 Dear Friends,
Don’t Quit Before the Miracle Happens I’ve been thinking about last week’s blog post a lot, and about my desire for one particular “miracle” in my life as I was out walking in the woods a year and a half ago. But here’s what’s been on my mind this past week…that miracle, I think the miracle isn’t in that “one” particular thing in our lives that we’re hoping for…I think the miracle is in the journey, right? It’s not a particular time, place or thing, it’s this journey we’re on, this path we’re taking, this walk we’re choosing to walk. It’s putting one foot in front of the other, even when the journey feels hard and tough…even when the path ahead of us is unclear. It’s figuring out ways to make our own journey, our own path feel better and more nourishing, more sustainable for ourselves over the long run. It’s allowing others to walk the path with us when we need them, to help us along when we need help. At times it’s moving away from those who are a detriment to our journey, even when that decision hurts. My dear friends, wherever you are on your journey, I hope you will see the miraculous. Love Krista
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 Dear Friends,
I was on a solo backpacking trip in Dolly Sods, WV a year and a half ago when I came to a divide in the trail. On the trail marker was this adorable rock someone had left that stopped me in my tracks and, in all honesty, completely took my breath away. The words on that rock stayed with me not only through that trip, but lodged themselves in my heart in the weeks and the months to come also. On the rock was painted “Don’t quit before the miracle happens.” I had been in the middle of a particularly hard and painful time in my own life, and as I stopped to take a picture of this rock that had spoken to me so clearly, I gathered those words and wrapped them around my heart before continuing down the trail. “Don’t quit, Krista, don’t quit before the miracle happens.” Don’t quit before the miracle happens. Here’s the thing. The miracle I wanted desperately to happen while I was walking that trail…well…it didn’t. The miracle I was wishing and hoping for at that time in my life, the miracle that caused me to wrap those words around my heart…it simply didn’t come to pass. But, my friends, I didn’t quit, I didn’t quit. The months and years have changed and grown me in ways that I didn’t know I desperately needed, but I did…I needed that change and growth in my life. I continue to need change and growth in my own life and self as I walk this new path I’m on. I didn’t get the miracle I had been so desperately hoping for on the trail that day, but I got something so much better…turns out, all that change and growth that was happening and continues to happen in my life as a result of that particular time and space is, in fact, an absolute miracle. I hope you have a miraculous week, my friends. Love Krista  Dear Friends,
A week ago I lay under one of my favorite trees in my neighborhood, feeling the light breeze on my skin, listening to the sounds of the city around me and watching the fireflies light up the night until the sky got dark enough that they put their light away for the evening. Magic. Fireflies are pure, unadulterated magic. There were other things I could have been doing that evening. I definitely had work that could have been done, chores needed doing…any number of things. That list of responsibilities didn’t go away because I spent time under that tree…it never does. Turns out my list was still there waiting for me when I got home. But I paused, I lay in the grass, and I just allowed the magic of the beautiful evening to wash over me. Fireflies above my head, the moon in the sky to the west, the sounds of life all around me. Pure, unadulterated magic. My dear friends, I hope we can give ourselves permission to seek out and make a little more magic in our week, even if it requires us to leave some responsibilities for another time. Have a magical week, my friends. Love Krista  Dear Friends,
A couple of weekends ago we had our first really hot, muggy weekend of the season. It was hot, like ridiculously hot, muggy and all-around gross. I hadn’t been able to get on my bike much this season yet, so even though it was slated to be a hot day, I decided to go for a ride that Saturday. I pulled myself out of bed super early, but even with an early wake-up call, it was already getting fairly stifling outside. As I rode north on MacArther Blvd I noticed the honeysuckle in full bloom, they were absolutely beautiful, these bushes full of gorgeous flowers and childhood nostalgia. But the honeysuckle wasn’t just something I got to experience with my eyes. As I rode, when I would ride past a honeysuckle bush, I would just get enveloped by the rich smell of honeysuckle. It was a full-body experience, riding past those honeysuckle bushes that day. The heat and heaviness of the air around me allowed the smell to linger and intensify. I did not have the most favorable conditions for a ride that day, but those conditions also allowed me to experience something in a beautiful and intensely different way. My dear friends, I hope this week we can notice and experience something in a beautiful and different way, even if we might not have the most favorable of conditions. I hope you have an amazing week, my friends. Love Krista  Dear Friends,
