<![CDATA[Chrissy Cortez-Mathis

<![CDATA[Chrissy Cortez-Mathis - Blog]]>Wed, 10 Sep 2025 16:31:07 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Remembering Goodness]]>Mon, 01 Jul 2024 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.chrissycortezmathis.com/blog/remembering-goodness

Howdy gang,

I hope your summer has been going well and you have had some opportunities for fun.

We just got back from a family trip to Bend, Oregon. It was beautiful in so many ways and as is often the case when you bring ten family members together, we had some wrinkles too. Here’s a funny thing about our brains, we are hardwired to dwell on the yucky stuff and bring in judgement. As one of my teachers says, “Good stuff is like teflon and bad stuff is like velcro.” It’s true AND we can consciously make a shift to note this and take time to remember the good moments.

While Sean and I were waiting for our plane to arrive, we laughed about our default mode towards negativity. Of course, this was after rehashing the yuck moments which were not very many but still, that is where the mind goes. We then took some time to remember the good moments together; all the laughter, the deeper conversations about the world, the beautiful scenery and being grateful for the ability to have all the Mathis clan together. What a gift.

As we move in to the next month and really towards November, I am aware there is a lot of yuck stuff out there. It is super easy to slide in to the river of doom, hate and division. It is with awareness of our body’s response to the information we consume that is so critical right now. We need to take care of our nervous system with our practice and making a point to remember the good in our lives and communities. For sure, we can’t ignore what is happening in the world. When we can, take skillful and kind action to help instead of harm. Take time to be in nature and appreciate the abundance of beauty around us. Be good and do good.

When we got back from our holiday, I needed some reminding of goodness so I watched a bit of Ted Lasso. I love the YouTube people that have set up wonderful recaps of the different seasons. If you haven’t watched Ted Lasso, it is a balm for the soul. It came out when we all needed a boost of goodness, August 2020. I watched the first season five times!!

Here is a link to "Ted Lasso Being the Comfort Character of All Time”.
So good and even if you haven’t watch Ted Lasso, I think you will enjoy the humor, kindness and lessons that this show has to offer.

May we all “Be curious, not judgmental.” Walt Whitman via Ted Lasso.

As always, thank you for coming to class when you can. I am grateful for our time together.

Love and peace,
Chrissy

]]><![CDATA[Spring has sprung!]]>Wed, 01 May 2024 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.chrissycortezmathis.com/blog/spring-has-sprung

Howdy gang,
I hope you all have been enjoying our spring especially our amazing Eclipse! For many of us, this experience was absolutely awesome. Just remembering the moments of the moon’s shadow passing in front of the sun and then TOTALITY can still bring us that sense of joy and wonder!! How wonderful to have been given this gift.

As we move in to May, the gifts of nature keep on giving. With our April showers, it definitely brought our May flowers and many creatures too. Whether it is in your own yard or visiting different places to get in touch with the beauty that north Texas offers us, I encourage you to get a dose of nature.

Research has shown that when we are out in nature, we release dopamine to help us relax, our stress hormones diminish and our mood, confidence and self esteem are boosted. There has even been evidence that it helps with our cognitive functions especially attention, memory, and creativity. Lastly, it helps with sleep and getting our circadian rhythm in order as well as reducing blood pressure and heart rate. How amazing that just by stepping outside and taking in the moment, we can help both our mental and physical states!
There are many opportunities to get out to encounter all the plants and creatures that come with this time of year. Here are a few I hope you consider, especially the one on Saturday, May 11th 🙂
Native Plants & Prairies Day at White Rock Lake - Saturday, 5/4 10-3 - FREE
This is always a fun event with tours of the prairie around the Bathhouse as well as fun lectures and booths. Great for kids too! Here’s a link. https://ntxnppd.org/
Open Garden at our House - 1309 Magnolia Dr., Richardson - Saturday, 5/11 from 2-4 - FREE
The front yard is always open to visitors and on this day, we open the back yard too.
The spring garden is really spectacular and so different from the fall garden. We have been on many garden tours including the City of Dallas and Richardson’s Waterwise Landscape Tours. We’d love to see you. Feel free to bring kids as well.
The Dallas County Master Gardeners tour - Saturday, 5/18 from 10-5. $18
This is a fun self guided tour. There are always Master Gardeners on site so you can ask lots of questions. It’s a great way to get ideas for your own yard or just enjoy the sites. This year it is in East Dallas/Old Lake Highlands area.
https://dallascountymastergardeners.org/garden-tour/?mc_cid=53aa68f411&mc_eid=e3f7adbc75

