My cats Moo and Q have been driving me crazy at night ever since I got back from Sedona. Actually, it’s been for longer than that, but maybe the 10 days of blissfully uninterrupted sleep has made me notice how annoying it is to be woken several times a night by a cat meowing at my door.
The problem developed when they were wee little kittens.
Moo and Q, being odd
They were way too crazy at night to sleep with when they were little. Not only would they get into everything in the room and make lots of noise, but they also would attack toes and faces while we slept, so they were always eventually kicked out of the bedroom when we went to sleep.
When I inevitably woke up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, Q would be waiting for me by the door. She’d be adorably affectionate, purring and rubbing against my legs. She’d even follow me into the bathroom and try to jump on my lap for cuddles. Since she’s not an overly cuddly cat during the day, I was suckered in by the show of affection. I would pet her and tell her I loved her and probably said a lot of really dumb things.
From xkcd.com
What I didn’t realize at the time was that I was being woken by her teeny tiny meows that were barely audible. As a kitten, she barely squeeked. Someday, probably when she was a teenager, she found her voice and her meows were now loud enough to jolt me out of my dreams. At this point, I found it far less cute, but I was still too much of a softy to punish her. I would just tell her to stop. Sometimes I would chase her. Sometimes I would spray her with water, but nothing seemed to deter her.
I’m pretty sure she would put her face right down into the crack of the door and HOWL!
Unfortunately for women every where. A cat’s meow sounds a lot like a baby’s cry. They manipulate our weakness for poor helpless infants. Sadly, many men seem immune to the sound.
I could hear these meows right though my ear plugs and white noise machine. Sometimes it got so bad that I would hear phantom meowing while I was trying to fall asleep.
On Friday night, she got me up 6 times. Sadly, I just couldn’t really get mad at her (I told you, I’m a sucker). She just wants to be with me and the only reason she can’t is because her brother meows if he’s in the room while we’re trying to fall asleep.
That’s right. One meows when he’s in the room with us. The other meows when she’s outside it.
GAH! Silly part Siamese cats. Sometimes I wished I didn’t love them so much and I wasn’t such a pacifist, because I felt like doing them harm would feel so good!!!!
You can see I was getting a little desperate.
A turning point happened the other day when I read the phrase “What we resist persists” and something clicked.
I realized that in many ways I was resisting them being in the room out of sheer stubbornness. I wanted to know what might happen if I decided to welcome them into to room instead, shifting my perspective.
I also realized that I had been begging them to ‘Stop meowing!’ In my sleep deprived haze, I forgot the primary rule of manifestation. State what you intend to create in the positive, not the negative.The universal laws of manifesting work like computer programing. You can’t tell a computer not to do something. You can only tell it to do something.
When I commanded “Stop meowing!”, all it and they (and the universe) heard was “Meowing!”
I changed my language to the positive desired outcome.
” Be quiet, kitties and you’ll get to stay in the bedroom!” I may have also said please. Good manners never go out of style!
So on Saturday night, after setting my intention to “having quiet, undisturbed sleep” and having a small talk with my cats, I kept the door open and went to sleep.
The only time I heard a meow was when Jeremy kicked Moo.
Fair enough.
I make sounds when people kick me too.
This new arrangement has worked beautifully so far. I have hear the occasional meow, and been stepped on once or twice by a cat, but by and large I’m getting far more sleep. I’m also shaking my head that it’s taken me 2 years to figure it out. I’ll leave you with another strange picture of my dear, sweet, strange cats.
My husband stated that there was no way I could go a month without sugar.
I’m can’t quite remember what prompted the statement. I think we may have been discussing my love for chocolate.
“Ha!” I scoffed. ” Me? The one who hasn’t had a drink in over 10 months? Mrs. Willpower??? I’d be fine, YOU would be the one who couldn’t go a month without sugar!”
Suddenly, it was on like Donkey Kong.
We decided it would be too hard to enforce while I was traveling in Arizona and Jer wanted to wait till after his birthday. The logical time to start was just after Halloween, on November 1st.
That’s today.
I had my last chocolate bar (ok, two chocolate bars) at 10pm last night. I felt slightly sick afterwards, which is a great start. It’ll make it easier to keep the monkey off my back.
