Repair is a Radical Act

I read this awhile ago, before the resistance movement. Isn’t that what we’re experiencing? Resisting the urge to scream, to shout, to check the news, to get so caught up in it all that we forget the beauty and resilience all around us? Are we resisting the urge to pretend our small actions don’t matter? The calls to representatives, cancelling on-line accounts, shopping local, being just a little bit kinder, listening to the bird’s songs and each others’.

That’s where repair comes in. Like when my dear friend Diana came by to take 5 different colors of thread on a needle with an especially large eye to cross-stitch small holes my cat had massaged into my favorite sheets. Now rainbow colors fill where her claws had been. The sheets are uniquely mine, a work of art, the memory of a morning spent creating and laughing. I don’t want orneed new. That’s a radical act in a consumer culture.

What if we could cross stitch the threads of our being? Repair those small or large holes in our hearts, in our psyche. Those small digs that have made us feel less than amazing? Can we cross stitch over those with multicolored thread? We can. Through yoga, self-expression like writing, painting, planting a garden, painting a wall. Stillness and meditation heal places where the claws have been. Choosing to take care of ourselves and each other cross stitches the fabric of our communities. Practicing random acts of kindness extends the pattern so we can repair and radicalize our lives gently, without starting a war.

Let’s practice peace in our yoga. At Tribal Tulum, we’ll start with a new schedule in April that includes more ways to repair. We’re adding some wonderful meditations, yoga philosophy discussions, new classes and some special events from teachers you probably weren’t aware were so diverse. We’ll sing and be still together as we radically expand our abilities and recognize new abilities in others. We create community where before there was only acquaintance. We heal ourselves, repairing past damage. We change the world using repair as a radical act.

April 1st we’ll start with an 8 am meditation. The same one we do when you retreat here. Think about starting that again with me and start the process to repair yourself and our world, one breath at a time. The new schedule is on the website and here if you prefer.

Crushing Overwhelm

With all the craziness in the world, it’s hard to feel you make any difference. So many people, places and things need help. I want to buy at the right places, use my dollars to make change. I want to voice my concerns, call my political representatives. I want to save the world, stop plastic and human trafficking, clean the ocean, write my next Eco Woman novel. I want to create community, see that group of friends, host that workshop, write that email, make that facetime call. I want to use alternative medicine, heal myself, not trust the doctor.

Then there’s my chosen reality: I can’t manage, get frustrated, let my power fade and do little at all.

Or I choose my mat and begin. I practice yoga. That makes everything more manageable and reminds me I’m connected. My practice takes me from that place of panic and stress to the place where I know, step by step, I can be the change I want to see in the world. I AM the change I want to see in the world.

So if you are feeling overwhelmed, welcome. But here are 3 steps that will crush it.

1.     Get to your mat. – at home or at a studio or join me here in Tulum if you can escape for even a weekend. Mexico’s all over the news. Perhaps you want to get to know her.

2.     Take a second and stop. Right now. Sit and take 24 deep breaths – it takes about 2 minutes. See if you can stay focused on only the breath.

3.     Move a little. You know the poses – 3 to 5 sun salutations. If that’s all you have time for, its enough. If you have time for more, wonderful. But, remind yourself, what you do is enough.

Bonus – write that on a piece of paper – a sticky note, a receipt – “What I do is enough. I am enough. I am.” Put it somewhere you can see it.

Second bonus – be joyful in your day as you take the small steps in your personal resistance. Joyfully shop second hand, joyfully drop the Amazon and facebook accounts, joyfully shop local. Joy is your birthright and your purpose.

 That’s it. Every day. Let me know how it works for you.

 If you have the time and resources, join us for our yoga and writing retreat, March 13 to 18. There is still a space left. Digging deeply into you and expressing it in writing is powerful. It can change your world. And remember, your world is the world.

