Recalibration 🧡 Empty Nest, Full Heart

It’s dusk as I drive down the tree-lined streets of old Hailey, past houses with pumpkins on porches and ghosts hanging from tree branches. Through lit windows, I catch glimpses of families gathering for dinner or homework time—and a wave of emotion hits me.

I miss Mason and Ellis. Their voices. The creaky floorboards of our 130-year-old house as they move around upstairs. I miss the full, loud, messy aliveness of family life at home.

It’s not just sadness, though—it’s a bittersweet feeling. Like remembering something delicious. Carving pumpkins, hands sticky with pulp, then roasting the seeds in the oven. The orange lights strung across the porch. And the costumes—monkey, Dumbledore, pirate. The raven and woodland elf that Mason worked on for weeks, stitching together fabric and feathers.

This tender nostalgia sweeps through me like a wave. And then it passes.

I know many parents struggle when their youngest child leaves home and feel an emptiness, or a sort of “midlife vertigo.”

For me, the “missing” is accompanied by excitement and curiosity.

In the quiet space that’s opened up in our home and life, I feel a deep sense of coming home to myself. Gradually, I’m rediscovering—reclaiming—the woman I was before I became “mom.” There’s room for her to stretch out a bit now.

By choice, I spent years reinventing myself, adjusting my schedule and adapting my work to fit around family rhythms, so I could spend as much time as possible with my kids. I was “all in”—volunteering at school, driving them to activities and friends’ houses. I knew their teachers, classes, friends, dreams, and fears. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat!

So now, as I turn this corner, I’m recalibrating, figuring out what matters most in this moment. And I’m curious about what’s emerging. I’m excited to feel more ease in my daily life and to prioritize myself for the first time in a while. And I’m excited to adventure and create new memories with Ben.

I’m also excited to lean into the work I love—leading retreats in faraway places. And nurturing the community that gathers on STUDIO TEN to connect and encourage each other to stay consistent with self-care. It’s become a source of community and purpose. A place that feels like home.

So, I’m feeling all the feels—the tenderness, the bittersweetness, the aliveness of being right here in this transition.

Not quite sure what’s on the horizon. But I’m leaning in, day after day, to find out.

This month, both on and off the yoga mat, we’ll explore the concept of recalibration—making small, mindful adjustments to our lives to slowly and steadily move in the direction of our dreams and desires. Sound lofty? I promise to keep it grounded. Just a gentle invitation to come to the present moment and consider how things are going and what might need a small shift.

Alright, sweet friend, thanks for sharing this little corner of the planet with me. 💜

love, Tener