Happy almost Christmas Eve Eve!

(I get this joke a lot, so I thought I’d share 😘)

What have YOU be up to? For me, the usual – teaching, singing, dancing, scheming….

While you enjoy those sugar plum fairies, I want to plant a seed:

How about Portugal in 2023?

I am close to nailing down dates for retreats in late spring/early summer/fall. You still have time to send me your druthers – maybe the perfect time for You will be the perfect time for All! 🤞

“Even weeks after being home, friends commented that I seemed ‘really refreshed.’ That’s a testament to you and our fabulous trip to Portugal!”

Sharon, retreat guest

Happy holidays wherever you may be! Here’s to many new adventures in 2023.

Wish list at www.EveFleishman.com/retreat 🦩🌍🐙

Did you know Portugal ranks #4 on the Global Peace Index? 🌍 Not a surprise for me – I feel a genuine sense of peace every time I visit.

I am pleased to announce we have booked Pousada Convento Tavira for our Renew, Relax, Retreat. This 4-star hotel is in a restored 16th-century monastery. The courtyard is so peaceful and beautiful, as are the grounds overlooking the castle and city.

It’s so easy to do a walking meditation in this town. Bright sun, brightly-painted ancient buildings. Many historic structures are now museums. I love wandering in and often have the place to myself.

Hidden treasures abound in the Algarve. I have posted a series of short videos – click button below to be transported to peaceful Portugal. 🙏

Share the news – there is still time to sign up for the retreat. Come experience peaceful Portugal with me! Read Accolades from past participants.

The video is now live! How exciting to be a part of this project. I was invited to help create a yoga meditation video with the U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, celebrating the 150th anniversary of Thomas Moran’s iconic 1872 painting, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

I traveled to DC to record the meditation in front of the painting. The video is now available for all to see for FREE. Take a 22-minute journey with the sights of Yellowstone, both in the painting and present-day footage. This gorgeous terrain will inspire you.

We flow like the river snaking through the canyon. We connect to energy and the elements – using movement, sound, and visualization with the breath.

Click play button above or watch the video here.

More offerings from Eve:

Curious about the Renew, Relax, Retreat with Eve in southern Portugal? It’s coming up!

Who wants to come to southern Portugal? Jump to the bottom of this post if you can’t wait. 😘

Spring has sprung and I’m eager to burst forth. I don’t know about you, but I’ve felt cocooned for a long time now. Lately I’m feeling grateful to be asked to step up and step out. 

Next week I’ll perform a few songs in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the cross-country tour with 13 songs and 13 paintings – my first solo album, Peace or Drama – benefitting PeaceTones charity.

And soon I’m expecting the release of a very exciting project: a yoga meditation with the U.S. Department of the Interior Museum for the 150th anniversary of The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Here’s a peek of me filming the video in front of the painting.

Speaking of anniversaries, 5 years ago this week I released my second solo album, Atmospheric Epic. CD sales have waned quite a bit – if you are one of the lucky few who still have and use a CD player, let me know and I will send you a copy! Otherwise I’m planning to ship these beauties out to an arts organization for repurposing.

And speaking of spring cleaning, I’m letting go of old fears and polishing off some dreams. Two years ago – on the heels of our House Hunters International episode (aired March 7, 2020) – I was planning to host a week-long retreat in southern Portugal. Well it’s time to take the leap! Who’s in? 

There will be yoga, wine and song. And plenty of Portuguese seafood. A bona fide tour of the Algarve (southern coast) sprinkled with some gentle tune-ups to support body and mind.

Tentative date is July 16-23. Interested? Have questions? I’ll be sending out an invitation soon, but I’d love to know who has the itch to come!

Today I led a meditation class with a theme of protection and support. So many are struggling, so many feel displaced.

It reminded me of the song I wrote last year at this time, We Want More.

It also reminded me of a yoga chant that starts, ”Together may we be protected. Together may we be nourished.”

Listen to me recite the Sahana peace chant here.

A tale for All Hallows’ Eve

I am writing on the last day of October, the time when it is said that the veil between our world and the underworld is thin. I have been seeing ghosts of late, and also feeling storms inside my body to match those in nature.

September in Lisbon: I made a video near the medieval ruins known as Convento do Carmo, a 14th-century convent destroyed by the great earthquake of 1755. There are many tombs inside the remaining structure. A place full of spirits.

That late summer day, our last in Portugal, I set up a tiny tripod outside and made a recording with my phone. Five minutes of yoga poses as people floated by me like ghosts. Did they see me? Was I invisible? I felt like a secret.

A moment later I added the background track from my song, “Peace on Earth.” Making my voice invisible, I celebrated these beautiful musicians and their instruments. Let these souls shine, I said, and I’ll be the ghost floating by! 👻 

The sun faded over the hills. In the darkness, I tripped on cobblestones while crossing the street. Back in NY, I soon realized my left foot was broken (5th metatarsal) – a déjà vu as I had fractured the same spot before.

I’ve been a medical boot for 6 weeks now. At night, my dream world is quite active – I’m leaping and scaling ancient walls through purple storms, my body in constant motion. By day, I move like a snail. 🐌

During the last full moon (2 weeks ago), I was in Boston seeing ghosts from my days as a student of Berklee College of Music. I discovered that my hotel was a block from where I broke my foot 17 years ago – I had tripped on a storm drain on my way to a bar called Lucky’s. 🍀

Sometimes life is spooky. We have fault lines where we’re prone to break open time and again, places where the veil feels thin. Today I am Frankenstein in my big boot, full of agitation. But I am always thankful for the learning and growth that comes from life’s mysteries.

