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Yoga…From Student to Teacher…A Never Ending Journey

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     Sixteen years have slid by since I first stepped on to a yoga mat, finally ready to commit to the practice.  I was living in Monterey, California at the time and dealing with both physical and emotional reasons for seeking mind-body healing. What I didn’t know, at the beginning of this journey, was yoga’s soft-spoken ability to seep into areas of my life that were fragmented by fear. Yoga gathered a circle of my splintered selves and invited them to meet one another; to join hands and unify. We all have sides of ourselves we reserve for private viewing only; the lonely, the frightened, the angry, the jealous, the immature, the happy, the giddy, the sad. Getting on my mat consistently gave me hope that I could dare to live to dream; that all circumstances are subject to change.

     Yoga surprised me at every turn and still does.  What began as a physical practice gradually morphed into a way of living in the world.  I smile remembering my utter commitment to the postures; wanting to perfect them, studying the correct Sanskrit name for each.  When one of my first teachers exclaimed that she could teach an entire class on breath work; I thought she was either exaggerating or a lunatic. Soon enough though, the breath revealed its illustrious power and I began to realize pranayama differentiates yoga from exercise.  The slow steady awareness of my breath began to carry me inward and the layers of societal conditioning and hurtful experiences started to melt away. Often, an issue I imagined I’d already dealt with would arise during a practice as if a pose had unlocked a trapped door. Those stuffed feelings bubbled to the surface where I could then exhale them away. Their power over me dissolved…

yoga practicing woman doing a handstand in an orchard

…This happens over and over in yoga, emotions or thoughts flare up but the breath anchors the mind to the practice, where I can see more clearly.  When a pond becomes smooth after the ripple of a stone or the wind; vivid reflections appear. Yoga began to quiet my mind to stop the current of thoughts that vied for my attention. In the eye of the storm lies a serene place of stillness a haven from the hectic whirl of life. Yoga was and is my haven. When we moved to Bend Oregon, and it took longer than usual to find a place to live, I practiced yoga anywhere I could; in a cluster of trees, the ocean, a motel room, a musty gym with a leaky ceiling. It occurred to me that yoga was within and like my breath could travel anywhere I went. My practice became as essential to my well-being as taking my insulin every day (I’ve been a type I diabetic since the age of five). It kept me grounded and gave me choice. and hope in my own inner strength.

Although I still love a strong asana practice, I have learned to listen (not all the time mind you) to my body’s needs.  Sometimes settling into legs up the wall with a heart opener constitutes a practice.  Other times, I may do a two-hour session of power vinyasa.  I carry my mat around like a child’s cherished blanket.  While traipsing through Europe my mat graced the floor of airports and the dirt of vineyards; yoga grounded me to that true self that could lend an ear to the mind, body, and soul listening for direction.

When I began to teach yoga, I realized that I was merely a conduit.  It was through teaching and assisting others to be self-accepting that I learned to take my own advice. Who cares if you hold the wall while doing a balancing pose—it’s the intent, the breath that is the essence of yoga.  Unlike gymnastics, yoga is not a competitive sport and the more I taught the more I began to understand the true light of yoga; the gift of seeing a piece of ourselves in everyone. Yoga taught me to ditch judgments and condemnation and to give way to the commonality in all beings. That even the great sages and saints (and the modern yogic gurus) deal with temptation. Yoga has not saved me from meeting angry people or shielded me from crankiness on days that are packed with annoying things like traffic or the common cold —it has though helped me return to the breath and the practice to renew my sense of self.

The self that is unplugged from daily demands and worries; the self that is free to dance like a child in the rain filled with wonder and gratitude for the simplicities of life despite challenges. The yogic journey is a never-ending road with curious turns that reveal new insights, like the splendid colors of the ever-evolving sunrise.

Upload Your Resume & Stand Out From The Crowd – Yoga, Fitness, Dance, Wellness Professionals!

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upload your yoga, fitness, dance teacher resume to namafit
Upload Your Resume for yoga and fitness jobs

I remember a time when LinkedIn.com was just a site that fellow tech workers would say, “You’ve gotta add your resume to LinkedIn. It’s gonna be better for finding jobs than Craigslist.com”. So, I took the bait and uploaded my resume to LinkedIn.com, even though I had no idea what LinkedIn was.

Fast forward 3-4 years. LinkedIn had grown and the professional network had grown. Office professionals were then filling out their job history and skillsets on their LinkedIn page.

