How to Put in the Work that Matters Most

How to Put in the Work that Matters Most

Welcome a brand new guest blogger to the ROOT tribe, yoga instructor and meditation coach Kate Green! Read on to learn about how yoga has helped her discover a whole new meaning of work.

Work, work, work, work, work … On a daily basis, we all work hard.  We hustle at our jobs and sometimes at our side-hustles, we take care of loved ones, and we sweat it out at the gym or on the mat. In my past, I regularly checked all of these boxes but I consistently ignored what I consider the most important work we can perform – that which is crucial to our health and happiness – internal work.

Internal work is the displacement of our regular patterns of thoughts and emotions. Now, you may be thinking, “Patterns – what patterns? Every thought I have is unique, special, and new.” Yes, you as an individual are unique and special but, if you’re like most of us, your thoughts tend to follow a repeatable pattern.This is because over time, through experiences, our minds are conditioned to react to events around us in certain ways, often against our own best interests. We consume so much information that we have to create mental shortcuts to survive. The trouble comes when those shortcuts start to limit our possibilities and keep us from growing.

This is why internal work is so crucial. The work we put into dissolving those patterns creates space within us, so that we may live more wholly in the present, experiencing the world with a more child-like and curious mind, free from judgement. And once you remove judgement then we’re really free to go after what we really want. No woman, no cry? More like no judgement, no cry because as we shed judgement of ourselves we shed our fear, hesitation and attachment to those pesky outcomes.

On the flipside, when we ignore our internal work, we overcompensate in other places. For me, it was at my job. Didn’t matter which job I had, I would measure my self-worth by how much stress I could absorb and keep going. Pushing myself further, taking less time for myself, grinning and bearing it. And guess what? I wasn’t even making good money! What the what?

My motivation was an internal displacement – searching for approval from external forces.I was always in early and staying late, taking on more than could possibly be finished within a workday. There was one year where I only took one vacation day and I was actually proud of myself for “working so hard.” I wore it like a badge of honor and thought that it said something positive about me to my boss.  If I could prove to everyone that I was the hardest worker on the team, I’d be rewarded with bonuses, promotions, praise, etc. Right?  

Wrong. In fact, it left me feeling disparaged, under-appreciated, and exhausted. I’d probably still be slaving away if it wasn’t for the internal transformation I’ve experienced.  I’d like to take credit for my awakening, chalk it up to hours spent in silence in an ashram, but really it boils down to being just awake enough to take a few subtle (and not-so-subtle) hints.

Namaste

I found my yoga practice at a place called Syncstudio in Brooklyn, as I think of it, an oasis of space in a crowded, manic city.  I don’t mean physical space, obviously, but rather space to drop inside yourself.  It was here that my ongoing transformation begun. Run by two devoted young women, Karla Misjan and Ashley Lively, the classes at Syncstudio all weave in threads of mindfulness that really sunk in for me.  

The realization that I had during one of Karla’s Savasanas was very simple, really: Sutra 2.42 – By contentment, supreme joy is gained.  

I’m not sure if she said it exactly like that, but the message was clear.  Meet yourself where you are, in your own truth, and learn to be okay with that.  The physical work that we do on the mat is a tool to help create space in our bodies that can be called upon by our minds when the challenges become internal.  Practicing stillness and ease when faced with struggle.  Once you allow the mind to stop whirling for a moment and peak a glimpse of the space within you, the doubt and anxiety fades and you’re left with peace.  

It was here that I found my contentment – contentment that I would and could be the provider of my own happiness and light.I remember thinking, “If I was by myself for the rest of my life, I’d be okay with that.”  

Above all I learned the most important lessons that change everything:

  • Happiness wasn’t going to land in my lap one day (big let down)
  • I had  to be okay with myself first and foremost
  • I had to take care of my own happiness

Whoopsie!

One of the more painfully obvious lessons arrived not long after moving to Los Angeles in the form a Tibia/Fibula Open Reduction and Internal Fixation.  In true recurring pattern fashion, I was out to prove (to who??) I was the strongest party-gal around.  Can I dance on a stool after a day of drinks? I can sure try. Lessons from my yoga practice weren’t sinking in?  The universe toppled that stool right over and I immediately learned what it was like to be still… for 3 months straight.  

