Flight of the Conchords is back! I was lucky enough to see them perform live when I worked as an usher at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville 20 years ago.

I’ve been thinking about that time in my life recently. I was telling a friend about the Evil Hippie Diva, a well-worn groove in my repertoire of personal stories. Yesterday I looked up that famous song of hers and discovered that she had passed away over two years ago at the age of 75. 

While she was possibly the most difficult person I have ever known, I still have respect for her tenacity and enormous creative talent. I learned a lot as one of her backup singers, singing shows with her in Nashville and on that one fateful trip to Tulsa.

Today I revisited The Moth storytelling show I participated in while living in San Francisco in 2018. By that time I had been sharing the Evil Hippie Diva story for over a decade, yet presenting it at the StorySLAM was a whole new ballgame.

The topic was “manners.” I was so scared, so nervous, even though I had been performing on stages big and small for many years at that point. Three teams of judges! What if nobody laughs? What if nobody cares? Like the Flight of the Chonchords, I fretted about hurt feelings. 

Now in 2026, The Moth experience is also a part of my repertoire. I used the alias E.D. (“Edie”) for Evil Hippie Diva – perhaps to spare her feelings and her wrath – though I’d like to think she’d somehow be pleased with my story. Part of her fury was fueled by not getting the respect she deserved as an artist. I get that. It’s a tough business, making art. 

One of the women on the Portugal retreat told me that she had been a body double for a very famous actor in the mid 2010s. While the actor herself was kind, there were others on the set that were not so nice.

“Impossible, relationships,” says Richard Gere in the movie Pretty Woman. Impossible? I hope not. A more recent fraught relationship reminded me of just how hard it can be to see eye to eye. I want to be liked, I want that gold star, but I can’t always get it.

It may be uncomfortable, but it is not impossible to reframe how you feel about a particular relationship. This week I came up with a new mantra: “I let go of anger, I make more room in my heart.” 💗

As for the Evil Hippie Diva, I look to the hit song she wrote for Cyndi Lauper in 1986. It is fierce, just like her spirit.

Here I am
Just like I said I would be
I’m your friend
Just like you think it should be
Did you think I would stand here and lie?
While our moment was passing us by
Oh, while I’m here
Waiting for your change of heart
It just takes a beat to turn it around
Yes, I’m waiting for your change of heart
At the edge of my seat, please, turn it around (turn it around)

Seasons and Chakras meditation – this Friday we look at the heart chakra, aka your RELATION CENTER. A gateway between upper and lower chakras. 💚🩷 Email me for Zoom link.

Setting sights for the October retreat? It will be here before we know it! 👏

There is always a moment during the retreat when I notice a shift, where we go beyond being friendly and the true bonding begins. For me, this was our night of light – our day for “yellow-fire-sight.” 🔥

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I do a color-element-sense theme on the retreat. It’s a simple way to bring more awareness to your surroundings. Many of us start the retreat with jet lag, so we need grounding right off the bat.

By our “yellow” day, we are feeling more lively, more in tune with each other and the lay of the land. There’s a feeling of levity and locomotion. We know the Universe will give us (and show us) what we want. 🤩

Light catalyzes action

Our powerful experiences on this day – a secret garden, hidden azulejos (blue tiles), an intimate performance of Fado with the yellow Portuguese guitar – drew us closer to our true nature.

That night I brought the group to a scenic spot for dinner. We were having fun, sharing stories with playful banter. Giggling ensued. We had a chatty young waiter and we liked it. Bright and light, like the swifts that swooped around us in the vibrant setting sun, we took it all in. 👀

After dinner we walked through the town, all lit up in the dark. At the Roman bridge, we noticed light dancing on the river. As we neared the hotel, a live band played Frampton’s “Baby, I Love Your Way,” the sound spilling out of a corner bar. We all sang along as we strolled through the square. 

Like the fireflies, we lit up the night. Like the moon and the stars, we shined. When I think of that night, I feel a yellow glow. 

Travel is LOVE, baby! 😘

Leaving for Portugal soon. Who knew this would be our ritual several times a year? I am grateful for the unexpected turns that life gives us. “Turn a different corner, and we never would have met,” croons George Michael.