But there wasn’t a fit to create a professional resume page for yoga instructors, group fitness instructors, personal trainers, coaches, dance teachers and wellness professionals. Until now- Namafit is the right fit for you. Create your professional web presence now with your Namafit instructor profile page by going to https://namafit.com/signup

If you already have a Namafit profile page, add your resume by going to http://namafit.com/profile/edit

If you haven’t created your professional profile page yet, you should! Just go to https://namafit.com/signup – it only take a few minutes and will open up new opportunities for you in this industry!

Beyond the Metrics in Your Movement

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Have you ever had the number on the scale make or break your day (or week)? That reaction is deeply ingrained in our brain, but is so counter-productive to our wellness. Does you movement practice allow you to gauge your success by how you feel – not a number on a scale, dashboard, screen or spreadsheet?

girl jogging

Start your 2019 with mindful, purposeful movement in order to train (and re-train) you to move better in your body.  Screens and dashboards that measure how fast you are going and how you measure up to the competition or how many calories you are burning force your attention elsewhere and impair your ability to make brain-body connections. The use of metrics makes that harder, not easier. It is easy to become reliant on the machine for your workout.  This year, practice self-reliance. YOU are the machine and are in full control of it.

In this modern world, we spend so much of our time in front of screens and interacting with online communities that we lose our personal connection. Seek out a brick and mortar space because face-to-face interaction and physical touch is both necessary and therapeutic/healing.

Metrics are not as objective as you think. Machine calibration may vary and your heart rate can be influenced by your hydration, sleep, nutrition or how well you have recovered from a previous workout. Set technology aside, pay attention to how you feel and connect that to your behavior. What is working? What is not? Maybe you need a rest day or more sleep?  Identify causes vs. react to symptoms. Go beyond the metrics and connect with your inner powerhouse.

Yoga Keeps You Honest

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silhouette of left human hand

People often tout that yoga keeps them strong and flexible, but have you ever heard how yoga promotes honesty? Many of us approach yoga through an injury or when hunting for something alternative to our exercise regime or when on a quest for inner peace.  When you develop a habit of doing yoga on a regular basis, you begin to realize the deeper, more profound effects of the practice.  How then does yoga specifically, keep you honest?

First, when you step onto your mat, whether for the first time or the hundredth time, you must gently come to terms with where you are in that moment. Do you have pain in your back, neck, or shoulders? Are you anxious, are you tired or full of trepidation about being new to yoga? Acknowledging the truth about where you are beginning, helps you with self-acceptance and growth. It is okay to admit you’re not over the moon about practicing, perhaps you have a list a mile long of things you think you need to do. Once you’ve shaken hands with your present state, you can begin to breathe and work through the challenges, letting them go one breath at a time.

The asanas or poses require honesty. If you are new to yoga, be realistic, like anything novel, it takes time and practice to understand the nuances, to become proficient. You don’t learn a foreign language overnight, it takes years of study, speaking, practicing. The same is true for yoga.  There are many postures that I simply cannot do, even though I’ve been practicing yoga for twenty years. Because of how my body is structurally made; the only way I could sit in full lotus is if my legs were disconnected! You can have a beautiful truthful yoga practice, without mastering each pose. And remember, our bodies are uniquely made, the truth is, not all poses are good for all bodies.  For example, if you have lumbar stenosis or high blood pressure, doing headstands is not recommended.

Don’t be deterred by what you are not able to do, focus on what you can do.  Everyone can breathe. The breath is what differentiates yoga from other forms of exercise. Breath control or pranayama as it is called in Sanskrit calms and quiets the mind from the mayhem of chatter.  Kabir, the 15th-century mystic and poet once said; “In this visible matter is the invisible bird. Pay attention to her, she is singing your song.” You can learn to honestly pay attention through the breath and the flow of energy through the asanas. And if you have one of those days where you can’t squeeze in a practice—simply close your eyes and breathe for ten minutes. You can reconnect to that quiet space within, and that is yoga.

Yoga teachers cannot teach you honesty in your practice, it is through personal persistence and patience that you discover your truth. There are many styles and schools of yoga, find those that speak to you.  Remember a yoga practice is dynamic and ever-changing, just like your body. What you preferred at one point, may give way to something new.  Be honest with what you need from your practice; the calming quality of restorative, the physical opening of Vinyasa, or perhaps the repetition of Kundalini.

