Archive for December, 2015

Happiness Challenge – Trust

Tuesday, December 15th, 2015

Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT

Practicing half moon in between today's writing projects. Developing more trust in my capabilities to do this pose.

Practicing half moon in between today’s writing projects. Developing more trust in my capabilities to do this pose.

I’m starting to trust I can become enthusiastically engaged for even the most mundane of tasks.  My kitchen has never been cleaner.   What I’m still learning though is how to trust I can make the time to do the happiness yoga flow.  I started out the day doing the beginning of the happiness yoga flow before taking the dogs out for a walk.  I’m planning on doing five reps of the sun salutation after I finish digesting breakfast.  And I love doing the balance poses while whatever I’m cooking is simmering on the stove.  I have no problem finding the time to do the relaxation poses – geez, I wonder why that is?   I’m realizing yoga needs to be part of the activities of the day rather than something I only do when I am on my yoga mat. Right this very moment, it makes more sense for me to take little mini breaks throughout the day to focus on breath and movement.

What else I’ve decided to do is have a peak pose of the week I practice for seven days to get better at it.  This week, I’m practicing half moon.  It’s the pose in today’s photo (and day 15, day 16 as well).   Today, I’m in front of my desk.  Yes I can practice yoga anywhere.  For me to trust my abilities to do yoga everyday, I need to find ways that fit for me to do yoga everyday. I need a more complex goal associated with doing yoga rather than just doing yoga to keep me engaged.  And I need to do yoga in the way that works best for me – which is to do it as part of my day to day existence rather than making it a unique activity.

Happiness Challenge – Support

Monday, December 14th, 2015

Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT

I decided to practice yoga today while fixing the wall heater. As you can tell it was a bit cold in the office so I was able to do triple duty by doing the happiness yoga practice.

I decided to practice yoga today while fixing the wall heater. As you can tell it was a bit cold in the office so I was able to do triple duty by doing the happiness yoga practice (get warm, fix the heater and do yoga).

I’m working on being enthusiastically engaged today with doing the happiness yoga flow. I have forty more days left of this.  Yet my co-worker Megan just reminded me, “isn’t the idea of this to create a new habit so you have a lifetime of doing this?”  Thanks for the support, Megan. She is suggesting a new reward system – not just the end of the forty more days, but a lifetime reward of what having a daily practice of yoga can do for me.  And she doesn’t even like yoga.

Let me take a couple minutes to reflect how I like to enjoy yoga.  I enjoy doing various yoga poses around the house.  I like doing breathing exercises throughout the day.  I like being more mindful of my body as I do various activities – like walking the dogs.  All of these I’ve learned by doing a deliberate yoga practice.

What I specifically resist is setting aside time to take out the yoga mat and do my practice.  I know wherever I have resistance is a learning moment.  I’m a forward momentum person.  As soon as I get up the dogs want to go out – so walking the dogs is always the first thing on my to do list.  Then it’s breakfast time for all of us.  Next,  I usually have some work related tantalizing tid bit to tend to or some writing I’m working on that is always so captivating and interesting.  You see, all of these things seem like quite valid “to do’s” and they have their natural rhythm in my day.  Doing the happiness yoga flow has not found it’s way into the natural rhythm of my day, yet. I have another 4o days to figure out how to make getting out my yoga mat and doing the happiness yoga flow just what I do everyday.

Happiness Challenge – Strength

Monday, December 14th, 2015

Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT

My strengths help make it so I am fine doing yoga anywhere.

My strengths help make it so I am fine doing yoga anywhere.

Finding my way to being enthusiastically engaged is far easier when I’m stretching myself in my strength areas.   I learned long ago that focusing on my weaknesses makes me mediocre.  It kind of reminds me of being the fish chastised for being unable to climb a tree.  Some things I’m just not meant to be or do. The same I find is true of my yoga practice – when I focus on those areas I’m strong, it helps me do yoga better.  But when I think about all the ways I struggle at doing yoga, I get very disheartened and don’t even want to do yoga.   For example, I have pretty short arms in relationship to the rest of my body.  So yoga poses that require me to align my body with my arms (like anything behind my back with my hands clasped) are very difficult.   I am able to do them by using a strap.  Granted I can increase my flexibility and use less of the strap over time, but it’s physically impossible for my hands to touch based on the length of my arms in comparison to the rest of my body.   And then I wonder where else am I attempting to make the sun set in the east – an impossible act – yet acting like it’s a “weakness.”  When in reality, it’s really not how I’m designed at all.

