Last winter I got into a simple ritual that I have been enjoying again now that winter is here. Winter can bring a lot of dryness to our skin, mucous membranes, and hair, so it is important to supply our bodies with more fats and water than in the summer (damper) months. I have found that putting good fats on my skin is a great way to absorb them and feel nourished in a deep way. The following winter ritual keeps my skin soft and moisturized all winter.
Read moreHealing Modality Highlight: Flower Essences
Flower essences have quickly become one of my favorite healing modalities both for myself and in my practice. They are a less-well-known botanical medicine than herbs, but are just as effective. They differ in preparation than herbs and work on different levels of the body, which I will touch on briefly here.
Read moreForgiveness: the art of letting go
I was walking home the other day, listening to a podcast by Rob Bell called The Forgiving Flow. He is teaching a five-part series on forgiveness and this was the first episode. As I was listening, I was also taking in Fall and all her beauty. The burnt orange leaves slowly turning color, lining the street. The refreshingly crisp air entering my lungs, clearing out old, stagnant breath. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, fall is the season governed by the Lungs and Large Intestine. The lungs, large intestine, skin and nose are the organs related to the Metal Element. As you may imagine simply based on the function of each organ, they govern some important aspects of our lives.
Read moreFinding Your Roots: everyday grounding practices
“Grounding” is a bit of a buzz-word that has been floating around the natural health community, yoga circles, and other healing spaces over the past few years. I have personally been working on becoming “more grounded”, as I am sure many of you can relate. Over the course of my own process, I have come to understand that the concept of grounding or being grounded is very much a fluid part of our ever-changing existence. It is not a state to be achieved, something to be checked off our list. Rather, it is a state that we flow in and out of regularly.
Read moreThe Healing Process: simplicity
As I learn more about this process of healing, there are a few themes that I am beginning to see repeated back to me. I talked a bit about cycles last week and it has been my experience that the healing process (or journey) really follows this same pattern of cycles. One theme that I revisit over and over again is simplicity.
Read moreA Meditation on Fear
Just sit.
Notice where you feel hard and sit with that.
In the middle of the hardness, you’ll find anger, sit with that.
Go to the center of the anger and you’ll probably come to sadness.
Stay with the sadness until it turns to vulnerability.
Keep sitting with what comes up; the deeper you dig, the more tender you become.
Raw fear can open into a wide expanse of genuineness, compassion, gratitude and acceptance of the present moment.
A tender heart appears naturally when you are able to stay present.
From your heart, you are able to see the true pigment of the sky.
You can see the vibrant yellow of the sunflower and the deep blue of your daughter’s eyes.
A tender heart does not block out rain clouds, or tears, or dying sunflowers.
Allow both beauty and sadness to touch you.
This is LOVE, not fear.
Craniosacral Therapy Part II: The Process**-From Chaos to Wonderment
I had the opportunity to attend an intensive craniosacral therapy program last week in Truth or Consequences, NM. This intensive is one of many week-long programs hosted by Integrative Intentions, a unique organization that offers therapy programs that combines craniosacral therapy with group dynamics, water therapy, and equine therapy.
One morning, in our daily group meeting, the concept of transitioning from chaos to wonderment came up. This concept became a theme for the group over the course of the next few days. As these things often happen, I began to come across this concept in books and conversations.
Read morePain and Power: an unexpected relationship
Where there is pain, there is also power.
Sometimes it takes extreme pain for us to begin to pay attention to our bodies and their messages. However, when the decision is made to engage with pain and the process that unfolds, power emerges. And it is there, that place where the most pain lies, that the most power also resides.
Read moreA Few Thoughts on Forgiveness (and... go take a VACATION!!)
“To begin to forgive, it is good to forego for a while. That is, to take a break from thinking about the person or event for a while. It is not leaving something undone, but rather more like taking a vacation from it. This prevents us from being exhausted, allows us to strengthen in other ways, to have other happiness in our lives.”
~Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women who Run with the Wolves
I have found that forgiveness, whether of self or another, is often an integral part of a healing journey. Forgiveness does not happen once and it is done – often we revisit forgiveness in many ways and from many angles over the course of life. The interesting thing that I have learned recently about forgiveness is that it is not often for the other person (you know, the one who did you wrong). More often, the act of forgiveness happens for YOU, the forgiver. Forgiveness is about opening the heart and while living with an open heart can be scary, it also allows us to be courageous and compassionate.
Read moreWhere does your inner compass point? Creating orientation around health
This blog post is inspired by much of my own process into creating new beliefs and orientation around health and healing. It has been further inspired by the stories of my clients and those of my teachers. I have spent the past decade of my life studying and experiencing health and disease through a variety of lenses and circumstances. This has been a process that has not been linear or bathed in clarity. It really has been a process of sitting with many viewpoints that seem opposing and finding my own self within the sea of facts, opinions, and theories. A few weeks ago, there was a pivotal moment in this process for me. It all seems so simple when I look back at it now.
Read moreCraniosacral Therapy Part III: BodyMind Continuum
In this third part of the series on foundational aspects of Craniosacral Therapy, I am going to elaborate on the bodymind continuum. While craniosacral therapy deeply affects the physical body (read more about the basic anatomy of CST here), it is also one of the best therapies that I have found to work with the bodymind continuum. True healing is expressed when there is harmony between all aspects of oneself – Mind, Body, Soul.
Read moreCraniosacral Therapy Part II: The Process
In this second part of the series on Craniosacral Therapy (CST), I want to discuss some elements of the process**. If you haven’t read the first post on some basic anatomy and function behind CST, you can check it out here.
Craniosacral Therapy is a process oriented therapy. What does this mean? Well, it speaks largely to how both the practitioner and the client engage in the therapy. As the practitioner, I honor the deep, innate intelligence of each body and follow the process that it sees fit. In my experience, this orientation around process rather than formula is a more gentle and effective way to treat the body because force is not involved. This concept will be expanded upon in a bit when I talk about the light touch used in craniosacral therapy. So, back to what it means to engage in process oriented work.
Read moreCraniosacral Therapy Part I: Fundamental Anatomy and Physiology
Craniosacral Therapy (CST) is a relatively new experience for many people. It is very common that first-time clients have never experienced craniosacral therapy or worked with a craniosacral therapist. I love this! It is a wonderful therapy and is often much easier to explain once one has had a personal experience with this work. However, I am going to create a 3 part series of posts to further explore various aspects of craniosacral therapy**. My intention with these posts is to set a foundation for the cognitive understanding of CST. Although these posts will likely only scratch the surface, my hope is to answer some commonly asked questions for those who are current or potential clients looking for more information. In this first post, I am going to dive into some of the basic the anatomy and physiology behind craniosacral therapy. This really is the foundation for the practice.
Read more