 Dear Friends,
It’s getting toward peak bloom for lotuses at the Kenilworth gardens…it’s that time…it’s time for these magnificent flowers that spring forth from the mud and stun all around them with their beauty, to shine in all their glory. I write this note on what would have been my 20th wedding anniversary. You all have walked with me these past 2 ½ years as I navigated unexpected changes in my life, changes that I did not anticipate would happen, and I am forever grateful for your support and love. I’ve been thinking about those changes today as I looked through my facebook memories and recalled the emotions I felt on this particular day in the past two years…and I was struck by the change in emotions on this particular day today, how I don’t feel the same sadness, the same emotional charge, how I was not particularly emotionally triggered today, even when looking at old memories. Not to say that I don’t ever feel sadness, or that I’m never triggered anymore, if I said that I would be lying to you…but the emotional heaviness that I had felt in the past…that emotional heaviness just wasn’t there today. My dear friends, if you are navigating unexpected changes in your life, and you feel like you are stuck in the mud, know that you won’t be there forever, things will hurt less…even if it feels like you’re never going to get through it now, things will hurt less. Just like that lotus has to move through the mud to burst forth in all its beauty, so we too at times might have to walk through the mud in the anticipation of future beauty. I hope you have an amazing day my friends. Love Krista
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 Dear Friends,
I write this on the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. This year, in my area, it happens to be a supremely gray day also...even so, even with the gray, the light will stay longer today than any other day this year marking a clear transition from spring to summer. We have these markers, these transitions, these moments in place and time. In a couple of days my oldest son will graduate high school, and soon after leave for college…my youngest will follow suit the following year. A marker, a transition, a moment in place and time. I’ve been sitting in the emotions that have been cropping up surrounding this particular transition. Excitement for a child who is ready to move forward, excitement for a new chapter for both himself and me. Trepidation about change and the future. Sadness because this chapter of my life with my kids has been such a joy, and it is hard to recognize that this particular chapter is coming to a close…sure, they might come back, but even if they do, it won’t be the same nor should it. Change is important…it’s sometimes exciting, sometimes really hard, and many times a mixture of both. My friends, I hope we can all give ourselves permission to feel those very real feelings surrounding change, no matter what they happen to be, and to breathe deeply through the many emotions we might be holding. I hope you have an amazing week my friends, and a very happy summer! Love Krista  Dear Friends,
I was walking past Boulder Bridge in the park the other day. As I walked past that beautiful bridge, I was thinking about how they took those stones out of the earth, repurposed them, and built something new, different and strong with them. Last week after I posted my last blog, one of my amazing students was telling me how she hadn’t ever moved her body in her younger years in the way that she’s been moving it at present. She told me how much fun she’s had noticing how her body moves and the ways in which she can feel strong...that just made me ridiculously happy to hear. Yes, we age, and our bodies change as we age, and sometimes our bodies change in frustrating ways, but, for most of us, certainly not all, but most, we can still move our bodies in new ways, we can get stronger in our bodies, we can still feel capable and alive…we can still show up in ways we want to move, even if those ways look or feel different as we grow older and our bodies shift and change. All the activities we might want to do, all of them, whether that’s hiking, exploring a new city, or playing with our grandkids, they all take strength, and my dear friends, we are still so capable of such strength at any age…it might look different then our strong did previously, but we are still so capable. My friends, we are capable of so much…we are capable of being new, different and strong…so long as we are willing to keep moving, so long as we are willing to continue to show up to our movement practices. Have an amazing week, my friends. Love Krista  Dear Friends,
I took note of a downed tree in the park as I walked a few days ago. At one point in the past that tree was standing tall and strong, but whether it was wind, rain, or blight, something brought that tree down. I’m not so infrequently asked by various students what happens when we can’t do our movement practice like we once did. What happens when our bodies change and shift, what do our movement practices look and feel like when change inevitably happens, when we can’t do what we used to do on the regular. Aging happens, right? There’s not one of us who can move through this life without our bodies and our abilities changing, even if we move on the regular. If you’ve been around me long enough, you’ve probably heard me say “well, we’re never going to be 23 again” (usually in reference to balance issues, haha). It’s true though, most of us are never going to be 23 again. Our bodies, our abilities, our minds shift as we change and age…and that’s ok, my friends. That’s more than ok. We can shift with those changes. Just because our movement practice might not look the same way it did when we were younger, doesn’t mean it isn’t just as important to our mental and physical health. Even though our bodies might not be able to move in the same way it once did, doesn’t mean our current movement practices are any less useful and meaningful. My friends, change happens, bodies change and age, and the ways we show up in our movement practices inevitably change with those changing bodies. I hope, as we move through this life, we can see the importance of our movement practice no matter how it might change over time. Have an amazing week, my friends. Love Krista  Dear Friends,
There is this magnificent oak tree in Rock Creek Park, right at the top of the hill next to the horse arena, you might have seen it if you live around here. It stands there at the top of the hill growing into itself and aging in a strong and beautiful way. One of my main goals in teaching movement practices is to teach in a way that allows my students and myself to grow and keep mobility and strength in a sustainable way…not just for now, but for our bodies and minds well into our future. I have this amazing client who is 100 years old. She and I have been working together since she was 94. She’s fabulous and awesome, a total rock-star and an absolute joy in my life, and while there are times when I think she’s definitely super-human and genetics for sure play a huge factor into what she can do, most of the time I’m aware that she just keeps moving even when she’s tired and doesn’t feel like moving. She keeps showing up to her practice on the daily. She keeps riding her stationary bike, and doing her weights and her mobility exercises even when she doesn’t feel like it, and, my friends, I think that makes such a difference. Let’s be honest, there are times when we just don’t want to show up to our movement practices. There are times when we feel like there is absolutely no time in our week or our life to show up to our movement practices. But, my friends, not just our present selves, but our future selves will thank us if we continue to show up even when it’s hard. Have an amazing week, my friends. Love Krista |
Hi, I'm Krista!Krista Mason is a movement instructor based in Washington DC. She founded an online strength, yoga and movement studio, teaches group classes, hosts both local and overseas retreats, hangs out with private clients, and absolutely loves the work she gets to do. Archives
October 2024
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