Latest News at YoManTra - Petra's Weekly Newsletters from 2026

11/1 The word spectacular comes to mind. This past few weeks may have been the most stunningly colorful, on a daily basis, ever. Green grass, leaves in bright shades of reds, yellows, greens, browns, and all of it topped by a crisp blue sky. Autumn is filled with visual contrasts every year, but the consistency and duration this year seems out of the ordinary to me.

A very tangible effect of the flooding with color is that we all want to be outdoors to see the trees at their peak, which is an excellent stress reliever. The attention on color and the focus on enjoying something this simple is allowing us to drop that which worries us and to relax deeply. Whether you in a T-shirt or a coat, let joy in. Watch a particular tree change slowly over time, notice how it makes you feel, and you are in the middle of a mindfulness exercise.

I read that there is also a psychological response that is triggered by this sudden abundance of color surrounding us. The stimulus may push us towards trying something new. Learning a new skill, taking on a new hobby maybe, maybe you realize that a new habit is being built.

Take a walk outside and notice the effect the colors of the trees has on you.

10/25 At work we are encouraged to use AI. Last week, I and a coworker pulled data and then we separately worked on the results, me crunching the data by hand and him asking AI to generate specific charts. My manual charts came out different than the AI charts - AI put something together but the numbers were just not right. The trends displayed by AI were opposite of what they really were. It was a bit shocking, to say the least. Why did AI not ask for more info, and why did AI instead produce something that just wasn't based in fact?

I googled where we use AI without knowing it.
Personalized Recommendations and ads in Netflix, Amazon or your browser; Virtual Assistants like Alexa that use natural language processing; prioritization of posts and feeds on Facebook; reply recommendations for emails and texts; traffic prediction in Google Maps; smart home devices including security cameras. I can add to this list the facial recognition now used at airports, as we did not even have to show our passports when we reentered the country after our recent trip overseas.

I am probably not the standard user - no virtual assistants here, I hardly shop online and if I do, I look for user recommendations and I also read them before I order, and I hide several posters my social media feed presents me with a day because I want to see what my friends and trusted newspapers post and not some AI slop. We do use Google Maps when we go on longer trips. We have shaken our heads more than once when Google Maps took us off the highway and through some small neighborhood and why in the world did we just go through the stress of 50 stop signs when the highway in the distance seems to be moving swiftly.

So where is that benefit of AI that I am supposed to be experiencing? I don't see it. A friend lost his job this past week. He worked in publishing.

10/18 We had the first frost. Some of our old, drafty windows were covered in water droplets this morning and the radiators are on, keeping the house warm.

The dehydrator is going in the living room, drying a sizable last harvest of fire beans and pepitas. Tarps are draped over some herbs and other plants in the garden, in the hopes to save them for a few days. It's been a race to harvest whatever needed harvesting, and to also bring the pumpkins of all sizes and shapes indoors so they would not turn into mush. This was a formidable task - we had at least 10 zucchini and pumpkin plants stretching their vines across the planting beds, with tentacles going up trees and trellises. So just finding all their small and large fruit took a while. We did not get to take all the plant matter into the mulch piles, so there will be some eerie looking residues left over until we get to clean up.

There are still bees around, having seemingly fallen asleep in late blooms.

Some of them will spend the next few months in our bee hotel. It is fun to watch them crawl in and shut the door.

Nature is fascinating. It is very rewarding to nurture and to harvest and to watch. It provides workout, nourishment, and joy. What are you doing today that brings joy to you?

10/11 Song for Autumn
Don't you imagine the leaves dream now
how comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of the air and the endless
freshets of wind? And don't you think
the trees, especially those with
mossy hollows, are beginning to look for
the birds that will come-six, a dozen-to sleep
inside their bodies? And don't you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond
stiffens and the white field over which
the fox runs so quickly brings out
its long blue shadows. The wind wags
its many tails. And in the evening
the piled firewood shifts a little
longing to be on its way.
~ Mary Oliver

I am sitting in our kitchen, the coffee maker is bubbling away, one cat is snoring spread eagle on the ground on the carpet next to my chair, and the other wants to have his cheeks and back rubbed. I would like to finish my bowl of breakfast but I can't, since that little meowing being in my lap has needs I better fulfill. It's a typical morning in our kitchen and it is clear who calls the shots. Best to lean back and relax and savor the moment.

Sitting down for meals is the rare bit of sit down relaxation I get throughout the weekend. Usually the cats are there immediately, purring and wanting petting or just to be told in an assuring voice how good they are. The rest of the time there is no time to give them attention. Yesterday we went on a hike (Lambs Hill), then I cleaned out some flower beds and harvested the ripe beans and all the peppers. Hulling and cleaning them took the rest of the day. Today, I will roast and then can the peppers. The beans will be drying for at least a month so at least they are not causing any further work.
There is a season for everything -- and it is especially true for gardening. Spring and fall seasons really are the busiest time for garden chores.

What does this have to do with yoga? Yoga teaches us to be ready for giving our all, to keep on jugging away at whatever task lies at hand. It is the resilience we build when in plank for a long time or when we move the spine while in a squat that does not seem to want to end. On the other hand, we learn to take a deep breath and a sigh of relief to get the muscles and tissues to relax completely, all within one moment in time. The awareness of tension creeping back in is also built during the sessions. You may not want to underestimate those skills. They are not there just for when we are on the mat. You take those skills away with you into your day, into your life.

10/4 We have had a groundhog in our garden for the past month. It started with Brad noticing that someone dug a big hole in the asparagus bed. Then the one sweet potato I planted, which made several square yards of vines in front of the sun room, had most of its leaves eaten after we came back from vacation, and it seemed maybe some neighboring potato leaves were missing also.

I put a wildlife camera in front of the cold frame and low and behold, it caught a tubby groundhog munching away on the residual sweet potato leaves one afternoon last week. Yesterday, I had enough of feeding the groundhog, and I harvested the sweet potatoes and the potatoes. That showed that the bugger had dug into the bed and started to munch away on the sweet potatoes themselves, not just the vines. The potatoes, purple ones, were unharmed.

One tiny seed potato turned into more than 1 kg of potatoes. One half sweet potato turned into 2 kg (partly gnawed) sweet potatoes. We cannot wait to taste them!