Our rules are simple. No processed/added sugars. Naturally occurring sugars in fruits and veggies are fine. I argued to keep raw local honey as I think there are lots of health benefits, but since he doesn’t like raw honey that didn’t really go over too well.
I’m not a sugar fiend by any stretch. I don’t like candy. Really, the only sugar I crave is in chocolate, but I can be satisfied with raw cacao. The trickier part for me will be avoiding the convenience of things like gluten free bread. We’re going to wind up eating a lot of unprocessed whole foods and I’m pretty stoked about it, but by mid-November, I’ll probably be jonesing for some Udi’s Chia Millet bread toasted with natural PB.
Should be an interesting challenge though. I think the healthy competition might be a fun way of spicing up our relationship. Maybe. I can’t say I’ll be a gracious winner. There might be an “In your face!” or “Suck it!” that slips out, much to my chagrin. Mostly because he started it. This whole thing was his idea and I don’t think he’s ever really seen my super competitive side. Hopefully he finds it cute and endearing.
Halloween has been my favorite holiday since, well, probably forever. The reasons why keep changing and evolving though.
I’ve always loved the idea of dressing up, having fun and getting candy from strangers. As I got older, it was still an excuse for ridiculous costumes and festival style mayhem after festival season was over.
This year though, Halloween was feeling different for me. I wasn’t quite as stoked about the drunken debauchery side of things (being sober takes some of the fun of that away, and I get to dress up in crazy costumes with my hoop troupe all the time). I was still looking forward to the day but it seemed more nostalgic than anything. That is, until I participated in a Samhain ceremony online for the Priestess Process with Lisa Michaels. It completely re-framed my love for this time of year.
Samhain is a cross-quarter day on the wheel of the year between the Fall Equinox and Winter Solstice. It’s the third and last harvest festival day which honors the falling away of the old cycle and the beginning of the new. I’ve been consciously working with the wheel of the year since the Winter Solstice last year and this is the last major point on the wheel before coming back to that very magical starting place.
Through the ceremony, we were encouraged to honor our own harvest; to list all the blessings we’ve had this year, everything we are grateful for. My list was HUGE, and I could have gone on for many pages. I have so very much to be grateful for and so much of that was specifically because of the seeds of intention for the year that were planted on and after last winter solstice, Dec 21, 2012. Thinking about the magnificence of all that I’ve done was both awesome and humbling.
At Samhain, we’re marking the start of the darkest time of the year (in our Hemisphere at least). This is a time where the past and future meet and the veil between worlds are thinner. We have the chance to honor our ancestors, and to reflect on what has passed and what is to come.
This is a time where we step back into the womb or move into hibernation…. A perfect time to set an intention to gestate whatever you want to bring forth over the next year. I set my intention to gestate the book that I want to write about all the amazing things I’ve done this year, and to open my power to communicate my direct experience of divine love, bliss and joy effectively, so I can share it with the world.
It’s also a potent time to release whatever is no longer serving you, and as I did on the Aries full moon while I was out in Sedona, I release any old blocks, patterns of behavior and thought, any limiting beliefs that I have that no longer serve me, especially from all of my past lives.
I feel ready to retreat within to myself and really reflect deeply on the seeds I want to plant his year with the upcoming solstice. I woke up this morning (after about 9 hours of sleep) wishing I could go back to bed and stay asleep all day. In the ceremony today, Lisa gave us all permission to honor this hibernation time by sleeping more, relaxing and being gentle with ourselves. I really needed to hear that. I have trouble giving into my urges to be lazy… I feel better when I make them productive somehow, and I compromised this morning by allowing my shivasana after yoga to be a long, deep, half hour meditation under a fuzzy blanket.
I pulled a card from each element in my Elemental Forces of Creation Oracle and put together this unified field message for myself today: By letting go of what no longer serves me, I am holding space for my essence expression to have complete freedom, which is my path to perfect stewartship of all that is.
I encourage you to spend a part of today, in between taking kids trick or treating (or playing tricks on kids) to think about what seeds of creation you want to plant in your life next year and take those seeds deep into yourself as we hibernate during the darkest time of the year. I also encourage you to give yourself permission to rest and to be gentle with yourself. As the days grow colder and darker, spend a little extra time cuddled up under a warm blanket and know that it’s ok to slow down right now, to relax and enjoy before the days start getting longer again.
