A breath for these tough times

Sending out extra wishes of Safety & Sanctuary for everyone in the path of the hard things, what a scary time we are in, inhaling and exhaling, for compassion, strength, courage, swift and steady miracles.

Announcement / last chance for Emergency Calming Down Techniques

I’ve been reeling hard lately in some cursed combination of heartache, numbness, political anxiety, winter stuff and some wild panic episodes.

Have been holding on (for dear life) to my Emergency Calm The Hell Down Techniques from a long time ago, and it’s been helping.

I am giving away a copy of these (ebook + audio recordings) to anyone who gives any sum of money to the appreciation funds / discretionary fund in the hopes that we can all keep practicing together, for each other and for the collective, and also for ourselves in these scary times. ❤️

Adjacent to the Joy Church

A breath of gratitude, why not just start there (if we can, when we can)

Thank you to everyone who has checked in on me, I appreciate the warm thoughts and the kindness.

I know the world is full of non-stop relentless stressors right now, and who can even keep track of all the scary things going on, so I really appreciate all the care that has been directed towards me while so much else is in a state of upheaval.

My town is still evacuated, going on two weeks now, though this might change soon. The fire is not contained but things do seem to be more under control on my road, and monsoon rains are coming, which is both good and less-good.

Praying for the positive healing effects of moisture without mudslides and flooding, and am just keeping watch from afar while also trying not to check the updates too often.

Thankful for everyone looking out for me, and for your good hearts. I feel loved and cared for and lucky.

A revealing time, a time for revealing

There were several themes I wanted to write about for us this week, but it feels like they are all still percolating, so what if I share with you some of the adventures I have had on the road while trying to distract myself from thinking about my road being on fire!

Maybe we will get to those themes or touch on them in a roundabout way, or maybe something else will be revealed instead.

There have been many wonderful small adventures, and many things have solved themselves without my input, which is my favorite miracle of all.

In the meantime, it seems that my structures are safe, my favorite tree friend is safe, and miracles abound, so I want to remember that there is plentiful good in my life, even if this is a scary and uncomfortable time.

A breath for the many wonderful adventures

A breath for the many wonderful adventures.

A library that was not a library and a farm that is not a farm, a church that is not a church, a problem that is not a problem.

A dog, a cat, a heart opening, a tree, a bridge, a pilgrimage, everything that solves itself, a clue and then another clue.

What a thing it is to be alive

What a thing it is to be alive.

The fires sent me here and I have had some beautiful moments of appreciating ALIVENESS, which is a good antidote to worrying about my home.

Aliveness is the answer, and the questions are maybe not as complicated as I thought they were.

Let’s rejoice in the clues.

A dog

I found a yoga class in a tiny town in Nevada, it takes place in an empty defunct library that looks abandoned. Everything about this seemed very unlikely, and yet there it was and there I was.

The doors and windows were open, and there was a lovely breeze.

The class came with a yoga dog; an affectionate, easy-going, twenty year old dog who circled the room before we started, napped through class and then came over to snuggle after shavasana.

A cat

I found myself at a tiny side of the road gas station in nowhere, Oregon, which was also a miracle because according to my phone there was no gas station to be found on my way unless I drove an hour out of my way.

The gas station came with three in-house cats, and one of them, Greta, took a liking to me so we hung out for a spell while I chatted with Dale, the owner of the place who moved out there in the early 90s.

You should be a cat owner, Dale told me, while I petted Greta and we communed over the countertop.

But probably the thing I have thought about most while fleeing the fires is that I am very glad I do not have to take care of anyone or anything other than myself.

Greta is seventeen, so it was a big week for meeting pet elders who were in good spirits with a calming presence, and maybe that is a clue for me too. Can I also be a source of calming presence?

A heart opening, part I

The yoga teacher in small town Nevada had done her training nearly twenty years ago with someone I took a three day workshop from even farther into the past than that. We bonded over that.

I liked how her class mirrored what I remembered of him, everything heart-centered and heart-centric, but not in a lip service way. A real TUNING IN to heart space. Moving from the heart, both physically and metaphorically. It felt like when you suddenly understand the truth behind a cliche.

