Connecting through Screens: Strengthening Bonds Despite Challenges! Long before the Covid-19 pandemic led to preventive measures that normalized social distancing, the doctors in my family were already encouraging me to pause from teaching yoga in order to avoid close physical contact with students. Of course, I resisted until March 14—the day my 4th grandchild was […]

When setting goals at the beginning of the year, we do so with a strong determination to succeed.  So why don’t we succeed?  Why aren’t we getting the desired results? When I conduct group coaching on this theme, every year during my 40 Days of Life Coaching, Power Yoga, Pranayama, and Meditation program, I start […]

The Buddha says to get out of your suffering, you must let go of your attachments, your aversions and your ignorance. The third one of these concepts, IGNORANCE, is the one that held the key to my own inner freedom. Ignorance in the sense of not knowing that there is a way out of your suffering, not knowing that you can use your […]

“People are so skillful in their ignorance.” -Paramahamsa Yogananda I have not blogged for some time on Authentique Coaching, though I have been present in interacting with many of you, through coaching, yoga, and the practice of law. I continue to produce and run workshops, weekly immersions, and teacher training certification programs through Princeton Power […]

Are we really hearing when people talk to us? Or do we just hear what we want to hear? My younger sister often calls me during her long drives to and from work. The last time we spoke, I must have been going on and on about something when the call dropped and I did […]

The last time I wrote, I attested to the awesome power of Vipassana meditation, and my second 10-day retreat there earlier this year. Thinking back to that wonderful week and a half I find myself feeling so blessed beyond measure…wow. We left off on Day 6. On day 7, I didn’t go to meditate in […]

Recently I attended my second 10-day retreat and vow of Noble Silence at the Dhamma Dhara Vipassana Meditation Center in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. When I arrived at the center I was greeted with a flood of memories from my first retreat last year and the incredible spiritual journey I experienced with karmic guru SN Goenka […]

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children. And he said: Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s yearning for itself. They come through you but are not from you, And though they are with you they belong not to […]

Younger people realize that the world is full of huge problems that they dream of solving, but no one is interested in their views. “You don’t know what the world is really like,” they are told. “Listen to your elders and then you’ll have a better idea of what to do.” Older people have gained […]

The other day I got inspired by a thought: Have I ever had to explain what Love is to someone? Whenever I say “I love you” to someone they seem to understand what I mean. So I tried to imagine explaining the concept of Love to a child who hadn’t yet figured it out. If […]

My first hint that something was not quite right was when my husband left a voicemail for me in the middle of the work day. I was going to call him back when I saw the reason he called me on the web: Mandela had died. It was just a week earlier that I had […]

Part of being a coach is to be constantly learning new things. That’s what I was doing when I found myself being coached by another student at a continuing education class at New York University the other week. We had to break into groups of two in which each member would coach the other one […]

I am lucky to be one of the many thousands of students who have been uplifted by the teachings of karma yogi SN Goenka. I wrote about my experience meeting Master Goenka earlier this month. I’m glad I did. On September 29, 2013, my most accomplished yogi  gave up his body, no doubt to help […]

Nobody escapes from suffering. We all go through birth, illnesses, death. But there is a way to live life free of suffering. – Buddha I recently had the pleasure of attending a life-altering experience thanks to the compassionate and kind people at the Dhamma Dhara Meditation Center in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. Led by accomplished  karma-yogi […]

What is consciousness? Over the ages, humankind’s tendency towards introspection and self-awareness has led our collective consciousness to dwell on the nature of each of our own “individual” consciousnesses. It is a mystery that has entertained the minds of great men and women since antiquity, but great strides are being made today thanks to the […]

Earlier this month I made a sort of pilgrimage out to Sedona, Arizona. I went to attend a retreat with my friends who, like me, have been profoundly touched by the teachings of Lester Levenson. The retreat was hosted at the beautiful Sedona Mago Retreat, in plain view of the area’s legendary Red Rocks. Lester […]

Atop Mount Kailash in the Himalayas, an ancient goddess meditates. She spends most of her time in the lotus position, meditating in loving devotion to her creation below. She is the embodiment of feminine energy, or shakti, who might stay in that position for a thousand years or more – but when her duty calls, […]

Taking responsibility for everything that happens to you is an awesome idea. If you want to improve your Self, you must blame yourself for more of the bad things that happen to you. “Doesn’t that go against everything I have ever learned about improving myself?” you might ask. Well, let me tell you how I […]

One of my greatest pleasures in being a yogini is the ability to travel the world meeting people from all age groups and all walks of life. I frequently find myself in the company of young people who remind me of myself – when I was just starting to learn my way around a Yoga studio. […]

In my last post I talked about that great usurper we call Fear. This week I’d like to turn my attention to something called Resistance. What do I mean by Resistance? For me, Resistance occurs when something bothers me in another person or situation, something I don’t like or something I don’t agree with. As an […]

Non-loving feelings are like rogue waves in the ocean. Appearing out of nowhere and swelling to enormous proportions, they take away our breath and toss us around until we lose track of which way is up. As Hafiz wrote centuries ago, there are consequences to these destructive forces:   Selections from I Know The Way You […]

Once there were two sisters who were fighting over the last orange in the cupboard. Neither was willing to share it, as each had her own goal of taking the entire orange. When their mother stepped in to settle the dispute, she learned that one girl wanted it for the juice and the other for […]

Science has extended our physical lives through discoveries about exercise and diet, even going so far as to eradicate smallpox from the world. But while vaccines and antibiotics ensure our physical longevity, what can we do to inoculate our souls against the challenges we face in our day-to-day living? We can literally, do nothing; stillness […]

It was my third year in America when my son Nicolas was attending preschool. One day in November he came home and said to me, “Mommy on Thanksgiving we eat turkey.” That year was my first Thanksgiving celebration and soon my sister, and only close relative in America then, joined in on all the Thanksgiving traditions. […]

May the wind blow sweetness, the rivers flow sweetness, the herbs grow sweetness, for the People of Truth! Sweet be the night, sweet the dawn, sweet be earth’s fragrance, sweet be our Heaven! May the tree afford us sweetness, the sun shine sweetness, our cows yield sweetness — milk in plenty! – Author Unknown

All of man’s difficulties are caused by his inability to sit, quietly, in a room by himself. –Blaise Pascal Back in 2005 I was at a Baron Baptiste Power Yoga event in Rhinebeck, New York. During the lunch break, I saw there was another group sharing the venue with us. There were so many of them, […]

If your body is going to age, does your mind have to age as well? Who said your body and mind even have to age? Age, as we define it, is just a number. When we meet strangers, they can only guess how old we are. Yet we give such importance to every year, every […]

I often hear from coachees: I feel like I’m punch-drunk from growing up with my parents. When will I forget my childhood? When you come to me with your boxing gloves on, fresh from a battle with life, it might be difficult for you to see that your gloves are actually removable. They may have […]

Before embarking on my own self discovery, and the self inquiry process that led to my personal transformation, I was one of those “bring it on” types. I was going to box my way through life, no matter what. And to make sure that I got the proper training, I went to the gym daily, […]