This is my g-ma Dot. She's 91 and is in many ways the most important woman in my life. She's endured, with stunning grace the loss of her husband, her sisters,her daughter, and fiercely maintained her independence and autonomy. She's lived alone for over four decades - and has a vibrant community and social life. She is the epitome of endurance, fortitude, optimism and tenacity. Her no bullshit approach to life is something I aspire to - and her wicked sense of humor has brought her through soul crushing loss. She's a self-professed firecracker, burnt at both ends! Recently, I started giving her massages when I came home to visit. All of a sudden I saw a whole other side of her, she just melted in my hands. I realized how society turns away from the aging body. In our cult of youth we fear the aged and sick bodies but by god, we never loose the need for touch, for pleasure, for contact and physical caring. And as the pain patterns of tension, arthritis and injury grow deeper and more familiar over time, I can imagine needing touch even more. You can see the look of peace on her face during this moment at Christmas. Her skin is amazingly soft and delicate. I study and honor her body as a map for where I might one day land : if life is generous enough to grant me those years. In our dialogue about body positivity, I'd like to remind us to pay special attention to the bodies of elder women. They are beautiful, they are sacred, they have sacrificed much for us and deserve the same tender touch and care we so readily give to a child. ❤️🙌🏼✨ . #bodypositive #touch #massage #notjustforyouth #elder #care #grandmothers #gramma #beautifulbodies #allages #elderwomen #touchheals #honortheelders #firecracker #dot #love #february #givelove
Timing is a funny thing. . The more I learn, in my body and my mind, how we truly ARE nature, not just a part of it, the more humbled I am - the more I trust the act of surrender. . Everything comes and goes in its due time - and often, that's not up to us to decide, or even know in advance. Our job is to stay tuned in, and flow - which is never easy, especially when it's not what we wanted, planned or hoped for. . I find these lessons most fierce in the winter months. I find myself still rebelling against the deep freeze of life, productivity, creativity, and even health that the winter brings. It's a challenge to live in a world that asks us to not be nature, to not be animal, shifting, changing, adapting, malleable, multi-faceted, and instead to be more machine, constant, steadily productive, a sameness day in and day out that for me tears away vitalness. . I believe that this is why so many of us are excavating the old rituals and ceremonies, patterns of life and breath that were forgotten mere centuries ago, and speak to the seasons in our bones. Our survival, our heart health, joy, and aliveness is at risk as we are being called to protect it. . This is what Spiritual Archaeology is to me: a rebellion against our forgetful society - an opportunity to live as nature and discover that texture of life, together. . Apparently, January was not the month for us to gather together again - and looking back, that's okay. I bow to the deep healing and insight that bed-rest and even illness offered me. But now, I humbly send out another call, like a wolf in the deep snow, to you, my fellow pack member, let's try again! Awoooooo!! . Our new session dates fall now with the new moon and the energy of intention . WARMING THE SHAMAN'S CAVE will begin: . SUNDAY FEBRUARY 3rd until SUNDAY MARCH 10th. . Our winter practice will include: . GENTLE MOVEMENT: Kripalu Yoga to release tension and cold. . SHAMANIC JOURNEYING: To play in the expansiveness of our imagination and subconscious, seeking to revive the birthright of insight and intuition. . ANIMAL MEDICINE: Through autonomous journeying, you will discover your own animal guides as they present themselves.
