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By Allison Waguespack | Nov 8, 2021

Last week I experienced what is called in Buddhist Psychology “a river of feelings” as I watched my daughter play field hockey for the final time before she heads off to college in the Fall. I went home after the game and instead of fighting the feelings I let them all wash over me– sadness, joy,…

By Allison Waguespack | Sep 7, 2021

I have been struggling lately with the quickness with which people jump to judgement of others and last week I had a situation where I noticed that reactivity in someone else’s behavior and then my instinct to do the same. I happened to read a Facebook post by an acquaintance that was very judgmental and…

By Allison Waguespack | Apr 19, 2021

My message changed mid-week this week. Sometimes the universe gives us very clear messages that we cannot ignore. This week, the first full week of school for my children and the beginning of spring baseball season for my son, felt more normal than any other over the past year. However, I am quite out of…

By Allison Waguespack | Mar 1, 2021

The realization that it has been almost a year of living through a global pandemic can stir up some intense emotions. That being said, maybe it was the recent trip with my extended family, volunteering at a vaccination clinic, the first glimmers of Spring in the Northeast or the discussion of my children going back…

By Allison Waguespack | Jan 10, 2021

Last week my daughter and I spent many hours practicing for her driving test. Her biggest concern going into the test was the dreaded parallel parking. In NY, no matter how well you complete the rest of your skills, if one of your tires taps the curb during parallel parking you automatically fail the test.…

By Allison Waguespack | Nov 22, 2020

The Universe is amazing. It often sends us exactly what we need to learn. This week is Thanksgiving which makes last week my birthday week. Usually I look forward to my birthday, in part because for me it signifies the beginning of the festive holiday season. This year was different. I was not feeling any…

By Allison Waguespack | Oct 19, 2020

Last week I was collecting information about a program I am set to begin in February and I received some news that I did not like. I found myself becoming extremely angry. It was the type of anger that you can feel in your whole body. It was so overwhelming that I had to take…

By Allison Waguespack | Sep 19, 2020

A couple of weeks ago my family and I took the opportunity to travel to Wyoming and visit both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. They were each extraordinary in their own ways but as we explored them we noticed many areas of woods that had been burned from forest fires and in various stages…

By Allison Waguespack | Aug 16, 2020

Sometimes more than others, the uncertainty of our collective path forward weighs on me. These past couple of weeks I was very attuned to the fact that the words “I don’t know” were coming out of my mouth extremely often. As much as we all try to live in the moment, we are trained through…

By Allison Waguespack | Jun 22, 2020

I think we can all relate to the struggle of not letting ourselves go down a dark path. When there is so much fear and suffering in the world right now, it really is an important practice. The below quote from Ghandi truly explains this power and it became the message I shared with my…

By Allison Waguespack | May 11, 2020

Several days ago I hit bottom. I was completely mentally drained and had nothing left to give to my family. I spent three days existing on empty. My spiritual well was dry. First I had to realize what was happening. For weeks I had been depleting my “backup resources” without having the chance to re-fill.…

By Allison Waguespack | Mar 10, 2020

Last week I watched a short Valedictorian speech given by an 18 year old High School Senior. I will confess I was skeptical at first. I questioned what wisdom this student could impart on me. Wisdom comes with age and experience after all right? Well as I watched the three minute speech, I realized…

By Allison Waguespack | Feb 11, 2020

We all are busy. In fact most of us wear our busy-ness like a badge. I am a Yoga and Mindfulness teacher & writer, a mother of two children, an avid community volunteer and a wife. Bouncing between worlds is a skill I have mastered over the years but it requires a level of organization and…

By Allison Waguespack | Jan 21, 2020

I spent quite of bit of time last week thinking about the quote “Slow and steady wins the race” from Aesop’s fable The Tortoise and the Hare. Through many times in my life this has been a motto of sorts for me. As I checked the boxes from childhood to adulthood to motherhood and beyond…

