Practice. Settling in. Spring. We are almost halfway through the year, and approaching the middle/ end of spring season. What practices and rituals nourish you? What seeds have you planted this spring? What transitions are you observing and supporting, as we flower into the upcoming summer heat?
Remember: practice. Practice self-love and nourishment, even as the excitement of spring and upcoming fiery blaze of summer rouse the fires of our body-mind-Spirits into a a leaping, dancing— and sometimes exhausting— frenzy. Eat breakfast. Keep protein-rich snacks at hand. Keep a grounding morning ritual, and perhaps also a small evening ritual, such as a gratitude journal, foam-rolling practice, or reading one lovely poem before bed.
AROMATHERAPY | Scent-based rituals have been used for centuries to promote relaxation and emotional balance. By stimulating the olfactory system of the brain, aromatherapy can help activate the ventral vagus nerve, which is responsible for the "rest and digest" response. Travel-sized aromatherapy rollers are now available in my Ventura clinic: 2 oz lavandin + clary sage, or a customized 4 oz blend. Comes with a list of acupressure points (AcuAromatherapy) to help ground and soothe throughout your day, or during travels— and makes for a lovely Mama’s day gift.
COLLABORATIONS | Having danced between teaching solo and teaching collaboratively for the past decade, I am now leaning into more collaborations. I am exploring how divergent colors and edges can mix into new and brilliant colors and textures. Have you played with watercolors much? I have been painting an observational “nature-spot” every morning since January— thus, mixing colors. Making new colors. Seeing where edges meet. How they dance. Experiencing exhilaration with new colors, and also the tedium and rhythm of a daily practice. This colors into my teaching practices, too. “Nature-spot” might be fun also for you to try— let me know how it goes!
🌻UPCOMING🌻
ECSTATIC DANCE | I miss living in places with weekly opportunities for improvisational movement (like Taipei, Portland, Boulder, Northampton). So, I am now co-creating a monthly Ecstatic Dance with The Pharm, and rotating community nonprofessional DJs (like myself) each month, with a sliding scale rate— and it is so much FUN! I hope you come join us. Next dance is 5/19 with DJ Nohemi Ramos! (For reference… Ecstatic dance: music plays + everyone dances. Contact improv: rolling thread of collaborative contact. Contemplative movement practice: improvisational movement meets seated meditation practice. I dream of having all of the above and more eventually, here in Ventura! I welcome your ideas🥰)
TEA TALKS ROUNDTABLE | For the past two years, I’ve been sharing monthly Tea Talks podcasts in collaboration with Mountain Rose Herbs’ Herbal Radio. What a blast. I love chatting with diverse herbalists! The newest iteration of this project is Tea Talks Roundtable: chatting with a group of esteemed herbalists around a unifying theme. Thus far, I’ve chatted with Ventura herbalists, “Food as Medicine” herbalists— and more to come! 🤙Let me know if you have ideas or recommendations. It’s challenging (and time-consuming) to organize groups of busy herbalists, so I hope you savor the Roundtables, as they will likely be more infrequent than my regular interviews.
ELEMENTAL CREATIVITY | Have you ever dreamed of practicing zazen at an American Zen monastery with a venerable Zen monk, Taiwanese-American acupuncturist-herbalist-yogini, and Big Island Art Monastery Abbess in the middle of a forest for five days with delicious food, great company, and ample time for both solo contemplative practices, large group intentional dance parties, and meditative art practices— themed by Five Element theory from East Asian medicine?! Dream come true. I’m excited to join Suiko McCall and Fu Schroeder at Green Gulch Farm, 11/29 - 12/3. I hope you can join us. Sign up here.
EVENTS & EPHEMERA | Between now and November, there’s plenty more opportunities to come dance literally and figuratively. Come join us!
- Free Herbalism Project 5/7. Eugene, OR
- International Herbal Symposium 6/9 - 6/11. Norton, MA
- Nourishing Life retreat @Omega 9/11 - 9/15. Rhinebeck, NY
- Elemental Creativity retreat @Green Gulch 11/29 - 12/3. Sausalito, CA
🌻HIGHLIGHTS🌻
- New Interview: Tea Talks Roundtable, featuring Ventura herbalists!
- Upcoming Events: Free Herbalism Project (Eugene, OR), International Herbal Symposium (Boston, MA)... all events here!
❤️ Practice kindness, flower love.
acupuncture . herbs . yoga
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