amber gustafson

Visit my business page at www.ambergustafsonyoga.com.

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Amber Gustafson Yoga Ankeny, Iowa

Visit my site to reserve a free private yoga session today!

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Amber Gustafson Yoga

I am a certified Adamantine® Yoga instructor in Ankeny, Iowa. Visit my business website at www.ambergustafsonyoga.com to reserve a private session with me today!

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On my bookshelf, On my nightstand...

I am a prolific reader, reading books (and blogs and magazines and newspapers) and typically multiple books at the same time. I just finished listening to The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (a book I highly recommend, by the way) and I really loved her approach to hardcover/softcover books. Given the fact that we often never return to re-read books we keep, holding on to them deprives them of their purpose: to be read. She instructs her clients to gather all their books in one place and sort through them, touching each one and searching for only the books that ‘spark joy.’

Once you have gathered all your most inspiring and joy-bringing books in one place and after you have discarded all those books that are ready to move on, display your books in a place where you can see them frequently - on shelves in your office, in a bookcase in your bedroom, or on a coffee table in your living room. If these books inspire joy and creativity in you, then surrounding yourself with them will feed your soul! Even more importantly - examine the titles and subjects of these books - when you draw all of these together, what do they say about you as a person? Is there a common thread among these books? If so, they probably point to the career you should have or the lifestyle you should be living. Definitely food for thought!!

With this in mind, many people ask me for book recommendations so I thought I would share a few with my friends. I would absolutely love to hear YOUR book recommendations so please share!!

On My Bookshelf... (books I have loved) The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan Blue Zones by Dan Buettner The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot The Man In The High Castle by Philip K Dick Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn’t) by Brene Brown How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie Kingdoms in Conflict by Chuck Colson What’s So Amazing About Grace by Phillip Yancey Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays vs. Christian Debate by Justin Lee The Time In Between by Maria Duenas

On My Nightstand... (Books I am reading now or plan to read soon) Beloved by Toni Morrison The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth by John C. Maxwell Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans

Have you read any of these? I’d love to hear your impressions and I would love to hear what’s on your bookshelf and on your nightstand!

“Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.”    ―    Groucho Marx

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What is the most difficult pose in all of yoga?" my students often ask me. Answer? It is "Showing-Up-On-Your-Mat-Asana." Many people miss the power; the beauty; the simplicity of yoga because they fail to find their mats on days that are hard. If your firefly is a thing to be envied; if your hanumanasana makes the heavens sing; if you can touch your feet in wheel, but your practice is sporadic and disorganized, you are missing the very best that yoga has to offer you. Find your true self in a committed daily practice and watch how the world unfolds for you.

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Yesterday I had the pleasure of joining two of my dearest friends and 1,200 of my newest friends at a luncheon/fundraiser to benefit Count the Kicks, an organization working to prevent late-term pregnancy loss and birth defects by educating mamas to count their babies’ kicks in their third trimesters. The organization, which has now spread internationally, was started right here in Iowa by five incredible women who each experienced a stillbirth. Out of their pain, they chose to move forward with intention to impact fetal death rates and in Iowa alone, we have seen a 20% reduction in stillbirth. Their courage and compassion is so inspiring.

Keynote speaker for the event was Glennon Doyle Melton, New York Times Best Selling Author and creator of the blog Momastery.

Glennon has a great story: At the age of 25, addicted to drugs, alcohol and food, she found herself very unexpectedly pregnant. She hit rock bottom and finally had the incentive she needed to get clean and get better.

She boldly tells HERstory without shame or denial. She’s a broken mess and she invites everyone to admit their brokenness to move toward healing and hope.

She shares the kind of wisdom that can only be gained by walking through the darkest of valleys. She’s raw and real and funny. She loves Jesus but she cusses a little.

She dropped so many truth-bombs yesterday, I am sure I will revisit many of them time and again but the one that is settling on me today is a story that she tells from early in her journey to wholeness.

