This morning I got a call from a client I hadn’t seen in a while, wondering if she could get an appointment for bodywork sooner rather than later because she had been experiencing the misery of muscle spasms.
She lives somewhere in south Austin, and I live in Manchaca, and depending on how far south someone lives, it can be more convenient to come to my trailer rather than drive to my downtown studio. Continue reading
Two years ago today, I posted my first blog post on this blog. Back then, this blog was called The Zafu Report. After the first year, I expanded its mission and changed the name to The Well: bodymindheartspirit. The blog has evolved as I have evolved, and it’s been a great journey of learning by doing.
I am grateful to WordPress for providing templates and widgets that make it look good and take the skill and decision-making that goes with that out of my hands, freeing me up to write.
I thought I’d celebrate by listing the most viewed posts and thanking all of you who have connected. This, by the way, is the 503rd post I’ve published, and the blog has now received 26,847 views with 156 followers. My biggest lesson: persistence pays off.
So there you have it, the most viewed posts in two years of blogging. Thank you for reading.
I feel a little guilty for not posting much recently. All is well! I am loving my life in so many ways, let me begin to count them.
I love being a massage therapy student, learning, practicing, integrating. I’m friends with several massage therapists and bodyworkers. It is so cool to hang out and talk shop with them now!
It’s wonderful to work on my friends, too. Even when I’m massaging them along with a video, I thank them for their patience, because every time I practice, I integrate more. My hands are becoming antennas!
Today it occurred to me that my trailer is like a really fun playhouse for a grownup. I didn’t have a playhouse when I was a little girl, and I’m enjoying the heck out of living in this trailer. My visitors yesterday, Katie and her dad, Don, noticed that it is just my size, and it does feel spacious enough to me at 5′ 1″ tall. Living here makes me smile.
I’m still working on window covering decisions/installation and the sliding glass door/front deck entrance. I’m also testing 5 kinds of weatherstripping before settling on the best and longest-lasting. That’ll be a weekend chore to get done before the first cold front.
I was looking online today at chimeneas, imagining how awesome will it be, when it gets cold, to sit in my living room and watch a fire burning in a chimenea on my deck without the mess of having firewood, ash, or smoke inside. Looking forward to that fire trance…
The kale, chard, and collards I planted in September have grown large enough to start eating. The two inches of rain in Austin a couple of weekends ago was awesome. Plants love rainwater so much more than tap water.
There’s a mockingbird who lives near me who sings his heart out every day. I’m training my cat Mango to be an inside cat because he doesn’t behave well sometimes when I let him out. The monarchs are passing through.
I spent time last week updating my resume and making sure the same version appears on STCaustin.com, monster.com, LinkedIn, and so on. In other words, I got serious about sending a clear, consistent message out. The next morning, I got a call from a recruiter about a part-time technical writing job (very rare) at a really good company. I interviewed first (first or last are the best slots). By no means do I have the job, but it’s incredibly heartening to put my intent out there and get such a positive result so promptly. This has happened before. It’s almost scary.
I danced this morning at Ecstatic Dance of Austin. After several years of being away from dance, earlier this year I discovered this new group, whose energy feels clean, spacious, and not overshadowed by personalities competing for dominance. I feel that the bodywork, energy work, and awareness work I’ve been doing really shows up when I dance for over an hour with presence, pleasure, and skill.
My friend and fellow dancer Lakshmi Jackman says:
There is a shortcut to ecstasy. It’s called dancing.
Amen, sister!
I am feeling so grateful, lucky, and blessed to be connecting with some awesome people. New friends, old friends, family. People are showing me their awesomeness all the time now. Stunning, amazing awesomeness!
Is it because I’m in school learning how to do work I love?
Is it because the world is my mirror, and my happiness is being reflected back to me?
Is it because I’m finally getting the hang of managing my own life with skill?
Have I become more powerful than I believe I am?
I don’t know, but I am definitely feeling in love with my life.
Dare I wish for a couple of private yoga students? I love teaching, especially beginners, and miss it.
So that’s the news from Lake … hmm. Lake Well-Being. Thanks for reading. Blessings to you too.
Life is going pretty well. Knock wood, right?
