Happy Friday Reader

Welcome back to The 5 Things Friday Coffee Break! This is my weekly roundup of fun, creative, and personal growth-inspired finds that I think you’ll love.

In Each Issue:

☕ The Weekly Brew: A more personal note from me each week
​📝 Journaling prompts inspired by my weekly brew
🎨 Five creative, thought-provoking, or just fun things I’m loving
🖼️ A spotlight on one of my artworks (sometimes with a special discount!)
📅 Upcoming events and offerings
✨ And who knows—maybe some surprises!

Getting ready to release this year's Limited Edition Silk Scarves! This is Ripples of Delight!

This year's Special collection includes scarves, a journal, a pencil pouch and a toiletry bag!

Happy Friday Reader

I’ve been in a long-term relationship with yoga for the whole of my adult life. And like in any relationship, it has its own cycles, ups and downs.

After college, looking for something to anchor me, yoga became my refuge. The rhythm of a flow class, the way it centered my mind and helped my body become strong and flexible, was a balm to the angst of my 20s. It helped me settle into myself, and over time I began to notice that when I was practicing consistently, I felt more open, more grounded, and more able to access the quieter parts of myself — the same parts of me that later show up when I sit down to paint.

It made sense that if I loved this form of exercise and life philosophy so much, I would want to share it, so I became a yoga instructor. Becoming a yoga teacher changed my practice — it deepened. I was learning so much it felt like I was drinking from a fire hose. That training, plus beginning to teach regularly, shifted the orientation of my practice from thinking about what yoga was doing for me to thinking about how I would teach different poses and sequences. I formed strong opinions about yoga.

In my early 30s, I opened Greensboro Downtown Yoga and completed a 300-hour advanced teacher training certification. I ran that business and taught there for five years, even training a cohort of teachers with my business partner, Andra.

When I finally stepped away from that studio, I was burned out and running on empty. I needed a break from yoga altogether. Yoga had been stripped of its joy and nourishment for me.

My body still needed the practice of yoga, but mentally I needed a break from it. I turned to other forms of exercise like running. After a few years, I tiptoed back into teaching, offering a lunchtime Zoom class, and eventually that turned into a morning Wake Up & Flow 30-minute class on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6am.

Not all yoga is created equally. There are many different styles and types of yoga, and what works well for one person may not work well for another. Personally, I flourish in a hot flow class. Not a Baptiste-style flow class, but a regular flow class with lots of sun salutations, building to a peak sequence or moving toward the fuller expression of a posture. I like a good long savasana (which most studios do not invest enough class time in). The classes that don’t work as well for my brain or body are Anusara or Iyengar classes. And that’s not because those classes are bad (they are actually very good for us) — they just don’t work as well for my brain or, in some cases, my body.

But every once in a while, I find that my personal practice is in a major slump. I have to “fall back in love with yoga,” and I go about that process like I’m romancing my practice. I find a teacher and studio I really like, and I register for a number of classes so they are non-negotiably in my calendar for about a month or so.

I’m in that phase now, wooing my practice, and I’m having a blast. It doesn’t take long to re-ignite the spark when you find a teacher and a studio you really like. And I’m reminded how deeply connected my yoga practice is to my creative practice. When I am moving my body, breathing deeply, and giving myself space to listen inward, my artwork changes. I become less rigid, more willing to experiment, more willing to let something emerge rather than forcing it. The work feels more alive. More honest. More intuitive.

It turns out the practices that help us return to ourselves often ripple into everything else we create.

What practices do you feel like you are in a long-term relationship with? What helps you re-ignite the spark when things start to feel stale?
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Together We Float,

• What practices help you return to yourself?​
  Where do you notice the biggest shift in your energy, clarity, or creativity when you engage with them consistently?
• Where in your life have you fallen in and out of love with something meaningful?​
  What helped you reconnect — or what might help you reconnect now?
• How does caring for your inner life influence what you create in the outer world?​
  Where do you notice a relationship between your sense of presence and the quality of what you make, offer, or share?

1) This week I listened to the book Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden, it was really interesting and well written. I do love a good memoir.
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​I keeping a running list of every book I read, — You can access it here, not everything can make it to this newsletter.
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2) Did you Catch this week's Podcast episode I recorded on Braving Creativity with Naomi Vladeck? If you need a push in your creative life, this episode might help!
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3) Naomi Vladeck is hosting a FREE summit on Brave creativity this spring. She is interviewing lots of creatives to help inspire you to do your best creative work. She interviewed me last week and I'm so excited to be a part of this summit. I hope you'll register and join us!

4) A few weeks ago I told you about this site I stumbled upon while ordering things for my new weaving obsession. Flax and Twine. I purchased one of their knitting kits to make this bag. It was so easy and so much fun and i'm in LOVE with my new hand made purse and I want to make one for all of my favorite people! ​
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5) Want a sneak peak of this year's Limited Edition Heirloom Silk scarves that will be available for pre-order within the next month? Check out the post I made here from the product photo shoot I did yesterday. I'm elated for how these have turned out.

Together We Float,
-Alisha

Art for a Calm Nervous System One of my greatest hopes is that my artwork will help you feel good in your space. I create works that I've heard help make your nervous system feel good! If your space needs a refresh. Then take a look at these pieces.... Shop Collections

Watercolor Commissions Need a unique Mother's Day or birthday gift? Click the link to learn how they work and hit reply to tell me what you're looking for! ​Commission Process Workbook.pdf

Half Day or Full Day Personalized Retreat Looking for a way to mark a birthday, a life transition, the end of the year or just set the tone for a better year to come? Check out my personalized retreat offerings. ​