Melanie Deal

Your Inner GPS: Using Intention and Mantras to Recalibrate "When your intention is clear, so is the way." ~ Alan Cohen Happy November, dear readers! Before I get into the meat of this post, I want to say that it's my anniversary as a yoga teacher this month! I achieved my first certification and taught my very first yoga class in November 2002...that's 23 years ago! Time has flown by, and I'm just as in love with yoga now as I was back then -- probably even more so, because when I first began my yoga practice, I simply wanted to destress and get into better shape.

Is your mind cluttered? Are you losing sight of your purpose? Learn how to activate your 'Inner GPS' with intention and mantras. It's time to recalibrate and steer your life with clarity. Find out how in my new post! 👇

Fire It Up: The Art of Discipline Read on to learn how to weave Tapas into your yoga practice and your life to achieve the greatest transformation.

My latest blog post is here...read on to learn how to use Tapas (not the appetizer!) to help you achieve the transformation in your life and practice that you're searching for.

Finding Freedom: Lessons from the Bird of Paradise “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”Charlotte Brontë During the month of August at the studio where I teach, the theme was Bird of Paradise pose (Svarga Dvijasana). Named after the flower of the same time, Bird of Paradise is a beautiful, elegant, and challenging pose that, for me, brought up some complicated feelings.

Read on to find out how Bird of Paradise taught me there is freedom to be found in "not doing".

Meditation Reset If you're in need of a reset with your meditation practice, or just need to know where to begin, this post is for you.

Meditation Reset

If you're in need of a reset with your meditation practice, or just need to know where to begin, this post is for you.

Share the Joy Finding joy in life is critical to our overall health and wellbeing. Read on to find out more about joy and how to bring more of it into your life.

Share the Joy

Finding joy in life is critical to our overall health and wellbeing. Read on to find out more about joy and how to bring more of it into your life.

Embracing Courage, Devotion and Strength: Lessons from Hanumanasana How did practicing the splits give me the courage to write my first novel? Read on to find out...

Want to know how working on the splits helped me write the first draft of my novel? Read on to find out.

Find Your Core, Find Your Center At the yoga studio where I teach, the theme for April was the core, so the owner encouraged all the teachers to spend some time in each class weaving in this theme. Before I get into the meat of this post, let me pose this question to you: What is the first thing you think of when someone mentions “the core” to you?

Feeling a little off center? Read on to learn how finding your core can help you find your center.

There’s No Need To Be Perfect “I don’t have to be perfect. All I have to do is show up and enjoy the messy, imperfect and beautiful journey of my life.” – Kerry Washington I recently subbed a Slow Flow yoga class for another teacher and was excited to do it. I don’t teach a Slow Flow class regularly at the moment, and I love the format, so I always try to raise my hand when a subbing opportunity comes my way.

Fed up with not being perfect all the time? Read on to learn more about why it's perfectly OK to enjoy (and even embrace) the messiness.

Everything’s Gonna Be Alright From "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley It's no secret that I have struggled with anxiety and depression most of my life, as I've written quite a few posts and put out several podcast episodes on these topcs. Over the years, I've learned to manage these conditions with a variety of techniques -- yoga, exercise, meditation, therapy and medication to name a few.

If you're struggling with your mental health like I have been lately, read on to find out how mantras have been helping me.

Facing Your Past with a Yin-Based Practice “Your past is just a chapter, not the whole book.” – Jane Enright Excerpt from Self-Compassion, by Kristin Neff, Ph.D. In my last post, I talked about how I’m working on focusing more inwardly, so that I move through my journey in the ways that are most authentic for me. I also mentioned in that post that I will do ANYTHING to avoid dealing with tough emotions.

Is the fear of facing your past keeping you stuck from moving forward? Read on to learn how I'm working on this very thing, using yoga as my guide.

My mom's play, Daughters of the Appalachians, is being put on by The Actors Studio of Newburyport in MA (3/21 - 3/30) in celebration of Women’s HerStory Month. There will even be original live music by Grammy nominated composer E.J Ouellette!

www.newburyportacting.org/.../.