Soft Smile Somatics (Possible by Design is now Soft Smile Somatics)

Hi Reader, Following the guidance of one of my yoga teachers, I committed to a 30-day yoga and meditation practice using visualization and reflection to connect with ancestral strength, acknowledge and honor their sacrifices, and recognize the gifts they passed on. I was invited to gather meaningful artifacts: photos, flowers, trinkets, anything that held a connection. I collected recipes in my mom’s handwriting, a hand-crocheted doily my grandma made, and, for my brother, always a song by...

Hi Reader, I recently connected with an old colleague I hadn't spoken to since 2007. Our conversation stayed delightfully in the present. Our paths overlapped briefly all of those years ago, and it's so far behind us now that the present felt infinitely more interesting. As we caught up, our conversation drifted toward the ways we each experience the world and how those perspectives shape our work, friendships, and family relationships. At work, she was feeling depleted and unseen, swimming...

Hi Reader, Over the past couple of years, I've rekindled that old flame. I still wonder sometimes... why did I ever stop playing guitar? Why did I give my clarinet away, convinced I'd never play again? Why did I stop tinkering with the instruments I'd collected over the years—my mandolin, ukulele, and handpan? The answer is simple — I stopped creating space for it. Looking back, I also underestimated how important that part of me was to feeling truly alive and engaged with what life has to...

Hi Reader, Someone told me recently, “your brain is like a wildflower garden.” I love ideas. I went for ice cream with a friend and by the time we finished our cones I had designed three new flavors, written a novel about a young protagonist who moves to a new town and is ridiculed for her fashion sense, only to inspire a unique unfolding of events, and drew inspiration from the organized collection of colorful ice cream, sherbet, and sorbet to sort my closet in a way to maximize bursts of...

Hi Reader, I've been talking about Whimsical & Wild quite a bit lately. There's a reason for that. The themes at the heart of these workshops—creativity, curiosity, instinct, and aliveness—are things I've lost touch with more than once throughout my life. Like many people, I've spent periods of my life focused on responsibility, productivity, and doing what I thought I should do. And every time I reconnect with those quieter, more creative parts of myself, life feels bigger, richer, more...

Hi Reader, Summer has a way of pulling us in many directions. Between vacations, family gatherings, long evenings, and changing routines, it's easy to move through the season without ever fully arriving in it. So I put something together for the season: Soft Smile Rhythm: Summer Shala. Rather than another thing to add to your to-do list, Summer Shala offers a gentle rhythm woven into real summer life, helping you stay connected to yourself while fully enjoying the season. Throughout the...

Hi Reader, Over the past couple of years, I’ve reconnected with creative aspects of myself. I always say that music was my first love. But for some reason, I stopped playing for many, many years. I have a theory. Through years of stress, adaptation, over-functioning, self-monitoring, pressure, and simply trying to keep life moving, I lost connection with myself. Humans have a remarkable ability to adapt to:• workplaces• relationships• expectations• family systems• social norms• chronic stress...

Hi Reader, Last week I completed a certification in Yoga Therapy for Ancestral & Collective Trauma through Stanford Psychiatry. It was one of the most meaningful trainings I’ve done. One of the themes we explored throughout the training was how human beings adapt to survive. Sometimes that adaptation looks obvious. Sometimes it looks incredibly subtle. When things don’t feel fully secure — emotionally, relationally, culturally, physically, or socially — human beings adapt. We learn how to...

Hello everyone, I’ve been noticing something lately, both in myself and in the people I work with—they hold back. It’s not always dramatic or obvious, but builds over time. Tension in the shoulders, breathing is a little more shallow, a moment of hesitation before speaking or moving. It’s just something the body has learned to do. Whether from stressful situations, hunching over a desk all day, or past learned behaviors that kept us safe. Over time, though, it can start to feel like effort....