What do you love to do? What activity brings you so much joy that time stops (or seems to disappear) when you're engaged with it?
One of the things I've always loved to do is write. I often have an easier time expressing myself through the written word than speaking. However, besides writing this blog, I hadn't allotted much time to writing for several years.
I decided to change that this year. This Spring I took an online writing course, Finding Your Voice, with Elephant Journal's founder Waylon Lewis. Tomorrow, I leave for North Carolina to spend a couple of days in Asheville to visit the retreat center where I'm holding next Fall's Yoga and Hiking Retreat, and to attend The Unafraid Storyteller: Telling Your Story with Authenticity retreat with John Roedel.
I've been writing on most days, reading books about writing, and I've published some articles. If you missed my previous posts about some the works I've published, scroll down for summaries and links.
I hope that my journey to spend more time on what I love inspires you to do the same.
You may or may not have followed my series this Summer about the eight-limbed yogic path as outlined in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.
If you missed it, or are unsure of how this 2,000 year-old philosophy applies to you, check out the article that I wrote for YOGA+life, The 8 Limbs of Yoga: How They are Relevant Today.
To dive deeper into each of the eight steps through discussion and practice, join me for The Yogic Path four-part workshop series on Tuesdays, October 3 to 24 via Zoom from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time. Register here. If you can't attend all sessions, you will receive the recordings for registering.
Maybe you’ve heard of the Farm Bill but don’t know anything about it. Perhaps you’re wondering why anyone other than farmers should pay attention to this piece of legislation that is renewed every five years.
Those of us who eat and pay taxes should care about the Farm Bill, because programs funded by this massive bill affect food prices and the accessibility and availability of healthy food.
To learn more about the Farm Bill, and what you can do to influence what is included in the bill, check out the article I wrote for Elephant Journal, What's the Farm Bill & Why is it Important to All of Us?
The article that is most personal to me is the one that I wrote for Elephant Journal about my beloved Ella, "Unleash Your Joy" – And 9 Other Lessons from a Shelter Dog who Became Queen.
This piece gives a glimpse into the ways Ella touched my life in the 15+ years that we spent together. I'm sure if you've had the pleasure of spending time with a dog, you know that they have a lot to teach us about being present, living life to the fullest, and loving unconditionally.
My dream is to run with this idea, and publish a book someday that shares these and the multitude of other lessons that Ella taught me.