Classes are a wonderful place to experience the energy and inspiration of others. The challenge of classes is to keep your competitive or judgmental side at bay. Just because the woman in front of you can touch her toes, doesn’t mean you have to, particularly if your body is not ready. New students often get injured in classes, because they don’t want to modify or use a strap or a block. I always remind my students, this is not a performance, wrap up your ego and pick it up on the way out. Yoga holds space for you, modern society dictates enough of your time, use your yoga practice as a safe-haven to fully express your unique self.

Yoga supports your efforts to live with integrity, to be true, to be honest, and like all things that are worthy, it takes time and practice. It is a platform for mindfulness. When you become mindful, you wake up to the truth, and there is no more looking back at dishonesty as a choice. Yoga doesn’t require you to wear the right clothes or hold a handstand to become honest. All you need to pack with you on this journey is your willingness to let go of pretense in order to embrace your true self.

Getting a Burn without Burning a Hole in your Wallet

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The Burn that doesn’t Burn a Whole in your Wallet As a form of exercise, Pilates has been around for almost 100 years now, however its popularity has generally been reserved for dancers, athletes or anyone who could afford upwards of $100 for a private session. Now, state of the art Pilates studios are using new large, user friendly, machines in a more affordable class setting fueled by uptempo music and amplified instruction, and it’s giving Pilates a whole new image. Boutique fitness studios like SLT, WundaBar, Flex Studios and Studio Metamorphosis, are a small part of this huge craze.

The creative mind of Sebastien Lagree and the development of the Megaformer might be responsible for this shift. Lagree Fitness has taken the fundamental understanding of a Reformer, the main apparatus used in Pilates, and has made the machine wider, sturdier and with many more moving parts. These machines are much easier to use than the standard Pilates machine. The springs are large and brightly labeled so you can easily adjust your own tension throughout the class. The foot bar is split in half and the two parts can easily rotate 360 degrees by gently pulling up. These not so minor changes to this apparatus have expanded the possibility of exercises; deep lunges, squats, reverse sit ups, planks, etc., and when paired with the motivating beat of a popular artist it makes for a super intense workout.

We’re also seeing machines that have combined two Pilates apparatuses into one such as the FlexFormer and the WundaBar Pilates machines. These pieces of equipment resemble your standard Reformer with a Wunda Chair attached to the back. The Wunda Chair is a classic Pilates apparatus that looks like a seat with a pedal at bottom near the feet. The pedal is great for advanced students because it’s spring loaded and unstable so it requires a lot of core strength. These classes are closer to what you’d experience in a Pilates private but the spring are still labeled and easily adjustable. Some are missing the loud motivating music you might get in a Megaformer class but you’re still going to get a good workout for a fair price.

While these machines are super cool and incredibly effective at giving you that deep burn, there are few things to be aware of. The classes themselves are designed to be very challenging, therefore, I wouldn’t recommend them to a prenatal client or anyone fresh off an injury. Megaformer classes can sometimes be rough on the hip flexors, especially for people with a weak core or with tight hip flexors already. So runners might want to be extra careful with that one. WundaBar uses a jump board attachment which is great for a burst of cardio, however if you’re not pulling in you abs real tight you might feel it in your lower back. What about that chair attachment? You need to have very good balance to feel comfortable on the chair especially for standing leg exercises. I also noticed a lot of instructors like to use the chair’s pedal for upper body segments, so your shoulders should be in tip top shape before you try that one.

The great thing about these new reinventions is that they are reinventing Pilates as a whole and bringing it to a broader population. Prior to this new trend in boutique fitness, your best chance of experiencing a Pilates machine was in a pricy one on one. Now, with these classes, people can enjoy the benefits of low impact spring resistance for a fraction of the cost. Across the board, these classes are fun, energetic and royally butt-kickin’ with minimal joint impact. A killer new addition to the fitness family and a great option for your daily dose of sweat, this Pilates Instructor approves.

megaformer workout

Finding your voice

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I like to sit quiet in wait like the wise owl , quietly observing my habitat, watching conversations enfolding, Keeping my distance from those whose ego gives rise to nonsense of knowledge. Then again, too often, I can also become the shrinking violet. Fearful my words, and stories are not worthy of attention. Always hiding in the corner, finding myself jealous of others ability to just be, and shine. Then there are those times where I speak from expansion of my own ego, feeding myself or others my own nonsense, and seeking praise or recognition from someone other than myself. There are moments when so much is to be said, but I become frozen in thought, too much thought, a lump forms in my throat, I am mute, silent by my own unconscious choice.

Mountain Ridge Path across the Sierras
Path through the Sierras

I have grown tired of walking this time worn road, I want to speak from my core without trepidation, to not tremble in fear from the sound of my own voice. To speak truths without causing pain, and to be a messenger of inspiration and hope!

