healing

fountain tarot, healing, post a day, prose, self-reflection, the daily draw, transformation, Uncategorized, writing

I am Held even when I’m Holding

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Today’s draw is the reversed Hanged man from The Fountain Tarot.

Two days later my old friend is back again, reversed, just to keep me honest.

In connecting with this card this morning I felt an instant release of emotion– my heart and my throat chakras releasing into sobs immediately. At first, my intellect was bewildered. Aren’t I doing a good job? Am I seeking external validation? What am I doing WRONG? BINGO. That question in and of itself is my answer.

Yesterday there was some drama in the studio. I was with a client in a private movement session and another instructor was teaching a mat class in the front room. I was completely engrossed in my work with my client when one of the mat class students burst into the equipment room, distressed, and said, “Mandy, can you come in here? something is wrong.” I looked into the next room to see the instructor, my dear friend and colleague, sitting on the floor shaking uncontrollably. I moved away from my client and over to her instantly. I sat with her and helped her ground. I told her she was exactly where she needed to be and that everything was alright.

She has a condition called Addison’s disease. Her body does not produce cortisol, the stress hormone. There are so many small chemical regulations that our bodies are continuously processing that we take for granted– sugars, salts, minerals, hormones. When any one of these small things is off in her body the effects can be catastrophic– it can leave her feeling dizzy, nauseous, and unable to function like a normal human being. It can also make her feel terrified. That’s what she was yesterday. TERRIFIED.

There’s that word again.

I am the woman you want around in a crisis. I will jump to action. I will stay calm. I will remain grounded. It’s what I was made for. In that moment of crisis my entire energy field surrounded the studio and everyone in it in a big bubble of safety. What was important to me above anything else was that she and everyone else in the studio felt safe and taken care of. I may have over-extended myself a bit.

We moved through the trauma, called an ambulance to usher her to the hospital where they could give her fluids and monitor all of her levels. My brilliant assistant went with her. When they left the studio I opened up the garage door to help allow the trauma to move out of the space and immediately re-entered the private session with my client who had waited there, holding space along with everyone else. We did some triage energy work on her heart, the situation having stirred up a lot for her, giving her access to feelings and emotions that her heart had been holding. I rooted into the space and helped her move the emotions. We moved her back into her physical structure and she left the space feeling lighter and more grounded.

I cleared the studio of the trauma after she left, processed it with a couple of the practitioners who were still in the space and moved forward with my day, unaware of a certain level of shock I was operating under. When my husband arrived home I processed through the story with him. He immediately asked me when I was seeing my healer next, he said “You just took a huge impact, and I know you’re strong and you did what you needed to for everyone else, but you need to get ahead of this.”

I heard him intellectually, but couldn’t process what he was saying on any other level. I felt fine– proud even of how I had handled the situation. (uh oh, proud? sounds like ego to me). And thus my uncontrollable sobbing at the right-side-up hanged man this morning.

What The Fountain Tarot says about a reversed hanged man is “business as usual” and that hits the nail on the head. Despite the MASSIVE trauma that occurred in the space yesterday– I moved forward as if I hadn’t been affected by it– taking care of the space and everyone else. Moving forward– making everyone feel safe and protected feels like my job. And maybe it is to a certain extent– as long as I’m being honest with myself, and acknowledging my own needs.

I am grateful to the incredible community of people who held space in the studio yesterday. I am grateful for the immense wisdom of my partner, his gentle but firm loving guidance, helping me acknowledge the truth. I am also grateful to this daily meditation practice.

Yesterday was HARD. I AM someone you want around in a crisis, I WILL be calm and grounded. I WILL take care of everyone else– but I cannot do that at my own expense.

Today I will take time for myself. I will allow myself to process and release the trauma of yesterday. I will remember that I am held, even when I’m holding. I will remind myself to TAKE MY OWN ADVICE– it’s actually pretty spot-on.

healing, motherpeace, post a day, prose, self-reflection, the daily draw, transformation, Uncategorized, writing

The Effort of Allowing

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Today’s draw is the Ace of Swords turned right from Motherpeace tarot created by Vicki Nobel and Karen Vogel. 

So today I’m sideways as opposed to upside down. I suppose that’s progress…

Sitting in meditation today after drawing this card, my attention was drawn to my heart chakra. I felt massive pressure there, like a huge bubble welling up– wanting to be released but also needing to be felt. I sat with the bubble, connecting to my root and my crown, drawing light into my heart from both directions. I allowed emotion to move, tears streaming down my cheeks. As it flowed, the bubble began to disperse and turn into refracted light, like a sunset spreading wide across my chest, looking exactly like the image in this picture.

This image inspires hope for me. The butterfly beckons me out of my familiar and comfortable rut. In reading about this card, it being turned right is a sign of pushing an action or idea. That resonates. BIG TIME.