There was so much awesome packed into my trip to Sedona, AZ that I don’t even really know where to begin. I got back a week ago, but I still need some time to really absorb and integrate all the experiences.
I don’t even really feel ready to be writing about it, but I’m sure there are at least one or two of you out there who are dying to hear some details. Honestly, I think I’ll be processing all I learned and all it opened up in me for the rest of my days, it was so chock full of awesome.
I started my adventure by flying into Phoenix, making loads of friends at the airport since I was carrying my silver, gold and bronze hoops onto the plane. I wore them across my shoulder, coiled down, and many people stopped to stare, did a double take or just had to ask what they were. There were a surprising number of folks who knew they were hula hoops and thought it was awesome!!!
After renting a car and getting a free upgrade to a Toyota Camry (from a Kia or something), I set off on the open road. I love driving int the desert, and the two hours passed like nothing as I listened to my audio book, Destiny of Souls. While I was getting sleepy towards the end of my drive, the energy of Sedona hit me like a wave of inspiration as soon as I entered the beautiful town.
I checked into my West Sedona motel, The Sugar Loaf Lodge. which was incredible for $77 US a night, with comfy beds and a little fridge and microwave. It really was way better than I expected. Apparently it used to be the crack motel back in the day, but it’s clean, quiet and crack free now!
Anyway, after a light dinner of Kale Ceasar salad and gluten free cheesy bread at the Organic Italian Kitchen called Picazzo across the street, I went to bed at the unbelievable hour of 8:30 pm (which was 9:30 my time, but still seemed ridiculous to me).
I woke up at 6am and made my way to the kitschy Red Planet Diner for BREAKFAST IN SPACE!!!!
Red Planet Diner in Sedona
It’s basically a UFO themed diner. As an avid space enthusiast and Sci-Fi geek I really enjoyed my omelet and green tea in this setting. Sadly, the food itself was not space themed.
After breakfast, I wandered around in a natural grocery store marveling and drooling at all the gorgeous, delicious, healthy things we don’t have at home (yet). Then I made my way to Chanda’s house for my life between lives hypnotherapy session (which I explained in this post: http://wp.me/p32wA4-6B).
Chanda and I had really hit it off during our phone consultation. What should have been a 20 minute call turned into an hour long chat, so it was no surprise that we started talking like long lost friends the second I sat down. In fact, I was enjoying our conversation so much, I actually forgot why I was there. After about an hour, she mentioned getting started, and I was jolted back to the task at hand with the thrill of excitement and anticipation.
The actual hypnosis session lasted 2-3 hours. It began with deep relaxation, visualization and memory recall exercises. I felt incredibly safe, relaxed and comfortable and I slipped into a hypnotic trance as easily as I’d imagined. Although I’d never been formally hypnotized before, I’m very familiar with a trance state of deep relaxation through all the meditation, shamanic journeying and energy work I’ve done.
We went through my childhood, into my mothers womb and back through a tunnel into a significant past life . We used the death scene from that life as a jumping off point into the spirit realm. I felt myself observing the end of my life from the outside of my body. Turns out I tend to escape just before the final moments of my life whenever I see death coming. No sense in sticking around to feel that kind of pain. Once free of my body, I was eager to head home and I outpaced the instructions Chanda was giving me, arriving there within seconds. The first beings I met with upon my return greeted me warmly, reassuring me that life ended appropriately and that everything was all good. It took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust to the light and to be able to really focus on the others in my presence. They appeared as luminous, radiant beings made of sparkly light. I recognized my primary guide and another one who worked with me in the past as well as my husband from that last life who had arrived here a few years ahead of me.
I spend time meeting and talking with some friends and family members from this life, as well as with my council. I also had the opportunity to see some glimpses of the kind of work I do over there (some kind of inter-dimensional energy balancing involving light, color and sound). The overwhelming feeling I had the whole time was one of overwhelming joy. I felt almost giddy really, and there was so much laughing and joking around. Few of my close companions are very serious, some of them are down right silly. I had such a shit-eating grin on my face the whole time my cheeks ached for hours afterwards.
The longer I was there, the deeper the hypnotic trance became and the more vivid every image, sight, sound and feeling became. It was incredible in every way, and re-affirmed every I knew to be true about myself and the nature of our soul’s eternal existence. It was hard to want to leave that high vibration, but you expend a TON of physical, mental, spiritual and emotional energy reaching that state in your human body, and it can’t be sustained indefinitely. Suddenly, you just become tired, and you know it’s time to come back into your body fully.
