"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."
from Jesus in the Beatitudes (King James Bible)
"It is not what others do,
or do not do, that is my concern:
It is what I do,
and what I do not do, that is my concern."
from the Buddha in the Dhammapada (translated by P. Lal, Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
from Alice in Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (by Lewis Carroll)
www.Poetseers.org Mamma and I love to read poetry on this website. It has some of the most beautiful spiritual poets as well as many different types of poetry by poets from around the world. Richard Pettinger, the host of this website, has been tireless in his love for promoting poetry. He even allowed Mamma to put up some of the poems she has written. She will always be grateful to this unassumming disciple of Sri Chimnoy.
Integral Yoga Institute A Yoga Center, in the West Village in New York City, where we go to take classes. Integral Yoga teaches one to be aware of the breath and to listen to the inner wisdom of one's own body throughout the class. Integral Yoga creates the room to observe that "quiet space" within. Swami Ramanda, who is also a poet, is an extremely thoughtful teacher who Mamma likes to take classes from. There are also children's classes here.
Fairies World My favorite fairy spot!
Myrea Pettit is a fairy artist who draws fairies but also helps others to draw, by teaching us to listen to our own inner voice. She says each one of us is an artist when we learn to listen within and to paint what we feel. Myrea is selfless in her promotion of others' art and poetry while being very gifted herself. Mamma is grateful to her and David Riche and their kindness in including Mamma's poetry in the Fairiesworld section of poetry.
Jivamukti Yoga School When Mamma is in New York City she likes to take classes here. It was while Sharon Gannon, one of the founders of this school and a very dedicated and gifted teacher, was speaking at Integral Yoga Institute, that Mamma realized the importance of leaving in the page on the breath. Mamma had left this page out thinking it made the book too long. However, she realized in her own practice, breathing for her is the single most important element in attuning the body to the mind. Just noticing our breath helps us to feel a little more loose and relaxed. K. Pattabhi Jois, one of the great yoga masters and one of Sharon Gannon's teachers, helped his students to master the movement of energy through the breath. As her grandmother use to say to Mamma, "where do you get your pep?". Pep is another word for energy. Yoga helps us to balance this energy.
YogaMS.com Eric Small, an Iyengar instructor, inspired Mamma in so many ways. She went to his workshop at Antelope Valley College (in the high desert) in California, and the adversity he has overcome and the dignity of his practice, as well as being a master teacher, is awe inspiring. He also has great knowledge of B. K. S. Iyengar, another one of the great yoga masters, and his "Light on Yoga". Originally, yoga happened spontaneously out of one's own personal practice and there was nothing written about it. This still happens today for some, but the yoga community has received help from those who have gone before. The first formal written account of yoga is Patanjali's "Yoga Sutras", a book filled with wisdom. What B. K. S. Iyengar did was to explain in detail, broken down step by step, a guide to mastering the art of yoga. So if you want detailed instruction on how to perform any of the various postures (or poses) found in this book, it would be of great benefit to consult B. K. S. Iyengar's "Light on Yoga" and his wealth of information.
Yoga Kingdom Sanctuary Yoga Kingdom Sanctuary, founded by Naader Shagagi, is another school of yoga that Mamma has taken classses from while in California. Naader is a true bhakti yogi, one who sees through the eyes of love and compassion and encourages his students to do the same. He is the disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda, another deeply respected yoga master, who wrote "Autobiography of a Yogi".
Laughing Lotus Yoga Center Each school is so different from each other. There is such joy in the practice of yoga here and also an emphasis on selfless service. This is the idea where one gives something and expects nothing in return. There are also free community classes here each weekday.
The Initiative for Women with Disabilities Elly and Steve Hammerman Health & Wellness Center. Judy Goldberg and Connie Lam direct this high quality medical and multi-disciplinary center, committed to providing respectful, high-quality gynecological, medical and wellness services for women and adolescent girls with physical disabilities. Mamma says IWD is a real leader in the country in providing other healing modalities such as massage, reiki, reflexology, Tai Chi, and aromatherapy.
