At the appointed time, I wobbled up to the podium, took a deep breath, and opened my mouth. Gack. Nothing came out. I tried again and emitted a feeble squawk followed closely by an impressive dry-mouthed cluck.
Read MoreIn the days when we teachers taught face-to-face in the studios, the bond with students was close, in distance and in energy; the ability to see each other and learn how bodies step into poses, breath, and meditation apparent with immediacy; and feedback written on students’ faces and in teachers’ words. With the emergence of virtual classes, caused for the most-unbelievable of reasons, a pandemic, much has been lost in this bond. Without being able to see each other in person, or at all with so many at-home computers muting the video, both student and teacher reach for each other in a halting way, similar to the childhood game when we blindfolded one player who had to haltingly find the others.
Read MoreI asked myself this question: What is the truth of this shared generational trauma? What is the role of truth-telling, or satya, as we understand it from the 8-limbed path of yoga? How am I to recognize truth? What am I to do with it?
Read MoreCats slink. Cats connive. Cats ponder, purr, pretend. They meow their way into our hearts and play with our emotions. These are the reasons we love them (and sometimes why we do not).
Gracie, my cat, found herself to be two pounds overweight late last fall. In consultation with her veterinarian, we cut her portions and mixed her yummier food with another kind – called metabolic and really meaning diet. Oh, the shame of it.
Read MoreToo often 'creativity' is assigned only to artists, musicians, or writers – professionals who do things well. But here is the truth: Creativity is our very nature from our first breath to our last. We create our lives daily. Creativity is within each of us in one form or another but far too often is quashed or suppressed to our detriment.
Read MoreMost often, chakras are described as spinning vortexes. The word “chakra” actually means “wheel”. How are these spinning vortexes created? What makes them spin?
Read MoreIn yoga philosophy and pranayama study we explore the concepts of sukha and dukkha. Sukha is light space. Dukha is dark space. To reap the benefits of the new things (sukha), we first make room for them by removing some of the old things (dukkha). The more space we make, the more room we have to fill with sukha.
Read MoreOur culture is constantly creating and re-creating what the ideal image of beauty is at any given time.
Read MoreThe symbols in the tarot help me to bring forward what I already know, deep in the seat of my soul, knowledge that may be hidden or veiled at the moment. The Eight of Swords depicts a woman, blindfolded and with arms bound, standing with eight swords surrounding her, seeming to trap her in place.
Read MoreHow often has someone said to you since Covid hit the land, “I miss the simple things”? Often a story spills out about what is missed: enjoying rich coffees and robust conversations at iron tables outside the brewhouse; piling onto the pontoon without measuring distances between human bodies; sitting shoulder-to-shoulder at the movies or in the opera house, hugging. And most especially that – hugging (much less kissing). The stories bind us.
Read MoreOut of darkness and confusion, we walk toward light and clarity, filled with resolve, mature intelligence, and hope. We will see you again – in person no matter how slowly – and soon.
And this ability of we humans to begin again and find new ways of being reminds us of these old lyrics: “Bye, bye, blackbird; blackbird, bye, bye.”
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