Coming back was a snap, once I was ready. I knew that I’d be able to go back in meditation now that I’d been there in my conscious mind. Sitting up was hard, but once I did, I was incredibly grateful to be back in my body, knowing I had chosen it very specifically for my time here on Earth. Honestly, I’d never felt quite so alive and at home in my body, which seems almost ironic.
After debriefing and chatting some more with Chanda, I realized I needed to eat. After showing her a little hoop dance stuff, we reluctantly parted ways.
I fed myself, browsed a few crystal shops, caught the sunset at the Airport Mesa, skyped my sister to share the experience and fell asleep by 9pm again!
Waking with the sun, I stretched, ate and had a spectacular Shamanic Astrology reading with Sedona Jeannie. It was another amazing session that gave me so much awesome information myself. I almost wish it has been before the LBL though, because it’s pretty hard to follow a sojourn actually into the spirit realm.
I felt like I could have headed home after those two days, irrevocably changed for the better, but I had another whole intense week of personal transformation and exploration at the Sacred Circularities hoop Dance and movement mediation retreat at the Mago Retreat center. I’m going to save the details for my next post, but suffice it to say that it was just as chock full incredible awesome as the first two days of my journey.
Taoist wizard staff spinning statue at Mago. Remind you all of anyone we know?
The theme for me seemed to be one of deeply connecting to people, which was foreshadowed in my shamanic astrology session. SC in Bali seemed to be more about personal purification, but this was much more inter-connected and grounding. Every class was incredible and I was so honored to witness countless moments of deep transformation and awakening for many people. To quote one of the inspiring facilitators, Shelly White Light, I fell deeply in love with each and every person there.
We were all witness to the purity and greatness in each other. It was incredibly raw and tender, as well as being incredibly powerful. We had so much fun and really honestly raised the vibration of the world through the work we were doing together, dancing a new world into being.
After a glorious week, leaving all my new friends was actually painful, but the blow was softened since I didn’t have to head home right away. I was spending a day and a half with my family in Phoenix, some of whom I hadn’t seen since my last trip to Sedona 4 years prior.
We had a wonderful time reconnecting with each other and I had the time of my life when my uncle took my cousin and I to the Musical Instrument Museum.
Me at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix
My favorite part was the experience gallery where can try many of the awesome instruments displayed elsewhere. It’s also my 2 and 4 year old cousins favorite place in the gallery. I was apparently running around like a kid in a candy store, trying everything I could get my hands on. But haven’t you always wanted to try playing the harp, a giant Chinese xylophone or a theramin (the electronic instrument Sheldon has on Big Bang Theory?)
I’m sure I’m going to have to go into more detail about all these incredible adventures, but Ill save those for next time!
I’m sitting on my bed at the Sugar Loaf Lodge in Sedona, battling my twin urges to go out and explore, or to go to sleep right now (it’s only 7pm here). I’m splitting the difference by staying in, and staying up for another hour or two.
Then I’ll be up with the sun so I can perhaps head out for an early morning hike before my life between lives hypnotherapy session tomorow.
“Your what?” You ask, feeling intrigued and perhaps slightly confused.
It’s exactly what it sounds like.
I’m sure you’ve heard of past-life regression. Well, this is the same thing, but also explores the realm in between lives where our spirits plan for our next incarnation (as well as do some other spirit realm type things.)
I can’t friggin wait. I am so excited I don’t even know how to process it.
The technique is from Dr. Michael Newton, of The Newton Institute.
He was a very skeptical hypnotherapist who accidently found himself regressing his past life patients into that between lives state, which he calls the spirit world or spirit realm.
He has written several fascinating books about his cases; Journey of Souls, Destiny of Souls and Memories of the Afterlife. All of them are full of fascinating information that sparked a deep remembrance within me.
Most people who go for a session are looking for their life purpose, or perhaps they have an issue in their lives they are really struggling with. I’m just going out of sheer curiosity and a deep desire to bring a deeper connection to spirit into my everyday life.
Through meditation, I’ve had a few spontaneous, direct experiences with this realm and each time I have felt an intense healing of my being and infusion of knowledge and understanding. The beauty of our immortal soul in it’s light body is so spectacularly breathtaking that it’s beyond words, and even beyond my full comprehension.
