I am still riding high from my retreat experience at the Wildflower Center for Return to Your Light Women's Retreat. Although we had hoped for sunshine, the cloudy day did not deter us from enjoying some dance moves, slow walks, and yoga practices.

As I was walking our dog through the neighborhood last evening and enjoying all the lights wrapping around tree trunks and dangling from branches, it occurred me even more how appropriate the poem we pondered at the retreat was so seasonally appropriate. So, of course, I want to share it with you!

Our theme was Return to Your Light, and since we were using nature as part of our experience, I turned to the poet Mary Oliver and her artistry in words and images:

May You Go Easy, To Be Filled with Light, and To Shine

When I am among the trees, especially the willows and the honey locust, equally the beech, the oaks and the pines, they give off such hints of gladness. I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am...

Hello! I'm just coming down from a very high weekend of teaching the chakras to the teacher trainees and yoga therapists-in-training at My Vinyasa Practice. They were a bright and engaging group, and I believe we all came away with a new understanding of ourselves in relation to our energy, life story, inhibitions, and gifts.  But since I had never taught for 10 hours over a weekend before, I had to think a lot about preparing myself and conserving my energy for the long haul.  My personal routine was paramount to my preparation. That routine starts first thing in the morning. 

I believe that how we enter the day can set the tone for how the rest of the day will flow. So we best be mindful about it!

I was recently looking through some poetry in my personal library and came across a Mary Oliver poem that I think inspires a beautiful start to the day.  We often practice Sun Salutations in yoga class, so a salute to the sun is a long standing practice...