A Yogi Kitchen Off The Mat

Happy Tuesday loves! It's mid May and you know what that means? We're focusing on Love! I originally planned Love to coincide with Pride month. It was just a lovely coincidence that June is my birthday month. Now I can't imagine a better time of the year to practice Love. This first week of a new session I call getting clear. It's a way of feeling sensations in your body, in your heart and sparking memories and thoughts in your brain. We're working on getting clear about how you experience Love right now. You can try this again at the end of 8 weeks and see how it's different mind/body/spirit. Take a listen, do your homework (it's simple and fun, I promise) and then join us Saturday, 8:30a, ct on Zoom for Somatic Flow. We're opening our hearts and getting in touch with stuck emotions. You're going to LOVE IT! Enjoy! I Love you, Melissa 💚

Happy Tuesday Loves! We are in the last week of focusing on Santosha. We started the yoga session with an all-level definition of the word, Enough. Then we moved to the most commonly accepted definition, contentment. This last week, I'm inviting you to focus on and do work around a more complex definition, Peace. Listen as I lead you through a centering Santosha meditation and read, 1.33 from Pantanjali's Yoga Sutras. Breathe into Peace. Inhale Peace, Exhale Peace. Then I shared some liveliness from my weekend. I love you! Melissa 💚

Happy Friday Loves! Today we celebrate our wins from the week. This episode is a bit of a hodge-podge. It's been a hard week. I wanted to share that and also what tools and poses I've been using to manage a difficult time. Join us for pop-ups. Join us for Intro to Chakra Yoga and Root Chakra Yoga May 16. Love you, Melissa 💚

Happy April!Hahaha! I JUST realized that I said today was April 5th in this new episode. Today is actually the 6th. Happy Monday! It's the first Monday of a new month, lovelies. How are you? Are you enjoying the new energy of this renewal and rebirth season. I absolutely felt it hit and feeling more inspired and active. How do you when you can say I've Done Enough? We're exploring that feeling this week. On Thursday night we had a lovely full moon Restorative Yoga class and my heart was open and I felt the loveliness of that practice right before bed. What a gift to roll off the mat and say Ok! I'm ready to end the day, cause I've done enough. That feeling is hard for me. So, let's talk about it! Also, it's a Monday Meeting and I shared what's coming up this week. Join me for :Zoom Reset and Restore Yoga tonight (Monday) at 8:30p. Grocery Box filling and distribution Friday 4/10Zoom Saturday Somatic Flow 8:30aLove you all, Melissa! 💚

Happy March 19 Loves! I accidentally posted a September episode in place of this one. I'm so sorry. I'm not sure why I'm having such difficulty. Below is the original description I posted. Enjoy! Are wondering if you read that right? You did! We're starting a new season. Can you feel this new energy? I'm noticing my sleep patterns change. My appetite is changing. It's a brand new everything! I hope you're loving it as much as I am. I shared all the upcoming events and things to think about going forward with spring. Join us! Also, please share with your friends and family. Now that we're fully into Year of the Fire Horse and all its forward momentum, abundance and power energy, we are growing. I'm seeing past students return, friends I've known for a while FINALLY ask me about yoga. There are so many fun and exciting things coming up. So share the yumminess! Join us Saturday 3/21 for Zoom Somatic Yoga. At 8:30a. At 12p,, join us for Global Synchronization. Close your eyes wherever you are and meditate and/or chant on Peace, Love, Unity, Respect for 5 minutes. All times central. I love you! We're going to get thru this together. Melissa 💚

Hello Loves! Do you feel it? We are in the midst of so many energy shifts. Are sleeping better or having trouble? Feeling tired all of the time or not at all? Having trouble focusing or feeling lasers in? Honestly with everything that's going on is could go any which way. I took some time, but I'm feeling a renewed since of purpose and way more energy. Today I shared all my new plans and all of the things going on. Enjoy!I love you, Melissa 💚