 If you need more time to plan, we have a wonderful yoga and dive retreat in May with South Oregon Dive Club. See the world with a different lens when you combine yoga and diving. I’ll throw a little yoga and writing in there too.

Stay happy. Find your bliss and resist.

Trusting Ourselves

I shifted into park and looked around. No one else on this shady side street between two relatively vacant lots. I wondered why. The other streets were packed making this empty one lonely. I searched for no parking signs, yellow paint on a non-existent curb. I found none, so congratulated myself, took the key and got out.

As I stepped from the car, a scruffy, broken booted man walked into the intersection to see who I was. His hair was tousled and when I said buenas tardes, he nodded and his half smile showed only a few teeth. “Think it’s ok to park here?” I asked. He nodded and told me “si, you’re fine.” I felt better and walked to the café for breakfast before going back to work.

But I shook my head and wondered why the testimony of a guy who looked like he’s probably never owned or even parked a car gave me such comfort? And I realized over coffee and eggs how deeply my social conditioning ran. Not for judging him by his appearance, but for not trusting myself to know that people didn’t park on that street because it was farther away. Maybe they’re afraid of side streets. That’s their social conditioning. Mine is to trust a man. I’ve been trained, regardless of life proof to the contrary, that men know better. Especially when it comes to parking or moving or other manly endeavors.

So many reasons for this. But it begs the question, how do we shift to trusting ourselves? If experience doesn’t work, how do we get back to trusting us? If all my degrees and studies don’t help me feel confident that I at least know where to park, how will I ever get there? We’ve all made mistakes and poor choices. That doesn’t mean we have to continue. And it certainly doesn’t mean we have to trust someone else to make choices for us.

Pema Chodrun talks about shenpa, the thought pattern, mostly negative, that works its way into your mind so that you follow it and act on it habitually. Her experience shows it’s something you can let go of with practice. Yoga and meditation work into those places where you doubt yourself. These practices let you open up to your own inner wisdom. It’s about catching yourself, waiting until you have a look and assess what works best for you. In my example, it’s catching myself before I ask for outward validation, letting buenas tardes be enough.

The power of pause, cultivating acceptance of negative thought patterns and what Pema calls, “less noble” human traits, are ways to unravel feelings of self distrust and negativity. Take a moment to pause right now. Take 9 deep breaths. Notice your shoulders relax and your jaw soften and ask yourself what you might instead ask a toothless, ragged man. Listen to the answer and remind yourself: you know.

We’ll practice asking those questions, feeling into them and listening to ourselves in our Yoga and Writing retreat, March 13 to 18, 2025. Join us to practice going deeply into the realm of self acceptance and trust. We’ll explore the stories we are and the ones we tell ourselves with yoga, writing, some fairy tales and magic. Join us March 13 to 18 at Tribal Tulum, Tulum, Mexico.

Be the Rainbow

I rode my bike past workers rolling warm tortillas around eggs, lathering them with salsa and pushing them into their mouths mid sentence as they stood on the corner waiting for cement block to arrive. I called, “Buen provecho”. A chorus of gracias followed as I pedaled toward a young woman walking towards me. I called, “Buenos días”. “Buen día” she replied, lifting her head and smiling.

It’s nice to be acknowledged. Here in Mexico, we do it a lot. And it changes everything about the moment: makes you smile, lifts your spirits, lets you see a different side of people, generally the smiley side. It gives you this feeling that everything’s ok and that you matter.

If you’ve ever spent much time alone, or especially travelled alone, you may have felt lonely at some point. It happens. We feel a little invisible or small. But when you settle into the grocery store line or your seat on the bus and someone acknowledges your mere presence, it feels better.

Maya Angelou said, "Be the rainbow in someone’s day.” It’s not so difficult to do. All you have to do is perhaps say, “Buen provecho.” Try it – once or twice in your day, say hello to someone you don’t know. You can be selective but make eye contact and say hi. Or good morning, or good afternoon. Or buen provecho.

