Orchard Hill Center: Health & Wellness - formerly Princeton Yoga

04/22/2026

Earth, Teach Me

Earth teach me quiet ~ as the grasses are still with new light. Earth teach me suffering ~ as old stones suffer with memory. Earth teach me humility ~ as blossoms are humble with beginning. Earth teach me caring ~ as mothers nurture their young. Earth teach me courage ~ as the tree that stands alone. Earth teach me limitation ~ as the ant that crawls on the ground. Earth teach me freedom ~ as the eagle that soars in the sky. Earth teach me acceptance ~ as the leaves that die each fall. Earth teach me renewal ~ as the seed that rises in the spring. Earth teach me to forget myself ~ as melted snow forgets its life. Earth teach me to remember kindness ~ as dry fields weep with rain.

- An Ute Prayer

04/15/2026

FB memory 6 years ago.

And his last paragraph about the Buddhist concept of impermanence is something I’ll “cling to” at this moment…

(Note - my use of the word “clinging” is my wry humor as in Buddhist terms, clinging is the root of all suffering.” 🥴)

"As a Buddhist, I believe in the principle of impermanence. Eventually, this virus will pass, as I have seen wars and other terrible threats pass in my lifetime, and we will have the opportunity to rebuild our global community as we have done many times before. I sincerely hope that everyone can stay safe and stay calm. At this time of uncertainty, it is important that we do not lose hope and confidence in the constructive efforts so many are making."

A compassionate act has the potential to help many

04/09/2026

Gratitude.

Dance like everyone is watching!

This Facebook memory from 15 years ago just popped up.

Important reminder!

What are you grateful for?

https://youtu.be/R9z2ELaBVJY

http://www.TheGratiDudes.com We started the Gratitude Dance out of moment of celebration at a coffee shop in Victoria, BC while writing our book on Manifesti...

04/04/2026

Easter Passover Spring musings

“There is a life-force within your soul, seek that life.
There is a gem in the mountain of your body, seek that
mine.
O traveler, if you are in search of That
Don't look outside, look inside yourself and seek That.”
~Rumi

The varied spiritual/earth traditions all have something to teach us. This week, Easter, Passover, and early spring converge. What might we take to heart from the great teachings and metaphors? On Passover, Jews are directed to tell the story of the liberation from Egypt as if they were experiencing it today and personally. On Easter, we can meditate on rebirth, starting anew, transformation. Spring reminds us that there has been a letting go, a dying in winter - there had to be a nurturing of roots deep beneath the surface (when it seems all is lost) in order to make way for new life and new growth.

Perhaps you might like to spend some time today giving your full attention to whatever you are doing, paying attention to what you notice - inviting yourself to recognize the constant renewal of life all around you. You might come upon a tiny flower growing through cracks in broken cement and wordlessly experience what that might evoke within you.

How might we let go of what we no longer need in order to rise toward our highest selves. “Our souls die every day, whenever we are buried in the tomb of ignorance, and we resurrect ourselves again in cosmic wisdom.” (source unknown). How might we overcome negative, repetitive habits we possess and allow for our ‘transformation’?

"...let us look again at the lives we have been so generously given and let us let fall away the useless baggage that we carry -- old pains, old habits, old ways of seeing and feeling -- and let us have the courage to begin again..."
~John O'Donohue

On this lovely Spring day, take your practice outside. Touch, smell, taste, hear, see the world around you now coming back to life. Seek out the flowers emerging after their winters’ nap. Tune into the joyous birdsong. Notice the re-emergence of leaves on trees. Feel the breeze against your skin. Feel the grass beneath your feet.

04/01/2026

“Avadim hayinu. Ata b’nai chorin. We were slaves. Now we are free.” This is part of the recitation in the Passover Haggadah (retelling).

This evening marks the first night of Passover and the first Seder (a tradition of the gathering of families around the table with a meal full of symbolism to fulfill the commandment of the retelling of the story of the Israelites’ liberation from the cruel slavery of Egypt)

Passover: Celebration of freedom from limitation - and those who know me know I like to weave concepts from varied wisdom traditions at holiday time.

