February 2010 Yogajoy Newsletter - I've just returned to Portland after my 12-day voyage in Thailand. After more than 20 hours in airplanes, 12 hours in airports, crossing the international date line, I have plenty of reasons to practice yoga.

January 2010 Yogajoy Newsletter - Resolutions have been made. Many may have been broken, dismissed or forgotten by now. But what leaves me most curious isn't the nature of what those resolutions were and how they may have fallen.

December 2009 Yogajoy Newsletter - I've often mused about how our early kin experienced the waning light. I've read that the first years of darkening days were met with great fear and concern.

November 2009 Yogajoy Newsletter - From the yoga tradition we learn that there are five causes of suffering. Whenever I reflect on this I think "Wow, five, is that all! Humans seem to have created countless reasons to suffer!"

October 2009 Yogajoy Newsletter - I'll begin and finish this newsletter with a quote from Saint Francis of Assisi: "Lord, grant that I may not so much seek to be loved as to love."

September 2009 Yogajoy Newsletter - As the season turns to Autumn, I relish the reflectivity and creativity that come with the shorter days, falling leaves, and crisp early mornings on my back deck.

march 14, 2009 - Glimpses from Days in Dharamsala - Twice on this trip I have heard my name exclaimed with a question mark from a voice I did not expect.

march 14, 2009 - Travel as Metaphor and the Journey of a Tibetan to India - As I reflect back on my journey in India, one of the most poignant experiences was sitting with Tenzin for his teachings, but more significantly, for his story of escaping from Tibet..

march 13, 2009 - Alive and Well - After my 60 hours of being sick in India, I am alive and well.

march 11, 2009 - Teachings with the Dalai Lama - I’ve seen many a bright smile in my days, but not often such a smile as this. His smile radiated a joy that was inherent.

march 11, 2009 - Oh No! Dehli Again; Then to Dharamsala - We swerved in and out of the same oncoming chaos that we were now getting accustomed to only this time we were laughing with ourselves.

march 9, 2009 - Agra: The Train and The Children and The Beggars - I stand on the seat and swing my leg around to the next compartment, stepping over dozens of suitcases and sliding past several passengers stuck in the bardo of exit limbo.

march 8, 2009 - Early Morning Train Station and Social Justice - Entire families are curled up under blankets together. A small girl sits up, sleepy headed, as we scoot by.

march 7, 2009 - International Yoga Festival and The Bhagavad Gita - The path of renunciation has received worldwide recognition, both contemporarily and historically, as the spiritual path. Perhaps because most of us are in awe of those persons who give their lives completely over to God.

march 7, 2009 - Tolle, Rumi, Kabir and Dark Beer - At the International Yoga Fesatival, there were 400 people in attendance from 34 countries. It has been an inspiration, genuinely.

march 5, 2009 - Vignettes from the River - Strolling through the market place puts you firmly in this world. The mind and all of your sense are only HERE.

march 4, 2009 - The Beatles and Love as the Teacher - We walked to the old Maharishi ashram last night, where the Beatles came to stay for 6 weeks.

march 3, 2009 - Ageing, Ahimsa and Mind Habits - This morning my teacher was a 99 year old Swami, who still has all of his teeth and perfect vision!

march 1, 2009 - Getting Comfortable and Yoga Nidra - I get to practice being comfortable being uncomfortable again...I’m shivering and the lines aren’t moving. Funny that only amusement arises, whereas historically it may have arisen accompanied by annoyance.

february 28, 2009 - Christopher Titmus - Christopher was my first ever meditation teacher in 1989 when I literally stumbled into my first meditation retreat, 10 days of vipassana in Barre, MA.

february 28, 2009 - Dehli: Tea Rituals and Rishikesh: Toe Nails - My friend Catherine Ingram had warned me about Dehli. “It smells terrible,” she said. “It will burn the inside of your nose. Everyone gets sick there.”

february 27, 2009 - Home Stay - At the backwaters in Allepey, our lodging was a Homestay. We stayed with an Indian family that arranged our outings and prepared our meals.

february 26, 2009 - Morning Music and Backwater Communities - An hour in to my practice I was joined by an entire village across the way: morning devotional music began to play on a loudspeaker that easily crossed the canal.

february 24, 2009 - The Starry Sky and Open Air Jeeps - I awake at 5 am each for my yoga and swimming under the dark, star-filled sky. The dark is so dark, the stars so clear.

february 22, 2009 - The Phenomenon of Amma - While our driver negotiated the festival traffic and “security guards,” our guide read to us about Amma. She has been considered a “saint” since she was 5 yrs old.

february 21, 2009 - Street Signs - While in the taxi back to the airport a few days ago, I was surrounded by more traffic than I had ever seen in my life, even in NYC.

february 18, 2009 - Watching Ants: A Reflection of My Own Diligent Work Life - After breakfast and a writing period, I ventured back out for another walk.

february 17, 2009 - Arriving in Mumbai - I’m floating in a bubble of ease and relaxation as I follow the crowds to immigration and baggage claim. My bag is just about the last one off the plane.

february 16, 2009 - Departure for India - I embark on my journey to India willing to engage the small and large challenges that will inevitably arise. The first one…I’ve been assigned to a middle seat all the way to Mumbai!

