Spring has officially arrived at Augustana.

And I am super grateful.

All of our other local trails have now closed, so we are walking at Augustana every day.

I notice new flowers opening up every day.

Even if a lot of the trees are still bare,

the grass is green.

On our street, this tulip tree has more flowers blossoming every time we walk under it.

I have loved getting to walk with my boys.

Cole was here for a couple of weeks from Arkansas.

He got to hike with us in the woods once more before the trails closed.

Getting outside for a little walk each day has been a lifesaver for me during this season of sheltering at home.

Even getting caught out in the rain one day this week didn’t bother me. Ben said it was just like we were in Scotland.

Also I’m still baking sourdough bread every single day.

And sprouting mung beans.

We went to a Zoom Powerpoint Party where everyone had to do a 3 minute presentation on whatever they wanted. It was a super fun idea, and I did mine on sprouting mung beans. So if you need a little tutorial, here you go. (Basically, you just soak them for one day and then drain them and rinse them every 12 hours or so while you let them sprout. So easy!)

I’ve also set up a little yoga corner in my house. My bread bakes for 35 minutes in the morning, and you turn the oven down for the last 10 minutes, so my routine has been to do yoga for 25 minutes and then have shavasana for 10 minutes after I turn the oven down. There are tons of free yoga classes online right now. Usually I just turn on a playlist or some gentle drums and move on my own, but if I’m feeling ambitious, I might do a practice from this Arkansas yoga teacher. (Her accent reminds me of home.)

I’m also using the practices of lighting candles, diffusing essential oils and playing music to mark the different points of the day. Little tiny routines that remind me to stay in the present moment.

My last candle of the day marks a time of praying for those who are sick and for the ones who are helping people to heal.

Here are a few other things I’m grateful for at the moment.

A Quarantine Resource List

Books, of course. I finished Sensible Shoes and Wolf Whistle this week. I started Deep River this morning, and am still working my way through The Surrender Experiment.

I’m listening to this recording of a man playing a piano in a German coffee shop while I work. In addition to drowning out the noise in my house, it makes me feel like I’m in a coffee shop in Germany where someone is playing the piano. These are all three experiences I can’t have at the moment, so it’s sort of a fun mind trick. I heard about this recording in Austin Kleon’s newsletter, which is another fun resource in and of itself.

I’m finding myself drawn to sweeter movies at the moment. It seems like a season for rewatching old favorites. I have made everyone in my family watch the French films Un peu, beaucoup, aveuglément! and C’est Quoi, Cette Famille (They’re both on Netflix and both precious.)

We’ve also loved Onward and are in the middle of laughing through every episode of Kim’s Convenience.

Richard Rohr’s Daily Mediations are a breath of fresh air in the mornings. (I’ve especially enjoyed the Holy Week ones.)

And my friend Jane is sending out lots of new free mediations.

One of my favorite artists is telling stories behind her travel sketches. Plus she hosts a monthly sketching weekend online that produces all kinds of beauty.

I am enjoying listening to our pastor from Aberdeen preach from his office.

Our friend Chris Shelton is doing Facebook live concerts on Friday nights.

Looking at these photos of Jupiter is a beautiful dose of perspective.

Leigh Shulman is a writing coach and she’s sending her subscribers lots of free resources for writing during quarantine.

Back in February I hosted a letter writing course via email. That course is now available to download as an ebook if you want to catch up on some letter writing during quarantine.

Also I have unearthed the MOST massive stack of old postcards while cleaning out boxes, so if you want an old postcard with one of my favorite quotes written on it, send me your address (contact form at the bottom of that page) and I’ll pop one in the mail for you. (I’ll wash my hands first, I promise!)

What are your quarantine resources?

Sending love from my shelter to yours.

XO
Alison

The post Spring’s Arrival at Augustana + My Quarantine Resource List appeared first on Alison Chino.

Today I am leaving to Return to the Camino,

To go on something I’m calling

Humility Walk

Why?

Because bombs are falling in Syria again.

Because people of color are being disproportionately killed in the US.

Because poor people are sitting in prison even though they are innocent, just because they can’t afford bail.

Because refugees are camped out at our border, unable to go back home or be granted asylum.

Because people who are working hard to send money back home to their families and doing jobs I am unwilling to do, are living in fear of being rounded up and sent away from the lives they have worked so hard to build.

