Category: From the Blog

One last Breath -(ing email)

Posted on February 22, 2021 by - From the Blog

 

Hello and Happy Monday!

We are THREE short weeks away from springing the clocks forward again! That’s right March 14th is right around the corner and then we’ll have all that evening daylight to get outside! I spent this past weekend in yoga training… moving, breathing, talking and meditating.  And speaking of nasal breathing… this will be my last email about it for a while! (Next Month we’ll be talking about something just as powerful!)

Soooooo, have you tried the Nasal Breathing yet?  If you start googling this you will find SO many benefits from just a few short minutes of practicing each day.

Things like:

  • reduced exposure to foreign substances.
  • increase air flow to arteries, veins, and nerves.
  • increase oxygen uptake and circulation.
  • slow down breathing and lower blood pressure
  • improve lung volume.
  • help your diaphragm work properly.
  • Better SLEEP
  • Less SnoringEverything about this is a magical miracle for your body and your mind! Why Wouldn’t you try it!We spent a lot of time nasal breathing this weekend, and then I slept 9 hours last night. I feel unstoppable today so I’m working on the schedule, the memberships and the MindBody system for re-opening. We were hoping to open March 1st – we’re just waiting for Benton county to be allowed more than 6 people in the studio. Hoping for a positive press release this Friday!WHEN we DO open, we will also be carrying Vital Proteins Waters at the studio if you’re into those delightfully refreshing waters and we’re planning our next LoveStrong Hikes and a LoveStrong Adventure Retreat for early Summer! (And by adventure you know I mean extreme relaxing, wandering/walking/hiking and meditating in nature!)

    Please let me know if I can help in anyway with any of our ONLINE classes. We’re still going strong in the virtual world, filming classes every single day for you all.

    And not to brag but we’ve gotten even better over the past year. We have so much variety in there: Classes for back pain, core strength, chair yoga, a Groovy FLO45 with tunes, a few short classes and some guided meditations.

    We WILL see you soon,

    Much Love,

    Suzanne

 

  • Additional Resources/books/websitesBreathe, James Nestor
    The Oxygen Advantage, Patrick McKeown
    Brian Mackenzie, Extreme Athlete Breath Training

 

Full Steam Ahead – Keep Going with LOVE

Posted on February 11, 2021 by - From the Blog

Audio Version
Okay, new leaf, new note. I’m turning over a new leaf, firing up the engines and starting a new series called, ‘Keep Going…with Love’. Because I’ve been telling myself for a year now, ‘I think I can, I think I can, I think I can… keep going’. I’m committing publicly to sending this weekly. Yep, Every Single. Week. So if you want off the Love train, now’s the time to depart. (the train analogy is literally just falling out of my brain onto the keyboard, I can’t stop). So I’ll keep chugging along. Lol. But before you decide . . . here’s where this train is headed:  Each week I’ll be doing three things: 1. Highlighting what we’re focused on in training and maybe even some behind the scenes pics! 2. Updating any schedule changes, studio classes and online offerings, with hundreds of awesome videos including a brand new 10 minute flow alongside other short classes.  I’m quite proud of all our teachers and their ability to adapt and teach so many different types of classes. They deserve a round of applause! 3. Using my enthusiasm, optimimism and clever entertainment to ENCOURAGE all of us to keep going and keep practicing so we all find our way to feeling LoveStrong. (did you know that ‘en-courage’ means ‘to inspire with heart’. or ‘to breathe in with heart’. Cool, right? That’s pretty much all we’re doing here… we just need to KEEP doing it!  WHY am I doing this? Because I just had the best Root Canal, ever! Yep, you read that right. I have been slightly terrified of the dentist for 40 years because of a horrible experience when I was young. But I had an amazingly easy and painless experience this week. And I learned three things from it: 1. You don’t have to have that block in your mouth – as an adult, they let you just hold your mouth open on your own. (mindblower! why has no one ever told me that!) 2. Whatever they give you to relax you really works! I was not able to nasal breathe my way throught it for 2 1/2 hours. 3. Your dentist and their team really matters. You should feel good about them. Shout out to the conductors and their crews: Dr. Hagerty & Dr. Wiens   See, before the root canal, I was starting to lose steam. A year is a long time to keep the coals burning and pistons firing without passengers. I’ve been telling myself to just keep going even if I can’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel. Somehow I knew if I just kept going, eventually the winds would shift. And they have. We’re still here and we are about to RE OPEN!!! (stay tuned). All it took was having a great dental experience to remind me that inspiration, courage and innovation can come anytime, from anywhere. So, all aboard, don’t be afraid. This train is getting back on track and we’re going places… together. See you soon and much love to you all, : ) Suzanne p.s  You might have already received an email notification of these posts… because I forgot that it sends you a separate notification if you’ve subscribed to our website. At least you won’t miss out! ; )

