Dear Ones, Research tells us that intense grief can alter the heart muscle so much that it causes "broken heart syndrome," increasing the risk of heart attack 21 times after the loss of a loved one. On the other hand, feelings of love, whether for a child, a lover, a four-legged being, a spiritual teacher or the Divine increase feel good hormones like oxytocin, prolactin and dopamine. We feel as though the heart expands with love. We live in times where protection, be it a mask, a vaccine, or fear of the other makes us feel constricted. More than ever, we need practices that open the heart to love, that connect us to others and to the Divine as we [...]

Dear Ones, I’m elated today! Most of you know how I suffered from depression for many years until yoga and meditation transformed my life. Well, writing fiction has been a lifetime journey, fraught with rejection, which did not help my depression, as well as gratifying personal reward. Having so many dismissing letters like this one: “Oh I loved this book and I stayed up all night reading it, but it’s not for us,” one editor wrote my agent. The editors usually end their letters with, “Best of luck finding a home for this excellent novel.” Now, I am thrilled to tell you about my collaboration with the actor Daisy Fair to bring Temple Dancer’s principal character Saraswati to life on [...]