Being upside down

My dear friend encouraged me to go upside down awhile ago . I was nervous, afraid that is break my neck, too old, a mom (so no way I could do a headstand or handstand).. And every other excuse in the book. HOLD ON a minute.. I was also, strong, beautiful,confident and an amazing mom.. So why let anything hold me back? 

Here are some pics from my upside down journey.. Seeing the world from a different perspective , balancing my my mind ,body and spirit by forcing me to focus only on the moment.

My first solo headstand..somewhere between KY and GA

Second one!! St Augustine Florida

My absolute favorite photo! ❤ St. AugustineFlorida 

Michigan

On a field trip with my daughter- Chicago

In the middle of poison ivy :-/

And the journey continues.. Yoga anywhere and everywhere !

Teach Peace

Through my children's eyes I see peace. Through Their hearts I feel love. In their arms I feel content. -A. Renee

Children do not worry about the past nor stress about the future, they live constantly in the moment. Forever chasing butterflies and laying in the grass staring at the clouds in the sky. They are passionate, honest, loving and open. They can express every emotion possible on any given day yet when they close their eyes at night..they wake with a clean slate. They do not hold onto emotion as adults do. They do not hold onto anger nor stress and love others completely until they reach a certain age. 

Why is it that around 8 or 9 everything changes? The world hardens them..when they say that the sky is aqua, many start correcting them and say the sky is blue. When they want to play with dolls, they're told that those are for girls or that they are too old. WHO SAYS? WHO has the right to change their perspective..to tell them that everything they believe is incorrect? That their way of BEING is not acceptable? This is the first step of losing ourselves...of trying to fit in, of being unauthentic.

Many can disagree with me, and that's fine..as I live my life my way. I encourage my children to BE children...to dress how they want, to have fun wherever and whenever, to laugh and run and play...to eat breakfast for dinner and dinner for breakfast (because who made the rules of what to eat and when..I mean seriously?), to include the kids at school that aren't part of the "IN" crowd, because we are friends with kids because we like them, not because of what they wear or what new gadgets they have.  Sometimes I take my kids outside to SCREAM..yes to scream and let it out. Do you know what a release you get from screaming? We scream and giggle and then scream again...and its fantastic! Don't get me wrong, my house isn't a free for all...we have rules and bedtimes and chores. I am their mother yet I also have fun with them. By encouraging them to live fully, I hope that they will also encourage others to do the same. 

My children have taught me how to love unconditionally, how to be patient, how to have strength when I thought it wasn't possible and how to embrace each day. When I look at them, I see PEACE.

Take some time and spend with children, see how they play and live and love. Join them in the fun!

In my children's heart, they hold love. In my children's minds, they hold opportunity. In my children's hands, they hold the future. -A.Renee

Be YOU

Somehow in being a mother,wife,girlscout leader,friend,sister,daughter,cook,housekeeper,chauffeur..I lost myself. Everything else that I WAS took over who I REALLY WAS.... I sacrificed ME, in order to please everyone else and got caught up in being overly busy yet never really focusing 100% on any one thing. I also stopped doing the things that made me happy, the things that brought me joy. How did taking care of others trump taking care of myself?

I am not alone. Women tend to get caught up in "doing"... The act of "mothering" takes over our daily lives. We mother one another, we mother our kids sports teams and after school groups, we take on other people's problems as our own ( bad , BAD idea... As this is draining and just continuous negative energy), we mother our significant others. Nurturing is in our genes, it manifest itself in many different ways but as women we are the ONES that take care of things .. It's just how we are programmed. It is fine to mother others but we must remember to take care of ourselves . Taking care of YOU is so important and needed, after all if you don't take care of you, who will?

Some call it selfish, I call it self FULL. Being full of love for yourself, and taking the time to carve out some time daily to feed and nourish your mind, body and soul. What is it that you love to do? How would you spend 30 min to take care of your body? Or that same 30 min to nurture your soul? Think about it and BE about it.

Self love is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves , after all we must love our selves completely before we can completely love another.

namaste