Monday, July 13, 2026

I texted my neighbor to ask for one fan.

Hi, Subscriber First Name,

My air conditioning gave out in the middle of a 105-degree week, in a 1905 house, at the precise moment in my life when I am least equipped to be hot. I asked Mona next door if she had a fan. She brought three—and then a gardener and then the rest of it.

This week's reflection is about what a block is and what it costs to let one hold you.

→ Read On kindness

Come practice with me.

Wednesday nights at Lighthouse Yoga Center in Brightwood:

• 6:30p ET | Vinyasa Flow | 60 minutes

• 7:45p ET | Restorative | 75 minutes

I’m also subbing quite a bit over the next weeks at LYC, District Flow and Bluebird Sky Yoga. Check out the schedule to stay up to date. Between now and next week, you can practice with me also:

• Thursday, July 16 at LYC | 1p ET | Flow | 45 minutes

• Monday, July 20 at District Flow | 9a ET | Yang/Yin & Restore | 60 minutes

Did you know that private yoga can come to you? I am working with multiple clients on a hybrid schedule—half of the sessions virtual and half in-person. In-person can either be at your home or mine in my home yoga studio.

→ Email me for more information

Food for thought.

New on the Pranayama Practice Page: Sitali (and Sitkari). The cooling breath.

In this heat, use Sitali: curl your tongue into a tube, inhale through it; close your mouth, exhale through your nose. Can't curl your tongue? Try Sitkari instead: place your teeth lightly together, lips apart, inhale across the teeth; close your mouth, exhale through your nose.

Same effect, different plumbing.

I've been teaching it in most of my classes this month, for reasons that will be obvious to anyone who has stood outside in D.C. lately. It doesn't drop the temperature of the room. It drops something else.

Also on the site.

Every reflection, going back to the beginning.

→ Browse the Reflections archive

We don’t choose the block.

You don't get to choose your circumstances—the house you bought, the body you're in, the year you're having. You choose what you build on top of them and who you let close enough to help.

That's most of what coaching is, in my experience. Not fixing the block. Getting honest about what you're building on it and whether you're willing to send the text.

→ Work with me

A breath before you go.

Somewhere in the worst of it, I stopped fighting the heat, took a breath, accepted help.

Breathe first. Then you can actually see what’s being offered—and what you actually have to give.

with love ✨, CATHERINE

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