How To Prevent Hip Replacement

We walk, run, and stretch our hips for many decades - what can we do to prevent the rather barbaric surgery of hip or knee replacement?

• Are you misaligned? Many of us are born with our hips and/or knees out of alignment, so we spend decades walking on one particular part of our hip or knee. It wears out. But you can catch it early by getting a coach who watches your gait when you walk or run and perhaps recommends strengthening exercise, or a highly-attuned massage therapist who understands your structural misalignment.
• Watch the weight. Being overweight (body mass index > 25) puts a lot of stress on all joints, but particularly the hips.
• Pay attention to range of motion. When it decreases, get help - sooner rather than later.
• Choose low impact sports: cycling, swimming, light weight training, yoga, pilates. 
• If you choose high-impact sports such as running, get a coach. Pay a lot of attention to the right shoes for your gait. Get help. Run on softer surfaces. Let your cartilage serve you longer.

Methylation Masta

How's your methylation? "Methylation" is a key control dial that permits your body to respond to environmental change. If your body’s methylation is not working at an optimal level, this may translate into many different health issues and accelerate your aging process. Methylation is the only cellular pathway that effects both structural integrity and adaptability of your body. You may assess your genetics along with our knowledge of the methylation pathway to support your optimal body and mind.  To learn more about the methylation pathway, email or call us at the Gottfried Center to test your pathway.

Chemically, methylation is a simple process in which a methyl group (remember CH3?) are added to proteins, DNA and other molecules. This step is often required to keep them in good condition.

For instance, if mood-enhancing serotonin is not methylated, it will become inactive, and this condition is associated with depression. Another key methylation process involves the amino acid homocysteine, which forms when methionine methylates your DNA. Homocysteine must be methylated to convert it back to methionine. If you are a lousy methylator, you can develop problems such as:

• Heart disease and stroke as a result of clumping platelets
• Increased LDL (bad) cholesterol 
• Depression
• Accelerated aging, particularly by damaging telomeres, which help cells divide cleanly
• Dementia and Alzheimer's disease

Dr. Sara's Happiness Project

 Initially when I came across Gretchen Rubin's blog and book, The Happiness Project, I groaned. Really? Another Yalie overachiever mom, now writing about her one-year quest to get happier? Please.

Then I started the read. And it's totally great.

"What a wonderful life I've had. I only wish I'd realized it sooner." -- Colette

Want to start your own Happiness Project? Here's Gretchen's advice:

A “happiness project” is an approach to changing your life. First is the preparation stage, when you identify what brings you joy, satisfaction, and engagement, and also what brings you guilt, anger, boredom, and remorse. Second is the making of resolutions, when you identify the concrete actions that will boost your happiness. Then comes the interesting part: keeping your resolutions.

At the moment, I am in the prep phase. I am especially motivated by Gretchen's ideas such as:

1. Be Gretchen, or translated for me as: "Be Sara" -- be authentic, ask yourself when making a key decision or even a minor decision if it's in alignment with your big vision. Another way to know is if the decision is energizing. If not, I'm not being Sara.
2. Remember: "Happy wife, happy life" or "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." This is a brilliant concept linked to the idea of the "emotional contagion," that is, that we unconsciously catch emotions from other people, especially in our immediate family. This has been my experience as a wife and mom, but I love the explicit statement about my responsibility for radical self-care and whatever it takes to keep Mama happy in the service of the happiness of others in my family. This is especially pivotal in marriage.
3. Pirate Dinner (family meal once/week with no rules, no utensils, so nagging or chiding to use "please" and "thank you")
4. Happiness box - collection of little do-dads and trinkets that trigger your happy thoughts and memories. Mine are scattered all over the house, and gathering them in one place galvanizes my joy.

I'm up to June of the 12-month project, so I'll post more as I read along.

