Blog | Luisa Tanno

Featured March 5, 2022

Love Letters: Dear Mrs. Daniel

I wanted one of my Love Letters to be to teachers, because … well, because teachers ARE love and NEED our love and support at this moment, more than ever. Then I remembered something I wrote years ago, which includes a letter to one very special teacher. I thought I’d share that with you, hoping…

Love Letters: Dear Theaters

Dear Theaters: I am talking to you, all of you – the precious spaces that encase us in art. I celebrate your seats, your black dusty stages, your regal curtains and simple scrims, your lights that dim and dance before our eyes, your cavernous silence and boundless sound. You contain, and sustain life. We…

Featured February 17, 2022

Love Letters: Dear Hard Workers

Dear Hard Workers, I see you and gaze upon you with love and admiration as I watch you strive, dig-in, and commit. While I sit and conjure, dream and fret – you get to work. (Not to disparage the conjurers and dreamers. They are, without a doubt, among you!) I appreciate that right now you’ve…

Featured February 14, 2022

Love Letters: Dear Kindness …

In the sprit of Valentine’s Day I decided to write a series of love letters which I am happy to share with you here. First up … Dear Kindness, I’m writing to thank you for being a beacon of light. You are the very best of me and I want you to know how much…

Featured February 2, 2022

Company: Sorry, Grateful

I finally made it to the current revival of Company after two foiled attempts! This production is notable for a gender swap of the lead character Bobby, usually male but here played by Katrina Lenk. I have seen Company in four previous New York iterations, one in person and the others on video, and have…

Featured January 21, 2022

A Journey through The Music Man

If memory serves, “The Music Man“ was the first live musical I ever saw. My parents took me to a community theatre production of it when I was probably eight or nine years old. I was playing flute at the time and they thought I’d be excited by the prospect of playing in an orchestra…

Featured May 12, 2021

Wavy Lines

I moved to Connecticut from New York City in 1992. The plan was always to go back. I thought it would be a few years, that I just needed to get my bearings again, maybe take some community college classes, figure things out. Instead, I ended up discovering and creating a wonderful life in CT. …

Featured December 20, 2020

Winter Positivity

Winter can be daunting, and this one brings with it challenges we never could have imagined. As I reflect on some of my writing, I see that my winter posts are often filled with encouragement. Never much of a winter person, it appears true that we do indeed write what we most need to hear.…

Featured September 3, 2020

The Season of Not Knowing

Knowing makes me happy. Knowledge is essential to some of the activities I most enjoy, like planning and teaching and creating. Oh, and taking quizzes! I love taking quizzes. I really, really, really like knowing. These days it is difficult to know anything. Markers of certainty have vanished. My shoulders are tired from shrugging. Aren’t yours? When…

Featured May 28, 2020

Best of Blogs

As I ponder where my writing might take me next, I have compiled some of my favorite blogposts. Sharing these posts has given me great fulfillment through the years and I am so grateful to you for reading them. If I have forgotten to include one of YOUR favorites, please let me know!

Featured December 15, 2018

Theatrical Highlights of 2018 (Part II)

Continuing to share some of my favorite theatrical occasions of the year. Be sure to check out Part I Understudy I took my seat for Lobby Hero, opened the Playbill and saw that slip of paper announcing that one of the roles would be played by an understudy. As it was a cast of only…

Featured December 8, 2018

Theatrical Highlights of 2018 (Part I)

If you know me, you know that I love the theatre. I have been wanting to write more about theatre and art but I keep getting stuck; a weird, topic-specific form of writer’s block. So to break through I decided to write bite-sized blurbs about some of my favorite theatrical moments of the year. I…

Featured November 6, 2018

Unexpected Gifts

Twice Around played a gig on Sunday. We were the opening act for the Irish duo Seafoam Green at a great concert series in New Haven that hosts local and National acts. We had played a solo show there over the Summer and had a wonderful time. Opening for someone can be a real opportunity.…

Featured September 28, 2018

Chances

A couple of years ago, I auditioned for a local theatre production. It was my first audition in forever, but the call of the stage is always whispering to me and this seemed like a doable opportunity to heed its call. Plus, it felt like an adventure! Other than my voice teacher, who helped me…

