We did it. Don’t worry. We all survived 2016! I could not wait to have a break because boy I needed it. With school and exams my brain was fried. Just like all of you, I yearn for the time that I can just fly away from stress and responsibility – an escape. I guess that’s sort of a neat way to describe a break. I know for me at least, after that school bell rang, I ran and never looked back. Over break, I’m that person who doesn’t know what day it is, and frankly, I really don’t want to know. When I know what day it is I’ll just start thinking of how much time is left before I am trapped into the quicksand of routine again. I’ll think about how much farther away the next reward is, the next break.

The past few weeks I got to spend a lot of time with my family. We went up to Michigan after Christmas. There I finally got to see my grandparents because the eleven-hour car trip makes it tough to get up there. We probably only get to see them once a year. My Grandma is starting to show the early signs of dementia and he short-term memory is the worst. We don’t really know if she remembers us being their last week. It makes it so much better when we get to finally see them, but at the same time, so much harder.

Over break I also got to do some more yoga. For instance, Sasha from the front desk and I went to Deb’s yoga flow on Monday. In the class, Deb had us testing our strength, balance and flexibility at a constant and continuous pace; breathing in and out as we flowed from posture to posture. I really enjoyed the class and the whole pacing theme really made me think about how rewarding it was.

In a way, the break was like one big reward. A reward for surviving the first semester of the school year or a reward for the responsibility you have encountered and taken on. But instead of looking for the next big reward, we need to focus on the little ones — the simple things That happen in your life like visiting family and going to a yoga class.  These are all rewards to us! All of these little rewards are what have built up this break as that one massive reward and I’m not ready to let go. But they don’t just happen on a break, they happen single every day even if you don’t realize it. By just coming to yoga and being more mindful of those rewards, we are building up a much better reward than a break, but a reward of a more healthier and happier lifestyle. The small rewards help us pace ourselves between breaks. They don’t simply drag us through our lives to reach get to that big reward, but they happen so we can enjoy the journey. In a way these little rewards are like little breaks every day. A yoga class is an escape just like a trip to paradise is. If we are more mindful of our little rewards, then maybe an escape won’t always mean running from the school and not looking back.