I've got Darwin on my mind, and for good reason! Angela, our beloved Community and Events Coordinator, and I recently put our heads together to decide on the theme and of our Galapagos retreat. Yes--the islands and the adventure will certainly speak for itself, but you can do that on your own anytime.

What's the difference between doing a Galapagos vacation and a Galapagos Yoga Retreat?

Intention.

This trip will have deep intention behind it, which means it will be more meaningful, transformational, and memorable. Intentional doesn't mean stodgy! It means breathing extra yogic life into the whole experience. We get more out of anything we do when we do it with intention.

Although Charles Darwin, the renowned naturalist and author of "On the Origin of Species," is not typically described as a yogi in the traditional sense, it is possible to draw some parallels between Darwin's work and certain aspects of yogic philosophy. After all, when you think about it, it's all yoga when ...

Do you have a favorite piece of advice that came from a trusted source? Did they always make sense? I got tons of advice from both of my parents. Good stuff from my mom like stand up straight, napkin in lap, don’t try to change a man, write thank-you notes, eat breakfast, take care of your neighbors, get really good at something, wear lipstick, and shut up and have fun. I took it all in, and I appreciate the wisdom and pithiness every day! 

I also got advice from my dad, which was a little less straightforward and more open to interpretation.  In this week’s podcast season finale, I share with you three pieces of advice from my dad that connect the head to the heart (sahasrara to anahata!) and, as it turns out, can be found in the Yoga Sutras:

Don’t put your happiness in someone else’s hands.  (This one came from a third-grade breakup.) 

Don’t let your shorts catch on fire. (This one was when I was dating in high school.)

Marry the rocking chair.  (This one showed up when I w...

I’m a bit hyper as I write this, because I am so excited to share two things: One is my recent interview with Amanda Green about object meditation and chakra six, and the other is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to combine adventure, yoga, and both the spirit and reality of evolution. 

First, on episode 19 of Jess on the Mountain, I talk to a woman I have known for many years, and have been a big fan of for just as many.  She is the real deal when it comes to understanding the sutras, meditation, and transformation. I was encouraged to reach out to Amanda several years ago when I was studying with Chase Bossart during my Yoga Therapy training at Yoga Yoga. He saw a couple of kindred spirits, encouraged us to get together, and he was right.  She’s one of those people with whom you get together and go deep and go fast. So I was thrilled when I invited her on the podcast and she was all in.  There are many takeaways from this rich conversation that I hope you listen to and enjoy, and...

Today I’m celebrating how meaningful and fun the three workshops I taught last week were, and I want you to benefit from what we experienced. So I hope to take you on a (fairly) quick exercise to get a sense of what we discovered.

If you’d rather listen than read, check out this week’s Jess on the Mountain podcast, episode 18. 

The online workshop was called Life on Purpose: Chakra Yoga for Tuning in and Finding Yours, and that’s exactly what we did! 

After checking in and learning why everyone was there, I asked this question:

When was a time in your life when things were going great? When life was clicking along, you felt balanced and connected, relationships, work, or school was on track and everything felt harmonious.

 Can you tune into that feeling? 

This little exercise shows us that the experience of balance is achievable–you’ve felt it before. This is not some outlandish ideal, it’s real life. 

When you take the Chakra Savvy Quickie Quiz, at jessgoul...

Today I have a story to share with you about hitting the reset button in your life. 

Have you ever had this desire? To just hit a reset button when things are going sideways, or you’re feeling a bit lost or chaotic?

Recently I was doing some parallel play with a dear friend out at her lakehouse. This means we both had work to do, but we’d rather do it together in a beautiful location than apart in our own individual spaces. And there’s a reward for the hard work: floating on a raft with time to chit chat and soak in the summer sun. 

So we’re working side by side, I’m on my computer, she’s working on her reflection from a recent retreat she was on, and suddenly she announces, “I just reset my whole calendar for the next year, and I feel fantastic!”

Later, when it was time to float, I learned what had happened.  She realized that her life had become chaotic.  The boundaries to her time had become porous. She had said yes to things she had wanted to say no to, she was work...

