The Self Love-Up Guru

Taking time to nurture in Nature. I am gratefully rested & renewed. Planning forward while living present 🙏🌸❤️
Nameste’ my friends!

Flashback to 2018 in my full on coaching wellness days! THIS me could learn a lot from that old me. LOL

Let us walk barefoot in the grass, feel the dew on our toes, smell the iron in the earth, the pine in the trees and then let us rest at the base of the giant maple, her massive canopy of leaves dappling sunlight through the breeze upon our cheeks and brow ...it is here we shall heal, here we shall be renewed and set free to begin anew again ❤
~Heather Hodgson, Aug 11, 2016

Getting inspired to clean up my meal prep again. “Moroccan” Roasted vegetables, long grain brown rice, with Braggs on a bed of baby leaf spinach!
Delicious 🤗❤️

Green smoothies for the win!
Baby leaf Spinach, chia seeds, avocado, banana, almond milk, honey, water, pinch of sea salt, cinnamon & and dash of nutmeg. Yummy 😋

A little flashback - why teaching yoga is like writing/ editing my book. (I’m still doing both 😉🙏)

Why Teaching Yoga Is Like Writing My Book Q&A from The Self Love-Up Guru,. Heather Cairns-Hodgson talks about about her upcoming self-help book.

Class is on this week 🤗
Yoga at 6:30 on Thursdays at Felker Hall. $12 Drop-in.

Reminder, no Yoga class with Heather this week
(Aug 1st)

Here’s the full poem. I used to read this at the end of yoga classes. Truly one of my favourites…
🌸

Take off the backpack.
Lie down in long grass.
Pull up the blue sky-blanket.
Rest.

So many years of Dharma practice,
Straight-spine diligence, straining toward enlightenment.
Today.
This hillside.
Just this.

Lie down in long grass.
Let the earth take you.
Deer tracks and horse dung
and the eye within the eye, revolving and luminous.

I never knew this.
Did no one ever tell me?

I remember my Zen Master in the interview room.
“Trust yourself,” he said. “Just be yourself.”

I think his meaning was this:

Take off the backpack.
Lie down in long grass.
Let the sky take you.
Rest.
Breathe space
into space
into space.

I never knew there was so much light!

Helen Dhara Gatling-Austin
October 31, 1998

....take off the back pack,
lie down in the green grass,
let the blue sky take you.....Rest.... ❤

This is an excerpt from one of my fav poems - I Never Knew by Helen Dhara Gatling-Aust

I am so excited! The journey begins toward our new build with my home-based yoga studio upstairs. Eeek! 🥰
Not quite ready for yoga class yet, lol.

Just a reminder, Yoga at 6:30 on Thursdays at Felker Hall. $12 Drop-in.

Time for two yummy treats from my archives - one a yoga pose & the other a fantastic salad recipe! ~ xo Heather

Side Angel Pose Variation - Utthita Parsvakonasana

Side Angle Pose Variation
This pose is Grounding, Stretching and Balancing - The challenge is to root down through the feet in order to open up while you align through the hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulders, revolving open the rib and chest and heart centre.

🌸🌸🌸

Sauteed Portobello Mushroom, Red Pepper & Quinoa on a Leafy Green Salad
Topped with Avocado & Green Goddess Dressing

Ingredients Required for the Salad
Quinoa
1 to 2 Sliced Portobello Mushroom(s)
1/2 Sliced Red Bell Pepper
1 to 2 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Fresh Mixed Green Salad and/or Baby Leaf Spinach
1/2 Avocado
Fresh Parsley for Garnish (eat the parsley - it's good for you!)

Green Goddess Dressing
1/2 Avocado
Juice of 1/2 Lime or 1/2 Lemon
1 Tsp Honey
3 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 Tsp Poppy Seeds (optional)
Pinch of Salt

To Prepare:
Cook Quinoa according to package directions (refrigerate or freeze leftover quinoa)
Sautee Portobello Mushroom and Red Pepper in a TBSP of olive oil.
Plate a blend of Baby Spinach & Leafy Green Salad mix and top with 1/4 cup of the cooked Quinoa and a few slices of both the sauteed mushroom & red pepper. Add a slice of Avocado. Blend the Dressing Ingredients and Drizzle over salad. Garnish with a sprig of parsley and serve warm.
Yummy!

My personal daily yoga practice is ever evolving. Some days it’s sun salutations, some mornings it’s free flow to whatever rises up through my body. This morning I was drawn to place a handful of my crystals at the top of my mat. How do your favourite yoga sessions go? What makes them yummy, is it the music, the mat, the movement, the outfit or a certain space you practice in?
Whatever it is, I hope you have a wonderful practice. 🙏😊
~ xo Heather

Dare to dream, rewrite and envision the life you want. Write it down, journal it out. Vision board it. Whatever it takes. Then muster up all you’ve got and aim for it with all your heart!

Yoga canceled tonight - roads are dangerously washed out
Stay home safely

As much as I love gentle yoga and meditation, my personal favourite practices are the ones that leave it all on the mat. 🙌💕

It’s YOGA time! 😉🙌

Came across this in my memories.
Asking for clear signs & direction can be very effective. And most importantly, we then need to watch & listen to the messages that come.
Hope you are having a easeful weekend. ~ xo Heather

What’s on your Summer Bucket list?
I definitely want to get in some swimming, picnics, firefly spotting, waterfall hunting and stargazing ✨🙌💕

Two walk locations today. Two beautiful views 🌸💕

Prepped for yoga on Canada Day!

Hello, July!
I always hope for summertime to go at a pace in which I can truly enjoy it. Slowing down , creating space and scooping up all that this glorious time of year has to bring.
I hope your summer is everything you wish for. ~ xo Heather

Time for a Self Love-Up reminder!
Playtime is essential to your health.

It's a funny paradox - but those who feel they don't have time for play are usually those who need it the most.

Promise yourself that you will take more time to play this week!

When we leave space in our schedules for playtime, we make room for creative inspiration and time to fill up our hearts & souls with the very energy we need to land back on our feet with our cups overflowing. Ready to shine brighter.

If you aren't used to playing anymore,
Start with only 10 minutes a day first thing or last thing in the morning that is just for you!

Here are some quick, simple ideas to get you started:

- Stretch your arms out to the sky, open your heart and invite the energy of play to show up somehow in your day.
- Build a backyard swing - Swingsets aren't just fun for kids
Let's re-write the rules!

- Spin around in a circle, swinging your arms out to the side - when's the last time you did that??!!!

- Lay on your back on a picnic blanket and look at the clouds

- Lay in the grass on your belly and look at the earth

- Play skipping with the kids, or basketball, or frisbee

- Put on your favourite songs and dance like no one is watching

- Make some bubbles and blow them in the air, watch as they land and pop!

- Eat an ice cream cone with sprinkles

- Go for a bike ride

- Grab some paper and coloured markers and sit on the lawn - doodle, draw, write a poem. Write a letter.

- Sing in the shower, the bath, the
car

- Play a game of Hide & Seek with or without the kids

- Play a clapping game like Cee Cee my playmate or Paddy Cakes

- Be silly, Be playful - Be creative.

There, PLAYTIME, that's better!
~ xo Heather ✨🙌

See you tonight ✨💕