Practicing Yoga and Social Justice

For three weeks I’ve been trying to write something about the anniversary of DJT’s election. Trying and failing. As is always the case when something is hard to write, the problem is that I don’t know what I want to say. One thing I know I want to do is note, mark, recount how I felt a year ago. It was a kind of despair that I haven’t experienced before. I don't say that lightly - I have had a lifelong struggle with depression, I have experienced deep disappointment and challenges in life. But this past  year has been different.  A year ago, I felt deeply fearful for myself, personally – for the safety of any people who engage in systematic dissent when an authoritarian is in power. I felt deeply fearful for the progressive movement. I felt personal concern for the immigrant and people of color communities that I knew would be targeted. I felt very concerned for people who relied on Obamacare for lifesaving health care, with so many pledges for immediate repeal floati...

As one of my contributions to our collective effort to survive this time, I am periodically offering a free 10 minute guided meditation on my blog. 10 minutes because everyone can find 10 minutes in their day to do something that sustains you and increases your positive impact on the people around you. And because research shows that even 10 minutes of meditation can improve your brain functioning - and make you feel better. There are dozens of meditation apps and sources out there. I don't claim mine is anything better than what you find could elsewhere. But two things might make your experience of these guided meditations unique. First, if you have attended any of the leadership retreats where I offer a mindfulness practice, you may find that listening to these guided meditations connects you to the retreat experience and allows you to renew the feelings of connectedness and power you had there. Second, many of my guided meditations will have a social justice element that connec...

As one of my contributions to our collective effort to survive this time, I am periodically offering a free 10 minute guided meditation on my blog. 10 minutes because everyone can find 10 minutes in their day to do something that sustains you and increases your positive impact on the people around you. And because research shows that even 10 minutes of meditation can improve your brain functioning - and make you feel better. There are dozens of meditation apps and sources out there. I don't claim mine is anything better than what you find could elsewhere. But two things might make your experience of these guided meditations unique. First, if you have attended any of the leadership retreats where I offer a mindfulness practice, you may find that listening to these guided meditations connects you to the retreat experience and allows you to renew the feelings of connectedness and power you had there. Second, many of my guided meditations will have a social justice element that connec...

Last week I was teaching at the National Labor Leadership Initiative. I am so full of gratitude for the opportunity to be part of that program. It enriches me on so many levels I barely know how to describe it. This is my third year of being on the teaching team. The first year I felt like I mostly observed and pitched in where there was an obvious place for me to help. Last year I started to make suggestions and took on a few topics myself. This year I really began to see myself in the curriculum – both because I took on larger segments of each day and because I helped create a stronger focus around how mindfulness connects to the challenges of being a leader. One of the reasons I started this blog was to better integrate the yoga/mindfulness practices in my life with my work in the social justice movement. I can thank the NLLI for helping me see the need to do that, and for giving me opportunities to experiment with it. It feels like the right thing to be doing right now. Meanwh...

Resources for learning the invocations & their meanings Invocation to Patanjali Geeta Iyengar explanation BKS Iyengar chanting the invocation (audio) Invocation to the Guru Audio Words and translation of both invocations Video file with space for you to practice repeating the chant

Yikes I haven't written in three months. Not because the blog and the work are not on my mind, but because things became very complicated for me and I didn't want to make my turmoil public.  And in part because I honestly didn't know what to say. Usually when I write it's because I've figured something out. But the last three months have been confusing and muddled.  Now that my life is settling down a little bit, it's hard to know how to start blogging again. At some point, you can't write only out of inspiration. If you write even when you don't feel inspired, you are ready when inspiration comes. That's the very nature of practice. So I decided to start writing again, even if I'm not sure what or why.  Just to catch up though: I went to India for three weeks in August and it was immediately apparent to me that my lifestyle had become unsustainable. I was physically out of whack from 18+ months of flying every single week and trying ...