Nature has cycles. Our body has cycles. Each day cycles through waking and sleeping, and even through our waking hours we have cycles of productivity and required rest, called ultradian rhythms, which last about every 80-120 minutes for productive focus before we need to 'check out' from work and switch gears - play, rest, get outside. This is about honoring biological rhythm and energy instead of managing our to do list in spite of our energy and body's needs. We work, then we rest. Or, we don't, and we bring on a host of habits that work against our health and happiness. Culturally, we could be better about allowing the fallow, dark season of fall and winter to help us rest and turn inward. The pace of our day, and our life directly impacts our health. We're heading into … [Read more...]
Navigating the New and Different
Hello, sweet friends! I hope you're feeling grounded and getting your 2018 off to a strong, clear start. We just celebrated the New Moon, too, and I spent a few hours with a group of women, in circle, with candles around our altar as we shared what we need to shed and digest in order to move forward. It felt yummy and supportive, but also edgy as we each bravely spoke about our challenges and fears. I released (again and again a thousand times) the grief and anger I've felt through the initiation into motherhood. Hello, intensity. I shed any shame around the difficulty of the transition and early challenges in bonding with Fern. I let go of blaming my body for what didn't happen. I surrendered my expectations about control and being in command in exchange for getting … [Read more...]
Relational Wellbeing: The Yajna Model
Hey everyone! Today I'm going to quickly teach you about a model used in Yoga philosophy that helps an individual see where and how they are supported by aspects of life and a variety of relationships. What struck me is how different this view is from a western biopsychosocial model - often referred to as the Six Dimensions of Wellness. This model focuses on the individual's needs, with limited attention given to relationships (in the social and perhaps environmental pieces of the pie). The Yajna Model really looks at the individual functioning within an ongoing study and appreciation for relationships of different types, to meet different needs. If we think of either of these models like a table, each aspect is a leg on the table providing support to the individual. One leg … [Read more...]
Breathing – Becoming – Embodied
"Now and again, it is necessary to seclude yourself among deep mountains and hidden valleys to restore your link to the source of life. Breathe in and let yourself soar to the ends of the universe; breathe out and bring the cosmos back inside. Next, breathe up all fecundity and vibrancy of the earth. Finally, blend the breath of heaven and the breath of earth with your own, becoming the Breath of Life itself." - Morihei Ueshiba When I contemplate breathing and eating and intimacy it's a conversation between beings, a communion of self with the external world, bringing parts of our environment and nourishment and lover into ourselves and a part of us being released back out into the atmosphere as we exhale, eliminate, separate from other and reconnect with Self. Reuniting. … [Read more...]