Yesterday in acknowledging my terror, I acknowledged also the comfort in pushing. My modus operandi throughout my entire adult life is to push forward and through. There’s something very comforting in the effort of the push. It helps me feel life I’m doing something– the struggle makes me feel alive. In this image the immense beauty is her effortlessness. She is poised and balanced and HELD from all directions, just as she emanates in all directions. The image is exactly what I felt in meditation yesterday… to hold and be held.

My new effort is to allow.

healing, motherpeace, prose, tarot, the daily draw, transformation, Uncategorized, writing

Poised for the Next Big Shift

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Today’s draw is the Two of Swords from Motherpeace Tarot by Karen Vogel and Vicki Nobel.

“Wow” is what I uttered as I drew this card from the deck this morning. The stark beauty of this image is striking. As I sit with this card in meditation, I immediately feel my spine elongating– a flow of energy moving out from my crown chakra. Then my attention, like yesterday, comes to my third chakra, which feels as if it’s rhythmically dancing. Sitting with the image there is a feeling of unity– of drawing together things that seem separate– but are not. The illumination of the full moon, shining on the naked figure is a revelation of openness. There is a peace– while acknowledging struggle, a resolve to being in what could be defined as a state of limbo.

Swords represent the element of Air. This is the second day I’ve drawn a sword– it seems I’m moving away from the emotion of watery cups and into the more active, changing element of air. The dancing in my third chakra portends a large shift is on its way. If the work I’ve been doing with my clients of late is any indication (and it always is)– there is a massive clearing of my throat chakra in process. (Not to mention the fact that I’ve been clearing my throat continuously for the last five days). Every piece of me feels poised for this next big shift. I feel as though I’m balancing on a precipice– ready to take flight.

I trust my resources and all that I am surrounded by to help carry me forward. I am strong and resilient and poised to exponentially EXPAND.

2nd marriage, fountain tarot, healing, love, post a day, prose, tarot, the daily draw, Uncategorized

The Space that Surrounds and Supports Me

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Today’s draw is the Eight of Cups from The Fountain Tarot by Jonathan Saiz, Jason Gruhl, and Andi Todaro.

This card speaks of a new beginning, separate from an old reality. He walks with purpose towards his new life– no need for sentiment or looking back. His focus is wholly on what lies ahead. This is perfectly aligned with the energy that surrounds me currently. I took yesterday off from blogging– no drawing, no writing. I went to work in the morning, taught for four hours and then came home and spent several hours sorting, purging, cleaning, laundering and organizing.

This weekend I finally allowed myself to press the RESET button I’ve been desperately wanting to push for weeks. And while our space is far from perfect, it’s beginning to take shape. I can see the outlines and edges of what it will become– and it feels magnificent.

I feel free and unfettered, and like I (and my space) can finally BREATHE again. As I sit here writing, I keep taking massive breaths, sighs of relief, and it feels like the first time I’ve done so in weeks.

Last night I found myself unable to sleep for HOURS. After approximately one of them, I got myself out of bed and allowed my mind and body the satisfaction of continuing to clean and organize our home. It was a little after 3 am when I forced myself back to the bedroom to close my eyes and attempt sleep again. Waking up this morning and moving through our space– it feels tangibly different. There’s an undercurrent that is new and clear and easily ordered. As I unloaded the dishwasher this morning before work (I seriously feel like this was the first time I’ve ever done that– and if it wasn’t– it was close to it)– I had this feeling of finally understanding what it is to be an adult in a whole new way. (It only took me 41 years to get here.)

There is a natural chaos in my process within my home. I move through the space and create complete disarray because my focus is narrow– and fixated on an end goal– and there’s a part of me (I’d say a fairly important part) that isn’t present. There’s a part of me that isn’t acknowledging and respecting the space that surrounds and supports me. I am a different person at work. I NEED order– because I am asking myself to function at a high level. For most of my life I have found myself caught in a place where I unconsciously create a living environment that does not support my highest function.

As our new space unfolds, the underlying order that exists is more powerful than my chaos. It is begging me to maintain it– and I must happily oblige. There’s a new level of consciousness being asked of me, that I am asking of myself. A new part of me is awake and she’s demanding more. She’s asking all of me to step up and take the reigns, and surround myself with what I KNOW i deserve. And somehow, I finally feel SAFE enough to do that.

2nd marriage, healing, love, marriage, post a day, prose, self-reflection, the daily draw, transformation, Uncategorized, writing

Completing a Cycle in OUR Home

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Today’s draw comes from Sacred Geometry Cards by Francine Hart.

