OK, here I am.  

I feel like a pro -- got on the airport bus all by myself!

Love this little water bottle holder in the bus.

It definitely helps that some signs are in English -- I'm on the way to Shinjuku.

Here are some pictures from a great night at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine.  The Tibetan diaspora is 50 years old and these events were to say Thank you to all the Tibet has given us.  

The evening opened with chanting by the Gyuto monks.

Not a great picture but you can sort of see the Tibetan dancers. The dance is from a dream by the Panchen Lama.

There were incredible performances by Phil Glass, Laurie Anderson, Bobby McFerrin and others.  But I felt like it was annoying to take pictures so these are pictures from the end when everybody was taking a bow and getting a kata from Rinchen Dharlo of the Tibet Fund and Lobsang Nyari, HHDL’s representative in the US.

Bravo!!! It was a powerful evening. Two Noblelaureates were there: Dr. Abadi and Joy Williams. Amazing women who travel the world working for peace.!

This is kinda dark but it is Michael Imperioli in a white kata. He was the MC. A far cry from The Sopranos, right?

Looking closely: L to R, Bobby McFerrin in the brown shirt; Laurie Anderson hugging Philip Glass, John Giorno (great, great poet -- check him out!) and the monks.

There are some amazing and important events this week that you should try to attend if you can.  They are in support of the Tibetan community that had been in exile since the Chinese invaded them in the 1950s.  My teacher, Gelek Rimpoche, rode out in the back of a truck and never saw his parents again.  Trungpa Rimpoche walked out through the mountains, only moving at night and it took months.  These are the good stories.  It is still going on.  The children, elders, monks, nuns and all the Tibetans really need our help.  They have given us so much with their beautiful dharma teachings.  

Tomorrow night — at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine — a big concert with Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, Bobby McFerrin and others hosted by Ann Curry — it’s not expensive and it will be super fun, I guarantee

Go to www.tibetfund.org to learn about the events, to contribute or to sponsor a person.  I have sponsored an elder before and it is so good to do that.  You will feel good, too. You can sponsor a child, a monk, a nun — read their stories.  It is so moving.  We are all connected - do what you can.

Thank you.

OM yoga was the studio of the month at NYC’s Union Square Lululemon and it was fun!  

Here is Sarah, me and Margi.  They were so nice to come to the class I taught to support me and OM.  I had just returned to NYC from Costa Rica and I was in a daze of coldness but somehow there I was.  They asked me if I would teach a class for them on the Presidents Day holiday at 8am!  Of course, I said yes — if it could be at 11.  We settled on 10am and they even opened the store late to accommodate the class.   So that was super nice and I tried my best to do a good job.

Here were the wonderful yogis and yoginis at the class!

This was one of the yoginis in attendance and I asked her if I could take her picture because I thought her curled bangs were so cute.

This is the glamorous Sarah Trelease, OM yoga ambassador to Lululemon. Wearing sunglasses as all ambassadresses should!

Wednesday was the “day off.”  The yogis went on the canopy zip line, kayaking, birdwatching, horseback riding and to their surfing lessons.  I did teach a one hour yoga class at sunset which was lovely.  Then we all got dressed up and went to LaLuna which is a restaurant/bar/disco club on the beach.  Kinda crazy.  There is a film playing on a sheet that shows the ocean….hmmmm…very meta.  We hit the bar as if we were really thirsty and boy, did those mojitos and margaritas taste good.  We waited a long time for the food but it was yummy, too.  Then we danced!  We also bought some really nice jewelry handmade by a Tico woman.  It breaks my heart how inexpensive it was since I know it takes a long time to make these things.  She was very sweet and we were happy to buy her stuff.

Sunset.

I wish the pictures in this blog were bigger. The dots on the trees are monkeys. They were watching the sunset, too.

Guacamole? Yes! Ceviche? Maybe. Calamari? Maybe? Hummus? Yes!

Judy and Wyna are having so much fun!!!!

Antonietta and Bradley, the cutest and coolest couple!

Sun-kissed blondies: Grace, Steve and Jen.

They are ready for dinner -- Nudgie, Liz and Edward.

Here is Stephen with Salma (in the big hat) from our program and some other nice ladies from Blue Spirit.

it’s already nearly 100 degrees in the shade.

OM yoga TT grad, Liza, hanging out at the pool. Doesn't she have good posture?

Nudgie doing mudras in the pool.

Before class we saw another rainbow from this vista and after class everybody wanted a picture of the amazing sunset.

Dave and I went with our friend, Michael, to a real Tico (that means Costa Rican) restaurant. Just some tables and chairs on the beach and simple, totally delicious food. Here he is back at Blue Spirit for an after dinner vegan brownie.

We missed the salsa dance lessons but most of the OMmies were there and loved it!  Time for bed…ahhh….

These are two things that don’t exactly go together as far as the feeling in one’s stomach but as far as pleasure they are equally matched.  

This is Dave feeling so happy he is almost catatonic. He is at Robin's Ice Cream.

The town of Guiones is dusty and hot, hot, hot.  By me, Robin is pretty smart because an organic ice cream shop here is a no brainer.  We had Mayan Chocolate, Caramel Oatmeal Cookie, Pineapple Ginger, Coconut, and Mango.  Why not?

Our friend, Steven, had a resurrection shake -- espresso and mayan chocolate. He needed a pickup.

After the sugar rush, we had to rest.

Then we strolled down the dirt road which the main street.  We popped into Don and Amba Stapleton’s Yoga Studio and were so happy to see David’s album, Drala, being sold there.  Then we went to visit Granca and her awesome family at the Bazaar.  Chilled out a bit at The Harmony Hotel and came back to Blue Spirit with clean laundry.  That is why we went to the ice cream place.  Because it is next door to the Laundrymat.  That is the only reason we went there and ate ice cream……(maybe I’m lying…)