 They might just smile back. You might just create a connection. And that might make all the difference to you and the other person.

Why live a creative life anyway?

Because that’s where we find our bliss. And you don’t need to be Picasso to make your life creative. You only need to give yourself permission.

Permission to wear purple and red. Permission to add that touch of cinnamon or chocolate to your coffee. Permission to dye those stained white towels Caribbean blue.

We are creative beings. But most of us have beaten our creative urges into the dark spaces of our bodies and souls. That inner critic who says your ideas are crap, that inner coach who says you’ll never make the majors, that trusted figure who tells you artists starve, they all tried to beat the artist into submission.

But that doesn’t happen. The artist in you just goes deeper inside and is hanging out there, perhaps enjoying the downtime, preparing ideas to burst to the surface in what might seem awkward moments since you’ve not been listening. That urge to paint one wall a different color. The moment you burst into dance on the subway. The skip in your step to the music in the park. Right? That time you bought those floral pants. Or that one coffee cup that doesn’t match anything but makes you smile.

“But it doesn’t go,” or “they’ll think I’m weird,” you tell yourself and put on the solid grays and grab the cup that matched the white plates. And the inner artist, buried deep inside, gives you the finger and waits for the next opportunity to inspire you.

Let’s set the inner artist free. Our yoga and writing retreat March 13 to 18 will coax our inner artist to the surface. Yoga frees the tight bonds that hold the creative spirit in check. Writing helps you express those ideas: off the mind, on the paper. Take 5 nights and 6 days to work deeply into the crevices where we’ve stashed our muse and gently draw him/her/them out. We’ll learn to write about normal things in a very creative way and we’ll see the artist in the every day. We’ll even publish an anthology of our work.

Join author and publisher Bathsheba Monk, Iyengar yoga teacher and writer Lisa Towson and me, Joanne Fanny Barry, entrepreneur, author and yoga teacher for an amazing 5 night 6 day retreat at Tribal Tulum in Tulum, Mexico. Why not live a more creative life? Set yourself free.

Contact me for details, itinerary and pricing soon as space is limited.

In Between

Let’s talk about the “in between” time from Christmas to New Year to even January 6th. It’s a time of non-productivity that can be uncomfortable. You don’t get sooooo much accomplished. You miss your workouts. You miss your deadlines, literally and figuratively. You miss your creative projects, your meditations, your healthy meals, your good night’s sleep. And that feels weird.

Everything shifts as we move through the holidays. We’re forced to live in the spaces in between. It’s challenging for anyone who likes routine and feeling they’re moving forward every day with something to work on, something to focus on, a space to plan a creative outlet like creating a story and making it marvelous.

 Perhaps you’ve had that experience too?

“Each inhale is a birth, each exhale a death,” says Thich Nhat Hanh. I add, “we live in the spaces in between”. So here I sit as the sun is just peeking over the horizon wishing I were working on Eco Woman’s next big adventure. But I’m in the space in between so I’ll feel the discomfort and let it go. Sit with coffee in the morning and journal, or doodle or simply be with the warm cup in my hand and notice. I’ll notice and trust the process. It’s my only way out of that unnerving feeling that there’s nothing left to do. I’ll trust that I’ll sell a load of books, that I’ll market it well, that my retreat will sell out and I will get the chance to move into my next project: Eco Woman 3. I’ll trust I’ll take the right steps after this in between time and I’ll let myself enjoy it knowing that the in-between times are more worthwhile than you think. Let them guide you to noticing where to go next.

And look for my books, Eco Woman: Transformation and Initiation on Amazon.

Save the date for my Yoga and Writing Retreat at Tribal Tulum, March 13 to 18.

Join me for Yin Yoga here Sundays at 10am and other classes as I announce them on instagram.

And finally, keep Christmas going in your life like the Whos down in Who-ville, singing, holding hands, loving and caring for each other for the whole year regardless what comes down the chimney into those spaces in between. Let yourself live there.