The practice of yoga has been an important part of her recovery, as it is for many.

In one of her first classes she attended, the instructor asked the students to share their intention for their class. Many shared things like, “Inner Peace” and “Quiet” and “Less Pain.”

Her response: “I just want to survive this without getting up and running out.”

The hardest part for her was just to be there, to sit with her pain, without distraction, without medication, without escape. To just sit. To just be still.

And sit is just what she did. While the other students moved through asanas, Glennon sat, holding space for her pain, breathing and bearing the weight of it and fighting every urge to run from it all, letting it settle over her, accepting it and asking the pain to bring about beauty in her life.

So sometimes the yoga mat becomes a life raft in the middle of a stormy, threatening sea. And sometimes we move through asanas and allow discomfort and challenge to refine our skills of patience and surrender. And sometimes we barely crawl to our mats, a broken husk of a soul and we.just.breathe. Because that is hard enough for today. And sometimes our bodies and our souls and our breaths move together in a beautiful dance that yells JOY out loud to the whole universe. And all of it is messy and amorphous and strange and revealing and laughable and good. It’s all good.

Thank you again, Glennon for dumping buckets of truth and hope over us.

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Dear Children,

I really want you to grow up some day and cure cancer. My heart's desire is that you could, maybe, somehow be part of bringing world peace. Please write a novel that changes the world or solve world hunger. Please do all these things and more. But before we get ahead of ourselves, I want to give you a few tips in case someday your find yourself sharing your space with a roommate or a beloved; in the event that you must work in communal office; or if you must in any way cross paths with other humans...

1. Underwear every day. There may be some isolated occasions where this rule can be briefly suspended. I will notify you in advance if this happens but until that time, skivvies are a must. Always.

2. Always flush. Always wash your hands. Again, there may be some remote scenarios under which this rule does not apply. None of those scenarios include, "but Sponge Bob is starting" or "I am in the middle of a Clan battle" or "but ______________ (insert name of random classmate) never washes his hands!" I will give you a heads up when "if it's yellow, let it mellow" is effect. Promise.

3. Have you made a mess? Then that baby is YOUR responsibility to clean up! I am not really open to mediation on this one. Tell me again how there are 97 Barbies along with sundry haute couture Barbie outfits, replete with shoes and coordinating handbags strewn across the floor in your room but that your 11 year old brother was the one playing fashion show. Riiiiiight. Because I am pretty sure he has not moved or looked up from his iPod in four days.

4. Are you hiding something from me? I will find out. Every. Single. Time. Are you squirreling food away in your room? No, problem. The mouse turds will give you away. Are you shoving dirty clothes under your bed? Haha! I laugh at such amateur efforts. Hiding behavior slips? Hmmm. You will have to do better than that, Love. I am a quarter bloodhound and 100% on to you.

5. I love you. And that is even more unchanging than these rules. Your going commando makes me laugh and scratch my head. Your laissze-faire attitude about hygiene is pretty dang gross and sometimes you forget that other people share your space, but I find you to be an indescribable wonder - full of light and joy and intelligence and passion and silly. You break these rules, we will have words, words that may start with, "Now we have talked about this before..." but that will end with "I love you. Let's do better together. Gimme a hug."Because I don't need rules to love you. I just do. Forever.

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#thanksgiving

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Full to the brim. #applecider

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My daughter. Church dress. Earmuffs. Flip flops. Ponytail with a piece of fabric/fake Elsa braid. Yelling at her brother for spraying her with the hose. #rockinit #fashionista

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Ummmm.....

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Easter Reflection

I think the holiest part of my Easter weekend was not my niece's beautiful cantata I saw on Wednesday; nor was it the inspiring worship service we took part in on Sunday.

No, the moment of most sacred beauty was filled with bananas and croissants and dirty shirts and simple laughter.

For over a year, my family and I have been serving at the Station, a place where Christ-followers in our affluent suburban community gather to provide a free meal for those who often get overlooked in our suburban-y affluence.

