I write to you with a full cup overflowing after attending The Beauty Way, a gorgeous retreat program curated by my friends and colleagues who invited me to come and sit in a receiver's seat, one I rarely sit in lately. The surrender to that gave me many gifts- a reminder of my connection to all things being just one. I was able to remember a reciprocity that happens when we not only always create and make and give and tend, but we are also given to, tended to, revered, and loved.
My guess is that if you are reading this, you tend to err on the side of giving (or perhaps even over-giving, over-exerting). Perhaps you are in a space of rationing your time and energy just to get from one obligation to the next. Maybe there is a stagnation in your creativity or a fear in the middle of your path that has had so much of your attention that it is as real as the chair you sit on to read this.
There are many options for a moment like this, some tried and true. You already know what it feels like to effort your way through it. You know how to outsmart it, overcome it, force your way through. You know how to hide from it, make excuses for it, maybe even use confusion to discount its truth. "Mondays, am I right?" "It's just been one of those weeks." If only this person would pick up the slack or that situation could be different. If I just try harder, if they just listen more, if I just get through this part, if they just stop acting that way… These are all mountains you've climbed time and again. Yet, we convince ourselves that if we climb it with different tools or from another side that it will be a different mountain.
If your mind is going to a familiarly glossed over place where you are taking in this message intellectually, I invite you to a deep breath in. I invite you to a focus on your heart. I invite you to hear it from another place. I invite you to remember that there is another way than all of the ways you've tried before. I invite you to consider your inner rhythm. Even if you cannot feel its beat fully, sitting with the idea that you might have one is a beautiful start.
In a recent in-person reiki session, my client went from the painful stories in her mind about what was happening in her body before the session to an inner-knowing after the session, one that allowed the spaciousness for fear to simply leave. Reiki, retreats, mindset shifting sessions- all of these have the potential to make a new way for energy to move than just "trying hard" for it. Rather than picking up another how-to book, come be reminded. All of us have the answers within us. Coaches are not there to give us a way but to remind us of how to find our own.
Whether you are at a plateau in your work or have a lie that you keep telling yourself about the way you're living that you're ready to stop telling; whether you notice a creative slump or you see old patterns resurfacing; whether you are thriving yet alone, or succeeding yet unsatisfied- taking that look within and choosing a new way can shift even the most stubborn mechanisms that we create out of fear. Many of these were useful at a point. They got us where we are now. But you and I know, we can feel it in our bones, that it won't get you where you're headed.
This can be another nudge along the path of reminders, or you can let it be the catalyst for change. It can just be this email. It can be a complimentary call to go into the more specific pieces that are unique to you. It can be a reiki session to clear and relax some of the parts that have been louder than your inner voice lately. And I would love to also invite you to the first in a series of free workshops led by the leaders of Alchemy of Us.
Alchemy of Us is a retreat I will be leading with three other leaders Oct 15-19 in Tubac, Arizona. Alchemy of Men is a project built by two of my friends and colleagues who have invited me and another to join them to create a retreat for all genders, meant to inspire, heal, and invigorate individuals and couples alike. Our workshop series will touch on some of the topics that we will cover at the retreat and will also give you an opportunity to get to know some of the other leaders. It is not a requirement to have a ticket to the retreat to attend these sessions, so feed your curiosity and come get some goodness as our gift to you! Here is the line up:
- Tomorrow: Rooting in the Unknown: Balancing the Practical and the Magical May 29 noon pacific
- Friends Without Benefits: Creating Platonic Love on Purpose June 12 noon pacific*
- Summertime Sadness: Navigating Grief Out of Season July 10 noon pacific*
- Fire In Your Belly: Finding Purpose on Purpose July 17 10:30a pacific
- Sharp Edges: Navigating the Waves of Relationship Aug 22 noon pacific
- Holding a Friend: Compassion from Afar September 12 noon pacific*
Those with * will be ones I co-lead. The others will be led by the other leaders of Alchemy of Us. The link has more details for each of these.
I would love the opportunity to walk next to you wherever you find yourself on your path in any of the ways I've shared above, so please do consider which may be for us. Until then, thank you for reading. Please share with anyone who may benefit from joining us for these monthly emails!
