My gratitude is overflowing as of late As I wind down my last sessions in the space that has grown me at least as much, if not more than I have grown it. When I first started my practice downtown, it was a major leap of faith. Really my whole massage experience has been about leap after leap after leap, of faith. The first one being moving to an Island in the middle of the pacific ocean with a baby on my hip and an uncomfortably small amount of financial abundance or know with all about where any might come from. I often had to hitchhike to school from the commune in the middle of the sticks of which we lived. School was a leap inward... learning to trust that each leap of faith inward would gain me understanding of my own pain and healing through surrender, furthermore helping me be able to be attentive to others' physical and emotional pains through my personal understanding.
To begin in Duluth I had to figure out how to keep my overhead low... so I started a communal housing situation where we could keep rent down, yet live in a conscious way that was safe for kids and families. the smaller overhead allowed me to be able to devote myself to being available to my practice if I really wanted it to grow. Water the seeds you want to sprout. Sometimes I would try clipping my nails to see if it would be the whisper in the universes ear of the person that needed body work, as if being ready might ready them to call. I thought of that timeless line from the movie 'Field of Dreams' " build it and they will come".
Some time ago my aunt gave me a plaque that reads "The Journey is the Destination". It has sat on the floor in my waiting room, never making it to a hook on the wall. It dawned on me that they call a practice a practice because it is just that... a practice... it is not about arriving at a destination, it is about continuing to show up in the moment, time and time again. Ready and willing to learn and dive deep with people, as deep as they are ready and willing to go. See what shows up. As time goes on and you are given more and more opportunities to watch with close attention, you start to see more and more and it never gets boring. This practice is not just for the practitioner... it is just as much a practice for the person receiving. It is learning how to trust your own intuition and inner ear, my role is to help you feel what might be holding you back. Jon Barnes talks about the Fascia being the subconscious brain. if this is true, my role as a therapist is to show you what you are not aware of through bringing more awareness to your subconscious holding patterns.
Without the safe vehicle of space that this healing temple has been for me in my life, I would not have had a container to return to time and time again. Without you, I would not have been able to set my attention in this place. Pulling my roots from the space has grown my trust in that the work lives within our own hearts... its interesting to me that this space hovers above the earth. As I pull my roots I notice I feel more and more grounded. A lot of tears have shed. I feel as though we have all been working in the heart of Babylon for a while now. And we don't have to work that hard anymore-- maybe our softening unto the world can be less about chiseling concrete. It is time to build it up, in another softer, also safe space.
On the night before the solstice directly after this experiential landing on the ground, I was walking my dogs near my house. My ears felt more keen. I noticed an owl. I turned my gaze in the direction of it's hoots, not expecting to see it. A few hoots later it tufted itself above the tree tops of the pines it sat and hovered above for a few moments. It then landed on the tip top, looked at me and flew away north west.
The ground is a good place to land. Thank you to all that have made this experience possible. I look forward to the evolution in the new space. Blessings to all in these holy days, hope it is joyous for all, stay warm!!!
Every day is sacred, kindest regards -- Kristy Marie