I have this little patch of land in my backyard that has turned a bit jungle-like of late. In former years it held a garden…but not this year. I thought about weeding and mowing it these past several weeks, but my younger son prefers the jungle-like quality of it, so I figure, why not keep growing a jungle? It’s causing no harm and it’s bringing joy to my son… so we continue to grow our own little jungle. I don’t like gardening. It’s not my thing, it’s not a space in my life that brings me joy, and instead it just ends up feeling like a burden to me on multiple levels. I love that it brings so many others joy and peace, but it’s just not me. But here’s the thing…for years I thought I SHOULD like gardening. I judged myself for not liking it. As ridiculous as it sounds, at times in my life I pretended to like it because I thought it was something I ought to like. But I just don’t. I’ve been sitting in the ways we cast judgment on ourselves for things we think we ought to be doing, things we think we ought to enjoy, ways we are different then our expectations of what we should look and be like. And I’ve been wondering how it would feel to really stand in our own, genuine self without casting judgment. I’ve been wondering how it might feel if we could give ourselves permission to be exactly who we are, instead of who we think we should be. My dear friends, I hope we can all let go of the shoulds a little more this week, and stand in our own genuine selves. Have an amazing week, my friends. Love Krista  Dear Friends,
This past weekend I had the enormous pleasure of leading 12 wonderful women on my first yoga hike in Rock Creek Park through my own studio. Years ago I led weekly yoga hikes with Yoga Hikes DC. In all honesty, I can’t remember how I stumbled across them, but when I did, the description stopped me in my tracks. Yoga Hikes felt like an absolute perfect combination of my own passions…and it turns out it was. Our time together last weekend was simply lovely. A wonderful time of connection and movement surrounded by the lush nature around us. It was absolutely wonderful. As I’ve been thinking about that time these past few days, I’ve been sitting in gratitude for the opportunity to explore my own passions in new and fun ways…and I’ve been thinking about how important it is to give ourselves time to explore and dig deeper into our passions, into the spaces in life that captivate and interest us. Sometimes life gets so busy that those are what we set aside in lieu of other, more “important” work, but giving ourselves permission to take some time for our own passions and interests allows us to continue to grow and develop…giving ourselves permission to take time for our own passions and interest is, in fact, “important” work. My dear friends, I hope you can give yourself a little space and time this week to dig deeper into the things that make you tick. I hope you can recognize that you deserve time to explore your own passions and the spaces in life that captivate you. I’m already looking forward to my next Yoga Hike. Have a fabulous week, my friends. Love Krista  “We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known, and when we honor the spiritual connection that grows from that offering with trust, respect, kindness and affection.” Brene Brown
I’ve been sitting in the second half of this quote a lot this past week…“and when we honor the spiritual connection that grows from the offering with trust, respect, kindness and affection.” Last week I spoke about the courage it takes to open up and be vulnerable with the people around us, and the oftentimes deeper connections we are able to forge as a result of that courage. But that willingness to be vulnerable, that courage to open up…that’s not the only part of cultivating love. That “trust, respect, kindness and affection” we offer those around us when we choose to be a safe space for those around us is equally if not more important. The willingness to listen and hear the people in our lives, the willingness to perhaps be a sounding board who provides safety and kindness, who puts judgment to the side. My dear friends, I hope this week we can offer trust, respect, kindness and affection to those in our lives who need us. I hope we can see the connections we cultivate and allow them to blossom as we hold space for the people in our lives. Have an amazing week, my friends. Love Krista  “We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known, and when we honor the spiritual connection that grows from that offering with trust, respect, kindness and affection.” Brene Brown