Watch your Mouth! LOL

Posted on February 11, 2021 by - From the Blog

Audio Version

 At first glance you probably thought this would be about profanity… one of my favorite topics… because I love all words equally. Nope. It’s literally about your mouth. And Pranayama – breathing (and energy) practice.  

Are you a mouth breather? How do you know? Do you know? Really? I would have said absolutely, 100%, hands down, NO Way, am I a mouth breather. But you know what happened? I started paying more attention. Because I read that book last year by James Nestor. (You know the one I couldn’t stop talking about – Breath) And now that I’m paying attention… I catch myself ALL THE TIME… with my mouth just hanging ajar. Just a little bit, but still! I KNOW better!  

And then I started paying even more attention when I’m walking, hiking or running. (just kidding, I never run). But even on an uphill trek, I’m trying to keep my mouth closed and just rely on nasal breathing. It’s takes some effort! And the second I stop paying attention, there it goes. It does this in part because of something called air hunger. Weird, huh?  

I know I know, you’re thinking, ‘big deal, so what’. It can’t have THAT big of an impact. Well, I’m here to tell you IT DOES TOO! (read that again emphatically in the tone of an 8 year–old telling on a sibling).  

Here’s why it matters. It changes your CO2 levels and your tolerance to it, which lowers the nitric oxide that triggers your oxygen uptake, which affects your nervous system and your heart. PLUS, it changes the shape of your jaw and your smile and your nasal passageways over time. Ever struggle with breathing? Know someone who snores? Asthma? Deviated septum? Allergies?  

Now I’m not stating professionally that closing your mouth will fix all that overnight. Definitely Not over ONE night. But there is significant evidence that many breathing obstacles can magically be adjusted. 

And by magically, I mean the magic of biology, physiology and all the other medical ologies. Your body is magic, I mean seriously, can you really deny that after seeing the miracles of birth and hair growth? C’mon where does all that hair come from – when you spend years shaving and cutting it month after month after month for decades! (not my brother, hasn’t had to cut his hair since he was 28, LOL).  

Breathing challenge this month:  Try two things:
 

  1. Breathe through your nose as much as possible and see what happens?
  2. Try inhaling for 5.5 seconds and exhaling for 5.5 seconds for a little bit every day.  

Eventually see if you can breathe that way for one full minute which would = 5.5 breaths. 
Cool math, right?   

I felt compelled to reiterate this fascinating information on breathing. I want everyone to breathe a little easier this year for all our sakes. This is a good start. Thank you for trying it.  

And now that I’ve got you breathing easy and feeling calmer… I also feel compelled to remind you that we are doing everything possible to stay open until we can re-open.  It’s not feasible to open for 5 people but we are ready and willing as soon as we get a greener light. In the meantime, we also know that even when we open, not everyone is coming back. So we’d like to ask if at all possible, please spread the word about our online classes, library and workshops. Every little bit helps. Thank you.  

Until next time… breathe easy. 

