Well July seemed to fly by. Can we slow down August? I like the depiction of August as “the Sunday of Summer.” Sunday is the end of the week, and August is the end of summer (almost). But there is a much deeper correlation than that. Sunday is a time for slowing down, for rest… Read More Savoring the Remaining Days of Summer

Soon after her brother was born, little Sachi began to ask her parents to leave her alone with the new baby. They worried that like most four-year-olds, she might feel jealous and want to hit or shake him, so they said no. But she showed no signs of jealousy. She treated the baby with kindness… Read More What does God feel like?

A Sunday school teacher asked her class, “Where is God?” No one seemed to have an answer except Danny. “I know where God is!” he said excitedly.   “And where is that?” the teacher asked.   Danny responded: “In the bathroom at my house.”   “Very interesting, Danny. How are you so sure God is… Read More Where is God?

A minister was giving the offertory for church services. He raised his arms, looked up to the heavens with a look of rapture on his face. “Dear Lord,” he exclaimed. “Without you, we are but dust!”   He would have continued, but at that moment one little girl leaned over to her mother and asked… Read More Good news all around

Our world is rife with disconnection. I am not referring to power grid outages. I am referring to outages affecting the human grid of love.   Most people spend more time peering into their screens than into the eyes of another human being. They spend more time in their head than in their heart. They… Read More From Disconnect to Connect

Who Amongst Us?   This particular story tells of a mysterious stranger who showed up at the door of a rundown monastery operated by several old monks who had become “spiritually parched.”   The monks noticed that the mysterious stranger had a glow about him. So they were eager to get to know him and… Read More It Could Be You (It Is!) ~ A Parable

February is often the coldest if not the snowiest month of the year. So Valentine’s Day comes at a good time. It’s a day that gives us an opportunity to share the warmth of our heart more generously and extensively. It can even be a day to thaw a cold heart — our own or… Read More Find the Sweetness in Your Heart

Hello and Happy New Year   For certain, 2023 promises to be another interesting year. You are likely to see plenty of challenges and opportunities — individually, nationally and globally. You might think the easy route (and a tempting one) is to escape from the world. But wherever you escape to, you still have your… Read More The New Year Brings Challenges and Opportunities

Walking with the Wind From the memoir of the same title, written by the late civil rights leader and congressman John Lewis     [A]bout fifteen of us children were outside my aunt Seneva’s house, playing in her dirt yard. The sky began clouding over, the wind started picking up, lightning flashed far off in… Read More Walking with the Wind

In mid-August (2022) I sent out an announcement saying something like “I have shingles but our roof is fine.” Some of you mistook my quirky sense of humor and thought we were closed because of problems with our roof. Our roof was fine. My head and face weren’t. I had shingles, an infection caused by… Read More My “Roof” and Shingles

Well, I took on the challenge to slow down this past month – at least when I remembered to! Here’s what I experienced the first time I tried: On a Wednesday in early August, I had an appointment at noon in Florence (east of Northampton) for a treasured monthly cranial-sacral therapy session with Gretchen Jennings. Florence is an… Read More Slowing Down – Haltingly

A story that’s been circulating for a while, with a great lesson for all of us:   “Some years ago, I was stuck on a crosstown bus in New York City during rush hour. Traffic was barely moving. The bus was filled with cold, tired people who were deeply irritated with one another, with the… Read More Get a Lift

  The pessimist sees the glass as half empty. The optimist sees the glass as half full. The engineer sees the glass as twice as large as it needs to be. The Svaroopa® yoga teachings would go even further. The teachings would say the glass is already full and always has been and always will… Read More Raise Your Glasses!

The Fourth of July has come and gone, but what about the independence it celebrates? As a nation: so far so good. From the yogic perspective: the independence of each human being is considered first and foremost. The strength and independence of a nation depends on the strength and independence of its citizens, as well… Read More The Ultimate Independence and Freedom Starts with You

n April 2020, when the pandemic was first gaining momentum, this newsletter addressed the fear and anxiety that was also gaining momentum. In classes, we dedicated the month to standing poses – in specific, warrior poses — to help you stand up to your fears. Now, with mass shootings happening across the country at an… Read More June 2022: Stand and Make YourSelf Count