Kumar Pallana

Happy New Year! What a wild year it’s been so far. I’m optimistic we’ll have more examples of accountability moving forward rather than the status quo of no accountability. It’s an exciting time to be alive.

I’m planning on teaching some virtual courses in 2021, the first one will be a 3-part series beginning in mid-February. This is my inaugural effort to share my Feng Shui and Yoga practice with you in a COVID-19 world. For me, what is so exciting about this tumultuous time are the tools Feng Shui and Yoga provide to create resilience, hope, and expansion. Stay tuned for more details.

A couple of weeks ago, I was taking a break from Insurrection news. The insurrection itself reminded me of Wes Anderson’s first film, Bottle Rocket, which sent me down a much needed Wes Anderson rabbit hole. I made an exciting connection. My introduction to yoga took place at Cosmic Cafe, a Dallas institution that serves fabulous vegetarian dishes with creative names like Raisin Consciousness and A Fold in Thyme, in an upstairs room where Kumar Pallana used to sleep and teach yoga. You might remember him as Pagoda in The Royal Tenenbaums, one of my all-time favorite films.

I love Kumar Pallana’s wisdom. In a short video narrated by his son, Kumar Pallana says, “My soul is my guru. My experience is my guru.” When talking about meditation, he says, “Meditation is very important because without your concentration, you could not do nothing.” His son describes him as a man of great generosity and great humility. Kumar Pallana also said, “The more simple you live, the more peace of the mind you have.” What a wonderful gem he was.