Peace out 2020, Welcome 2021

Good Day Yogis,

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! It’s been a little while since I have posted… the holidays always come in fast and furious and I easily get lost in the shuffle of it all; although this year seemed a little different- yours too?

I was reflecting last holiday season of 2019 and a sense of overwhelm plagued me. Don’t get me wrong it was a lovely season and it was our youngest daughter Emmalyne’s first Christmas but the busyness of it all lead me to exhaustion, frustration and wanting it to be over. We were running here and there and everywhere- more plans, more commitments, more responsibilities and still the same 24 hours to try to get everything done. The sparkle that I was hoping to see in my kids eyes paled in comparison to the tired glaze that shadowed over them. So after the holiday season of 2019, I was more than ready to move on and get back into our healthy lifestyle once again. And then 2020 hit…

As we all know this pandemic came with little warning as far as what it would do to our country, our community and within our homes for the remainder of the year. Globally everything shifted and we all felt that movement very strong. This pandemic had an enormous amount of force and still does but like any storm it began slowly and suddenly spiraled into something bigger than we could have ever all imagined. For some of this it meant scrambling to figured out how and who we were going to have ‘homeschool’ our kids for the remainder of the school year or even watched our kids while we continued to work, for others it meant losing their jobs due to cutbacks and others even closing their business doors, in most extreme cases seeing loved ones suffer from the virus and even more paralyzing to the family and friends who have lost loved ones. Needless to say this powerful force forced us to change.

As much pain, agony and uncertainty this past year gave I think equally it gave us love, hope and perseverance too. Within the year of 2020 I have seen so many selfless acts of kindness, generosity and humility it makes me believe that in the midst of tragedy there is also triumph. Kind of crazy how two opposite can collide together but that’s what happens when you make the choice to either ride the wave of change or resist it. I don’t think many people can say that 2020 was the greatest year of their life but I hope it was the greatest lesson learned of your life. This week in yoga classes I have been challenging the students to see how they have transformed this year- sadly the ‘bad’ is what we are accused to zoning into so it doesn’t come organically for us to see the ‘good’ in what was one of our most challenging years. However I will echo again what I personally have seen to be the best brought out of 2020; selfless acts of kindness, generosity and humility. I have witness others provide meals and household items to families who are going through financial warfare, I have seen how small business have reached out to others to try to help in ways that they can, our community opening up many streams of educational resources to accommodate our ‘at home’ virtual learning needs, healthcare workers donating endless amounts of their time to help others feel safe with their health battles, watching people literally close their business doors after so many years of providing thriving opportunities to our community because they decided it was more important for them to be home with theirs kids to provide the help that they needed to navigate virtual learning, how our government is trying to do their best to provide supplemental income and establish grants and different types of funding to help out families and business. We have ALL seen these acts but sadly some times they can go unnoticed because those stories are not what are highlight on CNN or any other news channel. So I am just asking all of you to notice how you have all responded to this pandemic? What have you been focusing on? Do you feel as if you have contributed more to the problem or have you been more of the solution?

I will be honest as my lease ended in March of 2020 I was relieved from a financial standpoint that I wouldn’t have to be paying rent on a place that I wasn’t utilizing. It definitely was a hard transition from the standpoint of going from teaching and coaching consistently in person for the last 10 years and then flipping the switch to online - WOW. To not having a ‘space’ for other to come to to step away from life for a little while and remind themselves that they are a priority too. It was HARD! But with any change it gets easier and it has gotten easier and now I am switching my perspective to seeing the good in that transition too. I am home most every night with my kids for dinner and bath and bedtime, we have that time to talk about the day, play games and just all be together. As we know kids don’t stay little forever nor are Mom and Dad ‘cool’ forever either so it has been nice to soak up this extra time with them for sure! But I do miss all of you- it is GREAT to be able to still see you through the screen but it is a struggle for me too because Yoga is union, collaboration and connecting with self but also with others. I am still trying to deliver the best practice I can for you all but I cannot wait to be able to share hugs, laughter and practice together again when it is safe.

Let me wrap up this post by sharing with you what this Holiday season of 2020 brought to me. Small, quaint gathering filled with conversations, good food and warm memories. Time that was more memorable because we were much less scheduled this season and more able to just be. Less responsibilities and commitments which lead to again spending more quality time with the ones I love the most. We had a very HYGGE Holiday season: The art of building a sanctuary and community of inviting closeness and paying attention to what makes us feel open hearted and alive; to create a feeling of wellbeing, connection and warmth; a feeling of belonging to the moment and to each other and celebrating the everyday.

Until we meet again thank you all for sharing your time with me today, I look forward to sharing more time with you all this coming year!

Peace Out 2020 Welcome 2021: A new year is like a blank book, it has 12 chapters and 365 pages and you are the author. My wish for you is that this year you write the most beautiful story possible for yourself.

Happy New Year! Namaste,

Tarah