One of the big adjustments that I’ve worked on in the past few years is to know when and how to slow down. But occasionally there’s a week in which slowing down is impossible, or so inconvenient that it might as well be impossible. This past week was one of those. On top of it all, I was battling some sort of stomach bug that was mild enough for me to keep going but pronounced enough for me to be aware of it….

Through my yoga and mindfulness practice, I’ve been introduced to the concept of maitrī. Maitrī is part of the brahmavihārā, a series of virtues and attendant practices that can help us to cultivate joy, well-being, and maybe even enlightenment.  Maitrī is similar to metta, which I’ve written about before; in fact, it’s another word for the same concept. Maitrī is a Sanskrit word, while metta is a Pali word. Both can be translated, most simply, as loving-kindness. Loving-kindness, yes. But there are lots…

I got out of town very briefly this past week for a friend’s wedding. The ceremony happened on a crystal clear, sunny and warm afternoon in Phoenix. There was laughter and merrymaking until the sun set, and after it set the party continued under a canopy of illuminated tree branches. It was a beautiful event in celebration of a devoted young couple. On my flight home, I got to thinking about how difficult weddings were for me in my thirties, when I was…

This week, I read something that addressed the topic of regret. The author pointed out that any present moment is tomorrow’s past. I’ve seen this articulately more succinctly: today is tomorrow’s yesterday. The author’s point was that those of us who are especially prone to regret or second guessing past choices should embrace this truth as a reason to show up more fully in the present moment. If something could be changed in order to make life more meaningful and harmonious, he suggested,…

Celebrated yoga teacher Nancy Gilgoff passed away this week. Yoga students and teachers in the ashtanga community are mourning her passage. I had the good fortune to practice virtually with Nancy once. At the time, I wasn’t technically ready to do a led ashtanga intermediate series, which is what Nancy was teaching. But my trusted teacher here in New York encouraged me to give it a try, and I figured, why not? Modification wasn’t actually a problem. The group of students that assembled…

Yesterday I went to see a movie called The Taste of Things. Set in the late nineteenth century, it’s a love story between a cook and the gourmet she works with. I went to see the movie spontaneously, without a lot of background on it, and I didn’t realize how detailed and lingering the depictions of cooking with animal foods would be. I looked away during many of them, and I mention this for others who might be distressed by those scenes. Even…

I recently had the odd realization that I’ve barely listened to music for the past year. I don’t mean having music on in the background in my home; that’s almost never my norm. I have to remind myself to put on a Spotify playlist when I have friends over. With earphones, though, it’s another story. I’ve always loved listening to music with earphones on, from the time I was loading cassettes into in my Walkman through having a Discman glued to my hand…