By Allison Waguespack | Dec 17, 2019

There has been a bit of upheaval in my home and work life over the last few weeks. Both my daughter and my husband underwent significant, but scheduled (and non-life threatening thank goodness) surgeries one week apart. In addition, one of the studios that I have been teaching at for 11 years has unexpectedly closed…

By Allison Waguespack | Nov 6, 2019

Last week, I arrived home from hosting my third Yoga Retreat. It was my second time hosting it on this special little Island off the coast of mainland Belize called Thatch Caye. The island is one mile long and only 11 acres. There are just 15 guest rooms so when you arrive on this island…

By Allison Waguespack | Sep 24, 2019

I was talking with a friend this past week and she was sharing that she had gotten involved in a couple of volunteer committees and was really enjoying making a contribution and seeing the good she was doing. What started out as a very positive conversation however evolved into her worries that…

By Allison Waguespack | Aug 26, 2019

I used to think that when a similar theme arose in several different contexts in my life that it was a coincidence. As I have grown as a Mindfulness & Yoga Teacher (and as a human being) I have realized that those are actually lessons from the universe offered to me in many different ways;…

By Allison Waguespack | Jul 14, 2019

Two weeks ago when I was prepping to teach my classes I realized I didn’t have a message to share. I sat quietly the evening before my first class and thought about why that was the case. I knew it wasn’t that the universe had no messages for me, instead it was clear that…

By Allison Waguespack | Jun 16, 2019

Recently I read an opinion piece that ran in the NY Times. It truly inspired me and became my message for last week. I shared the article with my classes in small segments throughout our practice. (The article is attached below if you would like to read it) The article is entitled; Let’s hear it for…

By Allison Waguespack | May 25, 2019

The word Practice in the context of Yoga implies growth and exploration… moving forward on our journey. However, often in our lives we fall into patterns of habitual thoughts and actions that develop out of a different kind of practice; the practice of comfort and complacency. There is nothing wrong with habitual thoughts and actions…

By Allison Waguespack | Apr 28, 2019

This past week I taught at a Wellness fair at my son’s school. Two large groups of 4th & 5th graders and I went on an underwater yoga adventure together; exploring animal and sea life poses. We started off in our boat pose that took us out into the ocean and we even simulated…

By Allison Waguespack | Mar 3, 2019

Last week I was blessed enough to spend seven days in beautiful Aruba with my family. Usually those trips bring me lots of inspiration. Although we were having a great time and I was very relaxed, no messages from the universe had clearly come through as of day 5 of the trip. That morning…

By Allison Waguespack | Jan 11, 2019

Sometimes the universe sends us subtle messages, and other times the message is very loud and clear. I live in a small town on a dirt road right next to 250 acres of woods about 15 miles north of NYC. I walk my dogs in those woods several times a week. Often during the week…

By Allison Waguespack | Dec 6, 2018

I have been thinking a lot about the distinction and dichotomy of Pleasure versus Joy. I was partially inspired to explore this by an interaction between my children. They were having an argument last week (I know it is shocking that siblings argue) and my son who is younger said something very harsh to his…

By Allison Waguespack | Nov 16, 2018

Last week I had a difficult couple of days. Sometimes in our quest to grow and be better we occasionally falter, we make mistakes, we don’t see. Then when we come out of the blindness things can look pretty dark. I needed to remind myself that none of us is perfect and our journey…

By Allison Waguespack | Sep 13, 2018

As we start to get into the swing of school I have been thinking back to the last couple of weeks of summer which included a lot of unstructured time with my kids. Several times I found myself asking one of them (sometimes quite incredulously) what their intention was after a negative comment or action. This…

By Allison Waguespack | Aug 5, 2018

I was chatting with a friend last week and she was recounting a story of an acquaintance of hers who had come to the realization that because her life was plugging along well enough, she never took a step back along the way to explore what she truly wanted out of her journey. It…