Just a reminder, it's January. . #seasonofsleep #restisresistance #deepfreeze #itsokaynottobeokay #fallowfields #abundanceyields
Winter flu has me down, but this moment is lifting me up. I used to be terrified of singing in public, despite my love for music. Then someone said, it's selfish to not share your gifts just because you're afraid. This pic was taken between sets at a sold out show at the Horseshoe tavern in December. Despite my expression, I was the happiest I'd been in many many months. I'm taking this badass babe into full formation in 2019, giving her the love she needs to shine bigger than She ever imagined. No one's holding me down anymore - and that includes myself. ❤️💎 . #notetoself #notimeforbullshit #nomoreabuse #fuckabusers #freedom #selfexpression #selflove #singyourheartout #survivor #musicheals
"In the winter the bear enters the womb-cave to hibernate and digest the year's experiences... our goals reside in the West and to accomplish them, introspection is necessary. Entering the safety of the womb-cave attunes us to the earth's energies and lets us enter the great void, where all solutions and answers live. Many tribes call this the dream lodge - where our ancestors sit in council and advise us." . . (from Medicine Cards, Sams and Carson) . . #bearmedicine #winter #introspection #intuition #west #earth #womb #goals #2019 #goinandin #journeying #answersarewithin #guides #kripalu #yoga #toronto
At the center of your being you have the answer: you know who you are and you know what you want. (Lao Tzu) ... .. Imagine a warm, firelit home within you, safe from the outer noise and the inner critic. Walls painted with visions, a fur-lined hearth to rest on, and the instruments of magic at your fingertips. 🌀 .. .. SELF-LOVE and AUTONOMY fuels the ever-burning flames and here you can rest, dance, sing, dream and receive freely.🔥 .. .. This is the home of and for your spirit, sometimes called the shaman's cave, the cave of Brahma or the dream lodge.✨ ... .. Your Shaman's cave is where you store the tools and wisdom that work for YOU, and where you can go to anytime you need, anywhere you are. 💎 ... ... You get to make the rules here. You write the manuscript for ceremony and healing. ... ... No one can tell you what you'll find there - but can get a little help getting there ❤️ ... ... .. Join me for the next 6-week #spiritualarchaeology session starting Sunday January 20th! .. .. We will use gentle Kripalu yoga, breathwork and Journeying to find and warm our winter caves, focusing on the themes of AUTONOMY and SELF-RESPECT. .. .. Spaces are limited! (Event details in bio 🔥) ... Original artwork by @kimberlywebber88 ✨ ... ... #yoga #shamanism #journeying #winter2019 #shamanscave #animalmedicine #autonomy #selfrespect #onlyyouknow #selftrust #selfhealing #samastudio #breathwork #doingthework #spirit #fun #innerexploration #practicalmagic
B&W photography expedition with papa 🖤
Winter solstice blessings to all... May we dance through the darkness into the returning light with fierce hearts and fiery spirits 🔥♥️ . . . #solstice #throughthedarkness #dance #courage #movement #change #fearnot #letgo #winteriscoming #returnofthelight .. .. .. 📸Pinterest
A little plant clipping was taken from @misfitstudio many many moons ago as I tended to her mamma. Today, that tender shoot is a strong independent plant. Soon, the Misfit Queen street studio doors will close, for the purposes of expansion and growth. Thank you @misfitstudio women for the tender gifts of community, fitness, and a space to lead my own classes within your walls last September. It's been an honor to be a student and teacher within this church of movement for the past many years. Just as this little plant has grown huge in my home, I wish you all a safe landing in whatever new home you're destined to set down deep roots in and grow bigger, brighter, more wild than ever before 🐅❤️🔥until then, see you on Ossington!
August 2018: Writing about the river I grew up on, and in... feeling that full circle kinda thought pattern, of cycles of completion on the heels of eclipse insanity... dove down to the bottom of a pool and floated up to find thunder skies above me....thoughts about the space between the lighting and the thunder crack... what happens there? The eyes on the bottom of my feet said: walk down this street, okay, let's go. Here I found a plate, handmade, from the UBC museum of anthropology ... okay yes, you'd like to come home? I think I have a spot for you... later... in a trance, I reached for a card: SALMON came jumping up stream to me, saying this is the time of completion, going /coming home , full circle swimming... I look up at the blue plate just hung on the wall - closer.... 5 salmon swim across her lip... these are the precious days when the chaos forms a coherent pattern, when answers are provided. They are rare, and so precious and important to hold onto. Like Something's got my back - or maybe, it's ME. .. .. ... ..: #streamofconsciousness #salmon #serendipity #writing #swimming #summertime #memories #entries #medicine #imstrongerthanithink #memoir