I tuned in. Tuned into healing and finding balance in my throat chakra (visshudha in sanskrit), our communication center, our source of expression, gifting us the ability to speaking our highest truths. Chakras are energy centers in our subtle body, radiating from the base of our spine, to the crown of our head. These are the wheels of life circulating energy of uniting matter and consciousness. This energy is our life force, our prana, vital to the wellbeing of our souls expansion, our health,  to remaining vibrant. The throat chakra is one of our emotional centers, some believe the throat area is home to some of our emotions.

There are different ways to bring balance and harmony back to our throat chakra. I have embraced the act of singing, out loud, all day, anywhere, anytime, much to the embarrassment of my husband. I am just humming along, embracing my voice, finding silly tunes or songs popping into my head, one constant being the Indiana Jones theme song. I don’t even know where the tune came from. My husband has said we need to watch the damn movie, so I stop, and find a new tune. I have also embraced returning to our family kirtans, held every month. Kirtan is devotional chanting, and it is absolutely a magical experience every time. I am finding my voice, gentle, soft ,clear, and full of possibilities. Speaking my truths from my heart  without fear or anxiety. I am healing. I am.

Here are some other ways to find balance and healing of our throat chakra.

  1. Singing , of course. A beautiful throat cleanser.
  2. Wearing the color blue.  I love to wear blue jewelry near my throat chakra as well.
  3. Protecting our throats from the cold by wearing a scarf.
  4. Drinking lots of water, staying hydrated, and our throat moist.
  5. In meditation or a moment of stillness, imagine a lovely blue light radiating in your throat area. Inhaling and exhaling through your body!
  6. Crystal healing is wonderful with stones of blue such as, Lapis( a favorite,this stone helps expand our awareness, and self expression.)Turquoise( helps us to express our emotional issues, creative endeavors, finding your true path in life, and harmonizing us with our highest self.) Aquamarine( this beautiful stone has a calming, stress reducing effect, and also stimulates this chakra.)
  7. Certain yoga postures can also be beneficial. I enjoy shoulder stand, baby cobra,supported(with blocks) fish pose, and I love Lions breath.
  8. Journaling, write your heart out!

Some great resources for Chakra healing or general knowledge I recommend reading are:

“Wheels of life”  and “Chakra Yoga” by Anodea Judith, she is my absolute favorite.

“The complete book of chakra healing” by Cyndi Dale.

“Llewellyn’s Complete book of Chakras”, by Cyndi Dale.

“To speak well, and to speak well are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks.”- Unknown

How to Use Yoga to Start Your Day

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Every day is a different day. After practicing yoga for over 6 years, one thing that I’ve learned is to have intention in your actions and thoughts. Each new day is an opportunity for us to start with an intention and purpose that will permeate throughout the day. Here are three ways you can use yoga to be more mindful and purposeful in your life.

#1 Visualize Your Day

Start your day with mindfulness and meditation. Before you get out of bed, take a few minutes to visualize how your morning will look. Prior to leaving the home to head to work or to run errands, try to see how you want that to look. Will you need to make coffee? Freshen up in the restroom? Get dressed? What will you wear? Do you have to walk the dog? Vividly think about how you’re going to start to your morning and then begin your day. If it does not line up, that is OK. Try it again the next day until your mind is aligned with your actions. This quick meditation and mindfulness exercise will allow you to move with intention as you go about your day. Feel free to use it throughout the day (i.e. visualizing how your workday will look, and what your preparing for bed process may look like).

#2 Start with Pranayama

Breath is our life source. It’s important to reconnect with breath on a regular basis, either through yoga or meditation. The practice of pranayama allows us to connect to that life source that flows through us whether we want it to or not. A pranayama technique that I love to use is breath counting.

How to Count Your Breath:

  1. Sit in a comfortable seat in a chair or on the ground on blocks or a meditation cushion.
  2. Place your hands on your knees or find dhyana (concentration) mudra.
  3. Close your eyes and take your drishti or focus point inwards.
  4. Take three deep breaths and sigh audibly to exhale them out.
  5. After the last breath, take a pause and then begin to slowly inhale as you count up to 4.
  6. Pause at the top of your inhale and then count down from 4.
  7. Repeat by counting up and then counting down one more time.
  8. On the next two rounds, count up to 6, then to 8, then to 10.
  9. Once you’ve completed your last two rounds of counting up to 10, stay in your seat and breathe normally.