For now I’ll hold on to that moment of dappled sunlight in the ancient corner, loving the fluidity of movement as well as the solid ground beneath my feet.

Sometimes my heart is breaking when I think of “used to be.”

Sometimes I am breaking open with new awareness, like a daffodil bursting forth in spring.

It’s always  B R E A K I N G  N E W S  on the tv screen.

So I am breaking free of what I know and what I see.

Instead of glamour shots in Portugal, I’ll settle for a decent hair day in the bathroom mirror. 😊

Class Break

We will resume on March 15. Moving from RED to ORANGE for our Seasons and Chakras. View full class schedule here.

In the meantime, might I suggest my pandemic pop song and our pre-pandemic House Hunters International show – still free On Demand – Season 143, Episode 6.  

All the layers of me, like rings on a tree

Glamour shot from 1986, posted with the caption, “What’s Eve Doing Now?” – an inside joke from my teenage years when my friends and I would come up with titles for my future rock star albums. I’ve always known I wanted to share music with the world.

How to do so has been more of a puzzle lately. Artists have lost a year of livelihood just like so many others. Maybe my imaginary album title is currently “I don’t know what I’m doing now.” Not very catchy, I suppose. 😬

Yesterday I heard that one of my music friends from Nashville had passed away. Back in 2006, John and I wrote a tongue-in-cheek country duet called “I Don’t Know You Well Enough to Miss You When You’re Gone.” We both worked at the Ryman Auditorium and got to perform the song there in February 2008. The Ryman staff was like family, and I developed many wonderful friendships from that time. 

Every soul we meet makes a difference. John’s sharp wit, laughter and vivaciousness will always stay with me. I am grateful to have known him, especially at a time when I was new to Nashville and feeling vulnerable about my artistic expression. 

Here’s a video of us at the Ryman Auditorium, debuting my then-new song, “I Only Cry at the Movies Now,” with John supporting on lead guitar.

There is more music on the horizon, even if I am not yet sure of its shape or form. For now, I’m happy to serve with yoga. The new online schedule is every other day, Thurs – Mon. Would love to see you. Let’s create community together.

Thursday: Chair Yoga for Strength and Balance
Saturday: Seasons and Chakras Yoga Meditation
Monday: Gentle Yoga on the Mat 

All classes are offered as PAY WHAT YOU WANT
Please pay prior to start time to have class link sent to your inbox – via Eve’s Venmo, PayPal or by credit card. Personal checks also accepted.

Eve donates a portion of proceeds to charities that promote equality and healing. This month’s charity is Feeding America.

Click here for more details, including class time in your particular time zone. 

It’s January. Gosh, I haven’t thought of resolutions. I’m happy to be healthy and to find peace of mind wherever I can get it. 

Last month, I contributed a new song and video for a makeshift band: “We Want More” is full of riotous color and familiar images of past and present, mostly of people in collective motion. We want more togetherness, don’t we?

Yesterday I visited the Museum of Modern Art and saw an exhibit about Félix Fénéon, a French art critic and collector who was influential in shaping modern art of the late 1800s – early 1900s. 

Neo-Impressionists believed that combining the vibrant colors of the rainbow would elicit an emotional response in their viewers and encourage them to strive for an equally harmonious society. Then and now, the rainbow stands as a symbol of hope and equality, a utopian vision for the future. 

The Museum of Modern Art

Since the current pandemic began, I have been devoting time to the study of wheels and colors and seasons. Somehow it does give me hope. 

I never imagined I’d be teaching online, yet here I am. It works better than I thought it would. I resisted it for so long. But there is a voice inside me that says to continue on – make more Music, Art, Yoga. 

Do you want more?

Chair yoga and yoga meditation classes resume this week on Zoom. I am also thinking about adding a yoga mat class. If you are interested in any of these, please drop me a line. If current class times don’t work for you, I’m open to changing the schedule. Let me know what you’d like to see. I also offer private Zoom sessions for yoga and voice.

Chair Yoga for Strength and Balance – resumes Tuesday 1/5

Seasons and Chakras yoga meditation – resumes Saturday 1/9

We are up to the 9th Chakra and the full rainbow 🌈 

Click here for more info, including class time in your particular time zone. 

Big fat flakes are falling, just like when we landed here a year ago. The moving truck didn’t arrive until New Year’s, but we got to camp out and enjoy some NYC holiday magic. Seeing the displays today made me a little teary-eyed.

Times Square is still bare. I recall the ghosts of Christmas past, when we moved through a sea of holiday revelers at every turn. I could not have imagined then that my first year in NY would be mostly void of tourists and crowds.

We have all faced what is possibly the most unique year of our lives. Sometimes I can recognize the value in having routines derailed. Other times I am sad in being sequestered.

This is the first year EVER that I will not travel at the holidays. When I was a kid, we would pack the big blue van full of presents and drive from FL to NC to see relatives. After I got married and moved away, we’d return to celebrate Christmas in Florida. The South calls me home for the holidays, but I will not be going this year. 

It’s such a weird feeling. I have been in a decorating frenzy like never before. Memories are jogged by tree ornaments (many made by my grandma); my husband Mark and I both have our stockings from when we were young. I see visions of our families here in this living room.

I will do more to bring the spirit of loved ones near. Having only been a holiday traveler, there will be many firsts:

NEVER HAVE I EVER baked Christmas cookies, never have I made a Christmas dinner, never have I made a good old Southern chess pie. But this year I will. I want to bring as much tradition as I can into this most untraditional situation. 

Sending you love and comfort, wherever you are. May you celebrate joys big and small – giving gratitude for each moment of stillness, each snowflake, wave of the ocean, or sunset – swirled in sights and smells and memories you hold dear.

May your heart be light.