Happy Tuesday Loves!We're one week into the new lunar year, Year of the )94/2. How are you feeling. I had a huge a-ha moment that made me cry. I didn't realize how much I'd been shedding in this 9 year cycle that just ended. Stevie B helped me see it. Still from wherever he is, he's still teaching me and helping me learn about myself. So ask yourself, how am I doing, make a record and enjoy! Love you, Melissa 💚

Happy New Year Loves! I'm so crazy excited about Year of the Fire Horse. It's going to be pure Magic! I started the episode with a gentle meditation that helps you connect with your power, strength, freedom and intuition. The Fire Horse is dragging you into your wildest dreams. I shared some of my desires, how I'm moving forward and what I released. I love you all and I'm so excited for this new year for all of us. Peace, love and light,Melissa 💚

Happy Wednesday Loves!The Magic is electrifying! Do you feel it? I took even more time to be still and quiet and it is sprouting so much Magic. Busyness is draining us for no reason. It’s making us less productive, more stressed and exhausted. It’s taking away our creativity, making it harder for us to feel connected, to connect with a higher frequency and feel good about ourselves Busyness never ends an and it never invites Magic in. Magic however, invites you to connect with your sparkle and light. It banishes busyness. The less busyness you have, the more Magic you feel and the then more Magic, the less your ego needs to engage in busyness. It’s a lovely cycle. I shared my experiences and revelations about getting quiet. Enjoy! I love you, Melissa 💚

Hello Loves! Are you loving Magic? It’s such a good word. Today I shared how it’s really opening me up and connecting me with some of our great words from the near past. Do you feel Magic connecting you with Joy? Gratitude? Community?I’ve been craving more community after the last year of being fairly quiet. This week one of our yoga sisters, Diane, shared food with me and reminded me that Food is Magic! How was I not making this connection? Food IS Magic!! It’s something I know in my blood and bones and yet everyday when I remind myself that we’re focusing on Magic I don’t automatically have thoughts of food. It’s almost criminal. I hope you enjoy today’s episode! What’s Magic in your life?Join us for Pop-Ups this week on Zoom. Saturday- Slow Flow, 8:30aSunday- Full Moon Eclectic Yoga, 6pFeb 15 is Soup Sunday and Burning BowlLove you all! 💚

Happy Thursday! The pixie dust is starting to sprinkle and I can feel the Magic in the air. Do you feel it? For the next few weeks we’re focusing on more and more Magic in our lives. Do you know how to feel it more clearly? Release. Get really clear by retting things go that you don’t want or need any more. Feel how your frequency shifts. This isn’t easy work. Most people don’t do the big work, but for those of us that are digging deep there are huge rewards. This year I’m more me than ever before, feeling more confident and strong. It’s been an amazing shift. Listen, share, then join us tonight 2/22 for Zoom Restorative Yoga. Https://ayogikitchen.com for Zoom and class info. I love you! Melissa 💚

Happy Tuesday loves! Yesterday I had a craving for more connections dm communication. Like magic the old habit Monday Meetings popped into my head. I think I must have stopped when my mom was in the hospital. So, I recorded the episode and then promptly forgot to publish it. Often when I do that I’ll just publish the next day. Today, I decided to just record again and make it a Tuesday meeting. I reflected on my thoughts on our word of the session, Magic. I invited you to share what Magic means to you so far in the session and u shared pop-ups this week. Since we’re still in the darkest part of the year, I shifted everything towards February when we enter Year of the Horse and all its passions and freedom. Hope you enjoy! Share with your friends and family. I love you,Melissa 💚

Happy 2026!Everything is new and nothing is new. It’s a new year, but we’re in the same season. So, it’s still time to rest, dream, nap and be still. It’s not time to be busy, which the man-made calendar year asks us to do. We’re going to jump into new energy as we approach Year of the Horse and the Spring Equinox. Right now we’re planting seeds for what the time of renewal and germinating looks like. I wanted to share my new word for the year, which will be our word for this new yoga session. Breathe into it, picture it, say it out loud. Let’s Get Clear! We’re popping up tomorrow, Saturday Jan 3 for Wolf Full Moon Practice. Since it’s Saturday, it will be mostly a somatic yoga practice focusing on both releasing, but also community. I’m a pack animal and I Love wolves, so I’ll be talking a lot about community and pack energy. It goes hand-in-hand with our new word. Enjoy, share with your friends and family and let me know your thoughts, observations, comments or concerns. I love you all!Happy 2026!Melissa. 💚