I’m doing well in massage school. Got in some great practice on three people outside of school this past Wednesday, ahead of Thursday’s practical exam. I have a major written test next week and then a week off. It’s hard to believe that I’m about halfway through!
Tomorrow it will be three months since I finished brainwave optimization. I am glad I did it. I feel more centered, my memory is better, and so is my focus. It’s been worth the expense, and I can still go back for individual sessions if I feel the need. It’s been helpful with juggling school/trailer/moving/remodeling/working and so on.
I’m looking forward to doing some gamma wave enhancement when my trainer Gigi Turner at NeuroBeginnings is ready and I have time.
Also, I can have a drink now! You are warned not to drink alcohol during the training and for three months afterward. Kinda makes me wonder what alcohol actually does to the brain. Any drinking I do will be very light — my alcohol tolerance is low.
I did an NLP session with a friend today and picked up a freelance writing/editing job for her website! This is my second recent website writing job. I love doing this for people who have created and are running their small businesses that make the world a better, healthier place, people who are living their passions. I’m looking for more work like that.
I posted my technical writing resume on Monster.com a couple of weeks ago. I’m looking to work 20 hours a week at most, flex-time and telecommuting preferred. Meanwhile, I’m open to doing freelance writing and editing, as well as more yoga and NLP coaching.
I’d love to teach yoga out of my trailer to individuals or small groups (up to 4 max). I’m putting this out there so if you know anyone in South Austin who’d like a small class with more personal attention, you can refer them to me.
I’m considering teaching a donation-only class on Saturday mornings until the weather gets cold. I plan to check out Searight Park in my neighborhood as a possible location. I have Sun Salutations on my mind!
I’ve been attending a weekly class in Anusara yoga at Castle Hill taught by Brigitte Edery or Liz Belile, both great teachers who stimulate and challenge the mind and body. It’s a natural segue from my Iyengar-based training. Love the attention to awareness.
Next week I’m going with Keith Fail into the state prison in Lockhart to teach some basic NLP to women in prison, as part of Truth Be Told‘s Exploring Creativity program. We’ll teach triple description — first, second, and third position, like first, second, and third person in English class, only applying it to your real life. Perceptual flexibility is a fabulous skill to teach, and I’m looking forward to it.
I’m participating in a book group, reading Life in the Labyrinth, by E.J. Gold. This is my first foray into the Gurdjieffian lineage, not counting my longtime interest in the Enneagram. The group has been meeting for a while, and I’m honored to have been invited. We take turns reading aloud, covering a chapter a week, and enjoying some stimulating discussion.
I’ve signed up for a one-day workshop at Lauterstein-Conway later this month on cranio-sacral massage. I’ve mentioned before on this blog that I received CST every month for 2-3 years from Nina Davis. It is a fascinating branch on the massage family tree.
Week after next, I’m trading two hours of Swedish massage, with all the extras, for a two-hour lomi lomi (Hawaiian style) massage with James Moore. Really looking forward to that! I haven’t had a lomi lomi massage yet but have read about the Hawaiian healers who have kept this art alive.
Last, the trailer. I’m working on finding the best weatherstripping for the aluminum jalousie windows — something that will last that I can buy in bulk for the 48 windows, which have had the old, melted weatherstripping painstakingly removed.
Then, I hope to replace the nonworking sliding glass doors at the entry with something that works and build an entry deck. I’ve been using the back door to come and go.
Oh, and I must share this! August 2011 was the hottest month in the hottest year on record in Austin. It was also my first full month of having AC in the trailer. Friends have been telling me about their outrageous electric bills — as much as $400.
My AC ran nearly all day every day in August. I worried about my bill being outrageous.
The August bill was $100. Whew! Jon Esquivel at Austin Star Services did a good job getting a good unit in this trailer. For that I am grateful.
Other tasks coming up include plumbing and wiring my shed for a washer and dryer, getting some good window coverings and installing them, and planting more trees and a fall garden with some edible landscaping.
I am really, really loving my life now and the direction it’s going. It’s scary to make a big change in direction like I did, and it is working out well. Knock wood!
Thanks, readers! Yesterday my blog received 128 views, breaking the previous record of 121 days set in June.