Small Change

We all want to change the world, right?

But we often forget that we have the power. We use it every day: small changes, communicated subtly or not so subtly, change the world.

Case in point. About two months ago, I started going out for coffee in the morning. Living where you work can be overwhelming. And there’s a very nice coffee truck one city block away.

The first time I went, they served me coffee in a paper cup and offered me a plastic lid. There were two things to change. First, do we really need everything in takeaway? And second, I took a seat and asked for a porcelain cup. “We only have these,” the barista humbly told me.

“Just please don’t give me the lid.”

I sat, journaled, escaped and enjoyed the coffee. Leaving, I asked if I could bring my own mug next time, so I didn’t have to drink from a paper cup. “I hate generating more trash,” I confided. “Come back and I’ll find you a real cup,” he guaranteed me.

So I did. And there it was. This amazing green mug filled with coffee that tastes better because of it. And it makes me feel very special (note to people in customer service) and I’m changing the world. You laugh perhaps and yes, I know my one mug will barely make a dent in the trash overload we’re experiencing. But my shift of consciousness has already started a ripple that affects others.

People notice my mug. And someday will question their take away and disposable mentality. Some may even ask for a porcelain mug themselves. The owner may decide that it’s a good idea and perhaps they’ll stop the disposable mugs altogether. Ripple.

If I change from paper to porcelain even ¼ of the year, that’s more than 90 cups saved from landfills. And although less than a tree’s worth of paper, my attitude can save forests. That one spared tree certainly notices. My attitude and my willingness to act on it can shift people. Shifting how people think changes the world.

Make small change. Change the world.

Today is our 9th anniversary at Tribal Tulum! 9 years strong. We’ll do a yoga mala at 5 pm - join us if you like. Move energy toward the light on this day when darkness reigns.

And if it seems the darkness is too much for you these days - and it sometimes feels that way - escape into fiction with Eco Woman, the first: Transformation and the second: Initiation are both available on Amazon.

If you’ve already read her adventures, please let me know what you think and leave a review so others know too.

Happy Anniversary to Tribal. Happy Holidays to all of you.

Eco Woman Launches a Second Adventure!

I launched another book!

We had a book launch December 1st. If you were there let me know what you thought. I thought it was fun. My publisher and editor were there. Friends came virtually and in person. I got to be the center of attention. They sat and actually listened to me read my book, my art! Check it out. And then they asked questions about my life and my opinions. It doesn’t get better than that.

 We discussed about the novel series, Eco Woman, and in particular the second in the series. It’s called Initiation. It’s a wonderful story about the superheroine’s continued battle to find herself, her ancestry and to own her power to save what she can on the planet. It’s a great escape at a time when we can all use a little positive distraction. She gives us hope and although some people say hope is a set up, I believe it spurs people to action.

This story moves Maeve from the hills of upstate New York and the cliffs of the Pallisades down the Hudson River and into the Atlantic. It introduces a few new witches and warlocks, all of whom meditate by the way, and connects with some amazing creatures. Her battle for the Light continues and she discovers that things are not always how they seem.

We discussed characters, especially our superheroine, Maeve and how they were born. But we also talked about science. Particularly PCB’s – poly carbonate byphenals – from the first Eco Woman adventure and then we dove into fish farming and human trafficking, pollution and finally landed on the dock of community concluding that’s the only way to solve problems. Start the discussion. Eco Woman starts people thinking about the things that affect us right now. And Maeve helps us know that we can fix things and she lets us believe it, we can.

A wonderful part was we discussed the upcoming March retreat focused on yoga and creativity, specifically writing but opening the body and spirit to the creative process. Attendees have an offer of an amazing 50% off but we’ll be running an early bird special soon. Stay tuned and make sure to follow on instagram @fanny_barry.

Read the books, share a review! Let Eco Woman spur you to make small changes that can change the world. We’ve begun the discussion, let it spur you to action.

