For years, every morning, I drank from Blackwater Pond. It was flavored with oak leaves and also, no doubt, the feet of ducks. And always it assuaged me from the dry bowl of the very far past. What I want to say is that the past is the past, and the present is what your …
Creating a Winter Solstice Ritual
Pausing to appreciate the deeper meaning in our lives can be challenging anytime but especially during the rush of holiday activities, celebrations and gift-giving. Making time to reflect on the changing season can feel like just one more task. Ironically, creating time for a ritual can restore us. It helps us shift gears out of …
“I Go Among Trees” by Wendell Berry
I go among trees and sit still. All my stirring becomes quiet around me like circles on water. My tasks lie in their places where I left them, asleep like cattle. Then what is afraid of me comes and lives a while in my sight. What it fears in me leaves me, and the fear …
“Working Together” by David Whyte
We shape our self to fit this world and by the world are shaped again the visible and the invisible working together in common cause, to produce the miraculous. I am thinking of the way the intangible air traveled at speed round a shaped wing easily holds our weight. So may we, in this life …
Summer Yoga
In the language of Ayurveda, yoga's sister science, summer is the Pitta season. Pitta is composed of the fire and water elements and relates to the season as well as our own constitutions. In the heat of summer, we want to employ practices that help calm, cool and balance the activity and heat of the …
The very real benefits of practice
Kripalu's Institute for Extraordinary Living (IEL) has produced some pretty amazing research in its nine years -- looking at the benefits of yoga, meditation and mindfulness on school communities, with first responders, veterans struggling with PTSD, college students, musicians, and more. The benefits of this research to all of us are a much deeper understanding …
A moment of silence….
"Silence is not silent. Silence speaks. It speaks most eloquently. Silence is not still. Silence leads. It leads most perfectly." ~ Sri Chinmoy
Working together with the world takes practice
The changing light, the later mornings, the texture of the air and the symphony of crickets' chirps outside remind me that summer is waning and autumn is nearing. I have mixed emotions at this time of year. I am wistful that summer is ending but excited about the turn of the season, the crisp air, …
Continue reading "Working together with the world takes practice"
Summer Days
Practice takes many forms. For some, it is yoga movement, mindfully moving the body and attending to the breath to bring body and mind to stillness. For others, it is sitting quietly to attend to breath and gently coax the mind's activity to calm. For others, it's a long bike ride, hike or kayak, feeling the …
The Fruits of Practice
We walk away from a yoga or meditation practice feeling refreshed, energized and calmer in body, mind and spirit. Any one practice might reveal insights, give peace to a troubled heart or bring us back to our center to help us move forward in our day. But sometimes the true benefits of a yoga or meditation …
