More sparks from the spring retreat.
Not as a highlight reel.
As an offering.
One of the practices we worked with was the intentional cultivation of joy.
Because joy is not only something we hope to feel.
Joy is something we practice.
If we want more joy in our lives, we have to become conscious about where joy already lives for us.
Not the big, dramatic, someday version.
The real version.
The tiny, repeatable, accessible things that help the body remember:
I am already that which I seek to become.
I want joy.
And I already have joy.
I en-joy my life right now.
Not when everything is perfect.
Not when I finally get what I want.
Now.
Because we do not attract what we want.
We attract what we are.
If we are constantly living in the absence of joy, waiting for life to change before we let ourselves feel good, we keep reinforcing the absence.
But when we begin to live from the place we are hoping to get to, we become more available to receive more of it.
Hello, law of attraction.
So we took out our journals and made a list:
20 tiny things that make me feel good.
Your first cup of coffee.
The sun on your face.
A walk without your phone.
Putting on lipstick.
Lighting a candle.
Fresh sheets.
Music that makes you move.
A quiet moment before anyone needs you.
Then we looked at the week ahead and placed one tiny joyful thing into each day.
Because if joy matters, we have to stop treating it like an accident.
We have to make space for it.
These photos are of all the small ways we turned ordinary into magic, into joy- and you can do that too- and it doesn’t have to cost money or more mental load
Just take something you are already doing and bring joy to it.
Bring fun to it.
Bring beauty to it.
Bring consciousness to it.
Make it intentional.
Make it yours.
Let it feed you.
That is how we stop waiting for joy and start practicing it.
That is how we become available for more of it.
That is how a life starts to feel different.
The MAT with Nicole Katz
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05/06/2026
Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing little sparks from the Ayurvedic spring retreat my magical therapists , , Sabine & Adriana and I just completed.
Not as a highlight reel. Not as a “look what we did” moment.
But as an offering.
They are simple.
They are doable.
They are tiny invitations back into the life we are already living in a more aligned way.
Today, I want to begin with the purpose and intention we held at the center of it all:
JOY.
This poem has been living inside me as one of the inspirations for the retreat.
“I sometimes forget
that I was created for joy.”
Because I see this all the time.
So many of us have forgotten joy.
Not because we are ungrateful.
Not because our lives are bad.
Not because we do not know better.
But because somewhere along the way, we built lives that function, but do not feed us.
We became responsible.
Productive.
Needed.
Capable.
Tired.
And little by little, joy started to feel optional.
Or indulgent.
Or like something we would get back to later.
But why are we here, if not to feel alive inside the lives we are living?
These practices are not meant for a select few.
They are meant for many.
And they are doable.
Tiny shifts.
Small moments of attention.
Simple practices repeated with love.
That is how joy comes back.
Not always all at once.
But enough to remember:
I was created to smile.
To love.
To be lifted up.
And to lift others up.
A little ON THE MAT/OFF THE MAT moment from my practice today…
I realized I wasn’t fully extending one of my legs
not because I couldn’t…
but because there was a block in the way.
And it immediately brought me back to something one of my teachers, , said to us years ago:
“Move the prop, not your body.”
So often, we adjust ourselves around the obstacle.
We shrink.
We compromise the pose.
We change our selves-and we don’t even question it.
When really… we could just move the thing that’s in the way.
And of course, this isn’t just about yoga ON THE MAT.
✨ Where in your life are you not fully extending?
✨ Where are you holding back, dimming, or reshaping yourself because something external isn’t quite right?
A relationship. A job. A habit. A choice you keep making.
What if, instead of continuing to adjust you…
you moved the prop?
That’s the practice this week.
Find the thing that’s in your way
and move it!
So you can fully extend into your joy.
Into your purpose.
Into your fullest, brightest self. 💛
Xoxo
NK
A little on the mat / off the mat moment from my practice today…
I realized I wasn’t fully extending one of my legs —
not because I couldn’t…
but because there was a block in the way.
And it immediately brought me back to something one of my teachers, said to us years ago:
“Move the prop, not your body.”
So often, we adjust ourselves around the obstacle.
We shrink.
