Hello Fellow Body-Mind-Hearts –
Well, here we are, at the beginning of a new moon cycle, a new season and a new year. We could also it is the end of a cycle, a season, a year. These moments of transition (some would put forth that ALL moments are such) invite us to pause in order to review where we are arriving from and consider how we might move forward. I think this is a good practice. I am currently in the middle of an eight day stay-cation (pause) with the focus being rest, contemplation, reviving simple practices of nourishment and consideration of how I wish to move forward in various aspects of my life. There is pausing for pausing’s sake to simply stop the incessant push of doing and there is pausing for the space to truly tend to the direction of one’s life. Both are important and feed each other.
I am aware that I am incredibly privileged to be able to take this amount of time for reflection and consideration. And the amount of time is less important than the way we use the time we do have. Whether you can take an afternoon, an evening, a weekend or more at regular times throughout the year, doing so with the intention of recalibration is key. These can be planned opportunities to recalibrate and reorientate the trajectory of our path. The smaller moments of meditating, walking in the woods, journaling, etc. can also offer time to make little shifts in perception and in direction.
On any journey we need to keep checking to see if the intended destination and the path are still in our sights or if a change of route is required.
As a teacher, I often evoke the idea that we teach what we most need to learn. This is true and sometimes still I forget to listen to myself and take the lessons to heart; to deeply understand that they apply to me just as much as to others. I write this post with the idea of sharing ideas/practices/understandings that I believe help us be more present in the world and more resilient in our lives. The key for me is to listen to my own words more often. This year has been a remarkable year in many ways and although I know I have done my best to care for myself there is also the knowledge that some recalibration is needed. I have landed here exhausted, excited, bewildered, detached and tentatively hopeful.
As I emerge from this past year I am amazed at what I have accomplished…
~ Being approved and welcomed into the Continuum Teachers Association after a decade of mentorship with my teacher, Susan Harper, a lag of several years while the organization dissolved and reorganized after Emilie Conrad’s (Continuum’s founder) death and an in-depth mentorship with Rebecca Lawson to refine my teaching abilities
~ Becoming certified as a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner after three years of in-depth study, case consultations and travel.
~ Cutting back on my public teaching schedule and offering more personal session times
~ Launching a new website that more accurately reflects my work in the world
I am also very aware of things that have been very challenging…
~ Not enough sleep…my conversation with insomnia is a complex one
~ Not enough time with nature on a regular basis
~ Not enough robust and active physical activity
~ Not moving forward with projects and ideas that I dream of offering the world
~ Deep fissures and challenges in some of my most important relationships
I share these with you as a way letting you know that I have not figured it all out and that I don’t always remember to apply all the tools all the time with smashing success. But I want you know that I am on this path of reclamation of Self and resiliency with you. And my wish for this coming year is to share my path with more vulnerability even as I continue to share the nuggets of hard won wisdom that might be floating around in me. Thank you for reading my words and walking this path with me.
New Year’s Blessing…
May each one of us find the time to pause, reflect and consider how to move forward with grace and humility.
In pausing, may we meet the moment with kindness.
In reflecting, may we meet the past with compassion.
In considering, may we meet the future with willingness.
May we remember that each out breath is an opportunity to let go and that each in breath is an opportunity to begin anew.
May we learn the lessons of heart we are offering others daily.
La Corniche near Monaco (1884) by Claude Monet. Original from the Rijksmuseum. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel.
Practice Prompts:
- Find moments to pause during your day to simply acknowledge the moment and stop the rush of doing…meditate, drink a cup of tea, stare out the window, cuddle a pet, etc. Add to this planned times of pausing to reflect and consider throughout your year…this could be monthly or quarterly or at any point where it feels right.
- Make a list of resources (places, activities, people) that TRULY nourish and sustain you. Print it up and put it somewhere you can see it. Use at least one a day and more when needed.
- Book a Resiliency Session with me. I would very much like to support you in your journey of more resilient living.
Upcoming Practice Opportunities:
- Annual New Years Day Practice…Wednesday, January 1, 10am-12pm
- Full Moon Mandala Practice…Thursday, January 9, 7-8:30pm
- Seattle Continuum Inquiry Playshop…Monday, January 13, 7-9pm
- Yoga Nidra Practice…Sunday, January 19, 5:30-7pm
- Port Townsend Continuum Inquiry Playshop…Sunday, January 26, 3:30-5:30pm
Inspirational Wisdom:
For Longing
Blessed be the longing that brought you here
And quickens your soul with wonder.
May you have the courage to listen to the voice of desire
That disturbs you when you have settled for something safe.
May you have the wisdom to enter generously into your own unease
To discover the new direction your longing wants you to take.
May the forms of your belonging—in love, creativity, and friendship—
Be equal to the grandeur and the call of your soul.
May the one you long for long for you.
May your dreams gradually reveal the destination of your desire.
May a secret Providence guide your thought and nurture your feeling.
May your mind inhabit life with the sureness with which your body inhabits the world.
May your heart never be haunted by ghost-structures of old damage.
May you come to accept your longing as divine urgency.
May you know the urgency with which God longs for you.
~ To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings