In 2014, I moved from South Florida to the Rocky Mountains. I was 52-years-old; I had plenty of flip-flops but no warm coat, no money, and not much of a job. But I was in love. Going West, recorded recently, was the first of many pieces I’ve written over the past five years for our…
Tag: love
The Second Yoga Sutra
The Restraint of the Modifications of the Mind Stuff is Yoga Here’s where the language of the sutras can lose you. “Modifications of the Mind Stuff”? What the heck is that? And jumping ahead to peek at upcoming sutras, I can see it doesn’t get much better. A reference book comes in handy*, and also…
The First Yoga Sutra
Now, Yoga. Not later, not soon – now. The study of yoga requires that we pull ourselves out of the swamp of the past, that we set aside worrying about the future. It insists upon – and is also the pathway towards – clarity of mind and focus of attention on the present moment. Now….
Letting Go of Old Habits
“The Universe challenges you to see how much happiness you can take”, my friend Gail told me this week. Which was another way of looking at an idea that I have been contemplating in my yoga practice recently: “At the very heart of our practice” writes Rolf Gates, “we need one thing: a mature willingness…
Finding My Way in the Dark
Today I decided: I will do an entire practice with my eyes closed. I toppled over a lot. And even when I held the posture, even when I was physically still, in my head I was as disoriented as if I were tumbling and rolling upside down under the sea. Finally I just stood in…
Dark Journeys
Last night I led a group through the journey of Soul Retrieval. In a small cottage south of Miami — sliding doors opening to a garden of gravel pathways, overflowing bougainvillea and lush green trees and bushes, secret spaces to sit and rest — we practiced yoga for an hour and then my group settled…
Re-Discovering the Tender Heart
“Progress in the practice of yoga postures de-ages us, peeling away the years.” – Rolph Gates. This is not, first and foremost, about looking younger. Although that happens too. In Meditations from the Mat, Gates reflects on his transformation, through yoga, from a heavily muscled soldier and body-builder, to a leaner, more pared down practitioner…
Blue Sky
“Behind all hardening and tightening and rigidity of the heart, there’s always fear. But if you touch fear, behind fear there is a soft spot. And if you touch that soft spot, you find the vast blue sky. You find that which is ineffable, ungraspable, and unbiased, that which can support and awaken us at…
Love As Wide As The Ocean
In response to a remark I made about the fear we experience in the face of uncertainty, a healer said to me: In a vision I am standing in a pool of water that comes up above my knees, to my thighs. I reach down to cup the water in my hands. It is an…
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