By Allison Waguespack | Jul 2, 2018

Last week I dropped my daughter off for her first day as a camp counselor at the camp she attended 10 years earlier when she was just four years old. As I watched her walk down the hill towards the entrance I caught my breath. I started thinking about the cycle of things–the circular…

By Allison Waguespack | May 18, 2018

10 years ago this month my family relocated from South Florida to a small town that sits along the Hudson River 15 miles north of NYC. At that time I had a 4-year-old daughter and an 8 month old son and I was definitely in the weeds trying to get settled and learn the ropes…

By Allison Waguespack | Apr 24, 2018

I recently attended the Women of the World conference. It is always humbling and inspiring to learn about courageous, powerful, smart and innovative women from around the world. We got to hear a woman who with $10 and 7 other women started the peaceful revolution that ended the war in Liberia 11 years ago and…

By Allison Waguespack | Mar 27, 2018

Recently I was inspired by the school walkouts protesting gun violence that swept across the nation. My daughter participated in the walkout at her school and a condition of participating without any punishment (as it was technically walking out of school and not a school sanctioned event) was that she had to write a…

By Allison Waguespack | Feb 16, 2018

Last week I again found my inspiration through my 10 year old son’s basketball experience. There was 5 seconds left in his game and his team was losing by 1 point. They had been undefeated up to this point and this was one of their last games of the season. My son was standing…

By Allison Waguespack | Jan 19, 2018

Last week I was inspired by the stories of two different amazing, powerful young women. One of them offered incredible wisdom that she asked to be shared with the world upon her passing. One of them beat overwhelming odds and is truly a miracle. Holly Butcher was a fun-loving 28 yr old who lost her…

By Allison Waguespack | Dec 20, 2017

As a long-time yoga teacher I am blessed to have the opportunity to guide my students in the practice of Yoga each week. While I so enjoy the chance to see students completely immersed in their bodies, the true gift is when I get to share with them the tools to implement this practice off…

By Allison Waguespack | Nov 7, 2017

I just recently returned from hosting my first Yoga Retreat in Tulum, Mexico. It was an incredible experience and it reminded me of how powerful stepping away from life to go inside and take a spiritual vacation can be. When we channel the full power of our energy into connecting deeper with ourselves, magic can…

By Allison Waguespack | Sep 13, 2017

Last week I was on a run with a good friend and her 8 yr old son joined us on his bike. Periodically while we were running my friend would gently instruct her son to stop and wait, or look for cars and she sometimes offered him the chance to ride up ahead. As we…

By Allison Waguespack | Jul 17, 2017

This week I was inspired by the podcast “S Town”. The story itself is very dark but there was a theme woven through it that touched me. The idea that time is moving, measured and tracked but cannot be stopped; that we have a choice about what we are going to do…

By Allison Waguespack | Jun 27, 2017

This week the national news was my source of inspiration. The story of the teenage girl who was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for texting encouragement to her boyfriend to commit suicide inspired me to talk to my own teenager about the power of our actions and our words; both spoken and written. We cannot…

By Allison Waguespack | Jun 14, 2017

Recently I spent the weekend in South Florida and I had the chance to again be inspired by the artist Peter Tunney (he is the artist who painted all the Gratitude billboards in NYC) — this time while visiting Wynwood Walls in Miami where he has a gallery. When I…

By Allison Waguespack | Apr 28, 2017

Samskaras are defined as karmic patterns. We all have Samskaras or habits in our daily lives, some good and some less so. It can take a very short time to develop a habit of thought or action and then it is with us. From there it takes conscious focus and attention to notice or acknowledge…

By Allison Waguespack | Dec 30, 2016

As I was thinking about the end of 2016 and my personal intention for 2017, Gratitude came to mind. I have struggled this year with some physical issues that are slowly resolving and there have definitely been times along the way that I have not felt all that grateful. In addition to and partially because…

By Allison Waguespack | Nov 18, 2016

Better late yoga than no yoga is something I always say to my students if they worry about being late to class. I am holding to that philosophy as well when it comes to my blog posts (as this post is a few weeks late). Over the last 3 months I have been undergoing…

