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Yoga Sequence to Elevate Peace

[Featured on SONIMA, August 2015] A Yoga Practice for Elevating Peace Move with intention and ease through these powerful postures to reach towards peace within yourself. On September 2nd, I’ll be co-teaching with two of my first teachers, Colleen Saidman and Rodney Yee, for the  Löle White Tour in New York City. Here is a little sneak peek of the sequence we’ll lead at the event. Inspired and informed by my work with Katonah  Yoga, each posture helps create a stable structure, open us architecturally, and elevate us internally. As you work through the poses, remember to breathe, smile, and stay close to yourself and to those who fill your day with peace. Breathe three to five breaths in each pose and repeat on the opposite side. Kneeling Rock Pose Center yourself, welcome yourself. Land in your practice. Cat and Cow Create a frame with hands and feet. Inhale to round your spine; exhale to arch. Downward Dog Bend your knees a bit, root your index finger knuckles, reach your seat high, and lengthen your spine. Chair on Balls of Feet Take opposite elbows with your palms, and frame your head with your arms. Lift your heels, bend your knees, reach your seat back, …

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On Making A Memory

[Featured in Positively Positive, August 2015] “Make choices to do things that you might remember.” Sage suggestion from dear friend Dr. Mark Hyman’s grandmother, shared with me on a gorgeous late-day summer hike a few weeks ago in the Berkshires to one of his favourite rivers. It was when I’d commented on the beauty of this hidden gem of a river that he’d offered that to us, and it’s sticking with me. “You might remember this river, this day” he said. He was right. The grass and branches crackling underfoot, the smell of the brush and the hush of the river just ahead. Then the feeling of the cold, clear water on my feet and the smooth dirt riverbed, then the sharper rocks as we walked; the sun slowly setting painting impossible lavender streaks across the sky. A moment I won’t forget. Another memory was made soon after that one, a moment that stung, then healed me. The other day my son asked me, “Can you just get happy, Mama?” (I was simmering an unnecessary sadness at the time.) He continued, “when you’re sad, I feel sad too. I can’t help it.” The memory of taking his cheeks in my hands and thanking him for …

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Devotion

Whether we are creatives, musicians, running businesses, doctors, teachers, scientists, builders, clerks, writers or otherwise, devotion plays a role when we bring our best forward. Devotion here is defined as reverence. “Just as the sun’s rays vivify everything living, so does reverence in the student vivify all feelings of the soul.” Rudolf Steiner Each moment spent in that state of respect is felt through all we do. How may we cultivate devotion daily? Moving intentionally. Sitting quietly. Communicating slowly. Noting when we interrupt, and when we gracefully navigate our interactions. Granting unexpected kindnesses. Arranging ourselves with abundance in our thinking, and our loving. Orienting ourselves toward daily ritual until reverence becomes the only offering we make to ourselves, even when we falter. Remembering to respect even in the face of disrespect, until respect becomes all we offer everyone, every time, everywhere. And what if those around us seem less than reverent? Our work is to hold to our own internal devotion. This is why we keep up our practices – to keep reminders of reverence nearby, so when doubt enters our environment (our own or another’s), we can hold the space naturally and effectively until the doubt dissipates. The best …

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