Each year in late fall, I start to reflect about the past year and feel into what might be on the horizon for the following year.     

I give myself time to listen in. I go for walks in nature and let my mind wander.

I give time for day dreaming and listening to my inner voice.

I write.

I meditate.

I dream.

I tune into my body.

I listen.

I pay attention to signs.

I ask my ancestors and Source for guidance.

I find clues.

And over a month or two a vision starts to emerge.

A word. A focus.

This year LEADERSHIP was sent to me LOUD and CLEAR.

I resisted. It felt out of my comfort zone.

My education and conditioning had me thinking of a leader as this old school diplomat or business man. I couldn't see how I could be a leader.

I have always felt a bit outside of what people most people are looking for or interested in.

But I can see...

Times are changing.

And the skills and knowledge I have are exactly what the world is yearning for.

A way back to ourselves.

So I...

It is normal for digestion to slow down in the colder months. We tend to reach for less water and eat less roughage. Plus our body is conserving energy to stay warm.

Here are a few tips to get things moving again!

1- Lentil Soup

Start with a base of onion, garlic and ginger sauteed in oil or butter. Add spices such as cumin, tumeric and coriander until fragrant. Add tomato sauce, beef broth, lentils, carrots and potatoes. Simple, nourishing and GREAT for digestion. You can use a combination of different lentils for a fun consistency.

2- Add Ginger

Ginger is amazing for digestion. I add it to my fruit salads and oats and everything I cook in the winter. Not only is it good for digestion it also boosts the immune system.

3- More Tea!

If you aren't thirsty for water, keep the kettle going for tea. Staying hydrated in the winter can be harder but making a habit of warm beverages can help you keep up your liquid intake.

4- Salads are less appealing when it's cold outside, but it is still...

If we pay attention to what are we connecting to throughout the day we find sometimes it's social media, or TV. Other times we might be connecting with another human. At other times we might find ourselves lost in thought. However, unless you have a practice that involves the body, you likely don't spend a lot of time connecting to your body.

It seems most of us take the body for granted. We only really pay attention to it when it starts to scream at us. Most of us rarely even know what the feeling of hunger is and very few people go to sleep when they are tired. We have become disconnected from our bodies and spend most of our time in our heads, or focused on the outer world.

We live by a schedule and override our bodies messages to conform to the demands of our busy days. We are more connected with outside pressures and expectations and rarely tune into our inner world.

This week in our practice, in my classes we were asking ourselves to pay attention to what we were connected to....

We have been programmed to believe that we must push and pull our bodies to make them strong and flexible. We have all heard “no pain, no gain”.

But is it true?

I have been working with my own body and have also had the privilege of working with many other bodies over many decades and I find our bodies respond better when we stop pushing and pulling them all together.

I often relate the way our body reacts to pushing and pulling as being similar to interacting with a teenager. If you create tension by demanding something from them, what you meet with is resistance. Whereas if you can create a connection to them, often there is room to move in the direction you desire.

You can test this out in your own body. As a matter of a fact it is only when you feel it for yourself that it will become relevant.

Start to pay attention to what you feel when you push into your feet. You can do this standing, sitting, or laying down. You will notice when you push down, there will be a...

Patience is a virtue, they say.

This week in my online community we decided to focus on patience as a theme and immediately you could sense that for the majority, the practice of patience is a challenge.

This is not a quality many people embody. Most of us are caught in the pattern of wanting quick results. We want immediate gratification.

Yet, we know deep down that our impatience has zero impact on getting what we want faster. As we dove into this topic this week I was reminded how life is unfolding at it’s own speed. We have very little control and our best bet is to allow life to unfold.

This doesn't mean we stop participating. This is not to say we can’t take action. However, detaching from the outcome is where we can grow.

There is a concept in Yogic teachings about releasing our attachment to the outcome of our action. Vairagyam translates as dispassion, detachment, or renunciation, in particular renunciation from the pains and pleasures of the temporary material...

