When I am feeling unsteady, uncertain, unmoored, irritated, triggered by whatever is current and present in my life—if, and that’s a big IF, I pause and notice, I can feel my face settle into lines and sags. My eyebrows fall, the corners of my mouth slide down, muscles of my jaw tighten and my neck constricts like angry snakes. You too?
Tag Archives: nervous system
When Yoga Hurts.
When yoga hurts: Pausing with pain. Her directions were clear, “From all fours, sit back onto the heels, buttocks to calves, then lift and straighten the spine. Turn all ten toes under, settling all the weight down on the hips and balls of the feet, keep the spine straight, hold palms together at heart center.”Continue reading “When Yoga Hurts.”
No one wants to be thrown off a cliff.
If you told me that you wanted to learn how to swim and I said great, I have a perfect way to teach you how to swim. Then I proceeded to hike with you cliffside, precariously perched 100 feet over the surface of the deep blue ocean. As you stood there, braced against the wind,Continue reading “No one wants to be thrown off a cliff.”
Face Yoga, anyone?
One of the best ways to boost our immune system is to do a lymphatic massage. The lymph system is how our body fights infection, and it is a system for removing toxins and waste from the body. The lymphatic system doesn’t have muscles or a pump like the heart. It relies on movement; soContinue reading “Face Yoga, anyone?”
I see the moon and the moon sees me.
In November of 2022, the world’s population reached 8 billion. I can’t imagine that number at all, maybe looking at a night sky filled with stars I can get an idea, or the grains of sand spread across my favorite beach. I can choose to feel foreboding, worry, anxiety, hopelessness about that unimaginable number, butContinue reading “I see the moon and the moon sees me.”
The Sacred No: Resist rather than resent.
I listened to a NY Times Opinion podcast interviewing a 19 year old teenager in Brooklyn who has become a leader in a resistance movement. What are these activists up to? NY Times, “ Started last year by another Murrow High School student, Logan Lane, the club is named after Ned Ludd, the folkloric 18th-century English textileContinue reading “The Sacred No: Resist rather than resent.”
Off the mat; into the world
The morning fog embraced the land, sun rays slowly colored the horizon a stripe of orange just above the mist as I drove eastward. My car gently swerved along the curling river road as I moved toward the sunrise. My eyes were drawn to the ever changing light show while my mind circled, organizing aContinue reading “Off the mat; into the world”
Dear Breather, This is easier than you think.
It was the first big family gathering for my husband and I in more than 2 years, and I escaped into a quiet hallway to breathe. For a highly sensitive introvert, these breaks from social energy is necessary. It gives me the quiet I need to relax and get back in there. To me, beingContinue reading “Dear Breather, This is easier than you think.”
Falling in Love with my Blind Barracuda Mind
Fun facts for the day: Barracudas swim up to 36 mph, weigh up to 100 pounds, have incredible vision, and use their face full of sharp chompers to consume hundreds, nay, thousands of unsuspecting, sparkly fishies. These fierce predators hunt along the coastline, in tropical waters, where chubby, glittery, vampire-skinned tourists swim lazily along. Did I justContinue reading “Falling in Love with my Blind Barracuda Mind”