Readership is picking up. This month, July 2011, the blog is getting an average of 70 views per day. That’s quite a surge in recent months — in December 2010, the average was 21 per day.
Thank you. It feels like confirmation from the universe that I’m on the right track, sharing my fascinations online for the world to connect with.
Sometimes writing this blog feels like being a late-night DJ or call-in radio host. Very mellow and low-key, yet people are out there who listen/read and connect.
I love the reader comments I’ve been getting, from people who share their experience with TRE and shaking medicine, and comments about my Spartan trailer. I’ve now got about 5 or 6 people who’ve asked to be notified if I ever decide to sell. That’s very nice to know — and right now, I’m still working hard to get into it. I’m getting air conditioning next week and will move in not long after that. It’s been a long wait, and I’m excited about getting in at last.
The blog is coming up on another milestone of 15,000 total views. Today the count is 14,300. At this rate, I could be celebrating in less than a week!
Many thanks, again.
This morning I was standing in line at the post office, and I could not stop making small movements as I stood. Shifting my weight from one foot to the other, letting my spine ripple up from the sacrum up, I became deeply aware of my muscular body, how muscles and connective tissue wrap around the bones and each other, and my body’s relationship with gravity and movement.
Today I have a sense that I have moved into my body more fully and become more physically present, more alive with more awareness.
I like it.
I’m guessing this is a benefit of going to massage school and receiving/giving several massages a week as well as the last few years of working on my physical body with multiple healing modalities including yoga and shaking medicine.
The brain training I did in June could also be a factor, since changes continue for several months afterwards.
I’ve been lucky enough a couple of periods in my life to be able to afford a monthly full-body massage, and for several years to receive 15- to 30-minute massages at work once or twice a week. Massage is a great antidote for tension and stress, and it’s so beneficial if you can receive it regularly.
We were told early on at massage school that we will receive 70 or so massages during the six months of training, and that that will change us.
I believe it. I feel more connected and present in my body already.
~~
Today another HVAC expert looked at my Spartan trailer. I think I’ve found someone who can fix me up with a central heat and air unit using the existing closet and ductwork. He’s emailing me a bid, and once I crunch the numbers, I can make a decision and move forward.
It’s been so hot, it’s hard to work more than a few hours early in the day before needing some relief.
I’m making decisions today about the bathroom — tub surround, wall covering, vanity, sink, faucets, and more.
Progress is slower than I thought, and the decisions are worth getting right.
I recently added a new feature to my blog, my tweets to Twitter. I’m super slammed these days with three full days of massage school a week plus homework and practice, remodeling my Spartan trailer and researching and making decisions about flooring, fixtures, HVAC systems, and more (in addition to the regular party that is my daily life).
I’d sure like to be into it by the end of July and continue working on it from within. Floors, floor coverings, HVAC, refrigerator, window coverings all need to happen for it to be livable. So much more can come later.
It’s a little bit nonsensical to pay rent where I’m staying, pay rent on my trailer lot, and pay rent on a storage unit. I’ll be relieved when I can pay just one rent, especially since I don’t have much income right now, just the odd website writing and yoga teaching job.
Just thinking about it all this morning, I realized I needed to do some shaking medicine. Legs, arms, back, neck… That’s better.
With all this going on, I felt like I was neglecting my blog readers. WordPress.com has made it possible to add my Twitter feed to my blog, and I added it as a way to post quick updates. Writing a blog post usually takes me at least 15 minutes, sometimes twice or three times that. Twitter lets me just post a sentence or two.
I haven’t used it that much, but it seems to match what’s happening now.
Follow me if you like: @wellbodymind.
I just want to say how grateful I am to WordPress for making it so easy for a writer to become a blogger without having to learn web design in depth, and how grateful I am to you, my blog readers, who stop by, read the latest or meander from post to post, and sometimes leave great comments or write me great emails about how something on this blog relates to your own experience.
Namaste.
If you reached my blog because you searched on Spartan trailers, please know that there’s a Yahoo group you can join to learn more about them from people who love, own, repair, and travel with Spartans.
