Here’s a little secret

A decision making hack everyone can do

It might surprise you to learn that I get stuck too on big life decisions. I’m not immune from wanting things to go a certain way which can certainly muddy the mental waters. I’m a little less muddy now than in the past. But in 2012 I was in such a state I bought 4 tarot decks and a handful of tarot books to help with decision making and shift the low level dread that had parked itself on my chest. 

Gratefully things did shift with the benefit of time. And even with my rudimentary tarot knowledge, I got some decent feedback from the spreads I employed. I learned later of another system of inquiry that is profound and cultivates self trust. It was developed by Swedish Physiotherapists around the late 1800’s and it’s called Applied Kinesiology aka Muscle Testing.

We’ve all likely heard the bit that our conscious mind only makes up 5% or less of our intelligence and brain capacity. Whereas the rest is dedicated to the subconscious mind which is recording every experience we’ve ever had, operating our respiration, perspiration, heartbeat, musculature and so on. The subconscious mind is our behind the scenes workhorse.

Muscle testing taps into this extraordinarily intelligent system. Here’s how it works: your brain is an electrical organ, your heart – a magnetic organ, and the whole of your body runs on energy which animates us. This animated system is deeply affected by: our thoughts, emotions, foods we consume, toxins, and numerous imbalances in our environments. The operating system for this animated system is the all knowing - all seeing subconscious mind which keeps us safe and humming along.

We can tap into this intelligent system when we pose true/false questions to our bodies, since the subconscious controls our muscle strength. We can pose questions related to our physical, mental, and emotional well-being. To sum it up – a true answer would produce a strong muscle response and a false answer produces a weak response. There are many many methods of muscle testing, but I’m only going to share two, which I think are the most effective and clear for us solo practitioners. 

Standing Method
Stand straight with your feet shoulder width apart. Have a slight bend at the knee so your legs aren’t locked. You’ll first determine the direction of your true/false by muscle testing your name. Say “my name is: Jane.” Now if your name is indeed Jane and you feel a slight pitch forward in your body - then that is true. If Jane is not your name you should feel your weight subtly shift to your heels and you’ll lean back. This would  be your false answer. Now, if the opposite happens and you get a true statement as leaning back - then the converse is true for you - leaning back is your true and pitching forward is your false. This is why we test with our name first - to determine the baseline.

Pendulum Method
For this test you’ll need a pendulum or pendant necklace that has some weight to it. Sit at a table with your elbows supported. Hold the pendulum in front of you, get it as still as possible. Repeat the name testing above. After the question is posed, the pendulum should have a subtle swing, front to back or left to right. Determine which direction of the swing is your true false, using your name. Front to back is commonly true, left to right is commonly false, but trust whatever you determine for yourself! See the video for a quick tutorial of this method (my favorite).

Getting adept and having confidence with this comes with practice and most importantly, the evidence you receive from the answers you get. Journaling and keeping track of your q&a’s would be helpful to collate that evidence. So, let me know how this works for you!

New Year, new you

New relationship to your body

Two weeks ago I told you about my experience taking on the shame and baggage of others only to have my sweet body deal with skin cancer for years. When I finally figured it out, the last two remaining lesions healed spontaneously within one week. For nearly three years prior to this healing – my interior was twisted in knots and I could practically power a generator with the physical and emotional symptoms of PTSD. 

Transformations like this are almost impossible without integrating the quantum idea that observation (ie. the contents of your mind) becomes your reality - including your physical body. This mind-body-reality runs parallel with the knowing that all of us, to varying degrees, are psychic sponges. 

So, if our mind creates AND we’re permeable to thoughts, feelings and forces around us, what’s a human to do?

We can start by commanding our mind and harnessing awareness and observation of our thoughts and importantly, not judging or reacting to them. This is by far and away the hardest task, because we are by nature reactionary, we like to believe our thoughts. Our brains are shaped by this reactivity and when wired to stress, gossip, drama and trauma, getting off this wheel requires an olympic level commitment. This is a fundamentally repetitive process, which over time, eases as your brain is reshaped and hardwired to well-being [more on neuroplasticity in future newsletters].

