Move well. Breathe well. Be well.

"When people in pain learn to shift from the avoidance of body experience in order to avoid the hurt of pain, they begin to trust and befriend the wisdom of the body."
– Peter Levine

Moving forward.

I'm a recovering straight-A student. Many years of formal education conditioned me to try to get an A on everything I do. Ironically, the straight-A student mindset didn't prepare me for the realities of life as an adult. It doesn't support ease and momentum. It leads to second-guessing and a fairly constant awareness of the infinite number of ways that I could be doing something better.

I'm trying to break from those chains and commit to moving forward. Instead of doing things to get an A (and needing them as good as possible), I want to do them for enjoyment, for the opportunity to learn, for the opportunity to experiment and be curious, and to generate momentum in my life.

As I step back into writing on my blog and sending regular newsletters after having a baby, this shift in my mindset will be an essential part of making these things happen!

A new blog post, my teaching schedule, a recommended read, and more are below. I hope something in this newsletter is valuable to you.

All the best.
Warmly,
Sarah

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Parenthood, Bathrooms
& Flying Monkeys

I am excited! I wrote another blog piece. I love writing, but it is often something that becomes a lower priority. It is nice to feel like I am finding my way back to writing more regularly.

This piece is called Parenthood, Bathrooms & Flying Monkeys, and it is a look at some of the things I am learning on my adventure in parenthood!

Upcoming Publicly Available Classes at CHANGEpain

CLICK HERE to see a list of all upcoming classes and to register for ones listed below.

Restorative Yoga & Meditation
Mondays, 6-7pm ✶ Feb.20-Mar.13

Relaxing to CHANGEpain: Breath
Thursdays, 2:3:30pm ✶ Mar.2-16

Foundations of the Nervous System
Thursdays, 3:30-5pm ✶ Mar.2-9

Relaxing to CHANGEpain: Thoughts & Emotions
Mondays, 4:30-6pm ✶ Mar.6-20

Please don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions about the different classes I offer at CHANGEpain, or click here to register for one.

Recommended Read

I don't recommend this whole book. It's hard to get into at the beginning and I skimmed the last few chapters, but the stuff in between is solid. The author presents a very convincing case for limiting our interaction with social media and electronic gaming and an even stronger one for keeping our children away from our iPhones and iPads (etc.). The book is by Mari Swingle and it has this crazy long title:

i-Minds: How Cell Phones, Computers, Gaming, and Social Media are Changing our Brains, our Behavior, and the Evolution of our Species

Yoga & Relationships

In honour of the Family Day long weekend (and Valentine's Day), I'm sharing this older piece from my blog called Your Relationship is Your Yoga. The title gives away the main message, but it doesn't tell you my embarassing story!

Mantra

I try to work a lot with mantras. The term mantra can sound esoteric, but most simply, a mantra is an expression you say over and over again.

This piece by James Boileau, who is actually married to another (very cool) woman named Sarah Jamieson, inspired me to work with this mantra:

I am resilient and infinitely resourceful.

The piece is titled Am I As Overwhelmed As I Feel?, which has been a powerful question for me to reflect on. This piece was a short and influential read for me.

Pain & MRIs

When people are dealing with persistent pain, they often decide that they want an MRI. They may then encounter resistance from their physician when trying to obtain a referral for an MRI. This resistance is not unfounded. Generally, MRIs are not recommended for chronic persistent pain issues. This short post from Paul Ingraham of PainScience.com looks at some of the reasons why:

Spectacularly unreliable MRI “results”

Thank You!

Thanks for taking the time to read through my newsletter. If you have comments, questions, or suggestions, I'd love to hear from you. Namaste. ❤

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