It has been a rough couple of years in our country and we have all had to make choices about when to step up and take action and when to rest and recharge. This week it is essential that we ALL take action and VOTE. Staying home is vote against our own interests and those of our neighbors and community. If you have already voted, thank you. If you haven’t, please make a plan to do so whether that is turning in your ballot or going to the polls. In Colorado we are fortunate to be able to sit at our kitchen tables to research candidates and issues as we vote. Let’s not waste this opportunity to make a difference.

This week I have been reflecting on the transformative power of self-compassion practices. From my first experience of lovingkindness meditation to teaching Mindful Self-Compassion courses, I am continually amazed at how these practices shift my perspective and allow me to hold myself with tenderness. When my inner critic rears into action, my compassionate self is now able to intervene and reframe whatever is happening with gentleness and kindness. If you’d like to tame your inner critic and strengthen your inner compassionate voice, I invite you to join me for The Short Course in Mindful Self-Compassion, Sundays in November.

This week it finally feels like fall in Colorado, ushering in Vata season. The dry, cold air and winds of autumn can contribute to feeling ungrounded, restless, and anxious. Ayurvedic teachings suggest drinking warm beverages, eating cooked, warm foods such as root vegetables and soups, and using warming spices like cinnamon and ginger can help bring balance to our vata dosha. Minimizing cold drinks and raw, dry foods can also help.

As I read this quote by Molesey Bridgette of The Queen Code,

“The ancient rhythm of life has always contained movement and stillness. Planting and harvest. Labor and rest. Honor the whole cycle.”

I realized I’ve been connecting with this rhythm all week in our Circles of Audacious Wise Women, my Saturday Morning Yoga class, and the Mindful Movement sessions with APS staff.

We had the privilege of spending the past 10 days in Nice, France enjoying the beautiful Mediterranean Sea, majestic French Alps, delicious food, medieval villages, and wonderful people. It was lovely to have the time to slow down, savor the experience, and follow our own rhythm. Travel is is wonderful opportunity to step out of our habitual responses and the chaos of daily life to be present in new experiences.

Thursday was my Dad’s 90th birthday. 🥳 While our early years were somewhat disconnected, for the last 40+ years he has been a steady, consistent presence in my life. It is a reminder to me that we can always begin again if both parties are open to trying. I am grateful I had the courage to ask hard questions and grateful my Dad had the courage to answer them.

Today we will experience the Full Moon in Pisces with a Partial Lunar Eclipse. The energy of this moon can help us to break out of old patterns and limitations and take steps towards the future we want to create. We can feel stuck or hemmed in by conscious and subconscious expectations we have of ourselves and that others have of us.

This week I have been thinking about kindness and how the small acts of kindness we engage in shift the energy in the world and ourselves. Over the past year I have watched my husband and family care for his ailing father with such gentleness and lovingkindness. Meeting his father where he was, providing the support, care, and advocacy he needed, and really seeing and connecting with the caregivers providing his day to day care.

The middle of summer continues to be a time of appreciating the abundance in our lives. I have been enjoying watching my husband share the abundance of his lovingly tended garden with our family as well as enjoying it myself. When we invest time and energy in the things we love to do, the reward of its success is all the more fulfilling. Each of us has something in our lives we want to nurture and grow. Figuring out how to make it a priority in the list of to dos in our lives can be challenging, but is essential for moving forward in our lives.

Today is a Full Moon in Aquarius and powerful Jupiter Cazimi with the sun, making this a very lucky day. The full moon reminds us to celebrate the things in our lives that are culminating and coming to completion. The Jupiter Cazimi gives us the nudge to ask for all the things we truly want to grow and flourish over the next year. Take some time today to make a list of your dreams and goals and let the universe support you in reaching them.

It has been a busy week of connecting, planning, resting, and playing. When life is busy all the things we are doing can sometimes begin to feel like a heavy weight upon us. Sometimes we need to say no to things and rest and sometimes there are things that need to be done or that we really want to do, so shifting our perspective can help us feel less burdened. The quote above says, “You can do it like it’s a great weight upon you, or you can do it like it’s part of the dance.” Dancing with our plans and obligations feels much more fun that hauling around, resisting, and resenting a great weight. I invite you to find the rhythm in your own daily dance. Find times of playfulness and joy, find moments to pause and breathe, feel gratitude for all that you do have, and make plans to tackle the challenging things, perhaps with a dance partner to help and support you.