Regardless of where you stand on any of these issues,

I feel sure that you would agree with Kandace and I when we say that

so many things are NOT AS THEY SHOULD BE in our world.

It’s overwhelming.

It’s depressing.

And so many nights we just feel sad.

We wonder what we could possibly do to make it better,

And then we turn off the news and watch Netflix. (which is also ok BTW…no judgment)

But not today.

Even though we feel somewhat helpless in the face of so much injustice in the world,

We are (attempting) to humble ourselves to do something that at this moment in time,

we feel is the best we know how to do.

Today, we are dropping our small teaspoon of hope into a bucket of despair.

(Side note: We believe God does amazing things with small gifts!)

Here is our humble offering:

Humility Walk

We are going to walk 122 kilometers for justice.

We’re going to walk a portion of the Camino. (If you have been following me for a while, you know that I have walked part of it before and have wanted to go back ever since.)

We have a section picked out that should be doable even with winter approaching and that my slightly out-of-shape body can hopefully handle. (We will see!)

It’s going to be an adventure.

It’s going to be funny.

And it’s going to be humbling.

But even though it will be hard, I know from past experience that it will be rest for our souls.

And we want to invite you to come along with us.

Really.

Here’s how…

We will be walking for seven days from Logrono to Burgos,

122 kilometers of the Spanish road to Santiago,

also called the Camino. (As in the movie THE WAY…go watch it)

Each day we will be walking for a different organization that we love.

We have carefully chosen organizations that we believe are working for a more beautiful, more just world. They are serving meals to refugees. They are freeing prisoners. They are standing with those who are seeking asylum. They are waiting for women who are getting off buses from prison with nowhere to go. They are creating jobs for people who just want to support their families. They are being the hands and feet of Jesus in our world.

And as we walk, we want to shine a light on them (and also help them financially).

So here they are:

Preemptive Love
Equal Justice Initiative
American Friends Service Committee (the Quakers)
The Happy Givers
Families Belong Together
The Poor Peoples’ Campaign
A New Way of Life

Go read about what these folks are doing. Follow them on their social media profiles. Subscribe to their newsletters. And then…

Consider giving any amount to one of these organizations in honor of our Humility Walk. Give $122 for 122 kilometers. Give $76 for 76 miles. Or give $10 to each. Or give whatever you can. And if you don’t like these organizations, find one that you like that is working for a more just, more beautiful world and give to them.

After you give (THANK YOU!), email me (alison@alisonchino.com) your giving receipt so that I know YOU ARE IN for joining our Humility Walk!

Of course we could just throw a donate sticker up somewhere and ask you to donate and then head out on our walk, but we thought it would be way more fun to have you actually come with us. So once you send us your giving receipt, we will invite you to join our private Humility Walk Facebook Group where we will be updating you from the road. We will also include a link to a private Instagram account if that’s more your thing.

We promise to post pictures of the Camino, silly videos of us when we are really tired, and maybe even a blistered foot (gross!).

Who knows what we’ll do? But we promise to show up and let you know how things are going on our walk! And to say thank you so much for your commitment to join us!

And BONUS! If you are hoping to walk the Camino one day, we will happily answer any questions you have about the portion of the Camino we are walking! So you can plan your own trip to one of the most special long distance walks in the world. We would love to welcome you as a fellow pilgrim on the Camino!

If you don’t feel like joining right now, you don’t like FB groups (or FB at all) and you don’t want to donate, that’s ok, you can still follow Kandace on Instagram to get fun glimpses of our Humility Walk.

Either way, I hope you feel a tiny glimmer of hope knowing that we are out here walking and praying for a more beautiful, more just world!

BIG LOVE AND GRACE TO YOU,

Alison (+ Kandace)

PPS. FYI: The name Humility Walk is inspired by both our desire to make a humble offering of our days of walking towards the hope of a better world and a favorite verse:

He has shown you, O man, what is good.

    And what the Lord requires of you?

But to do justice and to love mercy

    and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8

The post Return to The Camino: Humility Walk appeared first on Alison Chino.

It’s been about two months since we moved to Rock Island, Illinois, which is one of the Quad Cities.

(The other three are Moline, Davenport and Bettendorf. The jury is still out on whether or not we picked the right one.)

Taido took a job at beautiful Augustana College. He is teaching theology in the building pictured above, which is Augustana’s Old Main. (so fancy!)

