanted to be emotionally, but better than I had been at the beginning of my walks I always managed to arrive at the studio in a better mood than when I began my commute, ready to teach and just offer what I could each day. 

I tried to maintain a sense of ease and just be at peace with whatever would be in each class. Remembering to intentionally enjoy teaching my classes and just be as present as possible for my students. Sharing my practice with them I began each class asking my students to check in with how they were feeling, physically, mentally, and emotionally. I reminded them to allow their feelings to be there without judgement, just noticing them. Then I invited them to set their minds on why they came to yoga and what they wanted to get out of their class. To make this time their own intentionally using it to just move and feel good. I ended each class with the short, subtle gratitude meditation.  I even shared this quote at the end of one class this week, "Give THANKS regardless of your feelings and receive JOY regardless of your circumstances."

Funny enough that's kind of what happened to me this week. Whenever I felt myself getting down or frustrated, like a reflex I began saying thank you, just mentally, for anything good thing I could find. The end result of each class was amazing! Overall all the students in my classes were smiling and happy at the end. One student told me she felt like she had just taken the best yoga class in her life ever. A couple of students came practice with me 2 days in a row. One came in saying she just needed to come back for a lift, to boost her energy & mood. Afterward she told me she felt so much better and energized. A few students immediately signed up for more classes right after taking mine. There was after class laughter, hugs and silliness and discussions. Good vibes all around.

Wow! I'm pretty sure I've never received as many or as wonderful of compliments on any classes I have taught as I have in this past week. A week when I was struggling myself and felt like giving up. What my students didn't know was that I needed those classes just as much as they did. I needed a boost too. And, I have them to thank for that. Together, we just moved and focused on feeling good one breath at a time, took a little time for gratitude and ended up bringing light and a lift to each other as a result.

So yes, "Give THANKS regardless of your feelings and receive JOY regardless of your circumstances."  When you create the space to see and feel the good in your life it definitely will come flowing to you in abundance.

So continue to give thanks this week and everyday my friends.

Here's to enjoying your life & All Good Things!

XOXO,

Mary

Happy Monday morning! ☀️ A new FREE yoga class is ready for you! 35 minutes to Strengthen & Stretch your whole body! Copy & paste the link below or go to my YouTube channel to start your practice now! https://youtu.be/zyr4PyxeDDg Enjoy!💛

Rainbows 🌈 & lightening ⚡️ Beauty after the storm & symbols of hope.

It’s never about how well you do the pose, it’s about how well you try. With patience, focus, consistency & compassion anything is possible. I’m not a natural back bender. They’re super hard for me, but feeling better all the time slowly, surely. Come practice yoga 🧘🏻‍♀️ with me on Zoom tomorrow morning 9AM to explore what’s possible! I promise you’ll be glad you did! All info & sign-up is on my website www.MaryBosak.com 💜

Flowers from My Love! 😍 Thank you @thebrianimal ❤️

Magical Mistakes

Mistakes are lessons you need to learn.

Those were the first words I wrote on the chalkboard in my very first classroom. I wrote them big and kept them up all year long. A philosophy of sorts. A reminder and touchstone in times of struggle and frustration. Feelings that often arise in the process of learning. Hallmarks of thinking, learning, growing.

At the time I wrote these words I believed I wrote them for my students. And, on the most basic level I did. I wanted my students to love learning and growing. Of course I wanted them to absorb what was in the textbooks and do well in class, get good grades, etc. But, more importantly I wanted to plant seeds of courage and excitement in them. A type of fearlessness. A perspective and an attitude that would carry them through the messiness of the learning process they would do in the classroom and their lives in general.

And, so the year went on. They made mistakes. I'd say, "That's good." and sometimes even "That's so great! You just showed me how I can help you and your classmates even better." We'd celebrate and laugh, keeping a lighthearted outlook toward whatever we were learning. I'd often say "Thank you for making that mistake (insert student's name here)." Sometimes I'd ask my student, "Can I use this to show the class something?" Almost always the student would respond yes and I'd create an impromptu mini lesson that everyone could benefit from. This happened so frequently the kids occasionally asked who helped me figure that out. They were beginning to sense the difference between the regular lessons and the more organic ones. Sometimes I would tell them who it was, sometimes I wouldn't. Most times I'd just say, "One of your classmates helped me see this (insert task here) in this way. That person can stand up or give you a wave right now if they want you to know who they are". Whenever a child revealed that they were 'the helper' I'd prompt the class to wave back and say thank you for helping us. This would sometimes spark cheers and applause for their classmate. I'd always thank that student again myself for their bravery and willingness to share and for just being his/her awesome self. Always, there were smiles.

