Hau’Oli Makahiki Hou! Happy New Year! If you’ve read much of this blog or follow me on social media, you probably know I have an affinity for all things Hawaiian. So this is the third year in a row, I’ve selected my #oneword from the Hawaiian language. #oneword2020 was mohala, a beautiful word meaning to …
Category Archives: beautiful
Riding the Waves…
“Write a book,” they said. “It will be fun,” they said. Well… I did it! I wrote a book! A real one. For sale on Amazon. Seriously! For everyone who said I should… But, mostly for myself. And so it begins… “People have always told me I should write a book. I mostly observe things …
Goodbye, Summer
I said goodbye to summer under the gray skies of mourning with my last two hummingbirds buzzing around the feeders, chirping, drinking and dueling as they prepare for their journey. The air is still and damp. The creek ripples. A cricket sings as fall arrives on a slightly cooler breeze, encouraging the clouds to release …
Reflection on the journey
So, I’ve been teaching yoga for six months, more or less. More if you count the classes I created and taught online; less if you count teaching in studio. The other day I turned to one of the first pages of the journal where I plan my yoga classes and read a version of my …
Becoming more of who I am…
I am a teacher. I used to teach kindergarten. I used to be a principal, teaching whatever needed taught to whomever was learning at the moment. Now I teach yoga. Actually this isn’t true. I don’t teach a subject or a discipline or a practice. I never have. I teach students. People who wish to …
A visit to the Valley of the Sun
The plane touched down at Phoenix-Mesa Airport right on schedule and we headed to the rental car counter to pick up our chariot that would take us on our planned scenic adventure through the Arizona desert to our destination in Sedona. My new friend and I were headed to a yoga retreat. Our friendship born …
Three words
Sometimes less is more. I recently read the book, Teaching beyond the poses. As a teacher, I love a good theme and this book had great ideas for theming classes and a convenient framework for planning themed classes. But, I think the most valuable aspect of the book was the journaling prompts. This was my …
Shine
In my purpose, I immerse. A piece of the puzzle of universe. I leave an empty place Without my unique shape in the space. Being the best me I can be. Encouraging others to reach their dreams Because it seems My accomplishments do not take from others, nor theirs from mine. There’s room for all …
Forget-Me-Not
If you’ve read my bio, you know that I am a widow. I don’t write specifically about it much anymore, but the experience of loss and living with loss shades my perspective of everything I experience. Valentine’s Day. It can be a difficult day when you’re “alone.” There used to be flowers and fancy dinners …
Eye of the Storm
Shades of gray drift over the sun like a heavy eyelid. The scent of rain wafts like a lullaby. Less light. More dark. The rays of the sun shine like eyelashes. Fighting sleep. Heaviness closes the eye. The tears of the sky wash the earth releasing the spring.
Just monkeying around…
Today I celebrate my 500th class at Kom Hot Yoga. My 500th class was actually a few days ago, but who’s counting? Well, I am! I chose my “90% Monkey Pose” to commemorate the occasion. Why? Because it represents important things I’ve learned: *It’s yoga practice, not yoga perfect. This is my monkey pose today, …
The Essence and the Flow
“…both essence and flow can exist in the same breath.” – D. Arguetty. (2009). Nourishing the teacher. Yoga is balance. Yoga is paradox. Darkness and light. Movement and stillness. Grounding and flight. Today I consider “essence” and “flow” as it pertains to the study of yoga, inspired by a selection in one of the books …
Let Go
Life is an interesting dance. To live it is to take a chance. The whole world lives within the heart. Accept juxtaposition, balance can start. There must be black, the darkest night, To pierce the eyes with blinding light. It is when silence does abound, Entering the ears is resounding sound. In the vast expanse …
Chucks and Pearls
Chucks and pearls For all the girls Whose eyes are wide With dreams inside With hearts a fire And intense desire. You go, girls! Sporting chucks and pearls. Your road may be tough, But, you are enough. Sometimes it’s a fight, But winners take flight. You’ve got this, girls Running in chucks, wearing pearls. How …
Lele. Coming soon…
“She had no idea of the impact her work would have, but she did it anyway.” -Rolf & Kenison. Meditations from the Mat. pg. 399. As I read these words today, I took them to heart. When we have creative ideas, do the labor, and eventually give birth to them, we don’t know our effect …
Inspire
inspire [in-spahyur] : to fill with an animating, quickening, or exalting influence. Sometimes people tell me, “You inspire me.” This statement arouses different feelings in me depending upon the day. Sometimes I feel honored and proud that something I’ve done and shared causes another to find inspiration. In my sharing heart, I know that even …
The Monkey and the Latkes
As an assignment in my YTT, for one week we were to keep a log of our daily activities and record whether they were energizing or an energy drain. This was a self-study of brahmacharya, or “right use of energy.” “Entering this realm of more pervasive exploration, we must still bear in mind that anything …
Wisdom in the Dance (Parts 1 and 2)
“While performing asana, the student’s body assumes numerous forms of life found in creation, and he learns that in all of these breathes the same universal spirit, the spirit of God.” -B.K.S. Iyengar Part 1 While many of us equate yoga and asana (postures) as one and the same, asana is only a part of …
Happy Yogaversary!
Today is my two-year “yogaversary.” It’s been two years since the day I decided to use the extra 15 minutes I had each morning during summer school to start a yoga practice. I figured I could build a habit during the month of June, continue in July during my vacation and then it would be …
Dreams of travel in the time of the pandemic…
These are strange times. I’m interrupting my series of stories from my beloved Maui to write about our current reality. I’ll try not to use words like “unprecedented,” “pandemic,” or “COVID-19,” but it’s almost impossible while writing about the today’s state of affairs. As you read this, most states have some form of “stay-at-home” order, …
Continue reading “Dreams of travel in the time of the pandemic…”
Bearly made it through the Grand Tetons
The Grand Tetons National Park is small when compared to the other parks we visited, but it was tall on beauty. The mountain range towered over the grasslands, meadows, river, and forested areas below. The mountains guarded the horses grazing in the fields and provided a gorgeous backdrop to the colorful wildflowers. This view was …
Waterfall
Trickling tumbling, rolling, splashing. Each drop of water falls on the wings of gravity through the path of least resistance flowing into a collective stream to parts unknown. #waterfall
We’d rather be roadtrippin’
My dad and I had been planning a road trip out west for several months after I chose retirement at the end of the previous school year. I had never visited any of the national parks this direction, nor several of the states we would traverse. He had, but was looking forward to seeing them …
Dawn
The dark fingers of night with her sparkling jewels loses her grip on time in a fiery sunrise battle that results in a victory for the clouds of gray. Tiny spots of blue peek through with the promise, they will have their time too.
Dolphin!
In a previous post, I mentioned that no matter how many times I saw a dolphin in the wild during our trip, I felt an adrenaline rush as I pointed and hollered, “Dolphin!” It was the new “squirrel” as this word and gesture involuntarily interrupted conversations unrelated to dolphins. I can blame this new behavior …
Retired Girl in a Beautiful World 