A Love Supreme

Your One Message

If you could say ONE thing to the entire world, what would it be? 

Well, John Coltrane's big something to the world was clear and direct: "All praise to God, who is a Love Supreme."

Today, I want to explore the relationship between John Coltrane, Eastern thought, yoga and meditation the the lens of A Love Supreme. I want to explore why Coltrane's big something is so important in general, but more personally, why it's so vital to me.

I also want to invite you to join me for a very unique and special listening experience, one that I'm confident JC himself would approve of.

Influencer

Photo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Coltrane

To begin, John Coltrane was a straight-up genius. He was one of, if not THE greatest saxophone players in jazz, as well as a bandleader and composer. He was a thinker, an intellectual, even mystical. Everybody from Bono to Radiohead, to...well, everyone, when asked about their primary inspirations in music, will usually put John Coltrane on their short list.

Why? What makes him such an important and influential musician, one we still talk about today, almost 60 years after his death?

As one of the most iconic and important figures in contemporary music, not just jazz, his music stretches the boundaries of harmonics, improvisation, and composition. But all these years later, his music continues to transcend musical genres and cultural boundaries.

John Coltrane's chops were absolutely mind-blowing, but more than just flaunting his virtuosity on the sax, what makes his music so impactful, even to this day, is the fact that he wrote and played to be deeply felt. His music is nothing if not spiritual and connective. He intended for his music to be heard not only with ears but also with the heart and entire being. I think this is because his spirituality was the center of his life.

Spirit

After all, spirituality was in his blood. Literally, both of his grandfathers were ordained ministers of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Yet, despite his upbringing in formalized religion, even from a very young age, he was and remained throughout his life constantly curious and searching. He did not adhere to any one religion. Rather, Coltrane openly embraced all religions who, he felt, at their core, shared an essential message of love.

He was constantly reading books about religions and spirituality and was no stranger to yoga and eastern thought. In fact, trombonist Curtis Fuller recalls the time he saw John Coltrane reading the Bhagavad Gita, then JC handed him the book "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananda and told him to check it out. That was out there for jazz musicians.

The Spirit of Music

For Coltrane, music was not a deviation or distraction from the divine. In fact, he believed that the role of a musician was, at its essence, spiritual, akin to that of a prophet, someone who is given the gift of music for the sacred purpose of touching hearts and sharing a message of divine love through the medium of sound.

In 1957, after hitting rock bottom (read: Fired from Miles Davis' band for being addicted to drugs and alcohol—he even went off heroin cold turkey), John Coltrane had a spiritual awakening, which was the catalyst that drove him to create what is largely known as the most spiritual recording in jazz—what I believe to be his masterpiece—the album, A Love Supreme.

He recorded this album at the height of his famous quartet's powers. John Coltrane and his bandmates had developed such a connection and such harmony between their individual souls that they had created a united soul. This album is truly witnessing that unified soul singing to the divine. It's a musical miracle unfolding in real-time.

For me, listening to this album, it is difficult, if not impossible, not to feel a connection to the divine. I can't listen to this album as background music. It's too engaging. In fact, most of Coltrane's music is like this for me, but especially A Love Supreme. And even if you don't consider yourself very spiritual, at least listening to A Love Supreme, I think all can agree, is the sound of someone communing with the divine.

Mind, Heart, and Horn Blown

Get this: Unlike any of the other 25 albums he created as a bandleader (25 in only 10 years, mind you), John Coltrane insisted on crafting every part of A Love Supreme down to the most minute detail. He even wrote the liner notes, a heartfelt message to the listener—to us.

In complete humility and sincerity, he writes, "During the year 1957, I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life. At that time, in gratitude, I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music. I feel this has been granted through His grace... At this time, I would like to tell you that NO MATTER WHAT... IT IS WITH GOD. HE IS GRACIOUS AND MERCIFUL. HIS WAY IS IN LOVE, THROUGH WHICH WE ALL ARE. IT IS TRULY—A LOVE SUPREME."

