and how a gratitude practice can bring more joy to your life. The definition of gratitude is the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. Benedictine monk, Br. David Steindl-Rast, suggests that two qualities belong in our basic definition of gratitude. The first is appreciation: You recognize that something is valuable to you, which has nothing to do with its monetary worth. The second quality Br. David mentions is that gratitude is gratis: freely given to you. Robert Emmons, perhaps the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude, also argues that gratitude has two key components: “First, it’s an affirmation of goodness. We affirm that there are good things in the world, gifts and benefits we’ve received.” In her book, Living in Gratitude: A Journey That Will Change Your Life, Angeles Arrien writes: “Gratitude is essentially the recognition of the unearned increments of value in… Read More »
How Your Presence is the Best Present Ever!
It’s that time of year when when it’s all about buy buy buy and getting more stuff. Here’s are some great ideas for less stuff and being more present with your kids and loved ones. My partner in crime Jen of YoPlay Yoga 4 Kids & I created this list together based on what we have done with our families in the past. We know that kids begin to expect lots of toys during the holidays and sometimes it really gets to be STUFF OVERLOAD. Opening presents is a lot of fun, but sometimes we can replace THINGS with EXPERIENCES or something that requires you do things together to experience the actual gift. In the end, these are going to end up being your kids favorites as they get older- they will forget the 100th transformer but will always remember that awesome date you guys went on together. Some of… Read More »
Breathe Your Power
When you think of holidays you think of joyous times, happy memories, family, friends, food & gift giving. But along with it, there is the hustle and bustle and STRESS that comes with all that good stuff. What better way to enter this holiday season then with LESS stress and more JOY? You can achieve that by learning to BREATHE YOUR POWER. Mindful Yoga Breaks is the collaboration of Lani from Full of Joy Yoga and Jen from YoPlay Yoga for Kids®. We created the Superhero Breath card deck and dice game as a fun way for kids to find their inner strength & power by fighting stress, releasing tension, and helping them let go of big emotions. We all know we can use a little of that anytime but especially during this chaotic time of year. The Superhero Deck Each deck has 6 Superheroes including Batman, Wonder Woman, Incredible… Read More »
