Category: Essays
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The Earth Within
If you pay close attention, there is a pulsation to the earth. It isn’t quite a heartbeat… It’s more of a sway, an ebb and flow. I used to think it was kind of sad, or even a sign of brokenness, that I have usually felt closer to plants and animals than people. I love people (I…
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Cultivating Self-love in times of crisis
The last few weeks… they have felt very familiar. I’d like to think I’ve grown wiser since 2016, and 2020. My former therapist often said that in times of crisis, people tend to either overfunction or underfunction. She correctly observed that I am an overfunctioner. For much of my life I had used achievement, workaholism, and over-attending to relationships as…
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Discerning our inner voice
Alongside the thrill of learning how to tap into a flow of images, sounds, sensations, and loving support, a gnawing question loomed at the edges. “How do I know I’m not just making this up?” The thought emerged again, and again, as I began listening to my inner voice. It’s probably one of the most…
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The language of plants, and how to listen
The scientific field of plant communication is fairly contentious. The early research, perhaps best known through The Secret Life of Plants, divided the community firmly into two disparate camps. The word communication is at the heart of the issue, antagonized by the human supremacist perspective that seeks to measure all other life through the lens…
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Lighting the path in a Hermit year
The first night I was on retreat last June, the power went out. There were generators in the main building but not the others. I sat by the fire talking for a couple hours before making the walk to the other side of the property where I was staying. As I walked down the gravel…
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Those whose healing is bound with ours
Moving into October, I can’t help but feel the pull towards connection with ancestors and others across the veil. It does seem that this year that quality of proximity began a bit earlier than usual. Maybe that’s because I’ve been writing more about mediumship and ancestry. I’ve been drawn to therapeutic work around death…
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Preparation | Catharsis | Integration
I had the sense going into 2024 that I would be need to be patient and stay focused. I had experienced a strong enough taste of Yoga Nidra from the previous months of practice that began last Fall, to know that continuing a daily practice was going to change things. I knew that the friction…
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Terrain of the Body
In the last newsletter I shared the idea of internal wind, and some of the ways that interrogating the supremacy of the mind can lead to greater peace with life’s ebbs and flows. We are living in urgent times, and discernment is necessary to conserve our energy and put it to effective use. As my salsa teacher used to say, “When the…
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Wind of the mind
At the end of June I was on retreat at Menla. The experience of the land there was pretty incredible, but what struck me the most was the wind. It ripped through the valley many times per day in powerful, smooth currents that rustled the leaves and carved through the bands of energy. I used to have…
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Death and Afterbirth at the bottom of a Lake
With startling synchronicity I found myself facilitating a dreaming circle while simultaneously participating in one. (I suppose when I saw the title “Earth Dreaming” I could’ve anticipated it, but I read that more figuratively so it came as a surprise.) In this circle we are inviting the Earth to communicate through our dreams. And the night…
Inward Vision 