Yes–this blog is late. I like running things like clockwork, but sometimes you gotta go off of schedule for a bit, no? We just finished up four days and nights of fun and friendship when my bestie and her three kids visited to kick off the summer together. I hope yours was what you wanted as well! 

One thing that didn’t get bumped was this week’s Jess on the Mountain podcast episode 16: How to Live On Purpose.  I really enjoyed reflecting on living on purpose, and what that looks like. I realized that, to me, it doesn’t only mean living your “life purpose,” as in that one special passionate thing for each of us.  It’s lived out in everyday moments, and the more these everyday moments are done with purpose, the more it is that no matter what you are doing with your one precious life, the more it will align with the highest good for you and for those whose lives you touch. 

I narrow this “life on purpose” intention down to three main places to have purpose, which I believe provid...

So, I did a thing. Not a thing I usually do, but I did it. I wrote a poem.

I feel like I should put quotes around the word poem because it doesn't rhyme, it doesn't have a structure, and it doesn't really have much of a rhythm. But it's not prose, and it came in creatively, so I'm calling it a poem.

It also expressed for me something that needed expressing. You see, while I was on my recent retreat to Chacala, Mexico with Dr. Deb Kern, I had a chance to focus on expelling some mental goblins. It's  the negative self-talk voice in my head. (Perhaps you're familiar?) This is the voice that can keep me on the sidelines, knock me down a peg or two, and convince me that me being fully me would have some dire consequences. Like, I won't be liked.

Womp, womp.

This voice doesn't have much to say when I'm home and with people I'm comfortable with.  But travel and strangers bring in the voice like my own personal doomsayer. So even getting to the retreat was a chance to start the purificatio...

I am home and happy from a big reset retreat in Chacala, Mexico. Lots to report, so I hope you don't get tired of hearing about it!

The first little moment I wanted to bring home to you is a bit of magic…or so I thought. One early morning when I was heading to the beach to do my morning practice and meditation, I stopped in my tracks as I looked over the rocks that cover the area between the retreat center and the beach. I was stunned. It looked like rocks had literally descended from the sky and stopped to hover millimeters above a rock below it. It was magical! And then I caught sight of a man sitting among them, holding one rock over another, patiently adjusting it until he slowly pulled his hands away to reveal a rock, standing on its smallest point, balancing on the rock below it. It was like beautiful art. 

Turns out, it’s called “rock balancing.” (I do love an it-is-what-it-says-it-is title!)

I stopped him as he was leaving the rock area to ask him what was going on. How did ...

Welcome to May! The wildflowers are still happy and blooming here in Central Texas. The morning air is cool and the sun is bright. Everywhere I look I see the Earth is celebrating coming through that icy February storm. Things are unusually lush in the ATX. 

Which is why it seems crazy that I'm going away from all of this for a rejuvenating retreat in Chacala, Mexico with my Prana Shakti dance teacher, Dr. Deb Kern, all next week. But just like Mother Earth is looking refreshed after a long winter’s nap, we, too, need to refill our cups from time to time. This is how I will let go of my efforts from the past six months, and refill with new, refreshed energy for the next six months–when I’ll be with many of you as you refresh under the October full moon at WonderFULL! 

Because how can we pour out if we don’t pour in?

That’s just how it is! Except in the case of love. Love is different. By pouring it out, we actually get refilled. It multiplies with use. Love begets love. We ...

I was recently reminded that we are all creative creators. Yep! That means you are too.  

I don’t mean all are able to draw, or paint, or sculpt, although I’m sure some in this community are brilliant at those things.  I mean make something happen from nothing. Everyone can move the material world from a void, to a vision, to a manifestation.  I’m just here to remind you, because I was recently reminded. 

Last week I interviewed my dear friend Kelly Emmert for Jess on the Mountain, episode 11. She is the visionary and energy behind The Art Garage here in Austin, Texas, and she reminded me how much the creative process is part of all of us.  She had a vision of her art studio from an early age, and with persistence and patience she has brought it into the world for creative hands of all ages to make art, have fun, and relax.  

Creativity--creation-- is a chakra two endeavor. This energetic center located at your sacral plexus and pelvic bowl is responsible for you birthing thin...