Welcoming 2022 by Witnessing First
On a Saturday afternoon in late Fall, I walked downstairs to find my husband enjoying a peaceful moment on the front porch. I’d gotten him nice rocking chairs for his birthday a few weeks prior, and I was glad he was taking a moment to enjoy. And yet I knew I had to walk outside with my bleary eyes and interrupt the peace. I’d been lost in a haze for a few weeks and the watershed had broken. I slumped into the rocker beside him and between gulping ugly cries, I said something’s wrong. It’s not going away this time and I need help.
I rarely ask for help. My handbook very prominently says I am the helper. I run the house and the kids for the most part. It’s very much the job I chose to provide inspiration, teachings, guidance to others via yoga and fitness practices. My inner monologue is always - I can’t fall apart - other people need me!
And yet this is my cycle. I tend to fall apart a couple of times a year (most predictably in May and October). I beat myself up about it and then I get back on track. And so it goes. But this time I needed to do things differently. I wasn’t bouncing back.
So after that day on the front porch, I made a few small shifts and made one particularly bold choice (bold for me at least). I booked myself a personal retreat to Kripalu, a yoga and health center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. I’m pretty frugal so spending the money just on me was one hurdle. It was another hurdle to let go of being the helper for a week. I had to rely on my husband to be primary caregiver and I had to cancel my teaching and private training sessions for a week. It felt like a lot, but I didn’t get a single push back.
So off to Kripalu I went. This was my first visit and it felt revolutionary. The three-day mega dose of self-care, not only kept the wave from pulling me under, but has carved a path to stay astride. I know how extremely lucky and privileged I am to have been able to do this. I attended a handful of yoga classes, ate the most nourishing food, and filled at least 20 pages in my journal. To my surprise, I was drawn to the life coaching sessions, and I sat for a soul path astrology reading. It’s perhaps not surprising that it’s the coaching and astrology sessions that made the visit most impactful.
I’ve crafted a focus/mantra guide for January - June 2022. I’ll be on the ride to help myself and I hope through reading my blogs, newsletters, and joining for yoga + fitness classes in the Be You Hub that it’ll be an inspirational and helpful wave for you as well.
This is my marketing cue to say, if you aren’t a member and are interested in online yoga + fitness classes within an inspiring community please join us here - https://betsypoos.com/beyou.
We are already one week into the New Year and the January focus to Witness Yourself. Though I’m tempted to launch full steam into lots of new or revived ideas, practices, and resolutions; I’m asking us to first take a little more pause just to watch, just to notice. From there we’ll slow and steady our way to landing mid 2022.
January – Witness Yourself
February – Letting Go
March – Playing in the field of Possibility
April – Letting Come
May – Transformation
June – Land
I’ll offer more tips and inspiration points for Witnessing Yourself as we make our way through January. Stayed tuned through the blog and all the Be You Hub classes for the goodies.
I always offer my yoga + fitness classes through the lens of my personal experiences – it feels hollow and difficult otherwise. I hope in sharing pieces of my day-to-day life you see how the practices of yoga spread off the mat. I embrace the roots and lineage of the ancient practice of yoga with full knowledge that the movement, the breath work, the stillness is the easy part. And that’s one reason it is the perfect way to witness and further cultivate how the grace and the grit expand yoga into our every moment.
One such witness point came Monday night after our first snow day of the year. I’d been tense and snappy all day and I spoke about it out loud to my family over dinner. I didn’t fully enjoy the day because it had messed up my schedule and the house was messy with all the wet snow gear tracking in and out. Witnessing it, saying it out loud, allowed me discernment moving forward. I memorialized the sentiment on Instagram and was able to handle the off the mat moments with more grace the next day.
Slow and steady. Up and down and all around. Thank you for riding the wave.