Before I signed up for yoga teacher training I spent months over-analyzing my decision. I talked to friends who had gone through it and read books about all things yoga. I Googled every question that popped into my head about what to expect.

The idea of spending so many hours away from my family scared me. I also worried I’d get burned out half way through and not want to continue or, worse, I’d burn out on yoga and never want to do it again. No combination of words in a Google search box could calm those concerns for me. So I did what I do when I’m not brave enough to say yes- I said maybe. For months.

Eventually I got tired of not knowing. I got tired of looking for someone else to decide for me. I got tired of second-guessing myself. So I said yes. I said yes with my whole heart even though most of my heart was trying really hard to hide. One of the themes of the Baptiste yoga methodology instructs us to “be a yes” and to “put our attention on what we want to have happen and be for it”. So I told myself that I’d be a yes for whatever teacher training threw at me and that I’d take really good care of myself along the way.

I knew that I’d be spending many, many hours away from home. I trusted that I’d finish teacher training able to teach a yoga class (though I went in saying that I had NO INTEREST in ever doing that). I had heard so many times that teacher training would “change my life” but I had always considered myself to be immune to such magic. I am too level-headed for that. I know myself too well. I am the exception.

I graduated from teacher training in February of this year and I now teach one class a week- so much for not teaching, right? As for my life being changed, I can’t distill everything that opened up for me into a single sentence. Instead, I sat down the day after my last teacher training meeting and wrote a list of things I learned through this experience. It took me out of my comfort zone mentally, emotionally, and physically so many times and that changed everything.

Here are 25 things I discovered in yoga teacher training:

