Nine weeks ago, I began ushering Writing Yoga® course participants through the Creativity Matrix. At its core, the matrix is a guide for working through a project, problem, or implementing a new routine. Each word becomes a catalyst for living a calm, creative, and more compassionate life. (Check ou...

Watching the maple trees grow like weeds in my yard is a perfect metaphor for this week's theme: we need to stretch to grow. Tiny seedlings along my fence are now decorated with large lime colored leaves. Thank goodness, winter is over and new growth can begin. 

Nature's lessons fill anthologies of...

A colleague of mine moved across the country to be closer to her kids who moved out west from Long Island. She and her husband sold their house and settled in. Can you guess what happened? Her daughter-in-law got a great job in Chicago and moved. Now my friend is stuck in the desert. She misses the ...

My mother collected bells. They were displayed on a wooden shelf with a mirror behind them. The collection didn't need a mirror: there were plenty of brass, glass, and porcelain ringers without a reflection. My mother wasn't a hoarder, but she did like her stuff. Lots of people love stuff. My reacti...

It's been raining for several gray days here in New York as I write this post on the word "Illuminate." Funny universe. To me its a test to prove how much intention really matters. If I set the intention to "illuminate" something in work or life, the drab day becomes meaningless and I feel much more...

There comes a point in every creative project and every creative life where whatever worked in the past isn't working anymore. 

Have you ever felt stuck in a routine that no longer excites you? Or maybe you’re craving a spark, something new, something fresh that shakes things up and pushes you to g...

Think about the last time you felt truly light. Imagine a time when your mind was clear, your creativity flowed, and stress felt far away. What if you could create more of that?

Air is movement, open space, and possibility. It reminds us to release what we don’t need to make room for more of what m...

I live in a world of magic gardens, storytelling and imaginative innovation. We call this place a library. Even serious research is done through this lens. If you love your library as I do, this makes perfect sense. Many months ago, I booked Cornell Cooperative Extension to read, speak and plant see...

Imagine waking up 12 weeks from now feeling lighter, more connected to your work, your creativity, and the people around you. Imagine a season where you prioritize calm, creativity, and compassion. Not just for others, but for yourself. 

Can one word help? What if we allowed ourselves to dream firs...

I can't meditate! If you can hear yourself saying those words, then the idea of sitting, just to sit, can feel like an impossible luxury. Spare time doesn't exist. (At least not for anyone I know!) Taking a moment to sit might even seem counterproductive because there’s always another fire to put ou...

Happy New Year! Does it feel like the beginning of something fabulous? Hope so!

For the school administrators, teachers, and librarians I work with, the New Year doesn’t always mean a fresh start; it often means diving back into the whirlwind of lesson plans, scheduling (all those changes!), and mo...

One of my yoga teachers used to tell her classes how achy her joints were in the morning and how hard it was for her to get out of bed. There was a lesson in this. After a short time on the mat, she was back to feeling like her 20 year old self again. I first heard her say this 30 years ago, when sh...

My poetry group meets at the Sea Cliff library and we were asked to write a “Shape Poem” and submit it for an exhibit. I walked to the beach and there were a few tiny sand crabs walking sideways in front of me. I thought I would write about them. 

When I got to shore, I saw a horseshoe crab, still ...

How do you get through the day? With effort or with ease? Of course, it takes effort to complete all the difficult tasks and challenges that you have each and every day, but it doesn't have to feel that way. It doesn't have to feel overwhelming, stressful, chaotic, like you're just playing catch up ...

We are not on summer break anymore! It's officially fall. so how do you keep the vacation feeling alive? How are you going to manage all the stresses of the day when you can't be on a retreat?

Here are 5 habits that definitely help:

Habit #1 To Keep Vacation Benefits Alive: Be Early

Make it a ha...

Seriously, this is a dream come true! This summer I had the pleasure of introducing over 75 school administrators to Cedarmere for the first time. They could not believe their eyes! (And ears and nose too.) It is truly a magical place and something that nearly everyone can not understand until they ...