Yesterday I did not draw, nor did I write. I laid in bed ALL DAY LONG. I went to bed the night before well aware that my body was fighting– but with the hope that I might be able to “sleep it off.” Sleep it off, I did not. I woke up a couple of hours into my sleep with a RAGING sore throat. I tried all of my witchy remedies. I wrapped my neck in a scarf, poured a Chinese linament on my throat, and secured a rose quartz stone in between the scarf and myself– well aware that my 6:15 am class was not something I was going to be able to “push through.” At 3 am I texted my clients to let them know they could get some extra sleep in the morning– and tried to do the same.

My body is moving through its cycle. It’s done such an incredible job over the last month, moving forward, pushing through, getting it done. It is acknowledging its breaking point– forcing me to take a knee. And just thirty six hours later, having taken that knee, I feel much better.

Today’s card is all about those cycles that are inherently present in our lives that we are continuously moving through. There are the constant and continuous cycles that are always present, the waxing and waning of the moon, the changing of the seasons. Then there are those larger, personal cycles, birthdays, graduations, acknowledging changes in relationships, GETTING MARRIED and such.

There is a massive purge that has been building and insinuating itself for MONTHS in my home. This space is bursting at the seams. It is BEGGING to be toppled and rebuilt. I have been keeping it at bay for the last two weeks. It’s as if it is a living, breathing thing and it’s aware that the wedding is OVER– and pestering me to PAY ATTENTION to it. This weekend there is finally time to be given to completing a cycle in OUR home. Yes, technically it has been OUR home for almost three years now– but everything is different now. There is an ownership that WE have over this space that trumps anything previous.

I honor the sacredness of this new beginning we are making as a family of four. I honor the closing of the cycle as our family of three. I honor this space as our sacred container and can’t wait to dive in this weekend and MAKE it SING!!!!

2nd marriage, healing, love, post a day, prose, self-reflection, the daily draw, Uncategorized, writing

Slightly South of Sacred

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Today’s card comes from The Sacred Journey deck by Cheryl Thiele.

The simple beauty of this card, having moved through my own personal turmoil yesterday is absolutely perfect. The last week or so of my life I’ve moved slightly south of sacred, engaging in old patterns and habits that don’t serve my highest good. I’ve allowed myself to indulge myself in old routines relating to comfort and safety– mostly with my eating habits. I’ve been gentle with myself in this engagement however, acknowledging the massive transition through which I’ve just moved. Occasionally we all need to plunge into the deep waters of old, familiar patterns in order to remind ourselves why we’ve made the conscious choices we have.

I’m just poking my head above the surface of those waters today– and it feels amazing to honor my conscious choices once again– and move away from the old, rutted patterns. If we allow ourselves to honor the sacredness in everything, we give width and breadth to all that surrounds us. I had the most incredible energy session today with a dear client and friend. I have watched her move through so much in such a short period of time. I have seen her claim herself and honor her process in the most sacred, beautiful ways. This card, and the simple beauty of the wings on it reflects the sacredness of her journey. It reflects the sacredness of ALL of our journeys. I am immensely grateful for the honor of bearing witness to so many people’s sacred space.

I honor the sacredness of my body, this amazing vessel that has managed (despite my best efforts to thwart it at every turn) to persevere and grow stronger. I honor the sacredness of my space as my extended container and protector. I honor the sacredness of my children who are (despite the fact that they are children) phenomenal human beings who I am grateful to know. I honor the sacredness of my business as it offers sanctuary and solitude to those who honor its sacredness. I honor the sacredness of my partnership– as it is larger and more powerful than I could possibly be on my own.

For everything sacred, which is everything, I am grateful.

 

2nd marriage, healing, love, marriage, motherpeace, post a day, prose, self-reflection, tarot, the daily draw, transformation, Uncategorized, writing

Consciousness in all Things is KEY

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Today’s draw is the five of cups, seven of swords and five of wands from Motherpeace tarot by Vicki Noble and Karen Vogel.

I made this draw in the morning during the few spare moments I had between my early morning class and taking my kids to the doctor and the dentist. I first drew the seven of swords, an old friend from a few weeks back. I remember the last time I drew this guy I was horrified, because just the night before I’d had a sunshine-and-roses-all-signs-point-to-YES kind of draw, and this fox knocked me down several pegs. As I did the last time I drew this card, I immediately knew I needed to draw two more, first the five of cups and then the five of wands. As I drew the five of wands I said hello again, having just seen it a few moments before when it had tried to assert itself while I was shuffling, a “jumper”. This time I actually said hello instead of shoving it back into the deck. I think it’s safe to say this morning was a head down, get it done sort of operation– not a lot of conscious activity happening for me.

Immediately after drawing these cards, I took a picture and then headed off with my kids into “Operation mom” for the next hour and a half. Before leaving I tried to find my Motherpeace book, so I might be able to at least intellectually process what the deck was telling me– but to no avail– it was hiding. The cards were eerily haunting throughout the day– I checked in with the picture a couple of times. Operation mom moved immediately (and a few minutes late) into “Operation business owner”– and my day proceeded as such, moving from one thing to the next without any time to consider myself.

