One of the great victories of 2017 and very close to my heart, is the power of the #metoo movement. We are in the midst of a sea change where women's stories of harrassment and assault are finally being believed and serious consequences to the perpetrators are piling up.

Imagine if the first thing you heard or saw when you turned on the news or looked at your newsfeed every day were beautiful and heartfelt stories. You'd feel uplifted, right? And if the painful - and often these days horrifying and traumatic - news followed we might have more room inside to breathe into what those stories brought up for us and digest them.

Ten years ago, my wife Pamela was a student at Smith College, in their program for non-traditionally aged students. I was a 59 year old man, a self employed career coach, as I still am. Pamela asked me one day if I would like to attend an on-campus yoga class. I said yes, without knowing why as I look back on it. The class was taught, as I recall, by the wonderful Amy Reed, who was also a Smith student. There I was, the only male in a room full of women with great flexibility...

It was a dark period of my life. My 86 year old dad was dying after a long, slow descent into dementia. My 85 year old mom had passed away a year and a half before. Our house, in which they had lived with us for ten years, was filled from basement to attic with my dad’s gargantuan collection of accumulated belongings; his legacy of life as a unrestrained pack rat. My husband and I were exhausted from the challenges of the endings of my parents’ lives...

This has been a tough week. There have been many tears shed in some of our classes along with a beautiful coming together to offer support and connection to one another.

Have you ever heard how Yoga Sanctuary came to be? There were many twists and turns, like any good story. And there were many struggles, such as accompany and often inspire any worthy dream.