We enter the campus by walking over this lovely little bridge and through the woods.

The college is the nicest place I’ve found to go for walks, so I keep going back there.

There’s even a little path along a slough, which I don’t think is such a nice word, but it’s beautiful even if it is a “swampy area.”

Sometimes Simon walks with me around the campus after school,

and sometimes I walk by myself.

My parents have already been up for a visit! And my sister has been over as well, so we’ve gotten to show off the college a bit.

In 2013 we moved to Scotland as a family of six.

Then in 2016 we moved to Germany as a family of four.

And now we are three.

It’s been a challenging set of changes for me for sure, doing another move and sending Ben off to school all at once.

But we’re only a few hours away from Ben and Mary Polly (as well as my sister and her family), so that helps.

And I’m slowly trying to explore my new surroundings. Bit by bit.

We’ve gotten out on the Mississippi River bike trail a few times. The river is the border between Illinois and Iowa in the Quad Cities, so I find that I’m crossing back and forth often between the two states.

When I’m not out with the Taido and Simon, I’m exploring on my own.

I made use of this bench for a long afternoon one day to write.

I’ve gotten a library card and am already a regular visitor, of course.

I’ve been to the local farmers’ market and to health food stores.

I visited a farm that was in full fall festivities.

I went to pick raspberries, but they were very buggy.

However, I persevered and managed to bring home a couple of pints of berries without bugs on them.

Plus I bought a few other treasures at the farm store, including fresh apple cider and cider doughnuts.

And miraculously I did not break down and cry when I saw all the wagons full of preschoolers visiting the petting zoo and picking out pumpkins. (I find I am breaking into tears at the littlest things these days.)

But mostly I have been puttering around the house we have rented.

I’m working a bit. (I edited a big project last month, as well as a few smaller ones.)

I’m having a go at keeping house plants, which is new for me.

I’ve framed some prints of the Lake District that I’ve carried around for four or five years.

They remind me of some of my favorite walks.

In fact, I’ve started to make some walking plans for next year and I think having these prints hanging up might be the inspiration.

I’m making my own sprouts.

I’ve expanded my kombucha brewing.

And of course, I’m still baking sourdough bread.

Every. Day.

I’ve starting doing one small sketch every day.

I’m using this curriculum I’ve had from my Mama Polly since the kids were young.

She wrote it for fourth graders, so that’s about right for me.

I love seeing her handwriting and reading her instructions.

The lessons were written to accompany her television program from long, long ago.

I’m also learning Spanish on DuoLingo. I’ve become obsessed with staying at the top of my leader board. Join me?

A few other things I’m reading/watching that I’m enjoying/finding interesting:

When They See Us: This is the Netflix series about the five men who were wrongly accused as The Central Park Five, who are now known as The Exonerated Five. It’s brilliantly done. Excruciating and so important. I love everything Ava DuVernay directs because she is always telling more than the story that is right in front of you. In When They See Us, she’s telling a story about every young man who’s ever been wrongly accused. And she’s telling a story about how hard it is for family members to hold up those they love who are in prison. She’s telling a story about what it’s like to try to find a job after you’ve been released from prison. She is telling the story of these five young men, but ultimately, she is telling a story about America.

The 1619 Project: 400 years ago the first African slaves arrived in America. Nikole Hannah-Jones spearheaded a project to release a collection of essays that are an opportunity to pause and consider how the decision to allow and depend on slavery in America has shaped our nation. There is also a podcast version of the project. Particularly compelling is the episode on how our American economy has been and continues to be shaped by the legacy of slavery.

Jemar Tisby’s account of the opening of The Elaine Massacre Memorial:

100 years ago this week, there was a racially motivated massacre of over 200 black men, women and children in the small town of Elaine, Arkansas. I went to Elaine a couple of years ago to see if there was any evidence of the violent events that took place there in 1919 and only found a small plaque. I’m hopeful that the new memorial will be a help for all Arkansans in reckoning with the insidious racism that so often remains buried.

I found both The Sun is Also A Star and This Beautiful Fantastic to be absolutely delightful to watch. I’ve also been writing to the soundtracks of both films.

And a few books I’ve loved lately include:

Leaving Church by Barbara Brown Taylor

Kindred by Octavia Butler (I can’t believe I’ve never read anything by her!)