By Allison Waguespack | Sep 22, 2016

Change can be a scary thing. Sometimes we fight it because we are afraid. But there is a freedom that comes with surrendering that fear and finding acceptance. And then, most of the time, what we find on the other end is happiness. My message for my classes this past week was just that. I…

By Allison Waguespack | Jul 22, 2016

Humans are creatures of habit; both in our cycle of thoughts and our actions. In sanskrit the word for habit is Samskara. This past week I was reminded that our thoughts create our feelings; our perspective on events or moments create the emotions we have inside. We have the power to develop a positive…

By Allison Waguespack | Jun 28, 2016

I just am wrapping up a two year stint as co-president of the PTA for the school district my children attend. I am looking forward to having more time and space in my mind and in my life; a chance to get back to this blog and to be even more connected to my teaching.…

By Allison Waguespack | Apr 1, 2016

A friend posted this amazing photo of a tree in “Dancers Pose” and underneath was the caption “Grow with the Flow”. To her it was an ode to Spring which is popping up all around us but that mantra became more to me this past week as I realized the different ways to interpret…

By Allison Waguespack | Feb 9, 2016

This past week I did some personal exploration into what happiness is. First I asked myself; What does it mean to be happy? What I realized is that we have to be unhappy sometimes to appreciate and feel grateful when we are not. As I explored further I found a few other perspectives on happiness that…

By Allison Waguespack | Jan 12, 2016

Happy New Year. The last month or so, I had found myself not in my best head. I had been having a bit of writers block but also felt the weight on my shoulders of not writing as it is often therapeutic for me. A few days ago, I read a short Indian tale that…

By Allison Waguespack | Nov 30, 2015

It doesn’t happen often but once in a while I am inspired by something I read on Facebook. I read a post written by a nursing home employee who was checking in a 92 year old woman who had recently lost her husband and before that, most of her sight. This employee is recounting the…

By Allison Waguespack | Oct 30, 2015

Last week I had lunch with an old friend. We worked together about 20 years ago and as we were reminiscing and catching up, she mentioned she had also seen another old colleague on her NY visit. I was reminded of the compassion I had felt for this colleague so long ago when we…

By Allison Waguespack | Oct 14, 2015

Last week I had lunch with my recently retired Aunt. We were catching up and talking about my daughter starting Middle School. My Aunt began to recount her (not so fond) memories of her own Middle School experience; a time of social awkwardness and angst that many of us experienced. We then went on to…

By Allison Waguespack | Sep 5, 2015

“Yoga poses are not about the postures. They are about who you are becoming as you learn them” I read this quote last week and it was powerful. It reminded me of an interesting process that usually happens as we explore our yoga journey. Often we are drawn to Yoga for the physical benefits but…

By Allison Waguespack | Aug 18, 2015

This week I was cleaning out some papers and I stumbled across a contract that I had my daughter sign a month ago when she got her cell phone. It had a list of the rules and you could imagine what those are but one of the rules of the contract was to never…

By Allison Waguespack | Aug 6, 2015

It’s been a while since I have written. It feels good to be back. Last week I arrived home from the trip of a lifetime; an African Safari. My family and I got to see all kinds of creatures and we developed such an appreciation for the wonderment of nature. Each animal has unique characteristics…

By Allison Waguespack | Jun 25, 2015

This past week concluded my 9 month anatomy program. In our last class we were asked to share the most valuable things we each had learned. I cannot fully remember exactly what I said at my turn, but I began to think more about it in the days following. One of the most valuable things…

By Allison Waguespack | Jun 5, 2015

It’s interesting how the universe works. It offers us perspective at just the right time if we are open to receiving it. Memorial Day Weekend I was feeling the passage of time. We went to Florida for a visit. It has been 7 years since we lived there and I felt….old. My inner voice…