9/27 We love our cats. We open doors gizillion times a day to let them in or out, we buy mountains of food for them, we pet them and we speak to them. We clean after them daily, and we accept that whatever we do, we first have to wipe table and counterspace, as one of them just cannot resist the temptation of potential hidden treasures higher up. We find it funny that one of them wipes the surface of the fridge after going potty, and we gruntingly accept that poop stink may linger even after cleaning up. We give them the secluded darkness they desire, and we laugh it off when one of them sneaks into the yoga room to do their own exercise regimen there without us, which may involve shredding a yoga mat.

We were rather sick all of last week. In bed for a couple of solid days, and coughing and sweating and hanging about without energy after that. Our cats must be watching this and think, 'how can we help?'. They started to bring offerings. A mouse on the steps, and then when that didn't seem to help they turned to chipmunks. A dead one in the sunroom, and then, on a sunny day when the kitchen door was ajar, a live one that made it into the house. We told the cats to finish their job, but they did not seem to understand. We set up havaheart traps in the den. Brad took the room apart, even vacuumed in every crevice while I watched from the sofa, coughing.

At some point we gave up the search.
We are currently waiting to see whether that thoughtful gift will be turning into some soggy nightmare somewhere in our living quarters.

What does this have to do with yoga? There is an ebb and flow to things, and sometimes cause and effect can seem a little murky but it is all about observing and either letting go or sticking with it.

As to our cats, the gifts have stopped so they must be thinking that that one live gift did the trick. As to us, we still don't fully understand their thinking. But we learned that we have to keep the doors closed, and we cannot be getting sick so the cats won't think they have to help.

7/26 I am watching the usual mid summer chaos develop in our gardens.
The sunflowers came up where they wanted to and have started to open the first blooms. So did the salads, which are now standing tall, going to seed. Some beds that saw harvest are now covered with other plants taking space. The pumpkin and zucchini vines are surrounding and climbing the tomato cages, and just like every year, I watch the competition for light and air unfold, somewhat helplessly.

I sometimes see manicured gardens and they are lovely to look at and take pictures of. And then I look at ours - raw and untamed and wild. Blooms everywhere, a mix of colors, there is no order in this. Birds are singing and hummingbirds chirping and cute dragonflies and hummingbird moths and fireflies and bees of all sizes bobbing about.

I know where it all grows and how it is doing and whether the groundhog is visiting as I make my rounds at the start and end of the day to pull the weeds and to harvest this or that. I enjoy weeding as it empties the mind and keeps the back line of fascia open, and it leaves all that goodness of the soil nutrients to those plants I like to see grow and flourish.

A coworker told me this past week that her zucchini plant has not brought forth a single zucchini. When I inquired she explained that the plant grows in a container and so every few days, she snips pieces off that don't look so pretty. I think she does not need to look further to find the reason for her zucchini-free plant. I believe that to truly thrive and generate offspring a plant needs a bit of chaos and room to develop its full potential.

Where are you allowing chaos in your life, and is that part of you thriving?

7/19 My mother told me she is on a 2 day oat regimen to lower her cholesterol levels. She eats 3 meals a day, each consisting of 100g oats cooked with water, plus some fruits and veggies. The oatmeal is unsalted and unsweetened. After those 2 days, it is expected that her LDL cholesterol will be reduced by about 10%.

This change is significant, and may prevent the need for meds, which her doctor said he wanted to prescribe. The diet also causes a drop in blood pressure and weight, which are wonderful effects from just 2 days of altering one's diet. The positive effect is expected to last for up to several weeks.

I am sitting on the porch, in front of me a bowl of cut fruit and oatmeal. I am savoring the quiet morning, surrounded by greenery drooping from last night's rain. I am watching a hummingbird family father come to the feeder, making small ripples in the sugar water. He looks at me between sips, making sure I am not moving. When he flies away, he gives off a few triumphant chirps. A couple minutes later he is back. I watched him yesterday do a little dance above our vegetable garden, chirping away throughout. Not every hummingbird is as vocal as this one is, and he is a joy to have around.

I am in my safe spot. I know the day is going to pose challenges. Right now all that counts is that I am relaxed, connected to myself and all my parts and bodies. I know what the mind is wandering to, and what I will have to tackle later today.

Are you taking the time to deeply relax and to meditate?

7/12 Below I am summarizing something that I read a few weeks ago, written by Millie Marconi. I hope you enjoy the information conveyed as much as I do:

A Japanese immunologist named Qing Li proved that the chemicals trees release into the air will, during walks in a forest, enter your body, deactivate stress, and strengthen your immune system. This process works better than any therapy or pill, although it is of course not meant to be a replacement but rather a complementary approach.

Prof. Li teaches at Nippon Medical School in Tokyo and he is the president of the Japanese Society of Forest Medicine. The research, which started in 2004, is the reason slow, mindful walking in a forest or forest bathing or shinrin-yoku is now an officially prescribed clinical therapy in Japan and Korea.

The first study was simple. Twelve healthy adult men went on a three-day, two-night trip to a forest park. They walked slowly in a forest for two hours each day, not exerting themselves, no special exercises.

Blood and urine samples were taken before the trip, during the trip, and a week and 4 weeks after the trip.
What was found was a sizable immune boost. The number and activity of a specific type of immune cell called the natural killer cell, which is the cell your body uses to hunt down cancer cells and virus-infected cells before they can spread, was increased by up to 50%. Three anti-cancer proteins that those cells produce, called perforin, granzymes, and granulysin, had all risen sharply.

This immune boosting effect lasted. Some of it was still measurable a week later, even a month later.

The study was re-done with women and found the same result. A control study of people vacationing in an urban area with otherwise same activities showed no such result. The immune boost was clearly due to the forest.

The immune boost is partially due to a class of airborne molecules called phytoncides. Trees produce these compounds to defend themselves against insects, bacteria, and fungi. Pine, cedar, oak, and cypress trees release them in particularly large amounts, especially in warmer weather and after rainfall. Phytoncides are inhaled and absorbed through skin when walking among trees, and they appear to lead to a vast immune boost in humans.

The other half of the immune boost is due to the parasympathetic nervous system coming to the forefront. Half an hour of forest walking sheds cortisol, lowers heart rate, and lowers blood pressure. We shed stress as we walk in a forest.

These studies were redone by other researchers and in different parts of the world. A study that required people to be outdoors without phones or conversations or aerobic exercise found a 21% reduction in cortisol per hour spent in nature. Measurable stress relief happened after 20 minutes, and at 30 minutes, a substantial drop happened. Forest bathing is a fast and free approach to gain some stress relief.