A Passover teaching:

The allegories of Biblical stories are great teachings on the road to personal growth and transformation. From slavery to freedom…

It is said that even after great “miracles” to free the Israelites from the cruelty and bo***ge of Egypt, that they were on their way to the “promised land” of milk and honey, that each day they had temporary shelters known as ‘succhot’ and were given enough food for the day in the form of “manna” - that the fear of the unknown overcame them and a group became frightened and wanted to return to that place of cruelty vs facing the unknown desert before them.

The Hebrew word for Egypt is Mitzrayim, or a narrow place or constriction. And on Passover, there is an obligation to retell the story of the leaving of Egypt as if we were experiencing it today, that is, we are asked to wake up and come out of this constriction, our self-limiting beliefs, every day of our lives.

Can we notice a tension between the part of us that wants to just stay in the known, stay in the old, even if it's uncomfortable, even if there is no room to move or grow, and the part of us that wants to change?

So, perhaps - whatever your tradition or custom – find time for a brief meditation on what narrow places do you hope to leave behind? What fears keep you in difficult situations? How do you balance the desire for change with the resistance to it? Can we practice coming out of this restriction/habit every day of our lives? What temporary shelters might you find along the way on your journey in the form of friends and loved ones or inner resources, and just enough to sustain you each day on your way to your “promised land”?

Wishing all who celebrate a Chag Kasher v’Sameach in all the many realms.

Deborah Metzger

04/01/2026

Hello April!

“Stand still. The trees ahead and the bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it like a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again saying
Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.”
~ David Wagoner

Every season a delight at the Orchard Hill Center.
(Photo courtesy )

03/20/2026

“The snow has not yet left the earth, but spring is already asking to enter your heart. If you have ever recovered from a serious illness, you will be familiar with the blessed state when you are in a delicious state of anticipation, and are liable to smile without any obvious reason. Evidently that is what nature is experiencing just now. The ground is cold, mud and snow squelches under foot, but how cheerful, gentle and inviting everything is! The air is so clear and transparent that if you were to climb to the top of the pigeon loft or the bell tower, you feel you might actually see the whole universe from end to end. The sun is shining brightly, and its playful, beaming rays are bathing in the puddles along with the sparrows. The river is swelling and darkening; it has already woken up and very soon will begin to roar. The trees are bare, but they are already living and breathing.”
― Anton Chekhov, The Exclamation Mark

Every season a delight at the Orchard Hill Center!

03/14/2026

“If you want your children to be intelligent,
read them fairytales.
If you want them to be more intelligent,
read them more fairy tales.”
~ Albert Einstein

Happy PI day for those who celebrate!

03/02/2026

Happy birthday Dr Seuss. Why we love him? Among other things: He kept children’s reading alive. He reminded us that life can be whimsical. Some other interesting facts about his life in article link in comments.

03/01/2026

“The snow has not yet left the earth, but spring is already asking to enter your heart... The ground is cold, mud and snow squelches under foot, but how cheerful, gentle and inviting everything is!

…The sun is shining brightly, and its playful, beaming rays are bathing in the puddles along with the sparrows. The river is swelling and darkening; it has already woken up and very soon will begin to roar. The trees are bare, but they are already living and breathing.”

― Anton Chekhov, The Exclamation Mark

Every season a delight at the Orchard Hill Center

02/23/2026

“Snow was failing,
so much like stars
filling the dark trees
that one could easily imagine
its reason for being was nothing more
than prettiness.”
-Mary Oliver

Every season a delight at the Orchard Hill Center.

02/07/2026

Facebook memory, 5 years ago with and interesting video about origin of labyrinths. Link to video in comments.

Link to blog post about the labyrinth at the Orchard Hill Center here and in comments. Our labyrinth is open to the public during daytime hours.

https://orchardhillcenter.com/unveiling-of-new-labyrinth-walk-the-labyrinth-with-intention/

Photo courtesy Triple Muse Photography