Happy New Year! I hope you are keeping warm and moving with ease during this cold, cold winter here in the foothills. I have certainly enjoyed keeping the home fires burning, but there have been moments in which I have longed for sunny shores.
It’s been a while since my last newsletter, so there is a little catching up to do.
Let me get one important piece of news up front, here, in case you don’t get to the end of the newsletter. I WILL NOW BE PRACTICING AT THE AMARA CENTER IN CLAYTON. I have made arrangements with the Amara center to use one of their treatment rooms and am really excited to do some work in their beautiful facility. You will still call me directly (or email) to set up appointments, but we will meet at the Amara center instead of here at the cabin. There may be times in the future when I will practice in both places, but for now you will see me in Clayton.
The Amara Center is located next to the Mountain Lakes Hospital off of 76 West, just west of Clayton. Follow the signs for the hospital, and you will find it just before the top of the hill leading up to the hospital on the right. If you would like to map it, the address is: 629 Ridgecrest Circle, Clayton, GA 30525. In case you need it, the phone # there is 7 0 6 . 7 8 2 . 4 0 0 9.
BRRRRRRR! It's been such a cold winter!
Have you been keeping warm enough? All the dry heat can challenge our bodies. It's so important to make sure we get enough water this time of year. And it's also important to get some sunlight on our skin to help us synthesize vitamin D.
January is a time for some contemplation about what we really want to bring into being this new year ahead. There is still time to get clear about how we want to do things differently this next time around the sun. Have you set some intentions around health and healing?
I have found over the years that making even the most incremental, tiny change can create powerfully profound results in n my life. What small thing can you begin doing that will lead you gently into a whole new direction? I love to ask myself this question because I know that with even what seems like the littlest effort, I will see big change and progress and before I know it my life is transforming!
The first week of December I attended another wonderful workshop with Deane Juhan (www.jobsbody.com). This time we focused on the arm and hand, which of course are connected to the neck and back and torso - so all of this was addressed. By now I have studied with Deane for something like 100 hours, and I continue to be intrigued by his teaching, his thinking, his work and his unique presence. What a phenomenal thinker and a passionate explorer of this work he is.
I am so lucky to have found a teacher this early in my career who inspires me so deeply. Of course this is partly because his work is so uniquely effective. I continue to be amazed by the immediate results of Resistance/Release. One of the reasons it is so engaging for me is that it really involves the brain and nervous system and the conscious awareness of the person I am working with.
This work is effective because it brings our awareness directly to the muscle fibers and forges a conscious connection between our brain and nervous system and our various muscle groups where we have some imbalance happening. When we learn how to bring balance back to these areas, we are training our brain to recognize and be able to recreate what balance and ease FEEL like. Now we can create new, healthier patterns and behaviors which lead to more ease and balance and more pleasant sensations in our bodies.
It was a great workshop, and I made sure to get at least one sunrise in out on Paynes Prairie, near the Florida School of Massage. What a magical, special place, full of wildlife and water and subtle beauty.
Because I generally don’t plan extra time to enjoy the locale, though, and because I was invited back down to a sound healing workshop in January, I planned another short trip, this time with some extra time built in for enjoying the natural beauty of the area. I enjoyed spending more quality time on the prairie - this time seeing wild boars, a wild cat, sandhill cranes and numerous other bird species, along with hundreds of alligators. No buffalo or wild horses this time, but I was satisfied, nonetheless. I also took part of a day to kayak on the Santa Fe river north of Gainesville. There are so many beautiful places in northern Florida, each with their own magic.
Back home in Rabun, I have been enjoying exploring the beauty of ice in its many forms, especially along the Wild & Scenic Chattooga River!
The dream time has been powerful (for this dreamer, anyway) this winter. I am still facilitating dream work and welcome your inquiries into consulting with me about dreams or helping you get a dream group up and going. This is powerful and healing work, and makes for an even more interesting journey through this great web of life.
I hope your 2014 is off to a healthy, happy and productive start and I look forward to furthering our work together this year!
Keep it easy and happy new year!