Featured July 19, 2018

Air: A Diary of Breath

Stepping out of the 72nd street subway station, my shoulders soften at the sight of the Ansonia Building on my left, the Apple Bank building on my right. Immediately my breath becomes easy. Every time I arrive here I return to myself. Many, many years ago, this was my neighborhood, my station stop. It…

Featured March 8, 2018

Dragons

Recently, I had the joyful, and humbling, experience of making art in the studio of a talented friend and client. She had invited my friend and I to join her for a day of painting where she would offer us some instruction, but ultimately we’d be allowed to just PLAY. It was an inspiration being in her studio, surrounded by her beautiful…

Featured November 25, 2017

Volume

Its been over a year since I opened my private practice for yoga and massage and meditation . In some ways the time has flown … can it really be that I have been through all four seasons in this space already? In other ways it has gone slowly and taken its sweet time for…

Featured May 15, 2017

Generosity of Spirit

My Love and I are taking off soon for a vacation! Travel, for me, is one of life’s greatest joys and, as is the case with all things joyous, it is best when shared. Even vicariously. What a gift it has been to talk of our travel plans with clients and friends and have them participate in the…

Featured March 14, 2017

Jar of Ten

There are two things you may or may not know about me: 1) I have a hard time being consistent 2) I’m a girl who loves a project A project requires planning and creativity (love), presents challenges that require problem solving (love), gives one a sense of purpose (love) and when you reach the end…

Featured February 9, 2017

Love is All Around

Much has been said of the divisiveness permeating our Country today. Yes, it is there and it is unsettling. But there is something else I am noticing in the past few weeks: a desire for connection. I am meeting more eyes as I walk through town. I want to smile at you and I feel…

Featured November 20, 2016

Walls

Luisa’s note: This post is written by Jennifer Blankfein, one of my steadiest dance attendees. I love it because it champions the freedom and acceptance that are at the core of our classes. She expresses this beautifully while sharing the tale of a visitor who came to class and exemplified it all. Enjoy 🙂 No…

Featured November 10, 2016

Wake Up Strong

Last night I found myself on the couch under a blanket, reeling from the shock of this election. I felt paralyzed to do anything save for wallow in fear and disbelief. But amid my despair I had a mantra: tomorrow, I wake up strong. I must wake up strong because there is work to be…

Featured October 16, 2016

Hats

This is a piece I wrote back in 2011. Seeing as it is October and I find myself making some changes, it seemed a good time to dust it off … I am collector of hats. Not the fancy fashionable ones. No, I am talking metaphorical hats here. I wear many in my life and, more…

Featured September 26, 2016

Harvesting

I have never fancied myself much of a collector. That (seemingly) fanatical drive to seek out and amass Barbies, stamps, ornaments, etc., is beyond me. Plus, I can be a tad fanatical about throwing things out and de-cluttering, so collecting does not appear to be in my nature. Or so I thought. Lately, I have…

Featured July 2, 2016

80’s Movies: A Love Affair (and Quasi Book Review)

While browsing through a quaint bookshop last week, drawing my hand across stacked paperbacks on a table, I touched down on Hadley Freeman’s Life Moves Pretty Fast: The Lessons We Learned From Eighties Movies (And Why We Don’t Learn Them Anymore). I picked it up for a perfunctory flip-through and knew instantly it would be…

Featured June 14, 2016

Stop & Smell the Peonies – A guest blog from Lisa Olson

Lisa Olson is the creator of 8 Days Workshops, which are a lovely blend of creative writing, personal retreat, soul searching and connecting with similar souls. All done via email and Facebook so they are accessible for everyone. She also happens to be one of my closest friends. Here she shares about a delightful new tradition…

Featured June 2, 2016

No Brainer

Ideas can land on you from above, like a gift from the Gods. This phenomenon has happened to me when writing, especially songwriting. Suddenly there is a melody where before there was nothing. I wasn’t even searching. My decision to become a Massage Therapist happened in this way. I was at the feet of a…