As I mentioned above, I thought I wrote those words for my students. In retrospect, I really wrote them for myself. It was one of the most powerful lessons I had learned on my own journey of formal education and one I wanted to share. Learning had never been easy for me. I struggled for years. I wished I had I learned to look at mistakes as gateways to learning instead of roadblocks. Because when I did that's when I worked harder, dreamed bigger and accomplished more than I or anyone that knew me thought I was capable of. When I shared & practiced this outlook with my students I saw them doing the same. Believing in themselves and connecting with one another in surprising and beautiful ways.

So what's the take away from all of this?

Let yourself learn - in life, in school, in work, in love. Give yourself the gift of time and a chance. Let yourself try and practice instant forgiveness for yourself when you feel you've messed up. Don't waste time or energy in comparison or judgement. Life and learning is a messy process. Wherever you are is exactly where you need to be.

Powerful things happen when we embrace our flaws instead of running away from them. We can turn brokeness in to brightness and failure into fuel, mistake makers into helpers. We can give each other second chances. We can keep trying and encouraging one another. We can thank each other for having unique perspectives and outlooks and stretching our minds. We can learn from and celebrate our differences and we can all be better because of it.

I say 'we' because I make mistakes too. We all do. And we all have a choice with what we do with those mistakes. My students knew that my first year of teaching. I didn't hide my imperfections from them. I couldn't. I had too many. I was a new teacher and had a lot to learn. Trying to be perfect would be impossible and exhausting so I released myself and them of that even before the school year began. We just focused on giving our best, day by day, moment to moment. This freed me up to give the best of myself and my students to bring the best of themselves out in each other too. It was truly magical.

We owe it to ourselves and others to give our best in all we do without worry for the outcome.

There's a yoga/Sanskrit word for this: Aparigraha. It's one of the five Yamas. :)

Learn more about it here if you're curious: https://www.ekhartyoga.com/blog/aparigraha-practicing-non-attachment

Now, I'd love to hear from you!

 - What is one of the best lessons you've learned to help you continue growing, learning and exploring your curiosities fearlessly?

Let me know! Share it and this post with others. We all can use a lift from time to time. And who knows, it just might be the words someone needs to hear today!

Here’s to enjoying your life & ALL GOOD THINGS my friends!

Thank you so much for reading and have a magical week!

XOXO,

Mary

Happy Monday morning! ☀️ A new FREE yoga class is ready for you! 35 minutes to Strengthen & Stretch your whole body! Copy & paste the link below or go to my YouTube channel to start your practice now! https://youtu.be/zyr4PyxeDDg Enjoy!💛

Rainbows 🌈 & lightening ⚡️ Beauty after the storm & symbols of hope.

It’s never about how well you do the pose, it’s about how well you try. With patience, focus, consistency & compassion anything is possible. I’m not a natural back bender. They’re super hard for me, but feeling better all the time slowly, surely. Come practice yoga 🧘🏻‍♀️ with me on Zoom tomorrow morning 9AM to explore what’s possible! I promise you’ll be glad you did! All info & sign-up is on my website www.MaryBosak.com 💜

Flowers from My Love! 😍 Thank you @thebrianimal ❤️

Turn Frustration to Elation

Trade your expectation for appreciation.
- Tony Robbins

A hard earned smile. That’s what I wore on my face as we reached the top of the Grinnell Glacier trail, approximately 7,000 ft elevation. The night before I lie awake in pain. My ankle so sore I could not sleep. Doing all I could to enjoy my vacation I decided to finally put to practice the wisdom of the words above. I expected to be able to have fun on this trip and hike the trails. I had planned to take in the beauty around me with no limitations except for maybe the weather and the need to get over my own fear of heights and grizzly bears. An injured ankle was not part of the plan. It was frustrating me physically and mentally. I could feel it eroding my joy, my happiness, my fun. In that moment something in me remembered those words I had recently heard, “Trade your expectation for appreciation”. 2 a.m. in the darkness of the Montana night, I didn't have many options. I decided to give this a try.

