Perfection is not a thing. I’ve said this so many times to people I coach, train and support. But I’ve had to say it even more times to myself. My impulse to show up with my sh*t all together, not a hint of vulnerability, is strong. (For those of you who know the...
Presence. That’s the word that emerged when Sharon Salzberg, the well-known Buddhist meditation teacher and author, invited us to reflect on dharma. The Buddhist concept, which can be understood in a wide variety of ways, can mean that which sustains us or what we can...
My instinct always is to rush to judgment. I love pondering what someone else’s ulterior motives might be, making up an entire backstory as if I’m going to play that person in the TV adaptation of their life. I shut down and believe that they can never change or won’t...
Packing and preparing to get out of the apartment was a slow, arduous process. I used to be a lean, mean, packing machine. But for this work trip, my first in two years, I put my suitcase out three days before I had to leave because I wasn’t sure how long it would...
I went to my delightful massage therapist earlier this week. She asked what she should focus on, and I complained about my lower back – not typically a problem for me. I explained that a few weeks earlier I felt like the usual tightness in my outer hips had reached up...
There is no one right way to do anything, including yoga poses. For the past few weeks in my yoga class, I’ve been encouraging participants to really make their practice their own. I’ve taken some of the more intimidating yoga asanas (poses) and vary them for what...
If you follow me on Twitter, you may have heard me gush about an interview on the podcast “It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders” with Sarah Schulman, a journalist and member of ACT UP, a movement that fought the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s. She has recently...
I’m a workaholic. It started in high school when I began taking on too many activities: theater and choir rehearsals, speech team competitions, college visits, high school newspaper deadlines. I learned to manage my own calendar because my mom could no longer...
When I've gained weight (as I have in the pandemic), I have a tendency to engage in some really negative self-talk about my body. Not out loud. To myself. I would never say these things to another human, but somehow it’s acceptable to say them to myself. Why?...
You did it. You set an intention (or resolution) for 2022. You had all that nervous, bunny-like energy to get started, but how do you feel now? You likely feel like you totally failed on your intention or you forgot it entirely. Here’s the thing about starting a new...
Happy New Year, wonderful humans! I had a wonderful, restful Christmas holiday. I didn’t travel to see family, though we did share a Zoom meal together on Christmas Eve. I didn’t even attend a party, just one church service. On Christmas Day, I made some cookies and...
Pay attention, and tune into hope. That’s what I’ve been asking people to do in my weekly yoga classes and my Mindful Advent Yoga Series. So I thought I’d put my hope-filled reflections out there, too. Here are five things (plus an honorable mention) that have...
I am having to work double-time at hope this year. Fall was busy for my business, so I hopefully embarked on building an online store (with the help of at least two other people). I promoted holiday gift ideas for weeks, and...
I’m conflicted about the holidays, but not for the reasons you’d expect. I’m not stressed out about holiday cooking and shopping; I gave most of that up years ago. I’m not anxious about holiday travel; I’m not doing that anymore either, thanks to COVID. I’m not...
When I was about six years old, at Christmas time a very large, rectangular-shaped object covered with a blanket appeared in our living room near where the gifts were kept. My brother and I were intrigued, wondering who could be getting such a large gift. I...