Don’t forget to read all the way down and view the SLIDESHOW link below.

I just got back from Greece on Thursday evening. The trip was fabulous. I already miss Greece. It’s such a special place. There were so many highlights on this trip, such as visiting the mountain monasteries built on clifftops and doing a sunset hike in the unique terrain of Meteora, discovering the quiet town of Nafpaktos more deeply and learning more about the castle, and running on the original Olympic track with Russ and Felix. Santorini is as beautiful as all the photos I have seen!  Being there is like stepping into a dream while being fully awake. Stunning! Mostly, I think I was just thrilled to travel again, to hold a retreat, and to teach yoga in-person on a twice-daily basis to a warm, loving, and fun group of yogis.

Rick was there with me. My sisters Nora and Zina also joined my group. On the day of Toni’s funeral, my sisters decided to join me on on the yoga retreat. We all thought such travels and yoga retreat would help us heal our shattered hearts. We were right!  I believe this trip was meant to be. For months now, I had been feeling stuck, able to do my teaching and able to keep giving, BUT my feet were in a kind of quicksand (a feeling I have never known before in my life) and my heart was still in need of deep mending. Mending was happening, but at a snail’s pace. Being in Greece was a healing time.  The people in my yoga group could not have been more wonderful. I felt wrapped and enveloped in their kindness and love and I was able to be there for them 100%.

There are three photos in the slideshow below in which I am wearing a beautiful purple scarf, a gift I received from a friend just before leaving for Greece. In the photos, I wrap the scarf around three different people. As I look at the photos, I realize everyone in my life has been doing just that very same action for me these past months: wrapping me in woven shawls of love, kindness, sheltering me, helping my broken heart to mend.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Preparing for this trip was…a nightmare at times!  Now you know the behind the scenes reality. It was extremely difficult to postpone this trip last year and then to pick it up again, to travel during pandemic times and work through the financial strain brought on from this pandemic. Yes, we are still in a pandemic…at the tail end (I think!), but the risks of getting the Delta variant persist and we have to take precautions when traveling and in crowds of unknown persons and around people of unknown vaccine status.  I felt responsible for myself and my group. But I did it!  We did it!  Once all the behind-the-scenes work was completed before the trip began, all ran very smoothly while in Greece. I felt very happy and light of heart and still do!

I feel encouraged to teach again in-person as of the start of November (will continue to always offer classes online, too) and I feel encouraged to offer more retreats next year and workshops.

I came back jet-lagged, but am looking forward to resuming teaching online today and all week.  And as of the first of November (yikes, that’s a week from today), I will hold some in-person classes at my studio. Most classes will be hybrid, meaning I will simultaneously hold online and in-studio classes. Everyone coming to class must be vaccinated (as was required for my retreat). I have a lot of connecting to do, letting everyone know my schedule, letting everyone know about my studio at Green Lake, and updating my website and class schedule online.

I sure hope you can watch this slideshow. The link below connects you to Vimeo. It is about 6 minutes long. Turn up the volume and be swept away by beautiful Greece. Yes, Greece is a country rooted in the ancient world, and wonderfully alive in the present.

Plans underway to hold another retreat in Greece next autumn.

Here’s your link to the slideshow:

SLIDESHOW OF GREECE 2021