Routines and Basketball

My man and I split season tickets to games for both the men and women Gopher basketball teams at the U of M and, on Sunday, we enjoyed our last game of this season. Having grown up in a basketball-loving family and being a player myself back in the day, this tradition of cheering on college basketball with my husband has been so much fun.

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We tend to arrive at the games early, which gives us time to observe the warm-up routine on the court before tip off. It very meditative how the team would move from stretching, to shooting, to working with a trainer/strength coach, to high-fiving each other. Going through the motions of the routine that helps them get their head and body in the game.

These little pre-game rituals continue throughout the game: cleaning their sneaks before they enter into the game, prep for a free throw, coming out of a time-out.

My favorite is the free throw prep. Most players have some sort of thing they do each time they are at the free throw line before they take the shot: couple dribbles, set the feet, look at the hoop, deep breath, shoot.

It got me thinking about those little routines and rituals WE do during our day to day - those little actions that add a little something extra and something special. Those little things done with intention that are touchstones for the meaning in our lives. That help us get our heads and bodies in the game of our day.

Like, wearing your favorite pair of underwear when you have an important day, morning meditations, sipping a warm beverage of choice at sunrise, kissing your loves goodbye as you leave for the day, that specific song to belt to on your commute or your favorite jams for your workout, what you do when you first arrive home or when you have a big decision to make, lighting a candle before dinner, evening gratitudes and prayers, etc, etc, etc.

What are some of those routines that give you structure and solace? How can you add in more moments of intention to help you feel grounded and supported in your day? Where might you need a little extra anchor over the course of your day?

As I was washing my hands last night, I looked up at my reflection and looking in my own eyes I thought: what if while we wash our hands for twenty seconds, we also take that time to look into our own eyes and tell ourselves how bad ass, brilliant, resilient, and lovable we are? This would be a great opportunity to take a mundane moment (and maybe even fear based task, considering the virus news going around) and turn it into an intentional practice of infusing our day with more love.

We just had a full moon last night, so my full moon wish for you is for you to take sweet care of yourself and that you find those routines and rituals that support your body, mind, spirit, and heart.

Put Into Motion: Waxing Moon Musings

Walking the pup on a couple of late afternoon and early evenings this week, I’ve caught glimpses of the moon in the blue sky and was excited to see that half-sphere look. The moon is in the waxing phase, getting bigger and bigger and brighter and brighter.

For us humans, it’s a great reminder to use momentum and to put in some aligned action towards living a life that feels like ours.

With the full moon happening this weekend, what can you put into motion in the next handful of days? What steps can you take that make your 2020 intentions more of a reality.

Can you schedule that appointment, make that coffee date, set up the limits of screen time on your phone?

Would it feel good to open that journal, crack that cover of the book next to your bed, share your idea with a brainstorming partner, or organize your office?

How about being more protective of your sleep or more aware of where you place your attention and focus during the “down time” of your day?

I also pose these questions with a reminder that they are not meant to guilt or add stress to your life, but to add Life to your life. To add in more sprinkles of what you love into your day to day. In a world where we are already super busy and productivity is seen as more valuable than rest, remember to choose your actions (and REST IS AN ACTION!) with compassion for yourself.

My action for me this week is to share my upcoming collaboration with a college friend and #bosslady Brett Dorrian Benedict: Book Club + Breathwork! These will be twice monthly gatherings on Tuesday evenings in NE Mpls that pairs books and discussion with breathwork. It’s a great way to gather in community for reflection and blooming together through all the growing pains and delight that comes from doing personal development work and/or building a business/owning your craft.

What I love about this new offering:

• It’s an invitation to come back to reading books. It’s something I’ve loved since summers growing up when we’d head to the library and, in the age of social media, I’ve gotten away from reading.

• Come just to Book Club, just to Breathwork, or come to both! Book club is free, so it’s a great way to get some support and to meet some new people.

• This breathwork is offered on a weeknight! Not everyone can come to a Friday night class or a Sunday workshop (when I usually host events), so this gives you the chance to catch a group during the week if you’ve been wanting to.

• The books will naturally give us themes to work on, so we’ll take the book material and then breathe with it to get clarity around next steps and to integrate the information that resonates with us into our bodies and our lives.

All the details are on the events on my website and Brett’s picked the list of books for the year, so you can peruse the titles and see what calls to you. And let me know if you have any questions! I’m excited about this new adventure.

Here’s to movement and momentum this cycle that feels fulfilling, aligned, and fun! xo

Imagination

Happy first new moon of the new year! *deep breath* Ah! Doesn’t a new beginning feel sweet? That energy of a fresh start can be light and expansive.

The start of my new year began with lots of rest (like, so much rest I was sick of sitting on the couch! It was glorious) and then a whirlwind of activity. I didn’t feel like I landed in my “normal” routine post-holiday until January 13th and by then my brain was telling me that the month was almost half over. It felt like I missed the start of the year! Which is silly because the calendar year is a human made structure and thank goodness for the moon cycle, which gives us fresh starts frequently and often!

