I'm just goin' to toss them here, just to plant some thought seeds for you. I'll leave out the details for each of them, since I'll post those in the next blog. For now, I just want to share the basics. 

Anchoring into the Now:
The power of meeting yourself in the present to create the change you want. Mindfulness, meditation and breath work.

Creating a safe path through our pains:
Creating what you want by healing what you no longer need. Speaking your truth, letting go of old stories.

Connecting to our Purpose:
Discovering your gifts, empowering your soul,
healing doubt and fear

Creating Goals that Fuel our Purpose:
Creating goals that “stick” because they are connected to your purpose and your natural gifts. 


​

"Life is happening FOR us, not TO us"I am writing this as my home is literally being torn apart. 
We knew something was wrong. We could sense it, smell it, feel it as a quiet voice getting louder... 

"You can't keep imaging me away..so deal with me, fix me, break me down and put me back together."

We've decided, now is the time. Sure, it's winter here, cold, hard to deal with no running water, access to a toilet, we don't have the money for this right now---all the things. But it's now a non-negotiable. The choice was easy. 

Maybe you know what I mean.  Maybe you've gotten to a point where you can't ignore what's not working anymore and change just HAS to happen. We all hit our metephoric breaking points so that we can overhaul and rebuild. At some point, the desire is greater than the fear of change.  

If you're ready to stop setting your own desires aside and to rebuild something in your life--- your relationships, your career, your inner desire to grow away from your stress triggers, whatever it is-- I promise you it won't always be a clean sweep, but it WILL feel lighter, cleaner and safer (in my case!), and it will start a series of other events that continue to lead you on your journey.

Ladies, sometimes we have to surrender to the breakdown to have the breakthrough. We need to allow ourselves to hit that place of "breakdown" before we can actually see how we can be put back together.

P.S I have two more 1:1 coaching spots left, so let's talk if you are really ready to see how we could do some beautiful inner renovations for you. I'll slot you into my calendar so we can have a free chat and support session. You never know what is possible if you don't ask. (*Book the Support Session-30mins)
https://leannajaneyoga.as.me/

Here's to a BRAND NEW home for me and amazing possibility for you. 

Massive LOVE and LIGHT!
Namaste 
www.leanajaneyoga.com 

Everywhere we go, there we are. #TRUTH 

And what's more, when we dig deep within ourselves we see more opportunity for growth, change, inner shifts of perspective. We start to realize that we are the ones coming to save us. We are the ones throwing the lifeline down to our soul and spirit. It's up to us. 

That realization takes bravery. 

But, I also know that it takes MASSIVE trust and bravery to just keep going when it gets hard.

Because it will. Because it does.

When it gets hard, its because we are often faced with parts of ourselves that we don't usually have to see--they might be parts we are ashamed of, or thought we had tucked away neatly. 

The true bravery isn't just taking the first deep dive, its the willingness to keep diving and jumping in, EVEN WHEN 
-we don't know how deep it is
-we don't know how it will feel 
-we don't know when it will end and when we can get out
-we don't know where our life preserver is if we need it

True bravery is sinking deep into this unbreakable trust between the self and universe. It's that trust that reminds us, everything will be okay. Everything will work out. Everything is happening and unfolding just the way it's meant to be. 

And if you can just keep showing up everyday, even when it's hard--your brave soul will take you places you may not have dreamed of. 

You've got this, my love. 
You've got it deep in your soul. 

You're strong, radiant and brilliant in your own right--no less than the sun, the moon, the stars. You have a right to be here, to be brave and to own and share your gifts with the world. 

-Leanna
www.leannajaneyoga.com 

You don’t have to be on a spiritual journey to feel the sense, to know in your heart, that you are forever seeking boundlessness. You want to be limitless. You are and have always been seeking expansive space to be who you are and do what you want.

You want be YOU, without seeking permission. 

When you find yourself fluttering in anxiety or stress, it’s often because there is some part of you that is trying to stop this natural desire. Trying to live boxed into an identity that doesn’t feel good and doesn’t serve your higher purpose causes pain, panic and fear.

We are forever evolving, never crossing the same river twice.

And yet, we find can find ourselves betraying this universal truth in our everyday lives. We can hold ourselves back from growth, even on an unconscious level. If our default to grow and change (i.e. do the inner work to move beyond our stress triggers) is that we aren’t deserving because we don’t have the time, the money or that we don’t see our mental health as important as our physical health, we must be okay with staying the same. We must be okay with how our lives are and be fully prepared to continue on with the way things are going. If we are not okay with how things are and yet we continue to do things the same way, our spirit gets restless, sometimes angry and fearful.