As for the permeability of us in which we end up living at the effect of others, there is a magic tool for that. Last week I discussed ASKING your body what it wants. Now we tweak this question and turn it toward every thought, feeling, emotion, ache, pain, chronic condition we may be experiencing. We can ask all of it: Who does this belong to? 

In his book, Body Whispering, Dr. Dain Heer explains that if you feel a sense of lightness, it’s not yours and it’s also not your job to figure out where it came from. Simply thank your body for its awareness and return whatever it is to the sender, bonus is to say a clearing statement to discharge the energy behind it.

Conversely, if you get a heavy feeling, you can claim responsibility for what your body is trying to make you aware of. Some judgement, some fixed point of view which isn’t true for you is festering within or perhaps you took on the dis-ease as a means of healing it for others. Now, the seismic shift I experienced required me to hire a coach. They helped me to see what I’d been blind to, they were brutally honest with me. They helped me to see where I’d been committed to a victim identity, called me out on where I was abdicating power and helped me to see that I was shaming myself instead of claiming myself.

So, are you ready to apply this new tool? Are you ready to see your body as the key to all that’s locked up within you? Do you need some coaching? Let me know, I’m here to support you.

Bah Humbug...New Year’s resolutions

The end of the war on your body 

New Year’s resolutions usually center on some fault we have with our bodies. I honestly never really got the trend, I was more into punishing my body all year long. I’ve done marathons that my heart wasn’t into. I’ve done fasting, keto, low-carb/high-fat. I was a vegetarian for 25 years and drank apple cider vinegar till I could gag. 

I’m going to venture to guess you’re a lot like me. You’ve tried a lot of things and no system seems to stick. 

In addition to the punishment we dole out on our bodies in the form of rigid resolutions, then we judge ourselves. I know I’ve been relentless and so unkind to my belly, my thighs, and my skin. Why can’t it all just cooperate?

From a neuroplastic perspective, all the judgment creates more inflammation in the body. And there we are, on a very unhappy hamster wheel. 

I’d like to introduce a different way. It’s so deceptively simple. But first, you need to embrace one simple, radical concept. There's you that’s your mind. Then there's you that's your body. The body has its own intelligence independent and simultaneously interdependent of the mind. 

Has your mind ever given you the idea to eat something, or wear something, or be intimate with someone - but then there was a pause. It may have felt a nano-second in which you got a ping to not do it? Instead, your “rational” mind won the internal argument. You ate the thing, you wore the outfit, you slept with the person, and then you got indigestion – blisters on your feet – regretted the night? Yah, I know, me too.

That ping was your body waving the flag for you to reconsider that choice. And here’s the best part, you don’t have to wait for a ping!  You can simply ASK your body what it wants. You’ll receive a subtle interior answer. Be open to how your body will respond. Understanding these subtle answers to your questions will take some practice, but it’s totally doable and oh so worth it.

So, how about you, can you give this a whirl? Would it help if I told you I lost 30 lbs just by listening to my body? No diet, no deprivation of any kind. Let me know if you need support, I’m just an email reply away. If you’re a reader and want to dive into this subject at length, the box below has a couple of wonderful books on the subject for you. 

Next week I’ll introduce another idea about the body that brings all of this together. Till then, enjoy the holiday season!

What's the Gift Inside You?

Consider this for your sweet body

Isn’t navigating a life and inhabiting a body weird? 

We all have the collective experience of both physical and inner realities. It’s this inner life of judgments, fear, and anxiety along with empathy, caring, beauty and understanding that amounts to the quality of our life experience.  

I like to think of the body as a modem or radio receiver. It collects data via our primary and subtle senses so that we can safely navigate within this reality. And directly at the center of this consciousness experience is our sweet often maligned body. 

This time of year I start to think of the tidal wave of judgment (in the form of New Year's resolutions) that our collective bodies are about to receive. It makes my heart hurt to think of it.

