“You Seem Pretty Mellow,”
said the guy who is doing the exterior painting and repairs to me this morning, after we were talking about what needed to be done with the stairs, and we talked a little to the downstairs resident who was on… (READ MORE)
The Four Gates of Speech
One of the offerings in John Friend’s Anusara Teacher Training Manual, is the “four gates of speech,” which I believe comes from Buddhist practice. The four gates are: 1. Is it truthful? 2. Is it necessary to say? 3. Is… (READ MORE)
Boycotting Arizona?
Having just returned from Arizona (yes, Sedona is in Arizona, as hard as that may be to believe from any perspective other than cartographically) from a meditation retreat, and having two more scheduled with my teacher at the same location… (READ MORE)
Great Swan
I found a used copy of Lex Hixon’s Great Swan–Meetings with Ramakrishna, last week that I am reading with delight. Lex Hixon has rendered the teachings from the seminal and extraordinary voice of Ramakrishna very accessible. It also provides in… (READ MORE)
The Virtues of Romaine Lettuce (and embracing our place in the web of being)
This year, along with a mesclun mix, arugula, mache, and the tender green and red leaf lettuces, I planted several heads of romaine. It is not my favorite lettuce for salad; I have become spoiled by having baby arugula, spinach,… (READ MORE)
Happy May Day (and radical affirmation)
It feels wonderfully auspicious to me that my Spring classes at Willow Street are starting on May Day. It is Beltane–the true end of winter and the beginning of the effulgence of the time of growth and light. It is… (READ MORE)
“Iowa Bird Story”
The “Iowa Bird Story” is an extraordinary meditation on connection, living, leaving the body, and expression through art.
The Four Agreements
Several years ago, I was introduced to Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements in a yoga book group. I come back to them periodically. I am not usually one for self-help books, but I think the agreements are a wonderful… (READ MORE)
The Nyaya of the Cat and the Bunny
A nyaya is literally a recursion, something which leads back to an essential principle. In my recent studies of meditation, we have been taught various nyayas that help to explicate the experience of meditation and the whys and benefits of… (READ MORE)
May News (Web Version of E-Newsletter)
Dear Friends, What a glorious Spring we’re having! I’ve just returned from an expanding, nurturing, and deepening time of study in Sedona with meditation teacher Paul Muller-Ortega. Later in May, I will join fellow certified Anusara yoga teachers in North… (READ MORE)