Happy Day Loves! Well, I was so proud and happy with myself for recording about our pop-up week as soon as o knew all the details. Then I didn’t post. Well, to be perfectly honest, I must not have hit publish, cause I can’t find anything I wrote. So here we are in the last few days of 2025 and I want to invite you to one last pop-up to release anything that still may be lingering. Don’t worry if you can’t join us, this is the calendar year ending. Spiritual and energetic endings happen with the lunar new year in February. So you still have time. However an end of the calendar year practice is still huge healing. We’re going to flow so we can move away from the past and into our futures. On Saturday I invite you to join us for full moon Zoom practice. I hope you’re having a fantastic last week of 2025. I love you all and appreciate you so much getting me through this difficult first year of grief. Love you! Melissa 💚

Happy Sunday Lives! We’re in the last few days of focusing on Joy. My biggest Joy? The quiet, rest and napping that this seasons begs you to do. Holy crap! It’s my new super power. My rested brain is magic. The biggest shift that’s been happening is this last push of energy around release. What is your life inviting you to release? To end? To let go? I don’t who released whom, but it feels like Steve released me. The energy shift is big and exciting. We’re going to do a lot of releasing work for the next six weeks and I shred some poses and journaling ideas to help you either settle in with whatever you’ve been wanting to release or let go of what you’ve been resisting. Take a moment to listen, share with your family and friends and then open your calendar to make sure you don’t miss anything upcoming. Love you! Melissa. 💚

Happy Saturday and Welcome Back Melissa! Loves, I took more quiet time. I processed, rested and was still. It was the best thing I could have not planned. I’ll talk more soon, but it was the one year anniversary of Steve’s death. I was quiet. I waited for the inspiration to record and I’m so glad I did. This weekend is the new moon arms am open portal for manifesting all the way into mid 2026. I hope yours feeling the joy of the season arms this new moon is Sagittarius. Love you all! Melissa. 💚

Hello my loves! I’ve been quiet, taking naps, resting and being still and it’s been absolute Joy. I love how powerful my brain gets when I step away from being busy and I take care of any mental or emotional exhaustion right away. At first I got quiet because Thanksgiving was the last milestone without Steve, my last first and then this powerful Cold Full Moon rolled in and it just really hit me. These super moons are a lot. Then my rested and still brain started connecting dots and it’s been so exciting and inspiring. I am so ready for The Year of the Horse, but first I invite you to join me and clear some energy from 2025. Take a listen, share with your friends and family. oh! And then join us for Zoom Restorative Yoga Monday 12/8. Yoga by donation helps us feed people and is part of your Seva practice. I love you,Melissa 💚

Happy Tuesday Loves! I hope you had a lovely long weekend full of family, friends, love and most of all, Joy! I have overflowing Gratitude for all of you and how you show up with your love and support for me, but especially how we all took care of our community members for the holiday. Thank you so much! I also have a lot of gratitude for a quiet week, being still and reflecting, napping, assessing the year and starting to daydream a bit about 2026. Unfortunately, I recorded the podcast Sunday and it didn’t post. So, heres a little gift of Sunday reflections on a Tuesday. Enjoy!Melissa 💚

Happy Wednesday Loves! Last week we pulled the Listening card and I took some time to listen to the rhythm I’ve been craving mind/body/spirit. So, I didn’t record all week till today. My brain started filtering for Joy! Has yours made the shift? It took me a little longer than it sometimes does. It’s another part of Listening and Serenity, the other card I pulled last week. I have so much gratitude for these words that draw me into the best parts of our practice and my life. Thanks again to our yoga sister, Sarah, for her $40 donation to our Thanksgiving Grocery Boxes Project and her continued support of the Grocery Box Program. Her donation bought a Thanksgiving meal for one of our families. We are looking to feed a few more families, so listen, enjoy and share and then shoot me a text to make a donation for the grocery boxes. Any amount helps proved a meal and leftovers and any extra cash goes right into our Xmas boxes fund. So much gratitude and Joy because of all of you!Love, Melissa 💚