As frustrated as I was, I began saying “Thank you” just mentally. I didn’t want to wake up my husband. I began, “Thank you for my good ankle. Thank you for my strong legs. Thank you for my hiking poles and the friends that lent them to me. Thank you for the little amount of sleep I have been getting through this night”,  etc. This continued until I eventually felt peace & fell asleep again.

As I woke in the morning I felt the pain of my ankle. Almost like a reflex decided to mentally say thank you again. “Thank you for the gorgeous day and good weather. Thank you for my kind husband who’s hiking with me. Thank you, thank you, thank you...”

On I went through the day. “Thank you, thank you, thank you...” constantly looking for what was working instead of what wasn't. Brian and I ran into many unexpected obstacles that day. From eating a breakfast that made us both feel slightly ill, to arriving late to the trailhead, to news that we’d have to take the longer route of the hike than planned due to grizzly bear activity the challenges continued to mount. And, then of course there was my ankle. No doubt it would slow us down at the very least. I was beginning to question if I'd be able to make the 9 mile trek. Should we just turn around and do something else? Would this be worth it?

We decided to do the hike anyway and just see how far we could go, monitoring my ankle as we went. This day was a struggle to put it mildly. It was also one of the most beautiful days of my entire life! In order to keep going, I began saying thank you again. "Thank you for this beautiful scenery. Thank you for keeping us safe". My appreciation was as relentless as the pain in my ankle, especially as we got into the final stretch to reach the top. I continued saying thank you each time I took a step on my sore ankle. “Thank you ankle for still working, still carrying me even though you are hurt. Thank you for these spectacular views." Thank you cold glacier water for soothing my ankle." Gearing up to head back down I was exhausted and concerned. The sun was going down fast and my pace was slow. I began my gratitude practice again. "Thank you new friends for great conversation on the trail. Thank you mountain goat for blocking our way making us pause and rest. Thank you waterfalls for being so gorgeous. Thank you stunning views everywhere I look you are breathtaking and are distracting me from my pain. Thank you sun for shining just long enough for us to complete our hike without leaving us in the dark in the woods as we came back down. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

As we arrived back at the Many Glacier Lodge my entire being was filled with so much relief, fulfillment and joy. Something I honestly didn’t think was possible just 12 hours prior. My frustration transformed to elation and we as walked into the lodge there was a sound that brought me to tears. Beautiful music, a hootennanny, was going on. They sang, “Bumpy road. Take me home to the place where I belong. Many Glacier. Montana. Take me home. Bumpy road. . . ”

This day sure had been bumpy. It had also brought me back home to my happiness. A happiness with truth that I’ll never forget: Gratefulness can and will help take you wherever you want to go. Trade your expectation for appreciation and watch your world change. Frustration turns to elation.

Now more than ever gratefulness is my go-to in times of frustration. It helps me see clearly and understand even pain and frustration in our lives can serve us, making us stronger, ultimately and gloriously leading to all good things!

So, now I'd love to hear from you!

Are there any there any go-tos you have to help you reach your goals and a state of happiness despite difficulties?

Let me know! Share your ideas in the comments below. If you liked this post share it with others too. We all can use a lift from time to time. And who knows, it just might be the words someone needs to hear today!

Here's to enjoying your life & ALL GOOD THINGS!

Thank you so much for reading and have a wonderful week!

XOXO,

Mary

Happy Monday morning! ☀️ A new FREE yoga class is ready for you! 35 minutes to Strengthen & Stretch your whole body! Copy & paste the link below or go to my YouTube channel to start your practice now! https://youtu.be/zyr4PyxeDDg Enjoy!💛

Rainbows 🌈 & lightening ⚡️ Beauty after the storm & symbols of hope.

It’s never about how well you do the pose, it’s about how well you try. With patience, focus, consistency & compassion anything is possible. I’m not a natural back bender. They’re super hard for me, but feeling better all the time slowly, surely. Come practice yoga 🧘🏻‍♀️ with me on Zoom tomorrow morning 9AM to explore what’s possible! I promise you’ll be glad you did! All info & sign-up is on my website www.MaryBosak.com 💜

Flowers from My Love! 😍 Thank you @thebrianimal ❤️