I get chills reading this. I mean, here's John Coltrane at his lowest point. He knows he's got gobs of talent and opportunities, but he is blowing it on booze and drugs. And as he's staring into the teeth of withdrawal, he literally sees the face of God and basically says, "Look, I don't want drugs and booze. What I really want in this life is simply to share my gifts to make people happy." And God is like, "Let this moment bring you to the light, John. Go. Blow your horn."

Boom!

For John Coltrane, the effect of this awakening obliterates both any doubt about his purpose for being on the planet as well as the goodness of God, who is, well, A Love Supreme.

The suite starts with the ringing of a gong, and I translate that as the moment John Coltrane gets his heart and mind blown from this awakening of eternal love.

What also touches me to the core about his message to us in the liner notes is how, in jazz, a world that epitomizes being too-cool-for-school, here he is, the KING of jazz, taking a right turn from hip and steering headlong into raw, vulnerable, and sincere.

It's so John Coltrane.

Venue

While most people associate jazz with smoky nightclubs, booze, and goateed hipsters, it is completely in line with the ethos of John Coltrane to transcend convention and experience his music in alternative settings. An invitation to get out of the nightclub could not be more clear than with A Love Supreme. And while I can attest that a smoky nightclub can be the perfect sanctuary for deeply spiritual experiences, especially when jazz is cutting the air, I would argue that a meditation hall or yoga studio could be an even more conducive venue to absorb the message and spirit of A Love Supreme.

Plus, unlike most other jazz albums, this album is meant to be listened to from start to finish. There's not a wasted or unintentional note on the album. With such pure heart and emotion seeded into this music, it warrants an open and beautiful space with uncluttered time to offer it a deep listen and truly absorb the spirit exuding from it.

My Own Love Supreme

If you'll allow me to be vulnerable for a bit, I've also had an awakened moment where my own Love Supreme blew open my heart and mind. And without going into all the details, what I can tell you is that at that moment, I realized that I really have only one message: Love is EVERYTHING.

I believe it's all of our greatest work on this planet to share love with the world in the form of our gifts. I believe that ANY way in which we love the world benefits the world.

As for me, I love the sax, I love John Coltrane's music, I love, love, love teaching yoga and meditation. So as a way of sharing my love with the world, I want to share all of these things with you at a special listening and meditation experience. This will be an opportunity to have the time and space to do a deep listen and meditate to the most spiritual piece of music in jazz. We'll read John Coltrane's words to us from the liner notes. This experience will also allow us to stretch and move our bodies a bit, as well as integrate, discuss, and journal about our experience.

Photo of Yours Truly by Josh Terry

Plus, you may have heard me play the clarinet in class, but not this time. This time, I'll be blowing spirit through my sax.

This will be better than any sermon in church!

So please mark your calendar for the following:

A Love Supreme: A Listening, Meditation, and Yoga Experience Set to the Most Spiritual Recording in Jazz.

When: Sunday, April 7th, from 2–4 pm MDT

Where: Live, in person at Mosaic Yoga, 1991 South 1100 East, SLC, UT 84106. Available via Zoom as well. 

How much: Suggested donation is $25–$50... or jazz vinyls.

How to register: Space is limited, so you'll need to register in advance, which you can do here.

So yeah, this listening experience is going to be quite different from how most people might listen to A Love Supreme, but it'll be so John Coltrane. I'm confident that he'd dig it.

There's so much about A Love Supreme that I want to share with you, about its message, history, and impact, that I'll be sending some other messages about this soon, so stay tuned.

Lament Over Daylight Saving Time

Today I want to discuss some of the benefits of Yoga Nidra, how rest and napping help rejuvenate you, and how crazy Daylight Saving Time is.

It’s Daylight Saving Time.

You know what’s weird? Time. 

Yes, time. 

What’s also weird is that a helpful student chimed in to let me know that it’s not “Daylight Savings Time” but rather Daylight Saving (no s) Time. Good to know. Thanks!

Today is one of the worst “time events” that happens twice a year. 

That’s right. Today the U.S. switches to Daylight Saving Time. Well, everyone but Arizona and Hawaii. It’s nice to know that some states have kept their sanity. 

