Winter is a really great time to slow down and to replenish our energy stores. I'm leading a special practice today specifically for winter that will leave you feeling rested, grounded, and renewed. I'd love for you to join me.

Happy New Year, friends! As we close out 2023, I'm feeling called to celebrate the little things, and to leave space for 2024 to unfold organically, rather than make bold proclamations. Sometimes the most meaningful moments aren't the big accomplishments, but the little moments of wonder we experience when we are being fully present.

Creation begins in darkness. We plant seeds underground and they germinate in the dark. Yes, the light helps them grow once they are seedlings, but the darkness is necessary for them to take root. We need darkness and rest to nurture our creative potential so that we can give birth to new ideas, and continue to regenerate.

Did you know that the Sanskrit word for oil (sneha) is also the word for love? Abhyanga is truly magic, friends. It is a beautiful practice of self-love that nourishes the body, heals the nervous system, calms the mind, and grounds the spirit. Combined with yoga nidra, this will be the ultimate practice for healing. Come to the workshop today and experience it for yourself!

In Ayurvedic medicine the rhythms of nature provide insight into healing and self-care practices through the principle, "Like increases like and opposites bring balance." When we align with nature, we experience more harmony and balance in our lives. Late fall and winter are the vata seasons, which means the elements of wind and space predominate. These two elements, when balanced, provide the space for introspection and the mobility needed to make sustainable changes in our lives. When vata is stabilized by the earth element, winter provides the perfect opportunity to turn inward and expand our connection to our truest selves. Winter self-care should include grounding practices that invite time to rest and restore. When we pause, we give ourselves space to filter out illusion and remember our inner truth.

Unlock your body’s wisdom and align your nature with Mother Nature to support:

• Better sleep

• Improved digestion

• Easeful elimination

• Supple skin

• A stronger immune system

• Vibrant, grounded energy

• Steady focus and concentration

• Balanced mood

• The ability to listen to and honor your body's wisdom

When you understand the how the qualities in nature also manifest within you, you will be able to flow through the seasons of your life with grace. I hope to see you this afternoon!

One of the great teachers of our time, Valarie Kaur, asks us to look upon the faces of strangers who are suffering and to grieve with them; to see their children as our children; to see them as part of us. Imagine what the world would be like if we saw each other as kin and not foe, and honored each other's suffering as our own.

We have a choice in these moments to harden ourselves and shut ourselves off to pain, or to open our hearts and, as the poet Andrea Gibson wrote,

"Let your heart break so your spirit doesn't."

Have you been feeling a little blah lately? Nature is transitioning, and unless we are also transitioning along with nature, we can feel tired, anxious, spacey, and ungrounded in the fall as the air and space elements start to take center stage.

Most of my clients are experiencing flare-ups of back pain and insomnia, which makes a ton of sense from an Ayurvedic perspective. Want to know why? Come to this workshop! When you understand the how the qualities in nature also manifest within you, you will be able to flow through the seasons of your life with grace.

It took a fair amount of time, research, and trial and error, but I was determined to figure it out. That is basically how I operate. I love to solve a problem, I'm always up for learning something new, and I don't give up easily. I have just the right amount of faith, curiosity, patience, and stubbornness to keep trying long after others have thrown up their hands.

Vermont was devastated by floods and many people lost their homes and businesses. Additionally, many of our local farms were completely submerged and lost all of their crops for the summer and winter seasons. Please join me in supporting VT Flood Recovery Efforts by donating time, money, or resources. This page contains a list of organizations raising money. It will continue to be updated. Please share additional requests for support and I will add them to this page.

Moving the body circulates energy. If you move in a rhythm (walking, running, dancing, practicing yoga asana), you give the wind element purpose and direction. Wind is the only one of the five elements that moves, and when it moves erratically, it can be destructive. Think about how it feels outside in a windstorm, and you might notice that anxiety feels a lot like a windstorm inside. Wind can also be used to generate power, and moving in a rhythm transforms the wind inside your system to be generative rather than destructive. If you have pain, stress, anxiety, or other signs that your nervous system is out of balance, move your body, and notice the effect it has on your mind and spirit. Choose movements that enhance your vitality rather than deplete you, and that you can do while still maintaining a steady, rhythmic breath.

Moving the body circulates energy. If you move in a rhythm (walking, running, dancing, practicing yoga asana), you give the wind element purpose and direction. Wind is the only one of the five elements that moves, and when it moves erratically, it can be destructive. Think about how it feels outside in a windstorm, and you might notice that anxiety feels a lot like a windstorm inside. Wind can also be used to generate power, and moving in a rhythm transforms the wind inside your system to be generative rather than destructive. If you have pain, stress, anxiety, or other signs that your nervous system is out of balance, move your body, and notice the effect it has on your mind and spirit. Choose movements that enhance your vitality rather than deplete you, and that you can do while still maintaining a steady, rhythmic breath.

The nervous system likes predictability. If you eat your meals at roughly the same times each day, the nervous system will start to trust that you will always take care of it and give it the energy that it needs. Grazing, skipping meals, or eating irregularly puts the nervous system into scarcity mode. That stress can affect hormone circulation, and can lead to overeating when you finally get a chance to eat. It also leads to behaviors that mask the symptoms, again like using caffeine and sugar to provide false energy.

We have a choice to make as individuals and as a society. Do we keep up the same unrelenting pace season after season and year after year until we burn out? Do we ignore all the warning signs of imbalance and disconnection, paying attention only when the alarm gets too loud to ignore?

Or do we choose a different path?

Chanting and singing are both rhythmic, and rhythm is naturally soothing to the nervous system (scroll down in this grid to read my recent post on rhythm). Sound is also associated with the space element, so rhythmic and peaceful or joyous sounds are balancing to vata dosha (wind + space constitution). Anything we do to balance vata will balance the nervous system, and chanting and singing have the added benefit of charging the heart and throat chakras so that we are able to speak our truth. Finally, chanting and singing slow down the breath, and the slower you breathe, the healthier you are. It doesn't matter what your voice sounds like.

Find ways to incorporate song into your day, whether it is in the car, the shower, on your daily walk, or as part of your spiritual practice. I typically incorporate mantra into my yoga classes. Come practice with me and let's chant together!

Belonging starts within, so it is important to take time to connect with ourselves every day. That could be through many of the other suggestions in this grid, like meditation or breathwork. It could be through journaling, working with a therapist, or doing something creative. Get off line and connect with yourself! When you are more centered in yourself, you naturally make choices that sustain your life force, like going outside to connect with your nature, and making time for joy and connection with the people you love. Start by fostering a deep relationship with yourself and watch how that root structure blooms into a garden of connection with other beings.