One of my most blissful annual activities — attending the Jewel Heart summer retreat with my beautiful guru, Gelek Rimpoche.  I was joined by many wonderful sangha brothers and sisters from all over the world.  Here are some random pics.

This is the way to the Jewel Heart Center. Beautiful horses across the way and white fluffy clouds in the sky.

Dharma brothers: David from Boston and Derek from Singapore.

Rimpoche likes to squeeze our cheeks and lips and sometimes we do it to him, too -- this is my friend, Carla.

Dharma sisters: Sarah from Cleveland and Fran from Connecticut.

Getting ready to start the morning chants.

The summer retreat includes fun events in the evening such as Bollywood night!

On the right is our Bollywood dance teacher who taught us a fun dance and got us all laughing and sweating! On the left is my dharma sister, Colleen, who is also one of our awesome umzes/chant leaders.

After Bollywood dancing, came an amazing vegetarian Indian dinner made by our own dharma sister, Joan, who used to be the chef at the Oberoi in Delhi. She and her helpers cooked for four days to make this delicious meal -- the best Indian food I've ever tasted! Thank you! Then we watched a Bollywood movie and did the dance we learned. Fun, fun, fun.

Rimpoche and Derek at an Italian dinner the next night.

Beautiful dharma sister, Naomi, from the Netherlands. She has been studying with Rimpoche since she was 18, what good fortune.

Rimpoche and me making funny bird faces to each other. He loves to be playful!

Even though this picture is out of focus, I love it. I am soooo fortunate to have met Rimpoche and to get to study with him. He has been the most important influence and I am forever grateful to him.

Teaching as a Practice was the title of my keynote address last night at the Kripalu Yoga Teachers Association Conference, which was very, very FUN!  I totally HEART Kripalu.  It is better and better every time I come here.  I will tell you more about the content of my talk later because after I do this post I have to drive back to NYC, change suitcases and go to Michigan for retreat with Rimpoche.  But here are some pictures:

The awesome, excellent, smart, sweet and so much fun Vandita -- Director and Creator of the KYTA conference. Thank you, my friend!

I also taught a 3 hour workshop and here they all are in savasana. I meant to take pictures during the class but I got so involved in what was happening that I forgot, which is a good thing, right?

My workshop was called Deconstruction and Reconstruction.  But now I’ve learned that the word deconstruction is out and unpacking is in.  So at the YJ conference in Florida in November, I’ll be teaching a workshop called Unpacking a Pose.  But, for now, this was it and it was great.  A fantastic group and we had a lot of fun.  I quizzed them a lot, especially on their Sanskrit since the whole group were yoga teachers.  They got a little bit stumped on parivritta so I said what is the second sutra and a voice with an indian accent called it out nicely.  I dashed over to her and she translated Yoga Citta Vritti Nirodha in the most beautiful way touching her head for vritti and heart for citta.  Her name is Ritu.

Time for Bollywood dancing!  The evening began with a short performance and then a Bollywood dancing lesson which was totally fun!  

After dancing, everyone sat down for my talk.

I mean, Bollywood dance class is a tough act to follow, but I did my best.  I tried to get the audience involved and they were very willing participants.  Even though people get up at the crack of dawn here and my talk went past their bedtime, people seemed to enjoy it or at least, they managed to stay awake!

Jonathan Ambar, OM yoga TT grad who now works here in the Kripalu marketing department, assisted me all weekend.  So after the talk, he packed up all our goodies and he and I were heading up to the cafeteria for a cup of tea, when I took a left turn. I could feel some kind of fun energy in that direction and then I saw…

It's Ritu!

Ritu not only knows the Yoga Sutras and is the mother of one of the beautiful Bollywood dancers, she is a fantastic henna and mandala artist.

Ritu's artwork on my foot.

And then….

Ritu also did a henna painting on my hand. This is me and Vandita looking at the picture in the computer which Ritu was using as a guide. It was a picture of a Ganesha in tree pose which she had done before.

And here he is! Isn't he cute? He will cut through obstacles and bring happiness. We love Ganesha!

Thank you, Vandita and Stephen Cope and Kripalu, for inviting me to be part of this beautiful event.

I’m home in NYC now and I’m basically staying for almost the whole summer.  Mostly in the summer I like to do, well, not much.  For example:

Leroy and I like to meditate in the sun. Doesn't he have good one-pointed concentration? I think it had something to do with a cat in the bushes.

Sometimes we do Downward Facing Dog together at home.

My down dog got weird but I didn't want to squish the poodle.

AND…..

