Practice You

Simplify Art Class

Learn more about Simplify Course Invitation to creation: In our time together, you’ll create journal pages, prompts and inquiries for yourself. Expect a moment of preparatory writing, then you’ll create your pages and spaces using the medium of your choice.  SUPPLIES If you’re drawing:  paper or bristol pens, pencils, inks, crayons, markers, as you wish If you’re painting: paper or canvas paints of your choosing (watercolor, acrylic, gouache) brushes, water vessel(s) and blotting tissues / paper If you’re collaging:  page or stock on which to work magazines, books from which you’re willing to source scissors, glue stick or glue

On Creating Your Home Altar

Altars are places of connection, serving as points of prayerful attention in my home. I have altars on my bookshelves, in my office space, my kitchen, my yoga and meditation corner, even my bathtub. With this short post, a few suggestions for how to create your own altar spaces around your home and practice spaces.

Practice You Live 2019

Ask questions, invite clarity, create meaningful practices, and author our prayerful reality for the coming year. Your gorgeous downloadable PDF guide for your process is linked below. Looking forward to serving you as we welcome the fresh energy of the new year. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR GUIDE

Practice You in School Settings

When I was in sixth grade, I sat on the bookshelf instead of my chair. Mrs. Danahy called me “Perchie” and let me sit there as long as I wasn’t talking out of turn, which sometimes happened, when I’d be relegated to my regular desk. We had a good thing, she and I. As long as I paid attention and showed up, she’d let me sit there. My bird’s eye view of the class was valuable then. Jonah’s now in sixth grade, so I’m trying to remember who I was in order to serve him. This week I was super nervous to teach my book to a crew of high school people about their inner life, how to observe and eventually modulate their innermost conversation. Reading, I realize, has a lot to do with the quality of my dialogue inside, and so does writing. My hope is that Practice You will help open us all up and bring the long-buried details to life. This image was taken by Carrie Burke, me perched on another shelf, teaching that class, offering to a group of high school humans. right from my heart. If you’re a facilitator or teacher in a school, healing or recovery setting, …

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Self-Care for Yoga Teachers

As a teacher, it’s easy to let your personal practice slide – but it’s vital to replenish the energy you give to your students, and continually evolve the guidance you share with the world. Teachers, this program was designed to provide you with an efficient and effective series of seven thirty-minute practices. With nurturing movement and focused introspection, reconnect to the reasons you began teaching to bring back the joy and the sweeter meaning. Learn more

Coming Home :: Find Support & Stability in Recovery

Early on in recovery from any trauma, deep grief or addiction, shifting your smallest daily routine can make the biggest difference in your success. This series of practices is here to help you steadily navigate the waters of recovery. As a result of my own process, each of these classes holds a certain intent and energy, both physically and emotionally. 18 practices, each 20 minutes in length, over 6 weeks, comes together in this 40-day recalibration of your body and your mind. Each nourishing flow subtly builds upon the last, to open and fortify your body. You’ll conclude each practice with savasana, meditation and a clear affirmation. Whether you’re long in your recovery or just starting out, this program will help you feel closer to yourself, more capable of handling life’s daily challenges, and more stable in your recovery. Week One Welcome. Orient. Embody. Appreciate. Clarify. Design. Week Two Relate. Release. Reframe. Awaken. Nourish. Believe. Week Three Create. Receive. Rest. Weave. Offer. Amplify. LEARN MORE

Practical Parenting with Elena Brower and Dr. Nicole Buerkens

Talking with luminaries about the practicalities of parenting in real time always helps. Expect accessible, applicable solutions for your household which you can implement today. STREAM AUDIO https://s3.amazonaws.com/elenabrower/audio/py_EB_NicoleBeurkens_111417.mp3 Dr. Nicole Buerkens, bestselling Author of Life Will Get Better, is a Psychologist, Nutritionist, Special Education teacher, and published researcher, with 20 years of experience supporting children, young adults and families to improve their behaviour naturally. Sparks of wisdom from our talk: 1.  When parents come to Dr.Nicole with their child, she first teaches parents how to be aware of and manage their own emotional states in relation to their child. 2.  Parenting is tough! Our kids can trigger us in ways we may not expect, and we can end up being very reactive. First step is awareness of your own state. When your child throws a tantrum in the supermarket, what does that bring up in you? 3.  When children are behaving in a challenging way, it’s often simply the best way they know how to communicate what they cannot articulate. Remembering that might help you host most compassion. They’re waving a red flag! 4.  As parents, we’re not going to get it right every time. It can be good to think …

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Practice You: Journaling Your Life

The walls were blue, with ornate red and pink flowers, but it wasn’t wallpaper. It was fabric, and the fabric had padding beneath it, plush and comfortable to the touch. I was on my childhood bed, canopy above me, heart full of longing to belong. Propped up on my elbows, leaning on that soft wall with the side of my head, I’d been writing till my hand hurt, scratching pen to paper in my little pink diary with the lock, tears streaming down my face. I remember devising half-truthful, half-fictional stories about my dear (imagined) friends, glamorous and exceptionally pretty, who loved me, and listened to me, and thought me extraordinary. I wrote about my family, pretending things were pristinely peaceful and calm. I wrote about the boy i liked at the time, hoping he’d see beneath my glasses and my skinny legs to my profound little heart. Journaling has granted me comfort for as long as I can remember. Even in the darkest nights of my soul, when the words eluded me, I’d copy others’ poems into my notebook for solace and guidance. Journaling has been my practice, the pages hold my prayers, and when I’ve had soul-stirring questions, …

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