Sandy Hook, Kids Yoga and Meditation 101... Oh My!

Happy Monday! Happy First Day of Autumn! Fall is my favorite time of year… The weather is cooler, the air is crisp and its means my birthday is right around the corner!  With my birthday being right around the corner, I’ve spent A LOT of time reflecting on this past year and what changes I want to make for the new year. One of the things I realized was I’ve lost of sense of who I truly am… This is normal though… We all go through cycles within our lives. In realizing this though I vowed to myself I was going to go back to my roots! My marine science roots that is! My hair color is all natural, thank you very much!

In keeping this promise to myself I was able to make a dream of my come true and was offered a position with NJ Sea Grant. For those not familiar with NJ Sea Grant their mission is to promote the wise use of New Jersey’s marine and coastal resources through research, education, and outreach.  But I digress… This isn’t anything I’m going to get financially rich off and I’m 100% fine with that… As I’m not doing this for the money, I’m doing it for love.  

This past weekend was my first weekend with Sea Grant co-leading a Boy Scout Merit Badge and all I can say is… I was KID IN A CANDY STORE! It felt amazing to get back in the water and teach the kids how to seine and how to do the vegetation surveys. It was music to my ears when I heard “Michelle, what is this?” only to respond with… “What do you think it is?” or “What does it look like?” or actually telling them what it is… Only to hear “Oh WOW! COOL!”.  It gave me great joy to watch these boys in the lab.. learning, exploring, and having fun with science. This to me is what learning is all about! This to me how kids TRULY learn and part of the reason why I could no longer be in a traditional classroom any longer. I left Sandy Hook on Saturday afternoon with the HUGEST smile on my face and felt a way I haven’t felt in YEARS! My soul had been restored! Little did I know the restoring of the soul weekend had JUST BEGUN!

From Boy Scouts, sand, fish and science too… girls, yoga, and being a kid again. Yup! Sunday morning I woke up and taught my first kids yoga class at Joyful Living Center.  It felt great to be a kid again! We hopped around the room as lost little frogs trying to make our way back to pond and asking all the animals we saw along the way for help. We belly laughed , we sang, and the girls learned they are strong! They certainly were all smiles when they left and honestly didn’t want the class to end. I kinda didn’t want the fun to end either. Once again, I left with a huge smile on my face and feeling at peace. The restoring of my soul was continuing…

From kids yoga, it was kicking off my Meditation 101 workshop!  Over the next 7 days I will be leading a workshop on how to meditate, the benefits of meditations, and leading daily guided meditations. This is the first time I’ve done anything like this and am nervous as anything… Thankfully, the workshop is off to a wonderful start… thanks to a little meditating the nerves have subsided and I’m really looking forward to sharing my knowledge on this topic with others.  While this workshop is currently closed, I will be offering another free online  meditation workshop in November to help with the stress of the holidays. You can register for Holiday Meditation Workshop at http://bit.ly/MichelleMeditation101

What I realized during this soul restoring weekend is…  I have so many gifts,  so much knowledge to share and absolutely LOVE being able to teach so many people so many different things.  When I said I wanted to go back to my roots I thought it meant my marine science roots… Little did I know, I would be going back to my informal education roots and sharing all the knowledge I’ve been blessed with. Get ready… because I’m going to be doing a WHOLE LOT of knowledge which I'm going to be sharing. What to learn something, simply ask and I'll be happy to do a workshop or video training on it.

Keep Smiling,

Michelle

PS ~ I’ll be teaching a free clean eating for all you single ladies starting Oct. 5th Email me at motivationbymichelle@gmail.com for info.

Spartan Race A Look Back.

This Saturday June 7th is my second Spartan Race, which has me thinking back to last year when I did my first race. I would like to share with you want I learned from my first race. 

When I woke-up on June 1, 2013 the temperature was about 90 degrees. The butterflies in my stomach were dancing around to the point I couldn’t eat, yet knew I needed too. I was about to do my first Spartan Race, even though I was doing the Biggest Loser Run/Walk, I was running with the Spartans and was beginning to wonder what I had gotten talked into.

As I started the race, I was nervous, VERY nervous! Into the first mud pit I went, and low and behold all the nerves were now replaced with adrenaline and making sure the people I was doing the race with were okay. When it came to the first obstacles I did it and succeeded, as the race progressed I cringed as I looked at some of the obstacles yet attempted it. When the walls got too high for me to go over, I had someone help me. When it got to the rope climb with the mud pit, I looked at it and said “NO WAY!” I had wrote it off because I was afraid. The guy I was doing the race with told me to try and he would hold the rope for me. After making a few faces at him, I made my way into the mud pit and began pulling myself up the rope. I didn’t make it to the top, but I did make it 6 feet from the top, which was good enough. Did I complete all of the obstacles successfully, no, but at least I tried. While nervous, I even jumped over the fire!

What I I learned, from this race is… when it comes to physical challenges, I need to leave my comfort zone more. Before the race I said “one (mud run) and done” now I can’t wait for my next one. I also learned I am stronger both physically and mentally then I give myself credit for. I watched Spartans in tears from the amount of pain they were in from muscles cramping, yet I was doing good. The only part of me which hurt were my feet. I owe being able to complete this race to my trainer Robert J. DeVito for this support and giving me the proper training and to my yoga instructors. Yes, I said yoga instructors. When it got to the point when I was about to hit the preverbal wall, I turned within to find my inner strength to go on. I focused on the job at hand, and was able to finish. Do I know my exact time, no. Do I want to know my exact time, no. I know, I completed something I never thought I would do and that is all that matters to me! 

I can't wait to share with you all what I learn from this years race. 

Keep Smiling,

Michelle