By Allison Waguespack | May 13, 2015

“TAKE your time, there is never enough”. I heard those words at the end of a talk I attended recently. It started me thinking. We use “Take your time” often to remind people to relax, slow down, to not stress but what about another interpretation…to TAKE your time…to own it and make the most of it…

By Allison Waguespack | Apr 28, 2015

I have taken a few weeks off from writing this blog. It was something on the to-do list that just wasn’t getting done so I took it as a sign to step away. I have been sharing my inspiration with my classes but wasn’t finding the focus to sit and write them down. So I…

By Allison Waguespack | Mar 20, 2015

Life is like the ocean. There are calm days and rocky ones and all types in between. When our “ocean conditions” are rough we can get swept up in the turmoil on the surface or we can make the choice to go deeper. Two quotes together inspired my message last week. “In quietness and calmness…

By Allison Waguespack | Mar 12, 2015

The body can teach us so much. This year of studying anatomy has reinforced that for me more than ever. The physiological process of inhaling and exhaling is actually very enlightening, not just from an anatomical standpoint but from a spiritual one as well. Very simply, when we INHALE our diaphragm moves down, our ribcage…

By Allison Waguespack | Feb 27, 2015

Vacations are like miniature versions of our life journey…there is a beginning, middle and an end…there are some big, wonderful moments along the way and many many small moments. The more PRESENT we are on our journey, the more we get to connect to the joy from not just the big moments, but…

By Allison Waguespack | Feb 5, 2015

It’s been a couple of weeks since I have last written. I have been struggling with not only the time and focus but also the desire to write my thoughts. I write when I have something to say and I have had that less in these recent weeks. However, it feels as if the desire…

By Allison Waguespack | Jan 15, 2015

Last weekend I was reading the children’s book One, by Kathryn Otoshi to my Son. The book tells the story of the color Blue…Blue is shy and the color Red begins to pick on Blue. Blue begins to feel…well blue. The other colors in the book are nice to Blue but will not stand up…

By Allison Waguespack | Jan 1, 2015

I find myself conflicted on the principle of New Years Resolutions. I believe that the journey of self exploration and growth is gradual and continual and when we resolve ourselves to something…it has to come from within our hearts…not because the calendar tells us to. However, I do respect that these times allow us to ask…

By Allison Waguespack | Dec 15, 2014

The holiday season finds us all a bit on edge I imagine. I know it finds me that way. So last week, when I was asked my suggestions for staying calm during this time, I took a step back and embraced the frenzy in order to find inspiration. What I realized was that life was…

By Allison Waguespack | Dec 5, 2014

As I continue on my Anatomy journey there are so many amazing things about the physical body that inspire me. Last week, we learned about the bones and joints of the Axial body (including the Spine and Ribcage). We also read a bit about the Anatomical process of the breath. Amazingly, taking air into the…

By Allison Waguespack | Nov 13, 2014

I recently read an article written by Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. In this article Tim explains how he tries to hold himself to the words of Dr. Martin Luther King who said “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is “What are you doing for others?” This quote inspired Tim to come forward and share…

By Allison Waguespack | Nov 4, 2014

The inspiration for my classes last week unfolded gradually in 4 different ways. It all started as I was studying for my latest Anatomy quiz and my daughter observed excitedly that I was both a teacher AND a student. I thought about that for a moment and I responded back that, in fact, each of…

By Allison Waguespack | Oct 23, 2014

Over the last 10 years on my journey as a Yoga Teacher, I have continued to become more fascinated with what the body can do. I read and study bodies on my own but I always want to know more. So, for the first time in many many years, I am studying again. I am…

By Allison Waguespack | Oct 17, 2014

Last week, we had our town vote. The next morning, as I was removing some of the posters that had been hung up around town, I began to feel lighter. With that behind me, I started to think about my message for the week and it became very clear to me. Non-Attachment. See, the…

By Allison Waguespack | Oct 10, 2014

Last week, I was riding the commuter train from my home to NYC. I was reading emails and my mind began to wander to what my inspiration for the week was going to be. It hadn’t come to me yet and I was teaching the next three days. Just as I began to go over…