My Midsummer Morning: Rediscovering a Life of Adventure by Alistair Humphreys

That’s about it for me. We’re headed for the woods this weekend to kick off Simon’s fall break. I’m happy about some time around a campfire.

The post Update from the Quad Cities: Rock Island Days appeared first on Alison Chino.

Here are a few things I’ve been loving this month:

1. wisteria and tulips
2. playing with sourdough starter
3. imagining a world without prisons
4. walking with friends on Arkansas trails and around the lake
5. eating dinner in the backyard at a table and chairs that someone gave to us
6. teaching yoga at the Senior Center
7. anointing people with essential oils
8. reading memoirs (latest read: Rabbit)
9. road tripping through Shenandoah National Park for a wedding and sweet reunion with friends from Germany
10. preparing and planning for a return to Italy

I have been soaking up the Southern spring.

I started spring with a hiking trip (HIKE + YOGA) and was reminded of how much I love being outside in Arkansas. What a huge gift to be out walking on trails (and doing yoga) with 13 other precious women!

Then Taido and I made a trip through Shenandoah National Forest and even hiked a few miles of the Appalachian Trail on a road trip to Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

The whole drive was gorgeous. We dreamed about going back to spend a week or two hiking and camping in Shenandoah.

After MANY fails and hours of reading blogs + watching YouTube videos, I have finally ended up with this sourdough loaf that I’m SO happy with. I’m making it daily as I continue to play with my recipe so give me a shout if you want a loaf.

It makes THE BEST SANDWICH EVER!

I love getting these happy little bubbles in my starter.

So many things are changing in this season. Taido took a temporary job as an interim pastor at our church back at the end of February. Ben is about to graduate from high school and has decided to join Mary Polly at Wheaton College next year. Simon seems to be a bit taller every day. Cole is home from a long stint of working out of state.

We recently moved from an apartment to a rent house and Simon counted off to me how many places he’s lived in his life. Moving is such a reminder to me of how much is temporary. I finally opened most of the boxes I’d packed before we moved to Scotland, and even what I saved was a picture of all the ways I thought my life would stay the same.

I’m grateful for the way spring helps me see that God is always making everything new.

The changes aren’t just about what is going away or what is lost. Change makes space for me to watch and wait for what is being birthed.

The post Chino House Moments: Spring 2019 appeared first on Alison Chino.

Hello 2019. I’m grateful you’re here. There are so many things I am already hoping and praying for in the year ahead. But before I get ahead of myself, I want to take a minute to be grateful for what 2018 brought into my life.

So here are some of the books, movies, songs and moments that captured my heart and widened my thinking in 2018.

Favorites of 2018: My Favorite Books I read in 2018

I usually limit my year-end book list to 5 books. But I’m making an exception this year because I read so many books that blew my mind.

Novels

Us Against You by Fredrik Backman

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Song Yet Sung by James McBride

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

Memoirs

The Color of Water by James McBride

Heavy by Kiese Lamon

Born A Crime by Trevor Noah (This was so good that after I read it, I listened to the audio version.)

In The Place of Justice: A Story of Punishment and Redemption by Wilbert Rideau

Nonfiction

In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction by Gabor Mate

Hold On To Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond

Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy

My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem

Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life by Byron Katie

The Yamas and Niyamas by Deborah Adele

How To Be Less Stupid About Race by Dr. Crystal Fleming

The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby

It would not be an exaggeration to say that reading changed my life this year. These books challenged the way I think about addiction, trauma, incarceration, laws, housing, drugs, parenting, racial reconciliation and the church. I look forward to several of these books coming with me into groups and conversations in the coming year.

Favorites of 2018: 10 Songs I Listened To Over and Over Again in 2018

Goodbye Road by JOHNNYSWIM, Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors

My friend Carol played this album on a road trip to Florida and I have listened to it many times since!

Stand Up For Something by Andra Day (feat. Common)

This was on the soundtrack for Marshall (a favorite movie from 2017) and it’s been on almost every playlist I made in 2018.

La Bicicleta by Carlos Vives, Shakira

This is one of MANY favorite songs I dance to in Zumba class. Zumba definitely makes my list of things I am thankful for from 2018. It’s a little spot of happy in my week!

Our God Reigns by Israel Houghton (feat. BJ Putnam)

We sang this in choir this past summer and now I listen to it all the time. It just puts a little jump in my step.