But there are three things out of town which are cool and you might want to join me:

1) June 24-27, Kripalu Yoga Teachers Association Conference — this is NOT JUST FOR KRIPALU YOGA TEACHERS.  This is a conference put together by Kripalu with a lot of cool teachers offering terrific workshops — including me giving a workshop called Deconstruction and Reconstruction: The Education of a Yogi, and I’m also giving the keynote address called Teaching as a Practice.  The theme of the conference is TEACHING AS A PRACTICE and includes hands-on classes, business advice and tons of inspiration.  http://www.kripalu.org/pdfs/KYTA_Conference2010.pdf

JEWEL HEART ANNUAL SUMMER JOYFUL RETREAT WITH GELEK RIMPOCHE:  

THE SIX SECRETS OF A SUCCESSFUL COMPASSIONATE PERSON

Gelek Rimpoche giving a teaching at the Jewel Heart summer retreat 2009.

Rimpoche is famous for many qualities, including never getting angry ever and his deep generosity. At last summer's retreat he gave me this beautiful Tara tangkha for my birthday. Now I am super inspired to do my White Tara practice.

Thank you so much, Rimpoche, for everything -- and I mean, everything.

2) June 23-July 4 Jewel Heart summer retreat:  The Joyful Retreat — This is truly one of the happiest times of my whole year.  I can’t wait to see Rimpoche and all the fun, smart Jewel Heart people, gathered together in Ann Arbor.  This year Rimpoche is teaching THE SIX SECRETS OF A SUCCESSFUL COMPASSIONATE PERSON.  It is guaranteed to be both inspiring and practical and give you good practices to work on for at least a year or forever.  You won’t want to miss any of it but if you have to come late and/or leave early, it’s okay and worth it to get a taste of Rimpoche on retreat.  It does not get better than this.  I will be there!  http://jewelheart.org/pdf/2010/summer_retreat/JH_Summer_retreat_2010.pdf

MY ONE AND ONLY SUMMER TEACHING WORKSHOP — CATCH IT WHILE YOU CAN — KRIPALU, AUGUST 2010

I always have the most awesome assistants. Two years ago -- Christine and Edward -- sooo fun. This year my assistants are also very cool -- but I'm not telling you who they are. You will have to come to the retreat to find out!

Here I am last summer helping the restorative poses be even more yummy.

Kripalu built this new yoga studio about a year ago. It is beautiful, fully equipped and has a beautiful view of the mountains, forest and the lake. Heavenly!

3) August 13-15  My annual summer workshop at Kripalu.  LET’S TWIST AGAIN LIKE WE DID LAST SUMMER.  It will be a very fun weekend of yoga, yoga, yoga, meditation, discussion, pranayama, restorative yoga and gorgeous nature.  The Berkshires are divine that time of year.  The Kripalu spa is also divine.  The whirlpool and steam rooms are also divine.  The food is divine.  The farmstand on the way up or back is divine.  It is the only summer gig I do.  Have you noticed that?  I teach all over the world like crazy all year long — except for the summer.  That’s when I like to stay home and be with my family and this annual gig is it.  So if you want to spend a weekend with me and have some fun, I think you will be inspired and happy you did it.  

Go to www.omyoga.com for details on all my gigs and teaching schedule.  Questions?  Write me.

Last morning of the retreat we put all the parts together.  Looking at how things connect, how everything plants the seed for something else, how everything is a result of causes and consequences, how our actions have results, the truth of interdependence.  Can practicing vinyasa with this kind of awareness help us avoid oil spills in the future?  Or how to cope with volcanic ash issues? Hmmmm…….

Last class together. Everyone was totally into it -- what a joy!

We decided to finish our retreat by visiting the Kami shrine.

The Kami shrine represents the feminine principle. We all wanted to leave an offering there at the end of our time together. Becca is picking flowers along the bridge as part of her offering.

First stop -- purification. There is a little trough and you use the ladle to scoop up some water and pour it on your left hand. Then wash your right hand. Then swish some water in your mouth and spit it out on the ground. Then wash your left hand again.

Pia, from Vancouver, BC, waits her turn to purify.

The sun feels good to me.

Next, we pass through this Tory gate, after making a 90 degree bow.

One by one, we each made our offerings at the Kami shrine, as Laura is doing here. First you place your offering on the altar. People gave flowers, writings on small pieces of paper, a tiny stacked rock statue, a mala, chocolate. Then you stand up straight, bow twice from the waist, and then clap twice. The first clap is to cut through obstacles and the second clap is to draw down the Kami blessing. Then one more bow and you are done.

Silently, we watched each other make our offerings, and then we left to go back down the mountain.

One last look back at this special spot.

A nice bow and then back through the Tory gate.

Past the purification hut.

Past the stupa.

The retreat is finished. Time for lunch.

I’ve been teaching OM yoga, Revealing the Secrets of Vinyasa this weekend at the Shambhala Mountain Center.  It’s about two hours from Boulder at 7,500 ft. in the mountains on a piece of land that borders national forest so it is vast and open and dramatic.  This is who visited me outside my window while I was doing my sadhana practice.