Somewhere familiar that I have never been

Mainly thought it just felt so wonderful to be there, somewhere familiar that I have never been.

And I mean that about the class, and about hanging out in the depths of my own heartspace in that specific way.

And about having stumbled into something magical, seemingly by accident but not at all.

A heart opening, part II

In class, my new yoga teacher friend asked us to set an intention.

Lately in my own morning practice, my intention has been [I am powerful], but when I tried to say to myself, “I am powerful”, what came up instead was: I am joyful, and my heart is healed.

I am joyful and my heart is healed.

Let’s combine those: I am powerful. I am joyful. And my heart is healed.

Also, there is a lot of power within being joyful and knowing my heart is healing, so each of these answers the wish of the other ones.

Teardrop heart

She had us do this beautiful breathing exercise that I loved: a round teardrop breath, starting from third eye and inhaling down the right side to the heart center, exhaling back up the left side from heart to third eye.

I never really thought about how beautiful a teardrop shape is, and how it also mimics a heart shape but upside down.

And at the end of class, she gave us essential oil massage and did singing bowl stuff which usually I don’t like, but it was completely magical, and I really truly felt it in my heart: I AM A JOYFUL BEING AND MY HEART IS HEALING, HEALED, AND WHOLE.

And then after class, I saw that my ex had called me, so that was interesting.

Sweetness

Everyone in the class was so sweet, and they all hugged me and said they would pray for my house and that I need to come back on my way back from Oregon.

Everyone I have encountered has been so kind.

Miracles

My favorite tree is safe from the fires. I am on my way to make a pilgrimage to my favorite bridge. I went for a ninety minute walk down a dirt road and saw magnificent boulders.

Next week there is outdoor dancing and masked dancing and I will dance again for the first time in over five years, if it all works out, god willing, etc.

Everything is solving itself.

My friend whose parents mysteriously own a defunct llama farm put me up for a week in their guest house.

I have almost nothing with me but somehow I still have exactly what I need. What good fortune. What treasure.

It solves itself

I was worried about not having any warm clothing for this trip, because I left from my aunt’s place in Tucson where it was 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44 degrees Celsius), and all I had with me was yoga clothes.

But then I stayed with my friend Em in Sedona, and she gave me a sweatshirt and a warm flannel.

I was second-guessing myself about jewelry because right before I left my tiny house, I had a strong feeling that I should take my favorite earrings with me. But I didn’t because of the high heat and the long drive, and then when I found out about the evacuation orders, I was even more sad about not having earrings.

But then a friend had the perfect pair of earrings that they weren’t using, and now I am wearing them. It solved itself.

Warm clothes, earrings, animal friends, a spontaneous heart healing, a safe place to stay, what else can beautifully solve itself?

It’s easy if you do what you want

This is something Incoming Me always says when I ask for counsel, and I always bristle at it because a) I often hide from myself what I want, and b) it never seems easy, and c) there are so many conflicting factors.

But I think what they mean by this is that I need to stop over-complicating everything by trying to be overly accommodating. And instead I need to just get quiet and clear about what feels like a yes for me.

This is related to letting things solve themselves instead of trying to force solutions, but it is also related to staying attuned to heart space and letting myself have fun.

The Joy Church

On the way to where I was going, I passed a sign that said This Way To The Joy Church.

I still don’t know where or what the joy church is, but I like the idea of being joy church adjacent, I like the idea that there is a sanctuary of joy in my heart.

What if I’m not fleeing a fire and instead I am following joy?

What if my solstice wishes are not about recovery and healing like I think they are but actually about letting myself follow joy? Or, what if recovery and healing are served by following joy?!

What if some of the wisdom of STREAMLINED, the big theme of this trip so far, is actually about letting myself say yes to joy?

It’s a new day

My friend Marisa says:

It is a new day! Things are hard but we are so resilient! We will solve problems!

Yes. We will solve problems and we will let problems solve themselves.

Or can we let the problems not be problems in the same way that a library was not a library and a farm was not a farm? It might look like a problem but maybe it’s an adventure.

What else, speaking of solstice wishes?

