Meditation is a lifelong gift. It’s something you can call on at any time. – Paul McCartney Why meditate? I led a meditation gathering recently at the Ratna Ling Retreat Center in a very beautiful area near the coast of northern California. Usually I include some guided contemplation at the end of a yoga class … Continue reading Meditating in Winter along California’s North Coast
"Won't you keep us from all harm, wonderful redwood tree," Van Morrison. One of the greatest albums of all time has to be Van Morrison's Saint Dominic's Preview. The album was released in 1972 after he moved his family to northern California and spent some time walking through the woods near his home. Of all … Continue reading The Trees of Northern California
"Summertime and the livin' is easy." I can't decide which version of "Summertime" I like more: Ella Fitzgerald's or Doc Watson's. Perhaps at the end of this blog post you can decide for me? Man, it's been hot during this summertime of 2018! Donald Trump doesn't think it's unusual. "The concept of global warming was … Continue reading 100 Days of Summer
"Blue" will be the theme of this blog post. To start, how about hearing Miles Davis and John Coltrane perform "Kind of Blue" while walking the streets of Jodhpur in Rajasthan, India? It's available at the end of this if you want to. Up high in Mehrangarh Fort one can see why Jodhpur is called … Continue reading Feeling Kind of Blue in Jodhpur, Miles Davis, Coltrane & Bill Murray
"As you eat, you produce your mind accordingly” - Rajasthan saying. At the start of an Ayurvedic wellness appointment this week my feet were soaked in warm water with rose petals. This represents the first time during my long life the words "my feet" and "rose petals" have ever been together in the same … Continue reading Food, Nature & Ayurvedic Learning in India
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." - Theodore Roosevelt. The speed limit is 75 mph on I-95 here in northern Maine and the few vehicles I see are taking that to 80+ as we approach the Island Falls exit. That's Mount Katahdin towering 5,267' above sea level to the left. … Continue reading Yoga, Lakes & Mountains in Maine…and Teddy Roosevelt, too
June is the best month - Rick Swartz. My Yoga World tour took me London to Boston direct and darn cheap via a new Norwegian Airlines jetliner to start the month of June. My reasons to be back in the U.S. for June included my daughter's birthday, the start of the Wanderlust Yoga Festivals across … Continue reading Here Comes Summer in the USA
I don't know which is more stunning to experience, the sunsets or sunrises in South West France. Or a Beatles 50th Anniversary Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Or how 'bout all of the above. 🙂 After enjoying the month of May at the Lamothe Castle and Farm yoga retreat renovation, … Continue reading I See London, I Saw France…and The Beatles
"What is your vocation? To be a good person." -Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 11.5 I once heard a professor in college say, "Travel somewhere new and it's like reading ten books." Yesterday, after a day of renovation work on the Lamothe Castle and Farm we're turning into a yoga retreat center in French Sud-Ouest, I checked out some places on a … Continue reading Bikes, Books & Boards in South West France
One thing perhaps we all agree on: There are few things as welcoming as a French table set for a meal. This past Sunday in the south of France began beautiful and at peace, birds chirping outside this country castle the only sound in the 7:00 a.m. sunshine. A serene scene, quite the opposite of the election of the … Continue reading Preparing for Yoga Retreats on an Important Sunday in France
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