Our ancestors spent much more time outdoors than most people do today. This is a call to go back to those roots, as walking among trees can provide a substantial boost for health.

6/21 Happy Father's Day to all of our role models and the people in our lives providing support, structure, and important life lessons.

A slightly overweight lady who has been taking yoga classes and working out at the gym started to come to my sessions about half a yar ago. She told me that recently, her blood pressure is down 10 points. For her whole life she was unable to achieve this, so it was a big deal for her.

I tell folks during isometric holds that those can ultimately help lower blood pressure by keeping blood vessels flexible. I think it is fair to say that nobody in the sessions likes isometric holds. They are hard. But there it is, an indication that the style of yoga I offer may help with some tangible health results. This makes me very happy indeed.

Relying on scientific data and not getting deterred by somewhat low class attendance is full of frustrations. A common yoga class is very different than what I offer. My observation is that most people enjoy sticking to what they know and what is already strong and what looks flashy.

Well, I am not planning on budging. Input like this lady's keeps me steering away from the beaten path. I will continue to offer what I believe causes better balance and posture, the better outcome for health, and the ability to deeply relax.

6/14 Chitta Vritti Nirodaha
~ Patanjali

A lot of stuff is on my mind these days. Big and small things to celebrate, big and small changes on the horizon. What to do in the midst of upheaval, positive or negative, where to turn for to ground and to catch oneself, to come home to oneself? Yoga may be the best remedy. The connection to the Earth, the connection to the Koshas mindfulness builds. Focus on the breath provides a zone that builds distance to thoughts,worries, and emotional upsets.

I welcome teaching four times in the coming four days. One of those sessions will be my first ever true chair yoga class. I have already spent time this morning thinking about what I will offer, and thinking about how to make the offering accessible to a range of abilities.

Either way, the planning and then the classes themselves are doing what they are supposed to do: smoothing the undulations of the mind, one of the original definitions of yoga: "Chitta Vritti Nirodaha". A quiet mind levels the path for gaining clarity, reducing stress, and, ultimately, moving towards self-realization. A worthy goal.

5/31 The latest The Week magazine contains a Health brief titled How sobriety prevents cancer.

Cancer is fueled by the preventable causes tobacco, obesity, and alcohol, in that order. About 20,000 people die from drinking-related cancer in the US per year, which is more than drunk-driving fatalities. Alcohol damages DNA, causes inflammation and disrupts the immune system. A whopping 62 disorders, including alcohol-related heart disease, pancreatitis and fatty liver would not exist without alcohol ingestion. It contributes to 30 more, among them breast cancer, stroke, dementia, and diabetes.

The article says that it takes about 30 years to reverse the cancer risk from drinking, which is a long time, however the risk is reversible. A health official compared having a drink with having a cigarette.

Alcohol thus poses an even bigger risk to health than I had thought. I know several people with heart issues. Maybe doctors point it out to patients, but nobody I know has ever pointed to a specific cause why they have their specific flavor of heart disease. Maybe their doctors don't even know, or if they know, the message gets lost somewhere.

I myself had alcohol twice yesterday. Together, it probably was a small glass.
First, at a 90th birthday party of a dear friend. It was a quite lovely affair and a beautiful event filling a rather perfect sunny afternoon and evening. When we got home, I went to collect a bowl of ripe strawberries from the garden, made a small dollop of whipping cream, and opened a small champagne bottle. We sat on our porch taking in the flavors and the green surroundings. It was a happy and relaxed evening following a rather grueling week.

Would it have been just as good without the bubbly? Sure! Next time it may be a glass of our home made juice concentrates. They contain the goodness of the organic garden and it is an interesting realization that I would rather reach for a bought bottle instead of what we make at home. I will try to remember next time where the priority needs to be.

5/24 I saw a posting on social media from a 30 year old woman, who posted 'What I wish I knew at 20, not 30'.

I have been pondering this for a while. For myself, I had to rearrange this sentence into 'What I wish I knew at 20, 30, 40 years old, not 50'. In my younger years, I wasted a lot of efforts on things that did not seem to have a lot of real impact on me and where I ended up at. Would I do things differently if I knew how things would turn out?

Some of those things I could have done without came with warnings from my parents. I blew those in the wind. Some of them came with no warning or at least I did not hear any, as they were what I thought I had to do to be cool or fun or to belong. Some of them have caused me pain, others are more subtle, like a stale memory that only pops up in a dream here or there. Some of them were clearly due to the perceived need to fit into some standard.
Wearing high heals got me nowhere substantial, but maybe my low back is telling me decades later that it would have been better to go with the less flashy styles.

Sitting on cold surfaces French kissing boys did not lead me to marry any one of them, but my sensitive bladder and kidneys may remember them all.
I put a lot of money into taking flying lessons, and walked away with some faint memories of a snobbish social circle that did not include me and also the realization that I cannot safely tell left from right. Mostly a waste of money I'd say.

But who knows, maybe one of the lovely things that happened in my life could never have happened without those duds.

What do you wish you'd known, and would you do it differently if you could rewind time and do it again?

5/17 The restoration of the last 'old' room in the house took four months, during which the house was completely out of sorts. Now is the big sorting through stuff, hanging the shade (it took three tries to get it right), and rearranging the furniture as we move everything back in. Those are good times.

We love how it turned out but we are also utterly exhausted.
It is not a good time to be exhausted at the start of a heat wave. This morning, the house already feels too warm, and the heat wave has not even really started. I am grateful for the perfect spring, which felt like what spring should be like, cool and some rain, although much less rain than we used to get. Climate change has robbed us of the intense rain storms in March and April - we did not have even one this year, they were all more like drizzles and don't soak the soil - and there were periods of unseasonable heat already. Never have we hung the sun sails so early, and never will the A/C go in this early as well.

I am going back outdoors to water the plants and to put up little shade 'sails' for the most sensitive plants. I put out a bowl of water for wildlife and will be changing the hummingbird food every couple of days. It won't just be us who will be hot, it will be wildlife and plants also.

How will you protect yourself and others this week?

5/10 Happy Mothers' Day! I connected with my mother first thing this morning to thank her for all her sacrifices and for being a constant and consistent support in my life.