In my own Hero’s Journey my body, my sweet, faithful body, has been my greatest teacher. It’s taught me, through the most uncomfortable symptoms, what I should and should no longer tolerate in my life. It taught me where I needed to exhibit courage – even become ferocious in regard to minding my BEing. It’s only when I began to listen and prioritize my body did symptoms begin to ease. There was A LOT of trial and heaps of error.

An enormous lesson has been the realization that not everything my body experiences is mine. Much like a good therapist will tell you not to take your thoughts personally, the same is true for your body. Like the modem analogy, where a lot of crap is floating around the internet, likewise for your consciousness and your body. It simply isn’t yours.

This lesson came from my experience of skin cancer. When I realized I had let myself become a receptacle for the traumas and shame of certain family members. I made the decision to no longer take it on and poof, gone, skin that had been erupting for 3 straight years, healed spontaneously within one week.

Now I refuse to believe I’m some miracle case. These types of spontaneous remission stories are out there, but we all tend to collectively dismiss them, without digging deeper. And thus, we remain stuck.

So, how about you? This week, can you give your body some consideration? Can you allow it to lead? Can you determine what’s yours and what isn’t? Can you let your body dance? Is she allowed to enjoy ice cream? And more intimately, what has she been trying to tell you that you’ve been unwilling to hear? I promise you, she’s never ever wrong.

Stay tuned for more next week as we prepare for the new year, in keeping and not opposing our bodies. Till then enjoy the skin you’re in…

This time of year I start to think of the tidal wave of judgement (in the form of New Year's resolutions) that our collective bodies are about to receive. It makes my heart hurt to think of it.

In my own Hero’s Journey my sweet, faithful body has been my greatest teacher. It’s taught me, through the most uncomfortable symptoms, what I should and should no longer tolerate in my life. It was only when I began to listen and prioritize my body did symptoms begin to ease. There was A LOT of trial and heaps of error.

An enormous lesson has been the realization that not everything my body experiences is mine. Much like a good therapist will tell you not to take your thoughts personally, the same is true for your body. 

So, how about you? This week, can you give your body some consideration? Can you allow it to lead? Can you determine what’s yours and what isn’t? Can you let your body dance? And more intimately, what has she been trying to tell you that you’ve been unwilling to hear? I promise you, she’s never ever wrong.

Next week I’ll jabber more about living in keeping and not opposing our bodies. Till then enjoy the skin you’re in…

Psst...I’ve got a story for you

Reclaiming your time from gossiping energy vampires

I’ve found some of my greatest [edit: painful] personal lessons have come from my previous career in design.

Back in the 2000’s I was a newly minted Art Director. It was my first experience managing a team of creatives, I was thrilled and completely overwhelmed. I reported to a Creative Director who in turn reported to the Marketing Director. 

The CD and I became thick as thieves. He spent more time in my office kibitzing than in his own. The focus of our yarns was the Marketing Director and her evil pernicious ways. He dished up story after story and I ate it like a pig at a trough, buying into all of the unconsciousness without question. 

Gossip is curious in a number of ways:

• It’s high level complaining, which usually centers on a lack of acceptance with what is.
• It’s a fundamental killer of time.
• When in the throes, you believe you're being supportive for being a sounding board and it feels like bonding.
• It’s repetitive, you’ve likely had the same conversation in multiple permutations with a different set of variables.
• It’s addictive, because the stress hormones have trained your brain and body to want more and more.

It didn’t take long before I was fully in the draft of this manufactured drama. I mimicked his outrage so completely and felt perfectly justified in it. Then, something illuminating happened. I was pregnant with my first child and my husband picked me up by car from my Madison Avenue office in midtown. 

As we snaked through traffic, from 54th Street, all the way over the Williamsburg Bridge, it suddenly dawned on me that I had been complaining for all those many blocks. I stopped, midway across the bridge, completely exhausted from hearing myself yammer. I turned sideways – looked at my husband, who was dutifully nodding and aheming me, and I made a decision. I asked him to ask me to shut up the next time I started on the subject.

