Tending to the garden

"FLOWER POWER MEDITATION: Every time you have a negative thought about yourself, especially the ones that recur, I want you to sit down or close your eyes wherever you are. Imagine your thought as a black flower, with a stem and root going down into the earth. With your mind’s eye, follow that stem and root way down, to see what’s nourishing it.

Can you picture an event, a person or an interaction that was the seed of that thought growing in you? With practice, and stillness, and of course, not judging the process but simply observing it, I bet you can.

Once you realize what’s at the root of your negative belief, picture digging it all up with your magic shovel, and tossing it on the compost heap. Re-plant a new flower and sprinkle a new intention into the healthy earth as you do. See the flower grow and blossom into a beautiful, colorful multi-petaled wonder.

This meditation helps inherently shift brain patterning, and the more you can revisit that flower, water it with your continued attention to shifting the belief through thinking, speaking and acting differently toward yourself, the sooner you’ll be the proud owner of a fierce flower patch"-Sadie Nardini


What if when you felt your blood pressure elevating you got on your yoga mat...did a few sun As and sun Bs and made your way into some luscious reclining twists on your back?

What if you gave yourself more credit...let go of fear and shame in the name of self-love and inner peace...viewed yourself as the healer you are...ate more green veggies and halved your alcohol and coffee intake...started your day with a gratitude list...made a box filled with affirmations (in the present tense...short and sweet...visions of the life you don't even dare to dream of) and reviewed it often...were nicer to yourself and to others....let the past feel farther and farther away as you embraced the present with new found freedom?

What if you believed in yourself and knew you were worthy. You were enough. You were fearless and ambitious and righteous and fierce. You were taking steps to heal....because our bodies are meant to heal... knew your body was strong and, when fed healing foods and bathed in healing thoughts, is capable of miracles? What if you knew that you can take the power back. You can live the life you dream of living...That if you can dream it you can attain it?

Love to you all.

Today's affirmation

I have a bright and shiny immune system that kicks the crap out of challenges. I am positive, uplifted, inspired, and free. I am filled with courage, clarity, and peace and attract prosperity and health to myself. I am brave and strong. I am loved and loving. I am as patient and gentle with myself as I am with all others. I am a channel through which life force flows. I do my best with my breath and it heals me. All is well in my world. I am perfect, whole, and complete in this moment.

Namaste

Family Time

"A woman sees in the world what she carries in her heart."-Goethe

Things I LOVE about my family:

My mom's generosity. My dad's biting wit. My brother's gentle spirit. Lotta's loveable ditziness. Sonia's fierce lapdog-loyalty. The way my mom mushes all of her food together and calls it "creativity." Her eye for interior design and fashion. Her stubborness and spirituality. Her endlessly abundant love for her children. My dad's inclinations towards bananas, bland crackers, and whole tomatoes and the way he will still get down and do 50 push ups if you make a crack about his age. My brother's openness to yoga despite his favorite hobbies being weight lifting and eating steak. The comfort of being together...our little unit.

So proud to wish my parents a happy 27th wedding anniversary today. Every moment I am with them reinforces my beliefs in the power of resillience and love to overcome absolutely anything. The sacrifices they have made and the joy they have derived from their relationship continue to inspire and amaze me.

I cannot wait to take them on their first duck tour. To introduce them to life alive smoothies and warm plates. To see the puppy tails wagging wildly and to scoop them up and cradle them like infants.

<3 Enjoy the weekend!!!!!!!!
xoMorgan

Love List

Ten Things I am loving this week:

1. SOUP. There is nothing better in winter time than pure warm veggie love. I cooked up a giant pot of root vegetable stew with: roasted turnips, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and carrots; sauteed celery, onions, garlic, lentils, and chives; and veggie broth. Oh my gawd it's great. That + cuban bean soup had me slavin with my chopping board on Sunday, which I find extremely therapeutic. Much gratitude to the veggie gods for the divine soupspiration!

2. Requests from my students. There is nothing I love more than putting out the question: does anyone have any requests? In a yoga class I am teaching and getting a resounding YES! I love suggestions and how they can be infused into whatever idea I already had in mind for class. Yesterday I was asked to work on shoulders and arms. We did a shoulder sequence involving long holds, openings of the front and back body, deep breathing and visualization. My students were like buttah at the end. One actually could not peel herself off of the floor. I love that goo-ifying effect of yin postures and really marinating in a sequence. Yum.

3. My cube in my new office. Our new location is a change of pace; it's not located right next to my yoga studio or fave juice bar, but it is gorrrgeous. One thing I love is the oodles of natural light. Another is my cube. It is immaculate and way in the back corner. I have a smattering of pictures on a small panel right behind my computer. I love looking at all of the postcards I have collected from my travels, the photography of talented friends, my boyfriend and my smiling faces, and art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum. What better way to brighten up the work day!

4. Forever 21. Number one, I don't want to actually be Forever 21...I love my mid twenties :), BUT this store is fantastic. Where else can you get an adorable and chic sweater for less than 20 bucks that you can wear to death? You get to love it while you have it and not feel bad if it gives out after 20 wearings. Amazing!

5. My family. They are visiting this weekend. My mom, dad, and brother...and they are bringing the puppies!Oh how I love my tiny little devilish balls of furry love. I cannot wait to cook my fam elaborate vibrant veggie-full meals and take them on the duck tour and give them a billion hugs.

6. SLEEP. Enough said.

7. Bananas. So delicious and so high in potassium. Winning combo.

8. Bravo. I heart Andy Cohen and his late night shenanigans. He is legit the only man that can be sloppy drunk on his own talk show and work it.

9. Cuddling with Tom. So good for my health.

10. My holiday party at work. OMG so excited to rock my holiday shoes and feel like a VIP at the function hall in the Museum of Science. Love my job.

What's on your love list??

xoMorgan