Dear Friends, I took this picture back in January on one of our final Costa Rica retreat mornings. We were walking along the beach, talking about some really hard and vulnerable spaces in our lives and as we walked and talked I could feel the tangible connection between us, and how that trust and vulnerability was allowing us to deepen our connection with each other. Allowing our “most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known” is such a beautiful, powerful, and oftentimes profoundly scary space to be in. It’s hard to be vulnerable, it’s hard to show our true selves and to trust that our true self will not be rejected by those around us…and yet, I think opening up and trusting those around us allows for deeper and fuller connections with those in our lives. My dear friends, I hope we can find spaces in our lives and people in our lives where we can feel permission to allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known. I hope, if we are feeling scared to open ourselves up in those spaces, we can see our trepidation and stand in courage and cultivate more love and connection in our lives. I hope you have an amazing week, my friends. Love Krista  Dear Friends,
I was meandering through the woods last week. I hadn’t planned on stopping…with only the smallest of windows before I had to get my kids to an appointment, coupled with forgetting something essential at the house, so suddenly needing to get home prior to picking said kids up, there was really no time in my day for a walk. But as I drove home, past an entrance to the park and surrounded by the trees and their intoxicating spring green, I was practically forced to stop. And oh my friends, the world around me was simply stunning. That bright green against a gray, cloudy sky, the birds singing in the trees. I started slowly meandering up a trail for that brief moment of time. As I walked I was enjoying the sights, the sounds, the smells of the damp world around me. All too soon I had to turn around and go back the way I came. As I walked, I suddenly felt some drops on my face...it started slow at first, but as often is the case, the rain started falling harder and harder until eventually I was pretty darn near soaked. As I walked through the rain I couldn’t help but notice the trees were an even more brilliant green in the rain then they were prior to the start of the storm. They were magically breathtaking, just this stunning color surrounding and enveloping me. I didn’t plan on getting soaked in a rainstorm that day, my friends…but a little wet was well worth the beauty I was able to experience. My dear friends, I hope we can see the beauty in our lives, even when it happens to be accompanied by a rainstorm. I hope you have an amazing week, my friends. Love Krista  Dear Friends,
“Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends” I’ve had that Beatles song running through my head this afternoon…not that I mind, I adore the Beatles, so having a Beatles song as an earworm companion is not what I call a bad afternoon. Now let me just caveat this post by saying many people think this song is about drugs, which John Lennon denied…although for my money it pretty much seems like that’s what it’s about…however, for the sake of this post let’s just go with John Lennon’s claims and assume the song is not, in fact, about drugs, ok? Thanks. A couple of weeks ago I spent a glorious week on vacation with my kids. We went on adventures, we lazed around, we ate too much, we watched sunsets…and other than a snorkeling trip in some pretty rough waters where I had to work pretty hard to get where I was going, I did not get a single workout in during my week away. Now, part of that was purposeful. I run my body pretty hard on a daily basis, and I think it’s important to allow my body to rest at times. But, if I’m being honest, another part of that was simply not having the accountability of my weekly schedule that forces me to be active. I’ve been thinking a lot about that this afternoon…and, what I think often goes hand in hand, our very human tendency to get down on ourselves when we aren’t able to achieve our goals on our own. But, my friends, we get by with a little help from our friends. I wonder how we might change if, instead of getting down on ourselves when we don’t achieve our goals on our own, we might celebrate the fact that we live in community. I wonder how it might feel to celebrate the accountability we need as a method for further and deeper human connection. I wonder how it might feel if we really did choose to get by with a little help from our friends. My dear friends, I hope today you can celebrate the community you live in, you can celebrate the accountability you need as an opportunity for human connection. I hope you can celebrate your need to get by with a little help from your friends. And reach out for some accountability ideas/help…I have some ideas percolating…we can do this, together. I hope you have an amazing week, my friends. Love Krista  Dear Friends,
