Coming back from Toronto, at the gate, a friend met me. Not literally, mind you. Touching down in the morning after a thirteen hour plus ride (got stuck at customs for two hours), I found myself choosing not to go home. I went to a local café and set up shop until my afternoon jam session with a friend began.

Home that day would have been triggering. In my first post, I shared my goal in this blog is to:

"Share my own personal journeys with transforming chaotic spheres of my life (multiple commitments, poor diet, disembodiment and sparse home care) through building health and wellness deep within," (7/18/11).

In flashing red lights: “Sparse Home Care. Sparse Home Care” and the laborious work ahead to transform both my internal and external home after months (maybe years) of neglect must have been ringing at a subconscious level. I knew if I went home, I would become unhappy with what I saw, feel like a failure and fall into slight paralysis.

Encountering, during my trip to our northern neighbor, the awe-inspiring way people have worked to create space and home for themselves really made stark how poorly I was making space for myself. My sadness around this was not immediately known to me on a conscious level; something in me did not want to go home—not yet.

I bought cherries (in season!) and spinach to share with my jamming artist friend. They were expensive, but I wanted us to enjoy and eat well. There was another layer: I ate them every day while on mini-vacation and had a taste for them similar to a taste for smooth transition—smooth landing.

Artist friend and I talked about chosen families and how meeting—friends, family, soul growers, lovers, etc—are miracles.  In the universe of infinite possibilities, for two people to deeply encounter one another—who as it turns grew up near each other the whole of our youth without knowing— is miraculous.

This was so important for me—one who wanted to spend the rest of 2011 traveling to find similar kin across borders, for I believed my current destination barren.

With crystal profundity, I opened my eyes to the marvel of meeting—to the marvel of whom I met. This was not up in the sky somewhere—or north of the U.S. Those that ground us, that are kin (chosen or otherwise) to us, that help us make home and place on this plane are abundant and before us.

Jamming artist friend and I went to eat really good Mexican at El Fuego in Philadelphia. This was unplanned. In front of us: Rice and beans, guacamole, tortilla chips, peppers, onions, salsa.

Before arriving, cutting through Rittenhouse Square, I detailed how rice and beans have always provided a feeling of home and rootedness.  And that those with a history of eating disorders will always view and experience food different than the masses. It pierces and at varying levels; thus, while our food settled me, it also was an unadorned reminder of how I interrupted and brought dis-ease to home space.

We walked back to artist friend’s place. Saw the small ways—stones on the rim of the bathtub, nesting pottery by the entrance way, affirmation books by the bedside, cloth and crystal spread—my friend made home in spite of, what my friend later revealed, a surfacing displeasure at the spatial dimensions of the place. I saw how that the place shined with my friend’s touch. I saw and believed in that moment that I could touch—my place—that way, too. 

                                    _____________________

In a car ride earlier in the day, jamming artist friend shared a poignant statement: “It takes control (discipline) to let go of control.” Striking! One has to do some work to support the letting go and letting of light.

Making the transition to both literal and metaphoric home care will need support. That is why it had been feeling so laborious.

It was not enough to do a great job eating well and conditioning my body. I have to work just as hard in conditioning my heart and spirit—to find and enact kindness unto myself—to affirm—to carve out space for my creative imagination to roam—to step out of the way so much and shine, simply shine.

I have to ground.


Full Disclosure: I did in silliness take this quiz on About.com: Are You Adequately Grounded?  http://healing.about.com/library/quiz/ground/blgroundquiz.htm

In searching for grounding techniques, I stumbled on this wonderful site. What I liked about it was that it addressed grounding in terms of ascension.

There is a general elevation occurring on multiple layers in the energetic realms right now. There are those of us who are currently ascending. Usually grounding exercises are for those who are getting introduced to energetic practices. Fewer pieces out there consider those who are and have grounded but get turned around from time to time. The following blog in its intention does that. Read around.(http://www.bigsparklylife.com/energy-update-ascension-grounding)

The following exercises are not new for me; in fact, I do them often. It was a nice little reminder nudge to fall back into the practices that I know root me. Hope you enjoy the nudge as well:

5 Tips for Ground­ing Dur­ing Ascension

(http://www.bigsparklylife.com/energy-update-ascension-grounding)

Spend time in nature: Sit­ting under an old-growth tree, work­ing in a gar­den, sit­ting on the grass and watch­ing the clouds go by are all great exam­ples of ways you can eas­ily spend time in nature and help ground your energy.

