About

My name is Howard, and I started Breathless Moon several years ago as a way to share my nature photography. It all grew organically from my love of the outdoors. I decided to take a little Nikon point and shoot camera along on my hikes, just in case I saw Bigfoot or something. Sometimes I would be lucky enough to get a shot that I thought was interesting, and I started sharing those on Facebook. Friends seemed to like what they saw. Then, in 2010, my yoga teacher offered me the chance to do an exhibit at the opening of her new studio. I was hooked.

Nature, the environment, and wildlife are my passions. John Muir said, “In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks”. I would have to agree. Hiking is exercise, stress relief, and moving meditation. A trail is never quite the same twice, its character changing with the season or even the hour of the day. I work in information technology, so time spent outdoors provides a much needed balance.

Speaking of balance, I am also helped in this regard by a practice in Chinese martial arts. I grew up watching David Carradine in the “Kung Fu” television series. Unlike my friends, I was not so much drawn to the fighting aspect. I was far more intrigued by the underlying philosophy and the scenes from the Shaolin temple. My interest in those things never waned. While I have studied traditional kung fu, my practice today is mainly tai chi and qi gong. My Kindle reader contains a library of Taoist literature ranging from the classics of Lao Tzu to contemporary authors like Dao-Ming Deng. It has been said that Tao offers three things; good health, a way through the bewilderment of life, and freedom from the fear of death. What more does one need?

Yoga offers a great complement to martial arts. I enjoy traditional hatha yoga, and attend weekly classes at the gym. My main practice, however, is based in kundalini yoga. Kundalini yoga is often called the yoga of awareness. It has a physical component like hatha yoga, but focuses more on internal change. The goal is to open the third eye and cultivate intuition. Many of the concepts are quite similar to qi gong, hence my initial attraction. Working with both hatha and kundalini creates a kind of synergy and helps to keep the overall practice fresh.

You will find those three threads woven throughout most of what you see and read on Breathless Moon. They are what I, and the site, are all “about”.