I am spending the last three days of 2011 detoxing at "We Care," a holistic health spa in Desert Hot Springs. A few months ago my cousin Wally -who is a fan of my blog and a lifelong meditator- wrote me an email asking about fasting. I told him that I really didn't have any experience with it. Afterwards it occurred to me that maybe it was time to do it. I was a bit reticent in part because I know…

Recently I let go of some classes at a yoga studio because I don't enjoy teaching at night. It took me a long time to make that decision, in part because of the amazing group of students there, whom I've become attached to. There was one student though that used to come every week, who was a bit challenging. He would sit in the back, never crack a smile. He would refuse to do partner poses, and when…

My folks flew all the way over from San Juan to Los Angeles, to be with my brother and I for the holidays. It has been so much fun to see them and spend time with them. Christmas 2011 has been surrounded by family and friends and lots of food! Yesterday I went with close friends to see Sherlock Holmes, and afterwards we stopped by Greenblat's for dinner. We were all talking about how from Thanksgiving…

A few years ago my mother visited me here in LA. Each time she comes she brings gifts. On this particular visit she told me that she had some nativity statues for me. I had left the Catholic religion more than 20 years ago so I was not super excited to get these statues. Then she added that she had brought not one but 14 nativity statues for me! I freaked out. I live in a studio apartment and had this…

"I arise in the morning, torn between a desire to save the world and an inclination to savor it."

Winter Solstice is here! Today we celebrate in the Northern Hemisphere the shortest day and the longest night of the year. According to my research this is the one astronomical event with the most rituals and ceremonies, dating back 30,000 years. This is a time where many of us are drawn inwards to see where we are and where we want to go. I have been looking at my life -with humility and courage-…

As we head towards the Winter Solstice here in this part of the world, I'm looking forward for the light to return. I have been in this interesting funk these last few weeks, surely a cause of the short days, windy and chilly temperatures and the holidays. One of the gifts of practicing so much yoga is that I have learned throughout these years of sadhana to be loving to myself as I experience ups…

I went to a dinner party last night. Although the host and company were lovely, I found myself feeling quite shy during the evening. I knew almost everyone, but wasn't close to anyone in particular. Don't get me wrong, it was so nice to see my friend Abel, to see Marcia, and to meet new people. But it was challenging. For some reason I always dread the sitting-down dinners and going to a place where…

For all the old timer yogis in LA as well as new, Naime Jezzeny is coming to town. He will be teaching a two-day Therapeutic workshop at Center for Yoga in Larchmont. It will be Saturday and Sunday from 2-5PM, plus a two hour class on Saturday from 6 to 8 PM.

I went to a dinner party the other night and had a profound insight. It was at the home of a couple, who are good friends of mine. As I was driving to their house, I was thinking that this couple, one of them is very "sweet" and the other is very "opinionated." They are both lovely but I keep thinking of them with these limited descriptions.