Why Daylight Saving Time?! 

Every organism on this planet has some sort of a rhythm and sleep cycle that is dependent upon the circadian rhythm, the natural rhythm of the daylight hours as dictated by the seasons. This rhythm directs cycles from when to sleep, when to eat, when to migrate, etc. It makes sense. 

What doesn’t make sense to me is the fact that as humans we are advanced enough to send Gobots to Mars 203 MILLION miles away and have them send pics back to us in real time as it rolls around collecting specimens and amusing itself yet we don’t have the smarts to keep to the natural rhythm that all organisms on this planet have been following since, oh, the beginning of life on this planet. Instead humans create a rhythm of life based not on the seasons or the natural impulses of our bodies, impulses that have been ingrained into our very DNA, but rather an artificial rhythm set to a clock that is designed to make us more productive and earn more money. 

If that were not bad enough, then every 6 months we have to mess it up with adding or taking away Daylight Saving Time. 

I don’t need to have an opinion about it … but apparently I do. 

---

Putting Daylight Saving To Rest

Luckily I’m not alone here. Thankfully some really smart people like Kenneth P. Wright Jr. Ph.D at the Sleep and Chronobiology lab at the University of Colorado Boulder thinks that for optimal physical, mental, and emotional health we should do away with Daylight Saving Time and stick with one standard time, for crying out loud. (If you care about a reference for Write’s work, whether or not I’m not making this up, you can click here.)

But until we all come to our senses and ditch Daylight Saving, those of us who are in the US are waking up an hour earlier today (except Arizona and Hawaii—starkly different places but who at least share a modicum of sanity). 

---

Solutions For Fatigue

So, here’s what I propose. 

More napping. 

Yes, more napping. I mean, I’m about a third the way into Scott Carney’s book about Dreams and I love how he is exploring the fact that throughout history and cultures, before the industrial revolution and electricity (light bulbs meant people could work longer), people would follow a more natural pattern of sleeping and sleep about 9 hours a night and would also take a siesta in the afternoon which follows the natural rhythms of a person’s body. 

This is both sane and healthy. 

You know, sleeping a solid 7–9 hours is normal and healthy. Then, it’s natural to start to wane mentally and energetically after about 8 hours of being awake, after lunch time, usually. This is the PERFECT time to take a bit of a nap. It’s not being lazy. It’s being healthy. 

You don’t need to nap for long. In fact, 20–30 minutes will do absolute wonders for your overall wellness. Plus, you don’t even have to fall all the way asleep. You can just rest. It’s a revolution!

---

More Productive with Yoga Nidra

But what about being productive and all that? 

Well, turns out that when you follow this more natural cycle of sleep and allow yourself a sanctioned nap in the middle of the day, your brain functions even better, your emotions are more regulated and for those who care … YOU’RE EVEN MORE PRODUCTIVE.  

To boot, you have better ideas, tend to think out of the box more often, and are generally more creative and able to learn. In fact, many of the outliers of art and industry— math and science geniuses, tech gurus, writers and artists—are ardent nappers. 

Yep.

And guess what? Listening to a Yoga Nidra recording serves this need for a mid-day nap PERFECTLY. 

So as a way of compassionately responding to this insane biannual change to/from Daylight Savings, I’m offering you a free Yoga Nidra for deep relaxation. 

You’re welcome. 

And if you’d like to make this resting and napping a regular part of your life, please join me for my weekly live, online Yoga Nidra class, happening at 9 am MDT. You can participate from the comfort of your own home (hell, your own bed). We’ll breath, move, talk a little, but then the main event will be me leading you through a luxurious Yoga Nidra practice where you get practice waking up to your True Being through the process of engineering that liminal state between waking and sleeping. That’s the Nidra state. 

Truly we are waking up with the yoga of sleep. 

Even if you can’t make it live, by registering, you’ll get the replay so you can do this Yoga Nidra practice any time you want, as often as you want. 

---

So next week, as your dragging your butt around the office, sluggish and tired from the time change, tell your boss that at about 2 pm every day, you’ll have to excuse yourself, that you have an urgent 30 minute appointment which involves you lying down, closing your eyes, and napping your way to enlightenment. 

