Yoga Instructor, Coach, and Lifestyle guru Hope Knosher
Journal
Choose Your Own Adventure...
All Journal Entries
As the New Year and New Decade begin, you may be thinking about how this year will be different. You may set resolutions and make plans for change. This is also a good time to practice mindfulness. Taking time to get present can help us in knowing where we want to go and how best …
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As a yoga teacher and wellness coach, I hear about balance issues quite frequently, especially in those who are over 50. It is essential as we age to stay active. In my own journey I learned that the emphasis of a health and wellness program begins to change as we get older.
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I just finished this video testimonial from the last Awakening Hope Retreat! Listening to Yolanda talk about her experience brought tears and a deep knowing of why I created this journey. I didn’t know until Yolanda and I sat down to film her journey in her words that she had never been hiking before – ever!
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In my last journal post (link to post), we covered how to cultivate positivity and gain more resilience in our lives. Now let us turn our attention on how to counteract negativity. We know that we cannot entirely escape negativity in our lives. We also know from the research that “faking it” is just as bad (if not worse) than negativity. So what can we do to counteract negativity?
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It is no secret that people who are more positive are also more resilient – they can “bounce back” more quickly when bad things do happen. But there are proven ways you can take action to cultivate positivity and counter a downward spiral? The answer is “Yes!”,according to Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D. and, author of the book Positivity.
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I was awakened in the early spring of 2009 by a sharp pain in my right breast. As I shifted around trying to relieve the pain, I had a piercing thought seemingly out of nowhere: “could this be breast cancer”?
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Yoga is a science that has been around for thousands of years. It consists of observations and principles about the mind and body connection. The science of yoga is now being proven through modern scientific study. Research is being conducted by many healthcare providers, including MD Anderson, to look at the health benefits of yoga for those dealing with cancer.
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A coach will help you define your vision for wellness and then use that vision to co-create a completely personalized action plan based on your goals and aligned with your values. Your personalized program will prioritize your health and wellness, enhance your well-being, and move you toward where you want to be.
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We all have had them: the teachers that change our lives. The ones we remember long after the experience has passed. They leave an imprint on our lives and our spirits. It is with my deepest gratitude that I share the lessons I have learned from some of my most important teachers.
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We are becoming more and more overstressed as a society as the pressures of our modern life keep mounting. How can yoga help balance your body’s stress response and help you find serenity?
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Sequencing a practice can stop many from practicing at home. Knowing how to sequence can help relieve stress associated with developing a home practice.
A home practice is an integral part of a continuing, committed yoga practice, but concern about how to sequence stops many.
After all that has transpired, all the gain, all the loss, things that slid and things that stayed in place, is there anything more clear now than it was?
For me it is just that everything is a bit unclear and that the best I can do is to stay on the path of awareness, of sharing the practice of yoga, walking along side others as we journey together in this experience. It is about making the most of each day by staying present and making mindful choices.
A good friend recently lost her mother to a sudden and massive heart attack. While working her way through the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, she told me she felt like her body was “weighed down with stones.” Physical symptoms like this can occur at any time in the grief process. It’s scary, but natural. If you are going through the loss of a loved one, a job, a pet, or an emotional life change, here are some symptoms to look for, and some tools to help you heal.
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My daughter was five years old when she, along with a neighborhood friend, secretly fed a stray cat in our backyard. The cat had no identification as to whom she belonged to, and she had been hanging out in our yard for a while. My daughter felt sorry for her and didn’t want her to go hungry. We weren’t looking to adopt a cat, but the universe had other plans. This was around the summer of 2003.
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Life happens. An opportunity may fall through, or grief and tragedy strikes when you least expect it.
When your direction shifts, it’s easy to feel lost. What can you do when you feel like you’re foundering? Here are three steps to help you work through your feelings and find your way back to yourself.
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When our body is out of sync, the autonomic nervous system, hormonal system, and the immune system are not working in a synchronized manner.
We can re-synchronize our body systems by creating a state of coherence and thus improving our mental focus, emotional stability, physical resilience, and improved cognitive function. This allows us to operate in a more efficient manner in all areas of life.
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Being continuously stressed caused me to develop a pattern of shallow breathing, which exacerbated my stress levels even further.
Through my yoga practice, I was able to become aware of my altered breathing patterns and relearn how to breathe deeply and easefully.
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Many emotions erupted as I sat in my office, confused and wondering. What just happened? Who was the person that wrote such an on-point, heartfelt account of her journey of healing? And more importantly, where was she now?
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Did you know that if you’re a woman over 40, you might disappear? I recently read this article from Beauty Redefined, a non-profit dedicated to promoting positive body images to women. Among the many eye-opening statistics was this one: “A whopping 62 percent of the female population of the U.S. is over 40. But get this: Older men appear as much as 10 times more frequently than older women in media.”
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We can all use a 5 minute reboot to reset the day and our positivity index! This 5 minute breathing practice will help you get connected to yourself and to your heart creating more spaciousness and allowing a release of stress and tension in your body and mind. Take a 5 minute break in the morning upon awakening, during the day when you feel disconnected, stressed, or in the need of a “reboot”, or at night before bed.
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