Hand-washing as Meditation
It’s getting more and more disconcerting out there – dystopian even. As schools and businesses close to slow the spread of COVID-19, panic-buying depletes grocery store shelves, and we all double up on our hygiene practices, how can our meditation practice support us? This is part of what we were practicing for, right? Greater stability,…
Brahmacharya and Balanced Manipuras in 2020
In yoga teacher training, we’re currently focusing on the manipura chakra (third or solar plexus chakra) and brahmacharya (one of the five yama). The manipura chakra is associated with our sense of self, our sense of power, our relationships with others, our ability to be in harmony with the flow of the Universe, and our…
The Wisdom of a Snow Day
Last week I had a snow day – not the kind of snow day in which I decide it’s too risky to drive to work and take a personal day, but a storm so significant that the Governor ordered us not to report to work. In my memory, there have been a few snowy days…
Meditations from an Arctic Blast
For twenty days, my Yoga Teacher Training assignment has been to complete a daily twenty-minute walking meditation, outdoors, rain or shine… or as the case actually was for a couple of days, arctic blast. Last Thursday it was 15°F when I went out for my walk. Rio was even willing to wear her fancy down…
Mammogram Anxiety
I have “extremely dense breasts.” About 10% of people with breasts fall into this category, and for me, this means that I now have a mammogram and an ultrasound every year, instead of just the obligatory mammogram. When I first started getting mammograms, they’d always call me back for an ultrasound, and eventually, they agreed…
Equity, Interbeing, and Ahimsa
What’s your why? Why do you do the things you’re passionate about? What change do you hope to make in the world? What lofty goals inform the small steps of your labor? For me that answer is usually rooted in equity – a world where each person has access to the things they need to…
Ahimsa, Outrage, and Self-Care
Sunday was the first day of Yoga Teacher Training, and as expected, much of our time was spent getting to know one another and establishing our sense of community. We went over some of the basics – the central beliefs of Integral Yoga, the six paths, the eight limbs, and started to talk about yama…
My Last Glass of Wine (for a year)
Content warning: This post discusses my psychological reaction to being asked to temporarily abstain from alcohol. I write from the perspective of a person with the privilege of never having had to personally address a substance abuse problem. This content could be triggering to some readers. Yoga teacher training starts tomorrow and I feel like…
Three Steps to Mindfulness Meditation – Step 3: Re-placing Your Mind
The practice of meditation is simple. Find your seat;Place your mind on your object of focus; andWhen your mind strays, gently re-place it back on that object of focus. It’s simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. In the previous two posts, I focused on Step 1: Finding Your Seat, and Step 2: Placing Your…
Three Steps to Mindfulness Meditation – Step 2: Placing Your Mind
The practice of meditation is simple. Find your seat;Place your mind on your object of focus; andWhen your mind strays, gently re-place it back on that object of focus. It’s simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. In the previous post, I focused on Step 1: Finding Your Seat. In this post I’ll talk about…
Three Steps to Mindfulness Meditation – Step 1: Finding Your Seat
The practice of meditation is simple. Find your seat;Place your mind on your object of focus; andWhen your mind strays, gently re-place it back on that object of focus. It’s simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Over the next three posts, I’ll focus on each of the steps in more detail. I teach meditation…
Yoga Teacher Training Starts in Less Than a Month!!!
I got my book list this week, ordered everything, and I started my homework – a yoga class video with Swami Satchidananda (who brought Integral Yoga to the West and founded Yogaville, aka the Satchidananda Ashram in Virginia, which is the international headquarters for Integral Yoga). I committed to YTT back in April – right…
Yellowstone, Airplane Germs, and Falling off the Yoga Wagon
It’s amazing how a vacation intended as a relaxing getaway can lead to so much exhaustion… but let’s start at the beginning. Jeff and I spent a week in Yellowstone National Park, and it was amazing! We dropped Rio off at her boarder’s house on Friday evening. She doesn’t seem to mind. It’s sort of…
The Epic Mistake that Changed Me
Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. – Bill Watterson A few years ago I made a mistake.…
Sitting With Whatever Is (includes a guided meditation)
Many years ago I had a series of panic attacks. I didn’t know what they were at first. For some time, I was afraid I was having some kind of cardiac event, because my heart would repeatedly skip beats during the attacks. Eventually they became severe enough, and I became frightened enough, that I went…
Lost and Found: Embracing the Unexpected
July has flown by, and I feel like I haven’t had a chance to enjoy my summer yet. We were away visiting family for two weekends in July, and of course hiking last weekend. I wouldn’t change any of that, but I feel like we haven’t had much time to rest and re-center. So I’m…
Allen for 40 – A Hiking Meditation on Sore Feet
We climbed Allen Mountain yesterday. It was my 40th of the Adirondack 46 High Peaks, and if everything goes as planned, both Jeff & I will be 46ers by the end of September. It was Jeff’s idea to pursue the 46, but I agreed without hesitation. “This’ll be great,” I thought. A challenge that will…
Coffee or Tea? Are my thoughts real?
“For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.”Thich Nhat Hanh Coffee makes me pee. Frequently. (TMI? Maybe. But hey, this is about being real, right?) I was worried about this when I committed to a 5-day Meditation Teacher Training at Kripalu in April. How was…
Mid-Life Crisis/Mid-Life Awakening
When I turned forty, a slightly older co-worker and friend told me that forty was the best year of her life because she finally started to give fewer f*cks what people thought of her. (I’m exaggerating a bit here. She’d never use the f-word, but I would.) She said it in passing. In fact, she…
Carri Manchester 