1. A basecamp is a place to re-supply and fill up so we can venture out safely and with the greatest potential of success. Keep your basecamp small so your life can be big. A yoga mat is about the right size.
2. It is possible to fall in love with a whole room full of people. Gathering with humans in a meaningful way is so, so beautiful. Even when we are messy. Especially when we’re messy. The kindest thing you can do for someone is to listen to them speak their truth. The most love you can offer is to speak your truth too.
3. If you lead with your heart, you can find more space. I mean this literally as in a forward fold or figuratively as in sharing your whole truth until the scary stuff doesn’t rattle you anymore.
4. The same old thing can be both a great comfort and a great place to hide. We need stability and foundation but we also need to look out from new (and often scary) vantages to grow.
5. Sometimes we learn new things in quiet and unhurried ways. Sometimes newness comes in immersive and all-consuming waves. In order to survive the full-blowness of these times and really get what we came for, we have to trust the process.
6. The pursuit of pleasure is not the same as the pursuit of happiness. Pleasure is momentary and easy to find- like chocolate chip cookies. Happiness comes after a long, sweaty yoga practice or a weekend by the ocean. We sometimes have to work for it. Pleasure lets us come out of hard yoga poses early; happiness keeps us in because we know how good we’ll feel for staying.
7. I don’t need to drive out to the forest and build a campfire to find warmth. What I need is always with me. Reverence can be as simple as a tiny candle in a dark room.
8. I can do flip dog to wheel. This feels like a superpower.
9. I don’t need to fix myself. I just need to show up. To yoga, to my relationships, to it all. Some days I am feeling all kinds of “f#@$ it”. Show up anyway. Not because I have to but because I told myself I would.
10. Sharing favorite foods in community is another way to share your heart.
11. Yoga is something we do over and over and over again. We do this until it becomes a part of us and its power becomes our power. It is something we keep returning to on and off the mat. This practice offers us unlimited opportunities to begin again. When my mind is so full I can no longer hold it all, I come back. When I get carried away by my thoughts and fall out of a pose, I come back. By the time I roll up my mat, I am emptied out in the best possible way. This works every single time.
12. You know how it looks when a sunbeam shines through the air in your house and you see dust and other particles that you didn't even know were there a moment before? Meditation is kind of like that. The light comes in and you find things you didn’t even know were inside of you.
13. Sometimes I’ll fall out of side crow and it will be the funniest thing that happened that day. Maybe the laughing was the whole point of the thing in the first place. You never really know what goodness you’ll find when you’re brave enough to try hard things.
14. Meditation teaches us to pause to choose our responses instead of reacting without thinking. We all have an uncountable number of defaults in our yoga practice, relationships, work, and every facet of our lives. The more we are aware and observe them, the more opportunities we have to interrupt them and show up as who we want to be instead.
15. I have a history of turning things that I am doing FOR myself into things I am doing TO myself as soon as they feel difficult. Just because it is hard doesn’t mean it isn’t good. Stay in the light.
16. Don’t let going easy on yourself soften you into fear. Don’t let the comfort of being gentle on yourself convince you you are incapable of hard things. Perseverance is a practice too.
17. How we do anything is how we do everything. The practice I do on my mat is the practice I do in my life. All of the lessons and gains are the same if you pay attention.
18. Sometimes you'll go out in your backyard to meditate and, once you get started, you'll become aware that the wind is blowing just enough to make your hair tickle your nose. You'll wish you had a hair tie and, in addition to that, you could use some sunglasses because the sun is shining directly into your brain. Instead of going inside, you'll sit and know that you are sitting. You'll breath and know that you are breathing. You'll keep noticing the wind and sun. Or you won't. It is what it is. Because if you can go with the flow here and now, then maybe you can in other situations too.
19. Sometimes dropping into the couch and getting lost in an Instagram rabbit hole feels like exactly what I need. Don’t let these things steal your time, your presence, or your life from you.
20. When we don’t follow our heart or our intuition it isn’t always because we’re not tuned in to it. We think following our heart should feel good and right and it does, but it can also be scary and require a lot of hard work.
21. The things that scare us the most come from our imaginations. The monster under the bed, the what-ifs. These are all make believe.
22. Rest is part of the practice.
23. Part of being wholly healthy and happy is having something we love to work hard at. Something that makes us feel like a badass. We all need this. I believe this with all of my heart.
24. Practice isn’t about repeating the things you can do well. It is for trying the things you think you can’t do at all.
25. I used to think I wasn’t afraid of anything but I realized that isn’t true. I have just found some very comfortable places to hide. This is why I decided to teach yoga. The idea scared me to death but did it anyway because I really, really want to be good at it. I don’t ever want to find myself wishing I had done something that I didn’t do because I was afraid.

Thank you so much for following through the winter with The Winter Project!
(What is The Winter Project?)

Through this project, I shared insight into my strategy for staying happy and healthy through the year's darkest and coldest season. I also offered challenges to help you begin to build tools for nurturing yourself through challenging times.

Below is a summary of The Winter Project challenges by week. Though longer days and warmer weather are just around the corner, I urge you to continue building and using the bag of tricks you have created this winter. The most powerful tools for me are the basics: adequate sleep, regular exercise, sunlight, and healthy food. From there, I know that spending good, quality time connecting with people and activities that I enjoy will keep me buoyant.

Summary of The Winter Project challenges by week:

• Introduction to The Winter Project
• Week 1: Connecting with the season
• Week 2: Nurturing your basic needs
• Week 3: Leisure time
• Week 4: Connection and community
• Week 5: Movement
• Week 6: Healthy food reboot
• Week 7: Warmth and comfort
• Week 8: Making a nest
• Week 9: Creating a bedtime ritual
• Week 10: Winter play
• Week 11: Remember when- recreating winter play from childhood
• Week 12: Making room for joy
• Week 13: Get some sunlight

Welcome to week 13 of The Winter Project!
(What is The Winter Project?)

Winter play: Soak up some sunshine!

