This Ground, This Breath

Statue of Eleanor Rigby on Stanley Street, Liverpool, UK I'm a wife, a mom, a yoga teacher and a volunteer, who has lived in the same city for 21 years and in the same state my entire life, save one summer during college. I know a lot of people, yet I often feel lonely. I feel lonely despite having made many mama friends and acquaintances through my kids' school communities over the years. I feel lonely despite teaching 7 different yoga classes in 4 different locations every week. I feel lonely despite volunteering once a week at an adult day center full of smiling grand-folks. I feel lonely despite having moved two years ago to a new neighborhood surrounded by many warm, welcoming neighbors, who actually get together throughout the year. I feel lonely despite having many extended family members who live fairly close. I feel lonely despite having married my childhood sweetheart, who is a true partner in our family life. I feel lonely despite having two childr...

It's September in NC, and look who I found in my yard yesterday. May into June is bloom time for gardenias here. I always remember this because they remind me of my father-in-law's mother, and they are always in bloom between Mother's Day and Father's Day. So this lone beauty is a few months behind the typical schedule here, yet she's perfect. Oh, how I needed this sign. I'm homeschooling one of my children this year, and to say it's been challenging already is an understatement. But I'm not sure my kiddo is to blame. I think instead it might be that my expectations are out of whack. After all, my child has always done things HIS WAY. He is not someone who fits into any box, but my husband and I have surely tried everything we could all these years to help him fit at school. Ultimately, we saw this bright, curious, creative, exuberant child slip further and further behind, academically and socially. I knew I had to do something different. I gu...

After teaching yoga at one of the "active adult" centers in Raleigh this week, I lamented to a student on the way out that it looked like rain again. I'd seen her looking at the sky, and upon noticing it myself, my mind had instantly gone to a glass-half-empty mentality. Without hesitating, she replied, "I have really enjoyed these clouds--they've been absolutely beautiful." I took this photo right afterward. Aha-moments are for the taking all around us, and I've come to know our elders are some of our most gifted messengers. Thank you, Nancy.

Sometimes there isn’t an easy answer, and sometimes there isn’t an answer at all. This registered with me after a recent conflict with a loved one. We were both right and wrong—no, actually, we were somewhere beyond that binary where the vast majority of human experience lies. The more I’d mentally dug into my position, the worse I’d felt. It was only when I took the time and made the space to sit with my anger and sadness and discomfort that the storm in my mind died down. As I felt the feelings, rather than tunneling down that familiar thinking hole, the bitter tension around my heart melted away, and my mind began to clear. What remained was love. There was also sadness, but mostly there was love, and compassion, and freedom, and ease. Sometimes there are no answers, at least that can be conjured in the mind. But there’s always love. 

Do you have a job that requires you to sit at a desk for long periods of time? Then you can benefit from gentle yoga. Do you have a job that requires you to be on your feet for much of the day? Then you can benefit from gentle yoga. Do you work in a high-stress environment? Then you can benefit from gentle yoga. Do you rely on a glass of wine or a beer at the end of the day to help you relax? Then you can benefit from gentle yoga. Are you a runner or weight-lifter or athlete of any kind? Then you can benefit from gentle yoga. Do you have a negative body image? Then you can benefit from gentle yoga. Do you consider yourself not flexible? Then you can benefit from gentle yoga. Do you have difficulty with balance? Then you can benefit from gentle yoga. Do you have high blood pressure? Then you can benefit from gentle yoga. Do have  occasional  lower back pain (or hip pain, or neck pain, etc.)? Then you can benefit from gentle yoga. Are you a parent...