february 13, 2009 - In the last couple of weeks I've had several "hip horizons" with my recovery. I've now gone dancing, ridden my bike, been on a hike, thought about going bowling (really not my thing, but it's a season for new adventures!), and expanded my yoga pose repertoire to include arm balances again!

january 14, 2009 - I swam 15 minutes of the breast stroke, with a kickboard.  What that means: I mobilized myself across the swimming pool with just the force of my legs, which, up until now, has been impossible since my surgery!

december 22, 2008 - Emily Dickinson once wrote, "I'll tell you how the sun rose...she rose one ribbon at a time." Which is also how she sets. On Winter Solstice, I'm acutely aware of the sun's rising and setting.

october 29, 2008 - Today, I drove to the yoga studio for the first time since my surgery, 11 weeks and 2 days ago. Everything went smoothly on the familiar early morning pathway, the same route I use when bike commuting (which I will not be permitted to do until at least February).

october 8, 2008 - Reflecting on the change of season and the changes in my hip, I awoke this morning with a mixture of melancholy and appreciation.

september 26, 2008 - I hope this message finds you all well and enjoying the change of weather to Fall. How sudden that seemed! I, too, had a sudden change of season - I started walking this week.

september 9, 2008 - My progress has continued, and my rock star status has remained. Who would have thunk that such recognition would come from this event?

august 27, 2008 - Thank you again for all of your support over the past several weeks. Today, I am sitting up in a real chair, typing you this e-mail myself!

winter 2007 - This season's exploration at the studio centers around the seasonal rhythms. According to Ayurveda, we're in the season of VATA, which is the element of wind, air, space and ether. Vata is the winter season and its qualities are cold, dry, brittle, airy and mobile.

fall 2006 - Blessed Solstice! We've spent the last season at the studio exploring the Shadow of self, consciousness, yoga, life and love. This time has been an appreciation of the Power held in the Shadow and an exploration of what it means to Allow, to Taste, to Touch, to Understand, to Nurture and, finally, to Enlighten the Shadow material.

by sarahjoy marsh:

Living Yoga: Stretching Lives Beyond Prison - New Connexions, Nov/Dec 2009 - When we can courageously embrace our personal sense of impoverishment, addiction, fear, rage, racism, compartmentalization, helplessness and anger, we take tremendous personal steps toward our own wholeness.

Yoga for Freedom - Alternatives, Fall 2009 - We have long-term habits of marginalizing the challenging citizens of our community. And those persons who end up in the margins suffer the impacts of going unheard, unseen or unvalued.

Yoga and Social Justice - Alternatives, Fall 2008 -When a victim and a perpetrator come together in mediation, there can be tremendous healing for both. Often the victim comes to see the offender as more than just their behavior; the perpetrator sees the victim in the web of their life and recognizes that the harm they caused often spreads beyond just the victim.

Practice in the Shadows - Alternatives, Fall 2007 - In two days, I’m having lunch with Governor Kulongoski. I feel as if I’m supposed to have a compelling political platform prepared for the honor of sitting down with him. I wonder if I should have compiled more research, statistics, financial reports, and convincing evidence for a policy change.

The Altruist - Ultimate Northwest Magazine, November 2007

Taking Refuge #19 - Alternatives, Fall 2001 - What is it that transforms a task from grateful service to mundane chore? From spiritual expansion to mental & physical contraction? I’ve grown tired of truisms that always equate service to spiritual pursuit. Sometimes they’re used to rationalize workaholism; other times to justify exploitation of self, or other.

Taking Refuge #18 - Alternatives, Summer 2001 - But if we are practicing yoga, or lighting a candle, with the hope of getting something from it, then are we really open to the mystery to which we pray? Do we really trust its wisdom? If we are trying to master or concentrate the mind, what are we missing out on in the heart or the body?

Taking Refuge #17 - Alternatives, Spring 2001 - When I come to realize that all of life’s expressions, not just around me, but through me, as me, have a momentum and a permission that is neither driven by nor granted by me, I get to see the birth, the song and the death of that expression in the larger context of life.

Taking Refuge #16 - Alternatives, Winter 2000 - When we are mindful, any endeavor can reflect us clearly back to ourselves. Such reflection, in turn, guides us to an even greater truth. It is this "reflecting pond" that is at the heart of my yoga practice.

Doing Time in Timelessness (2/2) - Alternatives, Summer 2000 - At the end of the class, we sit quietly. Susan, the newest student, says "This feels so normal." I respond that yoga should feel normal, like breathing, eating and sleeping. She changes the emphasis of her statement, "No, I mean, this (pointing to herself) feels normal. I feel normal. Not like prozac or group counseling or anything at all. I just feel like a normal person."

Doing Time in Timelessness (1/2) - Alternatives, Spring 2000 - The truth is we are not just having a yoga class when we do yoga together. The women are finding a circle of support. We are a community while we are together. We laugh hilariously, moan about hamstrings and bedsprings, sit quietly in gratitude and cheer each other on.

Yoga and Sky Gazing - Alternatives, Summer 1998 - It’s been said in yoga that this body is an instrument being played by the wind, the breath, prana (life force). Can I exist as this stillness and movement, as this emerging song, in awe, gratitude, humility and surrender—letting this life unfold in the mystery?