Last weekend, thanks in part to the snowstorm that visited Minnesota, I finally cracked open my copy of The Body Keeps the Score that’s been sitting on the pile of books by my bed for almost exactly a year (I discovered early on that it was not a pre-bedtime book and never moved it to the coffee table where I would see it…).

I’ve been thinking about this one concept a lot since I read it and I’d love to share it with you about:

the healing power of our imaginations

In this part of the book, the author Dr. Bessle Van Der Kolk is working on a study with veterans where they show the ink blot image and have them share what they see (the Rorschach test). What they found was the vets would either only just see the image as is (aka a blot of ink) or they would be brought back to the one traumatic image from being in war. Their trauma had effected their imagination.

He writes:

Imagination is absolutely critical to the quality of our lives. Our imagination enables us to leave our routine everyday existence by fantasizing about travel, food, sex, falling in love, or having the last word - all things that make life interesting. Imagination gives us the opportunity to envision new possibilities - it is an essential launchpad for making our hopes come true. It fires our creativity, relieves our boredom, alleviates our pain, enhances our pleasure, and enriches our most intimate relationships. When people are compulsively and constantly pulled back into the past, to the time they felt intense involvement and deep emotions, they suffer form a failure of imagination, a loss of mental flexibility. Without imagination there is no hope, no chance to envision a better future, no place to go, no goal to reach. - Bessel Van Der Kolk, MD

On one hand, I knew this. I use imagination every day in my healing and meditation practice by visualizing and tapping into that elusive feeling of energy.

On the other hand, I hadn’t heard imagination described in this way and was delighted to read a scientist and researcher’s take on it. Often, I find myself thinking of imagination as something we do as children. That art of make-believe that was fun and carefree as youth. BUT WE ACTUALLY HAVE THIS TOOL AVAILABLE TO US ALL THE TIME.

The other point that was important for me to read was how trauma can freeze our mental flexibility, where we might lose our imaginations while being stuck in a memory or painful moment of our past. All of us have experienced trauma in some way and this is why I love breathwork in collaboration with therapy and other healing modalities. When we feel safe and held, we can use our breath to loosen and soften the trauma from the somatic memory of our being and release it from our bodies gently in order to re-invigorate our imaginations and create space for a different story to lead our lives.

In honor of the new moon, now is the perfect time to practice using the healing power of your imagination.

Plant some seeds for your new beginning and your new year.

Do you need more self-care in your day to day? Use your imagination to visualize what that would look and feel like?

Do you need to ask for more help? What would that look and feel like?

Do you have a project or desire that’s ready to be worked on, created, brought into fruition?

What can you plan for yourself as something to look forward to and work towards over the coming cycles and seasons?

To close, here’s my new moon wish for you: that you find some sweet time to yourself. That you feel inspired by your heart’s wishes. That you use your colorful imagination to fantasize about how beautiful life is capable of being. That you remember you can START anytime and doesn’t “NOW” sound nice? That you embrace YOUR timing as you pay attention to the earth/season’s timing. And that you feel the love I’m sending from my warm heart to yours.

Full Moon Guided Grounding Meditation

Yesterday was the last full moon of the decade on 12/12, today is FRIDAY THE 13TH, and tomorrow is my birthday - a week out from the Winter Solstice! It feels like there’s so much going on cosmically and in our earthly lives.

I’m really excited about it and want to do all the things to celebrate such moments, but also, last night I was EXHAUSTED. After working a long day at one of my part time jobs, the only thing I wanted to do was slouch on the couch with my man and pup while gazing and basking in the light of our Christmas tree.

So this is a little reminder to you and to me that we don’t have to do all the things, all the time.

The special events that happen in the cosmos and the cycles of the moon and the changes of the seasons are not meant to add more stress to your life or add shame for not completing your to-do list.

They are an invitation to remember to do things with intention.

To pay attention to the inner wisdom of your body. To listen to the inspiration from the stars. They are an opportunity to make time for the things that are sacred in a way that feels uplifting and fulfilling.

And making things sacred doesn’t need to take a lot of time or be super elaborate (although it’s fun to do that too). You can literally just take 5 minutes to feel your feet on the floor, close your eyes, and breathe into your heart. You can take a few minutes gazing at the candle light or the twinkle lights in your space before diving into bed (that was me yesterday!) The full moon energy extends beyond the one day of it’s fullness, so you can still take a moment to honor the fullness of yourself now.

I made you a quick little guided grounding meditation in case you need it as we round out the end of the year, which you can listen to on your device here whenever you need it:

Guided Grounding Meditation

May you find little pockets of moments for deep breaths, big dreams, child-like wonder, relaxing rest, and grounded energy. xo!