Happy Wednesday Loves! Our word is Joy and while I didn’t mention it in this episode, I want to remind you to do a mind-week check-in. How Aligned are you with the intention you set Sunday with Joy? I’ll admit I wasn’t doing so great. Today I finally shifted from our last word, Align to fully step into deepening my joy practice. It’s sooo good. What are you doing to step into joy?I also mentioned that Brené Brown keeps popping up from how we can’t selectively numb, to the unraveling that happens in our 40s and 50s to shake and guilt are low vibrations. Obviously my brain has been buzzing. I hope you enjoy! Love you, Melissa 💚

Happy Sunday! Let’s take a bit of time together to he quiet and focus in on Joy. This week I had a little trouble moving away from focusing on Align to put all of my attention o. Joy. It worked in my favor and I’m starting to see a future that’s well Aligned with my heart. How was your week? Did you shift into Joy better than I did? It’s all a journey and things are happening the way they’re supposed to. We have some fun things coming up and some birthdays to acknowledge. It’s going to be such a Joy-filled session!Love you!Melissa 💚

Happy Thursday Loves! I mentioned in the last episode that I’d pull cards for the week and then I forgot. I guess I was so excited about our new word that I got distracted. Today’s episode is a mini. Just a quick hello to let you know I’m thinking of you and to hello you stay on track with your intention this week. We are diving deeper into our Seva practice this session. So, plan on joining us to make our grocery boxes even better than they have been all year! I love you! Melissa 💚

Happy November Lovelies! On Friday we said goodbye to Align and I spent a day or so reflecting on all the lessons I learned last session. Align brought me to gratitude, and so much clarity. So much clarity. It inspired me to re-examine my core values and take a look at how well Aligned my actions are with my values. We have a lot of ease this session and I shared some new , fun things coming up that align with our new word. Take a listen, enjoy and share with your friends and family.Love your!Melissa 💚

Happy Sunday! We’re finally having fall here in Lawrence, loves. I hope you’re enjoying October. Now that it feels like spooky season, I’m super excited. As on so many Sundays I invite you take time to set intention. To help us shape the week I pulled cards from Tricia Hersey’s Rest Deck and Doreen Virtue’s Healing With Angels Cards. Pulling cards is a great way to help shape a meditation, journaling or a practice-and of course to hold to and bring you back into the moment. This week, Al times US central: Monday Zoom Pop-Up Restorative Yoga 8:30pSaturday Zoom Pop-Up Somatic Flow 8:30a Sunday. In-person Practices for Peace mini-retreat 1-4p, location TBA I’d love to see you on the mat this week! Got a pop-up request? Text 785-760-5412. Love you!Melissa 💚

Happy Thursday Loves! Wow! Wow! Wow! The universe spoke directly to me and I didn’t even see it right away. On Monday I picked some cards to help guide me this week. I use them to guide my random thoughts, my meditations, my dreams, my journaling, my conversations, my connections and it’s been soooooo good so far. It cracks me up how I’ve been contemplating this exact thing for months now, just not with these exact words. So take a listen, subscribe, share with your friends and family. Then comment, shoot me a text or an email and let me know how these words help you Align! 785-760-6413, [email protected]. I love you and this beautiful life!Melissa 💚

Happy Monday! I feel this week’s greatness in my bones! I know that you got this. It might not be butterflies, sunshine and rainbows, but it’s going to be a fantastic week. You believe me right? I was right about last week. Here’s the funny thing. I always tell you that the best things don’t go smoothly. Our growth mindset means that things will go wrong, cause that’s how you learn. You learn from mistakes and mishaps way more than you learn from perfection. The more you fight that, the more you’ll have to learn that lesson. Last week certainly did not go smoothly. Things broke. One after another. Major appliances and a small one broke. Forever. I spoke today about what I learned from it. I also shared some half formed thoughts on what vibrating higher feels like and its consequences. And, of course, I shared what’s coming up. Enjoy, share with friends and family and then share your experiences and reflections. I love you, Melissa 💚

