At the beginning of this year I decided to choose a word each month that represented something I wanted to focus on both in my personal life and within our TDM community.
On a bit of a whim I decided to send out this monthly word, along with some of the reasoning behind why I chose the word, to all of my teachers and studio owners. I hoped that it would resonate with them and give us more tools to expand our practice, our teaching and our relationships with each other and our students. We began to put post-its in a few strategic places with the word written on it to draw focus to the word while teaching or throughout our day. It was really exciting and a little unexpected when it began to take hold within our community.
The first word was Connect and just the act of writing about it to studio owners and teachers was rewarding in terms of all the people I connected with, and it began a conversation.
The word for February was Listen. I paid extra attention to listening to my breath and body, my Students, my Husband and my kids. I also went though my music and revamped the entire way I play music in the studio, which has enabled me to keep my playlists even fresher!
March’s word was Breathe. For me personally this meant whenever faced with a difficult situation, instead of reacting immediately, I tried to take a deep breath, relax my jaw (shocking how effective this is!) and take another deep breath before reacting. It really helps as a tool to get grounded, focused and present. In classes we increased our focus on breath cueing which helps people push through and go deeper into their bodies than they can while holding their breath!
Balance was the word of the month for April; balance between strength and flexibility, between slow/controlled movement and fast/fluid movement, between space and contraction and, one of my personal favorites both in and out of the studio, the balance between ease and effort. We are also focusing on adding different physical balance elements to each class.
It has been so gratifying to have such a positive response to the word of the month and to see each studio incorporating it in their own unique way.
Vision Board at TDM Elmhurst:
I hope that if you are looking for a tool to help bring more of what you want into your daily experience, you will find this helpful too.
— Jill
