July 2022 Newsletter
Welcome friends! Thank you for signing up for my newsletter and for being a part of my growing community. Each month I will share with you more of my personal journey and things I am learning, teaching, reading, and loving. My hope is that you will find something that speaks to your heart and leads you toward healing and happiness in your own life. Please feel free to share this email with any friends or family who you feel may benefit from it as well.
What I am learning:
I am learning that when we are open to opportunities of growth and healing that those opportunities will present themselves in many ways in our lives. I have been pondering the last few months on how to grow and improve myself, both as an individual and as a coach. I have had networking opportunities that have offered me chances to use my voice, gain confidence, and have also reaffirmed how much I love what I am able to share through my business and how needed it is. I was also presented an opportunity to work as an independent coach under one of my mentors this last month. I am excited for the opportunity to be working with her and improving my coaching skills as I work with women enrolled in the Beyond Breath program. Another learning opportunity surfaced when I tested positive for COVID recently. Learning to listen to my body on a new level and practice nourishing and healing myself with the tools I’ve learned, have helped this round with COVID be less painful than the last bout. What opportunities for growth and healing have you been experiencing?
What I am teaching:
My 10-day online masterclass “Foundations for a Mindful Life” is available online. It is a self-paced course that can be enrolled in at any time. In this course you will learn simple foundational practices that will invite you to begin living in a more mindful way.
My next session of A Mindful Life Method begins on September 8th. This is a more in-depth 6-week online course that will lead you on a journey of reconnection with yourself that teaches you tools to reduce stress and anxiety in your life.
Every Tuesday morning at 6 am (MST), I teach yoga with one of my dear friends from high school. Each month we choose a theme to focus on and I teach the grounding, breathwork, and savasana (relaxation) portion of the class and Lori teaches the asana or posture portion of class.
Every Tuesday evening at 8:30 pm MST (please note the new day and time), I have an amazing group of ladies that join me for a yoga class with breathwork and guided meditation. We have built a beautiful community of women and I look forward to teaching them each week.
Once a month I host a women’s hiking group for ladies in my local area of Southern Utah. We have had four successful hikes and are looking forward to our next outing on July 16th.
This month on July 30th I will be hosting my second mini retreat. Come join me in person from 8-11am for yoga, meditation, breathwork, connection with other amazing women, and a fresh and delicious lunch. Our mini retreat last month was incredible and I am looking forward to another amazing morning of connection.
If any of these classes or events are of interest to you, please reach out to me for more information.
What I am reading:
I have been listening to several amazing speakers from the Anxiety Super conference over this last month. Britt Frank, therapist and author, shared some thoughts about grief that really struck me. She shared that grief is the #1 underlying emotion in anxiety, depression, addiction, etc. She shared that we look at grief as something someone feels when there is a death in the family and even then, there is a finite time for grieving before someone says “it’s time to move on with your life again”. Her view is that we have so much to grieve and there are opportunities for grief all around us. The degree to which we are able to grieve is also the degree to which we will be able to heal. A few examples of things we may not think of that cause us feelings of grief: 1. getting fit: the body you were in provided you comfort and safety and changing that can lead to feelings of grief. 2. Becoming a parent-you no longer can make choices without it impacting a tiny little someone who is dependent on you. This can be a difficult transition for many. It is typically viewed as a time of celebration, making it even more difficult for those who have feelings of struggle. 3. Anytime anything in your life changes or ends-jobs, relationships, etc. Change, even when positive, can bring up feelings of grief. She shared a model of the tasks of grief by Jay William Worden that I loved. 1. Admit the thing happened. 2. Feel the feeling 3. What needs to adjust now that this has happened? 4. What do you want to do with what you have now? She shared how this model can help us come to terms with the after- which is why so many of us avoid feelings of grief-because we simply can’t come to terms with the after. Our sense of home is upended. When we allow ourselves to grieve however, it allows us to find our way home, to ourselves.
I have found in my life that grief is an emotion that is often easier to avoid than to move through, so I loved learning a way that felt more natural for me to move through grief. I would love to hear your thoughts or any insights you have gained on the topic of grief.
What I am loving:
I am loving watching my garden grow and enjoying eating fresh fruit and veggies. What a gift to be able to grow our own food and enjoy the benefits of fresh nutritious food. Do you love to garden? What is your favorite thing to grow?
I would love to hear from you and learn more about each one of you. Please reply and tell me what are you most interested in these days?
Sending you all love and light,
❤Jessica