Happy Tuesday Loves! We are STILL in full moon energy and it’s so yummy. Yesterday I was super intentional about my energy. I watched the documentary about John Batiste, American Symphony on Netflix cause I knew it was going to help me connect with the energy of this full moon, which is asking us to release fear and go after what sets your soul on fire with confidence and excitement. Last night we did a special restorative and gentle movement Zoom yoga practice to honor and open this Hunter Fill Moon. I shared my takeaways from being intentional with my energy all day, to feeling the openness of our heart warmers to Aligning that with consistency and continuity. At the end I finally figured out what it was all about. Enjoy! Love, light and peace, Melissa 💚

Happy Sunday! Popping in on a Sunday and sharing how the week is shaping up has been in my list for a while. Consistency and continuity has also been on my list for a while. I love when there’s lots of free space in my life for some randomness and spontaneity. I love that everyday is different, but it can lead to some dropped balls. For the next month I’m looking for the middle ground. I still dislike routine, but am looking for a place where consistency and continuity can exist with sonority and extraordinary days. So here’s what’s happening this week. I hope you’ll join us for a very fun week! Love you!Melissa 💚

Happy Friday Lives!I did it again. I was all proud of myself for recording midweek and then forgot to post. So here’s my excitement about October recorded on the 1sr. This week is about cutting out the things you don’t want in your life. Don’t judge it as good or bad, think of it as what’s in the way of how you really want to live and what you really want in your life. Cut out anything that gets in the way. I shared an update on how I’m clearing energy for this beautiful life to get EVEN better! Love you all!Melissa 💚

Happy Monday Loves! Do you feel it? It’s going to be such an amazing week. I’m feeling it. Do you? I feel it for you! You’re going to have a fantastic week. It may not be easy. Hard things may happen, but you’re going to connect with this heightened energy and remember who you are. You got this! As soon as often happens when I’m processing out loud I figured out my issue with receiving messages. I’ll think and share more soon, but I talked about it a little. This week is about carving away the things that you don’t want in your life. They can be bad habits, old stuff, things that you love, but are ready to release. When you carve it away, you’ll have a new sculpture of your life. Do you see where I’m going? I figured out the stagnant energy in my life that is keeping me from receiving messages and seeing where this new energy is taking me. Enjoy my a-ha moment. I recorded this a few hours ago and it’s resonating more and more with me. I’ll definitely share again this week to tell you how it’s going. Enjoy and share your observations. I love you, Melissa 💚

Happy Wednesday Loves! On Wednesdays I invite you to take some time to get quiet and notice how your week is going. How do you want to move forward. Do you feel it? Are you loving it? Do you feel this big shift in energy everyone is talking about? It’s sooo delicious. Take time today to be present so you can connect with this energy that is helping us vibrate higher. My heart is open, I’m standing in my poster and I’m at a teaching high. I LOVE it. How are you feeling? If you’re not feeling it, don’t worry. It doesn’t mean it’s not here. Maybe you need to get quiet or release something that’s stuck and the energy can’t flow freely yet. Maybe you’re not honoring or being present with endings. You have to say goodbye to things not serving you to accept new things in. It’s a beautiful journey. Enjoy it. I talked about how lovely our Hips and Heart mini-retreat was last weekend and how it’s inspiring me to do more and more retreats and why retreat is a better word than workshop. It’s a beautiful life. I hope you’re really rolling around it! I love you, Melissa 💚

I recorded and posted yesterday. I’m not sure why it didn’t publish. It’s okay, set intention today if you haven’t already! Happy Sunday Loves!It took all of my energy to get here today. My microphone quit working. More than once and I didn’t realize and kept recording for a while. So I had to find my place and go back to re-record. I lost the recording for a bit, realizing it was in my recently deleted file. It took me a while to find that. But here we are and we’re focusing on a week that feels aligned. This week is about putting one foot in front of the other to take action that supports what your heart wants. I shared lots of examples of how the word keeps showing up in my life. Don’t forget we’re at OmTree for the last time on Saturday 9/20, 4-6:30. We’re doing the work! You’ll open, stretch, release, strengthen and stabilize for better energy flow, to let go of your emotional baggage and relationship issues. Flow, restore, breathe, journal and take a break from the world. I love you!Melissa 💚

