Dana Gornall is the co-founder of The Tattooed Buddha and mom of three crazy kids and a dog.She has been writing stories since she could put words into sentences, writing books and poems from early on and is still completely in love with language of all kinds. The desire to connect with people on a deeper level has always been the catalyst for writing and still is every single time she sits down at the computer to bleed her heart onto the page. A sign language interpreter and lover of language, she finds bits of enlightenment in all of those connections. When not working or writing, you can find her lying outside in the dark night gazing up at the millions of stars or dancing in the kitchen with her children. She has written for elephant journal, Yoga International, Rebelle Society and Meet Mindful and Be You Media.
Naked in the Zendo {Book Review}
By Dana Gornall We get a lot of books to review at The Tattooed Buddha. As a book lover, it can difficult to decide which ones I want to read and review and which ones I want to pass on to other writers.When Naked in the Zendo came in the mail I knew I...
A Decade Ending & Another Beginning: A Life Hinging on Change
By Dana Gornall Harry: [about Auld Lang Syne] What does this song mean? My whole life, I don't know what this song means. I mean, 'Should old acquaintance be forgot'? Does that mean that we should forget old acquaintances, or does it mean if we happened...
Welcoming the Unwelcome: Wholehearted Living in a Brokenhearted World {Book Review}
By Dana Gornall I remember that night in frames, like clips shot in a film.It was the night after Christmas, the tree still standing and decorated, opened presents shoved under the branches, pine needs scattered on the carpet threatening to pierce bare...
Samsara: In Search of a Way to Change
By Dana Gornall "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got." ~ UnknownAs a former student of ballet one of the basic skills we learned was how to turn.The trick was to find a point somewhere and keep your eyes on that spot. As...
To the Young Mother with the Screaming Child at Target
By Dana Gornall Dear Young Mother with the Screaming Child in Target, I didn't flinch when I heard the howl from your son, while we were all waiting in lines. Truthfully, all of us with children have been there at one time or another....
Talks at 1 a.m.
By Dana Gornall Being a parent is all about being adaptable. Whether it's finding places to use a breast pump while out running errands or on breaks at work. Or maybe it's changing an entire weekend of plans because your 4-year old got hit with a bout of...
The Edge of the Empty Nest
By Dana Gornall It seems the moment we, as parents, come home from the hospital after giving birth, we are told to begin separating our babies from ourselves. The birth is often quite bloody and violent, no matter which way it happens. Once two...
Coming Back to Yoga…Again
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now build foundations under them. ~ Henry David Thoreau The first yoga class I ever attended was an Iyengar Yoga class. We were...
Zen Master Michael Scott: Dharma in Everyday Life
By Dana GornallI've been in a writing funk lately.A good friend of mine once said that when we find ourselves with writer's block, often we need to re-fuel with life experience. We need to participate more in life to get the muse burning again.Sitting...
The Four Agreements of Parenting
By Dana Gornall There are days---many days---when I wonder if my teenage daughter hates me. Anyone who talks to me on a regular basis can attest to the fact that I bring this up on many occasions. Deep down inside I know she doesn't hate...
Monday and the Present Moment
By Dana Gornall It's Monday. The dog is at my side nudging my elbow as I eat breakfast while the clock is nudging me toward the shower. I'll have to get ready for work soon and I felt like I didn't get enough sleep. I went to bed...
Zen Wannabe (The Hardest Part of Sitting)
By Dana Gornall There's a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don't, and that secret is this: It's not the writing part that is hard. What's hard is sitting down to write. What keeps us from sitting down is Resistance. ~ Steven Pressfield,...
Never Enough Time in a Day Filled With Mindlessness: The Boredom Paradox
By Dana Gornall The year was probably about 1980-81, and I was sitting on the concrete step of the back patio of my house with the sun hitting the skin on my shoulders and back. Staring at the white, paved swirls in the patio, I shifted my...
Before and After: A Meditation Transformation (but is there an After?)
By Dana Gornall I have a fascination with before and after transformation photos. You know the ones---the before photo depicts a person with an expressionless look, a body that is slightly or a lot out of shape, standing scantily clad in...
Feeling Like You Can’t Break Out of a Rut? How to Change:
By Dana Gornall Bodhichitta, the awakened mind, is known in brief to have two aspects: First, aspiring, bodhichitta in intention; Then active bodhichitta, practical engagement As corresponding to the wish to go And then setting out, The...