When I graduated from massage school I wasn’t even 21 yet. I was legally allowed to rub on naked people but I wasn’t allowed to toast my own graduation (although, funny story, I did have a margarita at our massage school after graduation party when one of my classmates pretended to be my mom and ordered me one, LOL.)

​Over the years, I’ve switched jobs several times but I’ve always done bodywork. I’ve always loved working on people, helping them with their aches and pains. I’ve worked on my family, my spouse, in private clinics, big box establishments, spa settings and now for myself! Not that I am speaking for all bodyworkers but I think it is safe to say that over the years I’ve learned some things and there are many things I wish my clients knew. So, I decided to write about it. Here goes:

Constantly I am seeing the posts. “Hiring, will train.” “Hiring, sign on bonus” “Hiring, please we will do anything.” Ok, maybe the last is an exaggeration but the posts are sounding more and more desperate everyday. I get it. At one point, we had seven teachers in The Yoga Casa family. Now we have three. Never being able to find enough help appears to be the burden of owning a business (I’m learning).

​At one point I had teachers banging down my door. Constantly emailing, calling and begging for a chance to interview. It’s been awful quiet in the house lately!
I’m realizing now how much I miss the pounding at the door. There is always, a silver lining of course. My loss of teachers has left me with the cream of the crop! They are grand!

It’s the month of gratitude and I have a lot to be grateful for. For one, we have so far made it through this pandemic with our sanity intact. Our family has been able to stay healthy both physically and emotionally (although there have certainly been days where I thought the summit was completely out of reach.)
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Part of it is shear luck. (There have been some Covid close calls.) Part of it is having an extended family that is cautious yet tight knit enough to celebrate Thanksgiving outside last year (and every other holiday really). Part of it is having access to good medical care, stay at home work options and the ability to homeschool. Still, I sometimes wonder what exactly has kept us going especially on those uphill days.

When I was in college I was that hopeless adolescent who had no idea what direction to go in. I had a friend who knew since she was in grade school that she wanted to be a teacher.  I, on the other hand, wanted to be a teacher, a writer, a lawyer, a fitness instructor, a psychotherapist, a photographer and so many other things I couldn’t even list them all here.
My college offered a free course on finding your path so I signed up! They gave us all these tests to determine what your dream job might be. “If you had these two magazines to choose from, which would you pick: Better Homes and Gardens or Rolling Stone?” One of the tests I took gave me a list of the best jobs for me starting with the best job and going down to the worst fit. The number one slot? Pastor.

I took my kids to the dentist finally (after avoiding it due to the pandemic) and wouldn’t you know, cavities galore. The dentist said the teeth look good on the outsides but between the teeth is where the cavities are. “Have you been flossing their teeth?” Uh. I’m bathed in guilt. But that’s just the beginning. The amount of guilt I feel daily is astounding.
I feel guilty when the dog doesn’t get his walk or wash, when the kids have too much screen time, when I don’t get the Book Club book read, when the kids sleep past eight, when I sleep past seven, when I don’t do the dishes, when I don’t cook home cooked meals, when I don’t bake cookies and when I don’t get my mammogram. Like that isn’t enough I regularly feel guilt about not doing enough: showering, meditating, working, learning new skills, reading to the kids and homeschooling. Ya, it’s a lot.

As a yoga studio owner, you aren’t looking forward to the email that says “I’ve been avoiding coming to yoga” but this time it made me giggle, smile and say “awwww”.

This was an easy one.

​I’ll start with my own story and then get back to the email. Some of you know that my two youngest boys are only 18 months apart. Call it lack of planning, no plan, or the celestial plan it was the plan that unfolded. And I am utterly grateful. My two heathens are simultaneously best friend and greatest enemy; living life in an intermingled hurricane of togetherness. Can you imagine? They have never known life without the other. The beauty of this relationship is awe inspiring but the strain on my body was not as lovely.

Hopefully by now most of you have met Breanne, the newest teacher to merge into the Yoga Casa Crew. We are so excited, blessed and relieved to have her. As many of you know, we lost a few teachers during the weird pandemic times and I’ve been searching for a new teacher for a while now. So, what took me so long!? Well, I was searching for a body positive yoga teacher. (Simple enough, right?) I simply could not find one……
For those of you who have been around the studio for a while, I’m sure you have heard me talk about body positivity and what it REALLY means. You may have heard me talk about how each of us is valuable regardless of our shape or size. You may have heard me encouraging you to rest and care for yourselves. You may have heard me red light diet talk when it happens in the studio (it may have even been you I red lighted. Sorry, I hope I did it gently.) You may have noticed that I try to sell shirts that go up to at least 4X, that I include pictures of ALL my students on my website and that I always offer pose variations in my classes because EVERY body is different.
I do these things because I want you to have a place where you feel safe; where you can do yoga that feels good without the pressure to lose weight or get six pack abs. This is what I’m driving towards. It’s my dream, my hope, my baby.