There were 9 deer that hung out eating dinner outside my window for about an hour. They were like giant Leroys.

This is Lauren from St. Louis and Holly from Flagstaff having a nice cup of tea after 3 hours of yoga with me.

This is Irina, originally from Moscow, now from Columbus, OH; Keith from Austin and Laura from Loveland, CO.

Last night our group went for a hike up to the stupa here at SMC.

We struck out at 8pm and as you can see, it was still totally light outside.

Prayer flags guided us along the path.

First glimpse of the stupa.

We're almost there...are you wondering what is a stupa? It is an Asian structure that sometimes holds relics. This one, the biggest in the Western hemisphere, is also a place for practice.

The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya that Liberates Upon Seeing.

This is the first floor of the stupa. We sat in front of this huge, beautiful Buddha and meditated. There are upper floors that are only accessible to those doing specific practices, such as Vajrayogini sadhanas.

This is the ceiling.

This is part of the floor. The whole thing is very ornate and beautiful. It took nine years to complete this structure and much of the work is handmade.

In between the ceiling and the floor are small alcoves called tokonomos. Trungpa Rimpoche was very inspired by Japanese aesthetics and so there are beautiful Japanese flower arrangements throughout the stupa and SMC.

Another picture of the Buddha statue. I'm not 100% sure but I think this is the mudra of untying the knots, liberating obstructions.

After circumambulating the stupa three times and meditating inside, we walked back down the mountain in the dark.

Being a resident of a city that never gets dark, I forgot to bring a flashlight. One of the students, Vladimir from Kansas City, loaned me his miner's light. When I put it on the lamp over my third eye came on -- they teased me that now I am enlightened!!

After months of missing NYC’s warm weather by being in Copenhagen or Michigan or somewhere else, I was super happy to be here for a hot spring day.  Time to take Millie for a picnic.

Isn't she cute? We went to the fancy neighborhood store and got just what she wanted: crab cakes, cole slaw, potato salad and lemon tart. And, her favorite thing, Sprite. Then we went back to the back yard of her building and had a feast!

When you live in assisted living, you get sick of the food.   Even though it is really good at her place, it was so much fun to treat her.  For those of you who have been asking, she is doing much better.  She is standing straight up and down and gets up out of a chair and walks by herself, without her walker.   Her mind is a bit clearer, too.  Good!

Since I’ve been traveling so much, when I’m home I make a real effort to see my mom as much as I can and spend quality time with her.  This time I was getting ready to go to Colorado, to the Shambhala Mountain Center.  First stop, Boulder.

This was my homey, cozy room at The Boulderado Hotel in Boulder.

I like to stair step my way up to the mountains since I’ve had two serious bouts of altitude sickness in the past.  So, I stop in Boulder which was nice because it’s a cute town and the schlep from NYC was sort of intense, it being a holiday weekend and all.

Can you see the mountains out my window?

I started taking gingko bilboa and siberian ginseng five days before the trip, as way to ward off altitude sickness.  That was recommended to me by my excellent, awesome, wholistic doctor, Dr. Dana Cohen.

That night, when I was eating dinner in the excellent restaurant at The Boulderado I saw ginger lemonade on the menu, which has vodka in it.  That sounded so good, perfect, so refreshing so I got that.  Yum.  The next day Peter Sang told me to drink some vodka because it helps prevent altitude sickness – something about thinning the blood and taking pressure off the brain.  Isn’t that interesting?  I never drink vodka and that night I just did.  Hope it works.

Me and Jamie.

Hugging. Note: Jamie is wearing her cute new OM yoga monk's bag.

Can you see Chris in the background?

My cousin, Rick, me and Rick's excellent wife, Pegi. I loved being with them so much! Here we are at Mission Beach in San Diego, right in front of the surfing contest. We had lobster tacos for lunch - yum.

It was pretty special for me to connect with my cousin, Rick.  We haven’t seen each other for….maybe 25 years…maybe more.  We can’t remember.  But my dad, Uncle Allan, died and his mom, Aunt Donnabelle, died and so it felt like time to reconnect.  His mom and my mom were sisters and best friends for their whole life.  It was amazing for me to say to him, “Do you remember our grandfather’s ranch?” and he smiles and nods.  Neither of us have any siblings but he stayed in Washington State a lot longer than me and is more in the loop of our relatives so I got caught up on a lot. Even though we have just reconnected there is a certain deep feeling from being with someone from your same gene pool.  And, it turns out that he is just a super nice guy and so is his wife! 

Here is Louise Hay, welcoming us to the I Can Do It! conference. She is 83.5 and super inspiring.

I took my camera with me to my private meeting with Louise Hay, in her hotel suite.  But there was no one else there at all, the whole time, so I didn’t get a picture of us together.  Except in my mind and heart.

