Not as easy as it looks

Hey Hey 

There is something that I feel really guilty of admitting...

Relaxing is so very often...REALLY REALLY HARD.

I was reminded of this over the weekend. Baby daddy took both kiddies out of the house Sunday to try and give me some rest time. 

He looked me in the eye as he piled the girls in the car and told me to "please use this time to rest", which is his way of also saying, "Try not to work".

The family had left and I had the house and a Sunday to myself 

I laid in bed for a long moment, overwhelmed with the choice... and after a solid wander around a very well-lived-in house (which involved picking up toys, putting nappies in the dryer, and un-packing then re-packing the dishwasher), I then jumped on the computer and stayed there, because that's what felt comfortable. (We also had a Black Friday sale and the backend process needed some serious tending too... thank you to everyone who purchased by the way! We can't wait to meet your loved ones!)

When doing something that we do actually really love, I guess the lines between relaxation and work can turn into a bit of a gray area...

Regardless of whether you love what you are doing or not, however, a gentle reminder that it can still burn you out.

We need breaks!

So yeah, that's my dirty not-so-little secret. I often feel like I am the only person in the world that feels this way but I know that is not true...

Monday Morning came and I was still feeling kind of down from the guilt for working on a day that my family told me to rest, so I did something that we very often tell everyone else to do...

Go to a darn yoga class 

Lucky for me, a dear friend was teaching, and not only did I get to spend 60 minutes with my breath & body, rather than in my head, but I got to catch up with her after over some green juice and just talk about whatever.

And as adults.... working, parenting, trying to remember to take all your vitamins, deciding what's for dinner, making said dinner, Mt Laundry.... how often do we give ourselves these moments?

The moments we know will be good for us, but we put so low on a priority list.

I do this ALL THE TIME. 

I dunno... I guess maybe we feel that there are so many wonderful things going on with the studio... so wonderful in fact that a part of me feels like that if I don't work my butt we haven't earned it? (crazy right?)

We are so exceptionally grateful.

For all of you reading this newsletter.

For the students in the booked-out Aerial Yoga class in the background as I type this.

The teachers and their attention to detail and holding space for this community.

Our booked out Teacher Training and each of the wonderful souls doing their absolute best to learn about such a big subject.

As well as two studios that, to me (I'm totally biased too btw) are perfect in every single way. Both are so different. Each with its own special magic. 

We are thankful for it. We love it all so much.

That being said... for this to be a relationship that goes both ways, the teachers, including myself, need to not run ourselves into the ground.

And I speak of this because I feel like I'm not the only one doing the things on a Sunday.

It feels like every single person we talk to has sooo much going on. 

Let's do the uncomfortable thing and break this pattern. 

The first step is awareness. From there we can make a change.

Continue to celebrate rest when we hear it being taken.

So it can become normalized in this Western world once again.

And hey, if you are one of those humans that is like, totally pro at chilling and finding balance with life, work, and therefore your mental well-being, then you go Glen Coco!

OK, That's my musings for this week.

I'm not totally sure where I was going with it but it feels really real for me and I was inspired to share.

Looking forward to catching you at the studio sometime soon. We still have our $22 trial deal and would love some new friends in the studio if it resonates with you.

Sending you lots of moments of work/family/life balance,

Annika xx

P.S The above photos were taken by one of our beloved students Charlotte Dabb over the weekend. We had a photoshoot down at Werrington Lakes. Its so beautiful there, and so local!

P.P.S We raised $650 for the Animal Welfare League over the weekend at our Restorative Yoga & Sound Healing Workshop with Katie and Vanessa (pictured above). Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou to everyone who came.

P.P.P.S One of our beautiful yoga teachers, Alaina Scutts, has so kindly offered all of our newsletter readers $10 off her Ecstatic Dance Workshops. Use code "WILDNIN" for this Friday here.