Shiva Shanti Yoga शिव शान्ति योग

09/09/2026

September 11, 2001 — Choosing to Stay in NYC and Teach Yoga.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was at Chelsea Piers practicing Ashtanga Yoga with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois from approximately 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. After practice, I was sitting in a coffee shop having tea when I saw the first plane flying down the West Side, very close to the water. Moments later, I watched it hit the World Trade Center.

I was stuck at Chelsea Piers for several hours. Like everyone in New York that day, I was trying to understand what had just happened. I could not get my car out of Manhattan, but rather than concentrating on finding a way to leave the city, I made the decision to stay.

Other teachers had canceled their classes, and I was asked if I would substitute-teach that evening at Jivamukti Yoga Center. I said yes.

I went downtown and taught a class of approximately 40 students. We were all in shock, but there was something deeply important about being together. In the midst of fear, grief, and uncertainty, I wanted to create a safe and grounded space where the students of Jivamukti could gather, breathe, practice, and simply be with one another.

That experience has stayed with me throughout my life as a teacher. For me, teaching yoga has never only been about teaching postures. It has been about showing up for people. On September 11, when so much of New York was shutting down and others understandably chose to leave or cancel, I chose to stay and teach.

09/04/2026

https://substack.com//note/p-213364345?r=8pftxm&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action

Updated Bio 2026

09/01/2026

https://healthyplanetaibyfelise.substack.com/p/who-protects-our-living-history?r=8pftxm&utm_medium=ios

Who Speaks Up for the Right to Preservation?

08/27/2026

Pray for Nepal. 🙏❤️

Devastating flash Flood hits Nepal–China Border

08/25/2026

08/25/2026

A Harvard student is going viral after delivering a powerful commen...

08/24/2026

America’s national parks were created to preserve places that belong to everyone, and tomorrow people across the country are coming together to defend them.

August 25 marks the 110th anniversary of the National Park Service, and the National Parks Conservation Association has organized a nationwide “United by Parks Day of Action.” Supporters are expected to participate both online and in person, with events planned at national parks and communities across the United States.

At the center of the movement is growing concern over what is happening to the people and resources responsible for protecting these places. The National Park Service has lost roughly a quarter of its permanent workforce, while advocates warn that staffing shortages are affecting maintenance, educational programs, scientific research, conservation work and potentially emergency response.

The controversy has intensified after maintenance projects at more than 200 park sites were pushed to a lower priority while resources were redirected toward administration priorities. Around 1,500 projects worth more than $400 million could be left undone, even as the National Park Service faces a maintenance backlog exceeding $24 billion.

Tensions have also grown over construction activity in Big Bend National Park, where heavy equipment cleared sensitive habitat for border-security infrastructure. Work inside the park was paused after public backlash, but conservation advocates say damage had already occurred.

National parks are more than tourist destinations. They protect ecosystems, wildlife, landscapes and pieces of history that cannot simply be rebuilt once they are gone.

That is why people are speaking up.

Protecting these places today determines what will still be standing for generations that haven’t even been born yet.

08/21/2026

Trees do far more than provide shade.

Through photosynthesis, they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, store carbon in their trunks, branches, roots and surrounding soils, and release oxygen as they grow.

That makes forests an important part of the global carbon cycle.

But their role goes well beyond climate.

Trees help cool landscapes, reduce soil erosion, slow and absorb rainfall, support local water cycles and provide food and shelter for wildlife.

In forests, those effects build on one another.

Roots stabilize soil.

Leaves and branches create habitat.

Fallen wood supports fungi and insects.

Canopies influence temperature and moisture.

Even individual trees in cities and neighborhoods can reduce heat, improve local air quality and provide habitat for birds and other species.

That is why protecting mature forests can be just as important as planting new trees.

Older forests often store large amounts of carbon and support complex ecosystems that take decades or centuries to develop.

Restoration also matters, especially in places where forests have been degraded or fragmented.

Trees are not a substitute for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, and planting alone cannot solve climate change.

But protecting the forests that already exist and restoring damaged ecosystems remains one of the most practical ways to support biodiversity, water systems and long-term carbon storage.

Sometimes conservation begins with something simple:

Keeping the trees that are already there.