It took two surgeries to mend my bones. And the time spent off my feet meant a lot of muscle loss. My recovery not only included physical therapy but also reignited passion for yoga (it was wonderful rehabilitation for my left side). As soon as I was able to stand, I was back in the studio. I started to find teachers I loved, focused acutely on my placement and posture, and let the internal lessons absorb. I learned to accept my current status and meet myself where I was; quite weak and lopsided. I opened up to my teachers about my injury and was met with support and encouragement, as well as wise reminders to take baby steps. It was then that I learned that yoga was a seriously valuable recovery tool.

Work Hard Play Hard

I had found it – the ultimate job for me. A job that required 12 hours days regularly, and actually had the motto “Work Hard Play Hard” worked into their branding. When I switched teams and starting working for a new boss, no matter how hard I worked, they always wanted more time. My efforts seemed fruitless and this is where the magical, yet hard to read sign is.  After breaking my leg and recognizing that I was out of alignment with my internal truth, I stopped pouring my life into this job. I set boundaries and didn’t let things get to me so personally. Needless to say, my role there quickly ended.  

You thought I was going to say it got better, didn’t you.  As if a sign from the gods, my internal practice was starting to pay off in the physical realm, and my life didn’t align with the manic “Work Hard Play Hard” lifestyle any longer.  But all is not lost, I now have a job that I love that I can devote my intellect and energy to in an authentic way.  And I still certainly play hard.

In many ways I am working on being more present and whole in my daily life. I take the time to enjoy making my coffee or brushing my teeth, appreciating the ease and stillness of these moments.  Living in Los Angeles, I get a lot of practice with delivering compassion to other drivers. In my new role as an analyst, my work is all about detail.  When engaging with a project, I (try to) practice single-tasking, focusing my whole attention to one thing at a time, ensuring that I set myself up for success in the future. I know that when I come back to review or revisit my work, I can be assured that it was done thoughtfully, and not rushed.

There are still certainly times when I feel the pressure of a deadline or the stress of nothing turning out the way I planned.  As we learn in yoga though, true mastery does not mean changing the world around you, but rather changing the way you respond.  My natural tendency is to make people happy – pulling me in generally more directions than I need to be.  When I find my stress levels rising, I now take a break instead of letting things consume me.  I notice when I’m getting more irritable and know that I can choose to go down a different path outside of my old habits. This allows me to show up fully for my next task or meeting, without the cloud of distraction hovering over me.

Carrying On With My Work

I feel lucky to have been able to shift my perspective in life and feel like I found my yoga practice at a time when I could have gone down a dark road forever.  I believe that my yoga practice saved my life, or at least it saved my happiness.  It created the tiniest bit of space within me and allowed me to absorb so many important lessons.  I now recognize my patterns more easily and I notice my thoughts and fears as they pass through me like clouds passing through the sky.

To continue down this path and explore new spaces and lessons, I recently enrolled in and completed a 200hr yoga teacher training program with Yogaworks in Santa Monica.  While I generally shy away from expressing myself honestly and openly, I want to share my work with others and, through creating space, pay forward the blessings that opened my eyes.  And in a very full-circle moment, I led 30 of my new coworkers in a guided meditation during company-wide education day. Work used to be my trigger, where I would hide from myself and now I’m sharing my passion and helping others start on their own internal work.  All of this is the start of me folding these experiences into my true self, as someone who respects the role of internal work in creating happiness through mindfulness and contentment.

5 Ways to Make Your Home Your Sanctuary

5 Ways to Make Your Home Your Sanctuary

Welcome a brand new guest blogger to the ROOT tribe, Interior Designer Mia Yamada! Learn how Mia tackled a turbulent year by focusing on her favorite form of self-care — creating her home sanctuary.

Whether big or small, our homes are our refuge and safe spaces from the craziness of our busy lives. In the outside world beyond our homes, I often deal with lots of unpredictability –  traffic, stressful work situations, fast walkers (or the dreaded slow walker), long lines at Trader Joes (I’ll endure anything for their Riced Cauliflower Stir Fry), intense (but inspiring) spin class instructors. And for so many of us, our homes – condo, apartment, sublet, illegal sublet (sssh!), or house – are our sanctuaries, the one place where we know what to expect and can have some peace and control.

As an interior designer, a lot of my work has been about co-creating these peaceful and safe spaces with my clients. My core skillset involves listening to my clients, understanding what “peace” means to them, and translating that into spatial design, paint colors, accents and furnishings. Nothing makes me happier than welcoming a client into their new or redesigned home and seeing their faces light up and bodies relax – this is their new sanctuary.

