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Recent Posts
- Psaltery & Lyre’s New Site
- 123 Psaltery & Lyre: “Agricola Dreams of Flying” by J. Rose Lara
- 122 Psaltery & Lyre: “Communion: a love poem (a villanelle)” by Rachel Bollinger
- Book Review: Philip Metres’s Sand Opera
- 121 Psaltery & Lyre: Rachael Matthews, “Horsehead Nebula”
- Book Review: Monica Ong’s Silent Anatomies
- 120 Psaltery & Lyre: Rachael Matthews, “Return, pt. III” and “Gaia”
- Book Review: Claudia Rankine’s Don’t Let Me Be Lonely
- Book Review: Matthea Harvey, If the Tabloids Are True What Are You?
- Book Review: LoterÃa Cards and Fortune Poems: A Book of Lives
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The Sanctuary Archive
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Be Ye Therefore Perfect
Posted on June 12, 2011 | 9 Comments26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. — Michael Jordan In one of the best Relief Society lessons I’ve heard, the teacher […] -
Living Rapturously
Posted on May 29, 2011 | 5 CommentsA week ago, some of us were waiting with bated breath to find out if Harold Camping had crunched the numbers correctly! Had the world ended during the night? Even though the LDS church uses other phrases instead of the Rapture, a term embraced by […] -
Love letters to Amy Poehler
Posted on May 21, 2011 | 17 CommentsA few years ago I was crossing Castro street in San Francisco after a yoga class when I was stopped by an enthusiastic man. “Hey! You look exactly like that girl from SNL, what’s her name?,” he asks. “Amy Poehler?” I offer, as if I’ve […] -
Tina’s Rules for Reducing Belly Fat
Posted on May 15, 2011 | 7 CommentsWelcome to our All Tina, All the Time week here at Doves & Serpents. For an explanation of why we’re examining her new book Bossypants from a variety of angles – parenting, friendship, spirituality, humor and so forth – check out Heidi’s explanation. Technically, the […] -
Going there
Posted on May 8, 2011 | 6 CommentsVirya is a Sanskrit word that is most often used in spiritual circles to refer to the energetic push or effort it takes a person to progress spiritually. This week, I found a curious new definition for the term virya, it was defined […] -
World Market
Posted on May 1, 2011 | 11 CommentsWhen I need chocolate, and nothing but an enormous brick of Cadbury Dairy Milk or a handful of a Kinder Surprise (those yummy chocolate eggs with little toys inside that my kids love so much) will do, I head to World Market, the big box […] -
Earn This
Posted on April 24, 2011 | 6 CommentsBy Dan A long favorite movie scene of mine comes near the close of “Saving Private Ryan.” Capt. John Miller, the character played by Tom Hanks, lies dying in the street, having just held off a German onslaught on a small French town. He pulls […] -
Surely We Were Blessed
Posted on April 17, 2011 | 1 CommentWe were a wreck. The basses and tenors were supposed to be singing a unison line-yet I kept hearing a variety of notes, none of them correct. I’d moved two altos and myself to the tenor line. Though the range was low, the tenor line […] -
Cafeteria Style
Posted on April 10, 2011 | 30 CommentsIn last week’s LDS General Conference session. Elder Nelson, a prominent priesthood leader, said,“ Teach of faith to keep all the commandments of God, knowing that they are given to bless His children and bring them joy. Warn them that they will encounter people who […] -
Reach Out and Touch Someone
Posted on April 3, 2011 | 7 CommentsHe blazed up the wide middle aisle of our repurposed Presbyterian sanctuary, passing the stained glass depictions of Biblical scenes on his way to the pulpit to speak at the open mic of our LDS fast and testimony meeting. He looked a bit like Samson, […] -
Belly Aches
Posted on March 20, 2011 | 16 CommentsNearly a year ago, I was distressed to realize that I desperately wanted to be somewhere else, doing something else. I wanted to be someone else. Felt burnt out at work. Phoned it in with my family and wondered if I would ever enjoy them […] -
The Rituals of Sin
Posted on March 13, 2011 | 8 CommentsToday on ‘The Sanctuary’ we’re very pleased to have a guest post from Krisanne, who writes at the Mormon Women Project, as well as A Paper Moth and Bottari. A couple of days ago I watched Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus, a documentary about an […] -
Brandon Davies and not-so-short shorts
Posted on March 6, 2011 | 27 CommentsThis week, Brandon Davies was suspended from playing on the BYU basketball team for violations of the Honor Code. (ie: he had sex with his girlfriend) The responses have surprised me — Mormons everywhere have strong opinions about Davies’s suspension. The reactions usually fall in […] -
Clapping for God
Posted on February 27, 2011 | 8 Comments; ; ; ; ; ; ; What a treat! Mel spilled over to Sunday this week to bless us with a guest post. Enjoy… I was once asked to teach the Gospel Doctrine class, and I seriously wondered if maybe I would be teaching […] -
Wide Eyed
Posted on February 20, 2011 | 12 Comments*Please note: This post addresses rape and violence to women. Buddhists use the word interdependence, and it’s one I resonate strongly with. I see the softness of my own edges and those of others. I notice that we are all intrinsically linked and connected on […] -
Hosanna in the Highest
Posted on February 13, 2011 | 22 CommentsThis week on ‘The Sanctuary’: a guest post from Andy. One way of characterising my spiritual journey over the last four years would be to say I’ve gone from functioning within an inherited culture, towards a more critical outlook and need for rationality in assembling […] -
C’mon, get happy
Posted on February 6, 2011 | 7 CommentsIf you asked a Mormon what the purpose of this life is, you would probably get an explanation of the Plan of Salvation. Something along the lines of coming to earth to get a body, to learn and grow, and to be tested in this […] -
Smart-Asses Welcome
Posted on January 30, 2011 | 5 CommentsToday at the yoga studio we offered a day of full retreat complete with restorative yoga, meditation classes, clean vegetarian meals, and dharma talks. It was a day to rejuvenate and draw within. During one of the dharma talks we were discussing the mind, and […] -
Meditation 101
Posted on January 23, 2011 | 12 CommentsWhen I signed up for Yoga Teacher Training years ago, I was warned to expect a lot of sitting still for hours on the floor in silence, listening to dharma talks, anatomy lessons, and meditating. With two small children at home, the thought of silence […] -
Faith – Worth the Risk?
