mindful living
Move Before You Meditate: A Yoga Sequence to Prepare for Meditation
I typically meditate first thing in the morning and a short yoga sequence helps me shake off sleepiness before I settle in to meditation. This is...
My Favorite Yoga & Meditation Gift Books
When I think back over the past few years of creating content for Yogaland podcast, I feel so fortunate that I've been introduced to some truly...
Three Meditation Studies That Inspire Me to Practice
In just a few weeks, I'll be launching my 3-week meditation and self care course, Start Your Year With Self Care on Monday, January 13, 2020. In...
What Self Care Means to Me — and Why It Matters
Self care is a buzz word these days. And there’s a reason for it – in times of cultural and political strife, people’s interest in self care...
Survivor’s Guide to Teaching Yoga When Life Throws You a Curveball
Nearly six years ago, my daughter Sofia-Rose was born. She brought me happiness I could have never imagined. She also obliterated my home practice...
10 Key Values the Best Yoga Teachers Possess
I’m driven and ambitious when I train yoga teachers. I’m ridiculously passionate about yoga. And, I’m opinionated about the need for education to...
Spotlight on: Headstand
Said in my deepest, most convincing movie-trailer voiceover actor voice: Imagine a world where yoga is a required subject in public elementary...
A Yoga Hack to Get You Through an Emotional Holiday
The holidays are a mixed bag for most. They’re so often fraught with memory and expectation that it’s as though the frequency of our daily...
What I’m Grateful For
If you’ve followed me for the past year, you know that I’m a breast cancer survivor. Lately, I've been noticing how much I simultaneously want to...
Responding to fear with skill and compassion
The idea of being fearless—on or off the yoga mat—doesn’t resonate with me. Neither does the notion of conquering my fears. I understand and...
Turmeric Toddy Recipe
I went to Portland this year to teach at Yoga Pearl and, fortunately for me there is a delicious restaurant right inside the studio, called Prasad....
How I Really Feel About Pinktober
One of the most valuable lessons I try to take from my yoga and meditation practice is to be comfortable with discomfort. This infographic pretty...
Want to Have a Healthier Body Image? Start Here.
Oh, body image. I have been contemplating you so often lately. I think about you as I watch my preschooler climb and hop and run like it’s her j-o-b...
One Simple Question to Change Your Day
Now that I’m through active breast cancer treatment and my daughter is three, I have more time for everything – yoga, work, cooking, creativity,...
What to Say When a Friend Has Cancer
When I was diagnosed with cancer, my friend (who is also a cancer survivor) texted those words to me. I cherished this text. He said exactly what I...
A Simple Way to Cope with Fear
Fear can feel painful, overwhelming, even paralyzing. Whether you're facing a major life change like an illness or a break-up, or a more specific...
A Thank You Note to My Bod
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately – about consciously thanking my body for all that it does. When you’re diagnosed with cancer, it’s easy...
Wide Awake Gratitude
You may or may not know that I spent more than a decade as an editor at Yoga Journal. A decade is a loooooong time to keep any job in this day and...
Breast Cancer Lesson #1: Ordinary Moments are Extraordinary
I like to joke that the first breast cancer surgeon I met with tried to get my business by buttering me up—over the course of 10 minutes she called...
5 Yoga Lessons I’ve Learned From My Toddler
Before I had my daughter Sofia-Rose, I dreaded the toddler phase. Because, let’s face it, before you have kids, toddlers seem like whirling balls of...