The Coalition for the Homeless Mary E. Brosnahan is an amazing friend in New York City to those who have fallen on hard times. But equally important, Mamma says, is that when you give her something, she never forgets to say thank-you.
The Golden Lantern We like to read poems on this website. Paul Dolinsky was kind enough to write a review of The Donut Yogi . Paul also talked Mamma into keeping this website up after Mamma wanted to just forget about this little book. Paul convinced her that when something is written from the heart, one's head can always be held up. Paul is a poetry lover who also happens to be a poet himself and is a tireless webmaster in showcasing others' poetry on his website.
Benedetta Capanna
We also takes yoga classes from Benedetta. She lives in Rome but occasionally comes to NYC to teach at Integral Yoga Institute and to conduct workshops. She is so knowledgeable and compassionate, having a background in dance and yoga. If she comes to your area, don't miss the chance to take a class with her. She has studied many types of yoga intensively. Now she is studying the teachings of Vanda Scaravelli, another Iyengar based instructor, who wrote "Awakening the Spine".
www.PoetryofScotland.co.uk We read poems here, too, sometimes. Henry, who is the webmaster of It-Serve, helps others to make their own websites as well as selflessly hosts this website to promote Scottish poetry. He also writes poetry under a pen name. Although not Scottish, Mamma felt a love for this poetry and this country. Upon stumbling upon this website in 2005, she composed a poem immediately called "Across that Time, Once Before" in the Hobe Sound, Florida library. She told Henry she wasn't Scottish in the name of Satya, the yogic principle of truthfulness, and he said that it was okay. Mamma says yoga, poetry and love transcend (rises above) boundaries, or perhaps you could say, go deeper than borders.
www.unicornlady.net Here is where the sweet unicorn lady has her website. We love all things to do with unicorns and mermaids, angels and fairies. Here the unicorn lady has a website devoted to unicorns including photos of the beautiful unicorn tapestries at www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/the_cloisters in Fort Tryon Park in New York City. Mamma and I spent much time in this park walking our beautiful dog. We loved to look at the tapestries and at the exquisite gardens here, too. The unicorn lady was kind enough to post Mamma's poem, "To a Unicorn", (Mamma's preferred title for this poem, although also called "The Unicorn Gallops" and "To the Unicorn") on her website.
www.fort-ticonderoga.org King's Garden is a garden in Fort Ticonderoga, New York, that overlooks Lake Champlain. Mamma composed (made up) "A Fae in the Garden" while walking amongst the purple flowers along the LaChute River Walk in Ticonderoga. She changed it to "pink" in her poem. Mamma says that this is called poetic license, the idea that one can write anything how they wish to. No one can ever tell you it is wrong. In poetry, imagination always take precedence over (comes before) reality, in Mamma's opinion anyway. While walking we always stop to read aloud a poem by John Keats, an English poet with unusual and exquisite breadth (wide) and depth (deep) whose poem is on a plaque in the park.
www.akspl.org A.K.Smiley Public Library in Redlands, California, is where Mamma spent many happy hours reading as a child. The architecture and the surrounding grounds are extremely tranquil and lovely. She says it is amazing how the Smiley Brothers were involved in giving such a gift to the city of Redlands. What a legacy they left and what seeds they planted. In yoga, seeds are called "bija". Mamma says when one plants good seeds, good thoughts, something will grow, whether it takes moments or years. Two of Mamma's lastest poems to fairiesworld were sent from this library, "Hesperides' Chart" and "To tender, leaves of tender".
www.ladybirdcenter.com Amanda Zapanta had a yoga center in Washington Heights, in upper Manhattan, that Mamma use to teach at. Amanda no longer has the center but Amanda still teaches all over New York City. Her teaching is filled with joy and a thorough understanding of anatomy. Her classes are demanding but there is also a playful aspect to her teaching. She helped Mamma to put up this website. She is also a Thai Yoga Massage Therapist and is trained in graphic arts as well as being an artist and a dancer. She told us that in England "ladybird" is another word for "fairy".
