My husband taught again this year at Triyoga London and I got to spend a week soaking in the city. The second night I was so excited by my to-do list that I barely slept! I still have lots of fun London sites to see next time, but I did get to check a few things off my list. I can honestly say that London is my favorite city in the world right now – it’s charming and sweet yet grand. The people are so polite but they’re not at all distant; they treat like you’re an old friend. And... Continue reading

I’m pregnant. And I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy. And it shocks me. Even though I’ve always valued family and even though I’ve always secretly had internal conversations with my future child, I was never really, absolutely sure if I wanted to do it. Because I also value my independence. And I was worried that it might go away. Worried that my identity, my personality, my entire being might be consumed by a brat in poopy diapers. But once it happened, it was a like a switch flipped in my brain. In place of the fear is lots... Continue reading

I've been having restless nights lately. Many of them. It's not so much that I can't fall asleep, I just can't stay asleep for more than two hours at a time. And it's not stress that causing the bouts of insomnia (I'll tell you more about the cause in a future post), but waking up constantly is definitely causing me some stress! So, the other night, as I wandered out to the couch bleary-eyed in an effort not to rouse my poor husband, I did my all-time favorite thing to do when my thoughts overwhelm me: I repeated a little... Continue reading

I had the opportunity to interview 10 women for a story about longevity and yoga that just went live on iVillage.com. These are truly amazing, inspiring women and I had so much fun talking to them. They are thinkers, leaders, and lovers of life. As each month ticks closer to the big 4-0 for me, I keep having moments where I feel grateful for getting older: I stress less, enjoy each day more. I trust that I’m capable of handling what life throws at me. I’m more skilled at what I do, which makes it a lot more fun to... Continue reading

The December issue of Yoga Journal is on newsstands and I'm pretty darn excited about it. I've got two features in this issue -- one that focuses on Chandra Namaskar (Moon Salutations), which is a fluid soothing practice that's perfect for the dark nights of winter. The boundlessly creative Shiva Rea created the mandala (sequence). It was shot by Jasper Johal and designed by Ron Escobar and it is so. darn. beautiful. If it doesn't inspire you to get on your mat I don't know what will. Look! A sneak preview: The other feature asks the question, "Is yoga a... Continue reading

That’s my hubs taking a yoga break. Back when we were just friends (oh those were exciting days) I noticed that he could make just about any found object into a yoga prop. The first time he came to my house, he knelt down in front of my ottoman – you know, the thing that most people put their feet on – and started stretching out his shoulders. Then he whipped around and did some hip stretches. For a moment he was like a yogi Jack Lalanne – efficiently bending and stretching and talking all the while. It was strange... Continue reading

I finally organized and edited all of my photos from our recent trip to Japan. There are so many things I love about Japan. In this post I'm focusing on the amazing abundance of color that's all around, at every moment. One of my strongest memories will be how Japan is a visual feast for the eyes. The attention to design detail is mind-blowing. The trains, the signs, even the vending machines are inspiring and fun to look at. A quick aside (and I wish I had a photo of this, but I don't): One day I was walking along... Continue reading

I couldn’t resist another post about the Ojai Yoga Crib. There are so many things that make this yoga conference so fabulous, and one of them is the town itself. When you walk outside in the morning, you see gorgeous views of the Topatopa mountains all around you. The air is crisp, the sun is shining; citrus and pomegranate trees bear their fruit. The conference is in different venues all around town. If you’re really lucky, you get to take class at Meditation Mount. But one of my other favorites is the Soul Dome, the funky structure you see here.... Continue reading

My husband and I just returned from another amazing yoga adventure -- this time at the Ojai Yoga Crib. I've blogged about the Crib before. If you know me, you know it is one of my all time favorites! The people, the landscape, the teachers are all wonderful...I feel so fortunate to be able to take part in it. This was my 6th year attending and I still learned a ton! Taking class with Erich Schiffman is one of the highlights for me and I tried to capture how his classes make me feel in photos instead of words this... Continue reading

My husband and I bought a condo in Bernal Heights last year. It was, for the most part, my idea. I pushed for it, I looked for it, I built the case for why we needed to spend our entire life savings for what could be characterized as a bottom floor apartment with tandem parking down the street from a Pizza Hut in a city known for its earthquakes. Most of the time we don’t feel this way, but I’ve had moments where I’ve wondered if we did the right thing. I fell in love with Bernal years ago. And... Continue reading

Jason and I went to Japan for three weeks last year. It was a whirlwind trip where we zipped all around to seven different cities while he taught workshops and retreats. Our host was a woman named Sachiko (in the photo above, on the right), who had taken class from Jason in Hong Kong and invited him to come teach in Japan. Sachiko is not a yoga studio owner or a teacher. She’s a student who was touched by his teaching and wanted him to share it. She took it upon herself to contact all of the studios all over... Continue reading

The June issue of Yoga Journal is on newsstands right now and it features a tribute that I wrote for Larry Schultz, who passed away in February. While I was practicing this morning, wincing at my tight bod and exhausted self, I thought of something that Larry said some years ago, in a video interview with Kasey Luber. Larry tells the story of when his teacher, K. Pattabhi Jois, told him that it would take him 25 years to truly understand yoga. Instead of being frustrated, his response was, "Really? I'm 31 now, so when I'm 56 I'm gonna figure... Continue reading