Much Love, 
: ) 
Suzanne  

p.s. Check out my next message about the best Root Canal Ever and the more practical applications of nasal breathing!

What does Spiritual mean to you?

Posted on February 2, 2021 by - From the Blog

The word spiritual is often linked closely with religious, so let me first make the distinction I’m shooting for here.

In my experience, connecting with my spirit means I connect with a deeper part of myself where I’m not thinking about daily routines but where I can feel, sense and hear my heart. Simply letting my mind rest and wander. Not necessarily thinking, but not trying ‘not’ to think either. Open to whatever emerges. (We use to call that free time).

I do this mostly with meditation and writing but in recent years, I’m finding another powerful path to this connection through hiking/walking. (I always add the word walking because I don’t want to imply that I’m deep in the forest or on a mountain top cavorting with bears and eagles having a mystical experience. Sometimes I’m simply walking around the junior high track). Although I have had some pretty interesting encounters with baby squirrels lately!

Do you feel spiritual? How do you connect with your spirit?

With yoga, meditation and writing there is a legit flow that occurs when this connection happens:

* We move and breath and Energy shifts.
* Relaxation follows, brains waves move into Alpha/Theta range
* And that’s when the magic happens.
* The rest of the world melts away for a bit.
* The connection is more clear between your head and heart.
* This is when Ideas break through, Epiphanies emerge.
* Writing them down, expounding on them brings even more flow.
* It takes a little practice. And you can access it anytime you want.

 

In this way, whether magic or science… I believe that everyone is spiritual. Everyone can connect to their own unique spirit/heart/soul/god/universe/consciousness and receive wisdom and insight that is specific to YOU. Whatever raises your energetic frequency will feel good AND connect you to your spirit.

Another way is to surround yourself with LOVE. (and wear it too! ) Seriously. You’ve heard of Dr. Emoto, right? He put positive words on some water containers and negative words on others. The positive ones formed beautiful, symmetrical patterns and the negative ones formed uneven and broken patterns. He saw water as a “blueprint for our reality” and that emotional “energies” and “vibrations” could change its physical structure. (What are we mostly made of? Water, energy and space)

Surrounding ourselves with LOVE raises our energetic frequencies which allows stronger, loving connections. So until we can gather together, connect and surround ourselves with loving peeps, we hope that you will enjoy wrapping yourself up in our new Love Shirts. We GREATLY appreciate your support as this is also part of our efforts to stay open and practicing with you.

Much Love to all of you – We hope to see you soon!
: )
Suzanne

Questions I would never ask you

Posted on December 31, 2020 by - From the Blog

Three Questions I would never ask:

1. What do you want to do with your life?

2. Why are you still single?

3. Are you getting a vaccine?

I could write paragraphs about each of these and why they’re troublesome. But it’s not my place in life to school you on conversational ettiquette.

Where it IS my place to monitor the conversation is inside Love Yoga.

So you’ll never have to worry about those awkward conversations here.

We have a strict policy of
No politics, No periods, No pandemic, No pressure.
Nobody comes to yoga to rehash the current state of affairs and nobody needs to know who you voted for or why you’re moody.
Zero Pressure here.

This is YOUR time. Your time to go inside.
To get clear, strong and calm.

We come here to shift our energy in our minds and bodies so that we feel strong enough to embrace the chaos of living. And we intentionally created a distraction free space.

It is our responsibility to uphold that space for everyone. EVERY.ONE.

So we won’t ask you awkward questions and we discourage awkward conversations. (just to be clear, I’m not saying don’t have awkward conversations, I’m saying don’t do it here during yoga)

And because we’ve created such an awesome space, we really want to keep it. So we WILL humbly ask you to particiapte!

Do you know anyone who could use a little more LOVE?
Because we now have:

a 7 day free all access online pass for new yogis

Two new shirts to share

2021 LoveStrong hike schedule and a Beanie!

plus a new SOUL COMPASS WORKSHOP

Here’s our humble ask:
Please share Love Yoga with someone?