This month was a little different:  We typically serve out of a Lutheran church with a full kitchen but because of the Maundy Thursday activities, we had to move next door to a space the church uses for their youth activities.

We planned to make sack lunches (dinners) and offer the meal as a "grab and go."  We didn't set up tables and chairs, we had nothing to offer them to drink, and I guess we forgot about one important element, something that we volunteers don't shop for, cook or serve up:  fellowship.

In turn and to our surprise, each person took their sack and retreated to a square of carpet, plopping down on the floor, cross-legged and hungry.  They rummaged through the bags, delighted with the sandwiches made with fresh croissants donated by our local grocery store, trading bags of chips to get their favorites.

They laughed and broke bread and shared; they talked over the kinds of things that burden us:  unemployment, health struggles, family break-up and incarceration.  But they also spoke of things that gave hope:  a new job, a relative coming to visit, a child doing well in school.

Young children, mamas and daddies, gray-haired old ladies, alcoholics, a mentally ill man, a woman with developmental delays.  The broken, the crippled, the tired, the lonely, sharing a meal, sitting on the floor, no masks, no shame, just each other and companionship and comfort and grace for the journey.

Was it so different in the Upper Room 2,000 years ago?  Bread broken and wine drank in joy and fear, celebration and frustration, in the presence of the Savior, sitting on the floor, tired and lonely and grasping for a piece of fellowship that helps us remember that we are not alone?

N.T. Wright said,

"When [Jesus] wanted fully to explain what his forthcoming death was all about, he didn't give a theory. He didn't even give them a set of scriptural texts. He gave them a meal."

A meal is a time for nourishment and companionship, a time to break down barriers and comfort one another.  Its a way to celebrate and remember.  No wonder God instituted so many feasts and meals to remind his followers of who He is and what He's done.

Our singing and our sermons are among the most beautiful things we can offer him but perhaps our holiest moment is a shared meal.

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Whaaaa?

Me:  So were the kids at your school yelling and high-fiving when they heard you'd get out early for the weather today?

Justin:  Well, the people in Mr. Asmus's class were too constipated with looking out the window.  They didn't even hear him announce it.

Me:  Ummmm, constipated?

Justin:  Yeah, you know when you're really focused on something?

Me:  Oh.  Concentrated.

Justin:  How is that different from what I said?

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Who is this kid?

A strange child got in my car in the pick up line today. I have seen him before, hung out with him even.  But I am always surprised when he shows up.

He's the Justin Without Medicine.

We had a two-hour late start and forgot to give him his daily dose of methylphenidate so he was a loose cannon at school today.

And I know that I am not supposed to like him better or love him more but I just can't seem to help myself.

The Justin Without Medicine is funny and charming.  He laughs at my jokes and talks a mile a minute when he gets in the car.  He smiles and looks at me, talks to his sisters and asks how their days were. 

He says, "I'm hungry!" and excitedly shows me his new book (which has NO pictures, I might add).  He bounds out of the car the minute we are in the garage and says, "I'mgonnagoreadmybookforafewminuteslastonetothehouseisarotteneggMaylindoyouwanttoplayhideandseek?!" (not giving a single thought to the siren call of the XBox)

And I love him.  I love his life, his energy, his cheerfulness, his joy.  His sisters bask in his warmth, giggle when he teases them.

And this is when the doubt begins to creep in.  I wonder if the medicine is worth it.  I wonder if he could learn to live without it.  I wonder what part of him we are short-changing by numbing it with meds.

And I know.  I KNOW.  I FREAKING KNOW that it is OK for him to take this medicine and it helps him and without it, he wouldn't be doing so awesomely at school (his report card was so astonishingly good...).

But it changes him so much.  He is so sullen and quiet and moody.  Wants to be left alone.  He gets frustrated so easily, offended at the drop of a hat.  He doesn't eat, he doesn't smile, he doesn't interact.

