“When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.” ~African Proverb

A recurring theme that comes up in a lot of our classes is self-talk. You know, the internal commentary that goes through our heads non-stop, EVERY. DAY? You know you do it, right? We all do it! We talk to ourselves so often that we don’t even realize that we’re doing it!

Self-talk isn’t a problem when the commentary is benign, but when it turns negative, it can have a huge affect on how we feel and how we behave. Let’s face it. We can really be our own worst enemy and the truth is that most of our commentary consists of cruel, inaccurate, unhelpful, unsupportive, negative statements about ourselves and others. How many times have you said to yourself “i’m never going to be good at this” or “this person doesn’t like me” or “you’re such an idiot, how could you have locked your keys in the car,” etc? We can be really hard on ourselves and when we are hard on ourselves on the inside, it shows on the outside.

So this weekend we challenge you to get your negative self-talk in check!

This week we celebrated a very important day. Earth Day. But why is something as precious as our mother earth only celebrated one day a year? This weekend we challenge you to make a commitment to celebrate Earth Day everyday! Learn more about the environment and what you can do to protect it. From turning off the water when brushing your teeth to switching to online bill payments, if each of us does just a little a bit, together we can help make a big difference!

What do you do to help protect mother earth? Leave your answers in the comments section below.

We shared a photo awhile back that had the words “If you want to know what it feels like to be lucky, take breath.” It caught a lot of attention because it is such a beautiful reminder that each day given to us is a blessing. So this weekend, we challenge you and remind you to count your blessings, no matter how big or small they are and even on those days when you feel like you have nothing to feel blessed about. Remember that each day you are able to laugh, smile, speak, breathe, walk and talk is a blessing.

“I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.” ~Mahatma Ghandi

How often do you let other people’s thoughts and attitude affect your own? If a close friend, family member or colleague is in a bad or negative space, it can be really hard not to let it affect you – especially if that person is very close to you or if you are around that person a lot. Sometimes, you might not even know that they are affecting you until you catch yourself being a bit snooty or mean and say to yourself  ”Whoa, where did that come from? That’s so not me!” So this weekend we challenge you to examine some of the relationships that might be bringing you down. Remember, the mind is a powerful tool and only YOU have control over who affects it and who doesn’t.

Most of us think about it, yet only some of us really do it. Pay it forward. Where you experience a random act of kindess and in return, you do a random act of kindess for someone else. It’s such a simple act and it really should come natural to us, yet a lot of us are so caught up with life and responsibilities that we forget or it doesn’t dawn on us to do it. So this weekend we challenge you to pay it forward. Not because someone did something kind for you, but because it enriches the soul when you can make someone happy. Not only that, but can you imagine if every person did a small, random act of kindess everyday? The world might (just might!) be a better place.

“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.” ~Ram Dass

Last weekend we spoke about the importance of patience. A big part of being patient is having the ability to quiet the mind of inner  or outer chatter. So this weekend we challenge you to do just that. If you realize that you may be talking over someone or if you catch yourself going over your to-do list during class, try, as hard as it may be, to be QUIET…you never know what you might hear.

“One moment of patience may ward off great disaster. One moment of impatience may ruin a whole life.” ~Chinese Proverb

Do you find yourself telling your children to constantly “hurry up”? Does your heart start beating a little faster when you hear your partner tell the same story yet again? Do you catch yourself peeking at the clock wondering how long your teacher is going to keep you in Savasana? Computer glitches, frustrating sales people, traffic jams, long lines and Chatty Kathys driving you up the wall? We get it. We live in a fast-paced world and are constantly on the go – from one thing to the next. Being efficient is one thing, but rushing or being impatient is another. There is difference!

Being impatient is similar to anger where the only person that is really affected is you. Impatience causes stress, raises blood pressure, affects relationships and increases the risk of poor decisions and errors. So, this weekend we challenge you to slow down and explore what is making you impatient. If you catch yourself in a situation where you are getting impatient, try and take the situation in stride – breathe deeply, count to ten and try to avoid a knee-jerk reaction. After a few calming breaths, you might even try to find amusement in the situation.

Last week, Amy Ippoliti reminded us to always choose the sweetness in life. So this weekend, we challenge you to do the same. When faced with a decision, choose what is going to have the most delicious outcome.

This weekend we challenge you to give a little extra love. Whether it’s your work, a hobby, a new friendship, your practice or your family, try and give a little extra love to that which you’d like to cultivate in your life.

“When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.” — Chinese Proverb

As human beings, we tend to fear and resist change. There is a strong preference to the familiar — we find great security and comfort in routine and habit. When change occurs, it forces us to make adjustments to our environment that we are not necessarily comfortable with in order to try and adapt to these new changes. We tend to be creatures of habit, so adapting can be very difficult to do for some people, yet it is one of the most essential life skills.

So we have two choices: we can embrace the changes that will (and they will) occur and adapt to them or we can put up walls to try and fight to prolong the inevitable.

This weekend, we challenge you to embrace and start adapting to the changes that may be occurring in your life, on the mat and off.