Emily's May Inspiration "There Goes The Hood"

It was more than a restaurant, it was a symbol. And in the past decade, the last man standing in a sea of homogeny brought on by outsiders visiting the East Village on the weekends; dabbling in the hip, artistic, and edgy. Fact is MAMA'S was the neighborhood. At ten dollars a plate with a choice of meat and three sides, MAMA's was the spot you went for down home comfort. Nestled on 3rd St btw A & B, I walked past this soul food spot daily back in the nineties, sometimes stopping in just for a side of mash potatoes when the city got rough. They had the best veggies too, and if you didn't want meat you could get an extra side with their mac and cheese rivaling no other.

I encourage my yoga students to embrace change, to accept the only constant in our lives is just that. But as my old street in Alphabet City morphs into more and more sameness - that chain store, homogenized look that plagues our country - I have to cry out, 'Why this hood!?' Why the spot where artists flocked to so they could be different and accepted? With the fortune tellers, druggies, and performance artists singing their tunes, graffiti walls and dive bars that embrace all kinds... Why must the demographic who desires sameness, who feels more comfortable in an OLIVE GARDEN than an authentic Italian dive invade the one place on the planet where we screwed the Man?

Those who infest the East Village on the weekends are in no way supporting the community and those who inhabit it. They leave and go back to their commutes and cubicles, and tell stories about how they had a 'crazy' weekend in the village. We lived there, many old-schoolers still do. It's our home, and place's like MAMA'S, or the old KING'S PHARMACY replaced by a DUANE READE were our pride, our joy and choice to remain original, authentic to ourselves. Most moved to the East Village against their society's wishes. To a far away land where parentals did not understand paying a thousand dollars a month for a shoebox apartment on Ave C, but we did and sacrificed to be there. The natives know the secret to Alphabet City is its character, its funkiness, and constant groove we so adore. With the closing of MAMA'S, I dare say...there goes the hood.

PEACE,

Archived Inspirations

on Holidays

DARK

Maybe it was the day my mother told me there was no Santa, that I should know the truth? Or maybe it was the six years of retail, and those days after the holiday? Maybe it was all the expectations~ all the stress of getting the gifts, my guitar and me on an already full plane? Or maybe…it was just me.

Ahhh, the holidays… such drama! Such excitement! Such buttons to be pushed!

All the invites, the shopping, the traveling and compromising (do you think Ebenezer had a point?) A wise yogi once said, “If you think you are already enlightened…go home for the holidays!”

Lately I’ve been trying to do just that. Lately… I’ve been trying to go OM.

This universal sound of peace is something that resonates within us all and if you listen closely…it resonates everywhere around you too. It is this peace and this space that offers room for the laughter and the joy that can be HOLIDAY. But its vibration is rich in balance. We need to receive the season as much as we give to it. And this is challenging. How many of you have booked time for you this month? A day of silence, a massage, a morning hike, or even a yoga workshop (wink.wink.) Once we begin to honor the balance necessary in ourselves we can begin to access the peace during this special time of year.

Once we return OM, we are quietly reminded of our connection to the spirit~ to the divine source (God or whatever) that truly feeds us everyday. And that, my friends, is HOLIDAY. It is the place where Self meets Divine and family meets love. A beautiful practice is sending love and healing energy out when you are being tested most. Try sending love to the Saturn that took your parking spot, to the Macy’s sales clerk who moves too slow, or to the family who quickly questions your decisions~ try sending them all OM.

Because it’s the PEACE, the LOVE that creates the sweet memories; Grandma’s cranberry sauce, Uncle Bill’s harmonica, the ice-skaters at Rockerfeller Center, the Christmas tree atop Capitol Records…this is peace. This is OM.

May you be blessed and receive the many abundant gifts of the season. May you remember to give to yourself, balanced in the spirit of love.

Blessings this Holiday (and always),