To your happiness! xo Dr. Sara

From Harvard, With Love

More good news on the benefits of hormone therapy if taken within the first 10 years of menopause, not after. -- SG

Untangling the Relations Between Hormone Therapy and Coronary Heart Disease
Analysis showed no evidence of excess CHD risk during the first 2 years of combined hormone therapy initiated within 10 years of menopause; cardioprotection might develop after 6 years.
Risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) that is associated with use of hormone therapy (HT) might depend on time elapsed since initiation of use and could be limited to women who begin HT long after menopause (JW Womens Health Jul 31 2008). In an analysis of data from 16,608 postmenopausal women who participated in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) randomized trial of conjugated equine estrogens plus medroxyprogesterone acetate (E+P) versus placebo, investigators sought to estimate the effect of continuous E+P HT on CHD risk over time in relation to the number of years since menopause. The researchers calculated adherence-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and CHD-free survival curves. Adherence-adjusted HRs also were calculated from Nurses' Health Study (NHS) data.
Overall, continuous use of E+P HT compared with no use was associated with CHD HRs of 2.36 (95% confidence interval, 1.55–3.62) for the first 2 years of use and 1.69 (95% CI, 0.98–2.89) for the first 8 years. For women who used HT within 10 years after menopause, CHD HRs were 1.29 (95% CI, 0.52–3.18) for the first 2 years of use and 0.64 (95% CI, 0.21–1.99) for the first 8 years. The CHD-free survival curve for continuous HT use initially fell below the curve for no use, but the two curves crossed at approximately 6 years after study entry (95% CI, 2–10 years; P for between-curve differences, 0.44).

Comment: In 2002, initial WHI findings indicated that E+P HT was associated with excess risk for CHD. Although subsequent WHI reports have suggested that this risk is related to patient age and recency of menopause, many clinicians and women continue to believe that HT raises CHD risk. The authors note that "the available evidence suggests that [E+P HT] does not reduce the risk for CHD during the first 3 to 6 years of use in women who initiated therapy close to menopause," and that "a possible cardioprotective effect of [E+P HT] among women within 10 years of menopause was apparent only after approximately 6 years of use." By our interpretation, the pooled WHI and NHS data provide reassurance that E+P HT that is initiated within 10 years of menopause is not associated with excess risk for CHD. HT usually is initiated for bothersome vasomotor symptoms soon after menopause in women who are in their 50s. In making decisions with patients about HT use, clinicians should find recently updated North American Menopause Society guidelineshttp://www.menopause.org/PSht10.pdf to be useful. These guidelines emphasize that treatment of vasomotor symptoms is the main indication for HT and advise that HT not be prescribed for cardioprotection.
— JoAnne M. Foody, MD, and Andrew M. Kaunitz, MD
Published in Journal Watch Women's Health April 8, 2010

Citation(s):
Toh S et al. Coronary heart disease in postmenopausal recipients of estrogen plus progestin therapy: Does the increased risk ever disappear? A randomized trial. Ann Intern Med 2010 Feb 16; 152:211

Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School/Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, 133 Brookline Avenue, 6th Floor, Boston, MA 02215, USA. darrentoh@post.harvard.edu

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Estrogen plus progestin therapy increases the risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) in postmenopausal women. However, this increased risk might be limited to the first years of use and to women who start therapy late in menopause. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the effect of continuous estrogen plus progestin therapy on CHD risk over time and stratified by years since menopause. DESIGN: Women's Health Initiative randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. (ClinicalTrials.gov registration number: NCT00000611) SETTING: 40 U.S. clinical centers. PATIENTS: 16 608 postmenopausal women with an intact uterus at baseline from 1993 to 1998. INTERVENTION: Conjugated equine estrogens, 0.625 mg/d, plus medroxyprogesterone acetate, 2.5 mg/d, or placebo. MEASUREMENTS: Adherence-adjusted hazard ratios and CHD-free survival curves estimated through inverse probability weighting. RESULTS: Compared with no use of hormone therapy, the hazard ratio for continuous use of estrogen plus progestin therapy was 2.36 (95% CI, 1.55 to 3.62) for the first 2 years and 1.69 (CI, 0.98 to 2.89) for the first 8 years. For women within 10 years after menopause, the hazard ratios were 1.29 (CI, 0.52 to 3.18) for the first 2 years and 0.64 (CI, 0.21 to 1.99) for the first 8 years, and the CHD-free survival curves for continuous use and no use of estrogen plus progestin crossed at about 6 years (CI, 2 years to 10 years). LIMITATION: The analysis may not have fully adjusted for joint determinants of adherence and CHD risk. Sample sizes for some subgroup analyses were small. CONCLUSION: No suggestion of a decreased risk for CHD was found within the first 2 years of estrogen plus progestin use, including in women who initiated therapy within 10 years after menopause. A possible cardioprotective effect in these women who initiated therapy closer to menopause became apparent only after 6 years of use. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

PMID: 20157135 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Blood Clot Risk & Route of Hormone Therapy

Is Risk for Venous Thromboembolism Affected by Route and Type of Menopausal Hormone Therapy?

