By TSF Volunteer Tanya Bennett
With the arrival of December and the wintry holiday season do you wonder when you’ll find the time to nurture yourself? On your list of things to do and things to buy, what can you give yourself this month that will enable you to open your heart to love, acceptance and appreciation for who you are? Yoga is a great place to start.
On the heels of Thanksgiving, I dig my heels into the yoga mat and offer a tremendous amount of gratitude for the gift of yoga. Through this practice I have been able to more boldly express my creativity through dance, poetry and art. Flowing through asanas help me, on and off the yoga mat, by helping me break out of my comfort zone when my weary mind is reluctant to try something new. In addition, yoga has allowed me to deepen trust in myself and others and as a result I feel I am living more abundantly and more authentically. I truly feel I can give more to those around me when I have first taken time to slow down, push through, find strength in an upward facing dog and steady my balance in a Warrior pose.
Therefore, through all of the holiday-related hustle and bustle, I encourage you to carve out a little time for yourself this month to breathe deeply and count at least ten blessings a day. In addition, I gladly challenge you to give yourself some time every day this December to write in a journal, enjoy the fluidity of vinyasa and embrace the beauty that is you by simply stating aloud, ‘I am a gift’. It’s true. You are!