In community women rise, rooted yet reaching for the sky

On International Women's Day I celebrate the communities of women who give me wings to fly, encourage me to leave the nest (even when it's scary), comfort when I crash and confidence to fly again.

Aloha friends!

Happy International Women’s Day! Today in honor of one of the four “Cs” that guide my life, Community, this is a love letter to all the communities of women who raise me up and who I cherish having in my life. Some of these women are intimates, others are virtual friends, and still other are strangers—known only to me by their acts of great courage and compassion, for the women of entire nations and the world.

Amy, Marielle and Sara

I begin with the woman who raised the woman who raised me: my maternal grandmother Marion. Yesterday, on our last day of yoga retreat, lying on my mat, breathing out fear and breathing in love, I felt a thud and a fluttering in my chest, in my heartspace. It was startling. It was like something or someone had entered me. And it came to me that it was my grandmother, who had the biggest and purest heart. But she also gave and gave and gave of herself until her heart stopped one sorrowful day. She was the grandmother of the warmest hugs, whom I could share all my deepest secrets and desires. But I also remember her heartburn, how she clutched a bottle of Maalox. I think she came to my yoga mat to tell me that when there is an imbalance between giving love and receiving love, our heart can wear out.