Your boss will thank you later. 

If you need a note from your yoga teacher for permission, let me know.  

I’ll send one. Or better yet, just print this one =>

Hope to see you at the Live Online Yoga Nidra class and enjoy this free Yoga Nidra recording for Deep Relaxation. 

Together, we can get through this nightmare that is Daylight Saving!

The Yoga of The New Year

This is going to be your best year yet!

As you begin this new year, I invite you to muster the courage to dream big. Really big. 

What is something you’ve always wanted to do, become, or complete? 

You have a Universe inside of you. You’re made of Source and as such, have the potential to accomplish and receive all things. 

Your spirit is indomitable. Your creativity, limitless. Don’t be afraid to imagine what is possible for you in 2024. 

This is the imaginative and spiritual part of growing into the next version of yourself but it doesn’t stop there. Just dreaming, hoping, and scheming won’t get you there. 

Next, since we aren’t ONLY spiritual beings, since we are spirit married to physical, practical beings—give your dreams some legs by mapping out in realistic terms how to accomplish those dreams. 

Remember to start small knowing it will grow into something big. 

If you want to run a marathon but haven’t been running in a while, have enough foresight to start by walking, then running/walking, then running. Commit to being in it for the long-term which means that there will be ups and downs. 

Don’t give up when things don’t work out the way you’d hoped. It’s just another chance for calibration and learning. 

Because at the end of the day, it’s not about accomplishing your goal. 

Not really. 

It’s about who you become in the process. 

Accomplishing your goal is just the happy byproduct. 

Whatever you dream up for 2024, having a regular meditation practice is of the first order. It clarifies, relaxes, and hones your body, mind, and spirit. It’s like the underlying framework for all other work to be done. 

White-Eyes—Seeing The Divine In Everything

Today, I want share one of my favorite winter poems, White-Eyes by Mary Oliver. 

First of all, if you haven’t already, ‘tis the season to sign up for my 31-Day Meditation Challenge. It starts January 1 and lasts all through the month. The challenge is simply to meditate any way you wish for 15 minutes a day, every day for the entire month. I’ll be supporting you every step of the way with daily emails, live group meditations sessions, and plenty of recordings, poetry, links, and stories to make the experience very rich. 

Give the world a gift by practicing drawing inward, getting quiet in heart and mind, so you can present a YOU that is more mindful, less reactive, and rooted in compassion. 

It costs only $31 and you can get your tuition back if you complete the challenge. Make a meditation posse and sign up!

Onto the poem!

---

Mary Oliver

What I love so much about Mary Oliver's poetry is that so often in her poetry she is speaking to the eternal, the Everything, God, or the Universe by simply reflecting what she sees in nature.

And like in her poem “Bone” I love how she willingly admits that she doesn't fully know what God is but is "playing at the edges of knowing" and that perhaps it’s not about knowing at all, but rather it’s about “seeing, touching, and loving.”

It’s about being present with senses and heart.

Through her poetry, Mary Oliver helps us all to create a touchpoint to the Divine that is present both in our outer and inner worlds and opens us to seeing, touching, and loving as she steers us away from trying to make it all make sense. 

Her poem White-Eyes is about seeing the Divine in something as simple yet complex as the wind dancing through the tree tops and the snow silently drifting down from the heavens. It’s an exposé about how with the “right eyes” or with attuned sight, we might be able to see the loving Divine present in all things.

I hope you enjoy it. 

---

White-Eyes

BY MARY OLIVER


In winter

all the singing is in

         the tops of the trees

          where the wind-bird


with its white eyes

shoves and pushes

         among the branches.

          Like any of us

he wants to go to sleep,

but he's restless—

         he has an idea,

          and slowly it unfolds

from under his beating wings

as long as he stays awake.

         But his big, round music, after all,

          is too breathy to last.

So, it's over.

In the pine-crown

         he makes his nest,

          he's done all he can.