Here In The Presence by Elevation Worship.

Another choir fav.

Seven by Sleeping at Last.

This is the latest in a series of songs dedicated to the Enneagram numbers. I have loved all these songs and the podcasts that accompany them.

Magic by Sia (from A Wrinkle in Time)

I Am Here by Pink

Found/Tonight A beautiful mash-up of two songs from two musicals (Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen, both of which I LOVE) sung by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Benjamin Platt, which they did to benefit March for Our Lives, because DEAR LORD PLEASE TAKE THE GUNS OFF OUR STREETS.

Andante, Andante by Abba, from Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

This movie was just delightful from beginning to end. The soundtrack has been on repeat since the movie came out, but I think this song in particular is so much fun.

One Of Them Days by Kiana Ledé

We went to hear a local artist (Crissy P!) back in November and the theme of the evening was 90s R&B. Later I was searching the songs and found this fun new take on Monica’s classic.

Favorites of 2018: Five Favorite Movies I Watched in 2018

Black Panther (I saw this movie 3X in the theater. Simon and I watched it again on New Year’s Eve. It’s so beautiful.)

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (Just delightful! And also Let’s go to Greece!)

The Hate U Give (I was worried I wouldn’t like the movie as much as the book. Both were brilliant!)

On The Edge of 17 (Maybe it’s because I have so many teenagers in my life, but this movie just spoke to me. I know it came out earlier than last year, but I just saw it this year.)

Coco (Also didn’t see this until 2018. I watched it several times with Simon. So sweet.)

Favorites of 2018: 3 Experiences I Especially Want to Remember from 2018

Number 1: Being Silent. In February, I attended a 10 day silent meditation retreat (Vipassana). This is easily the most important thing I did this year. I love to talk about it and I wrote all about it when I got home so I could remember everything, so if you want to know more, email me and I’ll try to convince you to go. Then I bookended the year with a few days of silence out at Michael and Sandy Boultinghouse’s farm while they were away.

Number 2: Hiking with my family around Arkansas. (above: on top of Pinnacle Mountain on Thanksgiving Day).

Autumn colors in Arkansas while hiking Lake Sylvia with my boys.

Lake Sylvia.

More Lake Sylvia.

Early Fall hiking around Heber Springs, Arkansas.

Watching the boys climb rocks.

Also playing with my real camera again in the woods. (also in Heber Springs, Arkansas)

Number 3: Completing Yoga Teacher Training!

Doing yoga training has been a long time dream! I’m super grateful for these gals, and for the many, many things we learned together. And also for the laughs.

I celebrated completing training with my first ever yoga retreat in Hot Springs.

I’m so thankful for each person who came and to Whitney for cooking and hosting!

Look at this gorgeous lunch, just one of many beautiful meals.

PS. I’m helping to teach yoga on a beautiful retreat in Italy in 2019. Wanna go?

Lots more amazing things happened this year. I started making Kombucha and stopped eating meat. I spent more time in the sun than I have in a long time. I joined a gym for the first time in my life. I went to therapy. I participated in the Poor People’s Campaign. I visited The National Memorial For Peace and Justice and The Legacy Museum. I worked on my biggest ever copyediting project,  a beautiful book by my client and friend, Jane Reeves. I walked with dear friends in familiar places that I love. I sang in the choir. I made homemade rolls in my sister’s restaurant. I watched my kids grow and do new and wonderful things.

It was also a hard year in many ways. There were great losses near to me. I deeply grieved settling back in a country (and a state) so rooted and steeped in white supremacy, the reality of which I see played out every day: on the news and in my community. Violence abounds in the world. The poor are criminalized instead of cared for. Also, Taido lived back in Germany until July. We survived living apart from one another and were grateful to be reunited in the summer. However, our path remains uncertain, much as it has for a while now. But as I look to 2019, I feel certain that He who has carried me along for so many years will continue to do so. I look around me in wonder at what God is doing while trying to find my small part in it, so that I can say with St Francis one day:

I have done what was mine to do, may Christ now teach you what you are to do.

Want to see more favorites (mostly books) from past years? Here’s 2009, 2012, 2013, 2017.

The post Favorites of 2018 appeared first on Alison Chino.

Y’all, I’ve been walking in the early mornings and I found a red UK phone booth in a yard in my neighborhood. Right here in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Isn’t that crazy?

