Originally published in the Winter + Spring 2019-2020 issue.
Holly Baier, a yoga instructor and bullet journal coach in Colorado, found deeper meaning in the day-to-day actions of her own life by putting pen to paper. Her eagerness to set and achieve new goals, along with her creativity, caused her to accidentally find a form of journaling called bullet journaling.
One day her doodles, lists and colorful pages caught the eye of a stranger in a coffee shop, and that’s when someone asked her where she learned bullet journaling.
Confused, Holly was thinking, “What the heck are you talking about?”
“I googled it. And I was like, I found my people. These people get me and I get them,” Holly shared, recounting the moment.
From that moment forward, Holly realized that there is a whole community she hadn’t even tapped into yet. She found a space where she could connect with others and share her ideas and tricks that could have the potential to enrich people’s lives.
“Bullet journaling is getting intentional with your life through the use of a journal and making stuff happen. Using art to make your goals and dreams happen, it is a place where you can abandon the judgment and allow yourself to create,” Holly shares.
Holly truly believed this could change people’s lives. So, as a seasoned yoga instructor and bullet journal enthusiast, she decided to mesh her life passions together and create a space where people could seek both mental and physical healing and growth.
Holly hosts Friday sessions at her home in Green Mountain, where people gather for a yoga class and bullet journaling groups. She started these sessions so that people could create intention in their lives, feel seen, feel heard and, honestly, validated in their creativity and desired growth.
“It just creates these intimate, vulnerable relationships with women that I’ve never met before. And eventually we’ll all start to sit around the table sipping tea, while creating real connections and having real communication over big life things.”
These are the moments that remind Holly of why she is so passionate about these practices. Holly says when people begin to open up, to want to be deliberate in their lives, that’s when true magic happens.
“I’ll start prompting questions and be like, oh, who wants to share? Sometimes there will be crickets, because you’re being really vulnerable. And then, as soon as one person shares, and then another person and it becomes this whole cycle of inspiration,” she shares.
These sessions have been taught by Holly at yoga studios, special events, city centers, small groups and even one-on-one online video Zoom sessions. They are for anyone and everyone, and can be themed around mental health, physical health, finances, relationships or even all of the hikes you want to put on your bucket list or books you want to binge read — the topics are endless.
The point is, in this practice, you belong. “At what age are we all of a sudden told that we can’t draw, we can’t sing, we can’t dance, we can’t move?” she asked. “When really, we can. It is a gift we all have to be able to create.”
The simple act of writing out your dreams, adventures and goals, and doing it within a community, creates a motivating sense of accountability. And the best part is that when you achieve your dreams, go on your adventures and meet your goals, you get to go back into your journal and mark it as complete with a celebratory check mark.
When Holly gets nervous about a session, or is anxious to meet a new group of people, she remembers why she does what she does.
“This creates massive, beautiful change that keeps going and going and going. And if I don’t do this, then I’m missing an opportunity to create that massive change,” she shares.
She is proud to help cultivate and be a member of a community that is invested in other’s goals and aspirations just as much as their own. A community that stays in touch, aims to better one another and asks the ultimate question of accountability: When is the last time you regretted working hard?
Holly started writing down her dreams years ago, and now they are a reality. She is reminded of that every time she teaches a yoga class in her home studio or hosts a bullet journaling session with a group.
“This studio was a product of writing down my dreams, doodling my dreams, asking other women for ideas and helping with my dreams — putting it all on paper. And there it is …” she points to her studio space, “When I started getting intentional, truly making mindful changes, it happened.”
Holly’s bullet journal, along with many other people’s that she has coached, is a way for her to tap into her potential, create community and live an adventurous and intentional life. Imagine the kind of goals you could write down in your own journal, and the feeling you would get by checking them off.
Photos by: Jes Kimak Photography; Angie Dornier.
Born and raised in Colorado, Hannah just couldn’t bring herself to leave. Currently a student at the University of Colorado, she is majoring in Journalism and minoring in Sports Media. Playing soccer all her life, she hopes to one day find her niche in the sports journalism world. Expanding on her love for all things health and fitness, she completed her Teacher Training at CorePower Yoga and has been a sculpt instructor for over a year. But nothing keeps her as busy as trying to parent her 10 month old Blue Tick Beagle puppy.
