To kick off the new year, I've been talking up my own 30 Day Challenge to move every day on my Instagram page. This means I'm posting my own daily activities to give people an idea of what moving every day looks like for me. And while I didn't actually host a challenge, I've had a lot of people jump in on this, which makes my personal trainer heart so very happy. Here, I'm giving a little more insight into this specific challenge of mine, in hopes that you'll take it on as well and see that it may just change your life like it did mine. Read on for more...

Never underestimate the power of a fresh start. As each month begins, it's a new start. That's a great time to start a new habit, cut a bad habit, or embrace a fun new adventure. If you've never attempted a monthly 30-day challenge, here's a list to get you thinking. Read on for more...

We've all had it with 2020, haven't we? We owe it to ourselves to set up 2021 to be a banner year! Read on for five strategies that I've found to be extremely helpful for setting goals when looking at a brand new year.

Many people would agree— just getting 2020 over and done with is enough of a gift this season. But in case you'd like to get someone a thoughtful gift this year, I'm putting out my yearly gift guide anyway. I get excited about this post every year! As always, you'll find ideas for a wide variety of interests and in a wide variety of price ranges. These are items that I personally own, enjoy, and recommend. {For more inspiration, here are links to my gift guide from 2019, gift guide from 2018 and also my gift guide from 2017.}

BUT— it's always worth repeating— stuff is just stuff. The best gift you can give your friends, family, children, and even your pets, is your time and attention. Plan something to do together, make something together, give to a charity together, or just do something out of the ordinary. The best gifts don't cost money. 

Xoxo, Merry Christmas, & Happy Everything.  :)

Just in time for the holidays! Try this crowd-pleasing fall salad for holiday gatherings or just for a delicious weeknight side salad. Read on for the recipe and a quick way to turn this into a main dish.

One of the things I've enjoyed the most from getting my RYT-500 status (Registered Yoga Teacher, 500 hours of training) and becoming a Certified Personal Trainer is learning about anatomy. Exercises and yoga poses make so much more sense when you have a little knowledge about anatomy. I'm certainly still no expert, but that's why we in the fitness industry can't stop learning and going to trainings. There's always more to learn, study, and test out.

​In this post, we'll talk about the importance of having strong glutes, the muscle group itself, and 3 excellent ways to train them. Read on for more...

Homemade stock is an incredible way to enrich the flavor of your recipes. It's way better than store bought stock, and so rewarding to make.  My aunt taught me how years ago— we both love to cook and she wrote out her chicken stock recipe for me and told me it was the perfect thing to do on a rainy weekend day. She's absolutely right. For all of you who love to cook, this makes a cold, rainy day so much fun. It's a great thing to do in the fall so that you can use the stock (or in my case, flavorbombs), in all kinds of hearty fall and winter dishes.

Because it takes pretty much all day, and a little attention,  a rainy day at home really is the perfect chance to do this. When I make stock,  I feel like the ultimate domestic goddess (HA!)... making the time-consuming stock, filling the house with the delicious smell of it all day, and preparing it for the freezer for future use in recipes. Though it may take some time, it's not difficult, and if you make these flavorbombs, you'll have little frozen concentrated doses to use for months to enrich your cooking. Read on for more...

Hi Friends! If you're looking for my yoga flows and sequences for your home practice, please view my YouTube Channel: Small Town Yogini. On that Channel, you'll find Gentle Flow videos, Vinyasa Flow videos, and a few workouts. Subscribing is free and makes it easier to find my videos! If you want more workouts, those are mostly listed on my Instagram page: small.town.yogini.

This yoga instructor is really, really missing her in-person teaching. The pandemic has made me pause my group gatherings. The thing I miss the most is my people. 

​Another thing I miss a lot about in-person teaching is how I sync my classes very tightly to the seasons and the changing of the seasons. There are so many lessons we can learn from nature. There is a lot of symbolism we can take from the transition of season to season. If we were meeting in person right now (around the fall equinox and the beginning of fall), I'd have a whole month of classes planned around the transition from summer to fall. Since I don't have that outlet right now, I decided to write about it. ​Read on for more...