Happy 1st Birthday, TRIESSENCE! Highlights From The Year…

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Tessa Todd Morgan

TRIESSENCE is proud to announce it just celebrated birthday number 1!

TRIESSENCE exists to help people find the perfect balance of their true essence bringing them to the fullest expression of who they are, which can result in an increase in happiness, fulfilling relationships, health, success, love and joy. TRIESSENCE wants to help as many people as possible live their lives to their fullest potential and embrace their greatness.

A lot of great things have happened in the last 365 days and TRIESSENCE has remained true to the mission above over the course of the year. Here are a few of the highlights:

1. One year ago, TRIESSENCE launched the first public yoga class and has enjoyed getting to teach and watch students grow and see their bodies transform as they are able to do more with each session.
2. TRIESSENCE has worked with coaching clients from anything to helping find their paths in order to live out their dreams to currently working with one on launching a new business and speaking skills to helping another with the challenges one faces in romantic relationships. TRIESSENCE even helped one coaching client complete a film project this year, which took founder Tessa Todd to London for a week back in April.
3. TRIESSENCE has done private yoga sessions and had a lot of progress with one particular client who has been doing privates since January and taking public classes with Tessa for a year now. She has a rod in her spine due to scoliosis and was concerned she wouldn’t be able to do much when they first started. TRIESSENCE is proud to say she is now doing headstands in the middle of the room, by herself. Rod and all! TRIESSENCE is thrilled to be able to see individuals gain confidence and be able to accomplish things they never thought possible!
4. TRIESSENCE has taught corporate yoga anywhere from small home offices to Mockingbird Station and Comerica Bank Tower downtown in Dallas.
5. One year ago, TRIESSENCE’s first corporate yoga retreat was done outside in a park with 5 people (pictured above). The weather was perfect that day and since then, the sky has been the limit! Last week, TRIESSENCE did a corporate yoga event and mediation session with a group of male and female occupational therapists & physical therapists with the Department of Veterans Affairs. It was such an honor for Tessa to be able to help the people that take care of so many others learn ways to take care of themselves since they deserve it so much for all of the hard work they do!

While Tessa is focusing primarily on corporate yoga onsite at companies or at their events, private yoga sessions and life coaching, she does offer one public yoga class a week on Tuesday evenings at 6PM. If you are interested in checking out the class, please email tessa@findyourtriessence.com

Here’s what a few clients have had to say about working with TRIESSENCE:

“Having Tessa come and do classes at our building is such a great amenity to have for our tenants. The convenience of having yoga onsite versus having to go elsewhere for classes is a huge advantage for all of us. I believe it is a big stress reliever for everyone and I leave feeling energized after each class. I highly recommend it for your company or building!”

Elizabeth Costello Chavez – Tenant Services Coordinator, Comerica Bank Tower

“My original motivation for incorporating a Yoga Break at our company-wide retreat was to offer an out-of-the-box team-building activity for our group. Little did I know it would be such a highlight of our retreat! Our team talks about it to this day, and we’ve since incorporated TRIESSENCE Corporate Yoga twice a week at our office.

Tessa was so mindful of the different levels of fitness represented in the group, and effortlessly customized the class to meet each one. In addition to the benefits that each attendee got out of the session, it cleared our minds to be so much more productive for the rest of our meetings. In fact, I find myself (selfishly) wishing the conferences I attend throughout the year offered Yoga Breaks! I definitely recommend it.”

Christa Haberstock – President, see:a·gen·cy

Personal message from Tessa Todd:

None of these things could have happened this year without the love and support from so many of you along the way. Thank you so much for your faithful support and encouragement! Thank you to all of my clients for continuing to show up and have the drive to continue to better themselves.

For any clients that have moved on but are still using some of the techniques we used together, I’d love to hear from you. And many of you may not have done any yoga or coaching sessions with me, so if there is anything I can do to support you, I’d love to hear from you as well. I appreciate the support from each and every one of you and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Cheers to many more years to come…

For more information on services offered by TRIESSENCE, please visit www.findyourtriessence.com and you can “like” TRIESSENCE on FB for bi-weekly blogs by visiting https://www.facebook.com/Triessence

Are Your Thoughts Serving You?

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Tessa Todd Morgan

Are your thoughts serving you?

Do you ever pay attention to the things that you are telling yourself throughout the day? I’ve been thinking so much about this lately because of conversations I’ve had with a few of my yoga students.

It seems that a lot of times we can say the most negative things to ourselves and wonder why we are not happy or don’t always think so highly of ourselves. I’d like to invite you to pay attention to your thoughts and see where you stand.

