“It’s not happiness that makes us grateful but gratefulness that makes us happy.” – Br. David Steindl Rast
Anything you do from the soulful self will help lighten the burdens of the world. Anything. You have no idea what the smallest word, the tiniest generosity can cause to be set in motion. Be outrageous in forgiving. Be dramatic in reconciling. Mistakes? Back up and make them as right as you can, then move…
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“Grief and love are sisters, woven together from the beginning. Their kinship reminds us that there is no love that does not include loss, and no loss that is not a reminder of the love we carry for what we once held close.” -Francis Weller A note from Carl, August 8 2023 Like the land,…
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“We are all one gesture from being the cruelty we have suffered or one kindness from helping each other heal in the open.” ~ Mark Nepo A note from Erin, July 5 2023: This morning, I’m sending linden blossom and elderflower scented greetings your way. I’ve been savoring the early morning hours in the garden,…
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A note from Carl So much of what delights and troubles you Happens on a surface You take for ground. Your mind thinks your life alone, Your eyes consider air your nearest neighbor, Yet it seems that a little below your heart There houses in you an unknown self Who prefers the patterns of the…
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“We must abandon arrogance and stand in awe. We must recover the sense of the majesty of creation, and the ability to be worshipful in its presence. For I do not doubt that it is only on the condition of humility and reverence before the world that our species will be able to remain in…
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A note from Erin, April 15 2023 Why do praise and gratitude matter? Both of these practices are a kind of soul activism and one I believe we and the world need. Gratitude is a way of seeing. I think of putting on Mary-Oliver-perspectacles as one doorway to this way of seeing – seeing with…
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A note from Carl: Greeting friends, Tomorrow I begin a 6-week live, online course on Coming Home to Your Animal Body. When I use the term animal body, I am not referring to anything exotic or esoteric, but rather our own ordinary humanness when we are not lost in thought, disconnected from our bodies, and holding…
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A Note from Carl: When I was in fourth grade in 1982, Mr. Ostrander, the middle school music teacher, came in to do a demonstration of all the different instruments we could study in 5th grade. Before the presentation, I had decided on drums, I wanted to be a drummer. I was always moving, tapping…
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A Note from Erin: For the past many months, I’ve been in what’s not exactly a midlife crisis, but a midlife deep cocooning. It’s invited a dissolution of much of who I’ve known myself to be. I’m practicing trusting this transformation into imaginal cell goo and the Soul’s knowing of what is next, while understanding it…
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A note from Erin: I’m honored and enlivened to invite you to this beautiful and powerful immersion in one of the most important practices in a human life. I’m infinitely grateful to my teachers who showed me what is possible. – What is it? – Maitri: A Courtship with The Essential Ingredient. The Essential Ingredient…
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A note from Carl: As you read this, could you let your attention drop down to feel the sensations of your contact with the ground? Under your feet, under your pelvis, you are supported by this living Earth. Could you let yourself take in that felt sense of being supported? Is it possible, as you…
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A note from Carl: In 2005, when we were in the midst of our Feldenkrais training in Santa Fe, New Mexico, we had the opportunity one evening to see Robert Bly and Martin Prechtel together. Each of these men had a strong influence on us, and we were delighted to see these two wise, coyote…
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A Note from Erin: Hello, brilliant human! Whether you’re inspired, brokenhearted, grateful, tired, disappointed, deeply enchanted, or some swirl of all of these and more – I am sending warm-hearted wishes your way. Your happiness is my happiness. Your suffering is mine too. I’m radiating care and reverence into all the nooks and crannies of our…
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Limitation: A Generous Teacher When I was 14 years old back in the 1980s, I used to go to a bookstore at the mall with my girlfriend and we’d get all excited about discovering books on such far-out topics as shamanism, new-age philosophy, astrology, and anything remotely resembling an altered state of consciousness, as profoundly…
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On Friday night I had the honor of opening the 14th season for the Jung Society of Utah with a talk called Half a Shade Braver (title inspired by a line from poet David Whyte.) As soon as I received the invitation to speak, inspiration started bubbling up and I wrote more than I could share in…