Featured May 6, 2016

Rubik’s Cube

Have you ever had the sense that you’re working on something? Something deep, brewing within you, calling your name. You are chewing on an idea, dusting off a truth or unpacking a dream. This “something” is not fully formed but it is lurking. Whatever it is, you can feel it, just at the surface but…

Featured March 23, 2016

Roots

In my recent workshop, we used a variety of artistic mediums to explore creative “assignments” — writing, drawing, photography, etc. This was born of the notion that trying something different can reveal a new layer of our creativity, a new aspect of our being. For a couple of the assignments, I found myself writing in third…

Featured January 6, 2016

Languages

While out to dinner the other night, my Love and I were discussing goals for the New Year. As he listed some of his, I reflected that he seemed to have several categories: career, personal development, artistic. He stopped me and said, “ in my mind, its all language.” At first this confused me because…

Featured December 2, 2015

Seeking Silence

Silence. Listen for it. Can you hear it in the space between words? Between the whir of moving vehicles, the cell phone chatter, the music, the voices wanting to be heard? Our World is busy. It is loud out there. Silence can get lost in the hustle. So can space. As in the space to…

Featured November 10, 2015

Who Am I?

My recent online Journaling Experience featured 10 days of questions designed to help us gain a better understanding of our identity, what drives us and what stands in our way. We began with the simple (profound) question: who am I? When we meet someone new we often lead with questions such as: Where are you…

Featured October 28, 2015

NEW Journaling Experience Starts Nov 1st!

I am hosting a NEW journaling workshop starting this Sunday 11/1. It is all done via email so you can participate from anywhere at your own time and pace. Join us! All the details below: 10 Days, 10 Questions: A Journaling Experience We often find ourselves seeking answers in life. But sometimes asking the right question is the…

Featured October 10, 2015

Holding Back

I love to sing! It is from my soul. Lucky for me, I am part of an acoustic duo so, for many years, I have had the pleasure of singing in front of people. It is interesting that singing has been such a consistent outlet for me considering that it was once a source of…

Featured September 19, 2015

California Connection

Southern California was home for the first 19 years of my life. It witnessed my formation and, of course, it helped to form me. The area that saw you grow up always has a special place deep within you. It is an identity. My boyfriend Jesse and I met over twelve years ago while living…

Featured September 2, 2015

Ebb & Flow

There is an ebb and flow to virtually all things. It is nature’s way. The tide must go in to come out, our favorite Season builds slowly and leaves briskly. (Our least favorite seems to last forever.) We are nature and so it is the same for us. Though, it can seem as though we…

Featured June 3, 2015

Sparkle and Quirk

I stand before my closet of clothes. These are all clothes I picked out, perfectly fine clothes, but nothing here feels right today. Nothing says “ME” exactly. There are parts of my personality that are simply not expressed by any of these garments. I go shopping to get something new, the proper outfit for who…

Featured May 3, 2015

Sparks

Passion. We can yearn for it like a long lost lover. It can feel out of reach or far removed. We remember how we felt when we first fell in love, started our career, moved into our home. We recall a sense of bubbly excitement and compare that with how we feel now. This comparison…

Featured April 5, 2015

Nerves

This past week I taught a yoga class. Even though I teach yoga all the time in private practice, this was the first time in a long time I stood in front of a group of students to teach. It was at the wonderful Ganga Flow Yoga studio where I am going to start teaching regularly so it…

Featured March 5, 2015

In Defense of Ease

Myth: I need to summon strength and courage to make my dreams come true. Why a myth? It sounds reasonable. But recently I had a shift in thought that made that whole notion seem ridiculous. If your dream is born of what you love, why paint it as a giant monster that you must prepare…

Featured February 17, 2015

Sunny Disposition

This past week I was vacationing out West and spent several Fantastic days with my Sister and my three nephews in Los Angeles. We grew up in the area and wanted to show the kids Universal Studios and Hollywood and the beach and other fun places we went to when we were their age. The…

Featured February 4, 2015

Whispers From the Cocoon

Dear Self, Yes, yes I get it. You have a hard time in Winter. You want to lie on the couch, yet you don’t WANT to want that and so you struggle. Yes. I know. But remember that January was a time for cocooning. It has not been entirely wasteful. Think of all the insights you have had. None of which actually stirred…

Featured January 10, 2015

Expressions and JournalTalk!

