Summer

About Summer

artist, minister, yoga therapist

Early Winter Part 2: Yearning

Welcome to the Yoga Church Sunday Sermons JOIN US for the online Yoga Church Sunday Gathering. Click here for the details. When you listen deeply inward, what do you yearn for? Yearning is a feeling. And it can be hard to talk about... So in this sermon I share stories. I talk about evangelicals, atheists, the unknowable name of God, two characters from the Hebrew Bible, and Krishna's true form. It doesn't really have an ending (yearning isn't about resolution), but I'll admit my writer's heart wishes I could change ... (Continue Reading)

By |2023-12-02T11:36:38-08:00January 5th, 2020|Winter, Yoga Church Sunday Sermons|1 Comment

Early Winter Part 1: Seeking

Welcome to the Yoga Church Sunday Sermons JOIN US for the online Yoga Church Sunday Gathering. Click here for the details. After spending several years diving deep into the cyclical nature of the seasons, the New Year seems too linear to me. And the overwhelming flow of "New Year, New You!" marketing messages is a complete turn off. Everyone's telling us we need to improve. We need to be better. And they've got 3-easy steps to help us become thinner, more productive, health machines! All these messages are calling us toward self-aggression ... (Continue Reading)

By |2023-12-02T09:19:13-08:00December 29th, 2019|Winter, Yoga Church Sunday Sermons|2 Comments

Spiritual Practices for the Winter Solstice

Welcome to the Yoga Church Sunday Sermons Spiritual Practices for the Winter Solstice Through the practice of intentional season keeping we can let our souls rest in our intrinsic relationship with Nature. We can reconnect with the rhythm of the earth and the festivals our ancestors celebrated. We can follow the natural cycle of balance-activity-balance-rest and find healing from the stress, depression, anxiety, and general spiritual malaise that affects so many of us.  Remember the wheel of the year isn't linear. There's no hard stop. It's a constant cycle of waxing and waning. We're coming to the end of the ... (Continue Reading)

By |2020-06-19T19:04:23-07:00December 20th, 2019|Winter, Yoga Church Sunday Sermons|3 Comments

The Sabbath Box

Welcome to the Yoga Church Sunday Sermons Late Autumn 2019 | Reflections on the Practice of Sabbath The Sabbath Box In last week's sermon we talked about two Sanskrit words: samyoga (joining with) and viyoga (separating from). This week, as we turn our attention toward the practice of Sabbath, I think these words are useful. If we understand Sabbath as a spiritual practice, then it's not simply about rest. It's about nourishment and deep connection. Sabbath is a time to set aside the demands of daily life. It's a time to direct our attention inward, toward the heart of ... (Continue Reading)

By |2019-12-07T12:09:40-08:00December 8th, 2019|Sabbath, Samhain, Yoga Church Sunday Sermons|0 Comments

Late Autumn Part 4: Turn, Turn, Turn

Welcome to the Yoga Church Sunday Sermons Late Autumn 2019 | Exploring Darkness My dear friend has a little sticky note on her bathroom mirror. It reads: "What you pay attention to grows." I can't remember if there's an author's name or not... But I always remember the quote. It's such a simple sentiment. And a deeply powerful truth. What you pay attention to grows. Life is a series of small moments. And if we allow our attention to get lost on the wrong things we run the risk of creating an identity that isn't connected to the truth ... (Continue Reading)

By |2019-12-13T11:58:34-08:00December 1st, 2019|Samhain, Yoga Church Sunday Sermons|2 Comments

Late Autumn Part 3: The Kind of Person I Am

Welcome to the Yoga Church Sunday Sermons Late Autumn 2019 | Exploring Darkness You've heard me say it before... The Yoga Church has two goals. It's my hope that together we can: Connect with Divine Mystery (however we understand it), And through this connection, learn to love better. These are beautiful goals. But I'm not interested in simply saying pretty things. I'm serious. My inner yearning for the Mystery of God is a yearning for compassion and justice and love. So I ask, how do we learn to love better? How do we actually practice loving ourselves, our communities, and ... (Continue Reading)

By |2019-12-13T11:55:06-08:00November 24th, 2019|Samhain, Yoga Church Sunday Sermons|1 Comment

Late Autumn Part 2: Prayerfully Awake

Welcome to the Yoga Church Sunday Sermons Late Autumn 2019 | Exploring Darkness What do you want? I'm not talking about Christmas list desires here. I'm talking about the call of your heart. What do you want deep in your bones? This question takes discernment. It takes deep listening. Luckily, as British author Jilly Shipway says: "In the same way that the darkness of the night gives us rest and dream time, so too the dark half of the year gives us an opportunity to pause, rest, and rejuvenate." In other words, this is a great time of year to ... (Continue Reading)

By |2019-12-13T11:50:01-08:00November 17th, 2019|Samhain, Yoga Church Sunday Sermons|3 Comments

Late Autumn Part 1: Unraveling Truth & Fear

Welcome to the Yoga Church Sunday Sermons Late Autumn 2019 | Exploring Darkness Let's start with a confession. Writing is hard. OK, I know that's not a very dramatic confession and I hope you're not too disappointed. ;-) But seriously, I almost quit writing this month. As in, no more sermons... I write a lot. It's a major part of my work. And usually I love it. But over the past month writing beat the crap out of me. I've never hit a block quite like this and I seriously almost threw in the towel a couple times. But I ... (Continue Reading)

By |2019-12-13T11:46:33-08:00November 10th, 2019|Samhain, Yoga Church Sunday Sermons|9 Comments

Spiritual Practices for Samhain

Welcome to the Yoga Church Sunday Sermons Spiritual Practices for Samhain As October turns into November we reach the peak of autumn. In the Celtic Wheel of the Year we celebrate the cross quarter festival of Samhain (pronounced sow {like a female pig} en (like the beginning of end). Samhain is understood as the end and beginning of the year. It's a moment of transition where autumn gives way to winter. The harvest is complete. The beautiful autumn leaves are now composting into the earth. The days are becoming darker. The frosts have started to come. And much of the ... (Continue Reading)

By |2023-11-03T13:47:29-07:00November 3rd, 2019|Nature, Practice, Samhain, Spirituality, Yoga Church Sunday Sermons|0 Comments

Why I quit drinking. And other thoughts on rest.

Welcome to the Yoga Church Sunday Sermons Early Autumn 2019 | Reflections on the Practice of Sabbath Why I quit drinking. And other thoughts on rest... I've got a personal reflection to share with you. But first, let me tell you why... The Yoga Church community—of which you are a dear member—is diverse. We come from different religious backgrounds. We live in different countries. We have different levels of experience with spiritual practice. But there’s a few things we all have in common. We’re interested in diving deep and we’re willing to do the hard work of transformation. We’re interested ... (Continue Reading)

By |2019-12-13T11:41:50-08:00October 27th, 2019|Sabbath, Yoga Church Sunday Sermons|5 Comments
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