Tender Mercies

I was feeling completely under the weather today. All I wanted to do was sit on the couch and read or sleep.  It really is strange when I have days like this because I'm usually the girl who hates to sit down and loves her walks and yoga practice. My instinct is to feel guilty for not having any motivation whatsoever, but you could say that I am a recovering "guilt-addict." :-).  I'm reminded of Santosa, a term we use in yoga that means contentment. Contentment with oneself. It is a step towards inner peace and self-compassion. Santosa is accepting what happens, and it is also living in the present moment and feeling the satisfaction of having enough. Today I practiced santosa by giving myself some compassion and realizing that I am enough, despite my lack of motivation.  Actually, practicing self contentment and compassion today allowed me the freedom to do be kind to myself and give my body some space to rejuvenate without being worn down. I allowed mys...

For the past month, I have been thinking about how to cultivate self-love. I think it is an important topic that many can relate to. Throughout this post I am going to highlight some tips that have worked for me to cultivate my personal self-love.  Back in September, my husband and I went to the Kansas City Temple for a date night and I asked Marshall to take some pictures for me. I didn't know that would mean a whole bunch of candid shots :-). I suppose I don't mind much, since they do a pretty nice job of capturing the mood I was in. I hope you enjoy the pictures and tips. 1. Name your inner "mean" voice. It's that voice that tells you you're ugly, fat, not good enough, (fill in the blank), even when they are obvious lies. This voice gets much of its motivation from negative media. I named mine Bertha . Isn't that an awesome name? The fun part about naming the mean voice is that it often makes you laugh when you say it because it i...