Expressions Remix: A 21 Day Creative Journaling Workshop starts MONDAY 1/12! The first day of any of my online creative journaling workshops in exciting! There is a sense of new beginnings in the air. I picture the participants settling down with their notebook and pen to savor the first page as it welcomes all that…

Featured January 7, 2015

Stories, Old and New

A New Year. Fresh and shiny. It beckons with possibility. The “thing to do” in a New Year is to make resolutions and set goals. I shy away from this typically, preferring to choose a theme to focus on, such as communication, education, realtionships, etc. This year it occurred to me that my reticence to…

Featured December 10, 2014

Crickets

Inspiration can be elusive. There are phases in life when you have so much to express you don’t know where to begin. Then there are those times when you want so badly to say something, yet nothing comes. Crickets. I have been hearing a lot of crickets lately. It is frustrating! The lack of ideas…

Featured November 29, 2014

Small Business Gratitude

Small Business Saturday is the latest addition to the Holiday shopping lexicon. After fighting the crowds on Black Friday and before settling in at your computer on Cyber Monday, you can find some fabulous deals at your local small businesses on Saturday. I love this idea, in part because of my admiration for those courageous…

Featured November 14, 2014

Symphony: A Blogpost in Four Movements

Prelude When we were kids, my sister and I attended many symphony concerts at the University of California Riverside. Mind you, this was not our choice. We were dragged there begrudgingly. Our Dad worked as Associate Librarian at the University and was also involved with the Music Department. Attending those concerts was somewhat of an…

Featured November 8, 2014

Kaleidoscope

The fabric of your being is multi-colored, poly-textural and glorious. You are in fact kaleidoscopic. Depending on where you are and whom you are with, your colors and patterns shift. It is all you, though. Every turn is beautiful. Your light shines differently, but brilliantly in every setting. The friends you made in High School…

Featured October 15, 2014

Harvesting

Featured September 9, 2014

Time and Time Again

Please note: What follows is not a lament on aging. Granted, it may appear so, but really, it is not. Being of a Zen nature and all, I am NOT freaked out to be in my MID-FORTIES! No, no. No. I take these things in stride, I look for the good in everything. Even though…

Featured August 17, 2014

Just Go Ahead and Flop

This past Friday, while in New York, I took a dance class. I have been doing this lately on Fridays, going to the city to take dance and voice classes and absorb artistic inspiration of all kinds. Looking at the studio schedule, I decided to try a Contemporary Floor class. I have taken many Floor…

Featured August 6, 2014

Skillfulness

My recent change of schedule has yielded me more free time. This is exactly what I intended, of course, but free time by itself can be tricky. There are pitfalls all around (tv, internet, opening the fridge and cupboards repeatedly, etc.) I was aware of these pitfalls and their allure, so I had a plan: carve…

Featured July 26, 2014

Studio Spaces

The narrow staircase of a dance studio has special meaning for me. I walked up my first important stairway to dance at age 13. It was downtown Riverside, California at a magical place called Studio 9. Ever the latebloomer, I was too old for the kid classes and had start in an adult class. This…

Featured July 24, 2014

My Notebook

I process my thoughts and feelings in writing much better than I do using spoken words. So, as you might imagine, my journal is a one of my most valued possessions. Once upon a time I would hand-pick my journal, something pretty with texture and color, and I would use it exclusively for ramblings of…

Featured June 29, 2014

Courting Change

Change comes to me on a breeze. It is a whisper in my ear, a stirring in my belly. It gives voice to a place in my center that says: life is wonderful, but it is time for a shift. When this breeze of change taps me, I don’t always know what to do with…

Featured June 7, 2014

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Tonys

Last year I made a plan to see a show every month and then go to the Tony Awards. It was a project chosen to celebrate my love of theatre and give myself an adventure. I did it just for me. But, as it has turned out, I have not been alone on this journey!

Featured May 4, 2014

Generous

Generosity is a virtue. It is in the upper echelon of human qualities and luckily, it is quality we all possess. Sharing can manifest in all sorts of ways. We can be generous with our time, our love, our money and even our attention. Sometimes we encounter obstacles when it comes to being generous. We…

Featured May 2, 2014

Expressions Starts Monday!

