I can still hear my late sister Gail impersonating one of her young elementary school students, checking out her gray hair and asking her with an inquisitive stance, hands on his hips (ha!), head sidecocked with one eye closed, “Are you a (sic) ole lady?” Every time I struggle with stiff joints, unable to put […]
“ Are You a (sic) Ole Lady?”: A Yoga Teacher’s Hip Replacement Journey (part 1) Read More »
Always drawn to warm tones, this stone is one of my favorites. Thought to be named for the red-orange Kornel cherry, its deep orange-red tones are warm enough to stand up against gold or to contrast cooler tones of silver and white gold. This stone will stoke your Root, Sacral and Solar Plexus Chakras, as
Tigereye is in the chalcedony family and occurs when quartz forms over crocidolite, a material of piled fibers, and when sliced, give us the beautifully banded effect so attractive to the human eye, those deep brown bands cut with shimmering blond bands, known as chatoyance, familiarly attributed to Tigereye. Huge deposits are found in South
I am not gonna lie to ya. Purple has never been my favorite color. But it has grown on me. Mainly because of my work with gemstones and yoga. Purple is the supreme color in both arenas. Purple, or violet, if you want to follow the Roy G. Biv ladder, is the color of the
This stone pays tribute to the mighty river near where many Amazonite resources are found in Brazil, though you actually won’t find it along its shores. Still, one can easily envision the Amazon and its natural blues, greens, tans and creams of its water and riverbed. It’s also found in India, Australia, Madagascar, Namibia and
All week long when this word was the class theme for my classes I had that pop song, “to know, know, know him, is to love, love, love him”. I felt guilty. What does that syrupy song have to do with an ancient Sanskrit word that means to know who you are, where you’re from,
Dharma comes from the Sanskrit root dhr, which means “to sustain”, so dharma literally means that which sustains. Simply put, it means duty. What is your duty in life? That changes, depending on your age, your vocation in life, evolving relationships, and your interests. It has moral connotations, the idea that a certain dynamic order
Karma has accumulated a bad rep in this country. Karma is not always bad. And it isn’t necessarily a punishment. It is an opportunity to learn. It is an opportunity to hold yourself accountable for your actions because there is nothing so bold as to admit your shortcomings and hold yourself responsible for your behavior,
What is Yoga? Literally, it means to unite, to yoke. We unite mind, body and spirit to become more whole, more connected with ourselves. In ancient times, as yoga first took root, it was about getting in tune with yourself and your innate nature, to be kind and compassionate. to reach a higher consciousness. It
Prized in ancient times by both Romans and Egyptians and referred to as “saphirus” because of its rich blue tones that are reminiscent of the semi-precious gemstone sapphire, Lapis Lazuli has been of particular interest to royalty from all corners of the globe, from kings and czars, to emperors and pharaohs, as it is thought