It’s called “spartantrailercoaches”. Click here to view: http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Spartantrailercoaches/
There’s also a sister group, “spartantrailercoaches2” that is all photos. I just uploaded a bunch of photos of my trailer.
I’m going to be asking questions of this wonderful community as I repair and remodel my Carousel and not posting much on this blog about it any more, since it’s off-topic.
For the past week, I’ve been taking some yoga classes at Castle Hill Fitness, courtesy of a one-week pass I unexpectedly was given back in February. Most of my yoga training has been by Iyengar-certified teachers, and I like that emphasis on alignment because alignment just happens to be one of my major issues in this body, and I can use yoga as an awareness practice instead of just keeping fit.
At Castle Hill, I’ve been taking Anusara classes. If you don’t know, Anusara yoga is an offshoot of Iyengar yoga. Anusara yoga’s founder, John Friend, was a senior Iyengar teacher until he parted ways with B.K.S. Iyengar and created Anusara yoga.
Anusara is not that different from Iyengar yoga. In fact, it’s pretty similar but has Universal Principles of Alignment that everything is based on.
(If you’re interested in seeing a visual aid that groups the types of yoga, click here to see Alison Hinks’ awesome graphic, Kissing Cousins: The Wheel of Yoga. You’ll see that Iyengar and Anusara are right next to each other, way on the opposite site from Ashtanga and power yoga.)
These classes have challenged me in a really good way. My deep lower abs are still a bit sore from classes a week ago, and I’m feeling my shoulders and hips in a different way.
I’ve done Warrior 1 in nearly every class and gotten better at it. It takes a lot of strength and balance for me.
Most exciting, I finally got “the spiral” that is a signature of Anusara yoga. Got it in my body, that is. Felt a shift. It was a revelation, widening the sacrum area, the back of the second chakra, creating a nice energetic opening.
Since this is a part of my body that has had troubles, it was awesome. How can I incorporate this into my life?
I don’t know how to maintain it in various poses, so I’ll continue to take Anusara classes. My teacher today, Brigitte, steered me toward the Anusara Teacher Training manual, which I’ve ordered. I’m looking forward very much to reading about the principles of alignment and learning what I can learn from a book while my body learns experientially.
Also, Brigitte is beautiful, with the buffest body of any white-haired woman you’ll ever see. I’m so pleased to take yoga from a teacher with white hair who knows what she’s doing. She read a Mary Oliver poem at the beginning of class today with a message that served the class. I loved that.
Yogis can show the world what it looks like to age with grace.
~~
My trailer should be here Monday morning! I’ve been looking at cork and Marmoleum samples. Decided not to do radiant heated floors until I’ve lived in the trailer through a winter and seen how cold it really gets. Contacted my handyman Ian and emailed him a list of things to do. Requested that the electricity be turned on — apparently can’t happen until Wednesday…
Still need to research air conditioners. Lot to learn there. Metal skins, condensation, ventilation, and so on…
It just so happens, with all the waiting for the title and then for flood waters to recede over the last few months, that my trailer is arriving on my very first day of massage school! I don’t even know what meaning to assign to that coincidence in the big scheme of things! On a practical level, I can’t be in two places at once.
I don’t want to miss any of my massage education, but I think I need to be there when the trailer arrives. I’ll email the school and let them know and plan to get there as soon as I can.
Hello, major life changes. Good to see you!
I received an email from a reader who found my blog inspirational and shared her story about the pull of coming alive. I in turn feel very inspired and want to share publicly
and answer some questions she poses, because if she is wondering, others are too. (I replied personally as well.)
This is the path of self-actualization. It’s the same thing as coming alive.