Results of a large observational study suggest that transdermal (in contrast with oral) estrogens do not raise risk.

Although hormone therapy (HT) now is recommended only for short-term relief of menopausal symptoms, risk for idiopathic venous thromboembolism (VTE) is greatest during the first year of treatment. To determine if route of administration or type of concomitant progestogen affects risk for VTE, investigators analyzed data from a prospective cohort study of more than 80,000 French women (mean age at entry, 54) who completed biennial questionnaires for a mean of 10 years. The study was partially funded by a manufacturer of transdermal delivery systems.

During follow-up, 549 first idiopathic VTEs (134 pulmonary emboli and 415 deep venous thromboses) occurred. Past users (i.e., those with no use within 3 months before questionnaire completion) and never users of HT had similar VTE risk. Analysis adjusted for potential confounders showed that users of oral, but not transdermal (patch or gel), estrogen had substantially higher risk for VTE than did never users (hazard ratio, 1.7). No significant associations were found between VTE and concomitant micronized progesterone (Prometrium), pregnane derivatives including medroxyprogesterone acetate (Provera), or nortestosterone derivatives (including norethindrone acetate). However, the norpregnane derivatives nomegestrol acetate and promegestone (not marketed in the U.S.) were associated with significantly higher VTE risk (HR, 1.8).

Comment: This observational study cannot provide irrefutable evidence that transdermal estrogens do not raise VTE risk, but it is the largest study to date that suggests the possibility; moreover, the findings mirror those of earlier studies (JW Womens Health Apr 5 2007). Given that oral, but not transdermal, estrogens can raise levels of factors that lead to clotting, these findings are biologically plausible. The data also provide reassurance that progestogens marketed in this country (when prescribed with transdermal estrogen) do not raise VTE risk.
— Robert W. Rebar, MD

Published in Journal Watch Women's Health April 8, 2010

Citation(s):
Canonico M et al. Postmenopausal hormone therapy and risk of idiopathic venous thromboembolism: Results from the E3N cohort study. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2010 Feb; 30:340.

Clear the Channel

Clearing out my channel – I know I’m in alignment with my Highest Self when…

I eat organic vegetables, fruits, protein & limit grains

Start my day with gratitude and meditation

Dial into nature even if for 5 min

Connect with people I love: friends, family, guides

Stay abstinent with technology – quick check at 11am, 3pm and NONE sundown Friday to sundown Saturday

Limit the overscheduling & overachievement

Stop gently when my mind goes into a negative spiral & redirect to the open channel

Exercise for joy rather than to look good

Be in the Now with kids, husband, friends

Garden, pull weeds, literally and figuratively

Check my intuition for guidance and decision-making, and act on it

The Work of Byron Katie

"The Work" by Byron Katie - a series of inquiries to ask of any stressful thought.

1. Is it true?

• The answer is a “yes” or a “no” only.
• If your answer is “no,” continue to question #3.

2. Can you absolutely know that it’s true? 

3. How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought? (Occasionally people find the following sub-questions helpful.)

• What emotions happen when you believe that thought? (Depression, anxiety, etc. If needed, an Emotions and Reactions List is available on www.thework.com.) 
• Does that thought bring peace or stress into your life? 
• What images do you see, past and future, when you believe that thought? 
• Describe the physical sensations that happen when you believe that thought. 
• How do you treat that person and others when you believe that thought? 
• How do you treat yourself when you believe that thought? 
• What addictions/obsessions begin to manifest when you believe that thought? (Alcohol, credit cards, food, the TV remote?)  
• What do you fear would happen if you didn’t believe that thought? (Later, take this list of fears to inquiry.)  
• Whose business are you in mentally when you believe that thought? 
• Where and at what age did that thought first occur to you? 
• What are you not able to do when you believe that thought?

4. Who would you be without the thought?
Close your eyes and observe, contemplate. Who or what are you without that thought? 