Writing this blog post now comes naturally for me – but doing the happiness yoga flow, not so much yet.  Yes, I can go through the motions and do it – but really do it?  That means it becomes a driving force for who I am.  On of my strengths is discipline to process – when I create the process.  So this strength is helping me pay attention to doing they happiness yoga flow.  Another one of my strengths is I’m pretty comfortable doing yoga anywhere and I kind of like showing off some poses.  This helps me do yoga anywhere I am.  I’ve been wondering what can help me bring more enthusiasm into doing the happiness yoga flow everyday and why am I still so resistant to it – I am the one who created this after all.

Happiness Challenge – Integration

Saturday, December 12th, 2015

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Happiness Challenge – Grace

Friday, December 11th, 2015
Finding my way to grace through practicing yoga wherever I am - brings me great joy.

Finding my way to grace through practicing yoga wherever I am – brings me great joy.

Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT

I’ve been traveling all day.  I did manage to do a travel yoga version of the happiness yoga flow and I’m feeling energized. I’m noticing as well I am moving more gracefully packing myself in and out of the small prop planes I was on today.

Feeling more graceful sounds very much like I am full of grace.  As I contemplate today’s focus on grace, I realize grace brings me to joy.  Whether I am extending grace to those  with whom I cross paths, or I’m allowing the lightness of grace to elevate me, I feel joy.  It’s easy to be engaged when graceful.  Being  enthusiastically engaged helps me be more graceful and being full of grace naturally leads to me being enthusiastically engaged.

Happiness Challenge – Persistence

Thursday, December 10th, 2015

Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT

I've created a chart that shows what I'm learning doing this happiness challenge. Being enthusiastically engaged requires picking the right goals and being persistent in my drive to achieve them.

I’ve created a chart that shows what I’m learning doing this happiness challenge. Being enthusiastically engaged to create more fulfillment in my life requires picking the right goals and being persistent in my drive to achieve them.

When I was younger my father used to share his philosophy frequently that those who are most persistent usually get their way. He said it is because those who have less of an interest get bored of the topic well before those in favor of the topic do.  I’ve found this to be true more often than not in my lifetime. It’s of the same ilk, “choose your battles.”  My litmus test for the “battles” I choose is understanding how winning the “battle” will enhance life (even if it’s someone else’s life after my life ceases to exist)”  Another thing I evaluate is how much of the “issue” is within my immediate circle of influence.  While there are a number of issues that exist outside my circle of influence, yet within my circle of concern ( such as the rights of all for freedom from harm and our increasingly punitive taxation system), if I spend my time and energy there, I essentially take my life force and toss it to the wind.  The challenge has been finding issues within my circle of influence that offer sufficient complexity to keep my attention.

This lifetime (not sure if I have other lifetimes but this is the lifetime I’m existing in right now) – I have chosen to only be persistent in those areas where I can actually influence things that make a difference in my life. I have learned how to be highly productive with this approach. It’s pretty simple. Yet even though I’ve consistently been productive, at times I did find myself bored.  Sometimes there was not sufficient complexity to stay engaged. Not sure if this is the bane of the over achiever who has done a lot in life or not.  It seemed more related to a spiritually oriented challenge the more I studied mindfulness  – now though I’m having other insights.

I like the Sanskrit term “abhyasa.”  It means “steady effort in the direction you want to go.”  This is what this 66 day challenge for doing yoga daily and focusing on the enthusiastically engaged mindset that creates happiness for me.  I want to stretch myself in ways that bring me into greater alignment with love  – love of myself, love of others, love of life.  I am finding I can do that with whatever the day is presenting.  Like today – I sold a couch to an aquaintance who was moving into a new place.  She sent the movers to my house first to pick up the couch, before they went to her place.  The movers returned as they could not find her place.  So I jumped in my car and had them follow me there.  Next, I went to a bagel shop to get all of them breakfast.  I had been busy on a work project, but this was an opportunity to be in service to three souls who could use a little break.  I was present, I was enthusiastic, I was engaged.  It enhanced everyone’s life.

