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Maybe the pause is part of the progress

Here’s something that is not fun for me to admit. I do not like showing the moments when I am weak. Yes, I will share them after the fact. After all, we are all human. I’ll tell you about the struggle once I have processed it. I’ll write about the failure once I’ve figured out what it taught me. I’ll talk about the hard moment when I can wrap it up with a little bow and say, “See? This is what I learned.” But in the actual moment of weakness? That’s different. I get incredibly self-conscious. I want to push through without anyone seeing me sweat, stumble, ...

Sometimes the challenge is simply closing your eyes

One of the many reasons I love yoga is that there is no ceiling. There is always somewhere else you can go. Something you can work toward. A way to challenge yourself — or, maybe more accurately, a way to allow yourself to be challenged. And the challenge doesn’t have to be something extreme. You don’t need to do a headstand. You don’t need to twist yourself into one of those insane-looking poses you see on Instagram. I could start listing the actual Sanskrit names of some of them, otherwise known as asanas, but there is a very good chance you would have absolutely no clue ...

Blind spots in ourselves are a little harder to see

So here’s the thing: all of this stems from a recent trip to visit a close friend, when I started noticing something in our conversations that made me laugh at first and then, naturally, made me think a little deeper about myself. Throughout the trip, she would mention something she absolutely hated when other people did it, but then almost immediately follow it up with some version of, “Unless I’m doing it.” It ranged from driving and people changing lanes, to pedestrians crossing when they shouldn’t, to people using AI and plenty of other things that apparently become much ...

Sometimes the best things aren’t on your list

If you’ve read my column for any length of time, you already know I am a huge believer in shopping, eating, drinking and supporting local whenever it makes sense. And I do mean when it makes sense. I also believe in paying your bills, making smart financial decisions and running a sustainable business. Blanket advice like, “You should always buy local,” without considering the financial reality, isn’t advice I’d ever give. If one local business pays three times as much for everything simply because it’s local, while receiving little to no reciprocity in return, you’re ...

It’s time to slow down and take a deep breath

Have you ever found yourself thinking, “Breathe”? Not because you just finished a run or were trying to calm yourself before speaking in front of a room, but simply because, somewhere along the way, you realized you had stopped taking full breaths. It fascinates me how often we’re taught to breathe intentionally. If you’ve ever practiced yoga, your instructor reminds you constantly that your breath is just as important as the movement itself. If you’ve learned to swim, breathing becomes part of the lesson. Meditation teaches us breathing patterns that help settle our ...

This is a fairly big weekend for memories and fun in Canfield

Holy hell, it’s Canfield Fair weekend. If you grew up around here, those words alone probably unlocked a flood of memories. Funny thing is, we all experienced the fair differently. Heck, even the same person experiences it differently depending on the stage of life they’re in. As a little girl, the Canfield Fair was pure magic. It was the animals that somehow smelled both terrible and wonderful at the same time. It was pony rides that made me feel like I was in a parade. It was cotton candy that disappeared before you even realized you’d eaten it. Candy apples — which, for ...