I'm trying real hard today and the second truth of Buddhism is feeling particularly true..."the root of all suffering is desire"...

You are already enough. Happy Holidays. 

To negate all those reasons we come up with for self-loathing, here are some reasons to love yourself. 

Inspired by the Henry David Thoreau aphorism, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."

A reoccurring theme

I really do l live a charmed life. 

The first niyama, because it feels so good to be clean and light and fresh. 

It's all about ahimsa on world kindness day. 

Let them eat cake. 

We are coming up on some holidays and it's a great time to remember that we are in a world of abundance and often feel better when we take 'just enough'. 

Promises, promises. 

Feeling ready to listen. 

When it feels like everything is going south. 

Peace, peace, peace. 

Remove self-doubt.

Today's poem is inspired by the niyama, tapas. 

It was an existential kind of day. 

This is why I practice yoga. Practice. 

Nothing like a good salute to the sun. Namaste. 

There is nothing like a full-body stretch. 

Several times this week I've noticed people talking about guilt they felt burdened by when, truly, they had no cause to feel guilty. Even if they had some justifiable reason they should feel guilty, there is no need to move through life weighted with a yoke of guilt. It happened, you can't change the past, you can only shape the present. Today's poem is just a reminder to forgive ourselves and move forward and, if you want, for your own peace of mind, just try to do better here, now.

For those who feel like they can never stop pushing, a reminder that you already have the knowledge to take you where you need to go. Give yourself space to listen. 

Today's morning commute was quite smooth for my husband and I as he dropped me off at the transit station, compared to the discombobulated woman who was gathering her items out of her four door sedan that she had careened up a heaping mound of snow in the middle of a median and rammed into a tree. There was no ice. 
Hence: poem. 

Today is my birthday and I've been humbled and awed by the outpouring of love and well-wishes that have come my way from my family and friends. I know I've said this before and I'll say it again. I really do live a charmed life. 

I taught my first yin yoga session open to the public last night. It was magical. I really enjoyed it and I hope my students did too! My poem today is another yoga philosophy poem about santosha, a niyama, a "positive duty" as outlined by Patanjali for recommended activities for healthy living. Santosha ultimately boils down to cultivating contentment. I believe contentment is fundamental for healthy living and I also believe that it is something you can practice and build over time.  In my poem I tried to capture exactly how I construct my own contentment.