CO YOGA + Life® | Winter + Spring 2022-23

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When your children grow, they help you grow and expand, too. As they explore the world around them, you get to learn new things about your inner world as well, perhaps things you haven’t noticed before.

5 WAYS PARENTING

Makes You Braver by Julie M. Gentile

W

e love our babies long before the plus sign appears on a positive pregnancy test. When they’re born, we’re changed forever. Becoming a parent means entering a new season in life — a season that requires significant courage and boldness. We have to be prepared for the unexpected. We have to show up for anything. We have to be brave. There is no braver role than being a parent. Need proof? Just look at the COVID-19 pandemic. Raising the next generation while working remotely during a global crisis in an ever-changing world was not something any parent saw coming. It’s because of facing the unknown and the many unanticipated moments over these last few years that we’ve learned to become fearless advocates for our

ourselves, our children and the causes that are important to us. These times have called us to be braver than ever and to draw upon the deepest essence of who we are. Many of us made decisions we may have been too afraid to make before, such as a career change or moving to a new city. Others have needed to make drastic changes to align with new priorities. Becoming a parent has helped me remember the important things in life and incrementally evolve into who I am and who I am meant to be — the best version of myself: a brave, loving, compassionate, understanding mama teaching her children to carry on these values in their own lives, so they can do their part to help make the world a better place. We can inspire this same bravery and boldness in others. When we’re brave, we give others permission to be brave, too. +

JULIE M. GENTILE helps busy people create better self-care habits as a yoga teacher (RYT 500), author of two award-winning books: 108 Yoga and Self-Care Practices for Busy Mamas and How to Stay Calm in Chaos: An Everyday Self-Care Guide, and creator of the Stand Up for Your Self-Care blog and YouTube Channel. Connect with her @JulieGtheYogi, and sign up for her monthly self-care newsletter Nourish Note at JulieGtheYogi.com.

YOGALIFELIVE.COM

Your self-awareness is magnified. Kids echo their parents’ behaviors. It’s like looking into a mirror; our children are reflections of our emotions, personalities and tendencies. Raising kids has helped me examine my patterns, such as my tendency to overwork and overdo. I am more aware now of how my behavior and reactions impact my kids’ behaviors. Your compassion expands. Compassion for others and compassion for yourself increases in a major way. Becoming a parent teaches us to grow selfcompassion, to have kind words, kind thoughts and kind deeds toward ourselves. Thanks to our kids, we learn the value of being just as loving to ourselves as we are to them. You’re constantly learning. We may think we teach our children life’s lessons, and in many cases we do. However, our children teach us, too. They’re our best guides. Becoming aware of this requires the courage to listen with presence and the readiness to act on what we uncover. Over the months, years and decades of parenting, we slowly transition into better versions of ourselves. Our kids open our eyes, so we can see more clearly. They open our minds, so we can appreciate different points of view. They open our souls, so that we can know unconditional love. Sometimes, I’m not ready for what my kids are here to teach me because of resistance and old habits, and sometimes, I’m ready to bring on the growth. You don’t stay static. Life is not static, and neither are we. Although it may look similar day to day when you’re working and raising kids, life is different every day, because there is constant growth and change happening within and around us — even if it’s not visible on the surface. Like nature, we adapt with the fluctuations of the seasons and during our own seasons of life. Even subtle change requires courage.

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FEATURED GATHERINGS

4min
pages 66-67

RECIPES

3min
pages 64-65

CONSCIOUS BRAVERY

3min
page 62

THE LOVE AFFAIR WITH MY SCALE

3min
page 63

GOOD VIBRATIONS

4min
pages 56-57

WINTER SOLSTICE + SPRING EQUINOX

4min
pages 54-55

GEAR GUIDE

3min
pages 52-53

NAVIGATING THE WORLD OF INFERTILITY

10min
pages 58-60

5 WAYS PARENTING MAKES YOU BRAVER

3min
page 61

BIG CITY MOUNTAINEERS

3min
pages 50-51

EREM

4min
page 49

MAKING A SNOW LABYRINTH

3min
page 48

VETOGA

4min
pages 46-47

TRANSFORMING DOUBT INTO DARING

4min
pages 42-43

BREATHING FOR BRAVERY

4min
page 41

TRAVEL

1min
page 39

FINDING COURAGE

2min
page 38

WHAT ON EARTH ARE THE AKASHIC RECORDS?

6min
pages 44-45

WHAT WE LOVE

4min
pages 36-37

SHOP LOCAL + SUSTAINABLE

5min
pages 34-35

CO ESCAPE TO RIDGWAY

14min
pages 28-33

MEDITATION IN A CUP

3min
page 25

YOGA + LIFE READING CORNER

4min
pages 22-23

COLORADO INFLUENCER

4min
pages 12-13

THE TORCH OF A TABOO ART FORM

3min
page 24

STUDIOS

6min
pages 20-21

DEEP TISSUE RELIEF WITH ASHIATSU MASSAGE

4min
pages 26-27

TEACHERS + LEADERS

14min
pages 14-19

ABOUT THE COVER

3min
pages 8-9
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