In the 1870ies, after the US Civil War, when Mothers' Day came into being, it was meant to empower women to take back power from men who permitted the carnage. It was meant to unite women and to make them realize that they have the same rights as men and that they must make their voices heard.

I like that meaning a lot. Look around --- just because males grab leadership roles does not mean they have foresight and are good at decision making.

To extend the meaning, most of us are mentors or supporters of others and we should celebrate each other today. I mother mostly animals: the wildlife in our yard, our pets, and now, for the coming few months, I am back to mothering hummingbirds. Last night, I walked out onto the porch, and I looked up in the corner where the hummingbird feeder has been hanging for the past week. And there he was. A gorgeous male, green shimmery throat, drinking the home made sugar water. Awe, how lovely that sight was.

He will be needing all that strength after the long trip and while he is building a nest, getting the homestead ready for his lady. He can count on me to help supplement his diet.

Who will you be mothering today?

5/3/26 I signed up for a workshop, only to receive an email a little while later announcing that it was cancelled. It was a Longevity workshop. Considering that my classes at the gym are called Yoga for Longevity, I thought it prudent to get a bit more informed on this topic, not just from a movement perspective.

While the workshop is not happening, I have been doing a little bit of research on my own on what may help with longevity, from a food perspective. Here I am listing what I learned from reading books from the recommended book list, including two by William W. Li, MD.

Food can help restore your body to health. We are all prone to sickness, developing cancer cells, attacks to our DNA. The bodily systems that keep us from withering away and dying prematurely are:
- Angiogenesis can create little blood vessels where they are needed, eg after any injury. When Angiogenesis is not working perfectly, the body may become vulnerable to things like psoriasis, Alzheimer's, rheumatoid arthritis, various cancers.
- Regeneration means that your body rebuilds itself constantly. Imagine that your small intestine regenerates itself twice a week. All parts of the body regrow constantly, as long as stem cells are generated to replace worn our cells. When the stem cell bank is depleted, conditions can surface like chronic wounds, diabetes, osteoarthritis, macular degeneration.
- Your microbiome is virtually all over your body, especially on the skin and in body cavities and inside the gut. Its functions are heavily influenced by diet. Dysbiosis of the microbiome can lead to asthma, celiac disease, diabetes, food allergies, IBS, obesity, Parkinson's, rheumatoid arthritis, and various cancers.
- Your DNA sustains thousands of naturally occurring damaging events every day. Trillions of cells replicate non-stop, so some errors are prone to happen. Other errors can be due to inflammation or infection, toxins, and sun damage. When DNA defenses are breached, conditions like Alzheimer's, depression, diabetes, obesity, Parkinson's, rheumatoid arthritis could take a foothold.
- A strong immune system keeps not only a cold at bay but can also squish cancers. It is the best health defense system we have. When the immune system is weak, the following conditions and many more can take hold: Cancers, asthma, allergies, MS, obesity.

The below recommended food list that supports these processes aiding longevity and health is not complete. It however will give some ideas:

1. Cruciferous veggies like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kohlrabi, radishes, kale
2. Veggies and legumes esp onion, garlic, carrots, spicy peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, beans, soy, lentils, chickpeas
3. Fruit esp. all berries, kiwi, mangoes, watermelon, apples, plums, oranges, cherries
4. Dark chocolate at >80% cocoa content
5. The only recommended fat is cold pressed olive oil
6. Nuts and seeds
7. Sauerkraut, kimchi, and other brined veggies
8. Herbs, spices and tea
9. All fish
10. When it comes to animal products, the only ones recommended are yogurt, cheeses like Gouda, Emmental, Stilton, Parmesan, Camembert, and only the dark meat in chicken thighs. That's it.
11. Sugar, artificial sweeteners, and white flours do not support longevity and health, same as all highly processed products with ingredients you would not use in home cooking.
12. Red wine may be ok but the downsides from the alcohol mostly outweigh the rather small resveratol content. Beer has some good bacteria and is recommended in small-ish amounts.
13. Vitamin D, Omega 3s, Resveratol may be very good supplements to research and consider taking

Visceral fat that is crammed into crevices inside the abdomen squeezes inner organs like a bear hug. Too much of it can release chemicals that cause inflammation and increase the risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and cancer. Losing just a few pounds lowers blood pressure and the chance to get any diseases related to visceral fat. A study found that losing 5 pounds means an 18% lower risk of death from any cause. Losing 12 pounds means a 36% reduced death risk. Mortality increased by 14% for every 5% weight gain in this THOP study at Harvard of slightly overweight people in their 30ies and 40ies.

I look at this list, and I know that I could be making better choices. I could stop slathering butter on bread for one. I could lose 10 pounds and fit better into my clothes and get rid of the muffin top. I will be thinking about this the next time I reach into the cabinet for a snack.
There is always something to learn, and I am grateful to all scientists who dedicate their careers to making our lives better and to making me think about what I do habitually, as not all habits serve me well.

4/26/26 I have spent the day painting out a room that I cut in yesterday, then went on to cleaning out dead branches from bushes, turning a mulch pile, and now spent the past couple of hours weeding. I love being outdoors in gorgeous weather like today, but I am utterly exhausted. Weekends are tough! One highlight was steaming the sizable amount of asparagus we had harvested from our asparagus bed and then tasting it. Best asparagus ever! I will also get salad and radishes from the cold frame and ramps from the ramps bed to prepare meals for tomorrow. Having our own garden and putting in the effort to plant, to care for, and to prepare what we harvest is a wonderful thing and also a very intense workout. The other day we had lunch on the porch after we went on a hike, and when I pointed out all the things I was serving that came from our own garden our friend called it 'farm to table'. I chuckled - but she is right. Our little farm. How much better does it get?

4/19/26 The daffodils were showy this year, and I cut some and put them on the kitchen island, so I could adore them while I was hiding indoors from the heat. Only a handful are left now, white ones with frilly centers, some a little yellow, some a little pink. Amazing, how nature manages to create the most beautiful flowers. And also very fleeting. A couple more days, and they will also be turning into mush. The tulips sure did, they all opened their petals for a day and then they wilted again in the unseasonable heat. The ones I cut lasted longer than the ones in the yard.