And I love that kid, too, I guess.  But he's not fun.

And I can't say, "but he didn't even get in trouble at school" and I can't say, "but he did ok, not great, but ok" and I can't say, "maybe, just maybe we can go without.....?"

Because we are just not ready to be there yet. 

I gotta love both these guys and pray that one day they morph into the same wonderful, fantastic, funny, caring, focused, smart dude.

Until then, I will try not to play favorites.

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Maylin's Thoughts on Marriage....

Maylin: All the boys at Hy-Vee are going to love my boots. Me: *Sigh* Let's go, Silly. (Later, in the car...) Maylin: *sigh* I just don't know who I'm going to marry. Me: You're a little young to worry about that. You have plenty of time. Marriage works better if you're older. Maylin: why? Me: Because if you get married now, where would you live? Where would you work? What would you do for money? Maylin: Well, I could use your wallet. If you're dead. Me: ??????

[anexperimentallife]

(At least the art is from Hyperbole and a Half)

Fun fact: I have been known to wander from room to room in our apartment all afternoon in between other tasks, trying to remember what it was I was supposed to be doing, only to realize that oh, yeah, I was going to take my ADD meds. Whoops.

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Trouble at Sunday School

Today at Sunday School, Justin got in trouble for:

1.  Twice making a "weapon-like" object of out a Bible and a pencil box.  First of all, that is pretty creative and also, isn't the Bible the Sword of the Spirit?  And what kind of weapon are we talking here?  Electric chair?  Cat o'nine tails?  Nunchucks?

2.  Referencing a "BIG" fart.  Woah.  I'm gonna need more information on this.  WAS there a big fart?  If so, shouldn't she or he who dealt it 'fessed up?  Unless, of course, that someone was Justin in which case, he would have to reference it to apologize for it.

3.  Talking about popping balloons with his butt.                                            Ok, seriously.  What was their Sunday school lesson even about that there was a way that this could come up in conversation?

Sigh.  Forty minutes of Sunday School netted us a half a page of hand-written notes on his behavior. 

On the bright side, he did work on a puzzle quietly and participated in a small group well.  So he's got that going for him.

I am not angry at the Sunday School teacher.  She's a volunteer doing a job that is normally done by a teacher with her master's degree, a couple teacher's aides and special ed teacher.  With the help of medication (Justin's ...though the teachers may medicate themselves.  I wouldn't blame them).

Our church has an amazing heart for kids with disabilities.  They are working to improve their ministry even more for kids with developmental, social and emotional disabilities in particular.  Paradigm shifts take time, investment, patience.  But they see the need and they are working toward it and that makes all the difference.

He's a good kid but he's not dumb.  He knows when he isn't liked.  Not welcome.  Tolerated, not appreciated.  She doesn't like him and that's ok.  Justin isn't everyone's cup of tea.  Unfortunately, his defense mechanism is more naughtiness, more sass, more horsing around, more ignoring authority, more deflection of a painful situation with silliness.  Even setting aside AHDH, this is pretty typical behavior for a 10 year old boy.  Even for a lot of adults.

She doesn't realize that the more she targets him, calls him out, embarrasses him; the more sighs and eye rolls; the more she says his name with that tone, the more she draws out of him the exact behavior she is trying to stop.  Sometimes as adults we struggle to recognize how our reactions feed into the stress of the situation.

We had a light-hearted chat in the car on the way home about some of the things in the note.  Justin owned-up to his choices.  I am going to look into finding a different Sunday School teacher for him.  We talked about the importance of respect and that no matter how naughty he is he STILL has to go to Sunday School (my apologies to all his future Sunday School teachers) and generally tried not to make a big deal of it.

And, really, he comes by it honestly.  When he was about twelve, his dad was asked to leave a Sunday School class for passing so much raunchy gas, the girls were nauseous.  This is the same guy who stubbornly refused to learn the AWANA song or wear a green vest and who, along with his buddies, made confirmation such hell, the pastor swore an oath he'd never teach it again.