Needless to say, I’m sure much of it will be beyond words but I’ll try to share as much of the experience as I can with you all.
I have been waiting for this for a long, long time.
Eagerly waiting, I might add.
Ann Humphreys and Jaguar Mary were in Sedona together about 2 years ago.
They danced on the land and felt it’s power, and thought “Hey! This would be an amazing place for a hoop retreat!”
Since Jaguar Mary is the primary creatrix of the legendary Sacred Circularities hoop dance and movement meditation retreats, she conspired to make it happen.
The Sedona retreat was scheduled for December 2012.
I’m pretty sure I was the first to sign on, about a minute after tickets went on sale in January 2012.
Sedona is my favorite place on the plane and hoop dance is one of my favorite things as you know, so I was going to be there no matter what. Even though I work in the restaurant industry, with December being the busiest time of the year and my biggest cash cow, I was going to be there somehow.
I went to Sedona on a Soul Adventure in 2010. It was as epic as it sounds. Completely amazing, life affirming wonderfully awesomely amazing. Did I say amazing? Well, it was. Sedona is magical. The area has been held as sacred for many, many generations, and has a deeply uplifting spiritual power. The land is full of energetic vortexes, which, if you are sensitive to energy, are incredibly intense to visit.
Me, on a rock, in Sedona
As excited as I was for the event, it turned out that December was a bad time for everyone, so the retreat was rescheduled to October 2013. I was relieved when I found out about the date change. I wasn’t disappointed as I knew this would work out better for everyone, myself included.
I have had a LOT of time to be excited for this though, and I can’t believe it’s almost here. After traveling to Bali for Sacred Circularities in April, I have a better idea of just how much awesome this will entail!
The retreat center itself looks spectacular, the schedule looks amazing, and I keep hearing about little touches that will make it even better, like smoothies from my favorite restaurant in Sedona, The Chocola Tree available in between classes. Just as refreshing as the young coconuts (from the trees right beside our hoop space) opened for us during class in Bali.
I’ve spent the last 2 years imagining how wonderful it will be to hoop on the sacred land in Sedona. I’ve spend the months since Bali waiting to return to the same community atmosphere we had there, and I’ve spend the last couple weeks deciding which hoops to bring. Tonight, I’ll figure out the rest.
I leave tomorrow morning, and I’m spending a day in Sedona soaking up the magic, and going to a few really cool new age practitioners before heading to the retreat on Sunday.
I am beyond excited, because I know this is going to be another life changing, amazing adventure!
A video kicked my butt for about 6 minutes today. It involved sweating, moaning, groaning, gasping for air and flopping like a bowl of microwaved Jello on the floor after it was over.
Then I hit repeat and did it again (twice).
Why you ask?
Well, it’s been a long time since I challenged myself physically. I’ve gotten into the groove of my daily yoga/movement mediation practice and I’ve definitely gained lots of strength and flexibility this year, but I’ve been feeling like kicking things up a notch lately (yes, this is an Emeril reference, BAM!)
BAM!
I started incorporating more strength work into yoga about two weeks ago, and it’s been satisfying to feel the difference in my muscle tone already. I was pondering doing more, but between work, hoop dance, classes and the downtime I crave, I wasn’t sure where to fit it in. I contemplated going for a run, but the fact that winter is around the corner has deterred me. Not to mention, I’ve never been a huge fan or running. So what then? I don’t want to go to the gym. I know me. I won’t make time. I can barely make it out the door to a yoga class.
Then today, someone on my facebook posted a link to a site called The DailyHiit, full of free Hiit (High Intensity Interval Training) workouts. Thank you whoever you are (I didn’t go back to look). They post videos for every day of the week.
The video that had me moaning and flopping today was a ‘Surprise Your Body’ Ab workout.
It was awesome. I’ve done some Hiit workouts before. I know they’re the most effective way of training, and I love the fact that you can be done and over with your work out in 12-20 minutes. I also love that you don’t need any equipment. They do have a few things you can use (and order from them) like a sandbag, weights or timer, but you can do the workouts without them.
So this is my new challenge. Adding some Hiit into my day, along with my 30 minutes of yoga.