Turn the thought around.
Statements can be turned around to the opposite, to the self, and to the other, and occasionally there are other variations as well. When dealing with an object, you can replace the object with “my thinking” or “my thoughts.” Find a minimum of three genuine, specific examples of how each turnaround is as true as or truer than your original statement.

Heart-Centered Beingness

Working in my Bhakti Practice on heart-centered meditation, inspired by the work of Dr. W. Brugh Joy, MD. Four attributes are described below.

People often ask me what is the most important aspect of the work I share with others. I invariably respond that the foundation which provides the resources that enable me to take on the more difficult physical, psychological, and spiritual experiences in life is the Heart Chakra (Center). This centering of my awareness in the heart brings me into the direct realization of what is expressed by the love of the Christ and the compassion of the Buddha.

The daily practice of attuning to this state of consciousness brings me into the experience of subordinating my personal sense of self to a vaster wholeness and to the mystery of Life, Itself. From this dimension of consciousness, I am able to appreciate the cycles of nature, individuals, societies, and nations without judgment or bias. I am able to take my place in the larger plan of things without fear, anxiety, hysteria, control issues, or defenses. I am able to turn myself over to Spirit for instruction and service.

The attributes of the Heart-centered state of Beingness are as follows:

    1. Compassion

    2. Innate Harmony
            The peace beyond understanding
            The calm in the midst of chaos

    3. The Healing Presence
            The mystery of harmonious relationship

    4. Unconditional Love

By feeling into each of the four attributes as if a Presence larger than oneself is enfolding and imbuing one with these resources, the awareness is transformed. The action to take becomes apparent as reactivity and confusion dissolve.

“Five minutes a day of opening to the induction into Unconditional Love of the Heart Center is all that is necessary to transform one’s life,” Eunice Hurt, the teacher of Transformational Consciousness I encountered in 1971, would say to her students. Discover for yourself the power of Transcendental Love.

More good stuff from Brugh - details to follow on my ideas of how our unconscious affects our health.

The unconscious, says Dr. Brugh Joy, is composed of multiple, autonomous personalities. These personalities affect our state of health -- from allergic response to disease states such as diabetes and cancer. He suggests that the unconscious mind is far more extensive and powerful than is generally acknowledged, and that the normal conscious mind cannot hope to control the personalities within. Esoteric rites and initiations, he maintains, were designed to call forth particular personalities from the unconscious at appropriate stages of development.

Dr. Sara's Outline for Bhakti Sadhana

You've heard me prattle on about my inspiration for a Bhakti Sadhana, inspired by Shiva Rea's recent work called Living Sadhana. The idea is to choose a practice for the next 30 days beginning with the new moon (that's today, friends!) that suits your current emotional|psychological|spiritual configuration. More right here. Below are my musings about the shape and structure of my next 30 days, which is a work in progress. But short version is: "Catch the Love Train!"

Relationships/Family

I'd like to enhance my mothering. Mothering of my kids and myself. Sometimes mothering overwhelms me yet this may be where I most need to cultivate and model resilience. I will have a daily practice of positively mirroring my kids for 15 minutes. Best support for this, as always, is deeper concious contact with my Higher Self | Higher Power.

Space and Actions
Clear clutter out of car and family room where I am building a small altar. I will also clean out the clutter of negative thinking from my self-talk.

Health Cultivation

Increase my intuitive guidance. I will cultivate daily meditation for 20 minutes to soothe my crazy adrenal glands. One mantra that I like is: Om Nama Shivaya. Simple but roughly translates from the Sanskrit as "Om and salutations to that which I am capable of becoming."

Seva
Service to my patients and students: focused intuition toward their greater good and Higher Self. Focused intuition on my kids and how to help them navigate their developmental nuttiness.

Sankalpa (a short potent declaration of your intention or dedication for the sadhana period that becomes a steady navigational compass during your 30-day sadhana. This is the summary of all of the different aspects of your sadhana in a phrase that you can internally at the beginning of your sadhana and any time you need to refocus your energy):

My intention is to get out of my head and deep into my heart. With this practice, I nourish my kids, my Self, my intuition and my adrenals.

Reflection and Dedication:  Dedicated to my daughters and Higher Self

Purpose of Sadhana: Amp up love, benevolence, intuition and joy. Out of mind into heart.