Most things in life are like this. They come and they go. We can watch not only the changes around us but also within us, if we are mindful. When I got out of bed I realized I got poison ivy yesterday when walking to the opossum's hiding place to bring him a couple of chicken legs. I know it will be a few days of annoyance at some intervals, mostly of waking up in the middle of the night scratching my ankles, and then it will be over. There was a brief moment of annoyance with myself, and then the reach into the cabinet for steroid cream. This too shall pass.

Since then, sitting in the kitchen, I have felt good in my body, and I have savored the absence of bodily sensations or tension from stress. A quiet morning with some pitter patter of welcome rain, cats that are more or less patiently waiting for more food to arrive, and the smell of coffee in the air. I know it will not be like this forever, and I truly enjoy and feel what it feels like being relaxed and at peace.

Funny enough, just a minute after I typed the above, I was asked to teach at the gym this morning. I better go and contact people affected by the rearrangement of my schedule. I am glad I had a wonderfully relaxing hour earlier as that's not going to come back for a while now.

4/12/26 The blooms are gorgeous. The garden is popping, and so are many blooming trees. We walk outdoors, enjoying how nature is coming back to life. The cats don't even want to come back indoors now that they can lie in the sun and suck up the heat of the rays and play with whatever moves outdoors. We all just love it.
How to enjoy oneself but be safe as the same time... Of course, there are pitfalls to all the loveliness, like it is with everything.

It's allergy season. My eyes itch and once I start to rub, I can hardly take my hands from them. My nose drips especially at night when I want to go to sleep. Once there is an effect on my sleep it is time to take action. Similasan homeopathic eye drops help me. They won't cause cataracts and they are effectively just salt water - how much better does it get than zero side effects. I also started to use a neti pot twice a day. A recent article in the New York Times confirms what I have experienced: It is amazingly simple, cheap, fast and it has a lot of positive benefits. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/26/well/live/neti-pot.html
Once I am ready for some real meds, I go with Flonase before I swallow any pills, which do have side effects.

3/29/26 Something on my mind is a birthday party we went to yesterday. Joe, the birthday child, turned 100. He is a WWII vet and lives in his home with his wife, who is 96. We went to their house, which is beautiful, large, and spanking clean with old kitchen appliances and an intercom that allowed them to summon their kids when they overslept.
We were there for 7 hours, and during this time, I took in what I saw, as considering that I teach Yoga for Longevity, it seems prudent to watch and learn.

Joe looks his age. I saw a lot of muscle loss. I saw a large curve in his spine. But I did not see a hearing aid and I did not see glasses on his nose, although he was watching sports on the silenced TV. He opened and read his birthday cards out loud. He has a cell phone that one of his kids gifted him a speaker for so he can hear his podcasts and Spotify music better. He is an avid sports fan and it seems that he remembers recent events just as well as distant ones.

Dinner was supposed to be served early but there was a delay due to the traffic situation yesterday afternoon, so we asked him all kinds of things about the war and about how he met his wife and how he is not allowed to drive any longer but still gets behind the wheel every day to take his wife down the short driveway to the mail box where she gets out to collect the mail, he turns the car around, and then he drives back up the driveway and parks the car there. The neighbors are mostly retired as well and they all look out for each other. They have help in the form of a cleaner that comes once a week.

During most of our visit Joe sat on the couch, which is not a very high couch at all, but has 2 hand rests on either side of him that allow him to use his arms to get to standing. He uses a rollator. Nobody helped him get around, as it was clear he did not need help. I saw him park the rollator in front of the bathroom and walk in to use it.
Dinner being several hours later than expected was clearly no issue at all for either Joe or his wife. Neither of them went to take a nap. Neither of them ever complained. They both ate every offered food, participated in conversations across the table, laughed, and obviously enjoyed the day with relatives and friends of their kids.

What I saw is a very loving couple, who must push themselves hard, and it is not at all obvious to the observer that they do but what one sees speaks for itself. They both navigate the day with what they have. They have loving relationships. They have a supportive community of neighbors, church friends, and their family. They still uphold a standard of care and integration into society that seem befitting for people several decades younger. There was also an acceptance that seems hard to find, where most people complain about this and that all the time. Oh, dinner is not ready until 8 and we will finish dessert by 10, no problem at all. Joe even made a joke about things being later than expected and that did not seem to bother him. I felt like their lives probably have not changed in a massive way in decades. 'Use it or lose it' and 'Go with the flow' come to mind.

And so I learned some things yesterday about aging gracefully by watching this lovely couple navigate their day. I am grateful to have been there to observe. Hopefully this is not the last 100th birthday celebration that I will be happy to attend. I look forward to participating in yours, if I am able and if you will have me.

3/22/26 I already cried this morning. Initially tears of sorrow, then they turned into tears of joy. We have not seen the opossum in a couple of weeks and the raccoons have come to wipe out the plentiful food I put out every night. I realize this is mating season, so I thought maybe our opossum left its winter home and went on a walkabout trying to find a partner. I stopped putting food out in the forest and that was that.

Last weekend, Brad and I started to put the havaheart traps out each morning to capture and relocate squirrels, since they are a real garden pest. Our chosen relocation home offers plentiful food and shelter and we believe we are not doing them a major disservice. Last night we forgot to close the larger of the traps. This morning it was closed and I was shocked to see the opossum sitting in it. I carried the trap to the forest and watched as it dashed straight back to the horse stables. My initial reaction was anguish as will this opossum ever come back into our yard if it experienced hours sitting inside the trap. But then I lightened up as there was a bunch of good food inside the trap, which it ate, and it is not sunny this morning, which was hopefully not too bad for its eyes. Best of all, I now know that our opossum is alive and well and still around! The opossum did not act scared and did not snarl - it clearly recognized us - so maybe it was not all that bad an experience after all.

3/15/26 The snow has only been gone for a week. My body however knows that I am in the middle of the gardening season. Yesterday I spent 6 hours working outdoors, bending down to the ground an estimated 500 times, cleaning up the yard and then spreading wood chips and dirt. My body can really feel it. Last weekend, I managed to fall over the much too long handle of a gardening tool and face planted. It felt like a great start to the annual chores for sure. Yesterday, a much too heavy wheel barrow fell over as I was trying to empty it, and I made deep ruts in the soft ground as I was trying to fully empty it and then to get it upright again. Every year I fight the fact that most tools a gardener uses are made by men for men. They are too long, too heavy, and they require way too much strength.