I love writing in my journal. It is such a magnificent way to process your feelings and it is ALWAYS enlightening to see what comes out of my pen. I recommend journaling to my clients and friends all the time. Writing is not for everyone, I get that. There are many ways to work through…

Featured April 29, 2014

Curtain Up!

Last June I made a pact with myself to see one Broadway show a month for a year (you can read about that here). All of this as a lead up to this season’s Tony Awards, which I plan to attend on June 8th. As pacts go, this was a ridiculously easy one to keep.…

Featured April 3, 2014

HaHaHaHaHa!!

Coming out of this loooong, coooolllld, snowwwyyy winter, we are all looking closely for signs of Spring. Thankfully we see them: the air is starting to shift, the blossoms are beginning to give hints of their arrival and the birds are warming up their voices for a sunrise chirp. One sign of Spring that has caught…

Featured March 9, 2014

Tuning In

You know that moment when you are intently trying to hear something? A drip, a click, a hum, something just off in the distance. You close your eyes and turn your ear to the source. Still and silent you hone in on a singular sound. All other noises fade away. You are utterly. Simply. Focused.…

Featured February 24, 2014

Best Picture Review

It’s Oscar time and that means I have been in full movie-going mode! I have seen ALL the films that are nominated in the top 8 categories. So for my own entertainment (and hopefully yours too), I am going to share my thoughts on the 9 films nominated for Best Picture. Here are my mini…

Featured February 14, 2014

Friendship: It Is Love

My favorite Valentine’s Day ever was when I was about 16 years old. My friend Erika and I had the kind of lonely hearts reserved for teenage girls. Unnamed longing, crushes galore and endless pondering of what it might be like to actually (sigh!) have a boyfriend. Needless to say we were date-less on Valentine’s…

Featured February 9, 2014

Philip and Heath

There is one moment in the recent history of the Academy Awards that has haunted me. In 2006 Heath Ledger did NOT win Best Actor for Brokeback Mountain. He absolutely should have won. It is one of the finest pieces of acting I have ever seen, in a film I consider to be a masterpiece.…

Featured February 2, 2014

Fail Better

A few years ago I wrote about the Swiss tennis player Stanislas Wawrinka.(you can read that here) I mused about what it might be like for him to be in the shadow of his friend and countryman Roger Federer, considered by many to be the greatest player of all time. Little did I know back…

Featured January 5, 2014

Strength Variations

Strength manifests in different ways. We know people whose bodies are solid, those who have tenacious hearts, those with impenetrable conviction, those who are strong-willed. We all possess these strengths in varying degrees. Some are more prominent than others but, as with every other part of life, a balance is desirable. For me, 2013 was a year…

Featured December 4, 2013

Harmony

har·mo·ny: A pleasing combination of elements in a whole Imagine a choir performing a beautiful song. Hear all the textures, the layers of tone, the dynamics of loud and soft. It takes all of those voices, each one unique, to create the experience. It is the combination of sound that makes the music so sweet.…

Featured November 3, 2013

A Thank You Project

Can you remember a moment in your life when someone surprised you with a thank you? Not because you gave them a gift or did something out of the ordinary, but just because you were doing what you normally do. It is so special to have someone reflect back to you the difference you have…

Featured October 17, 2013

Creative Conundrums – Hooray!

As a kid , I always loved a creative challenge. When bored, I would ask my Mom to make-up quizzes for me. My sister and I often made mysteries for each other, creating a scavenger hunt of clues. I would draw a squiggle on a blank page and then happily turn it into a drawing, delighting in the…

Featured October 6, 2013

Why Not Now?

People all around me seem to be taking bold steps. Somehow the time has ripened for them to claim ownership of their lives and take a leap. I have watched people: Pack up to move across the country for a simpler life Dare to fall in love Decide to run for office Train for…

Featured September 23, 2013

The Glass Menagerie

Staying true to my Theatrical Plan to see a show a month, I headed to the city on Saturday to get in my September viewing. Since there was nothing special I was yearning to see, I figured my best bet was to go to TKTS, check out which shows were listed and choose something on…

Featured September 5, 2013

Play Ball!

