I love winter sunsets. There’s something about how low the sun is in the sky. There’s something about that sweet moment when gold bathes the treetops and sends it’s brilliant hue across the leaves. In this moment, gazing out over the sky, the trees, the sky beneath the clouds, that I feel that no matter what has happened today, there is something beautiful about this life. Amidst all of my frustrations, difficulties, pettiness, challenge, unhappiness, wishing things were different, the setting sun and the light it shoots out uplifts my heart. I feel lighter, more joyous.
I have to remember that life is all of these things: it is the challenge, it is the despair, it is the agony, the fear. Every time we want it to be easy, every time we want things to fall in our laps, every time we want the solution to appear before us, we have to remember the glory, the joy of solving the problems, of crossing the finish line, of training and sweating and struggling.
I’m reminded of the fact that bone density, whether we’re considering building or maintaining, is triggered by the stress applied to the bone by the surrounding musculature. Bones only grow, they’re only strong, when we place some mechanical stress upon them. It’s not unlike the lives we lead. We need the adventure, the drama, the difficulty. And sometimes, when it’s missing, we create it and manufacture it.
We may get caught up in things that seem to be of dire importance, life or death decisions, even if they’re not. When they’re not easy, when someone makes a comment that rankles, when we argue or stick to our guns or question our decisions, we may question, waffle, wonder, struggle. But it’s all important. It is.
And then, watching the sun set, I feel like I’ve made the right decisions. Even the ones I’ve bungled terribly. And I feel oh-so-very-lucky to have this day.

Doing new things in life, things beyond our comfort zone, stretch us and inspire us to grow. It may sound like a platitude, but it really is the truth. This past week, I officiated at a wedding ceremony, and last night, stood on stage in a theater full of people and read a story that I wrote. In both instances, I was terrified beforehand, but once on stage, I took a deep breath and just spoke. I was prepared, I had rehearsed. I had also lost sleep, gotten wound up, facing and refacing and working and reworking the words on the page, preparing and repreparing. When onstage, a part of me wondering, what was all that fuss about? Why was it so hard? But the preparation was a necessary part of the process. If I hadn't spent days writing and rewriting, feeling the agony, going through the ups and the downs, the breathlessness, the rehearsals with friends, the writing of nonsense to uncover the essence of it. That's the tapas, the walking on coals, the steaming ourselves in the fire, that gets us to where we need to be, that helps us grow. Ultimately stress helps us to grow, stretches us. It's the stress of the muscles ever-so-slightly tugging on our bones that allows the mineral to be deposited, that makes us stronger. On stage, I felt the high of sharing laughter, of reaching out. Thanks to yoga teacher and great friend Denise Kaufman for her excellent coaching. Thanks to Karin Gutman and everyone at SPARK for being so awesome. SPARK is a storytelling series that takes place the first Monday of every month at the very cool Powerhouse Theatre in Venice. Last night, the theme was Space, December it's the Seven Dwarves. Cool Stuff

I can't believe it's been a month since I posted. It seems like the world is accelerating around me and so much has happened--including another issue of LA YOGA Ayurveda and Health magazine, as well as the National Ayurvedic Medical Association conference in Chicago.

Noticing the dates flying by on the calender reminds me of the all-important Ayurvedic fact: we are constanly buffeted by the effects of the vata dosha, the energetics of air and space and movement. And even more so now, as compared to the way the world was and the people were in it during the time when many of these written texts were actually pent. The society we live in is characterized by an excess of the vata dosha, leading us to have problemes with anxiety and fear.

So, each one of my days is foucesd on reducing stress and calming vata. There are many proactices that do so, and my current favorite is a hot water bottle. It's easy to use, easy to reuse or recylce the water (planting trees0. I have a water bottle right now, sitting at my feet.
Every night, it helps me feel more relaxed, calm, grounded, centered.