Making a life and a living as a yoga teacher is HARD.

You don’t need me to tell you that. But, I am here to tell you that it is hard for me too!

I’ve done the long, inconsistent hours of teaching. I’ve run all over the city to piece together enough work to make ends meet. I’ve struggled to make time for my own practice and self care because there are only so many hours in the day.

Y’all. I am with you.

But/And.

We cannot teach from an empty well. Our teaching suffers when we don’t take care of ourselves. You don’t need me to tell you that either.

So, without further ado…..Today I will share some of my favorite resources from my Crazy Yoga Teacher Life Support Kit…..

1) First thing in the morning I drink two glasses of warm water with lemon and sometimes I add a little apple cider vinegar. Then, coffee, obvi.

2) Almost every morning, I do this:

• After my Warm Water and Coffee and Check the Internet Just Real Quick Practice, I turn my phone off and sit my ass on my meditation cushion.
• I sit for 10 minutes or 40 minutes or whatever I have time for.
• I journal for 10 to 20 minutes and I answer these questions:
  • How is my body feeling today?
  • Given that, how am I going to take care of myself today?
  • How are my heart and mind feeling today?
  • Given that, how am I going to take care of myself today?

3) My super lovely and smart friend Gracy is a self care expert. She writes the most beautiful blogs each week and just released a webinar to help you create a dynamic and generative morning routine.  I love learning from her and I know you will too.

4) Inspired, like everyone else, by Katy Bowman I am committed to working on my hanging, swinging and eventually pulling up skills. This pull up bar sat in pieces on my bedroom floor for months waiting for my boyfriend to put it up like he promised he would, and he finally did! We put it up in a doorframe right by my desk, so when I have longs days at the computer I remember to stand up and hang at least once each hour!

5) One of my most important teachers is Sara Avant Stover. She has helped me dig more deeply into myself than any other teacher I have ever worked with and her fierce, loving wisdom has made me the teacher I am today. She has a lovely seasonal podcast you should listen to!

6) Reading about how other people are crazy, beautiful, struggling and thriving is so so so helpful. I loved this book and am excited to read her new book which just came out.

7) Another one of my beloved teachers is Tara Brach. I am so lucky to live in the same city as her and be able to attend her weekly class (with 300 other people!) on Wednesday nights. She offers weekly dharma talks and guided meditations on her podcast and if you want to make your spiritual teachings more meaningful AND accessible, I cannot recommend her enough!

8) I  just finished reading The Art of Money, and it was great! Bari is so sweet and smart, the stories are relatable, and it is well written. Cleaning up our money habits and taking better care of ourselves financially is one of the best self care practices we can instill.

9) On Sundays I like to do a big grocery shopping for the week and try to prep some food as well. That usually looks like making a big batch of kitchari, chopping and roasting vegetables, making a big bowl of brown rice and washing, chopping and storing raw veggies for snacks and salads. In my fantasy life I do this every week. In reality I usually only do this twice a month.

10) I just started a trade with a massage therapist in my neighborhood. Once or twice a month I walk around the corner on a Friday afternoon and let someone else take care of my body. Ahhhhhhh. {Also, sidenote: it’s been good for business! She has been telling all her clients about my teaching!}

11) I love and cherish my personal home practice, but it also feels so nurturing to have the space held for me by someone else….do know what I mean?? Caitlin Rose Kenney is a yoga teacher based in Boulder and she has a podcast available on iTunes with new classes posted almost every week. My super early morning practice is usually pretty low key; it is 5am, after all! If I do a more active movement practice that usually happens later in the day.

BUT: I’ve been putting Caitlin’s podcast on first thing in the morning, and her sweet voice and creative asana sequencing tricks me into doing a more active practice than I would normally do that early if left to my own devices. It has been fun and good for my teaching.

12) On a similar  note,  I just started a trial on the website Grokker and so far I really like it! It has given me access to interesting teachers I wouldn’t normally be able to work with and has given my teaching the little bit of creative juice it really needed! There are also personal trainers offering short and intense workouts, and I like mixing up my movement practices, so this works really well for me. My favorite yoga teacher on this site {by far} is Annie Adamson and if you use her personal promo code {anniea99} you can get 45% off the annual price.

13) A good morning routine starts the night before. If I am feeling unsettled or amped up, I’ll add a warm mug of this to my nighttime routine. Also, the phone goes into airplane mode before I walk into the bedroom at night.

What are your favorite self care practices right now, my loves? Please share and inspire!