Our annual session includes readings from Hold Nothing, emphasizing practice, respect, and structures of encouragement. Join me to sit briefly, address potent prompts intended to create intentionality and spaces of grace for you and yours as you proceed into this year.

• (0:00) – Annual Planning Session Introduction
• (1:54) – Practice and Respect in Conscious Evolution
• (4:45) – Zen Meditation and the Practice of Zazen
• (7:20) – Aging and Letting Go of Caring About Others' Opinions
• (10:16) – Note of Gratitude from the Body
• (35:42) – Sitting Practice and Reflection on Encouragement
• (39:29) – Engaging in Relationships with Encouragement
• (47:58) – Final Reflections and Q&A

Resources
Planning Guidebook
Feelings and Needs List

Substacks
Elena Brower – Hold Nothing
Sierra Campbell – Choose Nurture | choosenurture.com
Laurel Hayne-Miller – The Flowering Path

Books

• Bookshop
• Everyday Zen — Charlotte Joko Beck
• Returning to Silence — Kōshō Uchiyama
• Silent Illumination — Guo Gu
• The Truth of This Life — Katherine Thanas
• Mountains and Rivers Sutra — Norman Fischer
• Better Apart — Gabrielle Hartley and Elena Brower
• What We Say Matters — Judith Lasater

For mothers, mothers-to-be and those supporting mothers: On matrescence as transformation; offering the Four Elements model as a map for the rite of passage that is motherhood.

• (0:00) – Introduction and Guest Welcome
• (1:16) – Importance of Rites of Passage
• (3:09) – The Four Elements of Radical Transformation
• (6:19) – The Earth Element: Grounding and Taking Stock
• (8:11) – The Water Element: Grief and Letting Go
• (15:19) – The Air Element: Liminality and Uncertainty
• (20:07) – The Fire Element: Exploration and New Beginnings
• (25:27) – Rituals and Practices for Self-Care
• (29:49) – The Mother Powers: Skills and Capacities
• (33:56) – Conclusion and Resources

Jessie Harrold is a coach and doula who has been supporting women through radical life transformations and other rites of passage for over fifteen years. She works one-on-one with women and mothers, facilitates mentorship programs, women's circles and rituals, and hosts retreats and nature-based experiences.

Jessie is the author of the Nautilus Gold Medal Award-winning book, Mothershift: Reclaiming Motherhood as a Rite of Passage (Shambhala 2024). She is also the host of The Becoming Podcast. Jessie lives on the east coast of Canada where she mothers her two children, writes, and stewards the land.

Mothershift: Reclaiming Motherhood as a Rite of Passage

Jessie is also the founder of the internationally acclaimed matrescence support program MotherSHIFT, and its sister program for perinatal professionals, The Village.

On participating in your life by orienting to practice; befriending time to stabilize your mind, meditating polarities to map your world.

• (0:00) – Introduction to Nevine Michaan and Her Journey
• (2:26) – The Katonah Yoga Calendar
• (6:36) – The Concept of Mapping in Yoga
• (16:48) – The Magic House and Personal Responsibility
• (20:55) – Balancing Self-Actualization and Interbeing
• (36:15) – The Role of Numbers and Measurement in Yoga
• (39:03) – Practical Techniques for Maintaining Energy and Vitality
• (39:16) – The Importance of Personal Responsibility and Discipline
• (39:33) – The Role of Myths and Fairy Tales in Understanding Yoga
• (39:51) – Final Thoughts and Practical Advice

Born in Egypt in 1954, Nevine moved to New York at the age of three. In her early 20's, while studying history and comparative religion at Vassar College, she discovered meditation. She understood that there is a function, a formality and a fit to the universe and that yoga is a tool, a technique – a practice with repetition which gives us the opportunity to participate in life with intelligence and joy.

Nevine started a daily practice in NYC with renowned yoga instructor Allan Bateman in the 1970s and became fully immersed in what would become her life's work. She began teaching yoga in 1978, and founded the Katonah Yoga Center in Katonah, New York in 1986. Nevine seamlessly relates her approach to yoga through comparing it to the likes of a musician. Her artful use of metaphor is one of her most well honed techniques when articulating her teachings, which are empowered by her practical approach to integrating the mind, the body and the breath.

Nevine continues to teach both online and in person through her studio, the Katonah Yoga Collective in Bedford Hills NY and others throughout the community.

Number Magic, new 2026 Katonah Yoga Calendar

Katonah Yoga practices and theory

Katonah Yoga certifications and learn more about our Mentorship Program happening twice a year online:

Practice online; Video Library: