Over the years, I’ve recommend to many people a wonderful book that literally changed my life. It’s called “Peace is Every Step: The Miracle of Mindfulness in Everyday Life.” It was written by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Zen Buddhist master who just recently left his body and who wrote many excellent books.
When I first read “Peace is Every Step”, the concept of mindfulness was new to me, and Thich Nhat Hanh’s beautiful, accessible way of imparting the wisdom of mindfulness allowed me to begin to see ordinary, mundane, everyday things in a new way. My teacher Sharon Gannon says that magic is a shift in perception, and in that way “Peace is Every Step” is a magical volume in that the teachings it holds most definitely shifted the way I perceive the world around me. I learned that every moment of our lives—even each and every breath—has the potential to wake us up, if only we could remember to be present, to be mindful, to pay attention.
Another beloved Buddhist teacher of mine who has also written many beautiful books is Pema Chodron. Of the practice of mindfulness she writes, “To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest. To live fully is to be always in no-man’s land, to experience each moment as completely new and fresh.”
In her book “The Wisdom of No Escape,” Pema Chodron tells this story: “There is a story of a woman running away from tigers. She runs and runs and the tigers are getting closer and closer. When she comes to the edge of a cliff, she sees some vines there, so she climbs down and holds on to the vines. Looking down, she sees that there are tigers below her as well. She then notices that a mouse is gnawing away at the vine to which she is clinging. She also sees a beautiful little bunch of strawberries close to her, growing out of a clump of grass. She looks up and she looks down. She looks at the mouse. Then she just takes a strawberry, puts it in her mouth, and enjoys it thoroughly. Tigers above, tigers below. This is actually the predicament that we are always in, in terms of our birth and death. Each moment is just what it is. It might be the only moment of our life; it might be the only strawberry we’ll ever eat. We could get depressed about it, or we could finally appreciate it and delight in the preciousness of every single moment of our life.”
The Jivamukti Yoga focus of the month for January is called “Novelty in Practice” and is written by Jules Febre. In it, Jules talks about the importance of experiencing the familiar in a new way, particularly in terms of our yoga practice. He writes, “Find the novelty in the moment, and allow yourself to be fully receptive to what is unfolding.” Mindfulness of the present moment can prevent stagnation in our practice. He also writes,”Inner wisdom, intuition, gut feelings—these are all different ways of describing the same underlying intelligence. It’s a form of knowing that transcends intellectual understanding, a kind of perception that connects us to the deeper mystery of life. This is the wisdom of novelty—not in the sense of the latest trend, but in the sense of ‘aha’ moments, where we see the new in the familiar. Whether in a yoga pose, a relationship, or within ourselves, this deeper wisdom allows us to rediscover what has always been there.”
Save the date—August 22-24, 2025! I’m very excited that this month’s focus of the month author Jules Febre (senior advanced Jivamukti teacher and nephew of Jivamukti co-founders Sharon Gannon & David Life) is coming to Satsang Yoga to offer a weekend long Jivamukti Yoga intensive. I’ve had the pleasure of practicing with Jules several times over the years, and I can say without hesitation that you do not want to miss this special and rare opportunity to study with him for a weekend. Registration will be opening soon.