into the blue - stuffings and news
Earlier this month, Katy and I led our retreat, A World of Pressure: Mothers Daughters and the Stories that Shape Us. 17 women, including 15 mothers of daughters (or MODs as we affectionately dubbed them), gathered together in Shelburne Vermont, and created time and space to learn, share, connect, listen, and support each other. I applaud these women for having the courage and faith to come on this retreat--it took a great deal of effort (to leave their motherships), strength (to listen to and support others without judgment or reaction), and bravery (to share their un-edited stories and vulnerabilities). We cannot raise daughters who are authentic, capable of giving and asking for help, and unafraid to be imperfect and walk to the beat of their own drum if we don't first show them what this looks like.
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into the list- bucket list trifecta: jungle, surf & yoga
When I was 25 and in graduate school, riding the 1 train to Columbia, I wrote my bucket list in green ink in a black lined moleskin notebook, now tattered and full. Here’s what I wrote:
Children
Handstand
Drive standard
Publish Novel
Grandchildren
Surf
Vegetable Garden
Live abroad
15 years later, here’s where I’m at:
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into the blue - tapping in, tapping out
My dad always says, “life comes in waves, Georgia—sometimes you’re surfing, sometimes you’re floating, sometimes you’re being rolled, praying to come up for air.”
The past two years I’ve spent this week in April in Costa Rica on a yoga and surf retreat. I love the yoga part, practicing under a palapa roof, the monkey-filled jungle, and the fresh mangos (I don’t even mind the critters in my tent)…but truth be told, I hate the surfing part. I have long fantasized about being a surfer. Seriously, what’s cooler than a mom that surfs? But it’s not just the coolness factor I crave; it’s the deep connection to the universe that I know takes over when riding a wave. My surfer friends describe it as “tapping in.”
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into the blue - tuscany? gloucester?
Thank you to those of you who took the time to read my recent post. Your responses are greatly welcomed and appreciated. I'd like to take a quick moment to share some opportunities for you to fill some S P A C E with Blue Light.
If you haven't heard yet, my dear friend and art historian Katy Smith Abbott and I are leading a retreat in Tuscany October 25 - November 1 2018. We will practice yoga, explore the Tuscan Renaissance in surrounding cities San Gimignano, Siena and Colle di Val d’Elsa, drink wine, taste olive oil, eat and cook with ingredients sourced from the 1100 organic farm we'll be staying on, bike through the surrounding hills, visit a monastery, head to Florence for a day...it goes on. Check out the details here.
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into the blue - s p a c e
I often dream about discovering unknown spaces in my house. I find a staircase or a trap door leading to an uninhabited room. I’m always conflicted about how to use the space; should it be a guest room, a yoga studio. How can I integrate the room into what already exists? I wake up with a familiar giddiness, similar to how I felt when we discovered a built-in stepping stool under our kitchen sink (we lived here for a year not knowing the stool was there). During our first spring in our house we were pleasantly surprised to find apple trees outside that had been covered in snow when we bought the house. Or just a few days ago, after mowing the field a little wider than usual, we discovered asparagus. For three years I’ve been buying asparagus not knowing the vegetable was growing in my backyard.
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into the blue- practice what you preach
What would you say if someone guaranteed you a more fulfilling life that required no cutting out of gluten, no traveling to the opposite side of the world, no breaking the bank on the newest healing modality or all-natural plant-based organic product, no sweating it out in front of the latest exercise stream from LA, no need to own a vitamix, no need to follow GP’s diet or beauty routine? Would you be interested? I would.
The wellness industry has hit an all time high of $3.7 trillion and according to the 2018 Global Wellness Summit this number is only going to increase due to rising industry trends like magic mushrooms and feminist wellness. The wellness industry is three times the size of the pharmaceutical industry in this country.
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into the blue- clichés
I often give the advice "do it differently, try another avenue." So this fall, I'm going to take a stab at listening to my own advice (because usually what we tell other people is really what we need to hear ourselves, right?). I'm not going to teach any classes for the time being. I'm actively looking for a space to house Blue Light but until the right space manifests, I'm sitting still for awhile. Awhile may be a week, a month...maybe longer.