For example, some of my students have said that they say things to themselves throughout class such as “I can’t do this” or “this is hard” or “I’m not good at this” and we are surprised at how discouraged we can be at ourselves.

And no, I don’t then tell them to say the opposite of “I can do this” or “this is easy” and “I’m great at this” because we all know that would do nothing.

But, what I have been paying attention to lately and inviting others to do is start whatever project or class or anything you are doing where you know there may be resistance and remind yourself of the reason you are there and why you are doing it in the first place.

So, if it’s to relieve stress, to become more flexible, to ease your mind and relax, etc. you then do your best to catch yourself when you are having those negative self talk moments and then simply just remind yourself of why you are doing it in the first place and give yourself a little slack and feel grateful that you are able to do something great for your body and mind.

If it’s a part of your job and you are telling yourself how much you hate doing what you are doing, think about the end result and what it provides for you or others and remind yourself of that along the way.

I hope you all have a safe and joyous Memorial Day weekend and may you find a way to have some thoughts over the next two weeks that serve you better.

Think You Can’t Do Yoga? Think Again!

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Tessa Todd Morgan

To all my friends out there that think they can’t do yoga, please think again!

If you’ve never seen the popular video of the guy who couldn’t even walk and started doing yoga and all of the amazing progress that he made, check it out here:

Never, Ever Give Up.

And for any of you that aren’t quite to the point of checking out a class and have hesitations about whether you could do it or not, here is a very beginner 30 minute video below that I made for my uncle last week to help with his balance. Maybe it could help you see that you too can do yoga!

As I always tell my students, if you literally just sat on your mat the entire class and paid attention to your breathing, you’d be doing a great service to your body and mind.

When is the last time you just sat quietly and took deep, healing breaths? Your body and mind deserve it!

30 Minute Beginner Yoga Balance Video

What Are Your Expectations?

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Tessa Todd Morgan

What are your expectations?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot today as I went to yoga this morning expecting my favorite teacher to be teaching and walked in the door to find a sub would be leading us through the class. This was someone that I had never met before and I automatically assumed I wasn’t going to enjoy class as much as I normally would since it wasn’t my favorite teacher.

I realize picking “favorites” isn’t probably the best thing to do, especially with yoga. I could have just been grateful that I had the opportunity to practice at 9AM on a Friday. Wouldn’t it be great if we could just let anyone instruct us through our practice and not judge or compare one teacher from the next? I wish I could, but the truth is I do have a certain style that I prefer and actually we all deserve to have our preferences, right?!

The beauty of it was that as soon as the teacher walked into the room, I could see her bright light shining and could tell that she had a beautiful soul and a lot to offer us (at least in my opinion :)). The class was great and I really liked her teaching style a lot and it taught me a lesson around expectations. I expected one thing and got another and it was a breath of fresh air and ended up being a rewarding lesson for me to learn that I can go into situations with eagerness to be surprised and delighted vs. expecting the worst or something negative if something doesn’t totally go my way.

On my 2014 vision board I put “Love Without Expectations” and I try and look at it as much as possible for a reminder. This one I have a little more challenge with because I think we all expect a lot out of the people that we love. I’m working on trying not to keep score and pay attention to who does what in my close relationships and to go more just out of doing what I want to out of love no matter what others do.

I challenge you to do the same. There are a lot of upsets around what we think others “should” do for us, especially when we take the time to do something for them. How about we focus more on what we can do for others without expecting anything in return? What if each time we did something for others it brought more joy to our hearts than if someone did something for us?

You can spend a lot of wasted hours being upset with people about things they never promised to do in the first place. Or you can spend countless hours with your heart full of joy when you love others and act on what you are feeling and what you want to do for them and then expect nothing in return.

Which will you choose?

Until next time…

Do You Ever Make It A Point To Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone?

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Tessa Todd Morgan

Do you ever make it a point to get out of your comfort zone?

I made it a point to get out of mine last week. I taught my boyfriend yoga for the first time at one of my group classes.

We had talked about him coming early on when we first started dating and then I think as more time passed I kind of secretly maybe didn’t want him to anymore. Probably because he’s done yoga for years and has had the privilege of taking from some pretty amazing teachers, so I believe a bit of my perfectionism I’ve tried to put to rest was trying to awake from a nap when the time came. I found myself quite anxious and a little nauseous all day until it was time for us to drive over to the studio.

Instead of pretending all was good and possibly having my voice shake for an hour, I just called it out for what it was at the beginning of class and let everyone know how nervous I was and why and invited them to join me during class to get out of their comfort zones as well. I did things we’d never done before with this particular group and had everyone play around with different versions of hopping on their feet as a prep for handstands and the option to do handstands later in the class against the wall.