I woke up with that melancholy song in my head. Missing my mother-in-law Anne, who is still alive at 90 but in the grips of later-stage Alzheimer’s disease. I miss her stories, her laugh, the way she championed everyone around her. It’s nice to have someone in your corner. 

What if Mark and I had passed each other by at Florida State and I had never met his big, wonderful family? In the same friend group since 1988, we started dating in 1990. We’d drive around in his Datsun, listening to his favorite cassettes (Bruce, Meatloaf, Depeche Mode, George Michael). One time on his way to visit his parents in Orlando, Mark’s car broke down outside of Gainesville. It was the first time his parents and my parents met – and I wasn’t there to witness it!

Four years ago this spring we were celebrating the life of Mark’s father, Tony. The whole family gathered in Albany. This morning I had that feeling of, “where did the time go?” Do we all still feel young in our hearts? Do familial memories float up for Anne, even though she can no longer communicate them?

Today I send out love to all that we hold dear, despite the years and miles between us. And to those who have left us, including a couple of friends in Portugal who have passed away, we hold you with us always. 💗

Another melancholy song comes to mind (one of my favorites that Blossom Dearie sings):

Pretending that we’ll meet
Each time I turn a corner
I walk a little faster

Pretending life is sweet
‘Cause love’s around the corner
I walk a little faster

And thinking you’ll be there
I walk a little faster

Thank goodness for melancholy songs. They help us see the light! 🤩

Here’s my own melancholy tune, sending out to you. It’s amazing what a few rays can do. 

Don’t you love when things come full circle? This painting has returned to me after 15 years. It was a part of my Peace or Drama music and art project. So many layers of meaning here – Lori Putnam painted it for my song, “Do You Remember.”

Here’s what Lori wrote about the painting in my Peace or Drama book:

Along the southeastern coast of Italy, just at the “spur” of the boot, there is an area referred to as the Gargano. This was a particularly beautiful day with a warm breeze rushing up from the Adriatic Sea. We followed the path of St. Francis of Assisi’s pilgrimage and came upon this big 12th-century farmhouse surrounded by old trees. Perhaps it was the reflected light from the deep red poppies that caused the sky this day to appear more bluish-violet in nature.

Travel is a meditation in and of itself. Our senses come alive and our spirits revive. I recently finished reading a book that my mother gave me, The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams. In the back pages there was a Q & A with the author, and I was struck by how she described her idea of a perfect day:

Waking in the old town, grabbing an espresso, then slowly walking the narrow streets until I come across some subtle reminder that life has been lived in that place for millennia. I would let my fingertips trace the contours of colored tile, or faded fresco or sculptured stone, and imagine a woman, about my age, doing the same a hundred years before, three hundred years before, a thousand years before. I would wonder how our lives are different and how they are the same.

She, too, is talking about Italy. Not as a resident, but as a traveler. This is how I feel about Portugal, and what I want most to convey when leading people around the southern coast.

I describe my trip as a wellness journey, and sense of place plays the biggest role. I was first inspired to lead tours after reading Traveling with Pomegranates, a memoir by southern author Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter Ann Kidd Taylor as they travel Europe together:

Pilgrims are poets who create by taking journeys…..the voyage will lead us to whole new continents of depth and meaning.…[If] we keep going, we might even come full circle, but with a whole new consciousness.

Full circle – I am really feeling this phrase today. A friend and colleague just invited me to offer yoga meditations for her tour of southern Italy in June, which starts a week after my May retreat ends. I am over the moon (another “circle” idiom of note).

So excited to see the latest issue of Sutton Place Social magazine, with news and photos of the retreat in Portugal. Morris the cat got his own feature, too!

Yes, 2026 dates are set – is this your year to visit Portugal? Come solo, with a friend, or even bring your own group (and set your own date). I’m flexible!

I’ve also updated the accolades page with recent quotes from the latest retreat group. Thank you for your lovely comments. I’m encouraged to shine on in Portugal! 

I made a promise to share about our 2020 House Hunters International episode, as I am always reminded of it when I lead the Portugal retreats.