Another tidbit I often share is "look for the clichés in life" as they are often hastily disregarded. Well, I'm currently living one of these clichés and I'm trying hard to embrace rather than disregard this pivotal transition. I'm the mom whose babies are now in school all day, everyday, and suddenly, I have, for the first time in 8 years (Insert: I know it sounds so cliché...it's killing me too!) time to myself.
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into the blue - into the light
we are all called back into the light,
readily cracking out from our hard-spun cocoons
like seeds dormant in their shells,
the light transforms us from arrested to aspiring energy
hungry to expand into the newly charged ever tender rays
and open completely to the sweeping, absolving rains
acutely aware again
of our potential
There really is nothing more beautiful than spring in New England. It’s so green and gentle and full of promise. And it’s such a nice time to practice yoga.
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into the blue- red books, simmering and the azores
Although it was unintentional on my part, it occurred to me this morning that the last time I wrote to you we had just set our clocks back an hour for daylight savings, and here we are, springing forward again. I’m partial to springing forward over falling back. It’s always around this time that I reach for my Red Book. For those of you who don’t know about my trusty Red Book, it’s my personal guide to how to live better. I write down what I learn as I go, things like “Christmas shop early," “Buy travel insurance,” “Leave a day between coming home from vacation and going back to work,” “Turn the lights down when you’re hosting a party,” or today, I wrote “Break up routine with peace-ing out to places where less clothes are necessary and adventures are a guarantee, and if that’s not possible, put plans in place for when it is.” I often forget my own advice but nonetheless I keep trying to help my future self.
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out of the blue
And it’s November. Daylight savings has ended. We have arrived at shorter colder days. I think the key to getting through New England winters is twofold: 1) get outside and 2) do yoga. After a long cross country ski or hike in the woods, or to fight off those shoveling aches or winter blues, join me at BLUE LIGHT where you can practice overlooking the Ipswich River in front of a wood burning stove.
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into the blue- amy are giving s'more
On Friday, an unseasonably warm day, my family and I drove to Appleton, a beautiful working farm patched together by rolling stone walls and rooted, through all-knowing trees, to a time without cell phones, to celebrate our friend Amy. As we moved along the winding dirt road, following arrows to the "Celebration of Amy’s Life" written in chalk on slate, we were overwhelmed (but not surprised) by the stream of cars ahead of us, behind us. Car after car parked in the field, person after person opened their doors, and joined the steady seamless flow to our seats under the enormous white tent looming in front of us. Embrace. Again. And again. Each face sparked a connection to Amy and our mutual loss. Each embrace another notch in healing. The sun so bright. The air so warm. The sky so blue.
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into the blue- end-of-summer-blues?...nah!
Hello!
What a wonderful whirlwind it’s been since the last Blue Light Yoga newsletter. It was back to school week in our house and although a part of me is working hard to stave off those familiar end-of-summer blues, another part is embracing these chilly mornings, ripe tomatoes, and golden light draping over the trees.
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into the blue- we all we got. we all we need."
Well, a lot has happened since I last wrote before Mother’s Day…
My cousin passed away earlier this month. His death was sudden and (continues to be) heart wrenching. Only weeks into life without my cousin, I am acutely aware of the finality of death and the labor of grieving. I have a new understanding of what it means for your heart to ache and your breath to be taken away and the all-encompassing effects of grieving. And all the while, another week goes by, another month begins, and the simple unbelievable undeniable truth is driven home: life goes on. The truth stings as much as it holds us in place.
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into the blue- mother's day
Growing up, my mother pooh-poohed mother’s day as a hallmark holiday. My husband, however, ignored my inherited skepticism and has created a Mother’s Day tradition that I have come to cherish: every first Sunday in May since the birth of our son, my husband has whisked our family away to a quiet weekend on the Vineyard with a backpack full of hallmark cards (all of which, I must admit, I love to receive…I even get one from our dog Gritty Girl!). After reading my cards, we indulge in blueberry pancakes at The Black Dog overlooking the Vineyard Haven harbor.
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