I am so ready for this. I wouldn’t have been 6 months ago, but here I am. I want to feel stronger. I want to have more muscle definition again, and I want to break through this plateau I’ve had with my body for about a year. I’ve been in great shape before, (when I was in trampoline and tumbling), but that was years ago. I used to have strangers stop me to remark on my leg muscles back then. I want that feeling of strength and mastery back.
I know the stronger my body feels, the more capable I feel. Also, muscles amp up your metabolism, so once I have more of them, I can eat more chocolate, yay!!!!
I don’t see the downside. I may tomorrow morning when I’m again moaning and groaning, gasping for air and feeling the burn, my face matching the color of this amazing 80’s workout My Little Pony.
With the fall equinox just a week behind us, it already feels like we’re deep into fall. The equinox is one of my favorite times of the year, with a perfect balance of light and dark in the day. Now, the days are getting shorter,the leaves are turning and we’ve had to turn on the heat every night this week. Oh, also, we’ve already had many people bitching about the cold weather on facebook (what are you guys going to do when it snows?) ,
I’ve always loved fall. I love the colors, the back to school energy, the fact that Halloween (my favorite holiday) is right around the corner! I also love the return of scarves, my favorite clothing item!! My studies this year have given me an even greater appreciation of the turning of the seasons, and what they represent. The fall equinox is a harvest festival, when we get to reap the seeds we’ve sown throughout the year. It’s a fantastic time to take a minute to appreciate all the work you’ve done, and honor how far you’ve come.
I woke up the day after the Equinox with a very deep knowing that I am going to write a book about this year. It’s actually going to be my next project. I’ve always had the idea that I would write about this experience in the back of my mind but it didn’t occur to me that the prime time to do it will be right after I complete the year, while it’s fresh.
It’s an exciting feeling. When I think about it, I can feel this energy coursing through me. I’m sure it’s going to be a pain in the butt, but writing is a book is definitely on my bucket list. I was always just waiting till the time was right and I had something to say. Well, it’s been such a hell of a year so far, I have lots to talk about, and the year ain’t over yet. More adventures are just around the corner. But I’ve traveled all over the world, and deep into my inner landscape. I’m confident that I have some interesting stories to share. I also think it will be an amazing opportunity to really digest and appreciate the crazy amount of growth as a person I’ve had this year. Thinking back and reflecting on things isn’t my forte, so this will be an additional layer of growth for me personally. I’m sure the insights I’ve gained this year will be deepened through the process of recollecting and reflection.
Even though it’s not usually in my nature to stop and reflect, I’ve been guided through the process throughout these last few weeks in some of the classes I’m taking. It’s been incredible and exhilarating to look back at what I’ve done this last year seeing how I’ve grown and developed, and what I’ve learned.
I encourage you to take a few minutes to do the same today.
Look at where you were at the beginning of the year. What have you accomplished? What have you learned? How have you grown? Take some time to pat yourself on the back for all the hard work you’ve put in! In fact, let me pat you on the back too. You’ve done a great job my friend. Even if you’ve had a rough time of it, you’re surviving, learning and most importantly, you’re still breathing, so you have the chance to integrate all you’ve learned as you go forward.
Earth school is tough. Just the fact that you’re here makes you a brave warrior soul, slogging it out in this dense energy in order to learn and grow for your soul’s evolution.
I have had a regular morning movement practice for quite a few months now. Usually I just do some yoga, sometimes I’ll incorporate some dance, or hoop dance. I’ve noticed how much better I feel when I do this every day. My energy is up, my mood is better and my ability to handle frustration is WAY higher. Sometimes though, like last week, I start slacking a bit. I woke up too late to stretch a couple times on busy days or I just didn’t put in enough time or effort and only did a few poses before I sat down with my tea at the computer. When I was stretching, I wasn’t really in the moment. I was listening to a Ted Talk or a book on tape. Basically I was being lazy and disengaged.
Unfortunately, that slacking for those two weeks or so really affected my body. I started to tighten up, especially after work or hoop class. My feet and hips started to hurt. My alignment was off and I was sore. Then I really didn’t want to stretch, it hurt! I was less flexible and it was discouraging, but I made myself go through a really thorough stretch a few days ago and like magic, my body felt so much better. I was melting away the fuzz!!