#3 Move Your Body

This last tip is what most people think of yoga, as a way of moving your body. While it is important, the yoga poses, or asanas, or only a fraction of what yoga truly is. Yoga is the connection of mind, body, and the present moment. I recommend doing 8 cat and cows, 3-5 sun salutations, and then a child’s pose (balasana) to start your day. Do this every day and reflect on how it makes your body feel. Listen to it, and modify if you need to.

woman in child's pose doing yoga
Yoga practitioner in child’s pose

Guest Contributor Profile: Alex Tran AKA Schimiggy is a Digital Marketing Strategist, fitness fashion, travel, and food-obsessed raconteuse. She currently resides in Seattle and teaches yoga while writing about her favorite topics.  Schimiggy Reviews is a lifestyle blog where Schimiggy shares her passions and interests with the world!

How do you talk to kids of different ages about mindfulness?

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Source: Joyfully Jenna

I think it’s all about framing it correctly. When I talk to kids of all ages, I frame mindfulness as something you can’t do wrong. This way, kids don’t see mindfulness as an obligation, but as something they can do to improve their well-being.

While everyone practices mindfulness differently, a few things that generally work well across the board are:

  • Meeting people where they’re at—look at what state your kids are at; it makes sense to approach kids differently if they’re jumping out of their skins after PE vs. if they’re zoned out after a boring class. Evaluate what your students are doing before approaching them.
  • Games—everyone likes games. Doing things like playing a song and asking students to focus on individual instruments, having students focus on certain elements in a room, or making a mood jar can really help pull them back to a calmer mindset.
  • Group routines—having kids do exercises that make them aware of their bodies and how they feel in the moment can help calm down big groups. This could mean anything from breathing exercises to physically shaking out any anxious energy left over from the class before.
    Checking in individually—kids of all ages can benefit from someone checking in on their state of mind and giving guidance on how to be present.

Working with kids from rough neighborhoods provides another level of complexity. They carry a lot of trauma with them, and their minds are more often in a state of stress. In these cases, it’s important to tell them to acknowledge these burdens as they focus on being in the present moment.

Person holding a jar of water filled with glitter

Prenatal Yoga: Growing with the Flow

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three women practicing prenatal yoga

Yoga at anytime in life is a wonderful and essential practice for wellness. Whether it be for children, the adult beginner, intermediate, or advanced seasoned Yogi. The physical, mental and spiritual benefits that come with regular yoga/meditation are numerous. I myself am a newly certified Yoga Instructor. I can attest to the life changing power of mindfulness coupled along with the poses of the body. Personally, I have recently began focusing on a new approach towards practicing and teaching yoga…Prenatal Yoga. Finding out that I am pregnant has obligated me to evolve my training. I would love to share what I am experiencing and learning thus far.

The first trimester can be filled with many different feelings. Surprise, happiness, fear or reluctance. Every woman is an individual and whatever emotions you experience when you discover you are pregnant are okay and perfectly natural. Doing yoga during this time can be very helpful for mental and emotional sentiments. The conscious breathing along with the asanas (poses) makes the mind steady. If you are considering starting yoga for the first time, the first three months of pregnancy are a great time to begin. Preparing your body and mind for the changes during the months ahead will do wonders for you and even for your baby!

Poses during your first trimester are still very doable and modifications are not quite needed yet for your growing belly. I have been able to still teach my intermediate and advance styles of Vinyasa. Listening to your body is important even when you aren’t pregnant so go at your own comfortable pace and never force any movements that you’re not used to doing regularly. Sun Salutations are good to do if you’re not feeling up to a full 45,60,75 or 90 minute yoga session. At least 10 minutes a day of any exercise is better than waiting until you have enough free time to do full sessions. Hip opening movements like Warrior 1 and 2 , Triangle, Side Angle and Bound Angle will prove to come in handy in all phases of pregnancy. Never too early to start the hip opener moves!

In the second trimester which is where I am now at 14 weeks is where the body really begins to change. More than just the morning sickness of the early months the weight gain starts to be felt and noticed (if not already) here in the fourth month. Keeping your routine of yoga and meditation is helpful here because it becomes easy to overeat and sleep. The baby is growing and depleting all your energy as well. Being mindful of yourself also helps to further gear up for labor and delivery. I now know that a lot of the time when I am feeling hungry and nauseous (even an hour after I just ate!) I am thirsty more than anything. Drink lots of water!

