Why I wrote this book

Are you a yoga student thinking of becoming a teacher?
Are you wanting to understand more about yoga?
Do you have a yoga school or want to own one?
Are you a yoga studio owner or administrator of a yoga program?
Are you a yoga teacher that has many questions concerning business, keeping students and dealing with burnout?
Have you gone through training and feel you still need support?

This book is for you.
It is available
 at https://www.amazon.com/Mud-Lotus-Guide-Workbook-Students/dp/194452892X
and Etaliapress.com
I guarantee this book can save you the cost of the book in dollars or stress.
I love to help teachers, individuals and business owners.

Please see my website for more info on my bio.
Consulting starts at $75 an hour and is done via Skype, email or phone.

The Struggle with The Struggle

The older I get I believe that so many things in this world are not black and white, however there are things I do believe are clearer than others. Be kind and most people will be kind back, however not everyone will be kind. Make good choices and work hard and there is a pretty good chance you will have a productive life and be able to care for yourself. These things are pretty certain, yet life happens and things happen and we are "human", humans make mistakes. It only takes one bad choice to derail an otherwise productive life. Yet we can, with connection get back on track.

I have come to believe in my nearly five decades on earth that we are the physical manifestation of source energy, or God, or spirit, on earth. We are the extension of God's energy on earth, therefore we have the spirit of God in us. I may be wrong, this is only my perception from practice and life. We are however like clay and even the Bible uses the example of Jesus being a potter. Isaiah 54:8 says that Jesus,  who was a psychical manifestation of God is the potter and we are the clay.  My belief is that there is one God for "all" people and he is shaping and molding us. This is not a religious post by any means but one that is here to express that we are source energy and we can connect to source energy, the love of the God of your understanding,  through meditation, contemplation and love.

When we feel good and right and at our highest self we are likely connected to source. When we feel needy, tired, hungry, sad that is our humanness being molded by the potter. When bad things happen, when people say and do mean things that is the pressure of the world and how we respond is the action of the way we allow source to mold us. How we respond is what comes out when we are put under pressure much like squeezing a sponge.

I told my dear friend the other day "I struggle with the struggle". When someone does something and I feel it's hurtful to me I want so bad to be able to be the example of grace and love but I don't always know how. I actually do feel hurt, sad and at times broken by another persons actions. It is not their action but my reaction that shapes me, I know this and yet it's still hard. My belief is that our humanness is the experience of all of those feelings we have here on earth, and those feelings are the school house, the learning area to navigate life to make us smarter, kinder, wiser spirit filled people. What if all those things, those perceived bad things are exactly what is suppose to be happening? I had a situation recently that hurt very badly and I heard this in my soul "Everything is happening the way it is suppose to Courtney"... So I got that what was happening may seem bad, but it is for the greater good. Now I do not believe all bad things that happen are for good but I do believe source can take the hardships, the pressure and make something good out of it, mold us. Maybe that is when we take our bad and hurtful experiences and help others.

So when you are sad, when you are lonely, depressed or generally in a really bad place in life. Be still. Close your eyes, turn your palms up and simply observe. Observe the messages in your life. Connect through your breath to your body, this is the highway between the mind and the body, this is fastest way to connect to God, and God is always in the present moment. Source is here, right now, right here. Listen inwardly,  you are not your thoughts, you can change your thoughts, you are not your name, your job, you status, your place in the family, you are simply an extension of the great "I am" and when you stop and connect that energy will guide you. Ask the questions "What do I need?", "What would you have me do?", "What is right?", "Should I respond or be silent?" Then listen in your gut, literally you will feel it. If the answer you get feels "good" that is source, if you feel bad, sad , guilty that is not. Sift through it and when you know with certainty how to respond then do so. It's okay to set boundaries with people, and mean what you say without being mean. It's okay also to be silent until you know what you need to do. You are not wrong or right, you are simply a student of life.

