Thoughts From Annie

Dear Friends, In a couple of months I will turn 50. One of the paradoxically wonderful things that I have discovered about getting older is that I get to let go of dreams and aspirations that no longer fit me. At this point in my life, I am quite sure that I won’t become a…

Dear Friends, I started this month on a high note, writing a lot on my blog, traveling, going out, getting lots of work done, and balancing the many, many plates that we all juggle.  At the end of the first week of March, I was on top of my game when one of the plates…

Dear Friends, By now you may have heard about the controversy surrounding the founder and leader of the Anusara yoga community. I won’t inventory the allegations here, but the founder is a charismatic man with power over thousands of teachers and practitioners. Enough said. You can read more details here. I started practicing Anusara yoga…

This was the one month that I thought I knew exactly what I would be writing about. My pilgrimage to the Buddhist sites in India with two amazing Buddhist teachers was scheduled for the month of January. I was then going to Plum Village where I would digest the trip and have some very wise insights to share with all of you. Well, I ended up with a very different pilgrimage.

Happy New Year! I hope that everyone had a restful break. This year, rather than making resolutions, I have been letting them go. About eight years ago, I made the resolution to do sitting meditation every single morning. And until recently, I have kept that resolution, rising from bed very early, even in the darkest, coldest mornings, sitting through illnesses, sitting in hotel rooms, on planes, and even while in doctors’ waiting rooms. But last month, something shifted…

Happy Holiday Season! I remember when my kids were young and my parents would show up at our house for Christmas. My dad would still be turning off the engine and my mom would already be up on our front porch lugging several lawn-sized garbage bags filled with presents. She truly looked like Santa Claus when she arrived at our house, with full arms and a huge excited smile.

I am sitting outside enjoying the sunshine and the solitude. Our 18 house guests from the last week just left, and I am basking in the quiet both outside and inside my mind. Amazingly, tonight will be the first night in 8 months where we won’t have any guests staying at our house. I thought that at this moment I would feel exhausted and relieved, which I do, but I will also miss the community and connection…

This morning during my sitting meditation, I planned whether I would do walking meditation after sitting. I decided to do it. During my walking meditation, I thought about how, if I finished quickly, I would be able to do a long walk in Rock Creek with my dog, Gus. Then I got to Rock Creek, and I was immediately planning my route through the park. Once I decided which way to go, I started planning my day…

Next week my son heads off to France for a gap year between high school and college. He is pretty excited about it, and we have begun planning which suitcases he will bring, buying him a new suit for his internship, and figuring out how he is going to get all of his stuff from here to there. And while we were planning, I remembered a time when he was ten years old and we went on a two-day trip to Cleveland…

It’s swelteringly hot outside these days. I have noticed that when I am walking or running outside in the heat of the day, I am sometimes preoccupied with the oppression of the heat. Some days I have a hard time enjoying what I am doing outside because I get stuck on thinking about the heat and how to relieve it. If I am going somewhere with air conditioning, I start to think about how nice it will be once I get inside…