Happy Monday Loves!It’s going to be a great week! How do I know? Cause it just keeps getting better and better. I’m feeling it, you’re sharing it and lots of us are posting about it. This Harvest Full Moon is helping us reap the fruits of our hard work setting intention, planting seeds and nurturing our ideas and dreams. It’s all coming to fruition. Yesterday we took time to be still and move slowly in the lovely space of OmTree Shala. Tonight we’re joining on Zoom for A restorative Harvest Full Moon practice. Listen, subsequent be and share with your friends. Then join us from the comfort and safety of your home. You’re going to open and release anything that’s been holding you back. You’re going to slow down and turn in so you can your inner voice and trust your intuition. You’re going to Breathe. See you in the mat! I love you, Melissa💚

Happy Thankful Thursday Loves! Align is our new word and a lot of us are loving it! It’s reminding us to look over a shoulders more often and see how the dots are connecting. When I see how it’s all fitting together, I get this overwhelming, heart full of gratitude. I shared my gratitudes from this lovely week. How is your heart feeling.? Share what makes your heart smile. Your connection, comments and questions fires me up.I answered a question! I’ve been wanting to focus on answering your questions more in the podcast and sometimes I do without mentioning that it’s something that came up in class or a text conversation I had with a yogi. As I was thinking about it, I got a text! And THAT’s why we’re focusing on Align. The more we recognize it, the more it keeps happening. Focusing on what’s Aligning might tempt you to push away people, places or things that are difficult. You might be tempted to think if it’s not comfortable or you’re in discomfort it can’t be alignment. I offer the exact opposite. A difficult situation or person is here to hold a mirror up for you and offer you an opportunity to grow, to vibrate at an higher frequency. The question was if we’re not pushing away a difficult person, how do we deal with them. The yoga answer includes my teachers suggestion for a meditation and some dbt answers along with the yoga answer. I hope you’re joining up September 7, 2:30p at OmTree for Harvest Full Moon Yoga. September 8 we’re on Zoom for a RESTOREative version, 7:30pSeptember 20 we’re back at OmTree for Hips and Hearts Workshop, 4-6:30p. See you then n the mat! Love, Melissa 💚

Happy September Lives! I wasn’t sure that I wanted to start the new session yet, but then the new energy of a new month hit me and I jumped in! We will spend the next 8 weeks in this new session. We have so many fun events, Yogi Field Trips, full moon classes and workshops as well as more opportunities to practice Seva this session. Make sure to grab your calendar so you don’t forget to join us. Tomorrow night we’re gathering at Genovese for Jazz and Wine Wednesday. Jazz does something delicious to your brain and listening with fellow Community members is so satisfying. Text 785-760-5412 to let me know you’re joining us so I can add you to our reserved table. 💚💚💚I love you and I hope you’re having a fantastic beginning to the bet months! Love , Melissa 💚

Hello Loves,I did it again! I recorded an episode and forgot to upload it. So here is a return to an old type of post. A meditation. Friday’s I invite you to Celebrate Your Wins, so this Friday I led you into a check-in and a reflection on what went well this week. So, get comfy and take some time to breathe and focus. You can listen to this meditation at any time. It doesn’t have to be in a Friday. And of course, I invite you to join us for all our fun things coming up Sept. 3 Yogi Field Trip Jazz Wednesday Genovese 6-8pSept 7 Harvest Full Moon Yoga 2:30-3:30p, OmTreeSept 8 Zoom Harvest Full Moon 7:30p, your homeSept 19 Yogi Field Trip Party Girl Movie Showing, liberty HallSept 20 Hips and Hearts Yoga Workshop 4-6:30p, $85 Om Tree Shala It’s going to be a fun September! Love you!Melissa 💚