We compromise.
We change ourselves -We don’t even question it.
When really… we could just move the thing that’s in the way.
And of course, this isn’t just about yoga ON THE MAT
✨ Where in your life are you not fully extending?
✨ Where are you holding back, dimming, or reshaping yourself because something external isn’t quite right?
A relationship. A job. A habit. A choice you keep making.
What if, instead of continuing to adjust you…
you moved the prop?
That’s the practice this week.
Find the thing that’s in your way — and move it.
So you can fully extend into your joy.
Your purpose.
Your fullest, brightest self. 💛
Xoxo
NK
Sharing a few images from the snow.
Look closely.
Can you see the fresh steps?
The untouched snow?
The well-worn path?
The shoveled sidewalk?
Each one tells a story.
The fresh steps feel brave.
The untouched snow feels full of possibility.
The packed-down trail feels efficient.
The shoveled path feels automatic.
And in our lives, we have all of these too — whether there’s snow outside your window or not.
Where are you walking simply because it’s clear and easy?
Where are you standing at the edge of something untouched?
Where have you already been brave?
Sometimes awareness is the first new step.
Sharing a few images from the snow.
Look closely.
Can you see the fresh steps?
The untouched snow?
The well-worn path?
The shoveled sidewalk?
Each one tells a story.
The fresh steps feel brave.
The untouched snow feels full of possibility.
The packed-down trail feels efficient.
The shoveled path feels automatic.
And in our lives, we have all of these too — whether there’s snow outside your window or not.
Where are you walking simply because it’s clear and easy?
Where are you standing at the edge of something untouched?
Where have you already been brave?
Sometimes awareness is the first new step
Today’s practice:
Walk somewhere in the snow where there isn’t already a path.
And just notice.
Notice how you have to think before you step.
Notice how strange it feels.
Notice the hesitation.
Notice the tiny thrill.
It can feel exposed to step where no one else has stepped.
Then notice how you feel when you’re done.
Usually more awake.
More empowered.
Maybe even a little proud.
And if you’re not in the snow, choose something small and new today. A different route. A different response. A different rhythm.
New pathways in the brain are like this too.
They require attention.
Intention.
A little bravery.
But they also bring aliveness.
They also bring new outcomes
New possibilities
New futures
Post-blizzard drop off this morning.
First steps in fresh snow.
It got me thinking about samskaras — the grooves, the well-worn pathways in the brain that yoga teaches about.
When there’s new snow, someone has to decide where to go first.
They take the brave, slightly awkward steps.
Then the next person walks in those steps.
And the next.
And the next.
Before long, there’s a clear path.
Eventually it gets shoveled.
And then we just go that way.
Our brains work the same way.
We tend to walk where a path has already been laid down. The problem is that those paths get us what they’ve always gotten us.
And that might not be what we want anymore.
Even if you’re nowhere near snow today, you know this pattern. We all do.
Today’s invitation:
Notice where you’re walking simply because it’s where you’ve always walked…
The earth knows how to begin again.
Beneath frozen ground, in the quiet, in the dark — something is gathering strength.
If this season feels heavy…
If you’re in the middle of your own winter…
If you can’t see the warmth yet…
Let this brave little sprout remind you:
Growth doesn’t need perfect conditions.
Your sun is coming.
Your warmth is returning.
Your thaw has already begun. 🌱
When my girls were babies, I could dress them however I wanted.
Muted. Chic. Soft neutrals.
My aesthetic, fully expressed.
But part of them growing up… is them growing into their own. And at first? That can feel confronting.
Because their aesthetic is not mine.
It’s bright colors. Sparkle. Fleece. Big feelings.
More is more.
Things that would not be my first choice. 😉
But here’s what I’m learning- in the hopes it helps your transition too-
My job isn’t to mold them into my taste.
It’s to celebrate who they are becoming.
This surprise Valentine’s movie night?
It’s me leaning into that.
Into the pinks and reds and soft blankets and joyful chaos.
Into what feels magical to them.
And honestly… it’s more fun than chic ever was.
Happy Valentine’s Day from our very colorful, very cozy, very joy-filled corner. 💘
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