back from Taiwan. we had a beautiful Buddhist ceremony to send off my grandma. the trip was sad and difficult of course, but I'm really glad I could be there with my brother to support the family just be present. all things considered, my heart feels strong. I'm incredibly grateful for all the love and support from everyone around me, and all the people checking in to make sure I'm ok. and through this whole ride, so many people have helped me along the way. I just feel tremendously blessed and more appreciative than I can say. thank you.
so I'm healing.
beginning the next chapter. it really feels like a whole new start. getting settled into my new place. the book is coming along. preparing for my next yoga retreat in december.
and, appropriately, getting back to practicing craniosacral therapy.
which is interesting, as I never ever saw myself working in the healing arts. my training has always been pretty cerebral, left-brain, hyper analytical kind of stuff.
but I started to open to healing arts through acupuncture and yoga. a few years ago, I had terrible lower back pain after a move. it was so bad I couldn't sit down without grabbing a wall. I got it checked out and nothing obvious was wrong, so I was prescribed muscle relaxers which only kind of helped. the doctor also recommended acupuncture for the pain, so I figured what the hell. I got a one-hour treatment, and the next day, I could literally bend over and touch my toes and do high kicks. it was crazy. I couldn't help but be like, "huh. energy meridians. interesting."
I kept on with periodic acupuncture for stress and general wellness. it coupled well with yoga to keep back pain, body pain, and stress at bay, balancing out the desk-and-computer academic life.
and I was particularly intrigued by the training I chose in bali, because it had an energetic component. craniosacral training was incorporated throughout the yoga training, and we started to learn how to feel in with our bodies, and become more sensitive to subtle energy. we also learned about the chakras, meridians, and other ancient systems of understanding the body, healing, and wellness.
I've written some about the first two chakras already; I've found the real-life application of understanding the way our bodies are connected to our emotions, our experiences, thoughts and intentions to both be profound and extremely useful. one of the coolest things I've learned is that nobody can actually heal anyone else, we can just hold space and help other people find their way to wellness. also, that rather than being some sort of out there in the stars magical somethingorother, the most effective way to practice is to be deeply grounded and work from there.
so what may seem like weirdo spacey stuff, actually requires to practitioner to be extremely down to earth.
and the first time I received craniosacral therapy myself, not really having any idea what it was or what it was about, the effects were real and positive. my fellow trainees and I worked on each other a lot, and it's difficult to describe the level of the effects we all felt. we went way past relieving physical pain, to clearing all sorts of stuck emotions and baggage. in the end, we reintegrated to places that just felt lighter, clearer, and more at ease.
I'm still learning how to describe cranio and what it's all about. it doesn't lend itself easily to description, and it kind of has to be experienced to really get a good sense of what it is. but I'm healing myself and learning mores about healing all the time. I'm excited to see where this road leads me, and to learn more about how to do this good work in the world.