I went to England in March and saw my dad for the first time in a few years. Walking back to the tour bus from Stonehenge, I went through a quiet zone of small trees that didn’t need me to take photos of them.
Living in between stories—do writers know how to do this? Sometimes fascia tries to take over for bones, holding us up where we’re injured or weak. Trying to be a good and gentle parent to one’s own fears. The posture you sleep in is important.
“Those young sparrows that successfully grew up in this atmosphere of fear remained at a disadvantage into adulthood. Even though these birds were not themselves exposed to the scientists’ track, these birds sang fewer songs, lived shorter lives, and produced fewer offspring.” “The Transgenerational Cost of Fear”
Protective habits that help us flourish—flowers are committed to blooming this morning in Denver and I had their scents in my hair while I watched them. At the end of this month I’ll turn 40, and there are still many times when I want a mother to tell me what will be soothing.
The unwinding experienced during a cranial sacral session. “for the spiral in our spirits”
“We have heard many stories of life under shelling, in bomb shelters and escape from violent occupation. People have burst into tears when seeing Valerian tincture. I’ve had old men stand at the table and sob and shake. Everyone has asked for support with distress and sleep. Many people have aching muscles, coughs and colds after arduous journeys.
We are distributing various tinctures like valerian, skullcap, hawthorn and rose, as well as immune tonics, cough syrup, nutritive and nervous system teas, lavender oil and muscle rubs. With herbal safety leaflets in 4 different languages. I knew there was a huge herbal medicine tradition in Ukraine but the demand and valuing of the medicines and space have blown my mind. I thought we’d have enough for months but here we are, almost entirely out of medicine.”
My grandpa who walked in the mountains in Ukraine picked chanterelles in our suburban Minnesota back yard every spring. They grew in the shade outside my bedroom window; it was the window I learned how to climb out of because the house was a place that had to be escaped.
I have read about the odd, sometimes intense sensation of a spiraling movement, from the base of the spine to the crown of the head, written by yogis who undertake practices to bring about bodily stillness. They describe the sensation as being snake-like, serpentine. I experienced this sensation during a ten-day meditation retreat in Massachusetts. “Do not follow the spiral,” was the teacher’s advice. She offered no explanation. The sensation was so intense, I must have appeared to be rocking forward and back and side to side. It had its own energy and trajectory; I was simply the thing surrounding it, impeding its motion, trying to get out of its way.
From “The 59 Realms,” published recently in Three Fold Press. I included this story in the manuscript that is my dissertation, which I defended on Thursday. A four-year project is coming to an end. And giant kelp is getting less nutritious.
My massage practice has a name now: Bodykind Therapies. I’m excited to tell you more about this soon. Until then and always, trust your instincts:
<3, Evelyn