Book Covers, Yoga Pants, and Lipstick
I spend many days dressed very casually. Life gets lived in that uniform -grocery shopping, banking, and any other obligation of adulthood. When I’m really lucky, it’s pajamas and slippers all day. Then, other than an occasional from-the-neck-up video call, my daughter’s the only one to be graced with that particular sight. Regularly, I also…
Rollercoasters and the Lake
I had two books come out this week. To say it’s been a wild ride should win some sort of award as understatement of the millennium. A couple of my early reviewers mentioned that it was like a roller coaster ride. I liked it, considering that was exactly the effect I was trying to…
Feedback. And Vomiting.
Feedback can be a lot like vomiting. That image comes to me as my days fill with critique, both giving and receiving. I’m helping several people with their artistic works in progress as well as working with responses on my own project. I had to tell one person that it felt like she…
Rise. And Rise Again.
My name, Pascale, is related to Easter. It’s, admittedly, an odd choice for atheist parents to name their daughter, but I digress. Rebirth is my middle name. (Actually, Elizabeth is my middle name, but you know what I mean.) For whatever reason, renewal, reinvention, and renaissance have been on the marquis of the theater…
Your Check Engine Light Is On
Even the most rudimentary, single-celled organism has the ability to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Why, then, are we – as complex beings with consciousness and choice – taught that the pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain are the root of all suffering? After decades of asking, and searching, I still…
Wise Words
Many years ago, I began to compile a list of inspirational thoughts and sayings. Originally, they were for my students – I would use them as themes for my yoga classes – and then became points of wisdom to share with my clients and my community. Today, that list is 33 pages long and should…
Making Friends With Patience
Today I offer a quick note about slowness. (Gosh, I love punny language.) In my yoga classes, you can often find me using an example of being in molasses, suggesting that we move with that slow deliberateness that allows balance and awareness to keep up with action. Slow is good. Yet, what…
Quitting and Beginning
I was about to quit. Perhaps you know, earlier this year I fell into a period of darkness. It was a crisis of faith that pushed me to question not only my chosen calling, but also the entire set of beliefs around which I formed the life I currently live. The rushing stream…
The Tyranny of MINE
What I teach has been around for a really long time. Like, thousands of years. Sure, I deliver it from my sassy, irreverent voice that loves big words, poetry and metaphors, but the reality is that very little (none?) of it is MINE. For a girl who gets whole body tingles from creating new…
Alone Together
Dearest one, I came to terms with my tendency towards being solitary many, many years ago (after a brief but frenzied period of forced extroversion). I embrace this aspect of my personality in the same way I do my brown eyes, or my round bottom (which has surprisingly become super trendy. Who knew?). It is…