This is a blog post I've been wanting to write for a while, but it's taken me a few weeks to find my voice for it. While I was in Bali this summer on a teacher training, my beautiful hometown - Charlottesville, Virginia - was making national and international news because of the violent white supremacist demonstration that took place there. Hundreds of people were bused into downtown Charlottesville from all over the country to parade around with weapons, chant divisive and u

JAI GANESHA!! Three days ago, I certified a fabulous group of new teachers at the Frog Lotus Yoga 200 hour Vinyasa Yoga teacher training in Bali. That was August 25, which auspiciously was also the start of Ganesh Chaturthi in India this year - a 10-day festival celebrating the birthday of the popular god Ganesha. Ganesha is thought to bring good fortune and is traditionally invoked at the beginning of new endeavors to help surmount any difficulties that arise, so he naturall

The image above is from photographer and plus-size model Silvana Denker's project called #bodylove where she takes to the streets of Germany, asking everyday people to pose in their underwear to promote a message of body positivity and diversity. I love this image and its message; it lifts my spirits to see these women being celebrated. I can honestly say that they all look beautiful to me - when I first saw this image, I didn't start scanning each body, judging it, and then

If this photo makes you want to hunker down with a big mug of tea and a good book, this one's for you... One thing I get asked all the time is for recommendations for continued education in Yoga. I love when my students ask me this because it means they are interested, curious, and upholding one of the fundamental recommendations for yoga practice in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, which is svadhyaya or self-study. Svadhyaya refers both to your internal inquiry into the true nature

I'm just gonna come right out and say it: I love you. I love all my yoga students: past, present, and future, you included. I love every moment of you on the mat. I love every deep belly breath, every breakthrough, every frustration. I even love your moments of embarrassment, self-pity, shame... I love all the parts you want to hide. When I'm with you in the studio, I'm loving it all. Because that's us in our human-ness together. That's real. When I left my desk job to go to

Here's where we go back a couple weeks to my initial post about the election. Remember my friend who remarked that the fact that I don't appear to know any Trump supporters personally is part of the problem? Let's unpack that, because I've been reflecting on it, and there's a lot to see there. For one thing, she's absolutely right. If I surround myself with people, groups, and even news sources that already agree with me, I create a very sheltered bubble. It might feel good t

Last week was a tough week. On Wednesday morning, when I turned on my phone to see the US election results, let's just say I was devastated. I barely slept Tuesday night, but at some point I made myself turn off the phone and close my eyes. When I saw the news - I cried. And cried. I touched a layer of sadness within me that I haven't felt in years. I teach a private session on Wednesday mornings and I wondered if I should go. After all, I was a bit of a wreck. And then I tho

Lotus Mudra - scroll to the end for a close-up and a full description. I sent off my absentee ballot yesterday for the US presidential election in November. Last week, I wrote to President Obama, and to my Congressman, about the situation in Standing Rock and the mistreatment of the Native Americans protesting the pipeline there. A month ago, I signed up to be a monthly donor to Surfers Against Sewage - a local Cornish charity that protects and cleans up local beaches. Over a

I don't have HBO. I don't even live in the US anymore. But I found a way to watch Beyoncé's new visual album Lemonade the week after it came out and I have been obsessed ever since. I like the songs - some I love - and the visuals are slick, beautiful, provocative...but there's something else. There's another reason why I simply cannot stop immersing myself in this epic piece of artistic expression. I showed Lemonade to my dear friend Julie while she was visiting me in Cornwa