Let me start by saying that I always have good intentions for wanting to write about big events in my life. I want to because I don't want to forget anything. Unfortunately, I get overwhelmed just thinking about the task so, oftentimes, I end up not doing it. This is not going to be one those times because I'm not sure I have ever been more proud of myself in my entire life. I've always dreamed about having a baby and imagined what labor would be like. Women's bodies are literally designed to create life. It's quite trippy when you think about it. So, in this blog I will be documenting 3 birth stories. The birth of Edison Andrew Huff, our sweet baby boy, and the births of a mom and dad. It might have some moments of TMI, but that's labor for ya! I hope you enjoy. If not, well, at least I have it written down so I can look back on a moment in my life that I am so incredibly proud of. You might wonder why I included this story on my yoga blog. First, I met my Doul

Below is the second of hopefully many Tayoga Conversations. This one takes place between me and my husband, Andrew. He is a great supporter of all my Tayoga shenanigans, but you will probably notice through this conversation that yoga is not his cup of tea. Enjoy! Tayoga: How were you introduced to yoga and what has been your impression of the practice thus far? A: I was introduced to yoga through the insistence (or is that persistence?) of my lovely wife, who is on the other side of this interview. Of course, you didn't ease me into anything, so my first class experience was vinyasa on the sand under the hot sun in Long Beach , and second experience was Aerial Yoga, which went about as well as you'd expect for a six foot three, 275# yoga novice... I guess that's fair since I didn't ease you into dating me in the first place, eh? While I can see the appeal of yoga in general, I haven't found anything that I particularly love. What I do like about what I&#

bal·ance /ˈbaləns/   Noun - an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady . Verb - keep or put (something) in a steady position so that is does not fall. Synonyms - stability, steadiness, footing, poise, level It has been a while since my last post. My apologies about that! I just wanted to check in and see how you all are doing during this Christmas season. Personally, I enjoy this time of year and usually do not let it stress me out. Have you been stressed? At the beginning of my classes this season I have been offering the intention of balance. Balance is not only important in the yoga practice but for life. Balance helps us to manage stress. In yoga, the key to balance is finding a focal point or (a drishti). If you find one spot of the floor or wall to focus on it will help you balance physically. The same goes for life. Choose a focal point for this Christmas season. Make sure it is the most important thing to you and focu

Recently, I couldn't help myself and bought a yoga magazine while I was in line at the grocery store. The focus for this particular issue is yoga injuries. I have been fortunate enough that I have not had any major yoga injuries. Rather, it was a major injury that got me into yoga. There are many reasons that could lead to a yoga related injury including: pushing oneself too hard - especially when an injury is already present, poor alignment, a teacher giving inaccurate cues, etc. I believe pushing oneself too hard is a HUGE reason yogis get hurt. When I first started doing yoga I was guilty of pushing myself too hard. Now that I have been practicing for almost 4 years I am more aware of my body's needs. Just like my guru, Kaycie, conveys to me, I try to convey to my students that "the ego is not your amigo!" I have only read 2 articles from the magazine but the main thing that struck me was this: Yoga is not about the asanas (postures) it is about the body. The a

I'm not sure why but I have been stuck on the idea of feeling safe lately. Feeling safe is so important. It helps with the overall outlook on life. I am blessed to be surrounded by people and places that make me feel safe. One of these places is Elevate Community Yoga where I work and attend yoga classes. Lately, I have brought up this idea multiple times while grounding my students at the beginning of my yoga classes. I ask them to think about the first thing that comes to mind when they think of the word "safe". I immediately think of my husband but the idea of feeling safe can be brought on in multiple ways. I want my students to re-create that feeling while attending my classes. I understand yoga can be intimidating, especially for new students. There is no judgement in a completely safe place. If you decide to join me for a class one day I promise to provide a comfortable and safe environment for you to flow and thrive!

It has become more and more apparent to me that I have not been taking the "setting an intention" part of my yoga practice seriously. I find that I get to the end of a class and the teacher says, "come back to your intention." It is then that I think, OOPS! I probably should have done that but I never know what to choose. Since becoming a yoga instructor I find it more difficult to explain to others about setting their intention so I decided to do a little research on the matter. What stood out to me the most was choosing something positive that was important to me not just on my mat but also off my mat. This takes the yoga practice to a whole new level because not only does it help you feel good both physically and mentally after practicing but it can carry over to the whole day, or week, or month! I'm going to try and incorporate this new little bit of information into my practice and see how it goes!