This past year, however, I realized that I was in need of revamping my own sanctuary after experiencing a trifecta of changes all in a three month period. Right after moving in with my boyfriend, we went through a bad break-up. And since home is where I feel the most grounded, I started to feel very untethered and almost afloat. To make matters worse, the break-up had a cascading effect that led to some positive – but still disruptive – changes including moving to a new city where I knew very few people and beginning a new job in a relatively new area of design (from interior design firm to architecture firm). Everything familiar was now gone and although I had new business cards and a home address, I still couldn’t figure out who I was anymore.

At home in Austin, TX with our resident Interior Designer, Mia Yamada.

One way that I began to heal was by treating myself like a client and making my new apartment my sanctuary – a place that I could look forward to at the end of a long day. It’s a safe space for me full of my favorite colors (blues & greens), things that make me happy (art, scented candles & greenery), and pictures and memories that remind me of who I am and that I’m not alone. This process helped me to feel grounded and settled while so many things were happening/changing around me. I finally felt anchored in my new city, like I’d carved out my own little niche, which gave me the confidence to move through the change and set myself up for the next chapter.

For those of you going through a big life change, or simply hoping for a more mindful space, invest in making your space your sanctuary, a reflection of you and somewhere you love to be. Just as in yoga, it’s important to first set an intention for the environment you want to create. In design we have a more visual representation of this which we call a “moodboard.” These are created for every client I work with and are used to tell the story of the vibe that we’re trying to create. We fill them up with shapes, textures, inspiration images, and even words to set the intention and keep us headed in the right direction. Think pinterest in real-life.

To help you out, I’ve done some of the leg work for you to start your own pinterest/mood board. Here are the five steps I took during my recent life transformation and the sites that gave me inspiration, and continue to populate my mood boards.

1. Declutter & Organize

Often times our inner world reflects our outer world and if our space is disorganized and cluttered, our lives can feel that way too. In order to restore balance, take the time to organize your space and free yourself from clutter. A tidy space allows you to not only feel more relaxed in your home, but also lowers anxiety. It’s important to get rid of the old and make space for the new, especially when we are trying to move forward

Get creative with containers and shelving to remove the fuss from finding your favorite pair of shoes, earrings or other accessories.

in our lives and move into a new season or chapter. Commit a few hours, a day, a weekend or whatever your schedule allows to organize your space. Throw-out, sell or donate your old items, and make sure the things you are keeping have a specific place in your home. There are some great sites out there that even let you make a little extra money from this tidying up endeavor. Check out Letgo or Poshmark.

Also, to maintain a clean space, get in the habit of practicing the 2 minute tidy up – take 2 minutes before bed to pick up any excess clothing, put dishes in the dishwasher, organize papers, etc. – that way when you wake up in the morning your space will be fresh and clean to greet you.

My mood board is filled with mostly items from The Home Edit – a snappy site that mixes the practical with the pretty. I follow them on Instagram to keep my eyes tuned to order.

2. Incorporate Greenery

Now that you’ve decluttered and organized, it’s time to decorate and make sure to add plants as part of your scheme. Not only are plants beautiful and bring life to a home, they help you breath easier by increasing oxygen levels and purifying the air, boost your mood and promote healing, and lower anxiety and your risk for illness – what’s not to love! Take a trip to your local plant nursery where you can get all sorts of advice about which plants are best for your home.

Mix and match varietals for a combination of form and height.

I personally love succulents because of the muted tones, pillowy shapes and they’re hard to kill. Seriously, these things might look a little droopy, but they come back to life the moment you give them a little love, sun, and water again.  You can also get into a new habit of getting fresh cut flowers every few weeks to bring in green and fragrance. Have fun with it, experiment and get your green thumb on!

My mood board has big bursts of green in different shapes, sizes and varietal from Blue Flamingo and Burkatron.

Cacti are so classic and another low maintenance plant. Mix the southwest vibe with a super glammed out gold vase for a little fun. Complements of #BumbleHiveLA.

3. Remember the Entryway

Entryways can sometimes be missed opportunities but you have the power to change that! Don’t let this be a forgotten space where you just set down your keys or hang up jacket. Your entryway can be beyond basic and really set the tone of your home and be an area that makes you feel invited into the space. Get a new doormat, add an entry table for a bouquet of your favorite flowers, or hang a painting or picture you love. Try adding an ottoman with a pop of color that gives you an immediate place to sit and decompress after a long day. It doesn’t have to be big, just bring something to this area that makes you immediately feel welcomed and sparks joy so you’ll be greeted with happiness when you walk in.

