Retreat

Retreat

Retreat offers us a time to ourselves for ourselves. If created with intention a retreat opens a beautiful feeling of spaciousness and bolsters our ability to practice presence in our daily life. Traveling for retreat costs a bomb. Worth it. Absofuckinglutely. Accessible. No. Because of that I began to craft myself personal mini-retreats. Here is how: Wake Early.Speak little.Practice a lot.Eat simply. If you have the available finances add in a special treat like a massage or a sauna. That’s it. That is the recipe of pretty much any retreat I have attended. Now, I try for a mini retreat once a week. I take three hours sans Addy and I practice. Sometimes its restorative and I just roll between the poses. Other times I take an online movement workshop – post covid there are so many good platforms to choose from. Lately I have been ending my practice with a sauna because there is a beautiful one down the street from me. I am approaching thirty years of daily practice, more than half my life committed to this path. Adding these beautiful extended intentional practices enables me to parent in a way that I would not be capable of otherwise. Motherhood without the balm of yoga and meditation is not something I am willing to...
The great Reframe

The great Reframe

Reframing is an art. One that requires a lot of presence to make happen. Everything really goes back to a willingness to be here, now. Without that willingness you can’t discern what is right for you. I have never liked cleaning.  It has always been the chore I hate the most and I mean all cleaning.  For years I hired it out and then the pandemic and now all the cleaning all the time. With a toddler it is impossible to ever have the whole house to rights.  No matter what. No matter if I clean every day there will be more to clean. Give her a minute. The tricky thing is that when my house is dirty it brings me down. Like woe is me, down. Down below the ground down. So keeping my house moderate is a necessity and with toddler that means cleaning everyday. Every single one. This thought cycle was not helping me live my best life.  I felt aligned with drudgery every time I had to clean. So I did a deep reframe and redefined cleaning for myself. For me cleaning of itself was not a win enough – but what I noticed by wearing a tracker is that I burned a ton of calories when I cleaned. Far more calories than by doing yoga or walking – even purposeful exercise was no match for cleaning’s calorie burn. Turns out cleaning is exercise. I love exercise. Ergo I love cleaning. Now whenever I clean I set my tracker to workout and I get it done. I exercise and feel all the good endorphins and...
Further notes on Anti Racist Literature

Further notes on Anti Racist Literature

Our hope with this Anti Racist Literature List is that you are inspired to read one book. Read that one first.  Commit to that and see it through. And then ponder. Noodle. Sit with it. “White privilege has nothing to do with you being a good person or a bad person. It is from the fact that you have been raised in a racialized society that you might not have been aware of.” Christina Desimone After reading and pondering our hope is that you will choose to read another or maybe it will inspire you to go down a rabbit hole of podcasts or documentaries (lists to come).  But don’t wait on me. Google that shit and then do that. The thing is. Personal growth cannot be prescribed by anyone else. It is up to you to do it. You alone can cause the change. So as your own best expert. Look inwards. Push yourself to do this uncomfortable work. You will be imperfect and it will be awkward. Consider letting those mistakes become teachable moments. Remember those? Remember learning when you were young, how much repetition, how many mistakes, how many failures? It is only in agitation that we grow. IT is time. The time is now. I believe in...
Reading List: Anti Racist Literature

Reading List: Anti Racist Literature

Christina DeSimone provided a wealth of information about Anti-Racist Literature on our Instagram Live! I hope you were able to join us but if not you can view it here! Forgive the beginning – it was our first live (learning curve!) and all those packages chaos at the beginning are because: baby White Privilege has nothing to do with you being a good person or a bad person. It is the fact that you have been raised in a racialized society that you might not have even been aware of.                                         ~ Christina DeSimone Some of you know and some of you don’t know that I was a librarian (Master’s from U. Pitt) and worked as a librarian for a decade.  As a librarian I believe in the deep and abiding power of literacy. I believe that racism is rooted in ignorance. I believe that people have the ability to grow in knowledge and therefore change themselves. Without further ado (links go to Amazon but don’t forget your local library will have them too): Between the World and Me How to be an Anti-Racist  (YA) Racing to Justice Was the Cat in the Hat Black Building Equity Culturally Responsive Teaching So you want to talk about race Moving Diversity Forward Tell Me Who You Are Two Fantasy/SCI-fi by African American authors, that Christina mentioned at the end of our conversation simply because I love this genre: Kindred Children of Blood and...