Taking a Moment to Breathe!
Sandra Thorne & HeartFelt Yoga
As one door closes, a window opens! On August 31, 2026, HeartFelt Yoga closed the doors to our beloved studio space in Blackfalds. I spent an amazing seven years redefining myself and evolving my teaching style, growing in ways I couldn’t have imagined. Unfortunately, due to some health concerns and changes in the market, it became apparent that it was once again time for a new chapter in my career.
I am currently taking some personal time to rest, heal, and strengthen my mind, body, and spirit, so I can return refreshed and ready for whatever comes next. If you’d like to stay up to date with my next steps, please send me an email at heartfeltsandra55@gmail.com and I will gladly add you to my email list. You can also follow the social media links below to stay connected, though please know I’m taking a social media breather for a while and won’t be posting much during this season.
I look forward to sharing my next evolution with you!
HeartFelt Musings
Flexibility of the mind is defined as the ability to transition from thinking about one concept to another. Obviously the opposite of flexibility is rigidity. When our thoughts are rigid, we may have a hard time shifting our thoughts to accommodate in-coming changes. A rigid mind may reject the point of view or perspective of others around them. In both the Yoga Sutras & the Bhagavad Gita, a rigid mindset is referred to as Avidya. This translation of Avidya is ignorance or incorrect knowledge.
Have you ever stood at the edge of the ocean and watched a sunset or looked down from the top of a mountain at the scene below and felt so small?
So the morale of this Musing, if you are carrying a heavy load-whether this is emotionally, physically or even spiritually; please know that yoga may just have the tools you need to lighten it.
Wow! In some ways it is hard to believe I opened the doors to HeartFelt Yoga only two years ago. I’m so incredibly proud that HeartFelt Yoga made it to see this second birthday!
I absolutely love watching the growth cycle. We have two more trees growing right outside our living room window. I find it fascinating to watch the leaf buds appear on the bare branches, then observing the many phases that those leaves transition through, all the way back to bare branches again.
As I prepare to reopen for the third time, I again find myself reflecting about my time in lockdown. I’ve done this with each reopening. I’ll be honest, I am an introvert, so being told to stay home was really not a personal sacrifice on my part. As a yogi, I have heard and read stories about ancient and modern day yogi’s spending months in solitude; too deepen their spiritual life. I felt like these months in quarantine have been my time to go into the metaphorical cave and work on my spiritual life!
My teacher says eventually silence will prevail. If the thinking mind has been running around like an uncontrolled toddler for 40+ years, I have to expect that it is going to take a number of years to find that consistent silence.
In this HeartFelt Musing, I want to discuss the four yogic paths. Maybe you have heard your favourite teacher talk about yoga being a lifestyle- following one (or all four) of these pathways will guide you to this kind of life. There is usually one pathway that we are drawn to, but integrating all four will develop the mind, body and soul.
I would like to share a little bit of my experience as a small business in Central Alberta. I am sure every business owner has had a different experience- my experience is of support. My support came from my husband ( I have to acknowledge him first!), my family, my HeartFelt community and the government.
It’s been a few months since a last wrote a HeartFelt Musing. I’ve had a few topic ideas that I started to write about, but they all felt forced. I’m not the type of person who will force something that doesn’t feel right. This is really because I try to lead from my heart as I move through my life; which just happens to be the subject of this Musing!