White Rock East Garden Tour 2024 - Sunday, May 19 from 10-5 $20
This tour features home gardens, local artists, and a plant sale! This annual fundraiser has been a highlight of East Dallas for over 20 years. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/white-rock-east-garden-tour-2024-tickets-850053411637
I hope this list inspires you to adventure out and see how folks are bringing nature to our area.
We especially hope you visit our garden. I promise it will bring a smile to your face!
May this May be full of blooms and beauty that bring delight and wonder.
Love and peace,
Chrissy

]]><![CDATA[Gratitude & Generosity]]>Mon, 01 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.chrissycortezmathis.com/blog/gratitude-generosityHowdy friends,

I hope y’all are all doing well and enjoying spring.
Some of you know that Sean and I have been remodeling our bathroom and it has been an epic experience and, in this moment, there is the tiniest light at the end of this project. Slow and steady is the name of the game here as well as a sense of humor and patience.

This brings me to what is front and center in my mind: Gratitude and Generosity. I am so grateful for the generous folks on YouTube!! What a wealth of information. While Sean and I have a fair bit of experience building things, the electrical, plumbing and upcoming tiling needed some additional knowledge. We have learned so much and have liked and subscribed to a few amazing craftspeople.

I love that we all have the opportunity to be grateful and generous too. Every one of us has talents that we can share with our family and community.

Maybe it’s through volunteering with an organization, helping out in our neighborhoods or even just a simple gesture of holding the door open for someone and saying hello. There is a lot of research that supports when we are generous and can contribute and connect with others, our nervous systems get a nice boost of endorphins that can last many hours. The same goes for being grateful. Perhaps pause a few times a day to remember what you are grateful for. Maybe it's as simple as witnessing a beautiful sky.

Sean and I got a nice boost of endorphins on Saturday too! We gave a presentation for the Richardson Public Library. It was so wonderful to have 60 folks come out to hear about how to transform your property to a habitat for beautiful creatures. This is part of our volunteer work with the North Texas Master Naturalists. So fun!!

As it turns out, April is National Volunteer Month. If you are interested in doing something formal, the City of Richardson has a page that shows opportunities in the the city. Here’s the link https://www.cor.net/i-want-to/volunteer

However, if that is not your jam, perhaps set the intention to be kind and generous in other ways that fit you. As I said, it could be a simple gesture of acknowledgment and a smile. It can really make someone’s day.
Thank you all for coming to class and for being part of our community. I am truly grateful for the time that we all get to spend together. May this month bring many smiles and moments of generosity and gratitude.

Love and peace,
Chrissy

]]><![CDATA[Grow, grow, grow]]>Fri, 01 Mar 2024 08:00:00 GMThttp://www.chrissycortezmathis.com/blog/grow-grow-grow

Howdy gang,

I hope this email finds you all happy and healthy.
This time of year is my favorite as everything starts to grow. Maybe you have seen the little buds popping out of the trees or seedlings rising up from the soil. The birds are singing and crane flies are bouncing around the yard and probably in your house, too! All harbingers of a new season.

As we come out of our hibernation to enjoy these longer days and a bit more warmth (although not the last few days but you know what I mean) I kind of feel like there are little seeds that may have been planted within ourselves. Ideas that may be rolling around in our minds just waiting for a bit of sunshine to help them sprout from an idea to action.