(Also Let me know what you think of our New little
Surprise on the LOVESTRONG page below!)

We hope to see you soon,
Much Love to all of You.
Happy Friday!

Suzanne

p.s. I want to keep doing this my life.

Is getting online making you Grinchy?

Posted on October 12, 2020 by - From the Blog

The two questions I get most often:

1. What is this UnGrinching thing about?
2. Why can’t I find the online class??

First, The UnGrinching!  

The very first UnGrinching was my attempt to lift my own mood during the holidays. I figured there must be others that could use a little more holiday camaraderie. Like extra yoga challenges, UnGrinchy gift baskets and candlelit restorative classes.

So starting in October that year, I made myself participate more. I dressed up for Halloween. A holiday I despise on many levels. But as it turns out I loved the wig! And I think we handed out peanut butter cups and floss?We added a holiday yoga challenge, we gave away gifts for every day of the 12 days of Christmas! And last year we brought in the Gnome Explosion! This year we created a new Grinchy postcard challenge so be sure to get your card and lift your spirits… and maybe someone else’s too!

Plus you could win some great swag, a grinch basket, yoga passes, our 10 year anniversary Love Yoga quilt and more!

Second, The online classes

We have tried various platforms since March. Five to be exact. We are constantly striving to streamline this experience… for you!

We’ve tried Zoom, Namastream, Youtube, Kajabi, and now Mindbody Online’s own Livestreaming platform.  a
Nothing has been streamlined.
But we’re not giving up.
In fact, we’re embracing the practice even more.
Because the word keeps giving us golden opportunities to practice.
We’re right here with you… in spirit. ; )

Has it really been a Decade?

Posted on September 20, 2020 by - From the Blog

You guys are probably tired of hearing me gush about how thankful we always are for you. But we are. We really, truly are.  For every one of you. For every teacher. For every breath over the past ten years.

So I’ll skip the gushing for now and tell you…. it feels weird to not be having a big celebration. I didn’t really know how else to celebrate… so I’m going with a slide show for now…. and a big celebration… next year?? That gives us a whole year to plan something fabulous!

So please send us your pics!
Or post them and tag us!

Mom and I have surprisingly few pictures of us together in our love shirts… But here they are: 2010, 2013, 2019 and 2020. I love the SFO pic. We do love San Francisco. Mom worked at Bank of America there. I was born there. And we’ve gone back a few times to visit.  (And when we ARE all able to gather again… we’ll go back and do the SFO Love Yoga Tour!)

Please Post or send us a pic in your shirt! 
(Here’s a few fun hashtags!)
#tenyearsoflove #loveyogastudio #lovestrong
#isurvived2020withLove

New LOVE shirts are on the way with our upcoming annual holiday UnGrinching!

Click here to see the pictures as they roll in!  

So Much Love,
💚💚💚
Suzanne

Silver Lining Moments

Posted on September 13, 2020 by - From the Blog

Enter your SLM Below…. here’s why:

We volunteered last night and we donated and we cleaned. And here’s what we learned. They didn’t really need us. (This might take a sec to explain).

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See the passage in the above pic? From a wise old guy named T. Krishnamacharya. This is my job. My literal job. To take teachings from ancient practices of yoga and make them useful in today’s world. 🤔

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One might also say my job is to manage a studio that offers physical fitness and mental resiliency via yoga postures and breathing. 💪🏼

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As you can see in the picture… PLANKs are a very small of the practice. (#3 – Asana)

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But you know what my actual job is…?

It’s to be encouraging, comforting, uplifting, and energizing. Because that allows us to be able to elevate our attitudes, (#1&2), take care of our bodies (#3&4) and focus our minds (#5&6) so that we can enjoy the interactions we have in this world (#7&8).

With each other!

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That’s the contribution I want to make in THIS world.