I painted it as part of trying to stretch my creative muscles in a new way for Candace’s Moment Sketchers project. So fun.

I started a personal yoga challenge for myself this month. I’m attending classes all around the Little Rock area as I continue to work through my teacher training. I’ll finish training in August, but I have a lot more practice teaching to do so I’ve got my sons being my guinea pigs. They’ve been great sports.

It’s summer, so I’m begging my kids to read instead of play video games. Which is probably why I enjoyed this piece about why we need readers.

Summer is for reading novels by the pool. Here are four I’ve already read and LOVED:

Leopard at the Door and The Fever Tree by Jennifer McVeigh

City of Thieves by David Benioff

At the Water’s Edge by Sara Gruen

I’ve also been exploring Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication, both the book and on YouTube. It’s kind of making my head explode.

My dear friend, Amy, celebrated the finish of her PhD in Theology by walking the West Highland Way, and she wrote this beautiful piece about her journey. It made me miss Scotland for sure.

I’ve participated for the last three weeks in the Poor People’s Campaign. The first week, I got arrested with 14 of my new best friends for singing in the streets. The second week I dragged my kids along. And last week I went by myself to lie down on the Arkansas Capitol lawn for a Pray In + Die In. I’ve wanted to write more about this experience, but for now it’s all super new to me and I am just taking it in. Learning. Observing. I read a book by Dr. Rev. William Barber last fall in a Bridge Builders book club. When I hear him speak, I think, “This man is about seeing the kingdom of heaven come on earth.” And I want to be a part of it. That’s the main reason I keep showing up. (There are still three weeks left if you want to join me!)

Other than that, I’m hanging at the pool as often as the boys will go.

Our summer routine: Walk + Yoga + Work + Lunch + Pool.

I do love me some hot Arkansas summer.

Pass the watermelon.

XO
Alison

PS. We sang this song in the choir yesterday and it’s the most fun!

The post Books + Links Loved Lately appeared first on Alison Chino.

4 favorite essays,

2 books and 1 song.

Happy Friday friends.

I’ve made several jars of my two favorite salad dressings (Goddess and Ginger) so I’ve been eating salads for days.

Ben: Let me guess what’s for dinner? Salad again? 

It’s been a minute since I did any kind of life update. I think that’s partly because I am working on several projects I haven’t been ready to publicize, but mostly because I keep waiting for the shift in the transitional nature of our lives.

Clearly, that shift is a futile thing to wait for so I’m moving on forward with being present in this crazy, unpredictable life of our family being split between countries and states.

By moving forward, I mostly mean that I go for a walk every day and I write every day.

So…business as usual.

I have been working on more client projects in 2018 than I’ve ever had before, which is exciting. I’ve been doing a bit more ghostwriting and lots more editing. I love both immensely because they allow me to indulge in my great love for words AND get paid at the same time. Which is LOVELY. (I have a few more openings for ghostwriting eBooks this summer in case you know of anyone who needs help with that sort of thing.)

The books that have rocked my world this week are Gabor Maté’s In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction and Matthew Desmond’s Evicted.

I’m also reading The Power of Breath and Chakra Yoga because I am currently doing Yoga Teacher Training. (Cheers to the pursuit of long held dreams, friends!)

This essay, Walking While Black, is the most beautiful thing I’ve read on the internet in a long time.

And this one reminds me why I oppose ALL the wars.

Our white supremacist society is aversely affecting the pregnancies and childbirths of black women in surprising ways.

I’m pretty sure every high school and college graduate, plus anyone else who is experiencing a career shift (raises hand), should read this lengthy, but helpful guide to picking a career that actually fits you in this modern day society.

This song is my favorite right now. (Hamilton renditions for the win, y’all.)

It’s supposed to be hecka gorgeous around here this weekend so cheers to feeling the sun on our faces!

Happy weekend!

XO

Alison

The post Links Loved Lately appeared first on Alison Chino.

MLK50: Gospel Reflections from the Mountaintop

“There’s a wreath at the Lorraine Motel.”

“We are not children of God apart from loving one another.” 

“This is a great conference but it’s still just a conference. Let’s not give finish line praise for getting to the starting line.”

 “The reason that you are so comfortably able to honor the prophets is that they cannot speak to you any longer.” 