Maybe there is something you have always wanted to learn or a relationship with a person or organization that you want to establish or deepen. Perhaps you want to visit a new place; a restaurant, park or a city. A lot of research shows an increase in well-being when we are learning new things and having new experiences.

A growth mindset helps us open up to possibilities and may even build resilience. When things don’t go as planned, we roll with it and know we will learn from the experience. Things don’t have to be perfect to be meaningful. There is even evidence of feeling more positive and less depressed as we grow.

Perhaps this month, just like everything else in nature, we grow. Let’s believe that our roots are strong and ready to support us as we leaf out and maybe even flower. I hope you take time to reflect on this new season of possibilities. What would be interesting and even fun? Take in the warmth of the sun and notice what blooms.

Thank you all for reading and practicing with me. May this month bring us delight as we explore our desires and dreams.
Love and peace,
Chrissy

]]><![CDATA[Love and Kindness]]>Thu, 01 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMThttp://www.chrissycortezmathis.com/blog/love-and-kindness

Howdy gang,

I hope you are all doing well and enjoyed the last few days of amazing sunshine!! What a gift after the bitter cold and the seemingly endless days of grey and wet. We all know that February is a wild card and often brings another cold event. Still, these moments of bright, warm light are such a boost to the system.

The beginning of the month always brings an opportunity for reflection as well as intention setting. When I sat down to ponder, here’s what came up for me when I thought about February.

As children, we may remember getting our box of valentines cards and filling them out for our classmates. We made little boxes or bags to receive these little missives of kindness. I recall my teacher encouraging us to give to everyone as the love we shared was in friendship. Wouldn’t that be so great now?

I think love is about generosity, inclusion and acceptance for all. We all have struggles and hardships as well as success and ease. What if we committed to being kind to everyone we encounter? What if we let go of fear of the “other”? I imagine our world would be such a beautiful place to live and flourish.

With wars raging overseas and the ramping up of what looks to be a contentious next nine months in our country, I hope we can remember that we are all more alike than not. Peace is possible and I believe it is up to all of us to practice kindness and have awareness to the dangers of hate.

The Mindfulness practice of Loving Kindness is one I turn to often when I start to feel triggered by the news or by my own judgements about folks. This practice is when we wish ourselves and others well. We even include those that we may find hard to like or be around. These folks may be people we know or even those we don’t know. We say these lines:

May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I live with ease.

We then wish these same statements to a loved one, a neutral person, a difficult person and finish with all beings. The last one is my favorite part.

May all beings be happy.
May all beings be healthy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings live with ease.

This practice has been shown to help people feel more connected and even more generous. I encourage you to find a moment or two to sit, breathe, bring the people to your mind and say the words. Imagine the people receiving the gift of well wishes. Then notice how you feel. It seems super cheesy but practicing building compassion and empathy has no downside, I promise.

The photo at the top of this page are prayer flags. It is a Himalayan belief that when the wind blows the flags, it spreads the blessings, good will and compassion embodied in the images and writings across the land and out in to the universe. I think of them as Loving Kindness in flag form :)

So that’s what I have been pondering. I hope this is food for thought for you, too.

I have also been filled with gratitude for being able to teach and practice with you. This is my tenth year of teaching yoga and I am honored to get to pass on the teachings as well as learn from you too! Every time we are together is truly a gift. Thank you.

May February bring an abundance of kindness, love and peace for all beings.

Love and peace,
Chrissy

]]><![CDATA[Simply Sensational]]>Mon, 01 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMThttp://www.chrissycortezmathis.com/blog/simply-sensational

Happy New Year!!

I hope you all enjoyed the holidays and if it was a rough one, may the new year bring healing and peace to you.

Right now is often a time for reflection on the experiences and lessons learned from 2023 and also a time for dreaming and setting intentions for 2024. We spend a bit of time in the past and also in the future. Once we have completed these activities, I’d like to propose a way of being present that can be transformational.