By Allison Waguespack | Oct 6, 2014

I went to my daughter’s back to school night a couple of weeks ago. Her school is very focused on character education and one of the tenants mentioned caught my attention. It was a question, When is inaction, action? I spent a bit of time pondering this concept and its different interpretations both on…

By Allison Waguespack | Sep 22, 2014

This past Sept 11th snuck up on me. When I turned on the news that morning, I wasn’t prepared. I was watching the coverage from ground zero as my 10 year old daughter was getting ready for school and she looked over at me just as a tear rolled down my face. She asked…

By Allison Waguespack | Sep 12, 2014

Today I have been challenged to walk my talk. In my life, as in all of ours I have many worlds. I am a mother, a wife, a Yoga Teacher and I also happen to be PTSA Co-President for my children’s school this year. I just opened our local newspaper to find a very…

By Allison Waguespack | Sep 4, 2014

I caught a short video the other day that truly inspired me. It shows a young man approaching a few different people who were eating at the airport. He was cleanly dressed and spoke respectfully and asked if they could spare some food as he was hungry. No one felt they had enough to share. That…

By Allison Waguespack | Aug 18, 2014

Two weeks ago I traveled to Costa Rica for the second time. I felt so blessed to be back in a country I fell in love with 12 months ago and I found a deeper appreciation not only for the natural beauty of the country but the wisdom and internal beauty of the people…

By Allison Waguespack | Jul 31, 2014

Summer is supposed to be carefree, fun and include a lot of lounging in the sun but that has not been my summer journey so far. One day last week I caught myself just as I was about to squeeze hand cream on my toothbrush. I stopped (thankfully), took a deep breath and realized…

By Allison Waguespack | Jul 24, 2014

last week I had a moment where I realized that I had taken something for GRANTED that I literally could NOT imagine living without. It wasn’t intentional but it happened just the same. It is human nature to not always appreciate things until they are gone or changed in some way so I asked my…

By Allison Waguespack | Jul 7, 2014

I found my inspiration last week in a small package…my six year old Son. He was struggling with kindergarten ending and camp starting. All of those changes; transitions were a lot for him. I realized that the milestones…the big moments….like the last day of Kindergarten; are only important because of all the days leading up…

By Allison Waguespack | Jun 23, 2014

As I have mentioned, we recently adopted a puppy. I was anxious and fearful leading up to her arrival and began to feel relief once she actually came. Now, a few weeks into the journey, I have been inspired by all that I have already gotten back from the experience. What you put in…

By Allison Waguespack | Jun 9, 2014

It has been a very busy couple of weeks and not coincidentally its been that much time since my last post. My messages over the past few weeks have been woven from a common thread; the impending and actual arrival of Dixie, our 13 week old lab puppy pictured above. Leading up to her…

By Allison Waguespack | May 22, 2014

This winter was a challenge here on the East Coast. I found myself getting angry and frustrated quite easily. Once Spring came, my mood lightened and I had very high expectations for a glorious, warm, sunny season. Unfortunately, for the last 6 weeks or so, that had not been the case. Finally, there was a…

By Allison Waguespack | May 12, 2014

I just got back from a trip to beautiful St. Martin. It has become our yearly little getaway, my husband and I…an opportunity to reconnect, relax and be together. It is a strange experience to go back to the same place several times in a row. I felt it very strongly this time as we…

By Allison Waguespack | May 6, 2014

It all started a few weeks ago. I overheard my children arguing and my son, through his tears, called my daughter a “bucket dipper”. I stopped and tried to process what that was…name calling is a punishable offense in our house typically. I asked him to repeat it so I could make sure I heard…

By Allison Waguespack | Apr 21, 2014

I recently heard a statement that perplexed me but as I contemplated it further it made sense. It became my clear inspiration and focus for my classes last week. “If you are not happy where you are, you will not get where you want to be”. My first thought was that often dissatisfaction motivates change. However,…