Seed Goals:

1. Daily meditation for 20 minutes

2. Stay abstinent with food: no sugar, no flour

3. Progress not perfection

Practice: 30 min asana - emphasis on back bending. Will be working with Anusara principles of alignment in my back bends.

Date of Beginning and Closing: beginning April 14, lasting 30 days

Sacred Texts: Byron Katie, Marianne Williamson, Gurumayi

Opening Ritual and Altar: see photo - Gurumayi and a silver heart

Revitalize Your Yoga Practice with Me & Shiva

This is an excerpt from Shiva Rea's SADHANA FLOW. Often the deeper teachings of yoga are reserved for teachers and teachers-in-training, but I like to level the playing field so that all may benefit. -- SG


Living Sadhana by Shiva Rea

Sadhana is the Sanskrit name that often gets translated as practice. The only problem with “practice” is that it can often become something we “do” and soon can become a separate part of daily life. To embody the flow in yoga is to enter the a continuous stream of living yoga.

Sadhana is derived from the Sanskrit root sadh, which means “to accomplish or to succeed” referring to the power of a sadhana to transform and bring one to fulfillment - like the path up a mountain towards the peak or even down the mountain into the world. In yoga, this peak is self- realization. I often translate sadhana as the groove into one’s self. That path is often a subtle track at first as the groove is just beginning and is not yet established. Gradually, through daily process, your sadhana gains a transformational momentum and that develops into a natural pathway within. A living yoga sadhana shines on all aspects of one’s life as a constant light of awareness that also changes according to the seasons’ of one’s life.

We have developed these 30-day Living Yoga Sadhana Programs as a guide to developing a daily-weekly-monthly and seasonal sadhana that supports your unfolding path as a student or teacher of yoga. Your life-long sadhana is a living flow and will change as needed. This primary goal of this program is to help you develop an appropriate, effective sadhana that you can fall in love with enough to sustain you when you are not feeling the love flowing within you (for that is when we usually slack off our sadhana). Let your sadhana become a natural support for you - like the painter’s paint brush.

30 DAY LIVING YOGA SADHANA PROGRAM:

We have six basic programs to adapt to your individual needs so that you can eventually create your own sadhana. The curious will want to try everything at once. The samplers will want to try everything just for a week to see if they like it. If that is the case, start with the Hatha Sadhana which includes elements of all the sadhanas . Over the course of your development, you can eventually experience all of the below sadhanas as part of your conscious evolution.

The purpose of sadhana is to support your Sva Dharma (inherent purpose) and natural self-realization.

Click here to read more about the six programs.

Beginning the Program

1) Assessment: Start where you are.
Which of the sadhanas speaks to you and authentically addresses the needs of your life right now?
In a reflective manner, fill out the Living Sadhana Preparation Sheet. Each Sadhana has suggestions in the Sadhana packet and Living Sadhana Chart to help clarify your answers and provide guidance in creating an individual practice that is evolutionary for you. Remember your practice is to help you apply and embody a prana vinyasa practice and to
learn to adapt the series for yourself, students and classes.

2) Tala (Rhythm):
Where and when will you practice (give yourself a week of preparations):
Choose the days that have the least activity for your solar practices, the days with the most activity for your lunar practices and the even days for solar-lunar practices. To develop, it is essential to have an asana-pranayama based sadhana, a minimum of 4-6 times a week, without creating tension around “practice”.

3) Organize your space, journal, support materials and friends.
Set-up your practice space including arranging for alternate places to practice around town (e.g. the open times at a yoga studio where you teach, a friends’ space). Have your journal, study books, texts in your practice space. Create an altar for yourself that is an anchor for your spiritual life. I also travel with a smaller version of my home altar. Your altar is also a personal mandala of the different rays of the Source that illumine your path. This is referred to as your Istha Devata within yoga – your intimate relationship with the Source. Let your partner and appropriate friends and family members know your intentions.

4) Plan the sadhana program and check-in with your mentor
Each Living Sadhana Program has a preparation sheet to guide you through your process that is unique to each type of sadhana. You can check-in with your mentor, before-during or after to assist you in your process. Save most of your time with your mentor for during your sadhana as that is when questions will arise.

5) Auspicious Authentic Beginnings
Choose a new moon cycle to new moon cycle that works in your flow. This way people in our program can connect with others who are beginning a sadhana.

