Laura S DiMarzo

What takes you to your Happy Place?

Posted on December 8, 2023 by yogabylaura

Life can bring daily challenges. At the end of my classes I have asked people to go to their favorite place for a minute or two and enjoy how you feel in that moment, but that does not have to be limited to the end of your yoga class. You can go to your happy place anytime, anywhere, and for any reason.

For me, I can get a happy feeling from many things. Like a song – Soul Sister by Train is currently my favorite. It moves me and simply puts me in a better mood. A symbol – My engagement ring reminds me of my wonderful relationship with my husband and our happy memories. My daughter’s smile is a source of pure joy for me. What is your happy place?

Posted in Baby Einsten, LaYoginiMommy, Mommy in PA, Uncategorized, Yoga, Yoga at a desk, Yoga for Energy, Yoga in PA, Yogaforlifebylaura | Leave a comment

Paddle Board Yoga

Posted on November 7, 2023 by yogabylaura

At the end of the summer, I finally tried paddle board yoga. I learned they call it SUP Yoga – Stand Up Paddle Yoga. Last summer, my daughter and I taught ourselves how to paddle board on a lake in Pennsylvania. It is still new to me, but I am working on not shaking as much when I am standing. When I started to paddle out to the class, I was terrified! I was not dressed correctly, (because as usual I was focused on my daughter being prepared to visit her friend’s house and not myself) and I had no formal instruction.

But, guess what – I did it!

I paddled to the where on the water the class was starting…and promptly fell off the back of it. I laughed at myself as I fell off the board two more times before the end of the class. My feet were shaking most of the class out of fear and lack of balance. However, I did it. I didn’t give up. I conquered two goals in an hour. One goal of finishing the class and the second goal of trying something difficult and completely out of my comfort zone by the end of the summer.

I was soaking wet, slightly disappointed because I wasn’t perfect, but feeling mostly accomplished. And that was the moment when I did something I shouldn’t have. I called my mother. Now I fully recognize that mother daughter relationships are complicated and that the conversation was mostly positive. Then I told her about one of my new goals that was really important to me, and you know what she said? Her exact words were, “Maybe you should lower your expectations.”

I was looking through the windshield of my car and at that moment my view turned red. I literally felt my blood boil. I couldn’t believe it. I continually tell my daughter to reach for the stars – and I mean it. I honestly believe she can do anything she puts her mind to – really anything. If she wants to just make enough money to live and then rock climb all over the world more power to her (I mean, I might be a worry wart, because I am still am her Mom…) However, if she decides she wants to cure cancer, there is not one doubt in my mind that she will. If she wants to be worth $26 million dollars while juggling being a rock star, mom, geneticist, actress and veterinarian; there is no question in my mind that she will make it happen. I will support her and be her champion.

Maybe my Mom though that she didn’t want me to be disappointed, but it still felt like an arrow through my heart and my dreams. Like the time in my early twenties when she told me she would never “do yoga.” This was as I literally doing a yoga pose and getting certified to teach yoga. I remember it clearly like it was yesterday, I was in a warrior pose on the back deck and my Mom said from the hot tub, “I will never do that.” What is interesting about it is that here we are 20 years later and correct me if I am wrong, but not only has she done yoga; she has done it with goats. WITH GOATS!!!

It is funny how our viewpoints on life and money can be so different – even within one family…it can be frustrating and debilitating. If you let it, it can define you. Not me though, unlike the last time I am not going to let it bother me. I am going to do the opposite. My husband and I try to live our lives to the fullest, we try to live through experiences, and I want to continue to do that.

I am going to be positive. This month – I am going to Heighten my expectations and reach for the stars being as positive as possible…why you ask?

Because –

I deserve it!!!
My daughter deserves to see me happy and fulfilled.
When my daughter says something similar to this to me in the future, I will be her rock.

I will be my daughter’s champion that helps her accomplish her goals. I might act as the devil’s advocate a time or two, but I will let her know that I am doing it. I will help make her question her goals just enough to verify if she is making a good choice or not, but not squash her dreams. I will just be positive; because after all sometimes things are taken out of context. I will try my best to just be positive and in the moment for the both of us.

What about you? Have you had any advice lately that empowered you to do better or tried something new that made you feel empowered?

Posted in SUP Yoga | Tagged inspiration, meditation, mindfulness, nature, Yoga | Leave a comment

To Shake On It

Posted on October 17, 2023 by yogabylaura

To shake on it is to have a mutually acceptable agreement where two people understand and agree to certain terms. Today my husband and I shook on it. We both agreed that when we are talking to each other we need to give each other our full undivided attention. That doesn’t mean stopping to answer a co-workers text or check that email that came through – it means to stop and focus on one another completely for the few minutes it takes to get our thoughts out.

My husband is currently working every day in the Boston Seaport. Traffic can be so congested that what is supposed to be a one hour drive can be a 2 hour and 15 minute drive one way. Then he still needs to work all day and drive home. I am going to be honest and say I don’t think I could do it. (The company rescinded on their contractual agreement for hopefully just this project. It stated he could work remotely two or three days a week.) Due to this, he leaves around 7am and doesn’t typically get home until at least 6:30pm on a good day. This leaves my daughter and I two hours to spend with him at night before he heads off to bed to start this process all over again unless he must do something like take his car into the shop.

When something like this happens and he works out of the house for the day – suddenly it happens. I gush about a months’ worth of things that we were too tired or too busy to talk about at night. Which brings me to our handshake. I feel like we don’t or can’t give each other our undivided attention most of the time unless, we plan for it. In addition, I feel like he eats dinner then gets on his phone which is an understandable thing to do if we saw him for the previous 4 hours, but that is not the case.

Moving forward I would like to put our phones and electronics away from after dinner time until we go to bed which will also teach our daughter that time without electronics is better for all of us. Hopefully.

All we can do is see – and hope that for the first time in a long time we actually start to stick to a routine – and provide our daughter with a message – a message that is also our reminder – time and people are more important than everything and anything else.