But it really doesn't have to be this way. And making those inner shifts are far easier than we think. 

It all starts with simply making peace with our minds and the stories that go on up there in that hamster wheel of thoughts. 

And this doesn't even mean we HAVE to have a regular meditation practise. 

But what it DOES mean is that we get to make a commitment to ourselves and request support. We don't have to do the inner work alone--in fact, its almost impossible to try and do it all alone. We need our tribe, our sisters, our network of support to really flourish on all levels. 

So welcome in a place in your live to really evolve, release old parts of yourself that no longer serve you and start the inner work one step at a time. 
​XOXO

Inner work feels SO good, but it can also be the hardest thing you've ever done. It digs the deepest, feels all the feels, and you can't escape the knowing of the universal truths that guide your work. You can close your eyes, your mind, your soul once they've been opened with the inner work. 

You start to realise that you can't hide from yourself---allllll the parts of yourself. 

Even the ones that you thought no one knew about, could see, or that you pushed it so far away it wasn't feel-able anymore (actually, the opposite is true). 

What we resist WILL persist and only grow larger in energetic volume. But, I digress. 

Here's the low-down on what you might find yourself coming up against during your journey::::

It feels like you want to run away (a lot)
You hit edges in yourself. 
You realise how hard you are on yourself and how much more love you want to give yourself. 
You're not sure how exactly to give that to yourself somedays, but you try. 
You come up against yourself and it gets ugly....sometimes really ugly. There's lots of ugly crying. 
There's a shaking within you and you might think something's wrong, but its just energy (old stories, belief systems, experiences, whatever you want to call it) moving through. 
That's scary sometimes, because we want to hold on to what's familiar. 

You might wonder when you get to stop (you don't, this is for life).
You realise now that your eyes are open, there's no going back 

When you feel like you're stagnating, you might get scared to say you feel like you're going backwards in your growth (you're not, its just an old lesson you need more practise with). 

But then....

But then:::
You see how amazing it feels to own your sh*t and actually change your life. 
Days feel more joyous.
You might feel like you've got more purpose and walk with a lighter step. 
You start to make new, like-minded friends and your circle widens. 
You might notice some friends fall away. (That's okay)
There's a weight that gets lifted from your heart. 
You start to see and actually believe everything is going to be okay. 
You realise you're a light that shines, infinite power, no less than the sun, the stars and the moon. 

You embrace your being, from all angles. 
You have and are, fully forgiven for everything--being shy, being too loud, loving too hard, pulling away when it felt scary. 
You just sink into full acceptance of self and love beyond all measure. 
Life becomes really, really amazing. 

That's what happens when you show up everyday to do the inner work. 

Curious what that looks like? 
Let's chat, my love. This is your time, your life, you get to step into the drivers seat when you're ready. 

Listen, I get it. Life's busy. Sometimes, the kids are lots of work, work is work, marriage feels like work, driving here and there is a brain-drain, dinner and cleanup is work, bedtime is a circus---sometime even just picking your next Netflix binge seems like a daunting task. 

And yet, if you know me at all, you know I don't buy into the idea it's "just the way it is". A huge hell no to that, thank-you very much. The purpose of life isn't to hold on so tightly to ideas like you've got to "play hard" for big rewards. The purpose of life is to surrender the control and embrace joy through making peace with your mind. This peace takes place when we enjoy the pace of our lives. 

So how do you know when you've really hit your peak point of overdrive and stress? How will you know when you've truly hit your limit?
​ 

2.)We all know sleep is crazy important--scientifically proven actually. There's a saying in the Sleep Consultant world, "sleep begets sleep". And the same holds true with sleepless nights feeding into more of that. If anyone has ever seen an overtired baby or toddler you know the outcomes of tired kids--it gets messy. So, why do we think it's any different for us? Lack of sleep, for instance, makes it infinitely harder to: 
-make decisions (in the yoga world, we might say, harder to listen/trust to your intuitive voice) 
-follow instructions 
-feel connected to your body 
-ascertain what emotions are tied to reality and what are just part of the muddle

Remember what I just said about sleepless nights? Well, its no wonder you aren't able to hold much weight in the emotional control arena. It's hard on the mind and the body to be dealing with on-going overwhelm and stress. You might have coping methods you use (deep breathing, massage, etc) but that's not going to always help when the stress takes an emotional toll everyday. Coping methods are good, but won't solve the problem. 