I also took a picture of Christiane Northrup while she was giving her brilliant, funny, earthy, smart talk — but the photo did not come out in a flattering way and I have a commitment to all women that I will never put an unflattering picture of you on my blog.  I mean, we must stick together, us girls.

A few more pictures coming…stay tuned.

Dave and I are in CA.  I love it here sooooo much!  We came out because he played with KD last night as part of the Hay House I Can Do It! conference.  On Thursday night I interviewed Jamie Lee Curtis for my upcoming book and we had dinner with her and her husband, Christopher Guest.  pictures to follow soon.

Friday we drove down to San Diego and along the way we took a little detour to the UC Irvine campus where I got my BFA and MFA in Dance.  It is so different that it took quite a while for us to find the Art and Dance Department.  I think there is only one teacher still there that I know and I was hoping to see him.  But what I saw instead was a girl sitting at a table advertising a benefit for that teacher, El  Gabriel.  He’s been severely injured in a car accident.  So I gave a contribution and left a note and then Dave took my picture next to a statue of an anteater, the school mascot.  There are also statues of bison and a street called Bison Street.  When I was going to school there, there were no streets or statues but there were many actual bison.

Here at the conference I went to see Wayne Dyer which was kinda boring, sorry to say.  Louise Hay opened the Saturday morning session and in 15 minutes she inspired me and moved me to tears. She is an angel put on earth to help people.  It’s really that true and that simple.  Then we heard Robert Holden on Happiness and it was awesome, brilliant, inspiring and funny.  Then I went to see one of my total heroes, Christiane Northrup.  Wow.  She just kind of nailed my life. I felt stirred up in way that was disturbing, but good, and so I went back to my room after that and took a nap.  Can’t take in any more.

Last night was KD’s concert.  Always lovely.  Lots of nice yogis, including our friend and wonderful yoga teacher, Sarah Ivanhoe, who came down from LA.

Nudgie plays kirtan.

KD and Nudgie.

This morning I got to have a meeting with Louise Hay in her hotel room.  She was so gracious and welcoming.  Then she dug into me and asked me penetrating questions which were tough to answer.  Her gaze is unwavering and clear.  She is 83.5 and she is not fooling around.  She also was kind and practical.  She gave me a book, an affirmation, a visualization and her phone number when I need a boost.  Wow.  I am so grateful.

One of the students in the weekend, Leslie, lives in Malmo, Sweden.  I met Leslie two years ago when I taught at a yoga conference in Sweden, which is when I met Soham, too.  Anyway, she invited us to have lunch with her on our last day.  We loved the idea of going to Sweden for lunch and so that is what we did.

It just so happens that the way from Copenhagen to Malmo is to drive along the seashore until you get to Elsinore. Sound familiar? That's where Hamlet's castle was and that is what you see behind us here. We are at the moat. A very effective defense system, especially since all the soldiers pooped and peed in it for 100 years.

The Little Mermaid is on loan to China for a year so Nanna and Soham became Danish mermaids for us along the beach wall of Elsinore Castle.

Since it was Monday the museum part was closed so we could not go inside. But when we went into the courtyard we discovered a whole class of little children, some of them in Viking gear with little swords re-enacting their history. So cute. Their lunch boxes had sandwiches and broccoli. I thought, how cool. American kids don't usually have broccoli in their lunch boxes and obviously Europe is so much more healthy, organic and smart than we are. Then I noticed that not one kid was eating the broccoli.

A nice lady from the US offered to take our picture all together. Thank you.

We felt that there would have been no way to successfully attack this castle. The only thing you could do would be to lay seige to it. Prevent supplies from entering.

Another view from the ferry taking us to Sweden. Powerful spot, for sure.

You can't really see the writing on this life preserver but the name of this ferry is Hamlet.

Our beautiful Danish friends, Nanna and Soham.

Who hasn’t heard of Tivoli Gardens?  We rode our bikes there, locked them up outside and went into this magical place.  The video of me dancing with Soham to the South Pacific medley is on my Facebook page.  I mean, really, we walked in and heard a live orchestra playing, “Some Enchanted Evening.”

Being here -- and being in Copenhagen -- is like being inside a fairy tale.

Soham next to a tree that grows pom poms.

We ate dinner at the Taj Mahal, aka, the Nimb. It is a very, very hip hotel and an excellent Swedish haute cuisine restaurant.

Danish design is so beautiful and cool. The entire kitchen of NImb is open. Every station is lined up next to all the tables and you can see the cooks with their meticulous attention to the detail. Shaving the licorice onto the dessert. Nimb has its own bakery and dairy. We finished our meal with thick milk -- I really don't know what that is and whenever I said that Nanna and Soham laughed and laughed, but it was good and came with lingonberries and a delicate waffle thing.