Hi yogis! I hope your week is going well.

Today I’d love to announce the winner of the Jade Bloomessential oil giveaway… congratulations, Tanya! I’ll send you an email about next steps. A big thanks to all the yogis who participated! Please keep an eye out for more giveaways coming soon to Alive in the Fire.

I also wanted to share a few thoughts on my fearless year. As you know, my focus for 2015 is to understand and overcome my fears, so that I can find my highest joy in every moment. So far, it’s been incredibly empowering! Life changing, I would say ;) Choosing love over fear has a huge impact on everything I do, and it is helping me appreciate all the small moments more, as well as make huge shifts in my thinking and what I’m spending my time doing.

The more I look at my fears and face them head on, the more I find myself asking, Why not?

Why not do the things I love to do? Why not forgive others and myself? Why not seek health, happiness, and healing?

We tell ourselves so many stories, both true and untrue. We cling to so much baggage.

We fear the past’s influence on us. We fear what may go wrong in the present moment. And we fear the future, the unknown.

Why do we do this?

I’ve been discovering that I do this for a few reasons. For one, I have the habit of letting myself get stuck in fear. When you’re used to letting fear run the show, it’s easy to go down that path. Sometimes one small thing goes wrong and immediately I jump to conclusions: Today’s going to be a rough day. I can’t do this. It’s only going to get worse.

Another thing I’ve realized is that fear is convincing. As my Reiki Sensei says, fear is false evidence appearing real. Which means, to my monkey mind, fear is right! It requires a deep breath and stepping back from my immediate to reaction to realize, this isn’t true. I have to consciously question the fear, admit what’s real, and move on. That is not always an easy thing to do.

Facing fears requires determination. It is a practice, just like yoga poses. Every day it’s a little different. Sometimes it flows; sometimes you get stuck. But, like yoga, it is so worth it!

I’ll be sharing more exciting updates on fearlessness soon, and I hope these posts inspire you to question your fear a little bit. Even if only for a moment, to feel what it’s like to reside in love rather than fear. You’ve got this!