On the Threshold

Listen, See, Connect, Grow

Reset & Restore – Day Retreat

by Jennifer Nice on category ,

As summer slips into the rear view mirror and we pivot towards all things fall, I invite you to carve out a day of intention to “reset and restore” at an autumn retreat. The shift in seasonality can be an ideal time to pause, reflect, and tune into our intuition for the days ahead. 

Please join me at the serene and peaceful Trappist Abbey, situated on acres of lush forest land between Carlton and Lafayette. Our retreat will take place in the Founder’s Room, as well as outdoors, and will include yoga, meditation, guided breath work, nature walks, and quiet time. 

Location: Trappist Abbey, 9200 NE Abbey Rd. Carlton, OR 97111

Date: Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024

Time: 9:00am – 2:00pm 

Retreatants are welcome to stay on property past 2:00 to walk or relax outside on your own.

Please bring:

Yoga mat

Comfortable walking shoes

Lunch

Water bottle

Travel mug for tea (optional)

Journal (optional)

Provided:

Herbal tea

Snacks

Pens

Yoga props

To register, please email jenmattechecknice@gmail.com or text 503.550.5621 and pay $50 ($60 after Sept. 21st) to secure your spot; space is limited. You may send payment through Venmo to @Nice-Jennifer or mail a check to: 

Jennifer Nice | 2896 NW Gregory Drive | McMinnville, OR 97128

Threshold Yoga

by Jennifer Nice on category

I’m teaching yoga in McMinnville, Oregon! After practicing for 25+ years, my dream to become a yoga instructor has been realized. I’m happy to share I completed my 200 hour RYT yoga certification in April 2024 from the Yandara Yoga Institute in Baja. I am also a member of Yoga Alliance. If you’re local to McMinnville, meet me on the mat this summer.

My class is a dynamic practice with vinyasa and hatha elements to help you feel energized and relaxed. We integrate stretching, balance, toning, strength, breath work and meditation for a well-rounded 60 minute flow that will inspire you to live better in your body. All levels welcome and most poses have variations to accommodate your comfort and ability.  

Summer 2024 teaching schedule:

Tuesdays 10:00-11:00 am and 6:00-7:00 pm

Glo 1300 NE Adams Street Suite A McMinnville OR 97128

Wednesdays 9:00-10:00 am Outdoor yoga (bring your own mat & any props you like)

Parkview Center, 325 NE Burnett Road McMinnville OR 97128

Wednesdays 6:00-7:00 pm

Glo 1300 NE Adams Street Suite A McMinnville OR 97128

COMMUNITY YOGA OUTDOOR CLASSES

July 13th Shadden Drive Greenspace – McMinnville 9:00-10:00 am

August 4th Metolius Meadows Common Area – Camp Sherman 9:00-10:00 am

August 11th Metolius Meadows Common Area – Camp Sherman 9:00-10:00 am

August 24th Shadden Drive Greenspace – McMinnville 9:00-10:00 am

Be Here Now

by Jennifer Nice on category ,

Be here now. 

Recently I returned from a 23 day yoga certification training at the Yandara Institute in Baja. Our yoga instructor and founder of Yandara, directed us to Be Here Now during one of our first morning flow practices. These three simple words have a profound impact when listened to and embodied.

Earning my 200 hour RYT to become a certified yoga instructor had been a percolating idea in my mind for at least a decade. There was always an excuse: it cost too much money, didn’t have not enough time, how could I possibly commit, I didn’t deserve that kind of opportunity, etc. My inner critic is brilliantly vocal, persistent, and cunning. So I never REALLY thought this “dream” would come to fruition.

I began practicing yoga at the local women’s gym “Cindy’s Body Shop” back in the late 1990’s. My initial attraction to yoga was how it simultaneously relaxed and energized me. It was different from all my prior fitness endeavors: competitive sports, running, high impact aerobics, kickboxing, etc. I had some baseline flexibility due to my years as a gymnast, but the slower pace was an interesting challenge for me. 

The time and focus spent on each pose, along with the breathwork, gave my monkey mind a brain break while helping my physical body feel better. Every time I showed up on my mat, no matter the teacher or the class or the events of my day, yoga managed to give me exactly what I needed. 

Read On

I have a cup

by Jennifer Nice on category ,

I have a cup

It’s a lovely and sturdy cup

Is it full?

Is it empty?

What’s in there?

Is it half full?

Is it half empty?

Something is in there

Why do you tell me how to view my cup?

Do you know its contents?

Do you know what my cup is made of?