By some good fortune, I found myself working in a library. I didn't know librarians needed a degree in Library Science. I just thought anyone who liked to read could be a librarian and they can, but it is a bit more involved! 

A compassionate reference librarian told me the deal. She was not condes...

Even if you don't have "teacher" in your job title, you are learning something new and teaching others all the time. Think about when you get a new phone, appliance, or computer upgrade. Think about being on the phone with customer service as they try to explain why the smart lamp you just purchased...

Do you ever feel like there aren't enough hours in the day? Or do you ALWAYS feel there aren't enough hours in the day. If time is a human construct, can we find better ways to shape our days? 

Over the years I have tried a lot of different planning systems. As a librarian, organization is my thing...

What happens when you hold a rock in your hand? Go ahead, look around your house and pluck a rock out of a flower pot or decorative jar. No rock? Take a walk in the park and choose your pick!

Hold it. I’m not talking a fancy crystal, just a plain rock, so don't go nuts. 

Whenever I need to feel ce...

As the New Year approaches, we often feel pressure to add more. More tasks, goals, habits, and achievements. But what if, instead of piling on, we focused on subtraction goals? Rather than creating elaborate to-do lists or ambitious resolutions, consider the power of letting go. Subtraction goals in...

The holidays are fun, but they can also be seriously stressful. Between endless to-do lists, packed social calendars, and last-minute surprises, things can feel a little overwhelming. A lot of what happens this time of year is outside our control, but we can control how we manage our mindset, our ti...

Finally, the weather cooperated and New Yorkers were able to get outdoors and not get soaked. We've had many weeks of rain on the weekends so whenever the sun appears, we go to mountains, beaches and parks and welcome the warmth. 

We go to the trees. 

Weekends indoors were "productive" for us. We ...

Last week we wore winter boots. Today, I jumped in my 10 foot wide pool. Good thing I didn't close it early.

Over the weekend, there was a street fair that had not been held in years due to weather and well, the pandemic. You saw everything from ski jackets to tank tops and no one really got it rig...

For much of history, it has been tradition to burn journals of loved ones when they pass over to the other side. I would like that to happen with mine please. But what if you didn't have a choice?

I recently saw Eileen Myles speak about having their journals housed in the archives of Yale Universit...

It's never too late to go back to school! I took two graduate courses this summer, even though I have been an educator for over 20 years. Learning and teaching are inseparable practices. Plus, we all must stay current to thrive.

I became a librarian for the love of books and reading but there is li...

What does it mean to live a luminous life? This question has been tossing around my mind for many years. Being luminous is a state of being, a way of life, philosophy, health care routine, presentation powerhouse, parenting energizer, and teacher motivator. It also can put us on the fast track to he...

Wait, you want me to hang upside down?  Hear me out, there are many ways we can change our orientation on the planet without going to the monkey bars. Yesterday, I did a simple forward fold, my feet were wide apart, my hands supported my weight on the ground and I noticed three things: 1) My head fe...

Think of something you love to do. Do you consider it "creative"? Cooking is creative. Travel is creative. Planning a party is creative. Pretty much everything you do in life requires you to problem solve and yes, that is creative! If you have a headache thinking about problems to solve, it's not as...

When was the last time you thought about someone and they called you out of the blue or showed up on line next to you at the grocery store? Or maybe you noticed something in nature that required multiple factors to make it happen such as the sun fitting perfectly between two buildings in a big city?...

In yoga and meditation we often speak of "monkey mind." It's as if a monkey is swinging in your gray matter while your focus tries to follow. Good luck following that monkey. All you can do is slow it down because there will always be distractions. 

My students created a pollinator garden at our sc...

Jump in a jalopy, splash at the shore, or kick up the grass and go on foot because it's time to get outside and do something different. Whenever you feel as if you're standing still or moving backwards, try changing directions. Move forward differently. 

What is one area of your life you would like...

Studies show having FOMO, aka Fear of Missing Out, can increase anxiety and depression.  The US surgeon general just released a report on how especially bad it is for kids. Social media, of course, is largely to blame.

No wonder; it seems like everyone on social media has the most fabulous clothes,...

