Connecting to the Body

I cried on my garage floor this morning
Only for a minute or two
I was doing leg lifts and the tears accompanied by a few sobs just bubbled out

One thing you may know about me is that connection to body is huge. It is the core part of my emotional and physical wellness to be able to move my body and the energy and emotion that lives inside. It is also one of the biggest ways I connect to my spirituality. When I fully inhabit my body intentionally energy flows, I feel more connected to my Self and to Source. The channels feel open. 

The last couple of months I have been very physically limited by an injury that turned into severe sciatica. My daily walks got way shorter, my workouts waned.. 
My sleep was interrupted by pain. Sitting required props to tolerate. 
The last couple of weeks have been the worst.
I’ve dug up some old coping strategies, like overeating, overthinking, and distracting myself. 

And I’ve been feeling a little lost. Sure I’m getting the things done that need doing. 
Sure I’ve been practicing my Craft. But I haven’t quite been myself. Something has been missing. 

Today I woke up, the pain was hardly noticeable and knew I needed to move. So I put on my work out clothes, I turned on the Class (my workout of choice) and got moving. 

During meditations I often encourage people to find the stuck spots in their bodies and use their breath to unwind the stuckness. Sometimes this works for me, but sometimes I don’t even know I have a stuck spot until I move and stretch and then this heat and itchiness begin in an area and alert me to tension and the release.

I found a few of these spots and as they came unstuck emotions rose with them. I was laughing and angry and joyful and eventually there were the tears. I went with it. I trust my body. When I listen it always tells me just what to do.

We all come up against the edges of these stuck or lost places. Sometimes we feel fully submerged in them. Yet if we can listen hard enough our bodies can often guide us out. They can help us find our way back to flow. 

Our bodies are connected to the Earth, and in our Earth based practices our bodies are a powerful tool of connection. 

For me, self care is a sacred act, and movement and stillness and all that lie between those things are a crucial part of this practice.

Have you been listening to or ignoring your body’s needs? 
How do you care for your Sacred Self? 
How do you nourish yourself? 
Tend to the vulnerable bits? 
How do you listen to your body? 

I’d like to invite you to join me for Self Care Saturday. This is a mini class being offered in collaboration with Erin LaFaive of Full Circle Herbals. 
We gather tomorrow Saturday, January 1 at 1pm PT for about 30 minutes. 
You can catch this FREE class via livestream in my Facebook group 

A little self care feels like an awfully good way to kick off the new year.  

If you want a little more, you can join my three day mini retreat. 
As soon as you sign up you will receive emails for three days that offer an intention, some ritual ideas, a suggestion for meditation or visualization and links to 20 min videos on the topic of the day. You can sign up for this HERE. 

And if you (like me) are feeling a deep need for some reconnection and nourishment to and for your Sacred Self, you are invited to a two day retreat hosted virtually in real time, January 14th and 15th. 
The details of this retreat including times and content can be found HERE
Note that if you register before January 7th you get 30% off the registration. 

However you decide to do it, I hope you will take this time as we cross the threshold from the old calendar year into the new one, to honor your Sacred Self and nourish your body, mind and spirit. 

Gift yourself with some renewal and reconnection with magic as your guide.

With Love and Blessings,
Emily

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