The power of stillness.

I am willing to bet that just like me, all of you “get” it.

So, why do we resist/avoid/push it away/find it so hard to make a regular part of our lives?

I already know all my own answers (ie. excuses :); perhaps yours are similar. Not enough time. No space in my day. Important and urgent things to do. Dog needs a walk. Can’t keep up with email and homework, as it is! Etcetera…

It’s been 3 years since our world seemed to shift a little off its axis. In one of the more incredible and blessed traits of the adaptable human brain, now in hindsight those early months seem to have lost some of their intense flavor of surreality, desperation, and confusion (at least for me). However, when I re-read my journal entries or watch videos/read stories from that time, I remember well. My memories now feel like Time took some fine grit sandpaper to them, the impressions slightly smoother than I know they actually were experienced then.

My partner captured the photo above on one of those surreal late March 2020 days when the city was newly shut down and eerily quiet. We found joy that day in the way the light was reflecting off of the trippy purple MoPOP wall.

I remember the quietude brought on by the lack of traffic and tourists… and the sudden awareness of so much birdsong in our very urban neighborhood. There it was, an early recognition for me: for the birds and most other non-human species, our global pandemic was not an emergency. Indeed, quite the opposite.

Spring is coming. Here in the Pacific Northwest, the hellebore, crocus, and daffodil have pushed up their green shoots – some have even begun to bloom (as seen above)! The melodic (and sometimes territorial) songs of twitterpated birds are everywhere. I even saw my first hummingbird already sitting on her tiny nest this past weekend.

Another sign of spring… don’t forget to set your clocks ahead one hour before you go to bed this Saturday night!

In other exciting news… I am fundraising this month for Seattle’s own Yoga Behind Bars (YBB)!

Join me and special guest Laura Roberts for a deluxe version of my regular Sunday night Candlelight Restorative class THIS coming Sunday! Laura will accompany the 90-minute practice with her beautiful crystal bowls. It will be a sweet evening of deep vibrational healing & rest. Dress cozy, bring your fave eye covering, and come as you are.

It’s February. The new year has emerged, and the first glimpses of spring are showing themselves in the Pacific Northwest. Plans are percolating that stretch into the late spring and summer already! Despite so many other dark things happening in the world, I feel glimmers of hope renewed.

This is the time of year when my former studio, Seattle Yoga Arts, would have launched the popular “Love the One You Are” campaign. The studio’s chosen theme for this month that contains Valentine’s Day was to embrace and wholeheartedly love yourself, from the inside out… to flip the script on the “I’m not ______ enough” culture that we all swim in. We teachers constructed classes that wove the beautiful and important yoga teachings of self-love, self-regard, santosa (contentment), svadhyaya (self-awareness), ahimsa (compassion), brahmacharya (balance), ishvara pranidhana (surrender), and so on.

Dear Seattle friends,

As promised, I have a new class announcement for the new year!

A week from today, I’ll begin offering a Sunday afternoon Restorative Yoga practice at 8 Limbs Yoga Centers here in Seattle. This will be an in-studio only class (that is to say, it will not be livestream). Here are the deets…

Many of you know that last year I began a 3.5-year Yoga Therapy certification program. I dove into my continued commitment to lifelong learning and to these ancient (and still very relevant) mindfulness practices of integration and liberation. Through that program, I once again find myself in exploratory spaces I’ve either not been in in awhile or haven’t ever been so immersed within. I’ve also found myself surrounded by so much depth and wisdom – from my teachers, my sangha, a plethora of books, and yes, even myself.

This brings me to something to ponder: How to we best set ourselves up for true and deep listening?

Today, I’d like to share some of the valuable life lessons I’ve learned from hiking (so far).

• You can only take one step at a time.

• You never know what is around the next bend.

• It’s wise to set aside expectations. And any tendency to rush.

• Respect the weather… and all beings that cross your path.

• Don’t be afraid of the rain.

…

I’m happy to share that I’ve added four yoga Nidra practices to my on-demand library.

• Yoga Nidra for Sleep

• Yoga Nidra for Grief

• Yoga Nidra for Anxiety

• Yoga Nidra for the New Moon

So, find a quiet place, set yourself up in a cozy comfy way, and try it! (Headphones optional!)

New year blessings to you! Another annual reminder that every ending is also a beginning.

Whatever rituals and events you use to mark the new year, may they – and you – be blessed.

Why is it that animals are such good teachers? Perhaps it’s because they remind us of where we came from… when rest was not optional and before we conflated worth with productivity.