After about 10 minutes, I loosened up a bit and stopped sounding like a drill sergeant with zero personality and started bringing some lightness into the class. I have to admit though, I didn’t look at him too much knowing I could possibly get a little distracted.

At the end of class, I thanked everyone and told him I loved him and how happy I was to have him in class and was pretty thankful that first time was over. Despite being out of my comfort zone, I made it through and I didn’t die. In fact, I know I will be a better teacher because of it. Funny how you could put me in a room full of hundreds of people easier than doing it in front of one particular person. Amazing how silly we can be at times, isn’t it? And now I’d be totally cool with him coming anytime!

What would get you out of your comfort zone? I think we all have many things we could put on that list.

What would it take to make you willing to do one of those things and make a point to get out of your comfort zone?

Guess what?! I’m pretty sure if you commit to doing one of those things that you won’t die either. And it will probably make you a little stronger in that area, have more confidence or possibly even cause you to experience a little magic!

Wishing you all the strength, confidence and magic one can muster…

Oh, and p.s. everyone said it was the best class I’ve taught so far. Go figure 😉

Are You In Love With You?

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Tessa Todd Morgan

Are you in love with you? I hope so.

I strongly believe that in order to be able to fully love another and give the best of yourself and love someone as they deserve to be treated and loved, you must be in love with you first.

Sometimes, that can sound like a stretch, so perhaps as a starting point, we could say that you at least need to like yourself a whole big bunch.

Unfortunately, for many years, I didn’t have much love for myself. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I pretty much couldn’t stand myself. I didn’t know this for a very long time, but I feel so fortunate that I finally figured this out.

Learning to love myself wasn’t a super quick or easy process, but it was the best gift that I could have ever given myself as well as anyone else in my life that receives love from me.

There are many people that I love in my life and I feel like those people have gained a better me and get more love from me by me being able to work through things I needed to and then fall in love with myself.

And I can honestly say that I am head over heels in love with someone romantically and have more love for this person than I ever knew would be possible. And again, I feel that he benefits from me being able to love myself now.

This self-love is not a conceded love or a selfish love and allows me to have a healthy love with others. My romantic relationship is the best one I have ever had in my life and I feel it is because I have learned to love myself. When you learn to love yourself and can be secure in who you are, you can then be secure in your relationships. We are loving, open and passionate with one another and have trust, respect and confidence in our relationship and it is also a very relaxed, yet fun relationship! I am convinced that would not be possible if I didn’t love myself. First off, for me to figure out what I actually wanted in a relationship and then, second, for me to then actually love myself enough to let myself take in all of the overwhelming feelings (in a good way!) that come with being in love and being very close to someone!

I honestly think I spent the majority of my life not loving myself up until a few years ago. I would self-sabotage myself all the time in multiple different ways. I would let my fears and insecurities keep me from doing everything I would dream of doing and being. I would do things to hurt others because I was hurting on the inside.

I’m not saying times can’t creep back in there sometimes. Last week, due to a certain fun time of the month for my female friends out there (I know, sorry excuse, but it just is what it is ;)) I was feeling totally crappy in general and about myself. Basically, I had no love for myself for a few days and was doing nothing to show love to myself either to make myself feel better. I didn’t take a break or rest or do yoga or take a long bath or get a massage. I just kept ignoring how I was feeling and became grumpier and yuckier.

Unfortunately, my sweet love had to receive the end of that and the impact of how I was feeling. I was downright pretty much mean and judgmental and spoke my mind about things that I had no business talking about when I felt bed and was one of the most opinionated people on the planet (or at least it felt like it). Luckily, it only lasted a day or so, but I don’t like the person I was being when I wasn’t loving myself and I know he didn’t either even though he was sweet enough to put up with me and continue to be nice even when I wasn’t (probably crossing his fingers it would pass asap ;)).

I recognized what was happening and did nothing about it. Had I done a better job of pulling myself away and given myself space and did something for myself and shown myself love and chosen to love myself anyway, that probably wouldn’t have happened.

Therefore, I have made a commitment in the future when I know that is happening to make sure and remove myself from a situation where I could say hurtful things or not be coming from my best, which normally, is a place of love.

I am fully committed to living my life from a place of love and when I see myself moving away from that place to quickly do something to get myself back to it.