What does this have to do with yoga? Well, yoga makes me feel the same way. Some women may fare all right with Vinyasa Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga and how they are all called, my body however called quits. The omnipresent warrior postures require movement in the hips, low back, and knees that my body is not willing to give. The constant pushups, cobras, and downward dogs are intense on my delicate wrists and shoulders. If I take a yoga class taught by someone else today, I modify almost every posture as what is offered is just not for me.

Who came up with Western yoga postures and flows? That it's all about Asana, the postures, is a phenomenon of our society today, as originally, yoga was not about postures at all but rather about the mind. Indian Sages would bottle up so much prana energy from the yoga they did sitting around all day, that their bodies would flow from posture to posture, without any blue print, called Mediation in Motion. It wasn't called yoga at all, more a side effect of it. At some point, someone watched and wrote down key postures, like taking a snap shot during every couple of seconds. Then someone gave those postures Sanskrit names. Then someone strung them together with the breath and called it Vinyasa Flow. The postures, which got Sanskrit names are all pretty flashy. Things like a wall sit did not get included. Not flashy enough I guess, or maybe sages had no walls closeby.

Anyway, this system that originated with men and was propelled by men into the West has little concern for women. I assume that I am not the only one struggling with it, as I shaped my classes not just for my own body but also with the feedback that I have gotten from my yoga peeps (Thank You!). I was able to do this as I am in control of the content of my yoga sessions. Gardening, not so, as it needs tools one buys in stores. Show me the wheel barrow that is made for women at our local stores, light and easy to maneuver, and such that someone my size can empty the whole thing without leaving an armful behind. Or buckets that can be carried without having to bend the arm, or the pitchfork that is not super heavy and comes with a handle not designed for Big Foot's arms.

I will be out there again shortly, and I will try to remember that the men who came up with something like 100 Sun Salutations or the common wheel barrow design are not inhabitants of my body or my home. I will stay mindful and I will scream in frustration as I see fit. What will you be spending this beautiful Spring day with?

3/8/26 A recent TIME magazine article caught my attention: Why you should warm up your feet before bed. I know this one very well, as if my feet are cold when I attempt to climb into bed, they will never warm and sleep will never come. I can wear thick socks on cold feet and tuck the duvet around my feet all I want, the night is doomed if I don't get up and actively warm my feet up first.

The article explains that body temperature leads our sleep cycle. Sleep comes when the central area is cooler, signaling it is time to rest. Blood flows more easily to the skin and extremities when they are already warm, allowing excess heat to escape the bodily core. Cold hands and feet make this process harder, and with that it becomes hard to drift off.
Ideas for how to warm hands and feet effectively: taking a hot shower or bath, which heats the skin, or using a heating pad and a timer, especially under the cervical spine (you read that right). Wearing warm socks before turning in to ensure feet do not cool down in the first place is recommended as well.

I usually revert to a hot foot bath before bed if my feet are not toasty. Sometimes I fill a hot bottle and sit at my desk, feet firmly on the heat, until my feet warm. Taking the hot bottle to bed has in some cases led to a wet disaster, due to their bad ability to seal, so I don't do that any more.
The striking surprise of the article, which offers an explanation to what I've known and felt all my life, is the idea of warming the neck, not the feet or hands. I will have to give that a shot.

3/1/26 If you come to yoga you probably know that I think the feet are of great importance for the rest of the body, and that they are often not given the care and attention they are due. If something is going on in a foot it could cause detrimental effects somewhere higher up in the body. We stand on tennis balls, we stretch the toes, we even wring them out, and we sometimes do a mini foot reflexology massage. We lift our legs while lying on the back not only to strengthen abdominal muscles, but also to help with circulation in the legs.

A recent TIME magazine contained a health brief on feet and what to watch out for.
1. Hair that stop growing on your toes: just like grass that needs water to grow, hair requires good nutrient supply in order not to fall out. If you toe hair disappears it is likely because of vascular insufficiency, meaning the blood flow back to the heart is hampered.
2. Sudden onset of big toe pain: Gout may require a change in diet.
3. Numbness and tingling in the feet: Some people become aware of such issues at night when the lack of stimulation amps awareness. Such symptoms are most commonly related to diabetes. I personally would also suggest to find a good orthopedic doctor who can check the various reflexes in the foot.
4. A dark streak under a toe nail: Subungual melanoma develops under a nail bed. Color changes in a line in or around the nail should thus not be ignored. If caught too late it could lead to loss of the nail or even amputation of the toe.
5. Injury: If you twist your ankle, sometimes the foot regenerates by itself. But if pain is still there 3 days later see a doctor. It could be the sign of a fracture or dislocation.

Your feet take you thousands of steps every day. When is the last time you sent them some love?

2/22/26 Just a month ago, right before 'the big storm', I wrote about the opossum. For the ones of you who let me know you loved that story, here is what has happened since:
A day before said storm, we got a couple of inches of snow. The camera next to the feeding spot in our yard showed that the opossum was the only animal that came to the yard that day, so I traced the steps in the snow to where it ventured to. I found the steps disappearing under planks of wood stacked in the the ruin of ancient horse stables in the forest on the other side of our fence. I dumped a loosened bale of straw there and then forgot about it for a couple of days, dealing with the snow.

Opossums in our area only live for about 2 years due to the harsh winters, since they do not hibernate. I was determined to ensure that this lone opossum was due help to up its chances of survival. After the big storm, I took my shovel and I shoveled a path to the gate in the back of the yard and then stomped a trail through the 18" deep snow all the way to horse stables. Anybody who had to shovel knows how much work that was. Every evening before dark, I have made my way down that trail to deposit a pound of walnuts and peanuts, and a cut apple and a banana in several spots at the horse stable. Those foods are not known to attract predators like dogs but would sustain an opossum as well as act as a snack for deer and other critters in dire search of food. In the morning, the food would always be gone. Since temperatures have come up I have added a big bowl of fresh water.

Meanwhile, I have continued to also put food out inside our yard every night although it has been clear that the opossum would be unable to make it there, since its legs are way too short to be able to walk through thick snow. A raccoon, which has longer legs and apparently no difficulties with thick snow, comes every night and eats the nuts and fruit and chicken pieces, which I add as our fence does not allow predators like dogs to enter. Whatever that racoon eats in our yard it's not eating at the horse stables. First thing in the morning I would check our yard camera to see if there was signs of the opossum. Just the racoon came and stuffed itself, night after night, for the past 3.5 weeks, while thick snow cover was on the ground.

