FINDING STRENGTH IN SURRENDER Dear Yogis/Yoginis , There is a particular kind of tired that has nothing to do with sleep. It is the tiredness of someone who has been holding everything together for a very long time. Who learned, somewhere along the way, that asking for help is a risk — that needing something is a burden, perhaps even a betrayal of who they are supposed to be. So they keep going. They give more. They push through. And they call it strength. I want to off

The Way the Corners Turn…. Dear Yogis/Yoginis , There is a painting in the Shala — easy to walk past, but once seen, hard to forget: Your day will go the way the corners of your mouth turn. It sounds almost too simple. And then it stays with you. These days, moving those corners upward takes effort. Whatever your beliefs, your particular corner of concern, you might feel the weight of the world right now. That is real. The ancient teachings didn’t promise a world withou

Dear Yogis/Yoginis , Can we talk about how exhausting it is to argue with reality? Not the big philosophical debates. The quiet, persistent ones we run in the background, all day long. The relationship that should have lasted. The career we should have or our kids should have. The old jeans that should still fit. The version of ourselves we should have become by now. The decade that should have gone differently.. The weather that should be warmer, colder, dryer... We are

Honoring the Yin Season Dear Yogis/Yoginis , We're in the heart of winter now—the yin season, when nature whispers to us: slow down, go inward, rest. I've been watching one of my cats lately, and she's the perfect teacher for this time of year. Without any struggle or self-judgment, she curls up more, purrs longer, eats with satisfaction, and yes, gets lovingly plump. Come summer, she'll naturally shed those extra pounds, moving with ease once again. She trusts her rhythms

A Softer Path Forward: New Year Reflections Dear Yogis/Yoginis , As we step into the new year, I want to offer something different from the usual resolutions and rigid goal-setting. Instead, let’s embrace reflection and renewal—not as pressure, but as an invitation to return to what matters most. We’re living in chaotic times. The noise around us is loud, the divisions feel deep, and it’s easy to retreat into self-protection or self-righteousness. But perhaps the way throu

Looking for the Good: Continuing Our Journey with Grief Dear Yogis/Yoginis , Following up on last month's email on grief, I wanted to continue our conversation about navigating these challenging times.. As grief continues to accompany us in our lives, let's keep finding tools that help us accept the present instead of searching for quick solutions. Grief doesn't disappear overnight. It evolves—pain morphing into different expressions of sorrow, gradually transforming into p