My cup has

Spilled

Overflowed

Burned my fingers

Chipped

Knocked over

Cracked

Repaired

AND it has never

Gathered dust in the cupboard

What a lovely and sturdy work of art

A gift

My cup

This poem rolled out of my brain through my fingers quite quickly as the curtain came down on 2023. Instead of saying Happy New Year, I changed that salutation to It Will Be a Year. As I’ve written about in previous posts, we’ve learned that control over our lives is an illusion. Who am I to say that next year will be a happy one? This I know: it will be a year.

After fighting what we (and the doctor) thought was a horrible flu for a week, William was hospitalized for 3 nights and diagnosed with a mysterious kidney infection. He was discharged on Dec. 31, 2023, then had to recuperate at home and miss the first week of winter term. Meanwhile, Marguerite, my mother in law, ended up in the ER in the same hospital at the same time as William, and was diagnosed with an inoperable and malignant brain tumor.

So yeah, 2023 ended with a slam that shouted “don’t let the door hit you on your way out.” 

Read On

Receive and Release

by Jennifer Nice on category

Impermanence: the fact or quality of being temporary or short lived. This past calendar season, as well as the season of my life, has presented multiple moments for me to recognize the presence of impermanence. As a champion of change, I welcome new opportunities, new adventures, new challenges. Most kinds of novelty energize me over the predictable and familiar. I cannot speak for others, but for me, change precedes growth and renewal, even when it’s hard.

While I embrace change, I haven’t given much consideration to impermanence until lately. I’m reminded of a parenting article I read years ago when my children were young and the physical exhaustion was nonstop: “The days are long, but the years are short.” Indeed.  Just a few weeks ago, we dropped off William for his first year of college at Seattle University. This was not my first rodeo with college drop offs, and yet…impermanence gobsmacked me again, like I was born yesterday and had never experienced an ending of one thing and the beginning of another.

What do we do with this old/new friend of impermanence and its accompanying complicated emotions? I don’t know, but I’m trying to learn. I logged onto a live online yoga class the day after we returned from Seattle, feeling melancholy and fatigued from the weekend. The instructor talked about how we can receive and release during times of transition. I’ve noodled on this quite a bit. Honestly, to receive and release could be a daily practice to “get through this thing called life” in the words of Prince.

Read On

What about mountains?

by Jennifer Nice on category ,

I love the mountains. Truth be told, I love the beach a little more, but mountains are a close second. Mountain metaphors, verses, quotes speak to me: 

Climb every mountain till you find your dream

I’d move mountains for …

The mountains are calling and I must go

I lift my eyes up to the mountains, where does my help come from?

In yoga there is a pose called Mountain Pose. (The English names for yoga poses, as opposed to Sanskrit, are very literal: mountain, tree, downward dog, table top, cobra, lizard, happy baby.) Mountain pose is probably one of the easiest. It’s often a beginning pose or transition pose before a sequence. For those non-yogi readers, allow me to describe it as a yoga teacher would:

Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Feel the earth underneath all 4 corners of your feet. Stand as tall as you really are. Stretch your arms at your sides, fingers pointing down, palms facing forward. Allow your breath to flow in and out of your lungs. If you’d like, bring your hands into prayer fashion with your thumbs touching your heart. Feel the strength of your legs and the earth supporting you.

I never gave mountain pose too much thought until a couple of months ago when I attended a weekend grief retreat. It was co-led by Kirstin, a Courage & Renewal facilitator, and Phoenix, a certified yoga teacher. There were 19 of us, all women, all in various stages of grief. As you might imagine, the retreat was a weekend filled with tensions of both/and. Painful and hopeful. Emotionally laborious and liberating. Exhausting and cathartic.

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Blank inside

by Jennifer Nice on category

I was more than ready to turn the page on 2022. Many people in my circles felt the same way, so I’ve been told. 2022 was the hardest and worst year of my life (see previous post for more context) and yet, I do not feel an exhilarating fresh start with 2023. 

I possess no inspiration to set goals, make big plans, or create opportunities for success. And it feels okay. I’m doing okay, sometimes better than okay, but mostly just okay. And I’m okay with that right now.

‘Tis the season for New Year’s resolutions. Why the fascination with resolutions? Our capitalistic culture glamorizes making resolutions every new year, but most of us drop them sooner than later, despite our best intentions and the promise of improving ourselves…or something like that.

