When I was seven, I hurried to the gym after school for ballet class. We giggled in the bathroom, wriggling into pink tights and black leotards, pulling on flat pink leather slippers and settling into our spots on the gym floor, as the record player music swelled with Tchaikovsky. Our warm-ups began with butterfly, kneesContinue reading “Is this my deepest heart’s desire?”
Tag Archives: yoga
When Yoga Hurts.
When yoga hurts: Pausing with pain. Her directions were clear, “From all fours, sit back onto the heels, buttocks to calves, then lift and straighten the spine. Turn all ten toes under, settling all the weight down on the hips and balls of the feet, keep the spine straight, hold palms together at heart center.”Continue reading “When Yoga Hurts.”
No one wants to be thrown off a cliff.
If you told me that you wanted to learn how to swim and I said great, I have a perfect way to teach you how to swim. Then I proceeded to hike with you cliffside, precariously perched 100 feet over the surface of the deep blue ocean. As you stood there, braced against the wind,Continue reading “No one wants to be thrown off a cliff.”
Face Yoga, anyone?
One of the best ways to boost our immune system is to do a lymphatic massage. The lymph system is how our body fights infection, and it is a system for removing toxins and waste from the body. The lymphatic system doesn’t have muscles or a pump like the heart. It relies on movement; soContinue reading “Face Yoga, anyone?”
I see the moon and the moon sees me.
In November of 2022, the world’s population reached 8 billion. I can’t imagine that number at all, maybe looking at a night sky filled with stars I can get an idea, or the grains of sand spread across my favorite beach. I can choose to feel foreboding, worry, anxiety, hopelessness about that unimaginable number, butContinue reading “I see the moon and the moon sees me.”
The Sacred No: Resist rather than resent.
I listened to a NY Times Opinion podcast interviewing a 19 year old teenager in Brooklyn who has become a leader in a resistance movement. What are these activists up to? NY Times, “ Started last year by another Murrow High School student, Logan Lane, the club is named after Ned Ludd, the folkloric 18th-century English textileContinue reading “The Sacred No: Resist rather than resent.”
Let’s decide together to be Aliens.
When I was doing my student teacher training almost 20 years ago, I was mentored in a class of eight and nine year olds. One day, a student wrote me a note that started— Dear Ms. Alien, and he told me thank you for being his student teacher. The note was sincere, didn’t seem tongue-in-cheekContinue reading “Let’s decide together to be Aliens.”
The Music of the Pause.
As an independent, traveling yoga teacher, who spends a titch too much time on social media noticing all the events and workshops and retreats other yoga teachers offer, I put stress on myself by feeling the need to offer workshops and events in addition to the classes I teach. I do enjoy offering these eventsContinue reading “The Music of the Pause.”
Off the mat; into the world
The morning fog embraced the land, sun rays slowly colored the horizon a stripe of orange just above the mist as I drove eastward. My car gently swerved along the curling river road as I moved toward the sunrise. My eyes were drawn to the ever changing light show while my mind circled, organizing aContinue reading “Off the mat; into the world”
Ready to crack the cocoon?
I realize that people sign up for one of my yoga classes not because they are doing great, but because they are hurting. Maybe some sign up because they know the blessings that come from this ancient body wisdom, and want community and accountability. But mostly, people come to relieve tightness, pain, and recover fromContinue reading “Ready to crack the cocoon?”