Take a sea salt bath: Sea salt helps to clear energy and bal­ance the chakras. Place some sea salt into your bath, set your inten­tion to ground your energy and then allow your­self to soak in the tub for ten min­utes or more. It’s a won­der­ful rem­edy for ungroundedness.

Eat dark leafy greens: Kale, spinach, chard and other greens con­tain min­er­als and vit­a­mins that allow the body to bet­ter cal­i­brate with the wis­dom of Mother Earth.

Take short naps: You are accli­mat­ing to a higher vibra­tion. Rest­ing gives your body, mind and spirit the oppor­tu­nity make the shifts nec­es­sary to opti­mize to the higher realms.

Jour­nal: Writ­ing is a won­der­ful way to con­nect with your expe­ri­ences, your innate wis­dom and to reflect upon your jour­ney. As such it is a pow­er­ful tool in ground­ing your energy.

With temperatures in the triple digits in some places over the last couple of days, running 11:00am under a summer Sunday overcast sky was an immense relief. Started stretching at 9:00am. Sounds like I must have been this nibble yogi bouncing gazelle-like gracefully down Rutland Road in Brooklyn? Yes, that is what I would have wished, too. Reality check: My four year old niece, excited Auntie Shayna came to visit, slowed down the pace of my normal work out/stretching routine starting at 7:00am when she walked into the room where I was sleeping and asked me to play stuffed animals with her. I said,

“Yes, but only if I get to work out in a half hour.”

She so sweetly agreed.

Two hours later, after a back and forth about whether “Moosey the Moose” would save “Pinky the Unicorn” from the “I Love You Bear Troll,” I just got up and started stretching around the house. My niece followed.

No, really, by following, I mean she actually started mimicking excercise routines in my circuit around our sixth floor apartment.

-          I stretched my hamstrings on the stairs; she did leg lifts while lying on the floor (probably derived from her Riki Di creative movement dance classes).

-          I went in for the triangle side pose; she bended forward touching her toes.

-          I did an arm stretch, elbows locked; she bet me that I did not know how to do “this” [a beetle squat].

Most stark was when doing the downward-facing dog [a full-body triangle stretch], she crawled underneath me and like congruent triangles—or Russian nesting dolls—folded into me, under me, with her own four year old downward-facing dog.

While there felt something ancient about that moment with her, with her--without hesitation—contorting into the next asana (yoga pose) seamlessly—like we had done this somewhere together before—I am not one to immediately say that  proves yoga is innately familiar to my niece.

Or it can be explained by the burgeoning discourse in publications like Yoga Journal that includes writings that occasionally claim toddlers’ ability to achieve inner peace and calm by doing yoga.

For me, most poignantly is what power leading by example and genuine engagement holds.

Playing with my niece, honoring her desires, allowed her to without friction transition into what I chose to do. This genuine engagement reinforces trust channels between us that allowed her to follow me with remarkable confidence. This following will be remembered in her mind and body—opening up the stage for future introduction to daily wellness practices.

For a great article on whether yoga has the same reported effects on children as adults from one family’s story, click on the following link:

Downward-facing Dog for the Diaper Set
 “While the children didn’t seem noticeably more chilled out in the end, yoga did amuse them and introduce them to a practice they can use to de-stress when they’re older. ”

http://kidsyogaguide.com/2010/10/08/downward-facing-dog-for-the-diaper-set/

Lunchtime Bliss
@ Cebu Brooklyn (83rd & 3rd Av):

● Lunch - Warm Spinich Salad: pancetta, onions, mushrooms, crumbled Goat cheese, walnuts, herb vinaigrette 
● Cocktail - St. German Elderflower Liqueur, fresh lemon juice and gin (Martin Miller's)
● Water with lemon