I have been teaching yoga at 6 a.m. for over 5 years now. It’s an early wake up call but a gift to be able to begin my day in such a positive and intentional way. One of the things that I message to my early morning yoga classes most often is, “you choose your attitude.” You get to decide as soon as your feet hit the floor what kind of outlook you’re going to have on the day ahead.
We all got to put this into practice this morning. I got a text from a friend and fellow teacher while driving to teach my 6 a.m. that there was no one there to open the studio. (Usually our front desk gets there at 5:30 a.m.) I put the pedal to the metal (staying within the bounds of safe driving, of course) and got there as quickly as I could to open up. I arrived to find 30 yogis standing in front of the door in the dark waiting to be let in.
I got them all in and as we started class (just a few minutes late), I got word that our opener was on the way. I encouraged my students to stop by the desk on the way out and to give the opener some encouragement and kindness. He’s an excellent, hardworking employee who typically goes above and beyond his job responsibilities. He made an honest mistake that is just the nature of very early wake up calls. Sometimes they go wrong. He most definitely started his day on a stressful, rushed and anxious note and I thought we could all put our yoga and attitude choosing into practice by showing him a little love.
Was it ideal that the yogis had to stand outside (I’ll give them credit, it was a bit cold) at 5:50 in the morning? No and we strive to avoid situations like this at all cost. But was it worth starting the day on a bad note over? No. At the end of the day very early morning, they all got their full (very sweaty!) practice in and their days started with yoga just as planned.
Life is a lot more pleasurable when you choose to believe that most people are doing the best they can with what they have on their plates at the present time. It wasn’t our openers intention to make 30 people stand in the dark to wait to take yoga at 6 a.m. In fact, it’s just the opposite. He likes to get there early and I’ve never walked in to teach without him greeting me good morning by name and with a smile.
So there’s my little nugget of encouragement for you. Choose wisely! 🙂
In the spirit of spreading love, I’ve got three special offers from some blog friends/partners that I think you guys are going to love!
Enjoy a 30-Day FREE (yes, free for a whole month!) trial of Skyfit!
Remember when I reviewed the new Skyfit on-demand audio fitness app back in May? Well, I recently teamed up with the Skyfit team to put together a playlist with my top 10 Skyfit workouts that you can find on the Skyfit blog and in the app this week! All of the workouts on my curator playlist are under 30 minutes and most are treadmill or outdoor-running focused. One of the things I love the most about Skyfit is that I can get an awesome workout done in under 30 minutes without even putting a thought into what to do. I find their treadmill workouts to be both fun and challenging.
They also offer elliptical, spinning, strength and yoga workouts in addition to running training programs and monthly challenges. The November Challenge begins on November 1 and is all about Skyfit’s greatest hits. Your challenge is to complete the top 20 Skyfit cardio and strength workouts over the course of the month. Sounds like a great way to stay accountable going into the holiday season! Get all the details here.
We were going to offer a giveaway for a free month of Skyfit but the team over at Skyfit decided to give ALL of my readers a FREE 30-day trial of the app. I can’t encourage you guys enough to take advantage of this. I legit love this app and use it regularly. CLICK HERE to redeem your free month and use code: SKYFITPBR. This offer is only valid through October 31 at midnight EST so get on it! Skyfit is available for iPhone and Android.
Get 20% off Webb Compression Foot Socks
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of compression gear so when Webb offered to send me their new Plantar Faciitis Compression Foot Sleeves I said, “yes please!” I wear knee-high compression socks when I’m doing long runs but these seemed like the perfect post-run recovery socks. Although I don’t struggle with Plantar Faciitis, my feet get more achy and tired than anything else on long runs and I have crazy tight feet in general.
When I put them on I told Tanner they felt like “a big hug for my feet.” The Webb compression socks are insanely comfortable. They give you a bunch of arch and heel support and can help reduce swelling and improve blood circulation around the foot. I like that I can wear these and kind of hide them versus the full length socks.
Get 20% off your Webb Compression Socks with code: PBRUNNER on Amazon!
P.S. My nail color is Essie’s Butler Please and I get so many compliments when I use it!
Charlotte readers…take a FREE class at CycleBar!
One of our yoga students just opened a new boutique cycle studio right in the heart of Midtown Charlotte. While you guys know that spin is not my thing, I know many of you enjoy it. She’s offered my readers a FREE RIDE with code: bloggerbar. Click here to sign up for class. I have to recommend my friend Angeline’s class. She teaches yoga with us at Y2 and is an amazing instructor who is full of the most infectious good energy. I swear I’m going to get my butt on a bike take her class very, very soon! 🙂 (Anyone want to go with me!?)
I hope you enjoy these special offers! I am so appreciative of each and every one of you for reading and being so amazing so I love it when I can pass on freebies and discounts. This is not a sponsored post but I like to spread the love whenever I can!
What’s your favorite fitness app?
Spinning: love it or leave it?
Do you believe in “choosing your attitude” every day? Any tips for how you stay grounded in the positive?
Your message about choosing our attitude and encouragement to have the yogis share positive messages with the studio employee are FANTASTIC! I love it!!
Thank you! 🙂 Happy Friday Rachel!
What a VERY nice thing you did for your front desk employee. I’m sure all the nice words he got made his day. And thank you for the reminder that my attitude about problems is the problem. SO TRUE! Gah! I so needed this today.
“Life is a lot more pleasurable when you choose to believe that most people are doing the best they can with what they have on their plates at the present time.” I LOVE that and whole-heartedly agree! Thanks for sharing.
I love this message! Thanks for sharing.
I tried to use your code to try Skyfit, but it said that it can’t find that code or something so it didn’t work 🙁
I tried to sign up for SkyFit and it says it does not recognize the SKYFITPBR code. Looking forward to trying it!
The SKYFITPBR code didn’t work for me. Looking forward to trying it!
I love the positivity and encouragement you’d done to your desk employee instead of reprimanding him for an honest mistake. We’re all bound to make mistakes at some time, but it’s nice to uplift his spirit as you face another productive day! 🙂
Hi! Just wondering if the SkyFit code is working yet? Thanks!
They just announced some huge name change/rebrand last week so I have no idea what’s going on. I’m going to follow up next week.