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beyond samskara

June 2, 2025 in Blog

We are, in so many ways, creatures of habit and repetition– pattern-seeking beings at both the conscious and unconscious levels. Unless we actively intervene, each of us are (literally) bound to think the same thoughts, feel the same feelings, tell ourselves the same stories, and unconsciously make the same deleterious choices—and then wonder with dismay why things don’t change. We question how it is that we end up in the same place again and again.

In Eastern philosophy, this is called samskara: the grooves or imprints left on the mind by past actions, thoughts, and experiences. Samskaras are the ruts we fall into, usually without realizing it.… Read the rest

conscious creation

May 8, 2025 in Blog

Conscious Creation (unwinding the stories we never meant to live)

So much of our lives are shaped by stories we didn’t consciously choose. Stories that were absorbed and internalized before we had the capacity to question them. We took on labels, expectations, and roles without even realizing it. Why? Because at some point, our brain and nervous system decided: this is what I need to do to stay safe, to be loved, to belong.

For me, one of those stories landed in grade school, when I was stamped with the label “gifted and talented.” At the time, I didn’t know whether I should feel proud or embarrassed.… Read the rest

the necessity of wonder

March 31, 2025 in Blog

“Where is your Self to be found? Always in the deepest enchantment you have experienced.”
— Hugo Von Hofmannsthal

Things are looking bleak. Not that I needed any confirmation, but when a friend—whose general outlook is one of magical illumination—sent me a text that included the phrase “before the end of the world,” I knew it wasn’t just me feeling this way. With that in mind, I’ve been making choices accordingly. So when the opportunity arose to once again horn in on my brother’s family vacation, I grabbed a friend and jumped at the chance without hesitation. This was my third visit to the tiny island nation of Iceland and there was not a single moment of disappointment: exploring ice caves nestled over active volcanoes, soaking in a geothermal river on the side of a moss and snow-covered mountain, watching wild waves crash onto a black sand beach from my perch on a tall basalt wall.… Read the rest

letting go

February 26, 2025 in Blog

I haven’t dug into the archives to see just how many times I have written about aparigraha over the years, but this is not the first. Or second. Or fifth. Often translated as “non-greed” or “non-possessiveness,” the Sanskrit word, when broken down, has a prefix that negates what follows: “to take or seize from all sides.” You might think of aparigraha as not taking more than you need, and you would be right. That is a great practice. You might also think of aparigraha as the opposite of “taking from all sides”—or letting go.

As much as we are conditioned to cling at all costs, even a reflective pause reminds us that the nature of life is change.… Read the rest

Rest

February 1, 2025 in Blog

I’d been pushing it. For too long, and I knew it. Burning the candle at both ends, biting off more than I could chew—whatever the phrase, I was overdoing it with no rest…you get the picture. Despite hearing about Covid, RSV, the flu, and the lingering mystery virus with an unending cough, I kept pushing. I never get sick, right? Until I do. And then it’s so sick. Beat up, can’t sleep, hacking all night, everything hurts, cannot function, clear-your-calendar sick. Yeah, that. Nice work, Jill.

This morning, when I asked a dear friend what I could possibly write about—given that I barely had two brain cells to rub together—he said, “rest.”… Read the rest

Seeds of Insight

December 29, 2024 in Blog

Well, friends, we’ve reached the end-of-year countdown. I hope you can carve out some time in the coming days to look back and ask yourself: What did this year mean? While we can (and should) pause and reflect throughout the year, there is something undeniably symbolic about closing out the current calendar. Even if you’re not a “New Year’s person” or don’t make resolutions, this transition offers a rare opportunity—an intentional pause to reflect, take stock, and carry forward the lessons and insights that matter most. How we create beginnings and endings matters.

Perhaps it is helpful to start the process by reviewing surface highlights in the different areas of your life: professional, financial, physical/health, family, relationships, purpose, spirituality.… Read the rest

structure and freedom

October 27, 2024 in Blog

I was in my twenties when I started dabbling with yoga and meditation. For a long while, it was like many things are with me: all or nothing, coming and going in fits and starts. Looking back through the lens of years of experience and the patterns of thousands of students, I can see it for what it was. In the beginning, I did just enough practice to make me feel better. I did what was needed to take the edge off the pain of being human. And once that sharp edge was smoothed a bit, I fell back into old habits.… Read the rest

feeling it all

October 1, 2024 in Blog

First and foremost, a giant and heartfelt thank you for the stream of messages and texts inquiring about our safety and the state of things in the mountains. I was in DC and my mom was in Raleigh, so we are safe. I don’t have information about the house at this point, but when so many are experiencing unimaginable losses, we can just be grateful that we are fine. What I do know is this: the faraway world is burning and the nearby world is drowning. There is so much to hold, and we need to feel all of it.

Honestly, I didn’t really have a sense of what was happening over the weekend.… Read the rest

moved

August 1, 2024 in Blog

I cannot pinpoint exactly when it started. The celebration of diversity. The pouring rain. Athletes, spanning generations, jogging together through the darkness, passing the torch. Celine Dion, in the midst of her heath crisis singing her heart out from the Eiffel Tower. It doesn’t really matter, and I can’t pick a moment. Let the games begin. And let the weeping commence. Is it just me?

One among a multitude of reasons this newsletter is coming out late is due to the number of hours I am spending in front of the television instead of in front of the computer. I don’t think I’ve missed a single minute of the women’s artistic gymnastics, and that’s certainly not all I’ve watched.… Read the rest

the moment

June 29, 2024 in Blog

It seems like everyone I’m working with at the moment is really going through it. I’m not talking about small hiccups in daily life or little bumps in the road. I’m talking about those life-changing, course-correcting, new-trajectory-seeking moments when we shed our well-worn skin, and have to figure out how to move forward: exposed, raw and disoriented. And even if your personal life is not undergoing a major overhaul, just one mindful glimpse out into the world can/should elicit a temper flare or wave of anxiety (or nausea). We have entered yet another season of reckoning: walking through the fire, and getting clear on how we are creating the life— and world— in which we live.… Read the rest