Crossing the Threshold
Lessons and a new beginning.
“We heal when we can be with what we feel.” ~Hillary L. McBride
My dear one.
It’s been 482 days since I wrote my last post about the advantages of taking a sabbatical. While I didn’t realize it at the time, I would be following my own advice. Indeed, a sabbatical has helped me gain perspective that I would have never acquired otherwise. I’ve crossed over the threshold, and it’s time to return to one of my favorite activities: writing. I can only say thank you for your patience and for sticking around, especially if you’re newer to me and my work.
When your eyes are looking down at your feet, it’s hard to appreciate the vastness and depth of the expanse that lies above.
I’m calibrating to a new vision of what I’d like this space to be: A refreshed direction as a creative sanctuary — an online wellbeing wunderkammer1— to share ideas, conversations, and contemplations about how to align with the values and practices that will reverberate through our lived experience.
For this reason, I’m beginning to shift away from traditional social media channels. Substack is my preference as a more meaningful platform for community engagement. By paywalling content and comments, I hope to cultivate genuine conversations—a space for thoughtful reflection, free from the noise of superficial interactions, bots, and trolling behavior.
Shall we begin?
Let’s talk about pressure… SO MUCH PRESSURE. To achieve. To consume. To impress. To have a plan. To follow the trends. To want more. To be in constant motion. To live up to perceived standards. To say yes. To strive. To go big. To have the answers. To be ‘on’ at all times. To keep a stiff upper lip. To exceed expectations. To wear a smile while teetering on the brink of emotional collapse.
The juice of our mind-body-soul connection is being squeezed beyond the life of its pulp–it’s being pulverized.
To that end, I’ve been contemplating our social and cultural conditioning, searching for new ways to release the ‘pressure valve’ of our thoughts, habits, judgments, and assumptions. I’ve been discovering how to become more resilient in the face of so much pressure (and letting go of some of my own conditioned behaviors). The past year has marked a time of intense learning, one where I’ve handed over the driver’s seat to my intuition and filled the gas tank with trust.
In 2024, I deepened my training in subtle body wisdom and pursued certification in yoga nidra, guided by incredible teachers: Dr. Chanti Tacoronte-Perez and Tracee Stanley. These restorative practices have profoundly shaped my understanding of healing, and I remain committed to continuous learning and self-improvement. The deep impact they’ve had on me cannot be overstated; the lessons continue to reverberate through my life and how I continue to teach. In 2025, my focus is all about applying and implementing these newly acquired skills and knowledge.
One thing remains a constant: I show up for my practice daily to tap into every ounce of inspiration, grit, and wisdom to help me stay grounded and agile. It has become malleable, changing with the seasons and cycles of life. I've learned to embrace rest without guilt, to recognize worthiness not as something to be proven but as an inherent state of being. Having a consistent practice has allowed me to shift my focus to what truly matters: being with my people and strengthening those relationships.
Movement and breath have become a form of medicine, a way to release internal pressure. By tuning into interoceptive awareness, tracing emotional currents, and breathing consciously, I've discovered a deep paradox: a focus on the ebb and flow of inner movement eventually leads to stillness, and stillness invites deep reflection. Reflection offers opportunities for tapping into the essence of who you are at your core. The ego melts away, leaving clarity in its wake.
In these moments, a sense of wonder overtakes me. It’s a pure, heady bliss where my heart radiates out like a beacon, and peace floods my entire body. A deep knowing comes online to stamp these words on my lips: Be a conduit of divine light, beauty, and healing. This is my true purpose and my compass.
With reverence and hope,
Your fellow traveler on this journey of becoming
What you can expect going forward:
Subscribers will receive a monthly curated digest featuring morsels of interest and practices that I think you’ll appreciate.
Paid subscribers will also enjoy:
- Monthly thematic explorations based on seasonal cycles
- Commenting and community connection
- A 10-minute meditative story each month
- Invitations to live events
December’s Wellbeing Wunderkammer: Dragons + Sound Immersion
At the beginning of each year, I like to draw a card from my animal spirit deck and embrace the essence of that animal throughout the subsequent seasons. 2024 is all about the magic of the Dragon. The dragon helps us see our true selves. Its fierce, ever-watchful presence helps us balance the physical and spiritual planes. Dragon energy has the power to activate our sacred inner fire.
This performance by master storyteller and musician Laurie Anderson speaks to the energy of this year and the fire that lives in the belly of our collective Dragon.
My Three Words
Every January, I select three anchor words that become a guide for helping me make right-fit choices throughout the year. Whenever I’m met with a challenge or an opportunity, or I’m feeling particularly stalled in making a decision, I use these words (and the definitions I create for them) to help in my decision-making process. It’s a game-changer!
Throw your New Year’s resolutions out the window, and join me in creating your three anchor words for 2025. I’m hosting a virtual gathering on Sunday, December 29th at 7 pm. We’ll do a short meditation to kick things off, and then we’ll craft our three words together. You’ll have time to share and explore how to use them in the coming year.
You can register HERE.
Wunderkammer is the German word that translates as ‘wonder room,’ often referred to as a cabinet of curiosities in English. During the Renaissance, well-heeled families would build these wonder rooms to signify worldliness, wealth, and status. They filled them with collections of rare art, taxidermy, books, and objects, as well as jewels and treasures from around the world.
In the spirit of this idea, I enjoy curating wellbeing rituals, objects of fascination — like lucky charms and altar tokens, mantras, art, music, and practices that create a sense of wonder and a bit of magic for those who enter this sacred space. However, I strive to make these marvels accessible to all. Like a kaleidoscope, I expect this space to project new patterns as the dynamics of the community change and grow.