Hi angels,
Hope you're taking care 🤗 I can't believe how long it's already been since I've written on here—time flies.
And Happy 2022! Do you have an intention for this year?
This marks the year where I will finally spend the majority of my time in Europe, making a real home over here after a great deal of time spent being a sort of nomad. It also marks the year where I will be prioritizing, when it comes to work, my healing work (Inner Wellness Guidance, Health Coaching, and Reiki) above all else.
Basically: this year is huge as I feel like I'm stepping into the self I saw in Future Self visualizations for the past 5 (!) years.
The truth is, this was always available to me, but it took a lot of getting out of my own way to accept this path, as I was so fearful of judgement of others, and also of "choosing the wrong path" (which isn't possible, btw—there is no right or wrong, there is only learning; that said, a litmus test for assessing that which is in deepest alignment with your soul, if it helps, is remembering that that which is in true alignment with you will feel like relaxation whereas that which is out of alignment will feel like tension).
I share this as, just as this was always available to me, what you desire at a soul level is available to you, too. There's a reason you're attracted to that which you are; this is a sign that you are meant to explore these areas more. Follow your curiosities.
On a less macro, and more micro level, over the past few days, I’ve been recovering from a rather intense stomach bug over here, which has been both a complete drain, and a gift. As happens every time I get sick, when I come through to the other side, I realize, 1) how incredible it is to be gifted with the ability to move through most days without exhaustion and pain, and 2) how uncomfortable I still am with giving myself time to rest.
On that last note, I’ve become really aware of how quick my mind is to jump into comparison mode, X isn’t taking the day off to work from bed and take multiple naps. Y is still getting movement in. Z would be better at giving herself the grace to rejuvenate.
Ayayay. These thoughts certainly don’t help to create a soothing environment for the body to heal in.
And yet, still, heal it does. Our bodies are such miracles.
What I’m learning throughout all this is that I may never be fantastic at resting sans guilt, but I can continue to grow my awareness and choose again when the negative thoughts come up. It’s honestly like anything else—like meditation wherein the point isn’t to be void of thought but to grow in awareness of thoughts cropping up and then return to the breath.
The benefit of this is that we’re not layering on extra judgement for not being “perfect” at resting, while still gently nudging ourselves to relax into a more nourishing mindset.
If you happen to be moving through pain in this moment, I wanted to share with you one thing I did that really did help me this week. It comes a bit from Reiki, a bit from Breathwork, a bit from classic meditation. And that is, lying down in a comfortable position and moving the hand to the part of the body where you feel pain, and breathing deeply into this area.
This helps to increase the flow of energy in this body part, which in Traditional Chinese Medicine they’d call moving stagnant Qi — which practitioners of TCM describe as the root of all illness. I did this for about 10 minutes, although I’m sure if you did so for even just 2, you’d feel a calming of your nervous system, and likely reduced pain in the particular area as well.
Over the next while, I’ll be sharing more about Reiki, as I am completely taken by the Japanese system of healing, and am so grateful to my teacher Lara for giving me such thorough, traditional training on the topic. I’ve only just begun providing Reiki healing for others, but it’s already been so beautiful and powerful. I’ve seen those with insomnia, for instance, fall into deep rest in minutes and come out the other side being like, “That was magical.” If you’re curious about Reiki, what it is, how it works, etc. def let me know :) Happy to answer any Q’s you may have!
Until then, sending love.
With gratitude,
M
PS. If you're a deep thinker, an old soul, a seeker, I invite you to explore my new podcast: The North Star ✫
