Hello Cyclical Siblings –
New Moon Blessings to you.
Happy Lunar New Year to you. This is now seen as a singularly Chinese tradition but if we go back far enough many of our ancestors followed the moon cycles for their calendar!
Here’s to another circular spiral of life that invites us to step into more conscious ways of living, growing, loving and dying. That’s what it feels like to me. The world keeps asking if are we ready to approach our collective histories/herstories differently? Are we ready to own our ancestors legacies and step into a fresh and unprecedented way of healing and reparation? Are we willing to excavate and bring into the open the festering wounds so they may be washed, healed and allowed to grow scar tissue that is strong and resilient? Can we sit with the heartbreak and still find moments of beauty and connection? Can the heartbreak itself be beautiful if not pretty? Here’s a SONG for that practice.
Many of us are being asked this on a personal level as well, myself included. I am writing today from my new light filled Loft apartment in the River West neighborhood of Bend. My beloved and I are taking a sabbatical, a conscious separation for a period of time (we’re thinking a year or so) after 25 years of togetherness. That’s almost half my life span!!! This has been a gut wrenching, heartbreaking and deeply potent time of conversations, silence and clarity…with a lot of grief and tears (both messy and cleansing) as well! All that to say, it is a potent time of reckoning and the perfect time to lean into our practices of awareness and Love. The world, our loved ones and our own souls are asking for us to show up in authentic and fresh ways to meet these times of pressure and chaos with as much willingness, compassion and honesty as we can muster. And each one of us has unique ways we can tend the healing/dying/rebirthing process. What is your unique way of standing up, speaking out, shaking off and settling in?
Sometimes it feels to me like walking a labyrinth…as I circle around, I come closer and farther away from the center I am seeking and yet each step taken is a forward momentum of willingness and attention. I love walking labyrinths for that very reason, it is an active and somatic reminder that life (and quite possibly death?) is not a linear journey. It is a process of to and fro, in and out and yet it most definitely has a direction, if we are willing to listen. May we keep up the practices and ways of moving forward which sometimes require us to sit still or dance backwards or sing off key. The picture above is taken of one of my favorite labyrinths on Bainbridge Island, WA.
P.S. I invite you to join me…there is room in the retreat at Breitenbush Hot Springs, May 15-17 (scholarships available) if you want a place to land and rest and move with the elements in time out of time. I also have openings in my private practice for both in-person and virtual sessions if you are wanting some support in navigating these trying times and exploring how you might become more resilient. See below for links to explore and schedule.
May we cultivate the ways we can uniquely show up in the world
May we walk the spiral layers of life, death and rebirth with grace and compassion
May we learn the ways of the labyrinth and trust the steps we take
May we bring wild blessings and fierce love to all we encounter
Practice Prompts:
- Where in your experience do you get to play with the back and forth motion of nonlinear movement? Dance, Feldenkrais, Continuum Inquiry, Song Circle, labyrinth walking, chi gong, meditation (yes, this is definitely a practice of leaning and leaning out)? Allow your awareness to open to this way of moving forward which is a way of not pushing and coming close and lean far to gain different perspectives. Deepen into any of these practices that have meaning for you and renew your curiosity about what they can teach you.
- Part of the momentum forward includes pausing and resting. Where can you find moments of rest and resource in the fullness of your life? Can you prioritize this? It can be as simple as a few minutes of stillness or silence amid a hectic day or a longer time with devices turned off and attention on beauty and simpleness. See what this can bring you.
- I offer one to one sessions, in-person in Bend, Oregon, and virtually all over the world. These sessions are centered on supporting you finding nervous system capacity and resiliency through various practices including but not limited to Somatic Experiencing®, Continuum Inquiry, Safe and Sound Protocol and various embodying practices. Respond to this email or schedule a free 20 minute Exploratory Session.
Practice Opportunities:
In Person:
Virtual:
- Yoga for Resilience, Mondays, 9:30-11am PT, livestream through Body of Insight (no class Mar 16)
- All Levels Yoga, Sundays… Mar 1, Apr 19, 9:30-11am PT, livestream through Two Dog Yoga
- On Demand Yoga Practices…All Levels… through Two Dog Yoga
Inspirational Wisdom
Practicing Presence
and this, too,
this calling of chickadees,
and this, too,
this buzzing of flies,
and this, too,
this memory from last year,
and this, too,
this tending to right here,
and this, too,
this softening of my jaw,
and this, too,
this ache in my gut,
and this, too,
this turning toward now,
and this, too,
this reaching for more,
and this, too,
this throbbing tenderness,
and this, too,
this all of this,
and this, too,
this only this.
