One path. Five laps. Five senses. A completely different park every single time.

It's spring here in Suzhou, China, and everything is waking up. The trees are pushing out new leaves, flowers are quietly opening along the pathways, and the earth smells like it's breathing again. It's the kind of season that begs you to pay attention — if only we would.

A few days ago, I led a mindfulness walking class for my GGI (Girl Gone International) group. The concept was simple. We met at one spot in the ...

Over twenty years ago, I lived at a yoga ashram for about six months. I was there to learn how to teach yoga and immerse myself in the yoga lifestyle. It was one of the most formative experiences of my life — though I didn't fully understand why until recently.

Every morning, we'd wake up early — somewhere around 5:30 or 6:00 — and sit for a long meditation before breakfast. We're not talking five or ten minutes, which was all I'd ever done before. We're talking an hour, maybe longer. And like ...

It's been a while since I've written here. The last time I posted, I had just lost my dog — my girl of twelve years. I wasn't in a place to write after that, and honestly, I wasn't in a place to do much of anything. But I'm here now, and I've learned more about myself in this past month than I have in a long time. So I want to share it.

This was the first time in my life that I've had to sit with grief completely sober.

Before, when something painful happened — and painful things have happened...

If you’ve read my blog before, you know a few things about me already:
I love traveling.
I love living in other countries.
And I love doing life with my dog by my side.

Phoenix—my trusty companion—has been with me through places where I didn’t know many people, didn’t speak the language, and didn’t yet feel settled. Before Phoenix, I had another dog who filled the same role. Being a dog parent, especially as a solo traveler, is something I cherish deeply.

When you’re in a new country without m...

I was standing in my friend's kitchen, apologizing for the third time in five minutes—once for reaching for a glass, once for standing "in the way" (I wasn't), and once more just for good measure. Her mother, who'd been quietly drinking her tea, set down her cup and looked at me with a mixture of confusion and concern.

"Laura, what do you have to be sorry about? Why do you keep saying sorry?"

The question hung in the air. I opened my mouth to apologize for apologizing, then caught myself. I di...

So here's a story about how eye surgery taught me I've been relaxing wrong my whole life.

I decided to get cataract surgery a few months ago (that's a whole other story). The catch? No alcohol for two months while my eyes healed. Now, I'm not a heavy, heavy drinker, but I have always liked a drink after a stressful day at work or on the weekend with friends. That was my signal to relax. Suddenly, I had to figure out how to unwind without it.

Fast forward to after my recovery. I'd been working ...