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Archive for the Writing category

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Retreat, Rest & Press Reset on 2013 – July 21-26 in Big Sur, CA

Saturday, May 11th, 2013

This year I’m hosting a sweet retreat at one of my all time favorite places in the world: Esalen in Big Sur. Five years ago, soon after I had left Afghanistan, I went on retreat at Esalen with Seane Corn, Hala Khouri and Suzanne Sterling of Off the Mat, Into the World. During my week in Big [...]

Posted in Good things, self care, Writing, Yoga | No Comments »

What is Creative Joy? Does it matter?

Sunday, February 3rd, 2013

Have you ever had the experience of writing, creating or teaching something and then hearing from someone who has read, studied or taken part in it and thinking to yourself: ‘She got more from it than I even realised I was putting in it?’ It often happens to me when I’m teaching yoga, which is [...]

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Posted in Courage, self care, Writing, Yoga | No Comments »

Whose story is it to tell?

Monday, December 17th, 2012

Today I’ve read some powerful articles drawing on the tragic events in Sandy Hook in order to illustrate really important social issues. And I’ve felt a deep tension within myself as I read them. On the one hand I am a storyteller who believes our stories have incredible power to help us connect to each [...]

Posted in Being the change, Story-telling, Writing | 11 Comments »

Heroism, Dependency & Exit Strategies: an interview with Batman

Thursday, August 23rd, 2012

(Batman ‘Word’ by Defiant Ant) I’ve always wondered, is it lonely work, being a superhero?  It’s not so bad. I have Robin. Right, but a sidekick is not quite the same as a friend is it? Maybe not. But he does admire me, he looks up to me. My point exactly. A friend loves you, [...]

Posted in Being the change, Doing good, Five questions: Interviews with Change-makers, Story-telling, Writing | 13 Comments »

Haiku

Monday, August 20th, 2012

My last post from the silent writing retreat with Natalie Goldberg. On our last day she had us write haiku. If you want to join in, it’s simple. Set a timer for 30 minutes and start writing, write ten haiku in thirty minutes. Keep your hand moving. And Natalie says “Don’t bother counting syllables, the [...]

Posted in Writing | 1 Comment »

Permission

Sunday, August 19th, 2012

While I’m on this silent writing retreat, I’m just going to post some of my morning writing practices. They may have nothing to do with what I usually write about here. Except that they are about the process of writing. If you want to join me, it is simple. Set a timer for ten minutes [...]

Posted in Writing | No Comments »

I remember

Saturday, August 18th, 2012

While I’m on this silent writing retreat, I’m just going to post some of my morning writing practices. They may have nothing to do with what I usually write about here. Except that they are about the process of writing. If you want to join me, it is simple. Set a timer for ten minutes [...]

Posted in Afghanistan, Writing | No Comments »

Chickens

Friday, August 17th, 2012

While I’m on this silent writing retreat, I’m just going to post some of my morning writing practices. They may have nothing to do with what I usually write about here. Except that they are about the process of writing. Ten minute writing practice – prompt: Chickens I was afraid of my mother’s chickens.  I [...]

Posted in Writing | No Comments »

It’s tough finding a cover you can live with (aka the author’s prayer)

Friday, August 10th, 2012

I am very lucky to have a tolerant, understanding editor at Sourcebooks. Not least because I have strong ideas about what should, and should not, be on the cover of the US edition of Zen Under Fire. To illustrate – earlier this week, an email exchange between my editor and I led to the following chain [...]

Posted in Afghanistan, Writing, Zen Under Fire | 3 Comments »

How yoga makes me a better writer

Thursday, August 9th, 2012

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about ‘hammering the nails’ of my writing, a lesson I learned from William Zinsser in his book ‘On Writing Well‘. I’ve been thinking more about Zinsser’s fundamental rule for writing, which is: Be yourself. Of course that is infinitely more difficult than it first appears. I’ve been thinking about what [...]

Posted in Courage, Story-telling, Uncategorized, Writing | No Comments »

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