The second Monday of December, at the height of the smoke and ash filling the air from the Thomas Fire, I donned my N95 mask and headed down to Yoga Soup for “The Big Sing”, the final session of the initial inCourage Community Chorus classes led by Britta Gudmunson and Ben Gould. It was quite […]
Like all of us in the Montecito/greater Santa Barbara area, I have had a lot of personal reactions to the Montecito mudslide disaster coming on the heels of the Thomas Fire, from numbness to grief to fear to hopefulness and even gratitude. The latter came mostly last weekend in the wake of the community coming […]
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Richard Groves, the co-founder and executive director of the Sacred Art of Living Center, in Bend, Oregon, has been leading workshops and retreats in the Enneagram for nearly 30 years, including up to three times a year at La Casa de Maria in Montecito. An ordained Catholic priest, Groves conducted research for his doctoral thesis […]
Ragan and Alex Thomson met Dale Halaway more than a decade ago, when Alex signed up for a business coaching seminar and immediately felt a connection. Over the years, the Montecito power couple kept working with Halaway, a veteran transformational life coach, in a variety of public and eventually private seminars and coaching sessions – […]
Dealing with the Thomas Fire likely has been stressful, at the least for those in Montecito and environs who have been lucky enough not to have suffered more physical losses. The mandatory evacuation of such spiritual retreat centers as La Casa de Maria, Vedanta temple, and the MacVeagh House at the Museum of Natural History […]
Noell Grace, Ejé Lynn-Jacobs, and the SpiritSings Band have a Yuletide offer: Come all ye merry souls for a magical evening of Christmas carols, mystical solstice chants, and original spirit songs celebrating peace on Earth and the darkest days returning to light. The long-running SpiritSings turns its attention to the holidays, a special show when […]
Growing older is not all gloom and doom; it’s a lot about having a great attitude, no matter what’s thrown at you. Take Betty Meyer, for instance. She’s upbeat, and her voice has a twinkle in it. Talking to her is like taking a step back into a more gracious time. Betty plays bridge; she […]
Hitting the gym. The track. The links, or the courts, we do it because we want to gain muscle, and lose fat, but what else do we lose when working out? Our energy stores are depleted, and our bodies excrete fluids through perspiration. We need to replace those fluids and refuel our muscles too. Lately, […]
It’s not just Whole Foods or Lazy Acres that tries to accommodate local food purveyors, though their reputations for doing so deserve notice. Ever since Roxy and Michael Lawler purchased Montecito Village Grocery, their aim has also been to include as many local food producers’ items on their shelves. And, at this point, there are […]
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The Lab. Conjures up images of test tubes, beakers, and breakthrough scientific research being conducted, doesn’t it? Swap out those containers for athletes, and that imagery wouldn’t be far off from The Lab fitness and recovery center located in Santa Barbara’s funk zone. The brainchild of partners Dr. Marcus Elliott, Mike Swan, and Dave Odell, […]
While at Montecito Village Grocery, I spotted Emily Mullisen surrounded by boxes of Table 5 frozen pizza and offering tastes of her company’s product. Table 5’s pizza dough is made with a mix of cornmeal and wheat, giving its crust a heft not often found in pizza. Table 5’s top seller is the mushroom-and-basil combo […]
What better way to start off the Thanksgiving weekend than by centering and grounding yourself before the relatives arrive? Two local yoga centers are offering free classes on Thanksgiving morning, though one of them comes with a give-back catch. YASA Yoga & Wellness Center, 22 W. Mission St., begins the day with a half-hour Thanksgiving […]
If you are a regular reader of Montecito Journal, it won’t come as a surprise to learn that Trattoria Mollie is just about my favorite restaurant. And, there are at least three solid reasons for such devotion: 1) Mollie’s lasagna, featuring her hand-made pasta and a delicate cream-based tomato sauce reigns supreme; 2) Spaghetti with […]
The year is winding to a close. Before we hail in the new one, though, let’s take a look backward at what exercise gear we Santa Barbarans favored when toning up our beach booties. From state-of-the-art ways to listen to our favorite jams while feeling the burn, to the top choice that ensured the burn […]
