It's a common scenario: at some point after consistent yoga practice, a student will make the bewildered comment, "I used to feel so much better after yoga but lately I feel worse."

This is actually good news.

Is there a right way to do Warrior I?

One of the things we've been exploring in class on Sunday mornings is how tempting it is to buy into the paradigm of Right and Wrong.

Hard to believe we're into the seventh month of the year. And what a year it's been!

As I've been hearing from many of you as well, this year has been a doozy for me. Health issue after health issue, carefully crafted plans getting demolished, a lot of personal de/re-construction, all on top of family/ancestral wounds in need of healing.

Do you ever feel like it's just "one thing after another?" Or have you heard yourself say, with some amount of sourness, "it's always something!"

Of course you have. You're human and all kinds of things happen in life.

Mmmmm, there’s nothing like a warm, comforting cup of tea on a winter day.

Personally, I love chai. It’s my coffee (since I don’t like coffee).

And chai spices have their medicinal benefits. Fennel, cardamom and coriander are great for digestion and black pepper and ginger are fabulous for kicking on a little fire.

Happy January!

How is your year going so far (non-rhetorical question)?

Usually I do a word or motto of the year. This year I'm thinking about intentions that are more seasonal. Something that feels right at the beginning of the year when it's cold and dark might not be where I am at the peak of summer or the dryness of autumn.

The holidays can be particularly challenging for introverts and empaths.

If you are exhausted by large groups or tend to pick up other people’s energy easily, parties can be a real drag.

You may have heard of compassion fatigue as a condition used to describe the stress associated with working with people who are in crisis, trauma or suffering. Think of people in caregiving or helping professions like nurses, doctors, therapists, veterinarians and animal welfare, child protection workers, journalists, EMTs, police officers and anyone who works with people in trauma or crisis, like natural disasters or crisis workers.

Apparently I have a hard time keeping quiet.

Back at the beginning of summer, I said I'd be stepping back to work on my writing project. And while I have been working on that project, I've also been doing a bunch of other stuff -- fun stuff! -- and engaging, busy, social stuff.

FEELING SAFE ISN'T JUST AN EMOTIONAL NICETY.

When we feel threatened, our biology steps in. Hormones are released that increase the heart rate, blood pressure and blood flow, small airways in the lungs expand, our vision narrows as our other senses sharpen. We can't control any of this. This response is millions of years old and happens without thought.

Social contagion is the well-researched idea that we "catch" emotions and behaviors from other people. We unconsciously start wanting things other people want or normalizing behaviors we previously would not have engaged in.

That's some powerful suggestive influence.

So what can we do to stay aligned with our own deeply held values and not be unconsciously swayed by the actions of other people?

New York City is a wonderful example of how no system works in isolation.

The city of Manhattan, like all cities, has main systems that keep things running smoothly -- water, garbage, sewer, electricity, import/export, and traffic, to name a few. It may seem that these systems are separate and autonomous.

But consider this: if any one of those systems gets clogged or shut down, it will affect many if not most of the other systems.

I love biscuits. My mom used to make biscuits like these, free form and oversized, for breakfast and we'd slather them with butter and honey.

There are for sure things that I just have to accept are going to be "different" in vegan form.

Ice cream. Angel Food Cake.

Different meaning not as good. And I'm ok with that.

Because honestly, anything you can make, I can make vegan. And it's almost always just as good or better. (If that hasn't been true for you, let me give you some better recipes!)