And that was that. I had quit – cold turkey. After my kid was born and I returned from maternity leave, I let my boss know that I could no longer roll in that trough with him. I was done. He took it well and acknowledged that our working environment would be healthier for it - and it was.

Having been there, I’ve got a challenge for you

Can you reclaim your time?

Can you stand up to folks that continually want to bend your ear with nothing valuable to say?

What will you do with this new space?

What can come next is so much better. More opportunities, more awareness, more energy that is your own creativity and consciousness. I hope you take me up on the challenge, so much goodness awaits.

When I was a newly minted Art Director I was thrilled and completely overwhelmed. I reported to a Creative Director who in turn reported to the Marketing Director. The CD and I were thick as thieves. The focus of our gossip was the MD and her pernicious ways. He dished up the stories and I ate it like a pig at a trough. 

Gossip is curious in a number of ways:

It’s high level complaining, which is lack of acceptance with what is.

It kills time.

In it you think you're being a supportive friend 

It’s repetitive, you’ve had the same conversation with a different set of variables over and over.

It’s addictive, because stress hormones have trained your brain-body to want more.

I was fully in the draft of this manufactured drama, so much so that I mimicked his outrage and felt perfectly justified in it. Then, something illuminating happened, I got pregnant. One day my husband picked me up from work and we snaked through traffic. From midtown, and into Brooklyn it dawned on me that I had been complaining for all those many blocks. I stopped, exhausted from hearing myself. My husband was dutifully listening and nodding, and I made a decision. I asked him to ask me to stfu the next time I started up.

And that was that. I was done. When I returned from maternity leave, I let my boss know I could no longer roll in that trough with him. He took it well and acknowledged that our working environment would be healthier for it - and it was.

Having been there, I’ve got a challenge for you

Can you reclaim your time?

Can you stand up to folks that continually want to bend your ear with nothing valuable to say?

What will you do with this new space?

When you do this, more opportunities, more awareness, more energy that is your own creativity and consciousness fills the space. I hope you take me up on the challenge, so much goodness awaits.

The Gift of Not Making It About You

Letting go of the urge to make yourself a victim

Many many moons ago, my best friend from college gave me the greatest gift. Not wrapped, just blunt, clear eyed honesty. She was upset about something, and I - always the ever anxious nervous nelly – asked her what I had done wrong. She said bluntly, “Why do you always think it’s about you?” Oof, the message was received loud and clear – and also – sweet relief! What a gift to point me out of my own way.

Now I see this pattern in self and others as a much darker iteration of shadow. The need to be centered in someone else's story, the privilege of it, the narcissism and insidious victim/victor dynamic – it’s gross. And yet, at one time or another most of us do it. The hard part is choosing to be aware and then getting out of the habit of making someone else's story about you. You should all be so lucky to have a friend like mine.

More personal experience tells me that there are folks who are deeply committed to perceiving the  unconsciousness of others and/or the abuse they’ve received as a story about THEM. Freedom can only materialize when we begin to understand that the harm others perpetuate has not a whip to do with us (no matter how abusers try to convince you otherwise). 

Sadly, so many folks are attached to their victim identity. Ever try to dislodge a victim from their story? “Victims are the most violent people,” says Byron Katie and I’ve certainly learned this first hand the hard way.

This is the point at which I need to make it crystal clear that I don’t under any circumstances condone abuse. Seems like a no, duh thing to say, but apparently some need to hear it. Every single day abusers abuse and unconscious people hurt others with zero afterthought. And some of us, only some of us, are reaching to be more conscious, more aware and more free. This is life in all its technicolor glory, good bad, right wrong. 

Now, I wish I was so wise that I only learned this gem of wisdom from my dear friend once. But I continued to take others personally for many years to come. Gratefully though, she planted a seed of liberation within me. For that I am ever grateful, thank you Dookie ;-)

So, what victim storyline are you invested in? Who’s made you the villain or victim in their narrative?Can I help you out of that? 

