The other morning, I opened the dishwasher expecting gleaming, sparkling plates that would restore order to my kitchen. Instead, I found… yesterday’s dirty dishes, sitting exactly as I had loaded them. I had gone through all the trouble of scraping, rinsing, stacking, arranging—but had somehow forgotten to press the one button that makes the whole … Continue reading The Mindful Dishwasher
Tag: yoga
Confronting Ultra-Processed Foods: My Journey
No wonder everyone is fat. No wonder everyone is sick. Our food is nothing but chemicals, shaped like food. And it’s screwing with our microbiomes and our gene expressions, and our mental health, and the freaking climate.
Am I Running a Cult?
With words, I am guilty. I say words like asana, prana, and namaste. I sometimes obnoxiously and joyfully show off my knowledge of Sanskrit. My longstanding students now know the Sanskrit names of many poses. According to Montell, this is insider language and the most telling hallmark of a cult.
Reflecting on Five Years Post-Pandemic
Today is the fifth anniversary of the start of the pandemic. On this day five years ago, I closed the studio. You know how there are those days you will never forget where you were and what you were doing when they happened? 9/11 is one of them for a lot of us. I was … Continue reading Reflecting on Five Years Post-Pandemic
Yoga Only Works If You Do It
So if you’re going to class, spending time, energy, and money learning how to chill out and breathe when you lose your shit, but then don’t deploy those strategies when you really need them, what the hell are you doing? Mastering Downdog? How ridiculous.
How It’s Been Going Since The Election
I take a shower, do my hair, decide what to wear, and drag myself up the stairs thinking, “How much longer can I do this? What’s the point? Nobody comes, or very few.” I hang up my coat, take off my shoes, and begin setting up the room: pick the music, and light the candles. I dim the overheads. I power on the spiral. It feels so warm, so sacred, so calm. It feels like church. It feels like a world apart.
Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Upcoming Election
When I am anxious or triggered, I use my words. That’s my way of fighting. I will do lots of cerebral screaming. I will talk to myself and the people who trigger me IN MY HEAD. Sometimes, I will write everything down. I will scribble vehemently like someone possessed.
At Kripalu
I am sitting in the sunroom on the fourth floor, where I had a breakthrough epiphany many years ago. It was here that I began transcribing letters from my Inner Wisdom Guide. This sunroom has always been one of my favorite places. It’s all redecorated now, tricked out with slouchy, lounge-friendly furniture in greens and … Continue reading At Kripalu
The Yoga of Anxiety
My mind jumps ahead, worrying about what might happen if it doesn't clear up soon. Will my vision stay blurry forever? Will I ever see life clearly again? Anxiety is probably the least yogic emotion of all.
Thinking About Teaching Yoga “Live” Again
In the last five hundred and twenty days I've been burrowing inside myself, keeping to myself, talking to red dots on cameras, learning video editing, building a website, cultivating relationships with screens.
Inspiration Location 