December Theme - Replenishing

The time around the winter holidays is often referred to as the “Season of Giving”. And I’m all about giving, in numerous capacities. I enjoy giving gifts to loved ones and friends, of course, but I also enjoy giving in terms of helping, or being of service. I enjoy giving by sharing - whether its my physical yoga practice when I teach, or my “off the mat” yoga practice through this blog and through my daily interactions with others, or it’s my health advocacy work or sharing my travel knowledge, or it’s helping or being of service in some other way, I truly value and delight in giving. 

But also, as a giver (who also happens to be an introvert with social anxiety), I know that the “season of giving” can be taxing. It seems that giving requires us to be drawn in twenty different directions, often having to be “on” more than usual, expending more energy. Especially if we’re focused so much on giving that our own needs go on the back burner (often the case, I find), it can be physically exhausting, mentally and emotionally draining, and just overall feel depleting. If we aren’t careful, we can burn ourselves out on giving, and that’s not good for ourselves, or for those that we’re giving to (you can’t give fully to anyone or yourself if you’re too burnt out). 

So this month, my theme is replenishing. Whether it’s physically replenishing through making sure you carve out time for your practice, or it’s replenishing your rest and sleep, or it’s replenishing your energy, or your internal or spiritual connection through practices like meditation or prayer, or its some other type of replenishing, this month the focus is about making sure we keep our proverbial cup full enough. That while we focus on giving to others, we don’t lose site of also giving to ourselves. Each week, I’ll be sharing thoughts on different ways to replenish, along with some yoga poses and practices that can help with doing so. 

Happy December!