Christie Phillips
16 Ave SW T6W 1L7 Edmonton, AB, Canada

This! Let's all try to walk the talk this week (me included)! Happy Monday!

Nicely said. You do you. Pause for those moments.

My friends, I thank you for your patience. I've been trying to figure out how to balance being a parent and a yoga teacher, being present and prepared, my own self-care and helping others on their journey. I keep meditating on this and yet there does not seem to be one answer, as our state of normal is uncertain. I miss seeing your smiling faces, hearing your stories, and leading you in meditation and yoga. I will be reaching out to all my current students later today. I am not accepting new students at this time. Stay healthy and whole my friends. Namaste

Hello everyone! I hope this finds you and your families well. Today is the day that yoga studios are allowed to resume classes with physical distancing guidelines. Unfortunately, given the size of my studio and that it is in our home (where both my daughter and I are at high risk for complications if we contracted COVID-19), I have made the decision not to reopen at this time. However, I am planning to offer 1-2 yoga classes per week in my backyard in July and August! We hav...e a large yard and a side entrance, so I will be able to keep you all nicely separated. I will have limited space for anyone with stability or knee injuries to set up on our deck as well. If you are interested, please comment with a day/time preference below. PS Sadly this is not my backyard! I'll post a pic of it once we've finished our deck maintenance.

This may be me... and this may also be me. But (equally) seriously, I am loving these warm afternoons and being able to do yoga on my deck again, even if it's just a quick sun salutation in between "mom? ... mom? ..." Lol. I hope you're all keeping healthy, sane, and limber.

It's just a clean master bathroom, right? I love this picture: a shiny tub and shower. Probably not a big deal to most of you, but it is to me. You see, I only clean my bathtub about twice a year! I mean, that's if you don't count me rubbing my foot along the edges of the bottom to reduce the scuz. Gross, right? This is a post about letting go and forgiveness. Most of us carry around this subconscious list in our heads of how we expect our lives and homes to be. But what h...appens when we can't fulfill that list, ingrained in us since our childhood? We inwardly fight self-doubt, frustration and guilt. It's not healthy. That saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" has now been proven to be untrue! We can rewire (re-pattern) our neural connections to serve us better, and help us let go. Despite having an intense child with Type 1 Diabetes (an autoimmune disease that requires 24-7 medical management), Sensory Processing disorder, General Anxiety, and Emotional Dysregulation; myself having Degenerative Disc Disease throughout my lumbar, thoracic and cervical spine, Bursitis in both shoulders, plus a 1cm tear in a tendon in my left shoulder, Chronic Migraines, and Fibromyalgia; and a husband who works away 70% of the year, I have felt like I am not enough! Ridiculous, right?! So I am proudly showing you my twice yearly cleaned tub! I am learning to let go of expectations (mine and others); to let my body rest when needed; to not overdo it on my great days; to return to the practices that help me feel better (meditation and yoga), even if that means no cardio; to seek help when needed; and to remember that my best is always enough. I have been making and using natural body and cleaning products since I was pregnant with our daughter. However, when it came to that grubby tub, I learned that if you rinse and spray down the tub and surround with Spray9 the night before, it does all the work for you. I had to hold my breath when spraying it, and leave the fan on in there with the door closed all night, but it was worth the lack of neck and shoulder pain! So folks, what can you let go of? What expectations do you put upon yourself, that are unnecessary? Where can you free yourself of guilt and frustration? When will you realize that you are perfect, exactly the way you are? PS I will never let go of my high cleanliness standards when it comes to my yoga space: Floors are vacuumed after each class and mopped weekly (with vinegar) Mats and props are sanitized after each use (with vinegar and hydrogen peroxide)

Perhaps your kids are ready for this after weeks inside! Or maybe you need it more!

Good morning everyone! I miss you all! I got a chance to try out Zoom this morning (a great class from my Yoga Teacher Trainer, Sara). And so, I want to set up a class to reconnect with you all. My daughter is home with me, so I unfortunately don't have time to do 6 classes a week, but perhaps you could comment with which day of the week and whether morning or afternoon works best for you! You would need to download Zoom on your laptop (or phone? haven't checked that out yet) to be able to participate. I hope you're all keeping healthy, staying a safe distance from others (thank you for protecting my daughter and I by doing this!), and finding calm and sanity. Comment with DAY and either AM or PM (not evening).

Good morning lovely yogis! Just a reminder that all of my classes have been temporarily suspended. I will let you know when they resume. I plan to create either some videos or a few Zoom sessions over the coming weeks, so that you can keep practicing. I may enlist my daughter to video, so hopefully it's calming and not Blair Witch style footage. Stay well and take care of one another. I have Skype as well, if anyone wants to connect.

In light of the World Health Organization declaring COVID-19 (Coronavirus) a pandemic and the rate at which it spreads, I have decided to temporarily suspend my yoga classes. I am not ill, nor are any of my students, however I hope that by limiting the extent of our gatherings, we can help "flatten the curve" and slow the spread of this disease, so that our healthcare system is not overwhelmed when one of us or our families need it most. I hope that you will join me again onc...e classes resume! I will miss teaching you all, as it has been a blessing meeting each of you, and sharing my passion for yoga is bringing me great joy. I trust that once classes resume, I will see your sunshiny faces again! If your schedules still allow you to come on the same days and times, that's ideal, however if anything changes, we can address that then. Also if you would prefer a pro-rated refund (for the remainder of your series), in waiting for classes to resume, please PM me and we'll arrange that. Thank you for your continued business, time and connection; and support in this matter. I look forward to many more classes with each of you! Stay healthy! Namaste