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!

With all the craziness that is my life I realize I have been terrible about posting a blog recently. My apologies. GOOD NEWS... I have survived teaching my first 3 Vinyasa yoga classes! My first class was Friday, May 11, 2018 at 9am. I was so nervous! There were 12 people there including my mama, sister, and husband (which will likely be his one and only class he attends). I am blessed to have such a supportive family. The first class went well except for some technical issues. I will tell you now that technology despises me. During the middle of my class the volume went up SOOO LOUD! I had to yell for everyone to take a child's pose while I handled the situation. Luckily, I was able to brush it off and told the class I just wanted to make sure they were awake :) I felt a little more confident the following 2 classes but still have a ways to go. As my husband always says, "Practice makes better," though in the yoga world it is "Practice makes progress." I'

Let me start by saying this is an important week for me since I will be teaching my first yoga classes Friday and Saturday! Yay and Yikes! Over the years I have developed the habit of turning my alarm off in the morning and then going back to sleep. I realize this is a terrible habit and I paid for it a little bit this morning. After turning my alarm off this morning I snuggled up to my man and drifted back to sleep. Next thing I know I am teaching my first yoga class and it is going TERRIBLY! After 10 minutes into the class a girl came up to me and stated she was leaving because she wanted to further her practice and my flow was awful. There were also disruptive people in the class which led to other people leaving in the middle of my class. I woke with a start to find it was only a dream! Whew! What a nightmare! I guess that will teach me to go back to sleep after my alarm goes off. Here is the yoga studio's website if you care to join me for a class! We also have lots of oth

The reason for my gap in posts was due to Andrew and I being gone on vacation. It was a blast! We flew out to Nashville, TN and road tripped around Tennessee and North Carolina. It was a loop that went a little something like this... Nashville > Knoxville > Asheville > Chattanooga > and ended back in Nashville. It was my 30th birthday trip that my hubby did an excellent job planning. Of course, I had to strike a couple yoga poses along the way!

Here is me with my certificate! My yoga teachers didn't realize they had to sign it so I still have to go back and get it signed :) but I think I'm still official! Hope you are all having a great day!

Yaaaaaaaaay!!! Anita and I did great on our team teach yesterday and we are now officially yoga teachers! Our flow went well with only a couple little hiccups. I recorded the video so we could have our first live class as a memento. Maybe I'll post the video if you guys are lucky. Yesterday was a bittersweet day. It was so fun and yet sad because I have grown to love everyone in our training group. Taking this training was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Marrying my husband, Andrew, would be at the top of that list (he proof reads my blogs so I decided this would be a good time to introduce him!). He is the one who encouraged me to start this blog and I'm so glad I did. I hope you are having a wonderful day. Cheers, Tay