I am a human being who practices how to be a human person on this planet everyday. I am a human person who grieves and celebrates everyday. I am committed to a practice, and though it looks different on different days and sometimes fades into a passing glance; the practice is in me and always available as long as I am willing to be with it.
Over the years, the practice has deepened and becomes more and more accessible during challenging times. I must choose everyday to commit (or not). With persistence it is my responsibility as a human person to figure out what that means while offering compassion and acceptance to myself through the process.
"Reminding myself that self discipline is a form of self love when practiced in this way, and by offering compassion and acceptance to myself, I am able to offer it to others. "
I have been involved in humanitarian aid work on the us/mexico border since 2007, when I moved to a small, rural border town on land that was forcibly taken from the Tohono O'odham people, and colonized as southern arizona.
The teachings of yoga and ayurveda have been integral in sustaining me through this work, and provide a framework for self and community care within the context of grass-roots organizing.
Living in that militarized, migration corridor with all of its ugliness and beauty has made me the person that I am.
I often say that the desert has been my greatest teacher. And while this includes the land the animals and the air and the sun and the glorious night sky; life in the borderlands taught me what humanity looks like.
"The desert has taught me about the many shades of life and the many shades of death. "
