We are in the time on the Hebrew Calendar between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av.  On the 17th of Tammuz, the walls of the temple in Jersualem were breached, and on the 9th of Av both the first and second the temples were destroyed.  These weeks on the calendar are a time of designated mourning.  As we approached the 17th of Tammuz earlier this month, I took myself to nature and breached the temple walls of my grief so that I could enter the holy of holies - my heart.

Last month I had the great privilege and blessing to travel to co-create sacred community as we studied, prayed, practiced, danced, laughed, cried and deepened our connections to one another, to nature, and to the Divine Presence at our annual Torah Yoga Retreat.  
 

The chance to be together on retreat, held by nature and the rhythm of the Hebrew calendar, was exquisitely delicious.  Swimming in the warm lake at Isabella Freedman and a warm Atlantic ocean afterwards (very different from the Pacific) infused my being with joy and appreciation for the amazing natural world that continues to persevere, even alongside the horrific actions that we humans continue to take.