We are deep into the year of the dragon and all around the intensity of the collective pushes forward to a new age. The pieces and parts, the far-flung shades of life that make our hearts beat faster are starting to coalesce directly to the source.

I think it's possible for all of us to use our yoga to distract us from our yoga. Because we get so caught up in the form that we forget the soul.

The time to recognize the power of community is here again. Not as some romanticized renaissance from times past, but as a necessarily new and innovative response to "life as it is offering itself to us."

As products of our highly competitive and specialized society, with all its ladders and ceilings, neat compartments, titles, and categories, to remain in an expanded state can feel like swimming upstream.

Eat by Choice, Not by Habit combines the author's humor, deep compassion for others and knowledge about food in a way that makes me eager to follow her lead toward healthy eating-and more importantly, toward a healthy attitude about eating. She aptly teaches us all to frame our food issues in a language that is both liberating and comforting.

Why are we doing all these handstands, backbends and arm balances? I don't know why we're doing them unless our lives are shaped and changed.

Taking time out each day to relax and renew is essential to living well.