Kory loves Jesus and is fully capable of sitting in Sunday service now so maybe there is hope for Justin.  And God bless every Sunday school teacher everywhere.  You are appreciated more than you know, even if my kid drives you batty!

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The Solution to All the World's Problems

Ok, not really....

But it has solved a lot of my problems so that's almost as good, right?

I am constantly plagued with the question:

"What's for dinner?"

Whether it's my kids whining or me pondering it in the wee small hours of the morning, this quesiton is like an albatross.

It's hard.  Dinner needs to be simultaneously healthy, cost-conscious, kid-friendly, fresh, not-too-repetitive and easy to prepare.

To accomplish this, I could easily spend three hours (at least) each week planning meals, organizing recipes, cross-referencing ingredients on hand, shopping, putting away groceries and organizing my fridge and pantry.  (First world problem, I know!)

Not to mention actually preparing meals (if I remember to thaw the meat for the main dish or plug in the crockpot).  So many recipes take hours to prepare and dirty every dish in my cupboard.  I love cooking but I also love watching Downton Abbey.  Time is of the essence here!

And it never fails:  I will get a fourth bottle of ketchup for my shelf but I will forget to get the salsa I need for my recipe.  Ugh!

So, I took to the Internet.  Surely there had to be a solution out there for these issues.  What I found was better than I could have ever imagined...

Food On the Table - a meal planning website and app.

http://www.foodonthetable.com/

How It Works:  Your begin by giving the program some parameters:  How many people in your family?  Do you have any allergy or food restrictions?  Do you like soup?  Casseroles?  Salads?  What day would you like to recieve your menus and shopping lists?  What's your favorite grocery store?

Then, based on these preferences, the website prepares a week's worth of meal menus (main dish AND side dish) and notifies you by email when they are ready.  It also generates a detailed and specific shopping list.  (I like to zip through my shopping list before I hit the store to cross off things I already have on hand).

And get this:  Aside from being based on your family's tastes, they also factor in the items that are on sale at your favorite grocery store!!

Here is why I loooooooove this website:

1.  I always have everything on hand to make my meals.

2.  I have total control - if a meal pops up that I know my fam won't like, I remove it and choose a new one (and the program adapts to my choices so it becomes even better at suggesting meals).

3.  It has already saved me AT LEAST $100 A WEEK on groceries.  I get only what I need, very little goes to waste, my pantry is leaner and more organized, less impulse buying!

4.  I used to spend at least an hour and a half each week getting groceries; now, I am in and out in 35-45 minutes.

5.  It's pushing me to try some new recipes and ingredients - which is fun!

6.  It has an "on-hand" recipe search which allows you to enter up to three ingredients you already have and it will present you with an array of options.  (This is especially useful since I also shop through the Iowa Food Cooperative whose winter three-week order cycle isn't quite as conducive to meal planning as weekly trips to the grocery store.)

7.  The app is free and is available for both Apple and Android so I always have my grocery list at my fingertips!

8.  I can save favorites and great recipes I find online to my account for future meals (it will even load those online recipes into your shopping list for ya when you choose them for your weekly menu!)

Food on the Table is $10 a month which I don't mind a bit.  Sure I could do all this for free - if I had the time - but who has time for such nonsense?  The thing paid for itself ten times over on my first shopping trip.  AND another huge advantage of a paid subscription:  NO ANNOYING ADS or recipes that feature eight different kinds of pre-packaged foods all from Kraft or Pillsbury or Betty Crocker.  The recipes are 99% real-food based and made from scratch.

Oh and also - there won't be any leftovers.  The recipes' quantities are perfect and the meals sooooo good, you not a single bite will be left behind!!  (If you would like left overs, you might want to increase your servings!)

Please note, I do not recieve any kind of compensation for this review.  I just love it so much I wanted to share it with my friends!