The group in October were interested in the episode, as well as hearing about my music career. They were mostly from the Bay Area and they got me reminiscing about our time in San Francisco – which seems like forever ago, but it has actually been less than six years!

We filmed the San Francisco scenes on my 49th birthday. Mark biked around the city with his cycling friends, eventually leading the film crew to the top of the Lyon Street Steps, where I was teaching an outdoor yoga class. The spectacular view of the bay was shrouded in fog. It seemed like the perfect SF moment.

A couple of weeks later, we were filming in Tavira, Portugal. Four days of 10-hour shoots, a heat wave of brutal sun making us squint and sweat in front of the camera. We had to wear the same outfits most of the time, to make it look like we were visiting all three locations on the same day. We got a much-welcomed costume change for our “six months later” shot in our apartment on the final day of shooting.

I always refer to our episode airing debut (March 7, 2020) as the day the world shut down. What a surreal memory! That time also signifies a shutting down of my musical pursuits as I knew them. We had recently moved across the country to NYC. For the first time in 20 years, I stopped pursuing live in-person music gigs, as there were none during lockdown. As things eventually opened back up, my attentions shifted.

In the past five years I have done a handful of live gigs in New York (when asked, and without much pursuit). I still sing and dance in my yoga classes (as always, the Singing Yogini) and have had the chance to use my original music in two art meditation video projects. I even have a new song (which I refer to as my Five Year Song) and I hope to record it during this year, my 55th on the planet.

We have a five year old cat, Morris, who came into our lives last October. He’s been to Portugal twice so far. As for me, I just took my 19th trip to our home away from home. It’s a thrill every time.

High fives all around. I have no regrets of the last five years. I still relish the memories of playing music on the regular with my friend Steven Strauss, San Francisco native. How proud I was to hear us both (along with full band) blasting through the loudspeakers at the SF Giants game years ago. I shared this story with the retreat group as we danced and sang together in a secret garden at the Igreja de São Francisco in Tavira.

I wish you all a thankful and happy November, full of cherished memories and promise for the year to come.

A week ago at this time, I was floating in a natural salt pool with my new BFFs. Buoyant as balloons in the “salino” water, we giggled as we floated into each other like slow-motion bumper cars. There at the border – with a Portuguese castle on one side and the bridge to Spain on the other – we took in the open sky as our bodies felt weightless and free.

The very best thing about leading these retreats in Portugal is the instant community that emerges from traveling together. Most of this group were strangers to me, but from the get-go (our welcome dinner at the Pousada) we had smiles and laughter and camaraderie in sharing our first meal.

Here’s to a week of pleasurable experiences! My dear retreat participants, I miss you already. I cherish the renewed faith in humanity, the joy, the gratitude as we spent our time together.

You know how they say strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet? I wholeheartedly agree! I am so thankful to get to know this group, and even more thankful to introduce them to my favorite sights and favorite people of Portugal.

My heart is full.

What is it about blue skies and blue waters that make us feel so soothed? Both are merely reflections – if we scoop it up in our hands, it’s clear. Skies and waters can be moody, just like us, and they influence each other. Just like us.

Last month I got to visit southern France, and faced a field of lavender for the first time. It also gave me that “good blue” feeling. I brought home the freshest sachets of lavender from Arles – the place where Van Gogh lived and painted some of his most famous works – and a whiff can transport me there in an instant.

Last weekend we celebrated my parents’ 60th wedding anniversary at the spot where they went on their honeymoon back in 1965: the Fontainebleau Miami. 💙

“Ol’ Blue Eyes” adorned the walls – Frank Sinatra was a fixture at the Fontainebleau, especially in the colder months, where he and other members of the Rat Pack performed countless shows. Talk about a cure for the winter blues!

In 1959, Sinatra hosted a televised comeback show for Elvis after his military service. This too happened at the Fontainebleau. My mom said, “Two of my favorite idols, together!”

My parents, Kathy and John, happen to be two of my favorite people. We feel so lucky that the whole family could join in the fun at such a dazzling place. The staff treated my parents like royalty, and they deserved every minute of their 60th anniversary celebration. They said they are going back for their 70th! 🥳

💙 💙 💙 💙 💙 💙 💙 💙

Make some fun-in-the-sun memories with me at the Renew-Relax-Retreat. We have a great group going so far, and there are still a few spots open for October 11-18. Contact me for details. Deadline to sign up for October is 8/31.

