What's the point of this?

It's been over 35 years since September found me preparing to return to school. But each year, the turning of the season brings a return to some of that energy. This year, there's both a looking forward and a looking back that's happening: anticipation of what's to come along with acknowledgment of the mistakes and learning (because you can't have one without the other!) that have brought me to this moment in time.

Last week I was reflecting on this newsletter - in a world that is increasingly crowded with writing, as inboxes are increasingly full, why am I adding to the noise?

I sent my first newsletter out over ten years ago, on May 13, 2014. (Here it is, if you care to take a look) At that time I had been teaching yoga for about ten years, and was completing my yoga therapist certification. The way I was working had changed dramatically, and I recognized there was more that I wanted to say to my students and clients - threads I wanted to follow that there wasn't time for in classes or 1:1 sessions. I wanted my newsletter to be a continuation of the conversations. 15 more minutes. Further thoughts that surfaced in the processing that happens after the class or session finishes.

Back then my focus was on the physical realm, and I was just beginning to explore and learn about the ways that mind and body are connected. I didn't have the language for it yet, but even then I was inviting people to work with their nervous systems, to listen to their bodies without judgment and be curious about what changed when they saw themselves as already whole, instead of a problem that needed to be fixed.

My work has changed. And it hasn't.

I have more tools than I did then:

• My coaching certification and the practical skills I've gained through working with my coaching clients over the past year.

• Twelve more years of practical experience as a yoga therapist and movement educator.

• The knowledge I've amassed about the nervous system through researching and writing my book. They say the best way to learn something is to teach it, and I can confirm that's true!

What remains the same is my desire to help people learn how to work WITH their nervous systems - in mind, body and spirit - to create more ease, resilience and strength in their lives.

I want to continue to invite you into your experience of being in your body, of feeling yourself as whole and complete. And that looks and feels different for each of us.

For some of us, the entry point is in how we're moving our bodies - working with connective tissue, changing movement patterns to decrease pain and improve stability and mobility.

For others, it's using the mind-body connection to learn how to work with our nervous systems to create new ways of responding to stress and grow resilience.

There's no "one-size-fits-all" - the journey is different for each of us. And we get to offer ourselves extra doses of love and compassion through each step.

So, why am I choosing to continue to send out this newsletter?

In a world that is increasingly angry, polarized and stressful, I believe we need to to feel grounded and connected to ourselves more than ever. When we learn how to see ourselves clearly, without judgement, and love ourselves unconditionally, we can choose how we want to show up in the world. We can choose how we want to respond to the inevitable challenges in life - at work, in our relationships, in our communities.

It's my hope that this email is a weekly touchstone of sorts, offering you a connection back to yourself - to your calm, steady, loving, compassionate, brilliant self - that supports you through the week ahead.

• What do you love about yourself?

• What gets in the way of you being able to love yourself unconditionally?

• What's the gap between how you want to show up and how you are showing up in your life?

• What's the first step in closing that gap?

I don't know the answers - I actually don't believe there's ever one "right answer", but I do know there's a process that starts with asking the questions and holding them gently as they twist and turn and evolve. That's my other (selfish) reason for writing this each week - the learning and growing that happens for me as I wrestle with the questions, with what I think I know, and what else emerges.

Thank you for being here, for reading, for wrestling with the questions with me - and for the ways you're changing the world around you as you do so.