Friday Focus :: Play

Happy Summer, sweet friend!

Sometimes being an adult can get so serious, so today I wanted to give you a little focus for your Friday... to carry you into this summer weekend.  It's simple and short, creative and enjoyable.

It's about inviting in more PLAY.  

How I like to look at this is: what did I love to do as a child?  What did I love most about summer when I was young and carefree?  

Let the watermelon juice run down your chin.  Wiggle your toes in the green grass.  Spend time by a body of water.  Go on a quest for fireflies.  

What brings you joy?
What makes you feel good?
Do THAT.

Engage your senses.
What invigorates your tastebuds?  What music makes you want to sway and play?  What flowers or sights make your eyes light up?  What sensations do you like to feel against your skin?  What scents make you nostalgic for days gone by?

Take a deep inhale and exhale.

Close your eyes and hold the spirit of summer and the essence of play in your heart.

Say to yourself: I INVITE IN MORE PLAY.   

As we enter into warmer weather, allow the heat to melt you and help you slow down.  Allow that inner child to emerge and help you be more playful.

Stop and take a moment to enjoy the smell of fresh cut grass, campfires, the barbecue next door.  Feel the grass under your feet, the breeze against your cheek, the light clothes on your torso, and the tickle of a feather against your arm.  Spend time in nature to soak in all the glorious beauty of creation.  Dance and jig and twirl and sing your heart out.  Indulge in your favorite ice cream flavor, gobble up all the fresh fruits and veggies, and pack an adult picnic basket with all of the fancy gourmet meats and cheeses that make you feel divine.  Pick up a game of catch or jam out with your instruments.  Play, play, play! 

Monday Mantra :: Resistance

The first beginning minutes in a breathwork session (whether in a group, by yourself at home, or in a one-on-one session) is the work phase.  Those six minutes right off the bat are some of the hardest because the mind is still wanting to be in control of the situation.  We can experience tightness, tension, a distracting dry mouth.  We come right up against our own resistance.  

This is on my mind currently because I'm about to head off to Joshua Tree, California this weekend for a two day training with my Breathwork teacher, David Elliot.  The last time I was in training with him was about two years ago and breathing for a full week removed so many old layers.  Tons of old ish got looked at, felt, and released.  It was a lot of change for one week and, while it was an AMAZING experience, it was intense.  And sometimes, once you change, it's hard to go back to the way things were.  

So as the days get closer to my departure into the magical desert land with a community of incredible breathwork people, I can feel my system preparing itself.  My energy and spirit are getting ready for whatever change might occur and I'm needing to remember to bring my body along for the ride, gently.

This has got me thinking about all of us and the mini-micro changes we go through in our day to day, as well as the big, once-in-a-lifetime changes.  

For one reason or another, we sometimes resist change.  Change is difficult, uncomfortable, freeing, exhilarating, heartbreaking, grief-filled, joyous, and empowering all at the same time.  And that can be tough on a body.

I once had an intuitive teacher tell me that it's the soul who wants to conquer mountains and go on grand adventures, but it's the body who wants to stay at home, slouch on the couch, and eat hamburgers all day.  

With this in mind we get to let our souls fly while also giving our body space to catch up (and maybe indulge in a few bonbons from time to time).  We can keep our eyes open for where we are resisting: what that looks like, how it feels, why it might be manifesting.  I know I've said this a many times before but where we have awareness by noticing and naming, the healing process can begin.  

So this week's mantra (inspired by a Moon Deck card!) helps us practice being aware of where we feel resistance and how we can move through it with self compassion.  To use this awareness as knowledge into knowing ourselves better.  

Take a deep inhale and exhale.

Scanning your body for tightness, tension, feelings of resistance, emotions.

Say to yourself: I MEET MY RESISTANCE WITH KINDNESS.  

With the full moon this past Friday, we are transitioning into a waning moon phase, which is potent time for RELEASING and cleaning out the clutter.  As the moon sheds her layers of light as she makes her way back to the "new" phase, we too can begin to peel away and move into times of change and transition with kindness.  As we move into a new season next week, or anytime you find yourself in a place where you need a little reminder to be gentle with yourself, you can use this mantra throughout your day.  

This week's mantra :: I MEET MY RESISTANCE WITH KINDNESS.  

Friday Focus :: Choose Your Own

{image repost from @thesacredartsexperience on Instagram}

This weekend's mantra is a "choose your own adventure" of sorts.

Every summer, my mom would take us to the library and let us pick out a big stack of books.  I remember reading those Choose Your Own Adventure young adult books as a kid and trying to find a method to reading every possible story option. Just picking one version of the story all the way through to the end didn't work for me. I folded pages and used bookmarks to mark all the forks in the road and all the places of choice, so I could make my way back and see the journey of the other options. Does this resonate for you? 

Sometimes when I come up across a big decision or a moment of fuzzy thinking, it's easy to consult others, my oracle cards, instagram quotes, and only when I've done all the pros and cons list of rational thinking, do I find myself getting quiet or walking in nature or doing a little breathwork to find my answer and my clarity within my body's intuition. 