Pre-covid I had a daily commute where I would drop my kids off at school, go north on Beach Drive for a bit, and then drive up Broad Branch Road on my way to my first or second class of the day, depending on the day. I loved that space in my day. Reverse traffic, driving through the park on the daily. I loved watching and noticing the world…seeing the changes of the seasons on a daily basis…noticing the little differences in the world around me as I drove through the park every day. Some days I would have a 10 or 12 minute window where I could drink my coffee while sitting on a rock next to the running water…a short, brief, and lovely space in an oftentimes otherwise hectic work day. But my favorite thing about that commute was every year around fall, when the leaves started to drop from the trees, a little waterfall appeared on Broad Branch, and stayed until spring growth hid it from the world again until the next fall. During Covid I didn’t have that daily commute. Now, truth be told, I love my work week so much more now than I did pre-Covid…I adore this business I was able to build, and my life feels so much more sustainable in the long run then it did pre-Covid…but even when recognizing the benefits of my life now versus then, there are still aspects of my old life that I miss. These days I’m back to that commute…but instead of it being every day, I drive it once every other week. Of late, every time I pass that little waterfall I smile, knowing in a few weeks it will be hidden by the bright, luscious green of spring, waiting to reappear again in the fall. My dear friends, we can hold both the benefits and drawbacks of changing situations in our lives in both hands…we can see them and recognize them both as truth. I hope, this week, you can see the validity of holding multiple truths simultaneously. Have an amazing week, my friends. Love Krista  Dear Friends,
My mask first. I’ve been thinking a lot this week about the post I wrote a couple weeks back, and about what it looks like to put our own mask on first, to take care of ourselves so that we, in turn, can take care of others when needed. Here’s the thing, there isn’t one right answer on that, is there? Taking care of ourselves looks vastly different to different folks, but also to ourselves day to day. One day it could very well be a yoga class and a bath, and the next it could be making that doctor's appointment that you’ve put off for months. But, no matter what it looks like, I think it’s about paying attention to our own individual needs without pushing those needs to the side, without dismissing them as less important than the needs of those around us. For me a few weeks ago, self-care looked like giving up a couple of classes so I would have a little more space in my week for other work responsibilities. Self-care also looked like moving a meeting from the coffee shop where we planned on going, and instead taking a walk under the cherry trees while meeting since they were still in bloom. Self-care looked like writing a hard email even though I really didn’t want to write said email. No matter what your self-care looks like this week, I hope you will be aware of your own individual needs. I hope you will see that your needs are valid and real, and that your version of self-care is important. I hope you care for yourself deeply this week, my friends. Love Krista  Dear Friends,
Next week is Spring Break at my kids' school, and the three of us are headed out of town for the week for a little vacation. It’ll be my first week off in a while, and I’m excited to take some time away from work. I adore this work I get to do. It is an absolute privilege to be able to do what I do for a living, and I feel so very grateful for it and for all of you each and every day. I could not do what I do without you, and I see and recognize that truth. I feel deeply how privileged I am that I have been able to continue in this beautiful work, and for that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. And even in the great joy I derive from this work I’m privileged to do, I think it’s important to give ourselves the space to step away at times, to slow down, to take a little time off every so often. This work is beautiful and wonderful…and tiring…and in that, it’s important to allow myself time off. There’s a temptation, especially since my work is all online, to take the work with me when I go, to teach my classes even when I’m away…and there are times and will be times when that decision is right and correct…but there are times when I, and we all need to just step away and take the time to slow down, to breathe, to have a little more leisure in our schedule, to find stillness. There are times when the most important thing is to be present with the ones we are with, and to be fully engaged with the people closest to us. My dear friends, I hope this week we can give ourselves permission to slow down, to find a little more stillness. I hope this week we can be a little more engaged with the people closest to us. I hope we can see them, we can appreciate who they are in our lives, and we can take the time to step away and step a little closer into relationship with those who are most important to us. I hope you have an amazing week my friends. Love Krista  Dear Friends,
