Fire is the element of vitality and passion. It springs up fast and wild, and needs to be fueled to remain bright. It's symbolic of energy, creation, and transformation. This has been a summer of transformation, and I feel myself burning wild and bright! Within...
Deep fissures carve their way into my heart from watching the aftermath of destruction in Nepal, as well as from exhuming my own past. Two years this week since Nepal’s devastating earthquakes, and so many people still living in dire conditions. The government...
A year since the Nepal earthquake, and I am finally feeling like myself again, feeling whole again. Healing is a slow process. At first I didn’t even realize how broken I was. My focus was entirely outward—on the safety and care of the clients I needed to...
In a time where my sadness seems to grow deeper by the day, what gives me the greatest hope in Nepal are its savvy youth, coming of age, coming together. After I reached Kathmandu, after I saw every last client safely on a flight home, my attention turned to a broader...
On April 25th, getting acclimatized to high altitude in Namche Bazaar consisted of a 4-hour hike, gaining 1000 feet, in fog with light rain and snow. The 25 of us with Mountain Madness--clients, Nepali staff, and myself--had just returned to our teahouse before lunch....
Suddenly my life exploded. Within one month of returning to San Francisco in May, I sat a 5-day silent meditation retreat, bought a home, and moved…in addition to working with my business clients, meeting friends, celebrating birthdays, returning to yoga, and dancing...
Nepalis generally don't hesitate to state the obvious with friends and family -- and they're rather observant. They greet me and appraise with me (with affection). If I've gained weight since my last visit, they tell me I'm a little fatter than last year. If I've...
This life I lead, its cyclical nature of comings and goings...it can be hard on relationships and friendships, on my body, on my time, on my work, on my practices. It pulls me out of my routines of running, yoga, meditation. It pulls me away from clients,...
Arching panes of rain-spattered glass shield me from the heat and moisture of Hong Kong. Framed by a lustrous steel endoskeleton, the airport seating area has triple the space of a cathedral and one hundred times the light. My gaze wanders out across the water and...
An old mother in a red sari was crying at the side of the trail. We followed her gaze, her distraught explanation, and saw a group of men and boys gathered around an isolated stand of bamboo. Up in the leaves, a gray faced monkey was rustling between branches, trying...