By Allison Waguespack | Apr 9, 2014

Recently I have been inspired by the Breath (So Hum) and the Gaze (Drishti) as tools to help connect us more fully in our Yoga Practice. This past week my hope was to use these techniques into action together to practice the goal we all seek to attain; To be present in our LIVES…

By Allison Waguespack | Mar 31, 2014

A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to travel for a weekend trip to Arizona to celebrate my daughters 10th birthday. It was a special time shared with a close friend and her daughter (who was born 1 day after mine in the same hospital in San Francisco). The girls have been friends…

By Allison Waguespack | Mar 24, 2014

I had a So Hum kind of a week last week. The kind of week where it feels as if you have a million balls in the air with no chance to catch them all. And drop a ball I did. I missed an important meeting with my daughter’s teacher. Even after I realized and…

By Allison Waguespack | Mar 20, 2014

Last weekend I went skiing with my children. I watched as my son moved through his normal routine for the first run of the day. No matter how recently he has skied, (in this case 3 weeks prior) his reaction is always the same. We got off the ski lift and began to ski and…

By Allison Waguespack | Mar 10, 2014

After returning from my sunny, warm vacation, I could feel the never-ending winter getting to me. Last week when my daughter asked me if it was EVER going to be warm again, I had that tiny inkling of doubt myself even as I answered, “Of course it will”. Being angry and frustrated about the weather…

By Allison Waguespack | Mar 3, 2014

Last week I happened to be in a sunny beachy place with my family which was a welcome respite from all of the unrelenting cold of this winter. As I stepped on to the beach our first day, I felt huge gratitude. I was enjoying the feeling of the warm soft sand under my feet…

By Allison Waguespack | Feb 14, 2014

Usually at some point during my week, my inspiration for the next week strikes. I have realized that the more present I am in the moment, the more often it comes. There are weeks where inspiration is hitting me from all sides and then there was LAST week. I was looking and searching but I…

By Allison Waguespack | Feb 4, 2014

Sometimes we need to take a look at what the universe is offering us. Three seemingly unrelated moments that occurred recently, when looked at together, offered me a very clear message. We can live more truly in the present when we gain perspective from the past. I found this quote by Kierkegaard that I shared…

By Allison Waguespack | Jan 30, 2014

Last week I learned of two different young people, both seeming to have promising futures, who had taken their own lives. I experienced a wave of emotions from sadness to panic and even curiosity at why any young person with their whole life in front of them would feel that ending that life was the…

By Allison Waguespack | Jan 23, 2014

Karma is a topic that I love to talk about. I find so much inspiration from it in my life and on my mat but it has been a challenge for me to write about. Last week the Third Principle of Karma was my inspiration. And with it, the concept of the Karma Bank; the idea that…

By Allison Waguespack | Jan 13, 2014

Gratefulness is a word we use often, but how do we truly cultivate it in our hearts? As I began to think about it, I took apart the word gratefulness and discovered that by playing with the spelling a bit it can be broken up into Great and Fullness. How do we cultivate Great-Fullness in our hearts,…

By Allison Waguespack | Jan 6, 2014

As I often am, I was inspired this week by a lesson my daughter had to learn. In teaching her, I was reminded that my resolution is to always strive to be My Best Self both on my mat and off. This goes hand in hand with two of the Karmic principles I was teaching in my classes right before the holidays.…

By Allison Waguespack | Dec 11, 2013

Two events occurred recently that made me think about the powerful relationship between Flexibility and Strength both on and off the mat. The first was a large event that affected many people, several much worse than my family, and the second was a small event that affected many fewer people. However both required Flexibility and Strength in the mind. The…

By Allison Waguespack | Dec 7, 2013

The concept of instant gratification has been a reoccurring theme for me over the last couple of weeks. Two weeks ago my 6-year-old son was complaining of a headache. After several complaints, I offered him a Children’s Motron. He had not even finished chewing and swallowing the tablet when he told me his head still hurt. I realized right then that…

