What is Amble?
You might’ve seen that about a year and half ago that I made a subtle and quiet shift of my business name from Amberly Yoga + Wellness to Amble Wellbeing and you might’ve thought to yourself, “hmm.. well that’s pretty close to her name–I guess alliteration is cool…”and then thought nothing else about it; however, this name shift was actually very intentional.
One of the big reasons that I wanted to change my business name was that I wanted to take my personal name out of my business and focus more on what I’m offering for folks. At the end of the day what I’m trying to do really isn’t that much about me–it’s more about you: my clients, my students, my mentees, and my community; how I can offer my skill set, my training, and my expertise to help you move towards holistic wellbeing in a sustainable way.
So what’s with the word ‘amble?’ What does amble even mean? Sure, it does offer some beautiful alliteration with my name, but its meaning is also quite applicable with my work. Some definitions are:
- To move at a gentle pace
- To move at a slow, relaxed pace
- To go easily and unhurriedly
To me, ambling is about creating the time and space to not only notice the world around us, but also to move slowly enough to notice ourselves within it and as part of it. This really encompasses all of the work of both Viniyoga and Ayurveda: offering tools of self-inquiry and reminding us that we are not separate from nature, but rather that we are nature. Each of us has a unique balance of the elements and their qualities within us, giving us all our own unique constitution, or as I refer to it, our unique homeostasis. In order to notice what is out of balance, we must slow down enough to do so. Then, at a gentle pace, we can begin bringing in the practices, foods, herbs, etc. that help us come back to balance.
I often tell my clients that small changes over time are how we create sustainable big change.
If we make drastic changes overnight, that might feel good for a day or two, but by the end of the week we’ll likely feel exhausted, burdened, overwhelmed, and uninterested in moving forward in all of these dramatic changes; BUT if we make very small and gradual changes over time (when our nervous systems are ready for those changes), we can actually make a huge impact on our wellbeing and create large changes. It’s not overnight, and it’s not instant.
We have to let go of the idea of the instant gratification that we have gotten so accustomed to in our culture and be prepared to live a little bit more intentionally, and more importantly, move a little bit more slowly.
To me, the idea of ambling is the opposite of the hustle culture we find ourselves in. Ambling allows us to take in nature when we’re on a walk rather than running quickly around our block as quickly as possible to make sure we get our steps in.
It allows us to be curious when we’re cooking, when we’re eating, when we’re starting and ending our days, and notice what’s working and what isn’t. This is where the magic lives: in the pauses, the slowness, and the gentleness. This is the reason behind the shift in my name: a calling in of the gentleness, slowness, and unhurriedness of Amble–inviting us to come back home to ourselves.
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