At the end of her emails, Lisa Matthews signs off with an idealistic notion.
“Always with warmth & gratitude”
Always?
“I do get down,” Matthews admits. “But you gotta be grateful for things. I try to practice gratitude both at work and in my personal life.”
Speaking with Matthews, you can understand why she chooses to have such an aspirational outlook on life, even – or perhaps especially – in the face of difficult times. In 2013, the owner of Monmouth Beach Yoga was diagnosed with colon cancer. “It was really crazy. It was a crazy time,” she said of the ordeal, which ultimately led to having her large intestine removed.
That diagnosis came nearly two decades after a serious back injury she suffered while moving boxes doing work for a retail store around the holidays. She ultimately needed back surgery, but that also led her to where she is now. Her physical therapist introduced her to yoga, and the practice became a cornerstone of her life.
“After I had my back surgery and was exposed to yoga, I wanted to show people how to move. It’s what she brought to me,” Matthews said of her PT. “I opened the studio to keep people moving. So their back won’t hurt, or so something else isn’t aching. Just contributing that positivity. I feel like that’s my giving back to people who are in need.”
For Matthews the jo,urney to Monmouth Beach Yoga was a winding one, which came after 22 years working in a corporate setting and was a byproduct of that surgery. “I truly believe everything happens for a reason, even when you can’t see it,” she said. In other words, she turned a negative into a positive.
“What has helped me is mindfulness practices. If you can incorporate those into your daily routine. Being present and knowing: I do believe that everything happens for a reason.”
But positivity isn’t something that doesn’t come without work. Certainly, some people have a more positive outlook on life than others, but it’s also a character trait that needs to be fostered and nurtured.
“I was always very positive. My grandmother, she just always made me look at the positivity in everything,” Matthews said. “But, later in life, after she was gone and I got sick, I was in the ‘Oh why me?’ stage. I really had to circle around to myself and ask 'OK, what would get me back to being myself?' Journaling, keeping a gratitude journal and reflecting on the things that I am thankful for. Yes, I am sick, but I will get better. I would just write things down, a few things, to reinforce those feelings. That’s when I first started meditating.”
Meditation clearly aligns with the principles of yoga, and like yoga, it isn’t going to be easy right away. Doing nothing sounds like the simplest thing, until you actually have to do nothing.
“It’s called yoga practice, not yoga perfect,” Matthews said, noting that, much like with yoga, beginning meditation with something that is attainable will give you the confidence to try a little bit more the next time and reduce the chance of becoming frustrated or discouraged.
“As a beginner, you should try to sit in silence. I had to sit there in silence, which for me, is tough because I like to talk,” Matthews said, adding that common breathing exercises – like inhaling for three seconds, exhaling for three seconds – are useful tools when starting out. “It makes me laugh, but the first time I was ever doing meditation and someone was giving me breathing instructions, the first thing that came to my mind was when I was sick and I went in for an x-ray and they told me to hold my breath. It kind of stressed me out.”
She has since fully embraced the practice, however, and appreciates the ability to declutter the mind and turn off the to-do lists in your head. “Some people laugh about it, but I truly believe in that. Even if you fall asleep, that is still meditation, you’re quieting the mind to rest your body.”
Warmth, gratitude, appreciation, positivity. They’re all soaring character traits which Matthews not only aspires to in her daily life, but she wants to help her studio’s clients manifest similar feelings.
“Once you go through being sick, whatever that is, a lot of people are all gung-ho in terms of bringing awareness to it,” said Matthews, who calls herself an open book, but you could also call her an activist.
By sharing her story so openly, Matthews has inspired clients to take their own health seriously and urged them to get checked out, whether that be in the form of a colonoscopy or a mammogram; she even recommends gene testing, which is done by drawing blood and allows medical experts to tell you what cancers you may be at risk for.
“I think acts of service are great. I feel like that’s my way of giving back to people who are in need. I love what I do, and I just think that there are so many ways to express gratitude. We’ve all had our ups and downs. I firmly believe that if you give your everything, you’re giving back.”
"If you give your everything, you’re giving back."
"She was gone and I got sick. I was in the ‘Oh why me?’ stage."