Happy Thursday Loves! Fr a while now I’ve been saying that there’s something coming. It was an ending as well as a beginning. I thought it was my mom’s death. Nope that wasn’t it, I could still feel it coming. When Steve died, I thought ; Ok! That is definitely an ending. But I could tell a new beginning hadn’t started. I was standing either in the epilogue of my last book in the book series of my life or I was in the prologue of a new book. A few weeks ago, I felt a shift and I felt it coming. This week I’m here. I feel the shift, I feel the first chapter of the new book. Last night I saw Jon Batiste in concert and it was the experience of a lifetime. It firmly propelled me forward. The stage radiated love and genius and it was the last little push I need. I don’t know what this book is called. I definitely don’t know what this chapter is called, but it’s the season of Melissa. Join me. It’s going to be a scary, fun, wild, love-filled journey. I love you all so much!Melissa 💚

Hello Loves! Last episode I reflected on how endings and showering me with grace and I’m so deeply grateful for the things that have come to an end. The Black New Moon today invites you to honor your endings. Instead of taking action to align with our intentions, it’s time to sit with your incredible bravery and wisdom. Sit with the beautiful gifts of being able to let go. I swear I didn’t know anything about a Black new moon before I was scrolling late last night. This is what happens when we’re present with what is, we do the work to clear the energy and emotions stuck in our fascia and muscles and clear the messaging in our brains. Then, we’re aligned and the universe whispers in your ear. I hope you’re taking time to rest and sit with the gifts of this moon. Love, Melissa 💚

Happy Day Lives! I did it again. This episode was from a day or two ago, but I’m still putting it out there. Maybe I needed to say out loud that I have to post it right away to prove myself wrong. Willingness keeps floating in! I keep showing up and it keeps flooding my heart. We have a new family! I called out for donations and you all showed up. Last week I delivered clothes to a new high schooler and kitchen ware, blankets and food to a family starting my over. Your hearts were full and you shared from your saucers. Thank you! I did a little daydreaming this episode about how good it could get and how our community could grow and grow. 💚Love you, Melissa

Loves! I recorded this two days ago and even said, I’ve learned that I have to post right away or I won’t do it. Well, I dug down into my Willingness and decided to post even though it’s two days later. These are some of my last thought from the Willingness Project (it’s new title after I failed at it being a challenge). There’s also some lovely thoughts on our community and everything we’ve been up to lately. Pop-Up with us Saturday at 8:30a, central, for Zoom Somatic Yoga and join us August 23rd for Hips and Hearts Yoga at Om Tree Shala in downtown Lawrence, KS. Enjoy and don’t forget to help us widen our community by sharing with your community!Love you, Melissa

Hello Loves!I had the best conversation during Saturday’s Zoom Somatic Yoga Class. The thing I love about Somatics is that while we’re musing the mindful movement to process and release emotions, it also helps move things, like our work in willingness from our head into our hearts. It great for problem solving in feeling innate as if thinking. I have a call to the community in Lawrence to help us help some people. It’s opening our hearts to willingness in a tangible way. I hope you’ll be able to help. If you’re far away you can PayPal A Yogi Kitchen and we’ll share with the families. Enjoy and please, like, subscribe and share with your friends and family. Love,Melissa 💚

Hello Loves!It’s been a minute. That’s the way grief is showing up for me. I think I just posted recently and it’s actually been two weeks. Having said all that, I thought I just posted. Nope. I recorded, and didn’t post yesterday. I’m so sorry loves. My brain is a sieve. I talked about how the willingness challenge is more of a willingness project. I’m learning so much about where willfulness keeps showing up and what it means. Willfulness has been holding me back and I’m trying to break thru it. Thank you for listening. Share with your friends and family. Help me expand and grow A Yogi Kitchen. Love you, Melissa 💚

Hello Loves! We’re jumping into our new word and slowly tip-toeing into our Willingness Challenge. I don’t know why I’m so invested in willfulness, the thing that keeps me from willingness, but I had an a-ha this week that gives me at least part of the answer. And that’s why we do these challenges right? Each time we do a challenge, every time we do a workshop or a special class we learn and grow. We never stop, but once we are adults we get to choose how we grow. We don’t have to get the lessons the hard way. I hope you love our new word as much as I do and you’re challenging yourself to be more willing in your life. Love, Melissa 💚

