It's SNOT for Me to Say...

Did I say salt tears are the best laundry aid for getting out the grief stains? 

I’ve not been following my own advice.

When I don’t do my grief work, the tears leak out in inauspicious ways. This week they manifested in a doozy of a head cold. I’ve been a snotty girl. Yes, I was around a three year old little guy with dual rivers of green slime flowing down his upper lip, but I think my body was made vulnerable by ignoring some sad feelings that really wanted to be discharged - cried out.

In the profession I’ve chosen, supporting others to re-negotiate trauma, it’s optimal to stay current with my own challenges. If I neglect my personal practices too many days running, the mental clutter can tip the balance into physical symptoms. 

Virginia Wolf had the right idea... A Room of One’s Own. USING that room is important! Whatever space I have for my own time-out to heal, I must make the time to use it on a regular basis or the accumulated stressors push me out of my center. 

When I travel, it’s more of a challenge to carve time for yoga and meditation, but if I DON’T carve the time, I’m not much use as “hub of the wheel.” I get wobbly and the whole wheel wobbles... whether the spokes that relate to me are family members, friends or clients.

Sometimes I have to RE-prove to myself the value of self-healing practices. Last week was one of those times. Being up north and loving the whole process of preparation for our grand daughter’s third birthday celebration shifted my priorities. It was more fun to stay up late talking and doing tasks than it was to get up early and do my healing routines.

Just past the Summer Solstice, I’ll be attending a workshop that promises to be wonderful. Claudio Naranjo, Steve Hoskinson and Cynthia Merchant are presenting “Caring for Others in the Context of Self-Care.” How timely is THAT?? The Ratna Ling Retreat Center space north of Bodega Bay looks amazing. I’m grateful for the time and space to retreat and recreate. I think it will provide space to do some more grief work around mom’s death.

In the mean time, I’m intending to complete writing the memoir about growing up in the 1950’s and ’60’s in Echo Park and am so looking forward to a day with my writing partner next week.

Hooray for support of ALL kinds!

May you lean into support where ever it manifests... and ask for it if it doesn’t seem imminently evident.

It’s SNOT fun to be sneezy!