Strong abdominal muscles are important. However, our obsession with getting a six pack or washboard abs is a show of superficial strength, rather than proof of deep core muscles.

Abdominal muscles are connected to breath, the diaphragm and the pelvic floor. It is more important to be aware of breath than it is to be able to flex those outer muscles.

I have watched people do gym abs, or pilates and still miss the mark.

If you pay attention to your breath and your spine while you are engaged in anything that requires your core, you can access enormous strength, balance and ease in your movements.

Oftentimes we think crunches or leg lifts or planks are the way to abs. And for sure these movements utilize the core, but the true benefits are really in the awareness you have as you do them.

It is not enough to lift and lower your legs.

Alignment, rest, engagement and breath are everything.

Your body thrives when you let it breath. Posture must allow easy and fluid breath.

In order to pay...

Each week in my online community we pick a theme. Anyone can contribute a suggestion, question or topic. By exploring the topic during our practice we have time to reflect and focus and deepen our understanding.

This week we were diving into the idea of trust.
What does it mean to trust? What is trust? Who do we trust?

Someone offered: “There are people who don’t trust anyone anymore.”

Who can we turn to? Where do we go when we need answers?

We are each experiencing reality through our own individual personality. And if we can see that, there is this question: what is true? Based on who's reality? We begin to see truth is relative.

The mind can create arguments on either side of any debate.
So who can we trust? Go into the question for yourself.

Who can we trust?
Ourselves? Our own minds?

Yoga gives us a chance to watch our minds and connect to our body.

This ability to observe oneself, by being with the breath, we bring ourselves to the present moment. We have a...

If we talk about balance in the world of modern Yoga we tend to envision Tree Pose or some other posture where we are standing on one leg.

However, as a long time Yoga instructor, I cringe when people pick up one leg and shove all the weight onto the standing leg, hip or knee.

That is NOT balance!

When I explore balance with my students I like to ask them what they notice in the body.

Can we become aware we are more in the front of the foot or the back of the foot?

Can we become aware of dropping more to the inner edge of the knee or ankle or are we distributing the weight evenly?

When we start lifting a foot off of the ground do we lose touch with what is happening in our upper body?
If we are attempting standing balance poses are we equally aware of both feet? The inhale and the exhale? Can we notice the tendency to pull up or are we pushing down?

Balance is a dance. Balance entails a relationship. Earth and sky. Left and right. Up and down. Back and forth. Too little and too much....

Equanimity is not a word we hear everyday. Although with mindfulness becoming more a part of mainstream conversations, I have heard it more in the last few years.

Equanimity is defined as a state of psychological stability and composure which is undisturbed by the experience of or exposure to emotions, pain, or other phenomena that may cause others to lose the balance of their mind.

I believe the ability to stay equanimous is one of the keys to healing and freeing ourselves from the patterns that limit us.

How can we practice equanimity?

By understanding and praticing equanimity we can be more balanced and composed in a difficult situation. 

If you really want to learn more about equanimity I recommend taking a Vipassina course. Over a ten day period you will get plenty of practice and it truly is the best way to get these teachings.

Find a center: www.dhamma.org

However, I am going to do my best to write about ways you might start to understand and practice equanimity if you...

We are a couple months into the New Year and it is a good time to take stalk. Many people, at the start of the year, set in motion some wonderful intentions. It’s a great idea to set goals. There’s no knocking putting our intentions out there. Good for you!

Now, the other part of reaching our goals, or accomplishing our dreams is the action taking part!

Goals are in the future. Our daily habits are what we do today to take ourselves in the direction of our dreams.

Let's take stalk. Are we willing to pay attention to what we are doing from moment to moment? Can we ask ourselves to look honestly about how we are spending our time?

I would argue time is our most precious resource. We all have the same amount of time in the day.

How do we make use of our time?

What are the habits or actions that lead to what we want?

If our goal is around health and wellness, we can break down what actions lead to health and wellness.

Health hinges on eating right, moving our bodies, making...