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However…. I was starting to feel hesitant about continually finding silver linings in 2020. Because so many are struggling. So we volunteered at fairgrounds last night to be more helpful. More hands on. And I learned that even during all this chaos… someone who’s down on their luck still realizes that the world keeps spinning. And while they appreciate the helping hand… they also appreciate the encouragement, the possibilities and opportunities.

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So even when others are struggling, hurting or down. Even when it seems perpetually dark… a smile, a laugh, a light, and someone using your first name… is encouraging. (Shout out to the Temp Taker last night – if you see this).

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Someone showing you a silver lining and a possibility… is a relief. Compassion doesn’t mean everyone needs to suffer. Someone needs to be able to light the path.

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So I’m keeping my rose colored glasses on. I’ll continue to be annoyingly optimistic. And I am purposely practicing less plank. (But I won’t throw the baby out with the bath water. You can still plank your little heart out).

 

You can also expect to hear more mantras in meditation, more silver linings in savasana and more focus on LOVE. Because that’s what we do here. We’ve just been fairly quiet about it…. until now 😉

 

Thanks to my trainer last night for encouraging me to keep writing. You’re the inspiration for this one. (It’s those little things).

 

Oh! And they didn’t really need us last night because so many people have volunteered! We stayed til midnight so some of the late, late crew could stay home…. so my Silver Lining Moment: Good people everywhere donating and volunteering.

WTF Update?

Posted on September 10, 2020 by - From the Blog

So for those of you that don’t know, we’re a little engulfed in smoke from surrounding fires. Some of you are in evacuation prep zones and some have already evacuated. (yes, we’re saying it again… wtf2020?)

And In case you’ve been really out of the loop….

The past few months have been a bit of a roller coaster.  And you know I’m all about making molehills out of mountains… So yes, there’s been some disruption. Some shutdowns, school closures, politics, pandemics and now… wildfires.  I’m not even gonna capitalize those words for emphasis. You feel it.

We are all getting the FULL EARTH EXPERIENCE!

So I want to get my money’s worth and enjoy the ride. And when I step off this ride, I want to look back and think…. ‘TOTALLY WORTH IT!’.

So, here’s how this is gonna go over here at LOVE: 

1.  We are currently open as scheduled and plan to be open as long as it feels safe because we want you to have at least one clean, safe, breatheable place to go if you need it. Most of us live close by and the studio feels clean and clear thus far. If we cancel a class it will show up cancelled in the App and Mindbody and I will also post on social media.

2.  YOU have access to our MBO Online Video Library. We are continually uploading past and present classes.

There might be a few little glitches with our library that we don’t know about cause that’s already happened. But I’m over here walking the treadmill, reading the oldies and watching for any tech glitches that I can resolve.

We’re new to the App thing. We’re new to the wildfire thing but we are NOT new to the EMBRACING CHANGE AND FOCUSING ON THE PRESENT MOMENT. 

So I encourage you to practice with us.  Practice making molehills our of mountains when you can. Practice feeling calm, alert and ready to ride. Practice taking good care of yourself regardless of your circumstances or environment. Eat well, move a lot, connect with others … and yourself.

OKAY, I better pump the brakes while this is still counts as a brief update!

For anyone impacted by fires and smoke, the resources are up and listed all over Linn County, but if you need something or can’t find what you’re looking for… please call me.
I can help. This is my home turf and I know it well and I know people.

For anyone not impacted but feeling stuck at home, jump on in here and practice with us. Or jog in place, or do somersaults, paint the bathroom, Marie Kondo a closet. Please do NOT get sucked down the social media lashing out unless it’s something we can help with.

Much love and safety to all of you,
: )
Suzanne

10 Years . . . and now . . .

Posted on August 30, 2020 by - From the Blog

A Decade of Love.

I graduated high school and moved out when I was 17. I moved to Santa Clara, California and got a job at Sizzler. I worked there for three days scooping sour cream into those little metal tins. It was disgusting.

