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#291: When Yoga Means Rest

I’m a certified yoga teacher.

I feel so blessed to have taught in so many settings.

I have taught children. I have taught strangers in a community garden. I have taught kids in low-income communities without mats. I have taught fellow friends and activists committed to community change.

And, maybe my favorite of all, I taught teen aged boys when I lived in Costa Rica. I never intended to teach teenage boys. It was never a job I specifically applied for and it was never something I would have signed up for if you asked me. But…

Jaime PosaFebruary 18, 2022Jaime PosaComment

#290: Winter Themed Anti Pet Peeves

I think about a month into winter I start counting down the days til spring. But there's definitely some things I appreciate about this season specifically, and I decided to write a few of them down in my gratitude journal. And then I reached out to a handful of community members asking if they may have a winter-themed anti pet peeve to share too. I wanted to hear the moments of gratitude they experience too. I compiled the responses into a list below.

CommunityFebruary 11, 2022Anti Pet PeevesComment

#289: My Art of Everyday Mindfulness

A friend once told me he noticed how I was careful with opening and closing doors — treating them with care, and aiming for quietness. It’s a thought I hold dear, because it was one of the first times I remember feeling truly seen in my adult life. He went on to wax philosophic, talking about it as “a good way to see who is practicing everyday mindfulness”. I think about this a lot.

Corey LoftusFebruary 3, 2022Corey LoftusComment

#288: Moving On and Moving Through

Do you ever wish you could just start over?

Right before Thanksgiving I was on my last (and only my third of the year) business trip. The woman next to me on the plane noticed I was working on a presentation, and we struck up a conversation about our respective jobs. She wasn’t happy in hers.

She said to me “I wish I could just start my job over. I’ve been the head of marketing at this tech company for 3 years now, and now that I know what I know, I would do so many things differently.”

Robert RoseJanuary 28, 2022Rob RoseComment

#287: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

A few thoughts came to mind, including that perhaps I might make way such that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day sits next to Thanksgiving as my favorite holiday. Currently, I have no rituals or traditions on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day to celebrate. Maybe this writing is a start.

Pip CoburnJanuary 17, 2022Pip CoburnComment

#286: Awakening Heart

I had a last minute cancellation in a work agenda a few months back on a sunny Monday afternoon. Naturally, my next thought was: "Okay, now how can I fill that time? What should I get a head start on?"

I reluctantly pulled out my laptop and stared at my screen. I felt drained on this particular summer afternoon. But it was only 2pm, so I knew I needed to move past that feeling and not waste time. I had so much that still needed doing, and this was an opportunity to get it done.

But then I took a breath and sat still with my thoughts for a few seconds.

Amanda PosaJanuary 14, 2022Amanda PosaComment

#285: Dignity

The word keeps flashing: Dignity.

I sense it is an incredibly important idea but the word itself is thrown around a bit too much.

I sense it is often used as a weapon as opposed to a bridge.

I’m digging into it…

Pip CoburnJanuary 7, 2022Pip CoburnComment

#284: 10 THOUGHTS on Gratitude-Meets-Process

A couple groups of people (approximately 35 in all) in the Community for Change we have all been nurturing, gathered to explore what “Gratitude-meets-Process” looks like. These were some of the thoughts that I pulled from the discussions.

Pip CoburnDecember 6, 2021Pip CoburnComment

#283: Who I Am at 34

Ten years ago my Dad wrote me a twenty page handwritten, barely legible letter and sent it to me in El Salvador. His spelling sucked and he was far from perfect, but he sure knew how to love and he loved a lot of things and a lot of people in life very deeply.

Jaime PosaNovember 30, 2021Jaime PosaComment

#282: Autumn themed anti pet peeves ROUND 3

I LOVE this time of year - it's definitely my favorite season. For relatively small things that truly bring me great joy, here are a few:

Water bottle filling stations! Our office just had one installed and I couldn't be happier!

Fall hikes! Just begin out in nature, away from the rest of the world, on a crisp day surrounded by beautiful foliage! Maybe that's not small enough because it just gives me life!
Butternut squash & ginger soup. A chef friend makes a version of this that I have ineptly tried to replicate, but either way is SO AMAZING!
And lastly, at this particular time, the "small" thing that is truly rocking my world and has me overflowing with joy is the pending birth of my daughter - due on Halloween! Her imminent arrival is why I'll miss the gathering on 10/20.
- Richard Uniacke

CommunityNovember 12, 2021Anti Pet PeevesComment

#281: Autumn themed anti pet peeves ROUND 2

Making Christmas plans with extended family brings me great joy, and I only start after the air turns cool and crisp. Of course, these plans are exceedingly complex now that there are multiple jobs, children, dietary restrictions, and in-laws to account for, but it's all part of the fun.

- Fay Sardjono

Our cat always prefers to spend the evening on my side of the bed, until I get into bed myself. While it drives me nuts during the summer months, his presence in the winter means that I get into bed with one area nicely heated.