I wrote this piece in the 2012 but the hero of my tale, Stan Wawrinka has just earned his way into a Semi-Final of the US Open. It is his first time getting to a semi-final in a Major, a terrific achievement. I feel oh-so pleased for him and am re-posting this in his honor.…

Featured September 1, 2013

Hot Shot

When I was in third grade I was bullied by a group of girls who were alternately my friends and my enemies. On any given day it could change, there was no logic to it. When they were friendly, I felt included and basked in their approval. But I knew this was fragile and could…

Featured August 4, 2013

Ode to Whimsy

Each season of the year has an essence, a theme, a distinction. We note a certain feeling in the air. Seasons are one experience that we all share in together. No wonder we like to talk about the weather! Summer is sumptuous. It represents freedom and ease. We learned this as kids, of course, when…

Featured July 30, 2013

Is That Mustard?

We spent last Sunday in Brooklyn with some of our favorite people, family that we dearly love. We wandered through DUMBO and took in beautiful views of the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan from the other side. Rain was in the forecast, but it didn’t happen. Instead there was a summer breeze off the East River…

Featured July 26, 2013

National Dance Day!

Saturday July 27th is National Dance Day! This was started by Nigel Lythgoe (of the great TV show So You Think You Can Dance and the wonderful charity The Dizzy Feet Foundation), to help promote dance and all its many gifts. There is a gala, a couple of dance routines that anyone can learn and…

Featured June 20, 2013

Car Ride

Day to day we interact, we run about, we do our work. Responsibilities are met, conversations are had, things get resolved, organized, accomplished. We do all of this, day in and day out, regardless of what goes on inside of us. Whether we are in emotional turmoil or celebratory joy, the “things” get done, we…

Featured June 10, 2013

A Theatrical Plan

Did you know that you can buy a ticket to go to the Tony Awards? Like, just go to Ticketmaster and get yourself a ticket? No nomination needed? Me neither! But it turns out you can. This has my wheels turning. I love awards shows and, next to the Oscars, this is my favorite. You…

Featured June 4, 2013

What Did You Say??

If you want to be really unpopular among your peers, try this: on a test day declare how much you LOVE taking tests. Trust me, no one wants to hear it, I have learned the hard way. Of course, I get it now. Tests are very stress inducing for many, causing them to struggle greatly.…

Featured May 28, 2013

Pilgrimage

I hop the 1:32 train to Grand Central Station to go see Before Midnight before I accidentally hear anything about it. (Here’s why) My paranoia about this is freakish, so to quell the crazy I am going to NYC where it is showing exclusively. It is playing in but two theatres, one of which happens…

Featured May 16, 2013

Movie Love: Before Sunrise

My list of all-time favorite movies is not static. It fluctuates depending on my mood, my phase of life, etc. I even have it sub-divided into “special” movies, masterpieces and just all-around favorites. But one film that sits glowingly atop them all is Before Sunrise.

Featured May 6, 2013

Spontaneous Truth

Thinking can sometimes get in your way. This is not to disparage thinking entirely, for it is surely one of the joys of being human. Having a mind means we can formulate ideas and process feelings and make connections. It is wonderful. But there are definitely times when a little less thinking can be better.…

Featured April 15, 2013

Night at the Museum

I recently finished Lisa Olson’s 8 Days of Joy Workshop. One day our assignment was simply: do something that brings you joy. What fun! Since I was going to be in Philadelphia for the weekend I knew this would be a cinch. There are many things I love about traveling to different cities. Among…

Featured April 7, 2013

The Friends We Made Along the Way: A Love Letter to Sacramento – by guest blogger Muddy Kinzer

Luisa’s note: Muddy Kinzer has a wonderful blog, Muddying the Waters, where she makes you laugh, cry and totally relate to the joys and trials of motherhood, our current culture and finding yourself within it all. Not only that but you’ll pick up some fabulous book recommendations and even the occasional recipe! Sure, she is an…

Featured April 5, 2013

Emerge

One of the sweetest moments of the year is that first glimpse of flowers breaking through the earth, showing their green. It signals that something beautiful is about to arrive, something just beneath the surface is getting ready to reveal its glory. I savor the potential that permeates spring. It makes me consider my own…

