Back home in Basel after a week in the Alps.
See those drab brown slopes behind me? Friends: climate change is REAL. 
Europe’s been experiencing a massive January heatwave and the mountains are scarily brown, green, and bleak — no snow to be found in so many Alpine villages throughout France, Switzerland, and Italy.
Ski slopes are closed, gondolas shut down, and wildlife that doesn’t usually turn up until March is already wandering around. Hotels are renting out mountain bikes instead of skis. Unless you’re at super high altitude, it’s all just mud, slush, and melting ice.
But it’s not just the lack of snow. I wonder how these tiny family-run ski hotels and restaurants will survive in the years to come. Will a warming climate push them out? There’s a whole Alpine economy here that could just, welp, disappear. 
On a lighter note: Happy New Year. I know we’re seven days in and you may have already chucked your resolutions. That’s ok.
It doesn’t really matter. You can always begin again.
Atha yoga anusasanam. The first Sutra. Sanskrit for “Now is the time for the yoga to begin.”
So yes, for sure, I’ll encourage you to unroll your mat and move your body a little more this week, this month, this year. Every bit helps. 
But also: floss your teeth. It’s a game changer. 
And try oil pulling. Another regular Ayurvedic practice that works wonders. I’ve doubled down on it in this tough season of “let’s pretend the pandemic is over” mixed with schools full of flu and RSV and strep throat and anything else you can throw at kids.
Phew, 2023. Here we are. Somehow.
Take good care of yourselves. Go walk around a melting lake and feel the sun on your face and the wind in your hair.
It’s all connected. 