By Allison Waguespack | Nov 27, 2013

With Thanksgiving upon us, GRATITUDE is a natural message to connect to this week. Realistically, there is always something we can choose to be unhappy about, a situation that could be better. Often we put quite a bit of our energy into “solving” or “resolving” these things and Gratitude can be hard to find. However, we can make the choice to realize…

By Allison Waguespack | Nov 20, 2013

Last week I was inspired by the profound difference between being “Nice” and being “Kind”. I then also realized that it had been “National Kindness Day” the prior day and I stumbled upon the following quote from William John Bennett which summed up my thoughts. “A kind and compassionate act is often its own reward.” It is always…

By Allison Waguespack | Nov 8, 2013

A couple of months ago I read an article written by Julianna Miner, who is an Author, Professor and Mother of three children. One day, while at the pool with her kids she realized she was in the “Sweet Spot” in parenting. Her kids were old enough to go to the bathroom by themselves, the intense fear of one of them…

By Allison Waguespack | Oct 30, 2013

Last week my inspiration came from The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali which is the text of Raja Yoga (Ancient Mental Science). Patanjali is considered the ‘Father of Yoga” and even though the Sutras (the word Sutra means thread), were written somewhere between 5000 B.C. and 300 A.D., these short two or three sentence “threads” of advice are applicable even today. My…

By Allison Waguespack | Oct 24, 2013

I am always trying to be open enough in my mind to see and accept inspiration from whatever source it may come. Recently, it happened to come from an obituary of a women who lived on the other side of the country, who I have never met before, named Jane Catherine Lotter. Now, I don’t…

By Allison Waguespack | Oct 17, 2013

When we hear “Giving Up” it usually has a negative association, but it can have a POSITIVE one as well…to Give UP means to surrender, to let go, to truly release up and out whatever is holding you down. This past week it was about Giving UP to find forgiveness. I recently ran into a friend who is…

By Allison Waguespack | Oct 10, 2013

This past week I asked my students to think of something they had accomplished (either off or on their mat) that they never thought they would. I then asked them to grab a bit of inspiration from it and dedicate their practice to that inspiration. They breathed and flowed and opened their minds to the possibility…

By Allison Waguespack | Oct 1, 2013

I have found myself using the phrase “Catch My Breath” quite alot these days; usually in the context of…. I am having trouble doing it….. with two children, my classes and various other responsibilities I have taken on. But last week I stepped back and made some commitments to myself including spending a little more time…

By Allison Waguespack | Sep 26, 2013

I have spent a bit of time this past week talking about something that we all strive for; to be PRESENT in our own lives. An example I often use is we each can think of a time when we got in the car and drove to our destination and then once we arrived, we realized that we don’t really recall the actual drive; we have no specific memory…

By Allison Waguespack | Sep 17, 2013

You never know when inspiration will strike; the trick is paying enough attention to notice when it does. A few months ago I was in my daughter’s classroom for the end of the year writing celebration; an opportunity for the children to read something aloud that they created in school. On the back table my daughter’s teacher had baked some muffins and…

By Allison Waguespack | Sep 11, 2013

A few months ago I took a class with the wonderful Dana Flynn; the founder of Laughing Lotus Yoga. After class, as I often do, I jotted down a couple of thoughts. I happened to be flipping through my notebook recently and stumbled upon her words. They instantly became the inspiration for my classes last week.…

By Allison Waguespack | Sep 3, 2013

I find, as many of us do, that when I have less time for myself I feel less myself. I have so enjoyed these last few weeks of uninterupted together summer time with my kids. (I am actually not being sarcastic) However, my “Well” feels a little bit dry. This past week in my classes I focused on the importance of nourishing…

By Allison Waguespack | Aug 12, 2013

As I sat down to write my first blog post ever, I started to think about what I wanted to say; what was the little bit of everyday inspiration that I wanted to share. Here goes… As a Yoga Instructor, I spend a lot of time talking about the breath; when to inhale and exhale, how to…