So I thought today would be a good time as we move into a new month to practice and remember that we know ourselves and our bodies the best. We've lived in and with our bodies and our perspectives and our experiences for our entire life.  

We can consult and get support from doctors, coaches, healers, therapists and they are important people to have on our team. At the end of the day, we are the ones that have to do the heavy lifting of the healing work. It's OUR boots on the ground that creates progress. Our willingness to get vulnerable, to feel our emotions, to tend to ourselves with love and self care.  It's OUR CHOICE to pick which path on the adventure that we take.  

So feeling into your body and your energy, where do you feel you need a little focus and attention? Where in your being needs a little awareness and a little care? 

Let your inner wisdom guide you to the mantra that wants to work with you.  If you are familiar with your chakras and know which one needs a little balancing and opening, you can also use that as your guide.  Otherwise, feel into which one resonates most for you and go with that (there's no right or wrong answer!). 

I AM DIVINE. {crown}
I AM CONNECTED. {6th chakra}
I AM EXPRESSIVE. {throat}
I AM LOVED. {heart}
I AM STRONG. {solar plexus}
I AM CREATIVE. {sacral}
I AM SAFE. {root}

{and if you're like my childhood self, maybe you choose all of them!  That's okay too!}

Take a deep inhale and exhale.

Feel into your body, feeling your feet on the floor and the crown of your head lengthening upward. 

Choose your mantra and say it to yourself.

Sometime things resonate with us for a cycle, a day, an hour, a year, a decade. Let this mantra guide you for as long as you need.  Feel free to come back to this list whenever you need a short, simple way to connect with a certain part of yourself.  You know you best.  xo!

New Moon Message :: Unfolding

Card featured in image from The Moon Deck.  

Happy May New Moon!

One of the energy healing modalities I work with is called Esoteric Healing, where I work off the body of my client using my hands and inner perception to check in with and bring to balance the flow in my client's energy, finding what is stuck in the field, and holding space for all the pieces in the chakra systems to come to harmony.  (Had you told me ten years ago that I'd be able to sensitize my focus in order to feel the energy of someone's adrenals in the palms of my hands, I would've said you crazy!)  I love this modality because it allows me to tap into intuitive guidance from the body, emotions, and energy of those I work with.  

A couple of weeks ago, I had a session with a client whose fallopian tubes felt pulled tight like a taut bungie chord, which was not a usual sensation from this particular client in the past.  Tuning into this energy in her body, I heard this message for my client: "Everything you are creating is unfolding in perfect timing."

The fallopian tubes are part of a female's reproductive system within the sacral chakra, which is connected to our creativity and our ability to physically manifest our desires into the world.  

Especially in this season of spring when the world is ripe for planting, this message is important for all of us.  I know I am really, really good at living in the future within my mind.  I see what I want and how it looks at the end of the road, but find myself incredibly impatient when I'm not there yet! 

The nature of a seed is to grow.  Given the right conditions, that's what it does naturally.  With the right amount of water, sunshine, nourishment, it will do what it is made to do... push up through the earth against gravity, sprout, and bloom.

However, what it DOESN'T need is us to dig it up every so often to check in on it to see if it is growing.  It is.  We can trust that process.  

Same with our creative projects or the things we are manifesting in our lives.  There's a creative process.  A journey.  Just like the moon cycle and the seasons, there is a timing to creation.  An unfolding.  

(Of course, the opposite is always true and there are some seeds and dreams that DON'T grow.  We still experience TIMING and this kind of timing allows us to experience loss, the waning cycle, and the dying process, but that's another topic for another blog.)

So, now with this new moon, we get to plant our desires and give them nourishment in the form of actions and support.  Then, rather than forcing things and having tight bungie chord energy in our systems, we get to TRUST and leave space for DIVINE TIMING.  We get to have patience and embrace the journey and the process.  We get to chose to live in the moment.     

Easier said than done sometimes, but here's a mantra to use when you need (I know I do!): 

Take a deep inhale and exhale.

Feel into the power in your pelvis and your creative center.

Say to yourself: EVERYTHING I AM CREATING IS UNFOLDING IN PERFECT TIMING. 

With today's new moon, take a few minutes to tune into what intentions you'd like to set during the last new moon of spring.  Write it in your journal, share it with a friend or loved one, whisper it to the night sky, tell the earth's soil, or send a note to me so I can hold it with you.  Then, with a deep breath, allow the journey to unfold in perfect timing, feeling into the emotions and sensations every step of the way.

New Moon Mantra :: EVERYTHING I AM CREATING IS UNFOLDING IN PERFECT TIMING.

**June and July dates have been opened up in my online scheduler, if you'd like to book an Esoteric, Reiki, or Breathwork one-on-one session.  Sessions can be done in person or via phone/skype (and available for the loves who live far away!).  xo!