Yoga’s popularity has been felt across all fabrics of American life. The private sector has successfully commercialized its products and services. The social sector is developing infrastructure to positively impact the lives of people that might need contemplative practices most, but can access it least. The yoga community will need a growing network of advocates inside and outside of government…
Susanna Barkataki: So tell us a bit about your role in Yoga Service. What motivated the yoga service work that you do and the creation of the retreat for Alzheimer’s caregivers? Melissa Smith: My father has been the caregiver of my step mother for more than 10 years. She was diagnosed in her late 50’s and…
Trauma as Spiritual Crisis When we talk about purpose in yoga, we use the word dharma. Dharma, a Sanskrit word denoting one’s “ethical duty,” serves as our guiding principle for living. A need and desire for dharma is innate, yet changes over the course of our lives. If we were to intermix Western psychology and…
Excerpted from Meditations on Intention and Being: Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga, Mindfulness and Compassion. A few years ago I went on a ten-day meditation retreat in California’s Yucca Valley. It was very well attended, and each morning I sat at the back of a large room full of people as they…
I love teaching yoga to kids in detention. I have found that many of the young people I encounter in juvenile detention can’t remember when they last heard a good word from anyone in authority, whether it be parents, teachers, judges, probation officers, or detention staff. They are so open and so ready for what…
A couple of years ago, in a New Year’s Eve note to my readers on SemperSarah.com, I encouraged them to be vulnerable. Then, I decided, I was going to walk my talk. First, I shared this note with them. Then, I included an expanded version of it in my book, Just Roll With It: 7…
I have been really struggling with anxiety and depression the last several months. So much self doubt showing up. Doubt in myself and the path of teaching trauma-informed yoga to women that has chosen me. The fear of not being able to make a living piecing all of these parts of my life together. The…
I used to think strength meant presenting an image of strong silence and always looking like I had everything together. I was a Marine, a leader, and could never make a mistake. I became a Marine to serve, and loved being part of the Corps. As with anything I have ever loved intensely, the military…
BACKGROUND I am a Mother, a Poet, a Yogi, and a disabled Veteran with a vagina. I have served my country, first as an active duty Chaplains Assistant, then as a military wife, then as a divorced military spouse, and finally, as a disabled veteran fighting (waiting) for over 5 years with the Veterans Administration.…
“We came to this country to unite, you need to show them we are here to work hard. That’s it. You show them by example not by arguing or crying.” Those were my fathers words when I was crying after somebody made a racist comment about Mexicans being lazy. I took my father’s advice to…
