Greetings, Reader! I had the honor of being one of the featured speakers at the Vermont Womenpreneur's Summit this week! The theme was gratitude, and I spoke about how my journey through the underworld of chronic pain taught me how to listen to my body's wisdom and develop a nervous system-informed approach to pain. It was so powerful to share my story publicly, and inspiring to hear the other speakers' stories. We each had such different experiences and perspectives, but the common thread...
8 days ago • 3 min read
Greetings, Reader! When something in my body hurts, I usually jump to three questions: What's wrong? Is it serious? How do I make it stop? As a physical therapist and a chronic pain survivor, I know how scary pain can be, especially if you've had difficulty resolving pain in the past. It is a natural instinct to want to get rid of the pain as soon as possible because, let's face it, pain is not pleasant. In fact, the (now outdated) definition of pain that I learned in grad school was: Pain is...
16 days ago • 4 min read
“There is a place in the heart where everything meets.Go there if you want to find me.Mind, senses, soul, eternity, all are there.Are you there? Enter the bowl of vastness that is the heart.Give yourself to it with total abandon,listen to the song that is always resonating there. Quiet ecstasy is there —and a steady, regal sense of resting in a perfect spot. Once you know the waythe nature of attention will call you to return,again and again, and be saturated with knowing,'I belong here, I am...
22 days ago • 2 min read
"A congested heart, one burdened with unexpressed sorrow, cannot stay open to the world and, consequently, cannot be fully available for the healing work so needed at this time." ~ Francis Weller Greetings, Reader! One of my favorite qigong forms from the spring series I've been teaching is called punching with an angry gaze. It is a simple movement that starts in a steady, grounded stance. On each exhale, you slowly and deliberately punch forward with alternating hands. The movement is...
29 days ago • 3 min read
Greetings, Reader! Have you ever eaten a juicy peach and marveled that anything could taste that good? Or smelled the intoxicating scent of honeysuckle wafting through the air on a summer stroll? Have you ever cried over the beauty of a sunset, or been in awe of the dawn breaking over a snow covered mountain? The trance of unworthiness is so seductive. I have never expected a peach to be more like a pear, or thought that honeysuckle should be more productive in order to be worthwhile, but I...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Greetings, Reader! Did you know that the Parasympathetic Nerves are CranioSacral Nerves? A simple way to improve sleep and digestion, and to reduce stress, pain, and overwhelm is to work with the CranioSacral regions of the body to activate the Rest and Digest portion of your nervous system. The Autonomic Nervous System has two branches that work in opposition to each other to maintain homeostasis. The Sympathetic Nervous System's job is to mobilize the body. It is activated by the three E's:...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Greetings, Reader! When I worked at Bryn Mawr College many years ago, my boss, Marjorie, would often say "I'm going to meditate on that" when she had to make a big decision. I always took that to mean that she would contemplate her options, much in the same way that people often say they need to "process" their emotions or experiences. I'm fascinated by language and how our language shapes our thoughts and experiences. [In fact, I took a neuroscience course in my second year of college that...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Greetings, Reader! Thank you to everyone who replied to my last email. It was a delight to reconnect with so many people. Sending these messages sometimes feels a bit like releasing a carrier pigeon into the wild and hoping the message gets delivered. I can’t tell you how much it means to me to know that my messages are not just being received, but are resonating. In this wild world, connection is everything, and I’m grateful to be in relationship with you. Last week I shared a the myth of...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Greetings, Reader! I've always been captivated by mythology and how people use stories to understand their world. [Fun fact: In elementary school, my favorite book was D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths, and I played the Goddess Hera in the school play!] I'm currently studying and teaching a qigong series based on the five Sacred Guardians, who are the protectors of the dharma. The ancient Chinese people observed these guardians in seasonal star constellations and believed they helped to shepherd...
2 months ago • 3 min read