Sarah Girard Yoga

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This birthday has reinforced that I’m exactly where I need to be.

For many years contentment has been a foe I’ve tried to outrun through striving and dissatisfaction.

But each year as I keep dedicating time to slowing down I touch upon a peace that can feel brief at times, but also enduring.

Thank you for sharing love. I’m full.

We did a thing. 🔑 🏡

The past month has been a whirlwind, to say the least…

Between traveling to Europe, finalizing most of our wedding plans, getting Covid and working both of our full time jobs….we bought a house!

Thank you for deeply listening to my need to be closer to nature and finding this comfortable home for us near two National Parks.

So excited for this journey with you. Life just keeps getting better, which I didn’t think was possible.

See you today!

A winter of my youth…but better.

In so many ways LA is backwards.

Right now, in January it’s 70 degrees. But come May and June, we’ll be bundled up and complaining of the cold fog.

I was born here so, in many ways, I was initially blind to the idiosyncrasies and the nuanced blessings of this city.

But now that I’ve returned after years of living abroad and away, I’m learning how to live here even with my slight resistance and judgment of it all.

I’m learning to soften.

And when I do, everything feels better.

Our practice teaches us the power in remaining, even when our insides feel itchy.

Now I know a lot of us are strong enough to endure a difficult situation. We know how to grin and bear it. Also, there are times when we must leave a situation when we are in danger.

This is not what I’m writing about.

I’m writing about our ability to transform the itchiness through remaining. When we give ourselves time to bring awareness and loving kindness to a circumstance, that initial circumstance often shifts and changes.

We change.

But it takes time.

It’s a practice, after all, and it gets better.

See you on the mat.

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Happy New Year.

This past week in Baja was the illuminating and softening time our hearts and bodies needed.

This past year stretched me in more directions than I had ever could anticipate.

As a teacher…
As a daughter…
As a sister…
As a friend…
As a partner…

One lesson on repeat this year was the immense power in softening, asking for help and letting it in. This inspires me to keep giving more from all that I have.

So with the fresh mountain and sea air still in my lungs, I am happy to return.

We got this. I’m sure this year will bring many hardships, difficulties and new lessons…but together we can do anything.

Settle in…💕

I love a good story. So here we go…

About 20 months ago, I was in such deep heartache and paralysis that packed my suitcase for me as I prepared to travel to Costa Rica and LA. (Thank you for convincing me to bring all of my supplements and not just a week’s supply.)

Little did we know that when I landed in LA in early March 2020 everything would change.

During what felt to be the worst time of our lives, a series of divinely orchestrated events came next…

I was offered a beautiful home to stay in for as long as I needed. (THANK YOU!)

Friends came out of the wings to share clothes for the year ahead. (THANK YOU!)

My parents and I began healing our relationship with more mutual respect, honesty and trust than ever before. (Love you even when you annoy me!)

And I met someone who would change my life forever.

We were both ready for an adventure and commitment, so we set out on the road.

9 states over 9 months.

It has been a wild and fulfilling ride and I don’t want it to end, but I’m ready for the next step.

It’s finally time to unpack this suitcase. It’s time to settle in.

Thank you to everyone who showed up, reached out and joined along. I love you with my whole heart and in many ways the journey is just beginning.

let’s make a home.

It’s day! 🎉

Happy Birthday, my love.

It is a profound mystery that we found each other when the world was keeping us isolated and separated.

With you I drink more green juice than ever (and I didn’t think that was possible) and I am filled to the brim with laughter daily.

We have both experienced a lot of heartbreak in our lives, so thank you for continuing to believe in love and for creating a foundation with me which fosters the deepest levels of trust and softness I’ve ever known.

Lastly, thanks for bringing song and dance back into my life again, our kitchen is better than any stage.

Love you mucho. This is cool. 💕

Album coming soon…titled “Yes”

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I was 20 when a pre-cancerous lump was removed from my breast.

My aunt and both my grandmothers died of breast cancer.

This is a disease which affects everyone…not just women.

It is time for awareness because awareness is healing.

Last year, in collaboration with Manduka] and , I lead a brief class based on hope for those in the cancer community.

I know what it’s like when grief and pain is so heavy, it feels impossible to also hold hope. This is why communities built on awareness and love are important. We can hold the hope for each other.

If you’re wanting to experience this class, head over to the Manduka] page for this and other class offerings from myself and other incredible wisdom teachers around the world whose lives have also been impacted by breast cancer.

Learn and Uplift, my friends. That’s why we’re here.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

For blowing up my devices…
For showing up…
For reaching out…

I feel deeply loved.

Crazy that I grew up with life so fragile and now that I’m past an age when I thought I’d ever live, I’m feeling my best.

Aging is a privilege. One I’m very grateful for because this life just keeps getting better.

So again, whoever needs to hear this…Keep going.

It gets better.

for the secret 📸

[An excerpt from this week’s newsletter]

As a Libra, decisions are sometimes paralyzing for me. Caught in the desire to preserve balance and order, I will remain inactive because the fear of making a “wrong” choice is too great.

So for years, I used fear itself as a motivator to make a decision. I would anthropomorphize fear calling it my “teacher” thinking that it was showing me my potential and guiding me to my life choices.

“Take this job cause it’s terrifying.”
“Date this guy cause he seems exciting.”

By attempting to do the thing that was the most scary, I thought I was overcoming fear itself. When really, I was overstimulating my nervous system by constantly staying fight, flight, freeze mode.

Yes, I also spent most of my 20s over caffeinated and under nourished. Not underfed but under nourished. Being fear’s companion, I lacked a sense of safety, warmth and acceptance. My adrenals were so overworked and out of wack that I could hardly keep my eyes open midday and couldn’t sleep at night.

My only solace was my practice.

So I kept returning to my mat because I knew deep down that these rituals were things which could help me change my relationship with fear.

I trusted the practice.

And I can’t say that it was a singular moment of change, because the shift happened gradually, but looking back at the last 15 years of my life I can recognize an immense shift was built with small, almost imperceivable daily shifts.

So what changed?

These days in my decision making process, instead of being motivated by fear, I ask…

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