Today, there was still some lingering tightness (fuzz) in the back of my legs especially, and I wasn’t really enjoying downward dog at all. I thought about skipping on to some other pose, forgetting sun salutations completely. I thought about how much it sucked that this hurt so bad. I thought about how annoying it was that my body felt fine two weeks ago and how stupid it was that slacking a bit could result in so much pain.
Then suddenly I thought to myself, “You’re making this more difficult than it needs to be. In fact, you’re making it rather unpleasant!”So I switched around my inner narrative to “Man, this feels amazing. Stretching feels so good” I tried to really relax and let my breath carry away the resistance and tension in my legs. I kept repeating to myself affirmations about how good it felt, and drawing my attention to what parts did feel good and suddenly, it did!
By piddleville cc by 2.0
Hanging in an upside down V with my butt up in the air, heels flat on the ground suddenly felt amazing! It was a good pain, just a gentle burning, the kind that fills you with endorphins (like eating spicy food or other slightly masochistic pleasures). I started to really enjoy myself!
Do bear in mind that this wasn’t actual pain I was experiencing. Just tightness and discomfort that needed to be stretched out. Actual pain in your body is a signal that something is wrong, and you need to honor that, and be gentle with your body.
The rest of my practice was wonderful. I started to really appreciate and enjoy the strength and flexibility in my body that was buried underneath that mental resistance. Surrendering completely to the moment, I felt my power and energy coursing through my body. This was in sharp contrast to how I felt a few minutes before hand as I dragged myself out of bed, wishing I could just sleep for another 10 hours.
It was just another beautiful reminder as to the power of my thoughts. They shape my reality completely. I should know this by now, but it’s so easy to forget. To get swept away, feeling powerless, when really, we have complete control of our reaction in every moment. The moment we switch our thinking from ‘This is hard! This sucks!’ to ‘This is awesome! I can do this, this feels great!” we invite in a sense of ease and grace that actually makes it awesome.
Today is the tail end of the 3 day Virgo new moon window. The sun is also in Virgo right now giving us a double dose of this amazing earthy energy. It’s the perfect time to work on organizing the details in your life, which is great timing for everyone back to school, or back to work in September here.
The Virgo archetype is one celebrating dedicated sacred work. This is the priest/ess energy which is serves the world though honoring and understanding the natural rhythms of life, and all the details surrounding it. This energy is dedicated, organized and practical. There is a deep commitment to serving the world through their work.
This is unfamiliar energy to some of us. There has often been a deep separation between the sacred and the mundane in our culture. The Virgo priest/ess energy imbues a sense of sacred within all those mundane, practical details of life. There is a deep sense reverence for everything that occurs in nature, and in the life cycle and a deep connection to the divine feminine mysteries.
This energy has been somewhat lost and misunderstood over the years, but we’re returning to it now. There is a deep awakening of this energy happening on the planet, and many people are feeling a deep desire to reclaim our connection to it.
For many years now, I’ve identified with this priestess archetype. Everything I’ve read of the priestesses honoring the divine feminine, worshiping and serving the Goddess has resonated with me deeply. I remember flashes of past lives where I served in temples and dedicated my life to this sacred work. I feel a deep connection to this divine feminine energy that leaves me with a sense of longing for more it in my life. I know when I work consciously with this energy I feel whole.
It’s with great excitement that I am choosing to bring more of this energy into my life. I’m activating the Priestess archetype within me by going through a ceremonial initiation called The Priestess Process with my dear teacher Lisa Michaels. Here she has written 10 blessings Received from Becoming Priestess, to give you some idea of why I’m doing this.
We began the initiation process yesterday during this new moon window, and we will finish on Beltane (May 1st), and emerge as Priestesses. I am so thrilled to begin this journey of actively embodying this archetype within myself. Every woman I have met who has done this ceremonial energetic activation has this amazing energy running through her. It’s powerful and I can’t wait to experience it again (I know I’ve done this before, in many lives). I’m also so thrilled to be living in a time when it’s safe for women connect to their divine feminine power. It’s always been our birthright, but the pendulum of culture had swung far to the other side, celebrating the divine masculine mysteries almost exclusively. I believe we’re spiritual whole only when we are able to unite our divine feminine and masculine aspects within ourselves, in a sacred marriage. Without both, we are incomplete beings.
If this is something that resonates with you, you still have time to join us (until Sept 27, 2013). We’d love to have you along for the journey for The Priestess Process
Dancing Into Being 