In this final week of The Winter Project, I encourage you to soak up some sunshine! In addition to squashing the winter blues, sunlight aids in our skin's production of vitamin D. Vitamin D greatly increases your absorption of calcium for strong bones, boosts the immune system, and reduces your risk of serious illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

Challenge for week 13: Whether you can spend time outside or you must settle for an indoor spot near a sunlit window, try to get some sunlight each day this week. Just 10-20 minutes a day in the sun is enough. Keep in mind that sunscreen blocks ultraviolet light which is the key requirement for your skin to produce vitamin D. So apply your sunscreen after the first 10-20 minutes if you plan to stay out longer.

Ideas for catching rays (dependent upon your local weather, of course):

• Winter sports like skiing, snowboarding, and snowshoeing are a great way to get out in the sunshine and stay warm. I love springtime skiing in a t-shirt!
• Are you planning a garden for the spring? Spend some time outside preparing your garden area for planting. Not sure when it is time to plant? Check out this website for planting dates for a variety of crops.
• Pack a hot lunch and have a picnic or enjoy a meal hot from a Thermos after a day of playing in the snow.
• Visit your local farmers’ market on a sunny day. Consider bringing your favorite hot drink to enjoy while you browse.
• Sit outside or go for a walk, run, hike, or bike ride. If it is cold but not freezing, consider leaving your arms bare but wearing a vest for extra warmth.
• Go on a photo safari outside. You don't need a fancy camera- just a sunny day and a few minutes to observe things around you before taking a few shots.

Welcome to week 10 of The Winter Project!
(What is The Winter Project?)

Welcome to February!

Our theme for The Winter Project for this month is: Winter play

Are you familiar with the concept of “flow”? Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a psychology professor and expert on the psychology of happiness and creativity, has written much on the subject and defines "flow" as being fulling immersed in a pleasurable activity with energized focus (hear him talk about it here). In this state you are enjoying what you are doing and thinking of nothing else- you may even be unaware of time passing or what is happening around you. Spending time in play can help to balance feelings of being overwhelmed or too busy in other areas of life.

Challenge for week 10: Brainstorm a list of your favorite leisure activities, ways to play, or things that give you energy. Try to spend time doing at least one of those things this week. Notice how you feel during and after- did you lose track of time? Are you a bit more happy or content?

Winter play ideas:

• Snow play: skiing, snowboarding, sledding, snowshoeing, hiking, etc.
• Hands-on projects: knitting or crocheting, sewing, making handmade lotions or soaps (ideas and recipes here), planting a succulent arrangement, painting, sewing seeds indoors for your spring garden, more ideas here.
• Gather: Get together with friends and family for dinner, brunch, drinks- whatever invites good conversation, laughter, and joy. Bonus points for getting together to ski, sled, or play and then relaxing near a bonfire or fire bowl with hot chocolate (or other drinks) and s’mores!
• Music: Practice or learn to play an instrument. 
• Photography: Go on a photo safari. Consider practicing a new skill like capturing bokeh or using natural light instead of flash. 
• Learn a new skill or practice your favorites: Take a ski or snowboard lesson, take a class (ballet or other dance, cooking, music, barre, martial arts, etc.), join a masters swim group, etc. 

As I write this my dining room table is covered in Legos. COVERED. My oldest son turned eight on Thursday and it has been a week of cake and presents and celebrations. Wonderful, yes; but tiring too. I have been so thankful to retreat to our cozy nest at the end of each day.

How is your nest coming along?

Welcome to week 9 of The Winter Project!
(What is The Winter Project?)

Surviving the cold with warmth and comfort: Nurturing bedtime ritual

Challenge for week 9: I mentioned before that having a simple ritual to close your day can be very comforting. After sipping a hot drink or watching your favorite show under a soft blanket, consider how you prepare your body for sleep. Whether you have a full bedtime regimen or you simply crawl into bed at the end of the day, think about treating yourself to one simple nurturing step to ease you into sleep mode. Again, you want to choose something simple that you can look forward to (and not dread as an extra step) at the end of the day.