I LOVE Mindfulness! It is a way of living in the present moment that often brings a real awakening to the amazing, awe inspiring world around us. Taking a bit of time to connect to our breath, body and senses is a practice that over time becomes second nature. Some of us enjoy taking time to sit and notice but it’s not required in order to be mindful. In fact, we have so many options available; it’s kind of fun to play with all the choices!

Many of us find our Yoga practice to be the best mindfulness experience - feeling the movements and breathing deeply; being curious to how our practice affects our mood and the body; knowing we do not need to change anything.

Another option is to use our senses. Noticing the colors of the sunset, the smells in the air, the sounds around us, the taste of a favorite drink or meal and of course, feeling our bodies both inside and out. I have found so much wonder and delight in my day-to-day activities that are absolutely sensational because I remember to notice. You can do this too!

Just like taking time for our movement practice, taking time throughout our day for sensational moments helps us cultivate the attitudes of curiosity and kindness. As we nurture these attitudes, maybe we bring that same sense of openness to our encounters with ourselves, others and our environment.

The more we practice, the easier it becomes and the more curious and delighted we will be. In my experience, curious people are kind people and that is truly what our world needs.

As we move in to 2024, let’s play with our senses. Take time each day to check in with each of them or maybe play with just focusing on one at a time. If you aren’t sure where to begin, join me for my Sensational Living workshop on Saturday, January 13th from 1-3 at Heights Recreation Center as we mindfully explore the senses and boost our focus, creativity and curiosity.
Click here to register.

May 2024 be a year filled with simple sensational moments that make us smile, wonder, and connect.

Thank you all for practicing with me.
Love and peace,
Chrissy

]]><![CDATA[The Gift of Time]]>Fri, 01 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMThttp://www.chrissycortezmathis.com/blog/the-gift-of-time

Hello friends,

I hope you all had a lovely November filled with the essence of fall. The cooler temperatures, the leaves changing from green to gold, the opportunity for good food and perhaps even a few meet ups with family and friends. December may bring the same plus more.

Sometimes, this time of year is like being in the middle of a race. We are half way there and need to pace ourselves or we will run out of energy. Maybe you are the energizer bunny and have no idea what I am talking about but for many of us, this is when we need our practice more than ever.

Taking time to settle in to our body is such a gift. Even if it’s just a few breaths. It may help us notice how we are feeling, both the mind and the body. From this place, we may calm a busy mind or shift from ruminative thoughts. Perhaps a big stretch or rolling the shoulders would feel good. We can even take time to look around at all the amazing sights around us. This may help us shift from holiday fatigue towards gratitude for the next opportunity for holiday cheer.

Those moments of connection to what is real and true; feeling the body, noticing the beauty around us and of course the breath may help us to feel steady and even joyful.

Other times, we just need time to be. Maybe during this month, we schedule some down time to rest and feel all the feels. Mark it on your calendar. Perhaps schedule a couple of “Do what you want to do” sessions. Take a class, nap, sing, go for a walk in the park, watch a favorite holiday show. Is it too early to watch “Love Actually,” “Sound of Music,” or “It’s a Wonderful Life”?

As we move in to December, may we find a steady pace even when the world is rushing. If we do have to rush, let’s be purposeful. Can we mindfully rush? Yes. We can set an intention towards “getting to” instead of “having to”. How about some music or a fun podcast to lift our spirits while we take care of our tasks. Perhaps we even bring a smile to our faces and kindness in our hearts as we move through the world.

When we have the capacity, let’s spread some good will and be the delight in someone’s day and when we don’t, let’s be sweet to ourselves and take care of our hearts and just be.

Wishing you all a joyful holiday season.

Love and peace,
Chrissy

]]><![CDATA[Mindful of Memories]]>Wed, 01 Nov 2023 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.chrissycortezmathis.com/blog/mindful-of-memories

Hello friends,

I hope this email finds you nice and cozy as we experience our first dose of cold weather.