I am enjoying how this challenge is giving me a pick me up to reacquaint myself with the value of being persistent towards achieving a personally relevant goal.  After only 12 days I do find myself more enthusiastically engaged in the moment in whatever is emerging.  I had no idea my morning would unfold as it did this AM – I had had other plans for that time.  I did eventually complete all my work and felt great all day doing it.  Living this way,  I feel in greater alignment with love and more fulfilled overall with day to day life.  And the best part – I’m no longer bored and I don’t have to keep myself frenetically busy to keep from being bored.

Happiness Challenge – Accountable

Wednesday, December 9th, 2015
Being accountable for how I'm in service to others with both cooking and yoga inspires me to bring much more enthusiasm to both.

Being accountable for how I’m in service to others with both cooking and yoga inspires me to bring much more enthusiasm to both.

Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT

I discovered a month or so ago, the Happiness Project is for people who are responsible.  The challenge for responsible people is they are responsible to everyone else, and usually put their needs behind servicing the needs of others. Today’s term is “accountable.”  I find that when I become accountable to myself for my happiness, it’s far easier to find my way to being enthusiastically engaged in the things that bring me meaning in my life – even if that is being responsible for other’s well being.  For example, I love cooking for other people.   I was contemplating how it was yesterday I joyfully made this amazing bolognese sauce because my sweetheart asked me too, yet I struggled to make my way to my yoga mat.   It took absolutely no effort to make the sauce, yet it took tremendous effort (and discipline) to do the happiness yoga flow.   Today I found it much easier to make my way to the yoga mat and had a much deeper yoga practice as well.

I remembered reading something Madison wrote about a week ago about her early experience with this happiness challenge.  When creating a new habit, missing a day here and there is not that big a deal, as long as you get right back on it the next day.  Yesterday was most certainly not my finest hour with doing the happiness yoga flow, but today I was back at it, enthusiastically engaged and on it.  I took time yesterday to reflect on my motivation, ability and triggers.   I realized I was whining about it taking me 20 minutes to do yoga – but seriously?   It took me an hour to make the bolognese and I didn’t give it a second thought.  I didn’t even have to talk myself into making it.  I just did it because it brought me so much happiness.   But the reality is doing the happiness yoga flow does the same thing – the difference I perceive – it’s only for me.   And doing something only for me – well that is a new concept – I’m one of the “responsible” ones.  Unwinding this though – is this really only for me?  When I make the time to do  yoga, I’m much more present for everything and everyone else – so this really is being responsible to other people.

So there you have it – I’ve just created a new motivation and a new trigger for doing the happiness yoga flow every day.  I enjoy being accountable to other people for their well being – it’s how I’m wired.  Doing the happiness yoga flow helps me stay anchored to what creates vitality in my life – serving others.

Happiness Challenge – Aware

Tuesday, December 8th, 2015

Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT

BJ Fogg's Behavioral Model helps me become aware of why I sometimes resist doing the Happiness Yoga Flow.

BJ Fogg’s Behavioral Model helps me become aware of why I sometimes resist doing the Happiness Yoga Flow.

I was reflecting on how aware I am of the issue of resisting doing the happiness yoga flow.  Over the weekend during the Inspired Eagle Yoga and Gastronomy retreat we were discussing how it takes 66 days to create a new habit.  The common retort is I thought it only took 21 days.  So my response was “well if you have the new habit down in 21 days, then of course the next 45 days will be easy as whatever you were trying to make into a habit, will already be a habit.” So I’m only into day 10 of this and it’s not yet a daily habit, so maybe it’s just normal I’d have some resistance.   I always think back to brushing and flossing my teeth – that is such an easy habit but it really only takes two minutes a couple times a day.  This one takes 15 minutes if I rush through it and half an hour if I’m more deliberate in what I’m doing.