My wish for you, not only today, but all days, is to find ways to love yourself. If you can find things to appreciate and love about yourself, your love and relationships will be so much better. If you are having a day where you are feeling all alone and like you don’t have someone to share this special day with, spend time loving yourself. Write down three things you love or can appreciate about yourself and then find one thing you can do for yourself this afternoon or evening to show yourself love.

What do you love to do? Go on a walk? Paint? Listen to your favorite music? Read a book? Take a long bath? Watch a fun movie and relax and lay on the couch? Whatever you know makes your heart smile, go and do it today!

Here’s wishing you and yours a Happy Valentine’s Day and a wonderful and safe weekend.

So much love and then some xoxoxo

Sometimes You Just Need To Stay In It…

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Tessa Todd Morgan

This week I was reminded that sometimes, under certain circumstances, you just need to stay in it.

For the past eight months, I’ve been teaching yoga each week on a voluntary basis to a wonderful group of children that I adore and want the best for and this week I found myself wanting to quit and give up.

It’s not that the children are bad, so don’t misunderstand me when I say that sometimes it can be a bit chaotic when you try to teach yoga to 30 kids in a gym that would possibly rather be playing basketball instead. The kids are just being kids and trying to have a good time.

I started to doubt that it was doing anything for them and tried to convince myself that they would rather be playing basketball anyway.

I was considering talking to someone at the organization that afternoon to tell them that I wasn’t going to be able to come anymore. I had even convinced myself that since I had picked up another class that evening at a different location that I shouldn’t try and do both (although, I knew I had plenty of time to get to both classes in one evening).

Then, someone came up and told me exactly what I needed to hear… They said how amazing they thought it was that I was giving these kids an opportunity that they would never have otherwise to get to do something that they may never be exposed to if I wasn’t coming to teach them. They told me how even though I may not see it that their faces light up when they see me come into the gym and that he could tell a difference of what yoga is doing for them.

Therefore, this week I’ve been looking at the fact that sometimes it’s great to just stay in it. The same goes for yoga. There are so many times where I want to come out of a pose because I think it’s hard or I try and convince myself I’m not strong enough to keep holding it, but if I find the strength to tell myself to stay in it then I can and the rewards can be so incredible in what it does for my mind, body and soul.

I’m not saying that all circumstances are worth staying in (there are so many that people actually need to choose to leave!), but there are so many that are. I’ve been noticing when things get tough in my life how often I want to just run away vs. staying in it. Running away may be the easier thing right in the moment, but may cost us the most in the long run.

If I can reach one child in that class and have it make a difference in their life, then it’s worth staying in it. What areas in your life do you possibly find challenging that you may be wanting to run away from and would you be willing to consider staying in them to see the reward that could come in the long run?

Would you be willing to be honest with yourself and see if it’s really something that is worth running away from or if it is something that the benefit could be so much greater if you just stayed in it?

What are the possibilities of what could happen if you stayed? What is the cost if you stay vs. the cost of if you were to leave?

How To Leave Work Behind This Holiday Season

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Tessa Todd Morgan

Last night, during a yoga class I was taking, I was reminded of a blog I wrote last year for the Institute for Health and Human Potential. Getting prepared for the holidays can be such a stressful time trying to figure out how to get all of your work done before you leave the office and how to set yourself up to not be really stressed when you return.

You can read the article with my suggestions of how to set yourself up for the holidays here: How to leave work behind this holiday season

With all of the hustle and bustle, sometimes we just need to take time to slow down. We’re going to get done what we are going to get done, but the key is to try and stay as calm as we can through the whole experience and stay present and enjoy ourselves and this season with friends and family.

My yoga instructor last night was having us inhale and say the word “slow” to ourselves and exhale and say the word “down” to ourselves. I thought that was another helpful tip for the holidays.

Here’s wishing you all a safe, peaceful, loving and joyful holiday season and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Until next year…

The Start Of A Brand New Season

Posted on December 7, 2013 by Tessa Todd Morgan

This week was the start of a brand new season of my life. I left an amazing full time job to officially launch my new business and focus entirely on TRIESSENCE.

As I prepared to leave and train the people to take over my old role, it occurred to me that this could quite possibly be the end of my experience in the “corporate” world and that I am transitioning over to working for myself, which means leaving the security of having a wonderful job and a supportive team surrounding me in the workplace.

Since I’m trying not to focus on the fears around it (although I could write an entire blog around that), I’ll just say that this is quite possibly the scariest time of my life and I have to remember to keep my thoughts positive on what I do want and continue to have faith and believe that this is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing.

I’ve been dreaming of this for years and it doesn’t matter that I’ve been preparing for it for a couple of years now or that I gave a six month notice to my company that I was working with because I don’t think you are ever quite prepared for the final days at the end and for the reality to sink in that one season is over and a brand new season of my life has now begun.