I don't know the name of this bird,

I only imagine his glittering beak

         tucked in a white wing

          while the clouds—

which he has summoned

from the north—

         which he has taught

          to be mild, and silent—

thicken, and begin to fall

into the world below

         like stars, or the feathers

               of some unimaginable bird

that loves us,

that is asleep now, and silent—

         that has turned itself

          into snow.

---

I’d love to hear your thoughts on what this poem says to you.

Drop me a line, I read every email I get. 

May we all be our best by remember those essential phrases:

• I love you.

• I’m sorry.

• How can I help?
  
  

---

Live Classes, In-person and Online:

• Yoga For Stiffer Bodies on Saturdays at 7:30–8:30 am at Mosaic Yoga

• Live online Yoga Nidra class Sundays at 9 am. Access the live class or its replay from anywhere in the world.  

• Vinyasa Mondays at 12 pm at Mosaic Yoga

• I teach a Restore Yoga and Yoga Nidra workshop on the first Sunday of every month at Mosaic Yoga

• Plus, mark your calendar for January 1 because I’m hosting an in-person yoga class to begin the new year. Together we’ll plant our Sankalpa, the seed of our intentions, through ritual, movement, meditation, and breath. Mosaic Yoga.

---

Yoga Retreats 2024

Gratitude, Gators, and Galavasana

It’s getting cold in Salt Lake City. 

It’s nice to come back to a place. 

It’s made me notice things I perhaps never did before or perhaps took for granted. 

I’m very aware of the quiet streets of our neighborhood. The closeness of the mountains. I’m aware of how much … space there is here. 

Being the week of Thanksgiving, I’d be remiss if I didn’t offer my cornucopia of gratitudes. Gratitude is perhaps one of the greatest practices we may ever do, one that I believe will enrich our lives immeasurably. 

Before I get to my gratitudes, if you’re near Salt Lake City, I’d be over the moon to see you in a live class. 

---

My in-person teaching schedule THIS week:

I’ll be teaching 3 classes on November 24th, the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Mosaic Yoga 1991 South 1100 East, Salt Lake City, Utah.
By donation

• 6:00 am Power Hour

• 7:15 am Mindfulness

• 8:45 am Power 1

---

My new regularly scheduled classes.

7:30–8:30 am Yoga For Stiffer Bodies
Saturdays beginning November 25th
Mosaic Yoga 1991 South 1100 East, Salt Lake City, Utah.
By donation

12–1 pm Vinyasa Flow
Mondays beginning December 4th
Mosaic Yoga 1991 South 1100 East, Salt Lake City, Utah.
By donation

Also, I’ll be offering a monthly Restore Yoga and Yoga Nidra Workshop on the first Sunday of each month. The next workshop will be December 3rd. 

12–2 pm Mosaic Yoga 1991 South 1100 East, Salt Lake City, Utah.

---

I teach a weekly, live, online Yoga Nidra class each Sunday at 9 am MT

---

Gratitudes

I’m grateful for many things, but in particular, I’m poignantly aware of my gratitude for family. 

Last Saturday, my step-dad passed away. He was a kind man—smart, reserved. He loved WWII airplanes and John Wayne movies. He had suffered with poor health for many years so his passing was both difficult and a relief. He adored my mom and sorely grieved her passing almost exactly 3 years prior to his death. 

It’s a beautiful thing for families to come together during the passing of a loved one. Our family was able to come together, siblings and step-siblings, to mourn together, to laugh together, and to eat fabuloso tacos. 

One memory of my step-dad …

When my mom and step-dad got married, my twin brother and I needed a car and my step-dad ponied up and GAVE us his sweet, sweet, cherry 1978 Ford Ranchero (V-8). 

We called it the Gator. 

Don’t ask me how but somehow my buddy, Al, figured out how to record ONTO 8-track tapes.

We were the only kids rolling around town like bosses in a vintage, 30-ft. long car-truck rocking out to The Cranberries recorded over a BTO 8-track. 

No joke. 

Eventually, the Gator took its last breath and when it expired (no more Cranberries on 8-track!), my grandparents gave us a little 400 cc Yamaha motorcycle to scoot around on. 