- Ryan Oakes

CommunityNovember 5, 2021Anti Pet PeevesComment

#280: Autumn themed anti pet peeves ROUND 1

For me, autumn is fire pit season. Marshmallows and/or a few drinks. Friends and family. We used to have it in our backyard, but a few years ago, we wondered if moving it to the front yard might not be a better idea. It’s created a not-so-beautiful circle on our front lawn where the grass doesn’t grow…but now, it’s 10 feet from the sidewalk. Neighbors walking together stop and chat. Kids on the block stop in for a marshmallow. We are certain we are depreciating the home value with the spectacle of it all, but the value added to our lives and block is worth the tradeoff.

-Tim Vogt

CommunityOctober 27, 2021Anti Pet PeevesComment

#279: Sweeping the Path

I noticed my neighbor communing with his yard the other day. The simplicity in the brushes of his broom, and peace with the labor of lifting the leaves into piles inspired me. I told him so. And then I got to work on my own place.

My toil wasn’t terribly different. I went through the same process he did: lots of repetitive, but focused work. Almost a tunnel vision, as I kept my mind on my goal. I even mimicked his method of bagging, a novel style that was effective, to boot.

Corey LoftusSeptember 13, 2021Corey LoftusComment

#278: Being Both Okay and Not Okay

Lately, when people ask me how I am doing, I cannot answer “Good, how are you?”.

I am not sleeping. I have two little ones going through sleep regressions and health issues and challenges. I am running between their bedrooms and ours and usually by the time I go to lay down in our bed my heart is racing so bad that when I finally do wind down, one of the babies is up again. This is my story nearly every. single. night.

So, truth be told, I am not okay. I am so beyond tired. I am overwhelmed. I often don’t know where to start.

Jaime PosaSeptember 3, 2021Jaime PosaComment

#277: Less Watch, Less Worries

In recent months, I’ve spent most of my days living by my calendar appointments. 8AM? Make coffee. 9:15AM? Check in with my to-do list for the day. 1:00PM? Lunch. 2:00PM? Check back in with the calendar for the day. Weekends and evenings (FKA non-work hours) often get calendar events, too, whether for doing life chores or seeing friends. My past self (or someone from work) had made the decision that it was a good thing to schedule all these doings, so I went along with each one as it came up, more or less. And then, vacation happened. A chance for a break from my regimented routine. I thought, for fun, I would do my best to look at my watch and my calendar as little as possible during the week.

Corey LoftusAugust 13, 2021Corey LoftusComment

#276: Summer-themed Anti Pet Peeves

When I'm able to, I love attending any performance at the Hollywood Bowl (open during the summer) in Los Angeles, my hometown. The first Sound of Music sing-along I attended there was one of the best days of my life to date (before I got married or had either of my children :)).

- Fay Sardjono

This happened twice over the past few days, so here’s my anti-pet peeve for the summer: getting mistakenly squirted with a water gun by a child on a hot day. At first you think “wait, who did that” but it immediately changes to “ah, that felt great” :)

- Ryan Oakes

CommunityJuly 16, 2021Anti Pet PeevesComment

#275: "I've gotten really good at being depressed"

I came across this line, my own writing, from a couple years ago. Writing that I kept private, for fear of shame, guilt, permission. Maybe even actualization.

I look at these words now, from my then-future self, and realize how important it was for me to make the observation. To write those words. Then. Now. Every day.

….

“

I’ve gotten really good at being depressed.

I woke up this morning in an all-too familiar state: a blanket heavy with regrets weighing over me, the endless tail-chase of what I could have said and what would have been, playing on repeat in my mind.

Christina PosaJuly 9, 2021Christina PosaComment

#274: Go Slowly, Smoothly

It finally happened a couple weeks ago. My streak of 8 years of not being injured finally came to an end.

The first couple of days of managing my body’s recovery were the most challenging — lots of hopping, RICE, and moving carefully. An ankle sprain is maybe one of the better injuries to have, I think, if I had to choose. It forced me to slow down. “How ridiculous,” I thought as I replayed the incident over and over, “a yoga and meditation teacher getting injured as he’s racing his kids to school”. Sometimes I think the expected traits of the characters I assign to myself often move me farther away from them. But I hadn’t been keeping up with my morning meditation practice… so, in a strange way, maybe my ankle was helping me make up for that lost practice time by slowing me down.

Corey LoftusJuly 2, 2021Corey LoftusComment

#273: Sitting in the Liminal

We’re in this liminal period it seems. We’ve left something behind, but we’re not quite fully in the “something else”.

The world is opening up, but it still feels so closed.

We’re taking off our masks but keeping them on right now feels more important than ever.

We’re free to go back to work, but no one wants to go back to work.

We’re all ready for another “roaring 20s”, but it doesn’t feel right to roar at all right now.

What the hell?

The “re-opening” we were promised wasn’t this.

Robert RoseJune 24, 2021Rob RoseComment

#272: Getting Into Position

I play a lot of racquet sports, more so in the last year thanks to COVID-19. Not just squash, which was off limits for about 6 months, but tennis, platform tennis and, most recently, pickleball (which is becoming hugely popular because it’s so easy to learn).

In my forever quest for improvement, I pay a lot of attention to my technique. I even got an inexpensive tripod recently and took some videos of my squash matches…and quickly had an existential crisis when I saw that my strokes don’t look like the pros’. So I fussed a bunch over my backswing, my follow-through, the position of my racquet.

Sasha DichterJune 18, 2021Sasha DichterComment