I hope you are finding joyful ways to move your bodies despite the heat and smoky air. Summertime in our childhoods often meant running through sprinklers, riding our bikes, splashing at the pool, and getting into playful mischief. As we move into adulthood, our playfulness is often discouraged or we don’t feel we have time for it. Creating intentional time for play as well as taking advantage of spontaneous opportunities is a wonderful way to reclaim our childhood joy.

July is an interesting month of balancing the expansive energy of summer with the need to slow down and savor the abundance of the season, especially when so much is literally and figuratively on fire. As a summer baby I tend to love the heat of the summer, being out in nature, and adventuring with friends and family. I also love a slow afternoon of reading, napping, creating art, or simply watching the clouds go by. When I tune into my own body and intuition I can more easily find that balance within each day and each week. I encourage you to do the same and discover what brings balance for you this month.

There is a lot happening this week astrologically, locally, nationally, and across the world. I am practicing pausing to breathe, holding the easy and the difficult, and staying grounded in the present moment. I hope you are all able to find moments of peace, calm, and joy throughout the intense energy of the week. This Heartbeat Meditation is a wonderful tool to bring us back into our bodies.

This has been an interesting week of celebrating and letting go. My husband and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary and our youngest son is moving to Missouri tomorrow to start a new career. I’ve been thinking about all the ways we have all grown, let go, and transformed over the years, both individually and as a family. It is a reminder of the adage that we are only promised the present moment. The past is gone, the future hasn’t arrived, but this moment, the one right now as you are reading this, is the moment we are promised. It is an opportunity to take a full breath and take in all that is in this moment, letting go of judgement as we are able and offering ourselves compassion and acceptance for what is.

Hello Friends!

This past week I had the pleasure of holding space on retreat for 13 beautiful souls with my dear friend, Andra Brill. While my focus in leading retreats is offering an opportunity for others to turn inward and explore what arises, I had my own epiphanies arise quite spectacularly this week. One of those was around the stories we tell ourselves about our lives that may or may not be true and that may apply to some people but not all. These stories color how we perceive and process situations and can end up increasing our suffering rather than easing it. On retreat I discovered I could pause and breathe enough to recognize some very old stories that were true in some situations, but not nearly as universal as I had been telling myself. Letting go of those stories was tremendous shift in my perspective and weight off my heart. As we move toward the Summer Solstice this weekend, it is a wonderful opportunity to release old stories and patterns from our past that are no longer serving us and open ourselves to the possibilities in the abundance of summer.

The Dan Siegel quote, “May I meet this moment fully. May I meet it as a friend,” has been on my cabinet for many years. I often forget it’s there, but this week it has been jumping out at me. It is an easy sentiment to hold when things are going well. However, when things are challenging, it can be difficult to sit with. Meeting difficulty and suffering directly often feels overwhelming, yet those are the exact moments we are offered to learn more about ourselves and to grow. If you’re like me, you might “occasionally” experience the sentiment that you’ve had “plenty of opportunities to grow, thank you very much!” 😉 Nonetheless, these opportunities continue to arise as part of being human. The more we can practice meeting them fully and as we would a friend, the more successful we are at navigating them rather than ignoring or resisting them. This week, I invite you to practice meeting small moments of challenge as you would a friend, with curiosity and compassion, and see what happens.

This Saturday, 6/6, is viewed in numerology as a portal for self-love and manifestation. The number 6 represents universal love, compassion, and inner balance and when doubled is even more powerful. It is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on how we are caring for ourselves, including asking for help and seeking care and support from others. Caring for ourselves with fierce self-compassion includes setting boundaries to protect ourselves mentally, emotionally, and physically, providing the resources we need to flourish, and motivating ourselves with kindness and encouragement. This portal is a time to take stock of the care you are receiving from yourself and your community and make a plan for filling in the gaps. You deserve your own love and attention and you deserve the love and attention of others. Scheduling a Reiki and/or Sound Healing session with me is a lovely opportunity to rest and receive what you need.

This Sunday we will experience a Blue Moon in the constellation of Sagittarius. A blue moon is a rare second full moon in a month and provides even greater opportunity for us to shed our old habits and assumptions, opening ourselves up to new adventures and opportunities.