I heard this quote last week, and it has really stuck with me. I spend a lot of my mental energy in a state of joy and gratitude as it is, but the quote got me curious: which comes first? The chicken or the egg? (a tale as old as time😆)

So I've been using it as a sort of awareness check. Throughout the day, Im noticing the subtle difference between waiting for something joyful to happen so I can feel grateful... and intentionally starting with gratitude to see what follows.

It's been a surprisingly interesting experiment, and I encourage you to try it! You can practice it anywhere, but perhaps your yoga mat offers a good place to start:

Imagine you're in class, practicing a balance pose. You wobble, fall out, and immediately hear the inner critic saying something like "I should be better at this by now."

Now, there's nothing unusual about that response. Many of us have practiced self-criticism far longer than we've practiced yoga. No shame there.

But what if we paused and looked at the same moment through a different lens?

Instead of focusing on the few seconds we spent "out of balance", we might notice that we showed up today. We were willing to try. We challenged ourselves. We were curious. We learned something. We strengthened muscles that only strengthen through the process of wobbling, adjusting, and trying again.

The pose didn't go wrong because we fell. It was actually the whole point.

Maybe the invitation isn't to wait until everything is perfect before we feel good about ourselves. Maybe it's to notice what is already worthy of appreciation, right in the middle of the wobble.

From there, a different response becomes possible. And it might look a lot like gratitude.

Grateful to sing

You know how sometimes you hear a song that just lights you up?

Maybe it puts words to something you've been feeling but couldn't quite express. Maybe it reminds you of a person, a place, or a season of life. Maybe it just makes you smile. Whatever the reason, the resonance is so powerful that you immediately want to listen to it again.

That's the kind of magic we're celebrating at Average Joe Singing Club (though don't get too excited... we only listen to each song once😄).

Join us this Thursday, June 25, from Noon to 1 pm at St. Nicholas Church in downtown Bulverde. No auditions, no performances, and no experience necessary.

It's free, it's fun, and all are welcome.

Grateful to brunch

Do you remember TGIF?

It was a Friday night television lineup that many of us looked forward to all week. If you don't remember it, you were either too young or too busy making better Friday night choices than I was.

Either way, when I was a kid, I couldn't wait for it to start. Now, I look forward to the grown-up version of TGIF... and I call it Brunch Yoga😄

The lineup: It's Friday. We get to move. We get to eat. We get to laugh. And we get to do it all surrounded by the beauty of Spring Creek Garden Center. I feel like a kid again!

Join me this Friday, June 26, for an all-levels yoga class followed by an optional brunch at The Desert Spoon. Come for the yoga, stay for the french toast... or vice versa. I won't judge.

⚠️Fun fact: Apparently TGIF stood for "Thank Goodness It's Funny," which I discovered while writing this newsletter. So if anyone needs me, I'll be reexamining other things I've confidently believed since childhood🫠

Grateful to vibe

One of the things I'm most grateful for is that my job gives me opportunities to practice rest... and to create opportunities for others to experience it, too.

Not the kind of rest that happens when you finally collapse into bed at the end of the day. This is a different kind of rest.

When was the last time you made a conscious choice to slow down? To put the to-do list away for a little while? To stop trying to get somewhere else and simply be where you are?

That's exactly what we'll be practicing this Saturday, June 27, from 1-3 pm. The combination of gentle movement, intentional rest, and sound vibration helps create the conditions for the nervous system to shift from doing to being, from striving to settling.

Join Cherie and me this Saturday for Yoga + Sound Bath at Trilogy Hill Country. No experience necessary. Your only job is to get comfortable.

You can come for one or stay for both. The Sound Bath is $20 (you can pay Cherie directly when you arrive), but if you come for yoga, too, it's only $15! Talk about a win-win.

You can RSVP for any (or all) of the above events by visiting the link to my calendar below.

Well... this newsletter ended up being a little longer than I intended. If you've made it all the way to the end, thank goodness it's funny 🤣

In all seriousness, though, I am truly so grateful to share this practice with y'all. From the movement to the stillness, the writing to the singing, the conversations before class to the big exhale afterward.

And that's the experiment in action: The more I pay attention to what I'm grateful for, the more joy I seem to find.

Hope to see you somewhere this week.

With love,

Monica

(reply to me HERE)