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A note from Erin: Hello, beautiful human, A teacher of mine used to say “Increasing complexity requires deeper roots,” and wow, how about the complexity these days? It seems to me we need to tend our deep roots. To have a tap root down deep, burrowed into what really matters, tapped into our sane, soulful,…
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A note from Carl: First, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for all of the 50th birthday wishes. I was truly touched by the kindness shared by so many of you. Thank you. I limped into this new decade on my peg-leg crutch on the long, slow recovery process from my Achilles tendon tear.…
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A note from Erin: A few days ago I went for a meandering stroll in the canyon and after overnight rain, the golden hills were wafting the sweet incense of autumnal decay. I breathed it in deep. I saw tiny insects and luminous spider threads. I squatted down to watch a big slug cross the…
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A note from Carl: Last month I drove to Berkeley, CA, to attend a Circlesongs retreat with Bobby McFerrin. Much of the time when I mention Bobby McFerrin, people reply with “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” and while Bobby did write and perform the catchy, vocally instrumental tune, there is so much more to Bobby McFerrin! He…
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Greetings beautiful human, This Saturday, I am teaching a Coming Home to Your Animal Body workshop. What is your animal body? This is a question that I love to simmer in. To me, animal body is not anything esoteric or shamanic, but rather our profoundly ordinary humanness. When Mary Oliver writes that “you only have to let…
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A note from Erin: Hello, beautiful human, I hope you’re finding ways to delight in the season wherever you are adn whatever else is happening. Delight is necessary. Today I have an invitation for you. I have a new class starting on Wed. July 13th – and whether you join me or not, why not read the…
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A note from Erin: Hello, beautiful human, A teacher of mine used to say “Increasing complexity requires deeper roots,” and wow, how about the complexity these days? It seems to me we need to tend our deep roots. To have a tap root down deep, burrowed into what really matters, tapped into our sane, soulful,…
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A note from Carl: Greetings Friends, Much of what I teach about movement is not particularly about movement, but rather a quality of approach, a way of relating, a way of being vitally alive and responsive in an animate world. It is natural for us to be awake in our bodies and attuned to the…
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Helloooooo over there, beautiful being! Shall we make ourselves a bit more comfortable in order to read? How’s your neck? Jaw? Shoulders? Is there anywhere in your body that might like to soften? Can you feel your own bodyweight, right here, as ballast for your grounded presence? Shall we dive in? A note from Erin:…
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A note from Erin: Hello, beautiful human. I’m so grateful to be able to reach out to you today. A few years back I heard from a friend who lived with the Quechua people in Peru that in their language, the way they say “thank you” is to say “a little bird flies from my heart to…
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A note from Erin: Hello, beautiful human. Some thoughts on the underrated and oh so important spiritual practice of having a sense of humor: About yourself About the mess you’re in About the ways you get stuck Again And again And the ways you get in your own way And make things harder than they need…
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Jan. 1, 2022 A note from Erin: What I really want to say is exactly summarized in this quote from Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel: “Let’s be fierce in our commitment to value and utilize even the most challenging circumstances as a way to deepen our understanding and cultivate compassion for others as well as ourselves. Let’s continuously…
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Dec. 10, 2021 A note from Carl: Greetings Dear Friends, I hope this finds you well. I’ll start today’s note with a little poem from Mark Nepo: The Dive Brave your way on. You are a blessing waiting to be discovered by yourself. The wisdom waits in your heart like a buried treasure which only loving…
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Nov. 18 2021 A Note from Erin Hello, beautiful human! It’s been a while since we’ve written. We’re thrilled to report that our little one has gotten his first vaccine and will soon return to in-person school which will allow us to be more regularly in contact. Some beautiful things are in the works over here…
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October 9 2021 A Note from Carl Greetings friends, We often refer to October as skeleton appreciation month. With all of the skeletons on display for Halloween and Dia de los Meurtos, it can give us an opportunity to appreciate our bony selves. As you read this, can you sense your bones? The dense, earthy support within you,…
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