I’ve found mood board entryway-inspiration from a few sites like Tiny House Giant Life and Sugar and Charm. They really nail this “after the front door” space.

4. Joyful Decor

For some joyful notes, create a wall of shelves to display your favorite books, candles and plants. Another one from the the savvy #BumbleHiveLA team.

 

Decorate your space with colors, furniture and decorative items that make you happy and promote positive feelings. Do you have family or travel photos that remind you of a time of strength and possibility? If so, get them blown up to be large enough to hang, invest in nice frames, and give them a prominent space on your walls.

During a previous move, I made a photo montage of all of the cities that meant “home” to me – Oakland, Brooklyn and Los Angeles. I put them in a sleek frame and set them somewhere I’d see everyday to remind that those places were always with me.

If you love throw blankets and pillows, pick out a variety in colors and textures make you want to get wrapped up in them. And remember, everything doesn’t have to match or be the same style to look good – the important thing is that the pieces spark positive feelings, and are things you love to look at and make you smile. Mix it up, experiment, and explore what makes you excited – there is no right answer except where your inner compass leads you.

Take a minute to check out these mood board finds that gush joy, warmth and “the journey” to me from Apartment Therapy and Decordemon.

5. Sleep Well

As mentioned in a previous ROOT post (Sleep right, not tight), good sleep is an essential part of functioning well and being our best, which means investing in your sleeping space is probably the best use of your money.

The Eva Diffuser by Pilgrim. Invest in a high-quality and beautifully designed diffuser to open up your senses and balance out your space.

The goal here is to find ways to promote relaxation and serenity. Splurge on a new set of sheets, a new comforter, great set of pillows, and maybe even a new mattress. All of these items really can make a world of difference between falling asleep and waking up in a restful environment. Especially after my break-up it was also critical for me to reclaim my sleeping space as my own. Another tip is to use calming cool colors in the the bedroom – whites, blues and greys are nice and create a relaxing atmosphere. Dimmable lighting can add to a feeling of serenity, as well as calming art with scenery or ocean views.

I recently invested in an oil diffuser and some essential oils to help relax me at night and bring calm to my other senses like smell and sound. There are a lot of diffusers to choose from, but my favorite one is by Pilgrim Collection as its hip modern look and clean lines compliment my room decor and bring serenity to my space.

I love the subtle sleep tones of these pins. They are relax-tastic in the best way.

Want to read more about reclaiming your space and finding your home-oasis? Check-out my go-to reading list for my personal and professional designs:

About Mia Yamada

Mia Yamada is an Interior Designer based in Austin, TX. As a former dancer and fitness instructor, she strives to incorporate wellness and balance into her design work. Follow her design adventures and inspiration via instagram @mia.yamada.

Awe Stories Interview

Awe Stories Interview

September is International Yoga Awareness Month, which means each episode this month will feature different practices and practitioners of yoga to share with you how and what yoga is a transformative self care practice.  Jasmine Rausch is the founder of ROOT Yoga Therapy, based out of Los Angeles, CA. Jasmine shares with us her struggle to find her passion, her practices of yoga and meditation, ultimately finding her calling as a Yoga Therapist, how she was able to free herself from chronic pain and asthma, and how she approaches healing with others from an integrative medicine approach- addressing the whole person instead of one particular symptom or area of the body.  Listen to hear Jasmine’s recommendations for starting your own yoga practice and where you can find Yoga Therapists near you to explore greater healing.

Ted in Your Head Podcast

Ted in Your Head Podcast

In this next installment of the Ted in Your Head Interview Series, Ted interviews Jasmine Rausch, Certified Yoga Therapist based in Los Angeles, California. Jasmine specializes in working with a wide range of chronic health conditions chronic pain and autoimmune disease to anxiety and depression. In this interview, Jasmine discusses her journey from horrible back pain and asthma to being pain free through the practice of yoga therapy. After practicing yoga for 10 years, she entered teacher training at the Clinical Yoga Therapy Program at Loyola Marymount University. You may have heard of yoga, but listen to Jasmine tell you about yoga therapy in this wonderful podcast.