BJ Fogg – a professor of Persuasive Technology at Stanford has this model he calls B=MAT.This means your behavior (your habits) is related to your motivation, your abilities and your triggers.  I’m not as motivated as I could be and while I do have the ability to do yoga, taking the time to do it is another story.  Since it does take more time than brushing my teeth, the feeling is it’s not that easy a habit to adopt as it takes a lot of time (it really doesn’t but this is my excuse). And some days I’m more motivated to do yoga than others (if I have a little bit of pain I’m actually more motivated to do yoga then when I’m feeling great).  I could use help in all three areas – making it easier to do, improving my motivation so I’m consistently enthusiastically engaged in doing yoga, and in creating more triggers.  I do have the trigger of needing to write this blog post and I prefer to write the post after I do yoga.   I was reading how if you leave your exercise clothes out the night before, that is a trigger to get to the gym in the AM.  So if I  start leaving my yoga clothes out the night before then I’ll be more enthusiastically engaged in doing yoga the first thing in the morning – resolving all three of the MAT issues.  This could help me with days like today where I did everything but yoga until 5:30 PM.

Happiness Challenge – Accomodate

Monday, December 7th, 2015

Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT

I'm grateful I can be in a position to accommodate middle of the day emergencies for my daughter while she works her career as an iPhone mobile app programmer.

I’m grateful I can be in a position to accommodate middle of the day emergencies for my daughter while she works her career as an iPhone mobile app programmer.

I’ve noticed the more accommodating I am to whatever needs to happen in the moment creates peace and sanity in my life (and happiness). This does not mean I’m a door mat by being overly accommodating to others needs at the expense of my own – it’s quite the opposite.  It means I choose to stay in a place of calm happiness while allowing whatever is to be, be whatever it’s going to be. I seem to most easily find my way to love, joy, and laughter with other souls who enjoy being more accommodating as well.  Oddly enough, this seems to happen easiest with the other mom pals in my life (and even more so with my older single mom pals).  I think it’s because now we have more free time with our children fledged.  Since we are used to juggling so much, we can truly accommodate just about any thing that comes our way with grace, comfort and ease.

So today I’m enthusiastically celebrating my accommodating nature.  Being accommodating is the way for me to stay mentally flexible – it’s like a mental yoga practice.  Just like this daily yoga routine helps me stay on the tracks of the healthy aging train, stretching my response flexibility by being accommodating ensures I keep the train going on the healthy aging tracks as well.   Yoga does help me be more accommodating and responsive to whatever is emerging.  But sometimes I fall off my tracks and want things done my way, dammit. This approach seems to harm me more than anyone else though.  Remembering this makes it  easier to find my way back to  being accommodating as the preferred way of responding when someone has a different idea of how things need to be unfolding than I do. These infrequent reminders create a reboot of the accommodation app resident in my neural network so I  get a renewed boost of happiness by realizing what being accommodating creates for me.

Happiness Challenge – Presence

Sunday, December 6th, 2015

Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT

Expressing my unique calling as a yoga and gastronomy teacher expands my presence to create a level of happiness  I never imagined was possible. I'm following my bliss.

Expressing my unique calling as a yoga and gastronomy teacher expands my presence to create a level of happiness I never imagined was possible. I’m following my bliss.

I am leading a private Inspired Eagle Yoga and Gastronomy Retreat this weekend – so well of course it’s easy to fulfill every element of my happiness challenge.  I’m doing all the things I absolutely love – connecting with inspiring and fun people, sharing my love of  yoga and gastronomy (which for me is based around whole foods – nothing processed),  and entertaining – co-hosting a two day incredible party filled with laughter and love.

It also fits in well with today’s theme –  presence.  It’s only natural for me to share my presence as the leader of this event and to also engage with others’ presence.  While part of this retreat is to connect with our own vitality and become more aware of how we can expand that through yoga and deeply nourishing foods,  we are also celebrating how the divine ideal is expressed through us in every moment. It is this celebration where the term presence is most activated in me.

I often hear “she has such presence.”  To me this means I’ve connected with others in a way where we have moved each other in an uplifting and profound way.  This happens for me with the wonderful souls who join me at these retreats.  How I experience presence here and now during the event, I realize, yes being a yoga and gastronomy teacher is one of my unique callings where I am of most service.  Thank you so much to those who have welcomed, encouraged and nurtured this new aspect of me and joined me in launching the various elements of Inspired Eagle.