Evergreen

Some things are evergreen. Like not knowing what day it is in this long stretch of pajama days between Christmas and New Year’s.

Like the way peppermint and chocolate mixed together = a particularly seasonal kind of flavor.

Like the feeling of sitting quietly reading with someone at both ends of the sofa.

Like the fact that we’re all aging, always. Until we’re not. (Do you feel it this year? The aging? I really do.)

Like our Advent wreath. Every Sunday evening in December (usually squeezed between Premier League matches), we read a simple interfaith Unitarian Universalist liturgy to light our candles. We talk about hope, peace, joy, and love, and the moments and people and places that show us what those things look like in real life.

And I love it more, quietly, every year.

Evergreen.

Heart-openers to put in your pocket

Winter has properly set in here in Basel.

Medieval chimneys puff smoke, morning temps hover around freezing, and the Christmas markets are back in full swing. It’s exactly the kind of cold that makes you want to hunch over, curl up, and hibernate.

So in class the other day, we spent a lot of time flowing through poses like this: heart-openers, shoulder openers, backbends. When you can remind your body to stay open and warm and loose, your spirit will usually follow — even when the air outside is bitter.

Raja Bhujangasana (King Cobra) is one extreme example. It really doesn’t matter if you ever touch your toes to your head or not. You can get similar antidotes to winter from poses like Cobra, Dhanurasana (Bow), Bridge, Camel, Reverse Tabletop, and variations of Reverse Namaskar (or just grabbing your elbows behind your back) in Tree or a wide-legged forward fold.

Put these heart-openers in your pocket for the days when you’d rather close off and contract. A few minutes of asana can be the perfect counter to the cold. ☃️

A slushy New Year to you

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. 🌲🦌