I’ve been making so many wonderful friends on this road trip, so I want to keep being someone who just makes friends everywhere I go, what fun. It’s not really like me, since I generally keep to myself but I am enjoying it.

Joy, joy, joy, joy, joy, healing, healing, healing, healing, healing. And those in combination

Every pet owner I met thought I was a pet owner and thinks I should be one, but really I think I just need to be spiritually friends with a mountain lion or something.

The opposite of low regard. What is that? Higher standards? Raising the bar? Staying playful.

Something about cockiness

Someone I know but not very well said to me, about me:

”Seems like you are exactly where you want to be. That’s a big deal. Happiness is so sexy. You have this kinda cocky attitude happiness. I’m not sure I have seen that before in someone. I kinda like your I don’t need nothing from nobody vibe.”

So yeah, okay, I have joy and I have a spirit of adventure and I have warm clothes now. Let’s go, HOT COCKY COWPOKE HIGH REGARD SUMMER.

More importantly, I have some hope. Maybe that is also a form of cockiness, I’m not sure. It feels very new but I am liking it.

What else is like that?

Keeping the faith.

Another yoga teacher friend said: “Faith and optimism are great to have right now”

I’ve got plenty of both to go around right now. Usually I don’t but for whatever reason, I do right now. Maybe that is also related to the solstice wishes, to staying rooted in gratitude, to bravery.

I AM A JOYFUL BEING AND MY HEART IS HEALING AND WHOLE. Holding this for and with you too.

In the dream

In the dream, my car did a complete flip in the air and returned to upright, and I was okay but my car was not, and a mother and her son stopped to check on me and invited me to stay with them.

Something about how everything is tumult and turmoil and yet things keep working out somehow. People are so kind. We connect in mysterious ways and share joy or moments of joy, a spark of magic, that oomph of ALIVENESS that is so hard to describe or qualify.

It wasn’t a bad dream or a good dream, it was just mirroring how everything feels lately. A little chaotic, a little magical. Can I stay rooted in gratitude within the chaos, and keep tuning into heart space and hope?

Maybe that is my solstice wish too. Let’s keep practicing and playing and checking on each other. Here’s to the glow sparks of good things coming.

Come play in the comments, I appreciate the company

Leave a pebble (o) to say you were here, so I know I’m not doing this alone.

Also it feels good to pick up a pebble and place it somewhere, I have noticed.

You are invited to share any related situations or musings of your own if you like, or name any wishes that are in process.

And of course you are welcome to share anything that sparked for you while reading, anything that helped, clues received, or anything on your mind, wish some wishes, process what’s percolating…

I am lighting a candle for us and our beautiful heart-wishes. What a brave thing it is to allow ourselves to want something better for us and for the world.

Or if there’s anything you’d like to explore further or toss into the wishing pot, the healing power of the collective is no small thing, companionship helps.

Whatever comes to mind or heart. Let’s support each other’s hope-sparks…

Housekeeping note: You can subscribe to posts by email again!

If you aren’t seeing these updates in your in your email and want to, you can can solve that here.

This will pop up a new page on Follow.It that lets you subscribe via email, newsletter, or RSS reader. They say “expect 50 stories a week”, and that’s a very imaginary number, once a week is the dream.

I am emailing copies of the Emergency Calming Techniques package!

Anyone who gives to the Discretionary this week (more info below) will get my Emergency Calming Techniques package by email as a pdf. I am only checking email twice a week because I no longer have wifi at my place, long story, so be patient with me but if it doesn’t show up within the week then let me know!

I have some ideas for the next ebook too but if you do too, shoot me an email or share in the comments.

A request!

If you received clues or perspective or want to send appreciation for the writing and work/play we do here, I appreciate it tremendously.

I am accepting support (with joy & gratitude) in the form of Appreciation Money to the Discretionary Fund. Asking is not where my strength resides but Brave & Stalwart is the theme these days, and pattern-rewriting is the work, it all helps with fixing the many broken things.

And if those aren’t options, I get it, you can light a candle for support (or light one in your mind!), share this with someone who loves words, tell people about these techniques, approaches and themes, send them here, it all helps, it’s all welcome, and I appreciate it and you so much. ❤️