In a world that celebrates giving, the aspect of receiving is often missed. Receiving isn’t a quality that gets much attention or the respect it deserves. It’s often buried underneath the pile of more honourable deeds such as giving. There’s even a Biblical saying embedded in our cultural conditioning which says, “It is better to give than to receive.” And we’ve believed it to be true without [...]
Girl writer When I was a young girl, I loved words. In first grade I thought the word “girl” was so cool because you could spell it “g-i-r-l” OR “g-r-i-l” and it could mean a “young lady” or a “barbeque” and grownups had to figure out what you meant. You could just move letters around. Writing was so playful for me. In those carefree days, as soon [...]
Thirty five years ago when I was a young mom at age 22, and pregnant with my second child, I never thought THIS would happen. To be sure, I’d had crazy doctors before, like the naturopath who predicted my uterus would “explode” (his word) and I’d be barren if I didn’t take his "extract of beef uterus"pills. To add to the weirdness, he also told me all [...]
How bored are you? Do you ever exaggerate the story of your life/day/weekend as a big hairy deal? Just so you can have something interesting to talk about with your friends or keep boredom at bay? In other words, do you have to make something sound more dramatic and problematic than it is in order to fit in or to entertain yourself? What I've found is that [...]
Have you ever thought vulnerability was a weakness? Or if you’re vulnerable you will get hurt? Do you have evidence to “prove it” that when you were once open and vulnerable, someone stabbed you in the back, cheated on you, lied to you, hurt your feelings, or took your money? That vulnerability is a weakness is simply not true and I’d love to clarify so that [...]
One of my favourite topics is creating. Likewise, what gives me a rush is when the act of creation dynamically changes something on the inner or outer levels that you have been tolerating. Did you know that a major block to creating is tolerating? What are you enduring that's been slowing you down? All those tolerations, as simple as a button missing off your favorite shirt, to owing library fees, [...]
What are your favorite spaces in nature to play? Oceans? Beaches? Woods? Meadows? Farms? Tropical forests? Mountains? The sky? Your backyard? We would love to hear from you! One of the qualities that makes nature so appealing is that it does not judge. It is simply there, doing its thing, growing leaves, fur or feathers, petals or wings. Being the best flower, or dog, or rock [...]
You are not too old and it is not too late. These timely words from poet Rainer Maria Rilke branded me almost viscerally the first time I met a woman I’ll refer to as Dorothy. It was 1998 in Salt Lake City, where I was a dancer in a showcase performance of sacred dancers from all around the globe. One of the dances that took my breath away [...]
Working as a body coach and hands-on body healer, I ask to be vulnerable with my clients. Funnily enough, being vulnerable doesn't come to me as easily as I had thought. However, what I've noticed is when I ask to lower my barriers, it helps get me out of my preconceived notions about me, about the person, and about what will unfold during the session. Likewise, I [...]
How many ways to define, label and describe your body have you created? Have you decided how much it should weigh? Or how stressed out it is? What about the size and shape of your nose? How many notions do you have about how your body should, would or could function, only if...? The problem with defining anything is that you confine it to the box of [...]