For the past few years my husband has been teaching at different yoga studios in the U.S. and abroad and, when I'm lucky enough, I get to go with him. Last week he taught at Triyoga in London. I'm learning that no matter where we go, there are some common threads that make the trips special. Here they are, in a nutshell: 1. In all of the yoga studios all over the world, there is a delicious sense of familiarity. From Detroit to Hong Kong to Osaka to London, the routine is the same when you enter a yoga studio:... Continue reading

Lonny is super keen. Have you seen it? The second issue hit the web in December (I know, I'm not the timeliest of bloggers). It’s a digital magazine (or e-zine) that stands for London-New York and was started by a couple of ex-Domino staffers. Their first issue went up in October, garnered tons of blog attention, a mention in Vanity Fair, and, according to their recent editors’ letter, 10 million pageviews. Their second issue delivers a whopping 175 pages (proving that servers are cheaper than printed pages) filled with all of the edit and design that made Domino so much... Continue reading

I’ve thought for days about my 2009 round-up post. I’ve gone back and forth about how much to divulge, how positive or negative to be, how much I should focus on reflecting back or looking forward. I’ve looked at other people’s blogs and felt like an absolute slacker (whatever you do, don’t go to dooce, where she talks about having a baby, appearing on Oprah, and making the bestseller list all in one year.) What I’ve finally landed on is a lesson that I learned by watching my mother-in-law in Ohio over our Christmas break last week. And here is... Continue reading

After doing what seems like a billion Chaturangas and Up Dogs preparing, the time has come: I finally enjoy meditating. Instead of dreading my time to sit quietly, I really and truly look forward to it. Lately I even prefer it over my hatha practice. No matter how sour my mood, those minutes of introspection and quiet feel like a cleansing respite from my day. Part of what's made it easier for me to meditate is that I've tried many, many techniques and I keep them on hand to use in accordance with whatever type of mood or physical state... Continue reading

I'm trying to buy more handmade gifts for Christmas this year. My friend Ali introduced me to the whole Buy Handmade craze last year and now that we've got Etsy, it's so easy to find great treasures. At the top of my handmade gift list is Linea Carta. Based in Oakland, California, Diva Pyari of Linea Carta did my wedding invitations last year and boy oh man did I love them. Her calligraphy is whimsical (just like I wanted) and her illustrations are so lovely (we used the lovebirds you see above) and she screenprinted each one by hand–-I really... Continue reading

The photo above shows you the best part of my Thanksgiving: It’s our table set with linens, a killer flower arrangement (thank you Patrick from Bloomers!), and little gold pumpkins that I spray painted myself. Now before you go thinking that I’m some vapid home decorator wannabe (which, OK, I am sometimes) who appreciates stuff more than people, let me explain why it was my favorite part: It moved my mother to tears. You see, the linens were hand sewn by her mother (my grandmother). When I was a girl, my mother would take out the linens on the holidays... Continue reading

At the risk of going against the grain, I’m just going to say it: I'm a huge fan of Anna Wintour. It all started when I read, or attempted to read, that idiotic droolfest known as a best-selling novel The Devil Wears Prada. The moment I put that book down I knew I could never, ever read another piece of “chick-lit” again. Here was a young woman, fresh out of college, fancying herself an intellectual, but did she work for a nonprofit? Get a job at a think tank? Pursue a graduate degree? No. She got a job at a... Continue reading

Ex-Gourmet staffer Kevin DeMaria posted a bunch of photos of the magazine closing. It's not for the faint of heart. Yeesh. Check it out here. Continue reading

Seeing Sarah Powers is always incredibly comforting to me. I did a teacher training with her years ago and she continues to be one of my greatest influences. Being with her at the Crib this year was no exception. The class that she taught was pared down and simple and yet, it was the answer to a little prayer I didn’t even know I’d been praying. It all boils down to this: Meditating is hard. It is also beautiful, it can be so soothing, and it makes you feel sooo good when you do it. It’s the time when true... Continue reading

I got to take class with Erich Schiffman last Saturday. His book, "The Spirit and Practice of Moving Into Stillness" was the first yoga book I owned. The first three chapters rocked my world so much that I underlined them with a purple pen the way you do with your books in college. There are asterisks everywhere and notes in the margins. There was a time when I was a little embarrassed by this, but I'm not anymore because 10 years later, the book still rocks my world. Looking back, I realize that it was the first book I'd ever... Continue reading

This past weekend I had the great good fortune of attending the Ojai Yoga Crib in Ojai, California. It was my third Crib and it is HANDS DOWN my absolute favorite yoga event of the year. Unlike the Yoga Journal conferences, I just get to show up and be myself. I'm not careening around wildly from class to class trying to get story ideas to present at our next meeting. I'm not checking badges or getting my badge checked or trying to find my badge or trying to find the freezing cold hotel ballroom upon whose floor I will surely... Continue reading