And then, this past Thursday, a night with barely below freezing temperatures, finally: the opossum made it back to our yard and was captured by our camera. It snapped up a big piece of chicken, clearly super excited about having found meat. It does not look starved. It looks like it's getting ready for mating season.
I am happy to keep feeding it through the storm that is about to land. How much better does it get, helping beings that rely on something as simple as a bowl of water and a bit of food. Caring for it gives me purpose, it does not cost much, it adds some outdoors exercise, and it will make me so happy when we will be seeing it on our camera next.

2/15/26 The Week contained a Health briefing that struck me as very interesting. A Spanish man picked up running after he retired as a car mechanic, at age 66. He increased his distance and pace steadily over the years. Now, at 82, he runs marathons and ultra-marathons. Scientists have tested him and have found that his aerobic fitness is better than any octagenarian's studied in history, and comparable with a 20 to 30-year old. His muscles are unusually effective at using oxygen, allowing the sustained exercise. Other body markers are similar to those of a 60, some for a 80-year old man. The article closes with a call to exercise in older age, since it is not only possible but should probably be recommended.

I am not prone to pick up running as that has never been my thing. A picture shows the man, Juan Lopez Garcia, as lean, wiry person, which I am not either. Most people who have not been avid runners in their younger years may not find picking up running in old age all that accessible. It's probably not about marathons won or making it into newspapers, it is about achieving a high quality of life in old age. Life is so much easier when one has the stamina, strength and flexibility for anything from tying shoe laces to getting up from a chair or floor without major issues. I personally find yoga or pilates to be very suitable for older people, even ones new to exercise in decades.

There are virtually no downsides to yoga and pilates I can think of - aside from having to pick an adequate style and backing off on exercises one's unique body does not cope well with. We took a class recently and I did only about 50% of the offered exercises as they were shown by the instructor. The rest I either modified or did something else altogether. If I don't, for days or weeks after I will probably feel off in my neck, shoulders, hip joints, or low back. It is so important in all areas of life and especially exercise to say No when it is adequate to do so. Take what works, leave the rest. But do not skip it altogether.

If you come to the yoga classes I lead you will not end up in the newspaper, but hopefully overall, you get a tad more joy out of your days.

2/8/26 "I looked a hundred times
and all I saw was dust.
The sun broke through
and flecks of gold filled the air."
- Mark Nepo

I met a lot of lovely people assisting over the years at Kripalu. This poem was posted last night by one of them, a gentleman who has been taking care of his parents. I have been reading his updates on Facebook, once he started to overflow and started to write again. But it is gut wrenching to read his plight, the days and nights filled with cleaning and feeding and talking to insurance companies and giving rides, sometimes calling 911 and days later welcoming one of his parents back to their house for more care.

Since I know him it is not like watching a TV show or reading a book, it is like a piece of me is there with him. There is so much difficulty and frustration. He always finds something positive to say, but one has to read on to find the nugget. After days without water the water is finally flowing again, and 'thanks to kitty litter' during those days, that sort of thing. And then there is a moment he so beautifully describes, where he looks at the sun, standing on the deck, and tiny snow flecks are swirling around him like glitter. He finds the flecks of gold every day, in the deep love for his parents and the care giving that consumes 100% of his time.

Roger makes me aware that despite the annoyances in my life, the frustrations, the uncertainties the country is going through, my life is very sheltered and I can make choices that won't mean someone will suffer or die. I am grateful. What are you grateful for today?

2/4/26 A recent Consumer Reports had an article on pain. Chronic pain means pain sticks around longer than 3 months, and about 25% of US adults have chronic pain. Pain that is so severe that it impacts normal activities on most days is is experienced by about 8% of US adults. My below very, very brief summary does not do service to the many myriads of pain that one can encounter, and it most certainly does not replace seeing a doctor. I am also not even trying to summarize the Medications chapter due to potential medication interactions. Ping me and I will happily let you borrow the magazine if you are interested.

Fear of movement is something to overcome for pains as a result of some sort of injury. It is important to continue low impact activities like walking or yoga or swimming or physical therapy. Consider applying topical ointments. The RICE method may be of use, rest - ice - compression - elevation. Acupuncture could also help.
Nerve pain can be caused by pinched nerves or nerve damage. The usual over the counter medications don't tend to help here. Cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness meditation are recommended: One review of 33 studies with 1,453 participants found that these techniques can significantly reduce pain and distress. The director of the Health and Mindfulness Laboratory of UCSD is quoted in saying that mindfulness is very effective in immediately assuaging the experience of pain flare-ups.

I have had my own experience with pain. A devastating head on car collision made me take a time out from work for over 2 years, with pain felt daily for almost a decade after. I did hundreds of hours of physical therapy for almost every body part, and have worked on rearranging my bodily posture since.

Not everything recommended in the article works for me. I found that TENS units do the opposite for me of what they are supposed to do: they cause even more tension. So does acupuncture. I also found that topical ointments only help if I use them over an extended amount of time, weeks rather than days.

Anything that relaxes my mind and my body is very important to keep pain at bay. I do yoga and pilates very regularly to stay strong and limber at the same time, and to remind myself of being mindful. I strengthen specific parts of my body while trying to not aggravate others. I take half hour to hour long walks almost every day. A homeopathic cream for nerve pain managed to recently shut down lingering pain in my right thumb and around my sacrum. I have been taking glucosamine sulfate and collagen supplements off and on for a year now and seem to think that they help quiet down recurring joint pains in those same joints that I have been dealing with since said car accident. When tension does strike, a 20 to 25 minute stay in a hot tub does wonders for me, prior to the onset of any real pain. So does everything that causes joy: hanging out with friends, being outdoors, gardening, cooking, caring for our pets.
It took a long time for me to find a recipe to cope, and I hope that the drive to find comfort and ease will keep me on my toes, able to help myself and others who join me for yoga and mindfulness.

1/25/26 This weekend, aside from all the grave stuff in the news and the snow that is coming down now, I became aware of some really lovely things.

First, a cow in Austria has used sticks and a broom for years to scratch herself. Here is a video showing her do so,
https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t&p=austrian+cow+scratches+itself#id=1&vid=aeb108a3867635ea134d60db66145f76&action=click
Cows may not have the opposable thumbs to enable them to do any of the myriad things that people do all day long, but within their means, they can clearly be quite creative.