Who says starting anew can’t happen in March? Or June or October – or on an ordinary Thursday? I’m not in a space for a resolution, now or next Thursday, but still, I’m pondering the concept “resolve to always keep resolving.” My meditation practice falls under this resolving umbrella, which I’ve resumed in 2023 after an 8 1/2 month hiatus. Last week I certainly noticed a positive difference in my days after I meditated first thing in the morning. Who knows how it will unfold this week?

Read On

Learning to carry what can’t be fixed

by Jennifer Nice on category

Dear readers, it’s been a while. I’ve started this post more than once in the past few months but didn’t feel sturdy enough. Please be aware the following contains raw and possibly triggering content, especially for those who have ever experienced trauma. If you are not in a place of strength at the moment, you may want to consider reading at a later time.

Five months ago, my daughter’s boyfriend was murdered in a double homicide. My heart races as I write this, and my fingers feel clunky on the keyboard. Where do I even start? Maybe at the beginning of their story…I will never stop remembering that Griffin’s short and brilliant life eclipses the tragic and wildly unfair ending.

Vivian met Griffin at Chapman University in September 2019. She was a freshman who had been hired as a student phonathon caller for University Advancement. Griffin was a junior and a supervisor for the student callers. They started out as work friends. I recall Vivian would often call us on the 20 minute walk back to her dorm after her shift on Tuesday and Thursday nights. She was always buoyant and happy after work. 

We first heard Griffin’s name in January 2020. He invited the phonathon team to his apartment for a party and Vivian decided to go, riding the Chapman shuttle bus over after her evening class. After that party, they played a cat and mouse game of mutual crush for a couple of months…and then March 13, 2020 happened. All the students were sent home, thanks to COVID erupting and shutting down the world.

Vivian and Griffin kept in touch all spring and summer via text and SnapChat. In August 2020, she moved back to Orange and into a house with 4 friends, where they settled in for online classes and college life in the pandemic. Griffin stayed at home in San Juan Island to work and take classes remotely, mainly because his apartment was Chapman apartment housing, and Chapman only opened up dorms that fall for freshmen to live in single rooms. During Fall 2020, their relationship ramped up to a long distance romance. When Vivian was home over the holidays, they FaceTimed every few days. Griffin finally returned to California in January 2021 and they became official. She called me the next day after he arrived and declared jubilantly, “He’s my boyfriend now.”

Read On

Yoga retreat

My Heart Sees Your Heart

by Jennifer Nice on category

About a month ago I arrived home from a week long yoga retreat in Mexico. Even as I write this, it chagrins me how my privilege is on full display, especially in light of world events transpiring. But allow me to keep going, as my humble aim is to be honest when writing about experiences in mid-life. Although our paths look different, the journey is universal. I heard on a Brené Brown podcast once that mid-life is an actual developmental stage in adults and it’s critical we’re aware of the changes and challenges facing us in this stage of life. And I would add, let’s be open about it!

The theme of the yoga retreat was “Embrace the Edge,” taught by Fiji McAlpine of Do Yoga With Me. I started doing online yoga classes on this website back in 2016 (thanks to a tip by my sis Molly) and Fiji quickly stood out as my favorite instructor. When the yoga retreat was advertised in the winter of 2021 for the following year, I needed a ray of light and hope to grab onto…something to look forward to, hopefully post-pandemic. Even so, making a reservation felt indulgent and maybe reckless, with the future uncertain. Yet a giddy anticipation bubbled inside me by the act of committing to something I knew I would probably, absolutely, savor.

Molly and I decided that yes, we should book our spots and go for it. It was the best decision.

Read On

Be Still

Stillness

by Jennifer Nice on category

Welcome to January 79th, the endless month of the year! January has a knack of dulling the “new year” glitter and resolve in a matter of days….at least for me. While I’m not a resolution type person, I read this thoughtful article in the New York Times about ReSOULutions. This happened around the same time I was wearing a cloak of depression that I couldn’t shed, no matter how hard I tried. I pulled out every tool in my toolbox and while these tools didn’t hurt and probably helped some, I wasn’t getting the relief I was seeking. A blessing and a curse of my personality (an Enneagram 1) is my tendency toward action, toward improvement. But humans sometimes exhaust our reserves, and when we get to that point, we have choices to make. 

That’s when I have to surrender. Usually the memo comes through my physical body, which makes my choice for me. The body doesn’t lie. Any kind of mental or emotional distress generally shows up as pain, illness, infection, fatigue, etc. Surrender isn’t giving up, it’s giving back. Giving back to health and wholeness. There is freedom in that, rather than loss. At least that’s how I’ve reframed it for myself.

Read On

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