A little wrap-up of the current theme in my sequence inspired by The Pilgrim archetype.
For the Pilgrim, an outward journey is always an inward journey.
Movement brings us freedom, expansion, and growth. Be wary of falling into a slumber of your routines, but also of the traits non-committalness or flakiness.
This card speaks about how we often wait for the perfect conditions to begin, when really heart asks more for courage than comfort.
We all have a deep longing to answer the call, to get unstuck. What are the obstacles between you and your journey?
Playlist from class in the carousel 🎶
I didn’t realize Teotihuacan lasted nearly a full millenium before its collapse (longer than imperial Rome), or that it was one of the largest cities in the world when it thrived (~400 CE).
I couldn’t help but thinking how if Berkeley or Waco could move enough earth to rebuild mountains, and if they did what it would be like to wander among the bones of that city 2000 from now.
there was a girl in the blue dress gazing out at her world on fire and the knight who never quite let go. the moment a kingdom changed hands. a river city caught mid-breath at golden hour. rooms so grand the light falls in like it was invited.
a place I love to revisit. the national gallery of ireland, dublin. free entry, priceless everything else
This hike is amazing!! You could just drive to the visitor center… or you could start with a pastry in Doolin, hike the 12 mile through hike with some the best views of your life, and then finish with a pint in Liscannor!!
This backyard has seen a lot of yoga. It’s one of my favorite sanctuaries when I come to Dublin. Feeling inspired to add some of these to my classes this week.
Bog of Frogs loop, my solo day trip from Dublin. I let it be a walking meditation— just noticing, following whatever felt right to me in the moment.
Many time stopping to say “wow” to just myself, sometimes running stretches of trail, sometimes sitting with the sun and breeze. Definitely including salt and vinegars chips in the park vultured by massive seagulls. A day I’ll remember where to come back to.
If it was up to me I wouldn’t have hiked this day, my one pair of sneakers were already damp-er than I’d like. But my aunt Catherine planned this day: and she is not put off by rain, so off we went.
Even the drive felt like part of it. Waterfalls off the roadside, and a 6th-century monastic city before we even started hiking.
This is Glendalough, Valley of the Two Lakes in the Wicklow Mountains.
The lake is a flat mirror holding the mist and shifting clouds.
The trail (taken in reverse) rises slowly. Further evidence of its mining roots lay rusting on the wayside.
Sheep and deep appear and disappear into the green.
An Spinc trail. The Pointed Hill.
At some point you stop being below the clouds and start moving through them.
Up close they’re not constant. They drift through the trees. Lift for a moment to reveal the lake, and then close again.
At the apex of the valley. You realize you’ve been following the water the whole time— now standing right where it spills over, one foot braced on either side.
The other side is softer, spongier.
The constant caress of the clouds create the perfect conditions for a delicate bog. Your footsteps echo lightly through the wooden planks.
The way down is forest, stairs, another waterfall!
I loved this hike.
I would do it again tomorrow!
There’s an Irish word that captures the feeling you get before a good hike. It is the restless excitement just before you set out on something.
When I found it, I held onto it,
rolled it around in my mind like a perfectly shaped stone.
Sceitimíní.
Setting out on the Stairway to Heaven hike feels like this
This park protects one of the largest expanses of peatland in the north of Ireland, a unique and beautiful landscape where mosses and plants slowly build up a saturated word over thousands of years.
The boardwalk floats across it like a ribbon.
Water moves everywhere here— slipping through moss, dripping from the peat, streams crossing the mountain with a soft trickling sound that carries across the hillside like scattered wind chimes.
And my favorite part— tucked among all that saturated ground are sundews, tiny carnivorous plants glistening with sticky droplets that trap insects. I actually grow these at home, so spotting them thriving here in the wild was so exciting!
(Those stairs are a lot of fun too!)
This week I started my 200-hour yoga teacher training!
For the past five years I’ve been teaching yoga sculpt and have completed more than 100 hours of YS specific training. This format has been an infinitely creative method for me.
One thing that has always mattered to me is that yoga sculpt and yoga aren’t separate worlds. The strength, flexibility, and endurance we emphasize in YS are all part of the same practice, and they carry directly into real life.
Because of my love for YOGA sculpt I decided to complete my 200-hour certification and access more from the yoga side of this practice.
Excited to take you where this goes. I hope to bring you even more fusion and creativity!
