open heart – christina holbrook

On Holding and Being Held

This month I attended the annual Teachers Conference at Kripalu, the yoga and meditation center in the Berkshires. I arrived at the Albany airport and drove out to Stockbridge, feeling unexpectedly agitated, gloomy. Several years ago, when I was married and living in the Adirondacks, I used to fly in and out of Albany to…

What if

Life is moving faster, and I am too. These seem like good words to remember, when I begin to fret about less time on the mat. Yoga is how we live our lives, on or off the mat: “What if religion was each other? If our practice was our life? If prayer was our…

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…

Going Down

Sometimes you just cannot respond with an open heart. Right? My father died recently, leaving my mother vulnerable and unsure. His death, or perhaps it is more his absence, has disturbed unspoken boundaries and unleashed pent up emotions and resentments among members of my extended family. It seems right to me to defend my mother,…