Meditation

Love as an Inner Sanctuary (love – part 4)

Welcome to the Yoga Church Sunday Sermons. November 4th, 2018 Back in September, a yoga church community member asked me how we can love people we have contempt for. If you've been following along then you know her question sent me down a rabbit hole of exploration... This week I have the fourth, and final (for now!), sermon about love. I seriously didn't mean to write a 4-part series about love. But my heart just couldn't leave the topic. If you follow me on instagram, you may have seen the photo I posted last week of a huge maple ... (Continue Reading)

By |2020-02-26T18:27:52-08:00November 4th, 2018|Art, Creativity, Meditation, Practice, Relationships, Religion, Scripture, Spirituality, Yoga Church Sunday Sermons|7 Comments

Love & Sacrifice (love – part 2)

Welcome to the Yoga Church Sunday Sermons. October 21st, 2018 {psst: there's downloadable art farther along in this post, so be sure you make it all the way to the bottom!} Love is a word that means SO many different things in our culture. It can be utterly casual—almost to the point of meaninglessness. But it's also a word powerful enough to change our lives. Sometimes it's the word we deeply need to hear. Sometimes it's the word we're terrified to say. I know that we all need love. I know that we want to be loving people. And I ... (Continue Reading)

By |2020-02-26T18:07:50-08:00October 21st, 2018|Art, Books, Creativity, Meditation, Nature, Practice, Relationships, Religion, Scripture, Spirituality, Yoga, Yoga Church Sunday Sermons|5 Comments

The Middle Ground Between Love & Contempt (love – part 1)

After listening to the sermon “Who, or what, is God?” a few weeks ago, Pam wrote: “As soon as you asked what opposites I feel in my life I thought of the command to love everyone and yet I find myself disliking our country’s leaders. Without getting political, how do we feel love towards someone who we don’t respect? For me this is a constant push and pull struggle. How do I reflect God’s love in my life if I have contempt for someone?” These are important personal reflections and wise questions. Thank you Pam for sharing them with ... (Continue Reading)

By |2021-07-29T13:40:30-07:00October 7th, 2018|Art, Embodiment, Meditation, Nature, Practice, Relationships, Religion, Scripture, Spirituality, Yoga, Yoga Church Sunday Sermons|12 Comments

Keeping Time (fall equinox part 2)

As promised, here’s part 2 of the fall equinox sermon. Last week we rooted ourselves on the ground. And this week we explore the practice of keeping time. One of the ways we mark time at our house is by greeting every new season with a morning fire. We take a moment out of regular life to pause and notice the energetic shifts happening in the natural world and to notice how these shifts are showing up in our own lives. We reflect on the intentions of the past season and set new intentions for the months ahead. ... (Continue Reading)

By |2021-07-28T17:49:59-07:00September 29th, 2018|Art, Autumn, Books, Creativity, Meditation, Nature, Practice, Relationships, Religion, Scripture, Spirituality, Yoga, Yoga Church Sunday Sermons|6 Comments

the Ground of all Being (fall equinox part 1)

Yesterday—in the northern hemisphere where I live—was the fall equinox and it was my full intention to offer you a sermon in celebration of the season change. But when I sat down to write, something else entirely poured out of me... The fall equinox feels like a very earthy thing and apparently something inside of me needed to root us on the ground before I could actually begin writing about the season change. So you're getting the fall equinox sermon in two parts over two weeks. The Ground of all Being (fall equinox part 1) ... (Continue Reading)

By |2021-07-28T17:44:50-07:00September 23rd, 2018|Art, Autumn, Books, Creativity, Embodiment, Meditation, Nature, Practice, Relationships, Religion, Scripture, Spirituality, Yoga, Yoga Church Sunday Sermons|4 Comments

Our Favorite Scriptures

Hello friends, This is the first of two community queries that I'm posting. I love scripture and I have a ton of favorite sacred texts. Over the years, I've shared many of them with you. But I would like to turn the tables here. I want to hear about your favorite scripture. I want to learn from you. And I want you to learn from each other. Let's inspire each other. Let's spiritually nurture one another. Please take a moment to share your favorite scripture with everyone in the comments below. Thank you for being a part of this community! I'm so ... (Continue Reading)

By |2016-04-21T16:06:23-07:00April 21st, 2016|Books, Creativity, Embodiment, Meditation, Nature, Practice, Relationships, Religion, Scripture, Spirituality, Yoga|10 Comments

Remembering the Light Within

I had the opportunity to travel to Whittier Friends Church outside of LA this past weekend. I was invited by the dean of my seminary (Earlham School of Religion or ESR) to come and speak about entrepreneurial ministry, which is a name being applied to ministers working outside of traditional church settings. It's a growing reality and one that I'm happy to see ESR supporting. My own ministry work, which happens online, in yoga studios, and with one-on-one clients in my office, is definitely outside traditional structures. There is a hunger in our culture for authentic spiritual practice and a ... (Continue Reading)

By |2019-10-08T14:54:08-07:00February 3rd, 2016|Books, Meditation, Practice, Quaker, Religion, Scripture, Spirituality, Yoga|4 Comments

May there be peace on earth | Free practice (2015)

During the holidays we often hear the phrase "Let there be peace on earth." This a beautiful sentiment, one that I pray for everyday. Unfortunately, it's not a reality for many people. When I think about this, I often become overwhelmed. I'm unsure how to respond to all the needs within my family, my town, my country, my world. We are exposed to so much poverty, suffering, and terror on a daily basis. My prayers for peace feel inadequate. But prayers are powerful. I've been actively praying for the past 10-years. My personal understanding---and my theology---of prayer has changed radically ... (Continue Reading)

By |2019-10-08T15:20:26-07:00December 8th, 2015|Asana, Embodiment, Holidays, Meditation, Practice, Pranayama, Religion, Scripture, Spirituality, Yoga|0 Comments

Reflections for the Autumn Equinox (2015)

The autumn season is officially upon us. Time to start wearing scarves and drinking more hot tea. The equinox is the time when the sun crosses the plane of the earth's equator (referred to as the celestial equator), making night and day approximately equal in length all over the planet. Today we will have the same amount of light and dark. From this day of balance, we will begin to slowly move toward more darkness than light. I always enjoy the changing of the seasons. The change provides us with a moment to pause and reflect every few months. Please enjoy ... (Continue Reading)

By |2019-10-08T15:05:47-07:00September 22nd, 2015|Art, Autumn, Cooking, Creativity, Embodiment, Meditation, Nature, Practice, Recipes, Relationships, Spirituality|0 Comments

The Five Great Elements (Pancha Mahabhutas)

I've been called a tree hugger many times, which is a name I happily accept (and an action I admit to doing more than once!). I love trees. I love water. I love stars. I love nature. Recently I've been reflecting on the fact that I am nature. I've been studying Ayurvedic medicine (as part of my training in yoga therapy) and have been reading a lot about the Five Great Elements, which could also be called the five great states of material existence. As part of my study I've been reading about the creation story of Samkhya philosophy. Samkhya ... (Continue Reading)

By |2015-08-20T14:49:02-07:00August 19th, 2015|Art, Creativity, Embodiment, Meditation, Nature, Practice, Pranayama, Religion, Spirituality, Yoga|0 Comments
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