Below; my blog post from December 2016. My intentions for 2017. Put down in writing to keep me accountable. An interesting exercise for all of us, as it reminds us that we are the ones in control of how and what we spend our time and our energy on. We aren’t in control of what happens to us, but we are in control of how we react.
In 2017 – I completed the first part of my 300 hour training in Yoga Therapy at Kripalu Center in Massachusetts. To be continued in 2018… it is an exciting new chapter in my evolution and one that I believe will offer immense benefits to people that suffer with mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, chronic stress. Yoga therapy is not meant to replace any other treatment. It is meant to compliment other specialties in a holistic way, offering clients a variety of tools which they can use to eliminate undue suffering. I look forward to creating and introducing this new offering for clients in 2018.
In 2017 – I found my Karma yoga project. Since April 2017, I have been volunteer teaching once a month at the Centre for Innovation in Autism and Intellectual Disabilities, part of the Miriam Foundation. The hard working professionals that provide parents and children with ongoing support and services have my utmost respect – and providing these people with an hour of yoga has proven to be as enriching for me, as it is for them. The gratitude on their faces every time I see them is more than enough payment ♥
In 2017 – my classes have grown significantly and I am humbled by the referrals that I keep receiving for private instruction. Today, I know that my group classes are truly the only way to “touch” more people with what I call, the gift of yoga. I am really “in my element” when I’m sharing yoga and I feel it’s where I am meant to be. The number of men joining the classes is also growing, due mostly to my female clients bringing their husbands for a class in the evenings.
Living with intention. It’s my intention for 2017. I don’t like resolutions as they seem to set you up for success or failure depending on whether you adhere to them or not. I look at intention NOT as the prerequisite to accomplishing a goal. I look at it as setting the tone for how I want to feel in this life, on a day-to-day basis, and how I want to make others feel.
When I think 2017, I think to myself: “Live less out of habit, and more out of intent”
Living out of habit is not necessarily a bad thing; most of us are comfortable in our routines. They make us feel safe. However, at times, I feel like I’m on “auto-pilot”. Going to the same places, performing the same activities, and running – without necessarily getting ahead (whatever that may mean for each of us).
Sharing Yoga with (mostly) women, has highlighted to me that WE need to feel empowered to say out loud that “We Are Enough” just the way we are. That WE do not need to be more, accomplish more, love more, work more, or “fill in the blank” more. WE are enough. Period. It’s easier for many of us to just blame our environment, our spouse, our parents, our past, our financial situation, anyone/anything – than to take responsibility and say that it’s all in our hands and in our minds to feel worthy of time and space and self-care. Only when we realize this, do we accept that WE set the intention every day, with every thought, with every choice, of how we want to feel. When we say to “let go” during Yoga practice, we refer to much more than the physical stresses. We refer to letting go of judgement and fear, limiting beliefs and expectations, our past experiences and our imagined reality in the future.
Intentions. Intentions without action, are simply a bunch of words. In order to make my intentions more real, I’m putting them out here so that I can refer to them during 2017 and come back to them if I stray. It also keeps me accountable. It’s not something I can just keep putting off to another day, another year, or even another decade!
2017 is the year of Intention.
I INTEND … to keep sharing my appreciation of Yoga. With the years, I hope to impact many more people with this “gift” that I’ve discovered. Some will appreciate and love the gift, others will not. I am ok either way, because the ones that are ready to “receive”, tell me that the practice has brought them immense joy and peace, and in some cases, has changed their lives. So I’ll keep sharing.
I INTEND … to develop a more regular meditation practice. If we can begin our day feeling centered, with an intention to live that day from the heart, not only from the mind – it will change how we act and react to the days events. It will help me deal with many moments where things don’t turn out the way I’d like; times where I fail at something … Meditation will make me ask myself what I can learn from each of these moments.
I INTEND … to do more Volunteer Yoga activities than I presently do. I run a yearly Fundraiser for the Montreal Children’s Hospital that raises funds for families with sick kids. I intend to find another organization where I can donate my time on a more regular basis, and make an impact on a specific population. If you’ve got a suggestion for me, please get in touch!
I INTEND … to grow my knowledge base with another exciting and experiential learning trip in the works!! The more I learn, the more I have to share.
I INTEND … to live, love, and learn with intention. If you’d like to join me, get in touch and we can do some “executive planning” together 
Have a wonderful, peaceful holiday break and a healthy, productive, satisfying 2017, lived less out of habit, and more out of Intent. ♥