I’m feeling the extra pounds and when I do my yoga whether at home or in class, I still keep up with my normal routine. Although Chaturanga into Cobra pose can be done with more mind toward my belly now. Downward Dog is okay throughout the entire pregnancy journey. However, my breathing is becoming a bit heavy even when I am doing normal choirs. Deep Breathing from now till birthday is what I will be focusing on. Mindful breath actually takes away the feeling of shallow breathing. I worry before I begin to instruct that I will be huffing and puffing a tad bit too much but once I start to flow, inhale equal to exhale, movement with each breath, I become in control of my breathing. I make it through the 60 minutes of practice.

Third Trimester is what I am trying to prepare for. However handling each moment, day and week as it comes is what is important. I’ve been looking ahead and reading about prenatal yoga from my training manuals. Researching online is helping as well. In any trimester and especially now, don’t forget to eat a light snack one hour before and bring one snack with you if needed during a class. Pregnant women do have a higher rate of hyperglycemia during exercise. Focus on creating space for the baby in your movements. A wide stance is best so, as an Instructor, I would encourage legs spread and feet hips distance apart or more for supported ground while standing.

For a nice seated meditation I always stress the use of blocks, bolsters or blankets to sit on and for supporting the knees if necessary. Cat pose is a wonderful prenatal asana for a number of reasons. Being on all fours helps the baby get into optimal position and it releases pressure on the lower back. Engage the pelvis when making the spinal movements for cat. Downward Dog, Warrior 1 and 2 and Goddess Pose are all safe to do even late in pregnancy. Balancing poses like Half Moon and Tree Pose are great too when pregnant. Be sure and use a wall for support. Janu Sirsasana (Head to Knee) is good with the extended leg slightly outward giving more space for the belly. Squatting with your back agaisnt the wall and block between the legs is helpful. Remember… don’t forget to breathe!

Prenatal Yoga is a wonderful addition to the experience of being pregnant. It not only helps your body to prepare for childbirth. It can also prepare your mind and spirit for all the stages of this perfectly natural time called pregnancy. I was a little anxious at finding out that I am pregnant again (Baby #2). I still am nervous because it has been 11 years since my first. Having yoga as a tool for me to use this time around is a godsend I would say now. Everything seems to come at the right times in life. I hope this article can help all who reads it. If you are a first-time mom or a mother of many. Even if you are a dad, friend, or relative that finds this information useful for a loved one. Yoga for all at any time in life is helpful. Yoga for pregnant women is amazing so give it a try!

Call Attention To Your Mental Health

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Originally posted on www.acupofteawithme.com

About two years ago now, I saw a cute post on Pinterest about a daily mood log. It was originally created on the post for bullet journalists as something to log on a daily basis. I decided to put this mood log/tracker in the front of my paper planners to see how I do throughout the year, find my triggers for my anxieties and depression and bring attention to ways I can better my mental health.

mental health word cloud

My main thought with tracking my moods was that your worst day only lasts 24 hours, so if I could get through my “worst day” I can definitely continue to live another day that could be even better. Pain never lasts forever.

As a whole year comes and goes, you can look back and see how well you are doing or if you need to find a way to change your moods. Keeping up with a simple daily task can also help you to feel accomplished. When you think that everything in your life is going “wrong,” at least you did one thing “right” by logging your mood for the day as it comes to a close.

Another advantage to tracking your moods is that it can be used as a cheap way for your own personal therapy, since you are actively acknowledging what you are feeling like on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. This helps you draw attention to your ups and downs and how you can pinpoint how to fix your extreme lows.

You also can use this tracker as an active way to recall everything that has happened over the year. It is a great way to keep a detailed personal history of your mental state. With this active history log, you can thus see your patterns and time when you might drop into your lower moods.

I have done this for two consistent years thus far and the results are amazing. Sure, I’ve had some bad streaks or bad months. But seeing all the days that I did have a positive mood feels good because I know that I did right by staying on task and it allows me to connect to my mental health.

Here is a tip though. Plan colors that you will have consistent access to. Seeing a change in shades of red or blue can throw off the whole tracker and become confusing. Also, keep a pencil with your tracker for the days you can’t color in your moods. Simply writing a “P” for pink or a “G” for green can suffice until you have the opportunity to go back and fill in your color.

All of this seems trivial and minor, but I guarantee, it will make you feel better when you see your progress and you are able to call attention to your mental state. You can use my example of a mood log/tracker with my personal two years of tracking in the featured blog post image. It’s still the beginning of the year so it’s not too late to start!

Track Your Mood