It’s been a perfect day to turn on the oven to make some pumpkin apple cookies. The smell in my house is delicious and brings a smile to my face as I recall the smells of the holidays.

Isn’t it funny how our senses can connect us to a memory? As we move in to the next two months, we may find ourselves in a sensory wonderland. Sights, sounds, tastes, feels and especially smells may take us to a place in our minds that brings smiles to our faces or maybe a frown or even a tear to our eyes. We may notice our moods even shift.

I remember when I was in my twenties and all of my family was alive, how wonderful this time of year was. I am grateful for the memories of laughing together and salivating over my grandma’s cheesy enchiladas with homemade chili sauce, my brother’s rich baklava doused in honey and of course, pumpkin pie!

There was also the non-stop chatter of storytelling and the warmth of the house filled with so many people and all the yummy food in the oven and on the stove. We had two new babies, my niece and nephew, to oogle over too. Then there was the post lunch coma where everyone found a place to lie down for a little nap or a group of us would go for a walk.

I am also reminded that things are very different now. Many of my people have passed on, the kids are in their thirties and the holidays are a little less rowdy. Still, I am grateful for the memory and for this time to connect to the family that is left as well as with a bigger family which includes you.

Something to consider as we move forward is to be aware and to be kind. Not only may we all experience moments of wonder and wonkiness, others may be going through something as well.

Maybe as we move forward, we open up our hearts to sharing a few more smiles and well-wishes with our friends, family and folks we don’t know.In my opinion, our world needs more friendliness, connection and kindness. Together, we can be the light for others as well as lean in on each other too. Y’all know I am always here for you so if you need to lean in, let me know.

May this month bring happy memories, a sense of gratitude for being alive and love for humankind.

Love and peace,
Chrissy

]]><![CDATA[Being with Both]]>Sun, 01 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.chrissycortezmathis.com/blog/being-with-both

Howdy gang,

Welcome to fall! I know most of us would like 60-70 degrees but we will gladly take 80-90 degrees. Isn’t it interesting how our perspective and appreciation shifts. It’s all relative, isn’t it?

As we move in to this season, I am getting better at caching my wonky feelings that come with this time of the year. To me, the best part of mindfulness and awareness is the moment of notice. That, “OOOOOHHH, that’s where I am” moment.

I am getting better at riding it out and a little less stuck in it. It’s still not fun but at least I know what’s going on and can let go a little so I may enjoy all the other beautiful parts of this season.

Why do I share this??

Because it seems like a lot of us have this tendency at this time of year and I want to let you know, you are not alone. Plus, I found something that has been helpful for me. Maybe it might help you, too.

A while back, I listened to a podcast with Ingrid Fetell Lee. She was discussing her book, “Joyful - The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness”.

I loved the discussion and put in a request for the book from the library. Lucky me, it came in before the library closed so it was in my stash of books.

Since I was feeling wonky, I decided to give it a read. Absolutely delightful!!
I love all her musings as well as interesting research and tips on how we may bring more joy to our moments. I feel like I already do some of this and I am excited that there is so much more that I can play with.

One of the interesting things she notes is how we can feel wonky and at the same time still have moments of joy. We can have both. It’s not like we are pushing away the ick but more like we are adding to our daily experience. I have found this has helped me move through some of the melancholy that often comes this time of year.

There are plenty of things that can give us a spark and I hope this season you play with looking for joy and notice what happens. Do you smile? Jump? Maybe even squeal?

I do all three and it feels really good.

Fall really is an amazing time and I am happy to bring in another form of mindfulness to the season… Joy spotting! One of her tips is to look up and look down to see what’s around. I have attached some photos that you might enjoy.

So, whether you are feeling wonky or just excited for cooler weather, I encourage you to open up to all that this season may bring and hopefully you will spot some joy and smile, jump and squeal!
Peace and love,
Chrissy

Here’s the link to the podcast with Ingrid Fetell Lee

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