Yoga For Your Mood Deck: 52 Ways to Shift Depression and Anxiety

              Dear Ones, Mood happens. We all know this, because though many of us have been vaccinated, none of us have been immunized against our shifting moods over these last 15 months. Even if we're not clinically depressed or anxious, we've known depression, lethargy and panic. Although there's no replacement for therapy, be it psychotherapy or yoga therapy, there are some really quick, effective ways to shift your mood in the moment. That's what my new YOGA FOR YOUR MOOD DECK from Sounds True is all about. It's a quick entry to therapeutic practices and self-regulation skills for every body. The Yoga for Your Mood Deck has already been recognized as an important contribution in this review, and I'm grateful [...]

Yoga For Your Mood Deck: 52 Ways to Shift Depression and Anxiety2022-04-04T07:36:11-07:00

Expanding Your Heart

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 [...]

Expanding Your Heart2022-04-04T07:36:12-07:00

SARASWATI SPEAKS as Temple Dancer Launches on AUDIBLE!

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 [...]

SARASWATI SPEAKS as Temple Dancer Launches on AUDIBLE!2022-04-04T07:36:12-07:00

SMILE FOR NO REASON :)

Many of us are vaccinated. As we begin to emerge from these months of hypervigilance and begin to dine out, to gather with friends and family, and to listen to live music, life is not as we knew it. A sense of isolation may linger. We are cautious, concerned about mask-wearing when they are no longer mandatory and about social distancing. This caution can contribute to a feeling of disconnection from our friends, our families, our communities, even from ourselves. That’s why tapping into that which is changeless is part of my daily routine. There are many portals I can open to sink into that boundary less sense of Oneness, and so can you. There is the absorbed state of artistic [...]

SMILE FOR NO REASON :)2022-04-04T07:36:12-07:00

EMERGING FROM DEPRESSION

As our hemisphere turns to spring, the thermometer registered 95F in Tucson. The desert is filled with birdsong, lizards, and ocotillo blooms. And yet amidst all the beauty, all the renewed energy of emergence, depression can linger. Do you sometimes feel like a late bloomer, the 'not yet ready for prime time' one? Friends have had varying reactions to the vaccine. Covid has taken its toll on some dear to me. We are on the other side now, and I am grateful. Throughout, my practice has been my anchor. Here is a pose that helps me face each day with renewed energy and trust. After practicing, I feel brighter and ready for what life brings. I hope you will too. [...]

EMERGING FROM DEPRESSION2022-04-04T07:36:12-07:00

Good News this Spring

Finally, Spring. I feel movement and a cautious release into new beginnings. Do you feel it? I’m thrilled to announce that Foreword Reviews has chosen Temple Dancer as a finalist in the 2020 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards! You'll find Saraswati's story here in Religious Adult Fiction. Though I wouldn’t call it religious, it IS a novel of spiritual awakening, sacred sexuality and intimate and eternal connection. Temple Dancer is steeped in yoga philosophy and spirituality. What do you think? Does that make it religious? Whether religious, sacrilegious or a mystery enveloped in magic realism, I’m proud to be a finalist. The Finalists were determined by Foreword’s editorial team. Winners are now being decided by teams of librarian and bookseller judges from across [...]

Good News this Spring2022-04-04T07:36:12-07:00

BECOMING SAFELY EMBODIED Practical steps to help discover an unshakeable core, a solid, steady, secure self.

I admit that when I first read Becoming Safely Embodied in manuscript, I had just upgraded to Windows 10, and I didn’t realize it was doing battle with my Adobe Reader program. Through no fault of the PDF Deirdre had sent me, it was hard to read the manuscript in full. So when it became available last week, I downloaded the book. Reading Deirdre Fay’s work in its entirety, tenderly uncoiled old feelings of unworthiness in a young silent part that still tightened my belly when I made a mistake. This is a beautifully written and thoughtful book that I recommend for self-care and healing, whether you have a history of trauma or not. Paraphrasing a question Fay asks in the introduction gives you [...]

BECOMING SAFELY EMBODIED Practical steps to help discover an unshakeable core, a solid, steady, secure self.2022-04-04T07:36:13-07:00

NEW MUST-READ for Therapists, Yogis, and Self Care Seekers

Why do I say Joanne Spence’s new book Trauma-Informed Yoga is a must-read? If you, as a mental health, yoga or other healing professional, support people in recovery from a history of trauma and associated mood disorders, you will love this book. Stephen Porges, PhD changed our understanding of the body-mind’s response to threat when he published Polyvagal Theory in 2011. Deb Dana, LCSW brought that understanding into the treatment room when she published The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy in 2018, and in the simplest and most accessible of ways, Joanne Spence, BSW, MA, helps us non-neuroscientists take hold of the “Autonomic Ladder” and support our clients and students as they rise to safety and connection. When I read Trauma-Informed Yoga for the first time (disclaimer—I read it a [...]

NEW MUST-READ for Therapists, Yogis, and Self Care Seekers2022-04-04T07:36:13-07:00

And STILL, MEDITATION STILLS

Do you have trouble meditating? Does your mind seem too active to find stillness? Meditation can produce a deep state of relaxation and a tranquil mind; simple, yes, but not often easy. When I began to meditate, I went on "rounding" meditation weekends, and the group practice made it easier than practicing at home alone. In fact, the depression that clouded my mind created a lot of negative self-talk, no matter if I practiced with my mantra or focused on the breath. When I closed my eyes, my self-critical part took the lead. Sound familiar? Later, when I added yoga practices to "give my mind a bone"--mudras, mantra chanting, pranayama, kriya, body sensing--I found a portal into a quiet mind. [...]

And STILL, MEDITATION STILLS2022-04-04T07:36:13-07:00

Tucson’s Broad Perspectives Just Clicks!

Tucson's feminist radio show “Broad Perspectives” is excellent. Have a listen! I want to share with you one of those interviews that just seemed to click. The interviewer, Aspen Green, asked the probing personal questions that allowed me to share my passions. In under thirty minutes (because they also let me pick a favorite song—Chris Williamson’s “Song of the Soul”) we talked about creativity, my journey from depression to published fiction (my new novel Temple Dancer) and the benefits of yoga for optimum mental health. I feel grateful to Aspen and to Kathleen Harris, the co-hosts, of “Broad Perspectives” on KXCI for offering me this opportunity.  After you’ve listened, I hope you feel grateful to them too!   [...]

Tucson’s Broad Perspectives Just Clicks!2021-01-25T23:01:13-07:00
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