Walking the Walk

The police office pulled up beside me and motioned to put the phone down. I stopped recording the message and tossed the phone to the passenger seat, blushing. Busted. Then he motioned for me to pull over.

 “Shit,” I mumbled under my breath as I pulled the Nissan pickup to the side of the road and waited. I’d been messaging my worker that I was on my way and to please wait. Now I’d be really late. My dad’s voice reminded me, “Well, now you’ll have a good excuse.”

“I live in Mexico now, Dad, I don’t need a good excuse to be late,” I answered him.

 The officer came to the door, offered his hand and told me what I already knew. I defended myself.

 It was just one time.

 No. I watched you send 3 voice messages.

 He was right But the first one I deleted. Does that count for anything? After all, I told him, I was going to meet a worker who was repairing my house after two robberies left me feeling super vulnerable. “and I’m frantic after all, I’ve been robbed.“ I neglected to tell him it was two weeks ago but it had taken me that long to find someone to help me put bars on the windows.

Could he come help me catch the thieves?

 “I’m not in that part of policing. license and tarjeta de circulacion porfavor.

 He looked them both over and asked me what I do. I felt weird telling him a run a yoga studio since I was not at all yogicly peaceful. I was having a busy morning, trying to fit too much into my day. Now I’d had the brakes slammed on and I was worming my way out of it, or at least trying to, with half truths. I was justified. I’d been robbed twice, I told myself. And I would love for him to come help me since I felt totally abandoned. The police? Buy cameras, get a dog (I have dogs), we’ll drive by but you’re on a dead end road. Friends? What did you expect with an empty house? Platitudes and my insecurities mounted as did the cost of not only what they had taken but any and all measures to make my place feel safer. 

 “I’m going to take your license and give you an infraction.”

 Add another 200 USD for the ticket. “Please don’t. It’s been the worst low season ever and today is payday. I really can’t pay. ” I whined while calculating the 50% discount the city offered if you pay the same day. I could do it on a credit card.

“Isn’t there some other way. I know I was wrong and I won’t do it again.”

 “Do you have another idea?” His gaze burning into me through his sunglasses, hinting at a bribe. He made some conversation to let me think about it and asked where I was from.

 I stuttered calculating how much cash I had. “I’ve been here 20 years. “

 “Yes. But where are you from?”

 “The US”

 “Isn’t it illegal to be on your phone while driving in the US?

 “Texting. I wasn’t texting. I was recording a message. That’s different.”

He waited and I thought, how much will he settle for? And how can I take money from my fanny pack without him seeing that I have a lot of cash on hand. Like I said, its payday.

 Then I remembered one of many conversations focused on ending corruption. That voice in my head quoted me saying to someone, “If we don’t participate, there won’t be corruption. It starts with all of us.”

 Damn. It starts with me and I meekly told the officer, “You are right. I was wrong. Es cierto.”

 I don’t think he was happy about it but he was surprised, perhaps even a little satisfied. I looked at the floor and felt the sweat dripping off my upper lip. I reached for a Kleenex from the dash and wiped my lip and my eyes, wondering if he’d think I was crying. Ready for the ticket, I plotted a course to rush to the house and rush back to the police station so I could get my discount.

 Out of the blue he told me, “I’ll let it go this time. But if I see you do it again, the ticket will be double.” He handed me my license and registration.

 Seriously? I barely believed it but took my things and said, “Gracias,” and waited for him to drive away. Then I smiled. Ear to ear as I drove slowly back onto the highway saying, “Thanks.” I felt good, like I’d made a breakthrough. See, it’s so easy to say something, to be righteous and tell others what to do. But to actually walk the walk takes a little courage and the willingness to pay the price. And I did it. I told the truth and faced the consequences. It would have felt ok if I’d had a ticket but it felt amazing since I didn’t.

 And, needless to say, I’ll leave my phone in my bag on the way home.