One of my favorite podcasts is Dear Sugars, co-hosted by writers Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond. They are both frank, passionate, clever creatives who give meaningful, compassionate advice to people facing any number of life issues. I listen regularly. So I was surprised, a couple of weeks ago, to find that Steve Almond has a relatively …
While classes don’t start for another two weeks, tomorrow is the day all faculty at Chattanooga State Community College report back to work. That makes tonight the last night of my second summer… and tomorrow the first day of my third year at Chatt State. WOOO! The dawn of a new school year makes me thing …
My friend and yoga teacher Anna Guest-Jelley (she of Curvy Yoga fame) did some work in early 2016 around writing self-care instructions (she had an email newsletter issue on the topic, then she did a couple of podcast episodes around it, especially this one [starting around 3:30]). Only about 2.5 years later, I finally heeded …
One of the benefits of training to be a life coach is getting access to a bunch of talented, smart-as-hell, intuitive, incisive coaches-in-training to help you sort through any obstacles before you. I’ve been coached up, to the tune of about 50ish hours so far, by some brilliant women in the Courageous Living Coach Certification …
Here’s what I’ve learned: When you can be out in the world fully as yourself, when you refuse to let the judgments you feel from others (real or imagined) limit what you’re willing to do around other people, and when you’re committed to living a life filled with ease … when you can do the …
If neurons audibly clicked when they found a connection, my brain was a spectacular fireworks show last night. Somehow, just hearing one line from an Esther Perel conversation caused this incredible ripple effect of connections to all fall into place. Bear with me, please. I have much to say. Over the weekend, I went to …
You should buy and read the book, We Crossed a Bridge and it Trembled, from political scientist Wendy Pearlman. To convince you, I’m going to share a half-dozen paragraphs that define the Syrian experience from 2011-2018, at least based on what I’ve read. Pearlman’s account is based on hundreds of interviews she’s done over five years …
To talk to me about the work I do — teaching, advising, coaching — is to understand in fairly short order that I’m a person who genuinely, full-throatedly loves her work. People say things to me like, “you just glow” or “you REALLY LOVE your job!” … often with a mixture of awe and apprehension in …
Back in January, I attended a workshop at the Asheville Yoga Center — where I’m currently roughly halfway through my 300-hour advanced yoga teacher training. It was taught by one of the absolutely amazing teachers there, Michael Johnson. As I’ve said to Michael himself, each time I come to a workshop he leads, I feel like …
I’ve written before about how I see no inherent contradiction in being a political scientist who also teaches yoga. The undercurrent of my political science interests has always been an effort to understand people who are not like me. I’m fascinated by how others see the world differently than I do, and how that leads …