*What is Access Consciousness® coaching? Through their questioning format and use of the Clearing Statement we can create dynamic change in every area of your life - fast. These tools work to clear: limitations, judgments, and repetitive thought patterns on topics such as relationships, money, health, and business. The result is increased awareness and space. In that space, relief, joy and ease, which are your natural state, rise to the surface.

Many many moons ago, my best friend from college gave me the greatest gift. Not wrapped, just blunt, clear eyed honesty. She was upset about something, and I - always the ever anxious nervous nelly – asked her what I had done wrong. She said bluntly, “Why do you always think it’s about you?” Oof, the message was received loud and clear. What a gift to point me out of my own way.

Now I see this pattern in self and others as a much darker iteration of shadow. The need to be centered in someone else's story, the privilege of it, the insidious victim/victor dynamic – it’s gross. And yet, at one time or another most of us do it. The hard part is choosing to be aware and then getting out of the habit of making someone else's story about you.You should all be so lucky to have a friend like mine.

More personal experience tells me that there are folks who are deeply committed to perceiving the unconsciousness of others and/or the abuse they’ve received as a story about THEM. Freedom can only materialize when we begin to understand that the harm others perpetuate has not a whip to do with us (no matter how abusers try to convince you otherwise). 

Sadly, so many folks are attached to their victim identity. Ever try to dislodge a victim from their story? “Victims are the most violent people,” says Byron Katie and I’ve certainly learned this first hand.

This is the point at which I need to make it crystal clear that I don’t condone abuse. Seems like a no, duh thing to say, but apparently some folks need to hear it. Despite this, every single day abusers abuse and unconscious people hurt others with zero afterthought. And some of us, only some of us, are reaching to be more conscious. This is life in all its technicolor glory, good-bad, right wrong. 

Now, I wish I was so wise that I only learned this gem of wisdom from my dear friend once. But I continued to take others personally for many years to come. Gratefully though, the seed of liberation had been planted within me. So, what victim storyline are you invested in? Who’s made you the villain or victim in their narrative? Can I help you out of that?

Why I’m a reformed love and light lover

The necessary and painful path of shadow work

After I left the corporate world, years ago. I set out on my own, excited and terrified of what was to come. I think I could best describe myself at the time as equal parts magical and terrified. I was deeply attached to the magical part. So attached that I even had towels monogrammed.

This of course left me way out of balance and anxious. I felt like I was in a state of constant carbonation - like a can of soda that had been shaken - ready to bust.

At the time I was doing a lot of tarot for myself which I gravitate toward when feeling lost. Over a few weeks I got the Tower card three times. The Tower card, as most folks agree, means, change is a ‘comin! But it’s not a pedestrian change. It’s the type of change where everything crumbles and burns to the ground in order for new growth to take root. To say I was FREAKED OUT was an understatement. 

What change was coming? What would befall me?

Then, I had an extraordinary dream. I was standing alone in a white box of a studio apartment with a large window that faced an ocean with no shoreline. I watched the horizon intently as I stared out that window. To my shock and horror I witnessed a cataclysmic storm making its way toward me. The anticipation and dread was nothing like I’d ever experienced before or since. The dream concluded with an enormous crack of thunder, everything turned to midnight and the wind of the storm whipped around and enveloped me.

In my waking life I carried on as best I could. Till finally, my body, in it’s extraordinary wisdom, decided it was time to be my teacher. It brought me to a grinding halt. I then began the long and arduous task of trying to figure it all out. I carelessly thought that the process of “healing” would take 6 months! HA, said my body. 

This shadow work has been a nine year journey thus far. I have experienced extraordinary lows inhabiting my body. I came to understand that I had completely checked out on myself. I followed and even mimicked others so that I could fit in and be “acceptable”. I knew this and continued to do it anyway because it allowed me to hide. That’s how frightened I was of becoming.

I this window of time, I have faced excruciating judgment and endured emotional violence from those who have claimed to “love me”. I have metabolized unbelievable losses. 

And now, on the other side, what I’ve gained is impossible to measure. I have access to a joy and freedom that I did not know was possible. I chose myself under the most extreme circumstances. I rejected the conditioning that creates the vicious cycle of generational trauma within my family. In short, I became.

