This past week I was stressing the need for self care, to use our practice to take a pause as life gets busier. I I saw an opportunity to take my own advice by spontaneously going to Canmore with my daughter to visit a friend & her daughter, girls weekend if you will. So I did, I dropped everything & chose to take the time away. My husband & son had a chance to just be just the boys & do what they liked without the influence of us girls. It was great for all of us & I came back feeling more peaceful & rested. I realized I had been pushing a bit too hard in life & needed a time out. To top off my weekend of self care, I went to be early & am now writing a quick little blog on self care & it's importance, a bit late, but writing it none the less.

Taking care of ourselves can come from many different perspectives, to getting more sleep to doing something that feeds your soul, just for that sake & nothing else. I do use my practice: yoga, meditation, sound, breath....on a daily basis to help with my self care. But sometimes, like this weekend, I needed to do more. I spent time chatting with my friend from everything from religion to our work, family to community. The conversation inspired me & gave me solace. It was exactly as I needed & before the opportunity arose, I didn't even know I needed it. Self care can be done in many ways, we just need to take time to become aware to our needs & then decide how to service that need.

Sometimes, it's just is grabbing an opportunity as it presents itself & being open enough to listen to the voice inside our ourselves that says yes, this is what I need.

Day by day, we keep going, moving through this crazy flow of life. Even when we think we are going with the flow, taking care of ourselves, there are times we need to just allow ourselves to be tempted by something that calls to us. That takes us out of the flow, just for a short time, so when we jump back in we have the strength to not only continue on, but to deal with any of the rapids that might be ahead.

So I could go on about the different ways your yoga practice could help you with your self care, as there are many. But instead, I just want you to think about looking outside the box every once in a while & see what else is calling to you.

As I now head into my last level of my Numa Somatics conscious breathwork training, I feel more prepared to go in deep & do the work that is needed of me. To share what I learn with my students & to keep trying & offering new things to share my passions with them. Because of the focus & time this training takes, I will not be offering my blog this coming week. I'll be back in touch the following week, more than likely with some things I learned during my time in my course.

So long story short, take some time in the coming weeks to do something outside the box. Something that feeds & nourished you so you can come back to all that needs to be done with a new perspective, & with more energy & focus.

If you would like some ideas, I have another sound offering on Dec 15 at YogaMcc, that will be different that what I did last time. More about receiving & finding a way to experience calm in the chaos of the holiday season. It has a donation to charity option & will have a holiday focus.

Anne Cox E-RYT 500 403-819-9790 hello@acyoga.net acyoga.net

Holiday Yoga & Sound Therapy: Cultivating Calm in the Chaos Saturday, Dec 15, 2018 1-3 pm $50 + gst or $35 + a donation to the YWCA

go to www.yogamcc.com or call 403-251-9642 to for more information or to register.

with Anne Cox E-RYT 500

December can be one of our busiest months. Do you get crazy, run down and forget to make time for YOU?

Why don’t we try something new this holiday season? Plan to add in a little YOU time with gentle yoga, breath & sound!

The gentle yoga practice will prepare the body to receive the vibrations created through the use of singing bowls, drums, rattles, tuning forks & voice. You will be taken on a journey back to your true self and will leave rested & renewed.

Anne has experienced first-hand how healing sound & breath can be and wants to share her passion of sound with others as a way to experience it’s healing properties. Past traumas are held in our tissues, yoga, sound & breath can be simple yet profound ways to help allow these experiences to be processed to facilitate healing within ourselves.

Anne Cox E-RYT 500 has been using sound her whole life. Singing & music have been part of her life since childhood where she performed in recitals, plays & performances using her voice & piano. Years later she came back to her voice while in Yoga Teacher Training & then becoming involved in chant circles & somatic practices involving sound. She is now training in Sound Therapy & Numa Somatics Conscious Breathwork that uses sound as part of its therapy.