If this one resonates with you, you might find yourself:
-crying often, something without warning or reason
-yelling and acting out anger with family or partners or even strangers
-feeling emotionally drained or numb 

When we are in overwhelm or dealing with long-term stress, we tend to forget about our own needs, especially since we often feel like our lives are a series of putting out fires or constantly having to be "on". Losing our self-care practices (because, I mean, there are only so many hours in a day? Right?) means that we tend to let our most basic needs come last, when in fact they are most important during stressful times. Self-care means different things to many people--but at its core, it means you are taking care of your whole being, the mind, body and soul. 

​99% of the time, when I ask someone about their meditation practise it's usually met with the same response: 
"I don't do it as often as I should"
"I have one, but I can't seem to shut the mind off."
"I can't get into it, but I know I need to work on turning off the stressy thoughts"
"It's something I should get better at."

So you see a theme here? 

No matter what your practise is, our automatic response is to beat ourselves up over it. Our mind chatter is about
-not doing enough
-not doing it right
-not being good enough at it

Can we just hold up a hot second here? I sense we are missing the point of it all. Meditation isn't about
-stopping the mind
-doing it for hours at a time
-throwing our hands up when it "doesn't work"

Meditation is about getting into the body, creating more space between thoughts and become more and more at ease with the thoughts that do show up (because they will!). 

If you're finding you meditation practise tough, or you want to get started with one, check out the video I created in my FbGroup. Here's the quick low-down on what I shared:

Meditation is made waaaay easier if we drop the stories around what it's suppose to feel like (inner peace all the time), look like (sitting up, cross-legged), and sound like (quiet and peaceful). Because here's the #truthbomb we all need to hear: Meditation isn't always easy! Sometimes the mind buzzes, sometimes it doesn't. And when we can still be okay with the buzz and stop "trying" to fight the mind, everything become infinitely easier!

Try these simple tweaks to your practise and see how it works: 

​-Jump up and down, shake, so whatever you can to move the body for a quick minute before laying down. This gets you into the body, making it easier to be there and not in your head.

-Set an intention (not a goal!) for your practise, give the mind some words or phrases to focus on for when it wanders (because it will!) i.e. "I connect with joy and calm". "Let go"

-Stop placing so much meaning and judgement on the thoughts that do come up. This is the art of unattachment and a critical piece of the puzzle to letting go of stress and tuning into more inner peace. When we judge our thoughts, we often make them "wrong" and want to stop having them. Instead of "I shouldn't be feeling this...I don't want to feel this"...just try noticing it, say to yourself.. "Hmmm, interesting, I'm noticing I'm feeling ___" This recognizes this, but doesn't make it wrong. 

-And, of course, stay connected to the breath. This is you anchor point of consistency to rely on. To give that busy mind something to focus on, count outloud or in your head an inhale for a count of 4 and an exhale for a count of 8. This helps practise the art of letting go of twice as much as we let in--decluttering the mind and body. 

-Allow your meditation to be shorter rather than longer. Of course, we want to eventually get to a longer session, but for now even just 10 minutes is a great start. Less is more. 

        ****

At the end of the day, we can embrace our own practise when we let go of the obstacles our minds creates around the whole thing. Meditation is a place to learn to be quiet--our lives are busy, so understand it will take time to unravel from that. 

Much love, 
Namaste

When it comes to yoga and children, be playful and fun. Remember that there is no "right" or "wrong" way for them to enjoy the poses. Anything goes, but remember to avoid headstands because their neck muscles haven't developed enough to make it safe. 

For the moms out there that want to get a better sense of mindfulness for themselves so that they can share this powerful practise with their children join me here for some great tips, free trainings and chats. 
xo Namaste 

We all worry from time to time. We all carry stress, in our own ways. Each of our stories are so different and yet the outcomes are often the same. We feel overwhelmed, burdened by something we can't quite explain...and yet we know we want to shift out of that. So we read inspirational books, say our mantras if we have them and perhaps we even listen to guided meditations at night. These are all tools and ways that we manage our stress. Sometimes they work wonders and sometimes we wonder what the hell was the point! (Lol) That's okay. Both experiences are part and parcel of the package. I've posted a series of videos, all giving us simple tools and questions to ask ourselves when we feel mired in our stress. Check out the link and, if you haven't already, join me at Leanna Jane YOGA FB Group.