Welcome back to life!!

My job as a business owner is incredibly rewarding. I have relationships with so many different, amazing people. I have no one but myself to answer to (which totally works for me). I LOVE my work. However, at times running a business can be really challenging. It can be a lot to carry on my sizable-but-just-one-set-of shoulders. Sometimes I allow that stress to bleed into my personal life– because I certainly don’t want it to bleed into my professional life. Sometimes I don’t do a good job of managing my stress.

I had some unfortunate digital misunderstandings and miscommunications with my husband in the afternoon which added to my stress and general “off” feelings. I finished work at six and headed home to cook dinner, moving into “Operation wife” with a chip on my shoulder which was really uncalled for– but definitely present. When my husband arrived home I didn’t do a good job at communicating the gist of my day– and ultimately, while walking along the beautiful, tree-lined streets of our neighborhood we had our first fight as a married couple. Hooray!! (We all know it’s gotta happen, might as well get it over with).

Arriving back at our house after my own personal post-fight walk, I saw my husband through the window in our basement folding laundry, and I went into the kitchen and finished making dinner. Under the auspice of “not putting clothes in the wrong place” we made up, he always finds a way to make me smile. We settled back into our life and had a late dinner. It was then and only then that my Motherpeace book poked its head out from its hiding place RIGHT next to me. Yes. My daily draw.

I picked it up and leafed through the book, finding the descriptions of my cards, finally able to consciously take them in. I took some time to sit with the images. I felt gratitude for the resolution and communication between myself and my husband. Sometimes things present themselves before we’re ready to take them in. These cards definitely did that. They spoke of strategizing to get what I want, of not becoming overwhelmed or stuck in a space of grieving or letting go, and of an internal struggle and the rising of a phoenix from the ashes. YES, YES and YES.

This daily draw process is not always the easiest for me. It lays bare things that are not easy to look at– that are hiding underneath my rose-colored surfaces. It helps me to affirm where I am and with what I am struggling. I don’t like to acknowledge personal struggle, as it feels in my lizard brain like a weakness. Of course as a healer, I know better– but it is challenging to always stay on top of self-reflection. Today it tells me that consciousness in all things is KEY. And honest communication with myself and with the outside world is necessary.

2nd marriage, healing, marriage, post a day, prose, self-reflection, the daily draw, transformation, Uncategorized, writing

Actively Becoming Myself

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Today’s draw is the Greek Goddess Psyche from Goddess Knowledge Cards painted by Susan Eleanor Boulet and written by Michael Babcock.

This powerful image of Psyche holds the promise of new life– shrouded and nestled with birds and holding an egg. Psyche (whom I had never heard of before drawing this card) was first mortal then given immortality after wedding Eros, the Greek God of love. She is said to exemplify a woman’s quest for personal growth– affirming that every piece of our path is important, the dark as well as light.

When I connect to this card and this image of Psyche I feel nestled. It follows the same theme (funny thing about that) of creating and rooting into a home, or nest. In the week before my wedding, three times I saw crows flying above me with branches in their mouths, building. I feel clearly that the space I am occupying in my life is one of building. I am acknowledging my massive root system, which is co-mingling with the massive root system of my husband. (As I write this, he sits next to me writing).

I am building my home. I am building my family. I am building my business. I am building my life. As I move back into and begin to occupy these spaces after the massive ceremonial acknowledgement I feel a protection and assurance that did not exist before. I am whole in a new way. I am actively becoming more and more myself with each passing day.

healing, love, marriage, post a day, prose, self-reflection, the daily draw, transformation, Uncategorized, writing

Straddling the Human and Spirit Worlds

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Today’s draw is Fox from Animal Spirits Knowledge Cards by Susan Seddon Boulet.

Fox is said to come to you during times of change, which is certainly appropriate for the massive life event that is coming just four days from now. (my wedding). Again, just as in yesterday’s draw there is a full moon illuminating the fox and a supernatural feel to the painting. Fox is said to be a mediator between the human and spirit worlds. I spent last night, as well as many other nights in the last couple of weeks straddling the human and spirit worlds in my dreams, waking with visions that only my dreaming mind can make sense of.

The massiveness of this transition I am moving through feels like it is being accompanied by a spiritual acknowledgement and awakening as well. As we allow our partnership to be brought out into the light and witnessed by the world, there are other aspects of us, often under the surface, that are allowed to be seen as well. I am a healer, and a witchy, witchy woman. I don’t always present my witch to the world, though most people who know me at all know that she’s always right underneath the surface. The appearance of fox today feels like an assurance. She helps me feel confident in owning the ceremony that is the next several days of my life. I am preparing myself for what is next. There is no need to hide my witch. She knows exactly how to move me forward.