If you live in the DC area you’ll know a gloriously beautiful spring came into being only to be slammed into the ground by some bitter cold weather we’ve been having lately. I took a walk in the woods this week on a cold and windy day. As I was walking, desperately trying to keep warm in the cold and wind without quite enough of the correct clothing on, I noticed all the leaves beginning to peep out on the branches around me. I noticed life showing up on the brambles. I noticed my personal favorite, the little yellow flowers nestled in a bright green bed that blankets the forest floor in the beginning of spring. But it was still cold and windy…in all honesty, it wasn’t the most pleasurable of walks in the woods. As I walked, I was thinking about how life sometimes gives us unmet expectations. Sometimes in those unmet expectations it’s really hard to see the good, it’s really hard to notice the beauty when we’re expecting something different then we end up having. I was thinking about how sometimes we fail to notice the beauty in those unmet expectations, and we fall victim to dwelling on the negative without ever seeing the positives in our life. Unmet expectations are hard…we have our mind built around one thing, and when something completely different happens, it can throw us for a loop. And yet, there’s still beauty, there’s still good in that space of unmet expectations. My friends, I hope this week you can see the beauty and the good, even if life doesn’t look exactly as you expected it to look. I hope you have an amazing week, my friends. Love Krista Dear Friends, I’ve been thinking about backpacking trips when my kids were little…and specifically about crossing streams with littles, packs, and the threat of wet and miserable afternoons if an accidental slip were to occur. I was remembering times where I would cross a creek, get my footing and stability on a couple of rocks, and then help my kiddos across so that we didn’t go tumbling into the water. Last weekend I flew to California to visit my sister and my brand new (adorable) niece. It was a short but wonderful and nourishing time of connection where I got to see and squeeze so many of my people. On the second leg of my flight out to California I was seated right in front of several families with small children. As I settled into my seat to get ready to go, I heard the flight attendant walk around to each family individually, look at the responsible adults in each family, and say “remember, in case of emergency, put your mask on first before helping your children with their masks.” Put your mask on first. We’ve all heard that before, right? Put your mask on first, take care of yourself first…you can’t take care of those around you if you do not first take care of yourself. We’ve all heard it, and yet, how hard is it to live it? We all know that we should prioritize our own self-care, but when it comes down to it, there is a vast difference between knowing what we should do, and being able to live out that knowledge. My dear friends, I hope this week each of us can give ourselves the permission to take care of ourselves a little more. As I needed to get that firm footing in order to help my littles across the stream without falling in, I hope we’re willing to give ourselves a little more time and care, so we have the bandwidth to be there for those in our lives who might need us. I hope you have an amazing week, my friends. Love Krista  Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. -Viktor E. Frankl Dear Friends, I was trying to cross the stream the other day to get to a rock I wanted to sit on for a bit. I was able to get to said rock without too much trouble, but it wasn’t without thought…I had to pause, get my bearings and my footing, and continue on to the rock so I did not slip into the water. As I sat there I thought about a situation that recently happened in my life. A few days ago I was about to make a bad decision. I’m sure you can relate, I almost sent a text I would have later regretted. While the text would have been understandable and perhaps even justified, it simultaneously would not have had benefit in my life and in the situation, but instead would have served to build walls around an already complicated set of circumstances. Right as I was about to send the text, my dear friend called me…and that call pulled me out of the moment and gave me the space I needed to reevaluate what I was doing. That call interrupted me enough and allowed me to remind myself of what was of most benefit in this particular time. I was talking to another friend about what happened and how I was feeling about it the following day, and she led me to the beautiful quote above. “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” My friends, we aren’t always going to be rescued by the well-timed call from a friend prior to our response, and there will certainly be times when we make decisions that build walls instead of bridges…but perhaps this week, just as I had to pause to cross that water to get to the rock, we can pause a little more in our own lives….we can find a little more space between stimulus and response, and we can stand in our power to choose our own response and cultivate our growth and our freedom. I hope you have an amazing week my friends. Love Krista  Dear Friends, So, last week I talked about anchoring back…about my amble through the woods and coming back to the sound of the water to anchor back into the time and space I was in. As I sat there, listening to the sound of the flowing water and anchoring myself back to the present moment a few weeks ago, I got my phone out and took the picture I posted last week. I got really close to the water to take the picture….because when you got a little further out