On my maiden voyage of that iron pony, having never ridden a motorcycle previously, I straddled the bike, flanked by my grandpa and step-dad. They instructed me about how to let out on the clutch while turning the throttle to make it go. 

Understanding nothing of the essential finesse required for a soft start in first gear on a motorcycle, I fully released the clutch which jolted the bike forward causing me to hammer down on the throttle. 

Suddenly I was speeding down the driveway and blasting across the street. 

It was happening too fast. I didn’t have time to think. 

But soon I realized something essential: we hadn't yet covered the lesson on how to stop. 

I had to improvise. 

I soon learned that at least one way to stop a motorcycle was to jump the curb of the neighbors yard, drive over their lawn, straight through a flower bed and blue spruce, and then crash the bike into a fence. 

That did the job. That stopped the bike. 

Fearing I’d just broken my neck, my grandpa and step-dad ran but luckily all that broke was the neighbors fence. After a few pounds with a hammer and some light gardening, everything was returned to normal and I could resume my lessons on my motorcycle. 

But this time, I understood to aim myself down the street. This time, I understood how sensitive the clutch was. This time, I understood the other lever opposite of the clutch was in fact a brake.

More Gratitudes

I’m grateful for my step-dad, especially for how he loved my mom. 

I’m grateful for my biological dad who is still alive and with whom I’m very close. 

I’m grateful for all of my family and for the chance to be close to them again after living far away for a few years. 

I’m grateful to be married to such a fantastic woman. She and I grow together in the best ways and it’s an honor to partner with her.

I’m grateful for my son Elio who explodes my heart with love and teaches me gentleness, wonder, and patience. 

I’m grateful for my other son, my step-son, Liam whom I’m very proud of, who is kind, wicked-smart, and sensitive.

I’m grateful for my siblings, Chris and Lucy and my step-siblings.

I’m grateful to be a teacher. I really love it. 

I’m grateful for you reading this. It truly means the world to me. 

What are YOUR gratitudes? Drop me a line or leave a few in the comments on my blog. 

If you celebrate Thanksgiving, have a wonderful holiday. If you don’t, I hope you find an opportunity to make every day special. 

Thanks for being on my team. I’m glad to be on yours. 

Let’s all make this world a more loving, peaceful place. 

Let’s start with gratitude. 

PS

If you haven’t already, you can join my free Gratitude Challenge here. 

Yoga for Runners

---

I recently wrote a blog for Hugger Mugger about yoga and running. It was fun to write and I wanted to give you a snippet here with the option to check out the full article on their blog.

Yoga and Running

Forever, I’ve heard that yoga and running just don’t mix but I don’t believe that to be true. I’ve had runners tell me that doing yoga hurts their running and yogis tell me that running hurts their yoga.

Personally, I’ve been running and doing yoga most of my life and I understand how both practices complement each other. This article focuses on how yoga can help your running practice and perhaps I’ll write another article about how running helps your yoga practice.

Do you run and practice yoga? I’d love to hear from you about your experiences with both. Leave a comment below or reach out here.

Here is the article.

---

INTRODUCTION

Growing up, I was never very athletic. I never really enjoyed team sports. I was average at baseball, soccer, and basketball—scrawny and uncoordinated. I didn’t even bother to try out for football. 

But early on, I discovered a love for running and have been running most of my life. I found joy in running, not in running the fastest or the longest but rather just in the running itself. For me, the joy comes from the solitude of a long run and from the full-body movement of running, especially when I manage a comfortable and sustainable pace. Running also clears my mind and often even feels spiritual to me. Growing up, I never felt better than during and after a long run, especially a trail run.

That is, until I discovered yoga. 

When I started practicing yoga in my early 20s I was excited to discover another activity that wasn’t a competitive sport and also left me feeling as good in body, mind, and spirit the way running did. But when I told my yoga friends that in addition to practicing yoga I also enjoyed running, they’d often raise their eyebrows above their bindi and matter-of-factly inform me that yoga and running just don’t mix. Yet as someone who does both I beg to differ. On the contrary, yoga has improved my running and has kept me running well and largely injury-free for decades. 