Here we are well into the end-of-year frenzied roll of the holi-daze. Can we take a lesson from the teachings of my cat (pictured above) and find time each day to rest?

Rest doesn’t look the same for everyone. And it benefits us to have many options available to us in terms of time, cost, and energy replenishment needed.

Here are twelve creative rest ideas…

In Restorative yoga, we create a nest, low to the ground, to make our physical human body supremely comfortable… so that we may settle into physiological ease and rest.

Sometimes, the mental and emotional landscape will almost immediately welcome this opportunity to be seen, to relax, to spread out and take up all the space needed.

Other times, however, becoming still in the body can create a space for us to witness the (oftentimes profound) discomfort or dis-ease within our own mind, heart, and/or spirit at a given time. We might judge or feel avoidance and aversion to this occurrence. But, in fact, this is a great opportunity!

Welcome to December!

It is brrrr cold in Seattle, my friends! Is it cold where you are? How are you staying warm? My tea kettle is working over time, and I’ve excavated the winter clothes that have been buried in the closet for the better part of a year!

Come warm up with me this Sunday night at Datza Studio in Eastlake (Seattle)! I’m offering a toasty TWO HOUR practice: Candlelight Restorative Yoga Deep Dive with Hot Stones.

This week, I want to share some thoughts about the first yama: ahimsa – which is stated to be the most important and essential guidance. All others will fall into place when we fully embrace ahimsa.

It is the one I seem to hear about most often in yoga classes and articles. My guess is the most common translation you’ve heard is: non-harming or nonviolence.

I found a deeper dive into this concept expanded my own exploration..

The interstate drive south from Washington into Northern California skirts along and through the Cascade Mountain Range. It’s full of breathtaking views and natural beauty. Notable for me is Mount Shasta. Sitting right along the I-5 corridor, when “the mountain is out”, it’s pretty much “in your face” for many miles. Many of you have probably seen this magnificent mountain on your own road trips.

There is something both utterly simple and awe-inspiring to see an enormous volcano protruding out of the landscape. To behold it puts my life into perspective and humbles me in the way that only Mother Nature can do.

Did you remember to set your clocks back last night? I hope you are able to cherish the “extra” hour of time in your day during this busy time of year.

This month, I will be offering three sweet November Sunday evening Restorative practices. (With the help of my assistant, José, pictured above! :) The first is tonight! These will be held online (via Zoom) and are sliding scale.

These 75-minute classes are focused on deep rest, grounding, and nervous system calming. No yoga experience is necessary, simply come with the willingness to be still and present with yourself. You will be ready for bedtime when we are done.

Yesterday was Seattle Yoga Arts’ closing day. Thank you for being part of this beloved community and for showing up for your own self-care tending – whether it was one time in class or every week! It is my deepest honor and privilege to hold space for your rest and transformation. Many of us will love, miss, and haunt the rooms of SYA – in a good way :) – for years to come… AND, it is time to move on to find our next “yoga home”.

A few recurring questions I’d like to answer for all of you…

I arrived in Seattle in February 2016.

To say my landing was unexpectedly turbulent would be an understatement. I found myself alone and grieving in a city I didn’t know, without a job/place to live/a car, and only a handful of acquaintances.

Those acquaintances joined together to lift me up in my time of need… and I am now blessed to call them dear friends.

And, as the fates would have it, I soon found my way to Seattle Yoga Arts.

In April, I took my first SYA class immediately before interviewing for the Studio Manager position. I was hired! And so began my relationship with that beloved studio that shone its warm light on Capitol Hill for over 30 years (long before I’d ever set foot in the lobby!).

During the fall months, most traditions speaks of “the veil being thin” between the living and the dead. Whether by the influence of my own particular imprint of upbringing and ritual, or by my own sensitivity, I feel this. I feel oh-so-tender as autumn shows us its most necessary teaching – that letting go is as much a sacred part of life as everything else in the cycle. I feel closer to my own dead ancestors; how they once loved and lost and danced and saw with eyes wide open. I feel the preciousness of this moment’s living breath. Gratitude wells up within me regularly, like ocean waves, sometimes with surprisingly wild strength.

The new moon is a monthly invitation to embrace quietude, self-care, and inner wisdom. It is a potent time for both letting go and planting the seeds of intention. This special 90-minute gentle & Restorative yoga practice will be held on the auspicious evening of the New Moon in Scorpio – the perfect time to turn inward.