If you have ever visited or lived near a river, lake or marsh on North America, you have seen herons.  With snaking necks that snap up prey, you never know when they will strike. All the while they manage to look so graceful and calm. 

Most of their time is spent waiting. They don't rush, they don'...

Before Covid, I taught several yoga classes a week and was either presenting Writing Yoga® workshops or planning them during every second of my spare time. I miss my yoga students! But I had no time to focus on doing the work I was meant to do. Now, I can serve even more people, take time to practic...

Who was the best writing teacher you ever had? What did they do to inspire you and get your thoughts onto the page?  

A classroom community can elevate your thoughts, synchronize ideas, and produce profound writing. As educators, we have to work hard to NOT interject what we think. The best teacher...

Greetings Readers, Teachers, Yogis and Librarians!

Library Week and Poetry Month both fall in April and with all of the yoga classes popping up at libraries over the past few years, you will have plenty of opportunities to sit, write and move!  This is the special formula from the Writing Yoga® met...

The cranky man on the supermarket line has a lot to say about you and the terrible state of the world. Everything is going to "hell in a handbasket." The lines on his face detail decades of serious frowning. When someone he knows says, "Hi, how are you today?" The man replies, "Could be better" and ...

If you know me well, you know I am a tropical climate kind of human. You don't see turtles and egrets walking in snow. My family has been coming down to Florida for decades, not in a fancy kind of way, but in a swim in the gulf, grill some veggies and walk on the Pinellas Trail kind of way. 

On a w...

Much of the year, most of us live and work in climate controlled environments. Bugs are not welcome. Spring invites us to get outside and create.

In the school where I work as a librarian, the kids are developing a native pollinator garden.  I didn't even know it was a thing! The idea is to plant n...

A recent challenge with a coworker left me reeling. I often hear from clients and colleagues about serious challenges, inequities and outright mean-spirited behavior that they must deal with on a daily basis. Maybe that is you?  I rarely experience conflicts and live in a way that makes conflict rar...

You can't blame the people of Long Island. Until recently, most cultural, literary, and historic landmarks were hard to find.  As a reader of blog posts with Whitman in the title you might not believe me, but it seems that more Long Islanders have heard of the Walt Whitman Mall than its namesake.

F...

I've been obsessed with this collection of poetry called Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World by Pádraig Ó Tuama. I bought the audiobook for a trip knowing nothing more than the title.

From my journal: On the plane/close my eyes/relax my hands/ press play. It's familiar words, my former poet...

What does your Valentine's Day look like?  Maybe you are having an overpriced meal with someone special or perhaps you are staying home with the cats and reading a page turner. This holiday can be rough or wonderful depending upon where you are in life. 

What I love about mindfulness practices and ...

Does the word "creativity" make you think of paint, clay, and kids playing dress up?  We all start out creative, but school and adult life might make us think that creativity is something to be left to artists and geeks. Then we get to the workplace and are expected to be innovative and productive. ...

Our principal asked us to pick a word at the start of the school year. The word would be our North Star to guide our goals, inform our lessons, and inspire us to do great work. School initiatives sometimes fall away as the year progresses, but a good administrator won't let that happen.

She didn't ...

It’s the official start of the most chaotic time of the year. Take the pressure off and read a poem, quote or chapter of a book. Bibliotherapy is one of the best ways to escape the stressful buzz of cyber Monday and nurture your spirit.

What books most inspire you?  Take one off the shelf anytime y...

When have you been a beginner?  It can be a little bit scary, but also exciting and invigorating to be brand new at something. Yoga teaches us how to approach arriving on the mat each day with a new attitude. Holding a beginner's mind can help us perform better as writers and teachers too. Do you ag...

Even if you are not a teacher or a parent, you still can feel a back-to-school kind of energy in the air.  Everyone seems to be running around trying to settle back into the routine of learning and more structured days. 

If you are looking for quick ways to stay calm, focused, and  find joy the wor...

After working with thousands of students over the years, I know for certain that most people believe they do not have enough time, talent, or energy to live the life of their dreams.  I also know it's just not true!

Keeping a journal helps us to consider our deepest desires, dreams, goals and chall...