Posted on January 16, 2011 | 4 Comments*The following is a guest post by Dan Ron Kauk is one of the world’s most renowned rock climbers. A fixture at Yosemite during the climbing season, he’s pioneered routes on some of the most notorious walls, including a few first ascents on El Capitan. […] -
Let Go
Posted on January 9, 2011 | 5 CommentsNo doubt, sometime in your life you’ve been told, “Just let it go.” It’s a common phrase, and one that’s often misunderstood. We tend to think of letting go as detaching, cutting off the unwanted emotion or situation, and moving on. This way of thinking […] -
Offering, Part II
Posted on January 2, 2011 | 3 CommentsAt the end of a painful retreat (about which, click here), Laurie came to pick me up. She brought Echo, a rambunctious Samoyed, who, she informed me, was disappointingly not named Moksha. We walked the dog around the outer grounds of Spirit Rock. Up the […] -
Offering
Posted on December 19, 2010 | 2 CommentsWhat offering can I leave here, in this moment -- to help me remember that I am the source? -
Real Intimacy
Posted on December 12, 2010 | 9 CommentsToday, I indulged. I let my mind wander to one of my favorite fantasies. Do you want to join me? Be warned, it’s pretty damn sexy. Imagine — every time you open your refrigerator, it’s immaculate. It smells like fresh lime and each item is […] -
I Want
Posted on December 5, 2010 | 5 CommentsHappiness comes from within. It may be one of the most overused spiritual statements, and most of us would agree with it — despite evidence to the contrary. Seriously, what evidence do we have that happiness comes from within? When I think about the things […] -
Get Real
Posted on November 28, 2010 | 9 CommentsReal. It’s one of my favorite four letter words. I can’t think of any better criteria for a friend – just be real. Satya is the Sanskrit word for truthfulness. It’s one of the main precepts of yoga and one of the first things yogis […] -
Crazy all of the time
Posted on November 21, 2010 | 2 CommentsA friend of mine recently said, “None of us gets the luxury of being independent of our context.” As much as I try not to be a victim to my context, I must agree that the world around me, as well as the context of […] -
The Places That Scare You
Posted on November 14, 2010 | 7 Comments“Confess your hidden faults. Approach what you find repulsive. Help those you think you cannot help. Anything you are attached to, let it go. Go to the places that scare you. – advice from her teacher to the Tibetan Yogini Machik Labdron In 2009, fresh […] -
Top 10 Principles of Happiness That I was Never taught at Church
Posted on November 7, 2010 | 30 Comments1. Don’t believe everything you think. Putting aside all past conditioning — if that’s even possible – ask yourself, “Who am I?” At the core of your human experience, who or what are you? As you engage the question, attempt to answer it without […] -
What is Yoga?
Posted on October 31, 2010 | 11 CommentsIn my experience growing up in America, in my particular demographic, it seemed that everyone knows what yoga is. Most people have taken a class or two at a local gym, or they’ve heard from a friend that they should do yoga as a way […] -
The Secret Power of Yoga
Posted on October 24, 2010 | 9 CommentsIt's easy to see the obvious benefits of yoga: a supple body, increased strength, and stress relief to name a few. But there's more - yoga changes us internally as well. -
The Go-To Goddess
Posted on October 17, 2010 | 24 Comments“What does God look like?” I asked my little girl as I tucked her into bed. “Well, he is old, and he has a beard, and wears a. . ..a white dress,” she said. “A-ha,” I answered. “How do you know that?” “That’s what they […] -
Chasing God
Posted on October 10, 2010 | 25 CommentsThere are times in our lives when we shift. When we become so aware of the beliefs in our lives that are not helpful and we are able to find the courage to release them. Many of us have experienced a crisis of faith, or […] -
Our Sanctuary
Posted on October 4, 2010 | 10 CommentsI was sitting on the grass reading during my son’s soccer practice, when an older man took a break from his walking exercise, stopped, and sat next to me. Out of the blue, he began to talk about God, and pretty soon we were off […]