Birthing Stars: More Tales from Alonnisos
You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star. Friedrich Nietzsche In Greek mythology, the term Chaos refers to the “formless void” that eventually became the Cosmos. It represents the nothing that created everything – water, earth and air. Initially an indiscernible mess, transmuted by the force of progress to…
Yoga and Ecstasy
She reminded me of a cat. Not a skittish house cat, but a fierce African jungle cat – a cougar or leopard perhaps. Muscular and lithe, with nary a wasted movement, she wore what one might find on a Brazilian beach so that we could view the entirety of her perfectly formed body. Lisa, our…
Your Body Speaks
Did you know that blind athletes, even if they’ve been blind since birth, upon learning of a victory, will assume the following pose: How does the body know that this means exhilaration, excitement, and victory, without ever having seen or learned it? Let’s investigate… Whether you’ve won a race or the lottery, whether the team…
Life Through a Clean Lens
“Before fixing what you’re looking at, check what you’re looking through.” Mark Nepo said that, in his breathtaking work, The Book of Awakening. I’ve always had a tendency to let my eyeglass lenses get really dirty. My ex-husband was great about gently taking them off my face and giving them a thorough scrub-down. …
Let’s Get Excited!
I was recently gifted with a whole bunch of free time. (Gory details here and here.) A funny thing happened. Life got bigger. And fuller. And funner. (With apparently no effect on my habit of making up words.) Of course, there was a period where the cavernous opening in my life threatened to swallow me…
Suffering – How to Move In, Through and Out
I’ve just emerged from a period of extreme wallowing. Did you notice? Many of you gently commented about the lipstick I smeared on my tear-stained face. I’d been sucked into the quicksand of heartbreak, like the proverbial maiden in distress, unable to do anything but ruminate, complain, and write melancholy letters. Getting my shit together…
What is Spiritual Coaching?
I am often asked if I am a life coach. The answer is no. And kind of yes. Although life coaching is currently used to describe an incredibly wide variety of activities, it primarily deals with actions and events. Things like clearing away clutter, creating a sustainable budget, or learning time management skills. Spiritual coaching…
Daring Greatly and My Jar of Marbles
The words of Brené Brown’s newest book, Daring Greatly, stream from my car speakers, my attention split between the demanding traffic and the back-to-back insights hitting my eardrums. This drive, which I have been obligated to make on a regular basis for many years, is always met with enormous amounts of resistance. Today is no exception.…
Personal Grace
I feel like the luckiest girl in the world, sitting at my dining room table, tapping away at the keys of my laptop. It’s a warm sunny day, and the day is filled with grace. I am weeks behind on work, completely unprepared for the trip I am taking tomorrow, and my taxes are…
The Ride
Do you know anyone in full tilt struggle? I do. At any given point of my life, there have been a few people around me having a particularly hard time, caught in the downward slope of their own personal roller coaster ride, wondering if the descent will ever end, and if it does, will…