In many ways running has improved my yoga practice by giving me more stamina, focus, and breath capacity. However, in this article I want to explore some of the many ways that yoga can benefit runners and how incorporating yoga into your training routine can make a significant difference in your enjoyment, performance, and longevity of your running.

THE PHYSICAL BENEFITS OF YOGA FOR RUNNERS

1. BETTER FLEXIBILITY

One of the biggest benefits of yoga for runners is better flexibility. Running primarily involves repetitive movements in a forward direction which almost always leads to tight muscles. Tight muscles contribute to reduced range of motion which means that the tighter a runner’s muscles get, the more effort they have to use to make their body move. Yoga postures stretch and lengthen muscles and help runners enjoy greater flexibility and mobility, a benefit that feels like  finally, someone has released the parking brake on your running. 

Live Yoga Nidra & Worst-Case Scenario

Today, just a quick note and fun read. 

I hope you’re having an amazing week. I hope you’re opening your eyes to majesty which is around us all the time, the miraculous in the mundane, the beauty in the boring. 

I have been nursing an achilles heel injury for many months but finally was able to get out onto the trails above Salt Lake City today for an incredible run. It was like heaven!

Live Yoga Nidra Class Tonight, August 30th.  

When: 6–7:15 pm MDT 

Where: Integrative Health, 1174 East Graystone Way #15. 

No need to pre-register, just grab your bestie and head on over. 

Suggested donation is $15. I take cash or Venmo  or original, signed, and authenticated copies of John Coltrane’s 1957 album, Blue Train.

Bring a yoga mat, a blanket, and an eye mask. We’ll move a little, breath, talk a bit, but mostly get into our very relaxing Yoga Nidra practice. 

In-Person Asana Classes

When: Friday September 1st
Where: Mosaic Yoga 1991 South 1100 East, Salt Lake City (map).
All Mosaic classes are by donation. I accept cash, Venmo, (or John Coltrane records) 

Power Hour 6–7 am MDT:
An all-levels hour of wake-up yoga with an easy warm-up including Sun Salutations and full-body mobilizations, followed by standing, balance, and grounding poses.

Mindfulness 7:15–8:15 am MDT:
This is an opportunity to sit and meditate with a group of other mindfulness practitioners in a welcoming environment. It’s perfect whether you are a new or experienced meditator. 

Power 1 8:45–10 am MDT:
This 75-minute class weaves a spiritual or conscious theme into a Wanderlust format of poses which alternate between short flowing and static sequences to arrive at a therapeutic, cohesive, and well-rounded yoga experience. This class will feature warmups, sun salutations, standing poses, approachable standing and arm balances, core work, hips, and a solid cool down and savasana. I’ll be bringing the clarinet!

---

Finally, the other day we were walking through the mall and as any self-respecting father would, I bought my 8-year-old a copy of The Worst-Case Scenario Survival handbook, cuz you know… you never know, and I was pleased to see him so enthralled by it. Here he is walking through the mall glued to the entry about how to deliver a baby in the back seat of a car. #proudparent. 

Well, come to find out that this book was actually written by our pediatrician’s son. Small world. Brilliant world, but small world. 

I was originally introduced to this book many years ago (so I’m happy that the family has an updated version) and as a throwback, today, I wanted to share with you a piece I wrote called The Yoga Worst-Case Scenario Survivors Handbook. Just like yoga, though it’s a little dated it’s still relevant. Also, I originally wrote it about surviving yoga in the arid climate of the Utah deserts so if you don’t understand the arid air reference, now you will. 

I hope you’ll enjoy the article and I hope to see you in class. I’ll be leaving  back for France early next week. 

---

One of my favorite and most useful books in my library is one called The Complete Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook.

Its bright yellow hard-backed cover makes it durable so I can take it with me everywhere, and easy to find when I’m in a pinch. This Survival Handbook contains a lot of information; you know, practical and essential know-how for things like giving your cat the Heimlich Maneuver, how to escape your car when it has been completely submerged in water, and how to escape from killer bees.