Hello Loves!This has been the best session! It’s been hard sometimes. There been lots of discomfort and emotional intensity, especially with the moon in Scorpio Standing in Love has been my saving grace. So I shared some reflections on Love and how I finally feel like I’m starting the first chapter of this new book in the book series of my life. Tomorrow, July 15, we start our Willingness Challenge and I shared some things to start thinking about. Willfulness vs Willingness keeps popping up as an issue that I keep putting on the back burner. Let’s talk about it. Thank you for standing in Love with for the last 8 weeks. Follow us on FB and IG, read the blog and keep listening to hear all about our new word for the session that starts tomorrow. Sending you my love,Melissa 💚

Happy Sunday Lives!It’s time to set intention again. What do you want this week? Focus in on how you want to feel and what you’re willing to do for that feeling. It’s the waxing gibbous moon on Scorpio which is a time of emotional intensity and to reflect on your inner strength. It’s a time to get supper honest about who you are and what you’re building. It’s our last 9 days of focusing on Love and I can’t think of a better time to talk about Seva practice. It’s how we open our hearts to our community. It’s a core part of A Yogi Kitchen and a core part of yoga practice. Connect with this time of emotional intensity to open your heart for community care. Thanks for being in this journey with me Love, Melissa. 💚

Hello Loves! It’s Steve’s Birthday week and I’ve been struggling. I recorded this on his birthday, two days ago and didn’t realize I hadn’t posted till late yesterday. Grief is a crazy place to live. Just when I think I’m settling into widowhood, everything shifts and I’m missing him more this week than I have in months. So, I’m working on keeping my heart open to Love, our woes of the session, and examining my willingness. Willingness vs Willfulness is a theme that has been popping up a lot in my life lately. So, I’m working on a Willingness Challenge. Listen, I have some homework for you. Love you, Melissa 💚

Good morning Loves,I recorded this yesterday and then my day got terribly hard. And it’s been a really hard week. So, yesterday I was just putting one foot in front of the other and i just showed up however I could. We’re focusing on Love and I’m trying to love myself the best I can. Enjoy, Melissa 💚

Dear ones, last week I spoke about all the ways I still feel Steve with me and what a testament it is to our love and how well he loved me. This week I’ve been thinking about how that Love inspires me to align with my core values more than ever. We’re shifting from Love and Self to Live and Community. At first I thought alignment had to do with how I show up in the world. It does, but it also means how the Love Steve gave me, the safe space he held for me and the security I felt and still feel helped me Love myself more and allows me to show up with Love in my heart for service in the community. I’m a bit rambly, but I hope you enjoy. Love, Melissa 💚

Happy Monday Loves! I’ve been sitting with Love, loss, authentic and pride. I’ve been thinking about how I show up in the world and this is what I came up with to talk about today. Today I told the story of how Steve is still with me. He was very present with the fact that energy doesn’t disappear. It shifts or it changes, but it still exists. He took a lot of comfort in that as he mourned his wife. I’m finding help in that as I grieve his place here with me. Im not sure how that affects how I shore up in this uncharted territory, but I shared my thoughts and feelings about Love, Pride, authentic, community self in a Monday morning. Enjoy!Love you, Melissa💚

Hello Loves! I tried to record on Thursday and failed. So I wanted to make sure to pop in and talk about the full moon energy in Sagittarius. I’ve been inviting you to tell your story as a road to Loving yourself more. This full moon was. “ a truth-seeking, perspective-shifting moment that calls us to stretch our beliefs and willingness to rewrite what we thought we knew.” @womenrising The fullest part of the full moon was June 11th, but I think it’s worth it to sink into this energy even during the waning moon. Energy never disappears, so li k into Sagittarius moon energy by grabbing your journal and daydream about what your story could be. Follow A Yogi Kitchen on Instagram and I’ll make sure to keep the post in my story while contemplate that which you didn’t imagine before today. Enjoy, my Loves!Love, Melissa 💚