Yoga Off the Mat: A Journey of Walking Barefoot on the Path of Yoga

A Soft Vision & Gentle Monthlong Guide

Let Painting and Writing Lead

• My hands already know what my heart hasn’t said out loud. Keep painting when it calls. Don’t force it, just follow the mood, the music, the color. Let it be messy or magnificent…just mine. Let it say what I can’t quite say in words.
• Set aside one or two quiet windows each week for painting…like lighting a candle for myself

Let Writing Be a Quiet Companion

• Keep journaling, but without pressure. Just little check-ins:
  • “Today I feel…”
  • “What wants to be seen?”
  • “A truth I’m carrying right now is…”
• Or write one word a day. One emotion. One prayer. Let them build like stones in a sacred circle.
• Continue to work on my writing series. Remember to allow my writing to flow naturally, never force it. Give space for daydreaming, and imaginational play. Ponder questions that come up.

Welcome Yoga in Subtle Ways

• Instead of full practices, invite yoga in as presence:
  • Intentional breathing before getting out of bed.
  • Child’s pose while listening to soft music.
  • A slow walking meditation.
  • Consider intentions before speaking, texting or sharing
  • Touch my heart with my hand and whisper, I’m here.
• These are acts of yoga. I am not separate from the path, I’m just walking my yoga path barefoot right now.

Tend to the Emotional Landscape

• It’s okay to feel frozen. But check in: is it numbness, or protection? Is it emptiness, or rest?
• Give myself permission to not know. To cry for your parents and for Marcia. To not feel good. To not be okay, and still be healing.
• Keep talking to my counselor. My Counselor is a powerful alley, Therapy is a root system growing underground.

Keeping a Candle Lit for the West: Dreaming Gently Toward California while living in the Pocono’s

• Let the vision unfold slowly, like a film reel—scenes of sunlight, places that feel like home.
• Ask not just where do I want to go, but how do I want to feel when I get there?
• Make a vision board or folder for this. A sacred space to dream without deciding.
• Visit California often
• Relax into Honesdale, be here now
  • Rest in the company of the Himalayan Tradition and Community
    • Invite your friends back in, it’s time.
  • Spring is here, time to return to the Front Porch
  • Take those country road drives, reacquaint myself with those forgotten favorite places.
  • Take those artist dates. Always bring my camera, and journal.
  • Read, write and linger in the local cafes.

Return to Ritual

• Know that I’m alive and worthy of beauty:
  • Time at my alter in the presence of Higher Power and my Ancestors
    • Lighting incense, playing my Crystal Bowls
    • A cup of tea in silence
  • Wrapping myself in my favorite shawl, wrap or blanket
  • Looking at the sky and saying, thank you for keeping me here
  • Gratitude prayers at every meal
  • Moments of silence in parks, gardens or in walking meditation.

Sundays are Sacred

• No Scrolling
• Read, listen to books
• Return to the Himalayan Teachings on HI online
• Quiet time in the Sacred Space
  • My Yoga Room
  • A Church or Temple
  • Walking in Nature

A Soft Return

Living Yoga

Shadow Work