After I left the corporate world, I could best describe myself at the time as equal parts magical and terrified. I was so attached to the magical part I even had towels monogrammed.

This left me way out of balance and anxious. 

At the time I was doing a lot of tarot for myself and over a few weeks I got the Tower card three times. To say I was FREAKED OUT was an understatement. 

What change was coming? What would befall me?

Then, I had an extraordinary dream. I was standing alone in a studio apartment with a large window that faced an ocean with no shoreline. As I watched the horizon intently to my shock and horror I witnessed a cataclysmic storm making its way toward me. The anticipation and dread was nothing like I’d ever experienced before or since. The dream concluded with an enormous crack of thunder, everything turned to midnight and the wind of the storm whipped around and enveloped me.

In my waking life I carried on as best I could. Till finally, my body, in it’s extraordinary wisdom, brought me to a grinding halt. I then began the long and arduous task of trying to figure it all out. I carelessly thought that the process of “healing” would take 6 months! HA, said my body. 

This shadow work has been a nine year journey thus far. I have experienced extraordinary lows inhabiting my body. I came to understand that I had completely checked out on myself. I followed and even mimicked others so that I could fit in and be “acceptable”. I knew this and continued to do it anyway because it allowed me to hide. That’s how frightened I was of becoming.

In this window of time, I have faced excruciating judgment and endured emotional violence from those who have claimed to “love me”. I have metabolized unbelievable losses. 

And now, on the other side, what I’ve gained is impossible to measure. I have access to a joy and freedom that I did not know was possible. I chose myself under the most extreme circumstances. I rejected the conditioning that creates the vicious cycle of generational trauma within my family. In short, I became.

Can I help you in your own becoming? Let me know, I’m here to help.

Let’s Talk About Judgement

Dismantling the undergirding of the biggest block to personal power

I might get some hate mail for writing this dispatch. Yup, I may be judged, but here goes anyway...

Think about it, whom do you judge? The present president, the last one we had? Big oil? Folks that litter? Your parents? The person at the checkout counter? The list can become mighty because they deserve it - right? I know, I've been there and maybe you're there too.

It's this list I want to help you dismantle. I contend, using the example of my own personal experience, that judgment, and its sister - fear of judgment, have locked you up. Siphoned the very special sauce that makes you you - your energy. Additionally, judgment binds you in a perpetual cycle of confusion, like a treadmill to nowhere.

This past spring as I was zeroing in on the root causes of the basal cell carcinoma that had afflicted my face for three years, I came face to face with this conundrum. I was in a black hole of confusion. It wasn't until I realized that childhood trauma can be the root of many chronic illnesses that I began to see the tiger’s tail.

My particular brand of judgment centered mostly on the fear of being judged. At times lurching out and becoming myself. Other times I dimmed my shine out of fear of being judged by others, never really being chest-out, always hiding somewhat.  

Then, one day, in an Access Consciousness class. I had an epiphany...I realized I had been in the business of judgment. You see, judgment requires energy. Lots and lots and lots of energy. This energy siphons directly from you. It's your attention, creativity, drive, focus, your very life force.

So why are we all on the judgment treadmill? For one, we're conditioned to do it in our deeply protestant-ethic culture. We're also rewarded with the community for it. Got a judgment? There's usually a Facebook group you can find to support you in that. Finally, judgment is a kind of currency. It falsely elevates us. It separates the "good" from the "bad", dumbs us down, helps us to lose our complexity, and makes life easier to digest. It also affirms our rightness and our egos love nothing more than the drug of being right.

At the very center of all this, we mistakenly assume that by not judging we're somehow condoning: cruelty, and abuse and letting the "bad guys" get away with it. When the fact of the matter is folks who make "cruel" choices are simply doing that - making a choice. In the moment of a "cruel" choice, we also have access to choice. We can claim our power and our voice. We can override them, redirect or remove ourselves if the opportunity presents itself. But what usually plagues us is carrying the baggage of judgment long after these events have passed.