from that particular picture, you could see some pretty nasty scuzz in the water. I was thinking about that picture as I walked back to my car that afternoon…about the ways we find grounding and peace even when our surroundings might have a little nasty scuzz in addition to that beauty. The reality is, our life has both, right? There’s a chance we might never have a picture that is simply beautiful without any extra heartache. But, my friends, even with that extra scuzz in the water, that beauty was still there shining through. So perhaps this week we acknowledge the scuzz, but in that acknowledgement we simultaneously turn our focus a little more on to the beauty. I hope you have a beautiful week, my friends. Love Krista  Dear Friends, I have this stone I keep in my jacket pocket. It’s smooth, and fits nicely in my hand…I think my niece gave it to me one time and told me to keep it…and, well, you have to obey the adorable 5 year olds in your life, especially if they’re your sister’s adorable 5 year olds who you can give back at the end of the day. Sometimes if I’m a bit distractible it’ll help me ground back into the present as I hold onto it. I was ambling through the woods the other day. As I walked I was noticing how my mind was all over the place. Thoughts ping-ponging their way through my head. There was a bit of an inability to be present, and a distinct lack of desire to try to be present. As I walked, I noticed my distractibility, but I didn’t try to fix it. I listened to my messages on my phone, I continued to ping-pong in my thoughts. I was in the woods…but I wasn’t really there. Toward the end of my time, I did try to come back, to find some grounding, and to be present in the space I was in. I stepped toward the water, found a cozy spot, and just listened to the flowing of the water as I breathed deeply. Sometimes we just need a bit of an anchor, a tangible something to allow ourselves to be a little more present, a little more grounded in our day…maybe that’s a stone in our pocket, maybe that’s the sound of running water, maybe it’s something completely different…water was that source of grounding for me that day. It brought me right back to where I was, and allowed me to be fully present in that time and space for just a moment. My dear friends, there isn’t anything wrong with finding our anchor when our mind inevitably wanders and ping-pongs. I hope this week, when your mind wanders and you feel you need it to come back, you can give yourself a little more permission to find that tangible grounding. Have an amazing week my friends. Love Krista  Dear Friends, We grow up and we forget about the importance of play. Our first morning on retreat in Costa Rica, our group took a hike down to the black sands of Ostional Beach at the base of our retreat center where some did a beach yoga session, others walked along the beach, and still others played in the ocean waves. Those of us who were doing yoga finished up our session, and many joined those in the water to play in the surf and enjoy the ocean. As we were in the water, floating around and enjoying the mild ocean temperature, our eyes caught sight of something moving in the waves. Just as the waves crested and began their journey to the shore, we saw a school of manta rays surfing the wave. Over and over we would see these creatures, swimming and playing in the waves. Taking the time to play is so important, and something we set to the side with our busy adult lives and responsibilities. But just as those manta rays prioritized play in their day, so we too should slow down, take a pause and see play as important. My dear friends, can we find a little more time in our busy weeks to pause and play a bit. Can we prioritize time to play in our days and weeks? Can we see the importance of it in our own lives? I hope you have a playful week, my friends. Love Krista  Dear Friends, Every so often it’s important to just go it alone. I talk a lot about connection and community here, and I think both of those parts of life are so very important. But once in a while, or for some more often than once in a while, it’s important to go it alone. Last weekend when I went in search of snow, I went alone. Yes, I could have found others to go with me, but it just felt right to spend some time by myself, to make the long drive with only my thoughts, and to spend time in the world around me with no other distractions. It felt good to adventure by myself. There are times and spaces in life where we need the support of those around us, where we need to be lifted up by our people, where we need to find our community. And there are other times in life when we need to get to where we’re going alone, where we need to walk by ourselves, where we need to find peace and contentment in our own wonderful company. My dear friends, whether you are walking with others this week, or you need to go it alone, I hope you can see what wonderful company you are. I hope you have a beautiful week, my friends. Love Krista  |
Hi, I'm Krista!Krista Mason is a yoga and fitness instructor based in Washington DC. She owns an online studio and loves it! Archives
July 2022
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