The post MLK50 appeared first on Alison Chino.

It’s no secret that I love traveling. In the last few years, I have really been digging the kind of travel where you get to soak up time, culture and life in one single setting, like The Cinque Terre or The Northwest Highlands of Scotland.

But also, I think it’s super fun to add an activity to traveling that I already love or that stretches a creative part of my brain. A few examples: Travel + Yoga, Travel + Cooking Classes, Travel + Hiking, or Travel + Art Classes!

If that sounds delightful to you too, you might be interested in these yoga retreats that have come across my radar lately. They are all being offered by folks I know and love, and for that reason I can say with a good degree of certainty that they will be fabulous! So if you’re looking for a new way to travel to a new place to do new things in the near future, here are my recommendations:

Dreamy Trip #1: A Yogi’s Journey to Peru

When: October 6-13, 2018

Where: The Sacred Valley of Peru

Who: Adriana Robertson is a phenomenal yoga teacher and a delight to be with. I met her in Guatemala last year and am grateful to now consider her a friend for life. She is part-Peruvian so I know that her guidance in the Sacred Valley will be a rich and mind-blowing experience!

Dreamy Trip #2: Yoga Retreat in Tuscany

When: May 27 – June 2 OR September 9-15, 2018

Where: Italy!

Who: Jane Reeves has led over 50 yoga retreats and she specializes in helping you tap into Loving Kindness, which we definitely need more of the world! She has been taking yogis and yoga newbies to Italy for five years now. Also, she has scoured Italy to find the very best spots to call home for a week. Anna and I joined her last year in Tuscany and we had a spectacular week of soaking up the Italian countryside and living La Dolce Vita!

Dreamy Trip #3: Yoga and Dance Retreat in Costa Rica

When: March 9-16, 2019

Where: Blue Osa, Costa Rica

Who: Jurian Hughes teaches yoga, voice and dance. I met her in Guatemala last year and we did just a couple of sessions of a kind of yoga called Let Your Yoga Dance. It is one of the most beautiful ways I have experienced of being both present and free within my body. I would yoga dance again with Jurian in a heartbeat!

Dreamy Trip #4: Writing, Fitness and Yoga Retreat in Hawaii

When: July 15-22, 2018

Where: The Big Island of Hawaii

Who: Alexandra Franzen has been leading writing retreats and workshops for a long time. She is, in my humble opinion, one of the best writers on the internet. (Her newsletter is a delight to receive!) Over the last couple of years, she has developed this luxurious experience in Hawaii that seems to me like the ultimate dreamy trip for a writer/yogi!

Dreamy Trip #5: Sketching and Yoga Retreat in New England

When: Aug 16-19, 2018

Where: Leyton, Massachussets

Who: Candace Rose Rardon is a watercolor sketch artist who I first came in contact with at a travel conference in 2013. She has started an international project called Moment Sketchers to encourage people to take up sketching wherever they are on the first weekend of every month. She has teamed up with a yoga teacher to create some amazing-looking retreats this year. She’s hosting a second one in September in Portugal.

Cheers to traveling somewhere fabulous and doing things you love while you’re there!! 

The post 5 Yoga Retreats You Should Probably Go On This Year appeared first on Alison Chino.

These are some of the books, movies, songs and places that widened my heart in 2017.

My Five Favorite Books I read in 2017

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

White Awake by Daniel Hill

Egg and Spoon by Gregory Maguire

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

The Sacred Enneagram by Christopher L. Heuertz

My Five Favorite Songs I Listened To Over and Over Again in 2017

Dear Me by Nicole Nordeman

Even If Mercy Me

Never Give Up Sia (from Lion)

Facts by Lecrae

Tin Man by Miranda Lambert

Five Favorite Movies I Watched in 2017

Wonder Woman

Thor Ragnorak

Marshall

Lion

Hidden Figures

Five New Places I Fell In Love With in 2017

Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

Val D’Orcia, Italy

Chelmno, Poland

Berlin, Germany

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Five Lessons Learned in 2017

Writing three things down that I’m thankful for every single night before I go to sleep is still the best way I know to end a day.

I can walk in every kind of weather, and I can always go more miles than I thought I could.

Deep connections can be forged in a short amount of time.

I’m too old for overnight buses.

I can do yoga in German.

The post Five Favorites of 2017 appeared first on Alison Chino.