Looking For Valentine's Date Ideas for Quarantine?

Today I am filled with love and gratitude. For YOU. Seriously. It washed over me unexpectedly this morning while I was thinking about what Valentine's gift to send to you. I was feeling a little run down, a little deflated and unsure about what to write and what to send you. A little unsure of myself. I got soft and gooey and loving of myself and my body and my feelings. And then...WHOOSH...love and gratitude. For you. You are the inspiration. So THANK YOU. And please know that my heart is open and sending so much love to you. 

This Shower Yourself with Love Meditation is perfect for Valentine's Day (or any day!). Get comfy either seated or lying down, and get soft and gooey with yourself. Recognizing that YOU are perfect right here. Right now. If you'd like a loving, therapeutic Svaroopa Style classto support yourself along with this meditation, you can try one here. 

Looking for Valentine's Day date ideas? It's a little...different this year, isn't it? Going out to dinner might not be a possibility. So...here you go! I'm teaching an Online Partner Yoga Classthis Sunday with Be Yoga. Yup, that's Valentine's Day! A dear friend of mine usually teaches it in person with her hubbie and I'm teaching it for her this year with my honey! We've gone every year and we have a blast! And he's not super bendy. Complete beginners are welcome. We always laugh and have a great time. It's a fun way to celebrate Valentine's Day and to connect with your partner. Or you can do the class with a quarantine friend! 2pm eastern US. Sign up HERE. 

Write "I AM LOVE" in the YouTube comments to let me know you've done this beautiful meditation with us and that you're a part of our community. 

Know that you are loved. You ARE love. 

Big love 💕

Lorrie

PS Don’t forget to try Shower Yourself with Love Meditation and write “I Am Love” in the comments below the video on Youtube so I know you’ve read this email.

PPS 🥰 Join us for a fun Partner Yoga class on Sunday, it's the perfect Valentine's Day Date! 😍

Audio Meditation to Open Your Beautiful Heart and to Calm

We had crrrraaaaaazy weather here in Charlotte (and the whole Southeast) last week, especially on Thursday. Tornados, high winds, flooding, lightening, mudslides, hail…I half expected to look out the window and see the four horsemen of the apocalypse galloping amidst the clouds and waving trees! With my Healing Codes coaching and Touchstone coaching I work with clients all over the world over Zoom or the phone and I had several of my awesome clients on this particular insane weather day. When I work with clients I need to be super tuned in and and have an open heart to assist them in the best way possible. On this day, we were under a Tornado Warning (which means “take cover, a tornado is pretty likely!”) for a good part of the day. So as I’m working with my lovely clients I’m having to keep an eye on the weather because at any moment I may need to duck into the closet under the stairs so that I’m safe from a tornado. Staying present with my clients in the midst of this chaos took some doing! So occasionally we had to take a break for a few moments while I check the weather and make sure I’m not about to be swept away to The Land of Oz (though THAT would be a fun adventure!). And then take a few moments to close my eyes, breathe, recenter and ground myself so we can move forward again in a meaningful way.

We fared the weather just fine (we always do…I’ll post on that phenomenon another time!) and the whole experience got me thinking about how important it is to be centered and “grounded” in order to be able to fully open our hearts. I love walking around with a completely open heart in my life and everyday interactions when I can, but I also know that if I do that without being rooted and centered that it can feel a little raw. A little TOO open. So there’s this wonderful balance we can find of calmness, connection to the earth, and at the same time, this heart that is completely open and giving and receiving love.

You can use the yummy meditation below to find this space. I suggest doing it whenever you feel you need grounding, if you find you’re having trouble in one of your relationships, if you don’t know what to do, or…if you just want to feel good;. The seed mantra for the heart is “Yam,” pronounced “yum.” You can experience “YUM” in your life by opening your heart. Give it a shot and let me know how you feel afterwards!

The Power of Having a Morning Ritual

Ooooohhhh, it’s getting cold here! We’re well below freezing tonight and tomorrow night. I’ve tucked all the plants in and told them their bedtime stories, covering them lovingly with light blankets to protect them from the frost.

Right now I’m loving the cold weather. It means I get to start my ritual of hot hot morning baths, which is sooooooo yummy! I get up super early (around 5), turn on the heater in the bathroom, grab my Intentions/Appreciation journal and my favorite pen (very important), light some candles, turn on some soothing music, and draw my bath with the warmest water I can tolerate. Add in some epsom salts, baking soda, vitamin C powder, and essential oils (usually lavender…just can’t go wrong with lavender). And while the bathtub is filling with this delicious soothingness, I sit and write. I do this almost every morning. And if I don’t do the bath, I try to *always write down my intentions for the day and lots of things I appreciate.

Then, my sweetie and I meditate, do a short powerful workout and some yoga and…we’re off!

There is so much power in this simple practice. I’d gotten out of the habit of doing it for awhile and I can definitely tell a difference. We’ve talked about inertia before and this is the perfect example of how inertia can be our friend or our foe.

Have you noticed that if you wake up and immediately start looking at emails or are immediately bombarded with problems that the rest of the day tends to feel out of control and like you’re putting out fires all day?

Conversely…when you take the time…even just 15-20 minutes…to center and think about delicious things, your day will go much much more easily.

Since I’ve been doing my morning ritual again, my days have been absolutely PHENOMENAL!! All in all, it takes me about an hour and a half, but again, you don’t have to spend that long. I’m just finding that I’m having so much fun and reveling in the yummy yummy of it so much that I want to keep on with it! So sometimes I do.

If you don’t have a morning ritual yet, start simple. Meditate for 15-20 minutes and then write down 5 things you really love and enjoy.

If you’d like something that’s a little more substantial, here’s what I do just about every morning:

1. Write down my intentions for the day. These are BROAD intentions. Things like: “Today I intend to have fun.” “Today I intend to love and adore myself unconditionally as much as possible.” “Today I intend to focus on what it is I want.” “Today I intend to play.”

2. Spend 10 minutes writing down things I love and appreciate. These can be as simple as running water or oranges. Or it can be a person. Anyone! Maybe the lovely checkout lady at your grocery store. If you can, write down a few reasons you love and/or appreciate it/them.

3. I lurvs my hot baths, so when it’s chilly out I take one filled with the goodness outlined above.

4. Meditate for 15-20 minutes. This can be guided or not. You can listen to music if you’d like to…or not. I like to mix it up.

5. Do some exercise. I love doing my High Intensity Interval Training followed by a little yoga (some days I’ll do a full yoga class as well, but that’s a lot;).

There! Now…you are ready to start your day. Fully and completely. I know not everyone has the time to do that much, so take what you’d like from my morning ritual and create your own. It is SO very worth it.