Tag Archives: wellness for families

Meet Jessa Buchalter

March 5, 2023 ~ Yoga & Women’s Circle with Jessa of Live Love Laugh Yoga

Maintaining a combined practice of medicine and meditation is an invitation for me to engage with the splendors of our community. This Sunday, I was 1 of 6 women lead by Jessa Buchalter on a morning of mindful practice, yoga, journaling, and intimate sharing in the backyard Circle. After unifying mind and body in a space that holds all there is, just as it is, the shares were deep and vulnerable.

I reflected on the times that I felt my life was in shambles and there was so much sadness, anger, and blame. In those moments, I was fortunate enough to find resources such as these to lean in to the discomfort and find my power to Remember, Woman, remember you are more than you can see.

I wish we had a photo of our final moments in the Circle, left hand on our own heart, right hand holding the back of the woman to the right…as we cultivated the power to love ourselves and each other unconditionally.

This is a poem Jessa read to us: 

Remember, Woman


Remember, Woman, you were born

Life giver, miracle creator, magic maker.


You were born with the heart of a thousand mothers,

Open and fearless and sweet.

You were born with the fire of Queens and conquerors, 

warriors blood you bleed.

You were born with the wisdom of sages and shamans,

no wound can you not heal.

You were born the teller of your own tale, 

before none should you kneel.

You were born with an immeasurable soul 

reaching out past infinity.

You were born to desire with passion, abandon,

and to name your own destiny.


Remember, Woman, remember 

you are more than you can see.

Remember, Woman, remember 

you are loved endlessly.


Remember, Woman, your power and grace, 

the depth of your deep sea heart. 

Never forget you are Woman, divine, 

As you have been from the start.

	-Reese Leyva

Cheers Jessa, I have cherished our journey of yoga, prenatal yoga, and look forward to co-creating a Menopause Circle in the future!

Cheers to all, may 2023 be year of self-discovery and self-love, remembering and seeing and radiating the luster of who you really are. May you feel nurtured while enriching your unique Circle.

Beginner’s Mind – taking a refreshed interest

My 17 yo daughter brought down a mason jar this morning. Seeing a new combination of orange, rosemary, and star anise, I looked at it with interest and wonder…

As I typically do, I made an assumption. “How did it taste?” I asked. She responds “It’s not to drink, it’s to smell,” and I perceive the familiar tone that I know well and receive as ‘Duh, mom, you’re so dumb, you never get me.’

I inhaled the aroma, I liked it, it was sweet & pleasant

I thought of all the times that she came downstairs in complete disgust of the smell of certain ethnic foods, receiving her dislike in the form of criticism, anger, and ‘you people are repulsive.’ And all of a sudden, perhaps resulting from the sweetness of the aroma I had just inhaled, I understood. I perceived something different- she has to notice what she doesn’t like to find the things that she does like, and indeed, the process of noticing is often UNPLEASANT.

the magic is the shift in perspective, seeing it all in a neutral light,

allowing it to be as it is, dropping the judgement

I have been inspired this week by the dozens of talks in the Parenting Teens in Uncertain Times Summit – the lesson that our teens are neurologically wired to detach and become independent reverberates through each and every talk. Teens are determined to explore the world in a way that is unique from their parents’ experience and so they must willfully exert their dissatisfaction, disdain and dislike for our ways. Ouch, whoa, the cruelty of parenting…and in surrender I place my hand on my heart to eject a release of oxytocin to sooth my soul.

How much gentler could it have been if I had never taken personally the process of discovery that showed up as anger? Will my brain and body rewire so that I can remember next time? The science tells me that yes, indeed, with mindful attention, my physiology is programmed to rewire and be gentler over time. Everyone has that capacity. Let’s drop in to what’s here, right now.