Be open and allow source to flow through you. Source, The God of your understanding, only has your highest good in mind at all times. Listen and be open and you will see it, you will start to see, it will show up in your life once you become aware. You become aware by going to that still quite place inside.

Love and Light,
Courtney

Depression, Anxiety, and PTSD : Coaching and Yoga Therapy as Healing Salve

"Follow the Sun by Xavier Rudd a song I listen to when I need inspiration."

I do not know if this is true in research or what the data (feel certain it is)  is but I do know from first hand knowledge. Depression and anxiety are often triggered by trauma. I know this all to well from my many bouts of months and years of  dealing with this myself.

No matter how smart, savvy, self care knowledgeable we are. No matter our credentials,  degrees or the level of comfort in which we live, no one is immune to pain and heartache. Some people get more than their fair share and some people get less.  I have never met anyone that has not experienced it. Sometimes I wonder if it is a prerequisite for spiritual growth.

The past two and a half years I have been writing a manual, book, textbook, semi self help book about yoga and during that time I have been hit with a major bout of PTSD. I was diagnosed at the age of 19 with PTSD by a therapist after I had a still born baby. The PTSD was not only from the loss of my child but also from trauma I had sustained growing up. Most of us have some sort of trauma at some time in our life, some of course much worse than others. I don't know anyone who has not endured some severe pain or loss.

At the age of 46 the one thing I have going for me is perspective. Yesterday one of my senior students commented to me that "You are always so happy.", which my response was "Oh I have my stuff but when I show up for work I am here for you not me.". And that is true, when I show up to work it's not about me, I have to flip the switch and be there for them. And that is not always so easy. This year I was thrown into a major post traumatic episode with a family member who I dearly love, but who is suffering severe trauma and substance abuse issues. Many old memories and pains came to the surface and before I knew it I was in my own full blown depression once again. So what do to do? The only things I knew how to do are more of what I teach as a yoga therapist and Solution Focused Coach:  yoga, meditation, and hardcore radical self care. It is the only thing I know that remotely  makes life bearable during a depressive, anxious, period. I say period because you can't "will" yourself out of this, it has to take it's time.

So here is an example of how I cope and what I do. It is much like taking an aspirin. It temporarily takes the pain and makes it bearable. Then over time you heal and can manage on a more balanced level.
During normal times when I am not going through an episode I do all of these things, during a painful period I up it as much as possible.

1. See a therapist, it's helpful to have a non biased person to speak to that you can trust.
2. Go to Alanon or AA, or any 12 step meeting, support group if that is relative. Find a sponsor if that is relative to your situation.
3. Go to gentle yoga classes that are balanced by a qualified teacher.
4. Meditate. I use Insight Timer, and I use daily meditation books like "Journey to the Heart", or simply sit quietly and observe your thoughts without attachment.
5. Have a mantra that you say anytime you feel yourself going into the uncontrollable crying. Mine are "I am Brave", "I am whole", "I am worthy". Write it down and post it so you can see it.
6. Walk, exercise.
7. Go outside in nature and connect. It helps to watch animals and realize that life goes on outside of our heads.
8. Have a gratitude list. You need to write it down, it makes a difference.
9. Feed yourself nutritious food.
10. Get adequate sleep.
11. Talk to a friend you can trust.
12. Have a calendar with self care appointments. I know that each day I have one of these things :yoga, an Alanon meeting, a date with myself at the gym, or dinner with a friend. I plan each day with something to refocus and get out of the loop in my brain.
13. Take it one day at a time. One hour, one minute. Just get through the day. You don't have to figure out the future.
14. Say the "Serenity Prayer" often.
15. Get yourself cleaned up and look your best. At all cost do not look pitiful. It makes you feel pitiful.

We are all imperfectly perfect human beings. All experiencing this life as one big school house, I am certain we are here to learn.
Be compassionate with yourself and others.

Love and Light,
Courtney

How to live a Holistic Life

 The five points of yoga or using cognitive (mental) and somatic (movement) therapy.