As I walked around in the ice and snow today in Dallas, Texas, I was reminded of all of the different seasons in our lives and how things can change so quickly. We don’t get much snow or ice here and when we do, it seems like it always happens so fast and you don’t have much time to prepare. This time I actually took time to stock up yesterday and buy some food and all that I would need to have in case I was trapped inside for a few days since the city pretty much shuts down when we do get this type of weather.

As I walked out back to check things out this afternoon, my gate was frozen shut to get to the back where my car is parked and I could see through the gate at how frozen my car is as well. I was very thankful that I prepared ahead of time. I was then able to choose to walk around the neighborhood and walk over to a cute coffee shop and that’s when I got to snap the beautiful photo above.

I also made the choice to leave my amazing full time job. It doesn’t make it any less fearful or less sad to leave people that I loved working with so much and to be starting something that is so unpredictable and scary for me to be out on my own.

I could make the choice to worry every day and focus on the fear of not having enough coaching clients or yoga classes or that my business could fail. Or I can choose to visualize and think about all that I want to accomplish with my new business. I can think about all of the people that will get introduced to yoga that have never done it before when I bring it to corporations and the people that I can help through coaching them.

I recently learned a helpful tip that I’ve been incorporating before I go to bed. The things that we focus on right before bed are crucial because our subconscious brain is at work when we are sleeping. If I go to bed panicking and focusing on what tomorrow will bring and that I’m afraid I could fail, that sets me up to continue to feel that way the next day and let my brain soak that in until morning and quite possibly attract that into my life. The other choice would be to visualize myself and my clients and students living their lives to their fullest potential and benefiting from the work of TRIESSENCE. I am going to choose the latter.

Would you be willing to spend the next few nights before you go to bed really paying attention to what you say to yourself before you go to bed and make a conscious decision to set up your subconscious to help you succeed by focusing on the amazing things that you want for yourself? Then, you must have faith and believe that those things are possible or better yet, believe that they have already happened. I think we’ll both be amazed at the results.

Happy weekend and hope you all stay warm and cozy.

I Guess I Get Embarrassed When I Cry Sometimes…

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Tessa Todd Morgan

I guess I get embarrassed when I cry sometimes. At least I did this morning.

I’ve been thinking alot about the way that we can judge ourselves in certain situations. And sometimes we can be our own worst critic. We’re not good enough, we could have done something better, we’re not in good enough shape, we’re weak, we’re not smart enough…and the list could go on and on.

I read an article last week about how meditating and yoga can be opportunities to observe ourselves without judgment. We have an opportunity in a yoga class or while meditating to pay attention to our thoughts and not judge them.

What if when you are in a yoga class and your body starts shaking uncontrollably for no reason that you could just be with it vs. thinking about how weak you might be in that moment or how out of shape you think you are?

I was meditating tonight and purposely didn’t judge myself when my mind wandered. I just went back to thinking about my breath and didn’t allow myself to go to the judgments of thinking that I could be a better meditator if my mind didn’t wander so much.

I typically don’t get embarrassed when I cry. I think crying can be a beautiful release and for me it usually seems like I’m one step closer to getting to where I want to be after it happens. It’s a way to see areas that might need our focus and possible changes we need to make or things we can choose to work on if we think they are important enough.

I cried this morning and I was very aware at how embarrassed I was and how stupid I felt about why I was crying. Part of it was because I was crying in front of someone that I care deeply about and that I care what they think about me.

The more embarrassed that I got, the more frustrated I became and I even started to become angry at myself.

This afternoon when I had time to sit and be quiet and still with myself and my thoughts, I decided to cut myself some slack and just realize that I was feeling exactly what I was feeling and that was exactly what I needed to feel at that moment and that is totally fine.

The more I judged myself this morning, the more frustrated I became and I began to dwell on something that wasn’t even actually reality. Had I allowed myself to just feel what I was feeling and express it without judgment, the tears would have stopped sooner and I would have been alot more loving towards myself and the other person involved in the conversation.

What is judging yourself costing you? Communication? Honesty? Joy? Peace? Love? Living your life to your fullest potential?

I encourage you to challenge yourself and try and listen to and observe yourself without judgment and be ok with what you are feeling as you feel it. Observe it, take action or decide not take action based on that information and then let it pass. I think you will be surprised at what can open up for you.

I hope you all experience some form of joy, peace and love in the next few days to come.

“The highest form of human intelligence is to observe yourself without judgment.” – Krishnamurti