Travel to faraway lands is inherently mysterious. I just arrived from a 10-day European adventure, not with my usual travel partner (husband Mark), but with a few friends – old and new – as we became a merry band of innocents.

Mystery with the language, the weather, the lay of the land – each day we faced something new and exciting. Some of us had been to some of these places before, and thus we shared what we knew and what we didn’t know along the way. We enriched each other’s experiences.

My friend and colleague, Dawn Summers, recently sent excerpts from Mark Twain’s 1869 travel book, The Innocents Abroad. The words rang true for me:

“Just in this one matter lies the main character of life in Europe – of comfort.  In America, we hurry – which is well; but when the day’s work is done, we go on thinking of losses and gains, we plan for the morrow, we even carry our business cares to bed with us, and toss and worry over them when we ought to be restoring our racked bodies and brains with sleep….

”I do envy these Europeans the comfort they take. When the work of the day is done, they forget it. …They are appreciative of life and its manifold blessings. …We bestow thoughtful care upon inanimate objects, but none of it upon ourselves. What a robust people, what a nation of thinkers we might be, if we would only lay ourselves on the self occasionally…!

“…The change that has come over our little [travel] party is surprising. Day by day we lose some of our restlessness and absorb some of the spirit of quietude and demeanor of the people. We grow wise apace. We begin to comprehend what life is for.”

I enjoy big-city energy, but I am drawn to quieter places, where I can feel my body and mind unfold within more subtle rhythms of living. 

As Dawn will be joining us for the October retreat, I look forward to learning from her experience as I offer up what I know about this little corner of Portugal. Perhaps it is calling to you too. 👀

October is the perfect time for an escape. We have such an amazing trip planned. I can’t wait to share this beautiful place with you.

Meet me in Portugal! 🤗

Fall 2025 retreat: October 11-18

Early Bird Special: Save $200 when you place your deposit by June 30.

Email me for details and pricing.

Photo by Monika Zdziebkowska – a city center view in Tavira, Portugal, our home base for the retreat.

Read all about it, check out videos and more on the retreat page.

I was talking with my yoga students about the movie, Flow, which is up for an Oscar in the best animated feature category. It’s a beautiful rendering of animals who retain their true animal nature (instead of being anthropomorphized) as they navigate an uncertain future. Earth and water play a significant role here, forging community between unlikely comrades. The message: things can change in an instant; we must learn to help each other in order to survive.

In our class today, we worked on creating flow – moving energy, lymph and blood, lubricating the joints and muscles, bringing balance to all of our bodily systems. I know I feel better when I work with people towards a common goal.

I am here on this planet to be of service to others, using my own unique palette to bring out colors for all to see. This is true of each and every one of us. We hold each other up. ❣️

Last week in meditation class, we talked about fear. We sang and danced to U2’s “Stuck in a Moment.” I shared the lyrics and many people resonated with this: 

Fear is a disturbance of root/earth chakra. We want protection, stability, security – but if we stay stuck (heard of “anal retentive”?), then we are afraid to move. Gather in those pelvic floor muscles – strength at the root keeps us from having a “leaky vessel” – and learn to harness (not hamper) your energy. ❣️♦️🏮

Morris and I are celebrating our escape from NY winter (Mark too, of course) when we head to Portugal later this week. Stay tuned! 🐾

Join me for a yoga/meditation class online, or meet me in Portugal! 🤗

Dates for 2025 retreats: 

May 24-31 and October 11-18

Early bird window for May retreat closes soon – sign up by the end of February to save $200! Email me for details and pricing.

It’s the shortest day of the year, and I’m sharing big-time news. 🤠

The Grand Canyon meditation video is out, and free for all to see! As I mentioned before, the live footage of the canyon is absolutely gorgeous. Seeing the final cut of the video moved me to tears. 

Click on link or any image and it will take you there. This is a companion piece to the Yellowstone meditation video – two ways to bring peace into your holiday season. 🥰