The other day, someone mentioned to me that she often has pain in her neck and shoulders during meditation. It got me thinking about what we do with the experience of pain during meditation — when is it useful to work with, when is it worth avoiding, and why is it important to pay attention […]
Write Like You Have a Body As a writer, I used to have only a vague sense of this — how memory lives in the body. I wouldn’t have been able to explain why some writing felt so alive, and other writing didn’t. In fact, I remember that trying hard to figure out why some […]
People tell me sometimes that they don’t really feel like they have a yoga practice, or a writing practice. “I mean, I have this thing I do where most days I stretch or I write in my journal but… I don’t feel like it counts.” Read on for the “three P’s” that I think make […]
So… why 20 Questions? Honestly, the idea came to me just the other day. I’ve noticed that this time of year — toppling toward the Winter Solstice and the New Year — seems to bring out a strong urge to dive inward. Does this happen to you, too? Do you notice a shift in your […]
A blackberry bush only gives berries on its second-year canes. Meaning: the stalks that grow this summer will not bear fruit until next. And the canes that are covered in berries this year? They will never produce again. You’ll have to cut them down. Make space for the new. And what I want to say […]
Lives are so complicated. Each day of your life you play so many roles, have so many competing priorities for your time, your attention, your energy. All the basic life stuff — laundry, dishes, bills, obligations — and the career stuff — and the family stuff — and trying to have a social life — […]
I used to be obsessed with this question: how did you get from point A to point B? Where point A is knowing you want a thing, and point B is having achieved a life immersed in it. Aspiring writer to publishing author. Would-be inventor to patent, production, and profit. Cooking enthusiast to professional chef. […]
The only way to learn is by doing. Which means you have to try things, even things you’re going to fail at many times. Failing doesn’t mean you are a failure. It means you’re learning. I wish I had learned this sooner. But maybe failing to learn it was the way I had to learn […]
Why do you need a practice? Because practice is how you get information from OUT THERE to IN HERE. Meaning in YOU. Think about something you know. Like, know so well it feels like a no-brainer. (Interesting phrase, hm?) Tying your shoes? Climbing stairs? Boiling water? Maybe even things that for other people would be […]
My first steady yoga practice was not at a studio, and it wasn’t particularly alignment-based. I had a DVD that I practiced with two or three times a week. Even though at some point I knew most of the sequence, I liked practicing with the DVD because it meant I could surrender my will and […]