A few of my favorites: 

• A warm bath with essential oils or a bath bomb (I really enjoy the products from Lush!)
• Good, natural facial products like these: EARTH  TU FACE (I adore their face wash and it is made less than 100 miles from my home!), Annmarie Gianni Skin Care (the coconut honey face mask is lovely!), MyChelle Dermaceuticals (I like the Unscented Revitalizing Night Cream and their eye cream), or Eminence Organics (all of their products are wonderful! I have used and enjoyed the Linden Calendula Treatment Cream, Herbal Eye Make-Up Remover, Antioxidant Mineral Foundation, and Rosehip Whip moisturizer.)
• Massage homemade body butter into dry feet and hands. I use this recipe, which is as simple as making buttercream frosting! I love knowing what is in this cream. A very large percentage of what you apply to your skin is absorbed into your body. If you wouldn’t eat it, don’t put it on your skin!
• Gentle bedtime yoga (affiliate link)

Recently I received a wonderful surprise in the mail...

The Mohawk Valley Trading Company sent me an assortment of their products to review!

Here are the things that I had the opportunity to try:

Soaps: Lavender Goats Milk Soap and Olive Oil Castile Soap

My skin is very dry in the winter but these handmade soaps are really gentle- I loved them!

From their website:

"The ingredients used in our handmade soaps are all-natural and we do not use synthetic or artificial fragrances, dyes, detergents, or preservatives. Our soap is made from goat’s milk and botanical sources such as vegetables, fruits, herbs, and nuts. There is no need for extra chemicals and dyes; the honey, coffee, herbs, spices and natural essential oils give our soap its fragrance and color. The 100% natural plant-based essential oils used in our handmade soaps are pure botanical oils that have been distilled or pressed from fresh herbs, spices, leaves, flower petals, citrus peels, and other naturally fragrant botanical materials. Rather than using animal fat (tallow) our soaps are made with high quality goats milk, shea butter and natural plant oils including, organic hemp seed oil, olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, castor bean oil, and avocado oil. The use of synthetic-free and petroleum-free natural ingredients provides the unique qualities of our handmade soap."

Beeswax: A beeswax candle and beeswax bars.

There is something magical about the smell of beeswax products! From the Mohawk Valley website, their candles are "hand poured, hand dipped and made with 100% cotton wicks and 100% pure, all natural, unbleached, yellow beeswax produced by our bees in the USA."

I have been making my own body butter (which I love!) and I plan to try a new recipe that uses the beeswax bars soon.

Honey and syrup: Raw Autumn Wildflower Honey, Raw Summer Wildflower Honey, and Maple Syrup

The two honeys are different from one another. The summer honey has a milder flavor but both are wonderfully flavorful and delicious- a world apart from the plain store-bought variety.

About the raw honeys:

"The Mohawk Valley Trading Company offers the highest quality raw honey we can produce; it has not been heated, filtered, blended or processed. All of the pollen, enzymes, propolis, vitamins, amino acids, antioxidants, minerals and aromatics are in the same condition as they were in the hive."

I love this honey in my current favorite breakfast: a smoothie made with frozen mixed berries, 1/2 banana, 1 cup organic yogurt, flax meal, a handful of greens, water, and a dash of vanilla stevia.

I think it would also be wonderful on toast or breakfast bread, added to oatmeal, on ice cream, in tea (or another hot beverage), in baked goods, or in anything that needs a little extra sweetness.

The maple syrup has a great deep maple vanilla flavor.

I used the syrup and the autumn honey together to make granola.

So good.

Next up for the syrup: pancake Saturday! Can't wait.

A huge THANK YOU to the people at the Mohawk Valley Trading Company for the chance to try these lovely products. I have honestly enjoyed (and am still enjoying) each and every one of them!

You can find these and more wonderful things on the Mohawk Valley Trading Company website (here).

**I received free products for the purpose of an honest review. I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions are my own.