Featured March 12, 2013

The Take Away

I’ve been stalling, hoping I might be magically inspired to to write about something other than loss. Alas, my muses seem to prefer the truth, so I will relent. Since Thanksgiving, five people in my life have died. All of them were taken too soon. All of them were unique and exceedingly kind. They were…

Featured February 13, 2013

Escape, Enchantment & Ewan McGregor

Movies are a treasure chest brimming with soulful jewels. They can stir deep emotion, challenge your intellect and tear at your empathy. Sometimes, though, you just want to fall in love and have a good time. These are some of the most precious baubles of them all, and often the rarest too. Quality comedies, adventure…

Featured February 3, 2013

Struggle – February Newsletter

A certain amount of struggle is natural in life. It is not necessarily a bad thing and is often a pathway to growth. Think of watching a child struggle to tie their shoes, a marathon runner struggling to the finish line. There are times, however, when we choose to struggle needlessly. I am learning a…

Featured January 26, 2013

Day 18

On Day 18 the movie viewing stopped. This end was foreshadowed on Day 16 when, after viewing The Impossible, I checked my phone to find 3 urgent texts from my sister. My Dad was at the doctor after falling down and not being strong enough to pick himself up. While this was upsetting, it was…

Featured January 10, 2013

Movie Reviews: The First 10 Days

Ok, I’ll admit it. I have always secretly yearned to be a film critic. Roger Ebert, in my view, has the greatest career ever. He excels at what he does and what he does is watch movies (awesome) and then write about them with eloquence and style (even more awesome). Alas, I am not Roger…

Featured January 5, 2013

Keep Coming Back

Creating a healthy habit requires several things. Firstly, you have to want it. Then you have to make it possible and commit to it. The other piece of it, which isn’t talked about enough, is that you have to be willing to forgive yourself if you falter.

Featured December 30, 2012

31 Days, 31 Movies

Movies make me feel like anything is possible. My parents took us to the movies often when we were kids. Siskel & Ebert were household names. Somewhere in my adolescence I really fell in love with film and began to appreciate the artistry, the nuances, the raw power of the medium. The lights go dim…

Featured December 17, 2012

Feel and Let Feel

In putting together my playlist for Sunday’s dance class I wanted to choose songs that would be appropriate in light of the tragedy in Newtown, a town in our home state, a town near enough that most of us know at least one person who lives or works there. The class is typically a fun,…

Featured December 3, 2012

Touch is Love

I lay my hands on his frail leg led by instinct and a desire to ease his pain. His love is strong, his body weak. My hands move slowly and infrequently. I feel a place of need and stay there until it is time to move elsewhere. I watch his face. Sometimes he tells me…

Featured December 1, 2012

I Shall Believe

Recently, I wrote about a teacher who was a wonderful mentor to me. It got me thinking. A single person standing solidly in your corner is a powerful, dare I say, life changing thing.

Featured November 4, 2012

Helpers – November Newsletter

There are certain people in this World who are natural helpers. They see a need and, without ever being asked, they take to action. You know these people. The house guest who cleans up the kitchen as if it were their own. The co-worker who picks up coffee for everyone when getting it for themselves.…

Featured October 22, 2012

Leisure

Do you like to do jigsaw puzzles? This was a question posed to me the other day which led to a really interesting discussion. The answer was yes, I love them. And I do. When I get a craving to do a puzzle I will take myself on a gleeful shopping trip to purchase the…

Featured October 5, 2012

This Thing and That – Oct Newsletter

When people learn that I am a yoga teacher they tend to conjure up ideas about my personality. For example, here are three things sometimes assumed about me based on my profession: 1) I am calm all the time 2) I cook, usually from scratch, with organic, wholesome ingredients 3) I enjoy nature, the outdoors…

Featured September 28, 2012

Use Your Words

I am in Barcelona with mi novio. Please note my restraint in not using all capital letters and lots of exclamation points for that sentence. Travel is one of my greatest joys and being in Europe brings a sense of satisfaction to my spirit. I get to see things I have heard about it, read…