Then, I read about a musician having saved an octopus from a fish market and teaching it how to play music. This video is on the longer side but really heart warming and worth the time to watch it,
https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t&p=octopus+plays+piano#id=2&vid=a3f2ecd28a0eb7fea79763bd97a647b0&action=click
I just love how the octopus appears to get all antsy to get to this makeshift instrument. Aside from the sad size of the aquarium it is in, it may be better than the land on someone's dinner plate.

Both news stories tell me that I should never underestimate another being. Our cats open full size doors by putting their paws underneath them and literally lifting and pulling them open, just to get to their favorite hiding spots. They get all antsy and upset when their kitty beds and sun shades aren't the way they want them to be, although it is of course them who mess things up all the time - we are mostly house keepers and providers of petting and food to them. Who is the superior animal in this relationship? They have trained us well.

Relationships have potential for the beings in them to become something bigger, something unexpected. The cow would not have started to scratch itself if the owners would not have allowed her to roam freely and to have access to some tools. The octopus would not have fallen in love with the keyboard without the right learning environment being provided and lots of patience on the side of its teacher. Some animals one day may save someone's life or make someone's day because they do something we in our limited thinking did not think possible. I do not want to limit the animals around me to limited possibilities just because my mind cannot perceive them. I try to keep an open mind all the time, and I try to have reverence to the intelligence in all beings big and small, even if I do not understand it. Namaste to all animals and all beings, as they all can teach me something.

Best wishes that we all stay safe and warm in the coming days and weeks, when not just our but wildlife's abilities to cope will get tested. If you have a bale of straw and a baggie full of nuts you can spare please do so as it may save a critter's life. Your act of kindness may reward you in the future.

1/18/26 A little over a year ago, I started to feed the critters that come to our yard during the night. I have seen the foot steps in snow since I moved here, but never did I have the interest to get to know them, until one evening we saw one of our cats interact with an opossum in the backyard. I find opossums very cute and know that they are very useful to have around, so I wanted to attract it so it would come back. Food has gone into a dedicated outdoors bowl every evening since. The bowl gets stuffed with left over chicken and chicken bones, bananas, walnuts, peanuts. I tried various delicious veggies and fruit from broccoli to sweet potatoes to quinoa and neither appears to tickle their taste buds. So, I stock bags of nuts, browning bananas, and we get a whole chicken once a week not just for us but also for both our cats and the opossums.

I wanted to attract opossums only. We would sit on the steps of our porch after dark and wait for the opossums to show up. When we noticed a raccoon, Brad got a long wooden stick. When the raccoon came closer, Brad walked down the steps to shoo it away. Instead of running, it sat back on its hind legs and put its hands together in front of its chest, looking up at Brad with doggy eyes and begging hands. I watched Brad pause for several seconds, clearly uncertain what to do, then he turned around, put away the stick, and came back to where I sat. The raccoon had made its way into Brad's heart. Since then we have accepted that other animals come feed also.

Fortunately, we are not the only house in the neighborhood that feeds them, as I know at least one neighbor who also puts food out every night. Several animals live underneath her stone foundation, which is wonderful, as how else would they survive in the bitter cold months. Right before a cold snap or a snow event, they really fill up. Friday night was such a night. We may not have visitors for several nights because it is dangerous for them to venture out in the snow and very low temperatures.

Fun facts about these critters, which probably live close to your home also:
Opossum jills, jacks, and joeys are great to have roam your yard as they eat ticks, tick nests, and other pests. We see them use their hands to hold the food and take a bite. They need a lot of calcium in their diet so we feed them all the bones that come with a whole chicken.
Scared skunks spray only if there is enough room for them to erect their tail. They look back past their butt when they spray so they can aim. The stink can apparently be washed off by soaking and scrubbing with hydrogen peroxide or baking soda. Tomato juice does not do the trick.
Raccoons use their hands to eat and make sense of the world, and they have whiskers on their paws. They have made it through the cat flap into our sun room, so it now gets blocked off every night.

Today, we have outdoors wildlife cameras to help us know who comes and when.
Our first visitor Friday night got all the berries and chicken pieces:


The opossum had to do with leftovers:


She came too late and only got to sniff the crumbs:


First thing each morning we check the camera to see who came. It brightens our day. What brightens your day?

1/4/26 As every year, The Week had a couple of pages of year end health and science briefs, and I would like to summarize some of them here for you:

- playing a conch shell until it sounds like a horn strengthens the lungs much more effectively than any breathing exercise. Conch blowing reduces fatigue and increases blood oxygen levels at night. It even appears to reduce sleep apnea, all without any medications or machines.
This sounds like something fun to give a shot and likely very hard to accomplish. If you receive this message and you have mastered conch shell playing please be in touch as I would be interested in hearing about it.

- company appears to make everything more enjoyable. Group meals provide the biggest happiness boost, but playing games and any other activities done with company have a similar effect. The exception: doing dishes and food cleanup, which appear to be more enjoyable when done by oneself.
Indeed, I also like to do the dishes on my own, and we try and have people over for games or lunch as often as we manage to, which is not as often as I would like because work keeps us very busy.

- the shingles vaccine appears to reduce the risk of getting dementia by about 20%, which is huge.
I myself got shot #1 this fall and had a very achy arm for a few days, but that seems very minor in comparison.

- Diquat, the main chemical in the new Roundup, is even worse than the prior version. It's been banned in the EU and even China. It allows toxins to leak from the gut into the blood stream, can damage a range of organs, and is a neurotoxin and a carcinogen.
Considering this, it is amazing that Roundup is pushed so hard by a range of local stores. Bayer and those stores must be making a lot of money and not at all care about the health impacts imposed. I try to frequent stores that do not push such products.

- edible pot products are as bad for heart health as smoking it. A study of 200 million people across 24 studies found that marijuana consumption doubles the risk of dying from heart disease and increases the risk of heart attack and stroke much higher than for people who don't consume. Especially people over 60 are strongly encouraged to abstain from any pot products.
I personally do not require pot to feel happy and relaxed, but I know people who rely on it, and one just hopes that such studies can serve as a wake-up call.

Who can follow all advice that comes across from scientific studies? Not me. I take a bit here and I take a bit there when I see fit and I then I try to make it into a habit. The above all seem pretty straightforward to me, and maybe one or the other resonates.
Have a great 2026!

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