The blonde yoga bitch looked up from her mat batting her Bambi-brown eyes.  She had just pulled the mat out from under me.    Literally.  I stood looking at her with incredulity waiting for myself to respond.

I taught yoga for four years before my yoga studio was taken from me… Read full post »

William Broad tells us all about yoga’s dirty, secret roots in his New York Times piece (Yoga and Sex Scandals: No Surprise Here, Feb 27), and says if we yogis knew more about the true history of our sport, we wouldn’t be so surprised every time someone exercised/… Read full post »

Survival of the fittest is ingrained in us from fourth grade science class on.  We are taught about the shortages all around us and implicitly, how we can survive by competition.

We compete from a  young age and for all of our lives.  We compete for spaces in… Read full post »

Walking through the woods today, anyway,

in the rain, hood over my head

acting like a shell.  The drops

pinging off and onto my body

soaking into my legs.

The dog ambles, wet too,

flicking droplets in a spinal furling

every so often.

And all of the sudden

among… Read full post »

This is what it’s like to ski through the burn.  

The snow covers everything, heavy and still.  It holds the ground, tacked down with animal tracks.  Large holes from elk, small rivets from ground squirrels and chipmunks. Dotted skids of birds and mice.&nbs/… Read full post »

I walked down the streets in a suburb of Sydney, Australia feeling how blessed I am, and feeling how tenuous every moment of life is.   I walked along avenues in downtown Sydney, in view of the famous opera house and the gorgeous bridges and gardens.  I walked along beaches in towns/… Read full post »

Human beings have a mixed relationship with mice.  We have Stuart Little, the perennial children’s favorite, and champion of equality everywhere.   Ganesh, the Hindu elephant god of obstacles rides a mouse, attesting to his humility.  Watching mice has been likened to our ab/… Read full post »

She paused, gazing without expression at the smoldering, unfiltered cigarette she held between her fingers, then said, "You know, the thing about love is ..."

“..Wait, wait!..shh....don’t say another word.”

“What the...!”

“Quiet!”

She turned toward him,/… Read full post »

My mother told me once that my vocabulary was shabby.  Embarrassing really for an educated girl of educated parents.  Why, she herself did crossword puzzles every day.  You wouldn’t see her losing her mind to age.  

But I didn’t care.  What need had I for/… Read full post »

The thing that changed my life when I moved out West was this:  Back East I spent time in the woods.  I went hiking.  I went on a six week bike trip to Prince Edward Island when I was fifteen.  I went for walks on beaches and in parks. /… Read full post »

In the darkness of the Northern Lights Saloon it was hard to know what I was really thinking.  My mind was always full of thoughts of love and darkness is a cover where common sense and reality can hide.  I can always find a way to excuse/… Read full post »

My first psychic experience happened when I was 10 years old, sitting in the car with my ‘big sister,’ from one of those befriend a poor youth programs.  It was just before Christmas and we were exchanging gifts.  I knew, as she handed me the box, that there/… Read full post »

When I lived in a small town in Canada I signed up for a class called, “How to draw what you see.”   The teacher gave us paper and pencils and sharpeners and tables with our own lamps on them.  Our first task was to look away from the/… Read full post »

Sourdough must be fed.  It is insatiable.  You cannot deny it.  I don’t know what would happen to my sourdough starter if I stopped feeding it.  I have gone on vacation for a week at a time and left it alone in the fridge.  When… Read full post »

Ermine is the fur of royalty.  The silkiest of textures, pure white with a single black point on the tip of the tail, these furs are what adorn the capes of kings and queens. 

The ermine is also a rodent.  Its more familiar name is weasel.  It is a/… Read full post »

I didn’t research the bees at all before I got them.  Not like I researched the chickens.  Or the sheep, the cow and the horse, which I’m still researching.   The bees I just bought.  Two hives of Russians from an apiary near Lake Champlain, about halfway… Read full post »

In August as I drive the winding roads through Vermont, it feels like summer will go on forever. The days are too hot and just long enough.  The fireflies come out at night and tumble around like lost stars. The air is humid and encourages dips in cool river eddies… Read full post »

One day last month the Aunties came to visit.  Or maybe it was the month before.  It's so hard to remember these things these days.  Two of them live in southern Vermont, in Newfane, in an old restored farmhouse.  One of them… Read full post »

Walking past the bumper sticker on my mom’s car, my friend remarked, “Hope and Change, ahh.  Remember ’08?”

“Oh, the hope,” I agreed, and we both shared a nostalgic sigh, for a time, not so long ago, when we felt truly hopeful, when the energy/… Read full post »

During the first day of our teacher training on Isla La Mujeres, Swami Ramananda asked what people want out of life.  We went around the circle giving our answers.  Peace, Joy, Success, Health, Money.  On and on we went.  Some comments bringing laughter, others nods of agr… Read full post »

When my fiancé broke up with me last August, he consigned me to the tenth circle of Dante’s hell: Dating As A Woman Over Forty.

The dating pool for the 40 year old woman is frighteningly slim.  The men have no hair, or missing teeth or four kids… Read full post »