Change

Fall is in full swing up here in the Rocky Mountains. As you can see, the leaves are in the midst of a grand happy dance.

It's always sad to see summer go. Yet, there is so much to look forward to. I am thankful to live in a place that experiences seasons, they make me appreciate change and all that it brings.

Throughout times of change I believe it is especially important to try and stay present. I had an intense, beautiful, and much-needed home yoga practice this morning. Change can be scary and unsettling. Therefore, I find my yoga mat to be my safe haven. To be honest, I really did not want to practice this morning. I began to distract myself with the internet and finally decided to get my butt onto my mat. Thank goodness! Later in the day I was doing some yoga philosophy reading and found this quote:
"When you understand that the practice of yoga works to release blockages in the many layers of the body it helps you understand why sometimes we resist-strongly resist-our practice. Blockages in the body contain hidden fears or unexpressed emotions. In short, yoga forces us to FEEL, something we don't always want to do."

Ah, this funny life we live!

Fall Equinox

Happy fall! (to residents of the northern hemisphere) Happy equinox to all!

I love equinox's and solstice's. Markings of time, transition, and change. Today represents balance between the light and dark hours of the day. While it is always a little sad to watch the days shorten it a wake up call. It's as if mother nature is saying "Hey, you! Look at your soul. Yeah, stop getting distracted by the sunshine and start spending some time getting to know yourself."

Nobody says it better than MysticMamma:

"Light and Dark, Life and Death, these are natural states in the continuum of all of Life. We cannot disconnect one from the other, and we can not deny that both are part of the whole of experience. We must see the beauty in both, the beauty in pain, the beauty in the struggle, the beauty in darkness of the night as well as the beauty in the light of day and the birth of the new emerging."

Click here to read more from MysticMamma.

More fall photos to come, this week might be a little bare on the blog as life seems to be moving quiet fast. Two weeks until I leave for some time at home then Indonesia! Ah!

Weekly Review

The weather has been DIVINE lately (high of 82 today, unreal fall mountain weather!) resulting in lots of outdoor time and photographs.

Last week Tobias came into town with one of his coworkers and we all spent Saturday at Pearl Lake State Park. It was very laid-back due to recovering illnesses. We spent a significant amount of time in the hammock. I think I have had my life's greatest naps in that double nest hammock. Hammock cuddles are the best.

On Sunday we decided to hike to an old uranium mine by Fish Creek Falls (an uber tourist site of Steamboat). It was the perfect short hike. While the uranium mine was anti-climatic it was so nice to be outside and the elevation gain gave way to stunning views. I also took a moment to attempt a selfie... a difficult task with the current lenses on my DSLR.

I've been trying to bike as much as possible this week. The last few photos are from a visit to the Botanical Garden. While many of the flowers are beginning to die the baby trees are doing so well. Aren't they adorable?! The core bike path here is beaming with yellow leaves and I love it! The fall equinox is this upcoming Tuesday, get ready people! I'm excited to weave the equinox into my upcoming yoga classes.

Have a beautiful weekend! 

P.S. Did I mention I depart for Indonesia in LESS THAN A MONTH!

Photo Inspiration // Rebecca Litchfield

I found Rebecca's work through Instagram the other day and decided to take a deeper look. Aren't these photographs stunning? One of the reasons her work resonated with me is because of my fascination with abandoned places, they contain so much history and mystery. While I was studying for my BFA I spent a lot of time photographing abandoned sites. In the grand spectrum of things, Colorado is a relatively young place. Another reason why the deep history portrayed in Litchfiekd's photographs is of interest to me. There is also a sense of rebellion that fills the soul when you step onto an abandoned property that has a clear sign saying "Private Property, Do Not Enter". The lighting in Litchfield's photos is always soft and illuminates in the perfect places. Rebecca has traveled extensively throughout Europe photographing abandoned sites. Check out her webpage here to see more of her stunning work!

And, although this is extremely vulnerable for me, I've decided to post some of my attempts at documenting abandoned places..... Oh how I miss printing film!! (all photos shot with medium-large format cameras)

Monday Mantra 04

Courageously Vulnerable.

"Sensitivity is a sign of life. Better hurt than hardened. I bow to those who keep their hearts open when it is most difficult, those who refuse to keep their armor on any longer than they have to, those who recognize the courage at the heart of vulnerability. After all the malevolent warriors end each other, the open-hearted will inherit the earth."

~"Ascending with Both Feet On the Ground" by Jeff Brown

Elena Brower, one of my favorite yoga teachers, posted this excerpt on her Facebook this morning and it totally inspired me. I'm getting ready to go teach myself and I intend to pass this message along. It is so much harder to take the armor off than to keep it on. But, there is so much reward in opening up and allowing yourself to be vulnerable with people. I'm a highly sensitive and empathetic being, one of the reasons I believe I'm so called towards healing people, yet I still struggle with this concept. When I get upset I immediately retreat and shut myself off from the world.

This week it is my intention to be courageously vulnerable.

Inhale: Vulnerability.

Exhale: Courage.

Happy Monday beautiful!

Between Lenses // Silence

I am so excited about this blog post! While reading Shy's beautiful blog a few weeks ago I stumbled across this blog hop. This photography challenge is hosted by Trina and Tara, and I am so grateful for their creative birthing of this collaboration. I feel that participating in these challenges will be a good way for me to harness my creativity. It also makes me a little nostalgic, reminding me of photography assignments in college.

This month's challenge was to capture silence. Below is my interpretation and explanation.

 

Silence, it's a tricky word to capture. In my mind, a shallow depth of field directly correlates with silence. There is so much space and unknown within that place. I took this photo one morning while watering my plants. Mornings are sacred to me. One of the reasons being that they are filled with silence. Watering this lavender plant is a morning ritual I associate with my slow, soft, silent filled mornings.

My life has been filled with silence lately, maybe too much. Living alone has led to this lack of noise. It seems to be eating at me, aiding in my loneliness. Maybe it's just this week. I'm trying to look towards the silence as a teacher: reminding me to breathe and respond, rather than react to life.

If you feel inspired, join in the monthly challenge. It's a beautiful way to cultivate creativity and discover new blogs!

P.S. TGIF!! Have a gorgeous weekend. I'm hoping to get outside and shed off some shit that seems to be sticking to me from this past week.

Seek Adventure / Pingree Park

Sorry for the horrible iPhone zoom quality on this last photo BUT it's a moose!!

This past weekend I went to visit Tobias in Pingree Park where he is teaching environmental education. Pingree is a part of Colorado State University (where we both graduated) and it piggyback's Rocky Mountain National Park, along with multiple wilderness areas.  If you can't tell from these photos, it is beautiful. On Saturday we hiked for 7/8 hours and only saw 3 other people the entire time. We decided to hike to Mummy Pass and summit "the mummy". In the 4th photo, with the sign of RMNP, you can see the mummy's head. There is no clear trail so we scrambled up the scree field, watching our every move.

Although it has been lonely living in our apartment without Tobias I am so proud of him and happy that he has this amazing opportunity. It's amazing how much environmental exposure these children are receiving and I know it is inspiring them to love mama earth.

P.S. How cute is his cabin?!