2010 New Moon dates: April 14,May 14, June 12

Create a ritual for yourself that honors your intention. This can be at your practice space on a mountaintop, at the ocean. The ritual can be a simple declaration and offering of your sadhana or a more elaborate process. Stay true to your ishta devata and yourself and the ritual beginnings will be auspicious.

6) Honor the Closing of your Sadhana by reflecting on what has changed and what you are integrating into your life.

These are suggested guidelines that go along with your Living Sadhana Preparation Sheet that you will adapt to your body-life. You can write this on a separate sheet of paper or in your computer so that you can send elements of your form to your mentor. Do not let anything create tension around sadhana. Do preserve the power of the time with yourSelf. Let these serve as guidelines for your awareness on the spiral path of life.


Purpose and Goals:
This is a reflection on why you are choosing this sadhana. In your journal, contemplate the polaries within you. Write the 3-4 foremost reasons and the goals for your sadhana. The goals should be realistic and can be open ended.

Samskaras and Shadows:
What are the obstacles that arise for you in cultivating your sadhana? What are the types of challenges on an inner and outer level that may come up? What awareness, support and “counterpose” can help your transform that samskara of pattern? Most of all remember to just return to the process. Be diligent and your own best friend simultaneously.

Opening Ritual & Altar:
Create your altar or renew your current altar. Clean the Space for your practice and set-up your supplies (incense, lighter, etc.). You can activate your altar in a specific way for each sadhana with relevant pictures-murtis-symbols (images of the Divine), sacred objects and specific colors of cloth, flowers and candles. Keep your altar simple but potent as a reflection of your inner being.

Asanas, Kriyas, Pranayama, Mudra, Meditation:
See the chart for the suggested differences in focus. Choose peak poses to serve as a guide for your sequencing. Develop the power to guide your own asana practice as the basis of what you teach.

Yogic Texts/Reading:
Choose a relevant yogic text or book that is either from your reading list during the teacher train ing or your own library. Let the study of this teaching be part of your transformation and selfknowledge. You can read a page or a chapter per day
except on your rest day when all is optional. Keep notes in your journal.

Living Yoga Sadhana
This is the area to integrate according to your capacity. Some people will feel it is enough to activate their sadhana and will be overwhelmed at initiating life-style changes. Others will have a great appetite to embrace the whole process. Below are suggestions for integrating your living yoga sadhana. Choose one primary pattern to transform during the sadhana. When that pattern arises, investigate the regressive effects and apply what you learn about yourself. For example, Mental-Emotional-Pattern: What thought pattern, way of thinking, or too much thinking, view of yourself, body, relationship, world is calling to be transformed?

Relationships/Family:
What can be enhanced-developed in your relationships with others particularly your family? Space and Actions: How can your your personal space (home, car) be revitalized during your sadhana? How is this reflected in the quality of your actions?

Health Cultivation:
What is one practice that you could integrate that would be enhanced by the spirit of your sadhana and support your health and vitality? Seva: What is one practice of service (deed, speech, formal, informal) that you could integrate that would be enhanced by the spirit of your sadhana and support your health and vitality.

Sankalpa:
Now write your Sankalpa, a short potent declaration of your intention or dedication for the sadhana period that becomes a steady navigational compass during your 30-day sadhana. This is the summary of all of the different aspects of your sadhana in a phrase that you can internally at the beginning of your sadhana and any time you need to refocus your energy.

Reflection and Dedication:

Purpose of Sadhana:

Seed Goals:

Shadow/Samskara:

Practice:

Date of Beginning and Closing:

Opening Ritual & Altar:

Start Your Love Train Practice April 14

Join me with the next new moon on April 14, 2010 for a daily yoga practice or sadhana, designed to reconnect you to your inner heart guru. Great for recovering intellectuals and those wishing to get out of their heads. Inspired by Shiva Rea - click here for her guidance on your nuturing sadhana, including tips for your asana, altar, journaling & intentions. Even if you do not yet have a home practice, this is a great source of inspiration and groundedness.

Inspiration from MFK Fisher: Living Well Regardless of Your Bank Account

Reading some of MFK's great stuff. She always found a way to live extraordinarily, even during the lean years of WWII and having to support 2 daughters and 3 husbands. She suggests weeding out desires, and leave only the holiest hungers "so that you can live most agreeably in a world full of an increasing number of disagreeable surprises."