Within one week of making these realizations, my face spontaneously healed. Voila! Something that had plagued me for years - gone. It seemed like a miracle. I contend that all the energy I was using to make myself small - the energy I used to judge others for judging me, became unlocked. Once unlocked that energy knew exactly how to benefit my body.

Now, I don't suggest this is easy. You've got to be really ready for a shift like this. And notice that I never once mention "forgiveness" as I don't think that that is necessary. The absence of judgment is the DNA of forgiveness anyway - so might as well just get out of the business of judgment and leave forgiveness to itself.

So, what's left in judgment's place? What space and awareness can be yours by freeing yourself from judgment? What miracles will find you now that they have space to manifest? How much power can you be and enact without self-judgment? Let's find out...

(if you're interested in Access Consciousness classes, eliminating judgment and more, check out the link below to 4 Tools to Find Your Happy, November 23rd, 6 pm, Zoom event)

Why I'm An Honest to God Tree Hugger

Clearly, he was asking for it (the tree that is). And yes, I submitted to his charms

I've had a thing for trees for as long as I can remember. As a very small child growing up in Hillside, NJ (one of many places) I can remember a very large oak tree in front of our house. I recall having communion with it. I would park my rear end at its base and let the ants crawl up my arms, it protected me and gave me shade. It was good cheap fun. Then one day a crew came and took it down, piece by piece. I was crestfallen – I had lost my first best friend.

More recently, I'd spent the last few years in distress every spring rescuing fledglings. Their parents, a beautiful cardinal couple, had made their home in a couple of overgrown "trees" in my backyard. I qualify that because after some research I found they were an invasive species of tree brought over in the early part of the last century – weeds really. They were unsightly and given they provided shelter to the birds, whose children were being murdered by the feral cats I care for in my yard, I made the not so difficult decision to take those overgrown weeds down (don't worry the cardinal couple relocated and still visit me). While I now have more light in my backyard and far fewer dead birds, I did not anticipate the grief I felt looking at the vacant space they once occupied. It took me weeks to adjust.

In the last year, I've been going through some very deep and personal seasons of growth. These machinations have been accompanied by feelings of tightness in my abdomen – anxiety maybe, who knows. That's where the tree fella in this picture comes in. In my morning walks, I passed this guy at least 3 times. He's the only one in the park with this sign on him. At first, I was demure, what will people think after all? Then I finally relented, I sat at its base and tucked my back against its bark, and voila as if by magic I felt all the tension sucked out of my body as if by a straw. It was a remarkable feeling.

So now, that's just a part of what I do. I care much less about the "steps" I get in. And I'm still working on not giving a crap what people think. The relief I feel in my body is proof enough for me to make time for my beloved, therapeutic friend in the park.

If you give this a try, write me back and let me know how you feel. Here in the northeast, it's getting cold. What are your suggestions for staying connected to the earth's spirits during these months? I'm all ears.

Touching Base, It’s been too long

And I hope you've been well.

I'm reaching out because I'll be sharing some weekly content with you moving forward. And at the start, if you don't care to receive my updates, including bursts of inspiration, new service offerings & upcoming classes, you can UNSUBSCRIBE right here. I'd hate to see you go, but I get it, email clutter is maddening! Now that that's out of the way...

I'm so excited to share some very exciting news. My friend Emily Friedman, Director extraordinaire, has created the most marvelous short film featuring my mentor Marge and me. Which you can check out HERE or by clicking on the video below.

Long story short is that I had a premonition back in 2012 that a filmmaker would find Marge and me and want to tell our story. Well, it took a few years, but finally came to pass! Emily F. found me on the Witchcast Podcast which is hosted by the estimable Kate Moran and Emily Duncan (yes, we are drowning delightfully in Emilys!). These two gals are NYC-based comedians and self-described "baby witches." Their show follows them as they explore all manner of magical topics. It's a fun and delightful listen, highly recommend checking them out. You can find their fun podcast HERE. As for the film, Emily F. and her creative partners could not have captured Marge's and my magic any better. Enjoy watching and please feel free to share far and wide.