But before I got that job I partied for three months like a native Californian.  (which coincidentally, I am. Born in South San Francisco)

So my future wasn’t super clear at this point and my 18th birthday was a blur. All I remember is that I asked my Mom for a bus ticket home… and got it. Happy birthday to me. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Fast forward through brighter days, better jobs, a baby. It and many more birthdays… to TEN years ago this week. I got an early birthday surprise. In August 2010, I completed my yoga teacher training with the expectation that I might teach a couple classes a week where I was working. (Yay, me!). The manager, however, did not like those plans. (Boo, her : (.  They let me go … surprise!

And 9 days later we opened Love Yoga. (Yay, Us!)

I spent the first two days in a little bit of shock. But over the next seven days… I found a space where the landlord (Marc) took a chance on me. I outlined a schedule, made flyers and business cards. Ordered mats, set up utilities, hung up the sign and opened the doors. Another yoga teacher (Marcia) miraculously appeared in the coffee shop next door (Boccherini’s) and offered to teach.

 

And then some of YOU magically appeared. We held our official grand opening 10 days later … on my actual, 42nd birthday. Thanks, Mom 💚

 

Birthdays aren’t always what we hope they’ll be. The more of them I have though the more I realize what a gift it is to be a human being on this planet. I’m not saying it’s always a fun gift… but when your odds of becoming a human being over a walrus, a mosquito, a squirrel Or a cow… are rare… it seems like a pretty good gift.

 

These last nine birthdays though, Have been awesome! We’ve gathered at the studio to celebrate Love Yoga which yes, is an extension of me and my passion for healthy living, connections and feeling good. Feeling Happy, healthy, strong and brave.

 

We’ve celebrated over the years with Dutch Brothers, Ninkasi brewing, Jollymonz pizza, Brew Dr. Kombucha, Homegrown Oregon foods, No Dinx signature shirts, live music, hula hoops, tree pose challenges, cupcakes, little bonfires, Subaru Love and LoveStrong Hikes! And all our fabulous teachers past and present.

Some of you might remember Mara’s baked goods, Maggie’s Strala class, Laura’s Core kicker, Katie’s chakra bowl restorative, Sabrina’s power flow, Kelly and Anna’s yoga/massage classes, just to name a few.

 

Instead of a party this year, we’re getting an APP! A real, legit, Apple store App. It should be ready next week. I’ve been holding off writing because I wanted to have a big reveal! I wanted to I nclude all the links to our new schedule, new app, new T-shirts and some kind of plan for a 10 year anniversary celebration. For some reason the stars didn’t align for that just yet. And many of you have been asking what’s up…. so consider this a brief (😂) update.

 

As you may have noticed recently… We are all living in a bit of limbo. Some have called it a claustrophobic feeling. Some have compared it to Groundhog Day… The movie. LOL. Some are calling it the great pause, others are calling it a vacation and some are caught in a parental nightmare. Whatever this time means to you… It’s not advisable to gather for a big party right now.

 

So I’m in a bit of limbo also… I don’t have a grand anniversary plan. And I’m okay with that. My plans right now are focused on figuring out how to stay connected with you through our online offerings and keeping the studio open and safe.

 

I’m thinking we bump the party to a New Years celebration.

 

I am just so grateful for every single one of you. For each of the last 10 years. For each of these last nine birthdays. Here’s to the next TEN!  (Many of you have asked how it’s going here – that’s another email but for now I can say we are hesitant but definitely optimistic! 😉

 

I’ll try to write again sooner… Hopefully in a few days with all the links to the new app, the new T-shirts, the new schedules, and a new library of 20 and 30 minute classes. Plus new chakra workshops, a mini teacher training (message me directly for this) and more sound meditations!

 

We are upgrading and improving all the time… So if you have any special requests for online classes or studio classes now is a great time to let us know. We are totally open to suggestions and able to create pretty quickly to help keep us all connected, calm, encourages and practicing.

 

Hang in there….

Nobody ever said it would be easy…

They said it would be worth it.