Dear MaryAnn,
About a year and a half ago, I felt like I was coming alive at last. I had been laid off from corporate America, had my mornings free to be physically active, and my afternoons free to write and volunteer. I spent a summer/fall in Chile to volunteer at a non-profit, where the highlight of my time was to befriend children at a school and teach them a lesson about the “red alimentaria”… the food web… in Spanish! I then taught kids outdoor environmental education, and then spent the summer doing labwork in Alaska (I trained as a biochemist). But after being away from my “field” for so long, fear kicked in, and I started worrying about income source, a “career”, and so on… and as you probably already know, feeding the wolf of fear leads one down paths that don’t contribute to feeling alive!So, thank you for your inspirational blog, which reminded me that YES, I am OK to NOT want to stay in a new job (albeit it pays $65K/year) if selling life science research projects does not make me come alive! And NO, I’m not “wrong” to feel this way. And YES, I AM grateful for all that I have, but at the same time, I don’t need to continue doing something that I think is draining me of life versus filling me with life.My question that I hope you can provide some insight into is, what helped you determine what type of new work and income source you could pursue that is both life-inspiring and supports your needs? I noticed the image of the trailer… when I taught kids for 5 months in Redding, CA, I learned that a trailer costs $8000, which would pay for itself in a year vs the $750/mo I am now spending in rent in the SF Bay Area. Did you find a solution to reducing living expenses so that you were free to pursue work and activities that truly fulfilled you?
Thank you again for your inspiring words, and may you continue to live courageously! : )-BPS Btw, I’m 33 soon to be 34 in June, no debt, some savings, and a bit on the conservative side…. though that is all relative b/c none of my friends have taken career breaks to travel and live/work non-career jobs like I did this past almost 2 yrs. But at the same time, I have not picked up and relocated to a new city jobless the way some folks whom I’ve met in my travels have. Thanks again! I’m thinking about training to be an environmental science teacher…. or a Breema practitioner (I actually only just learned about Breema but it sounds great!).
Well, I feel flattered and honored to hear from such an amazing person who received some inspiration from my blog. I have no doubt that B is on the path of really coming alive!
The path of self-actualization isn’t for everyone. Most people find it easier and much more comfortable to take that “path of least resistance” and stick with the corporate job, the 8-5, the insurance and benefits, the known.
There’s nothing wrong with that if that’s what is right for you right now. It’s just that throughout history, some people have listened within to an urge to seek more life out of their life — to see the world, to pioneer something, to take a risk, to call their time their own, to be of service, to express themselves, to be their own boss, to listen to their body, to get to know themselves at a deeper level.
B’s first question asks what helped me determine the type of new work and income source I could pursue that is life-inspiring and can support my needs.
My answer is that I’m still figuring that out, but my new criteria for work is no longer just a paycheck, benefits, the potential for advancement. I want to do the kind of work that is so aligned with who I am and what I love doing that I would do it even if I didn’t get paid (and actually getting paid and making a decent living is icing on the cake).
I want to spend my time doing what I want to do, not what someone else wants me to do. I want to follow my interests, fascinations, and passions. Or else why did God give them to me???
That seems to pretty much translate into becoming self-employed and to practicing some kind of profession. It’s starting to take shape and will combine several of my interests and allow me to pursue others. What I can tell you now is that it involves me working with others on improving their well-being, and getting results.
I should also mention that having my hand analyzed by Richard Unger of the International Institute of Hand Analysis helped me open my mind years ago to the possibility of living my life differently. Darn, I forgot to tell B that.
B, hope you’re reading this. He’s based in San Francisco. Go see him.
Also, I paid attention to my dreams and discussed them with friends.
Notice what you love doing. Notice what you are attracted to. Notice what fascinates you. What do you do now that makes you happy? What are you passionate about? Love, attraction, fascination, happiness, passion — these are about emotion, energy, direction, feeling alive, satisfaction, fulfillment.
That’s where to start. And then if you like, start thinking about how you can combine what you love in a unique way.
B’s second question is whether I found a solution to reduced living expenses so I could be free to pursue work and activities that truly fulfill me.
Yes, I did find a solution based on my situation. I sold my home of 10 years in February. I loved it, but it was too much for me to keep up with, and the mortgage obligation had become an albatross. I wanted to free up some capital to pursue a big improvement in work and lifestyle even though I didn’t know what shape it would take.
Maybe it was the fantasy of hitting the open road and exploring this beautiful country that first got me interested in trailers. I discovered Spartan trailers and discovered a rare Carousel for sale. I hoped it would still be for sale when I closed on my house. It was, and I bought it. It felt like the Universe really wanted me to have it!
It is big enough to live in year-round, like a one-bedroom apartment that you can move, and trailer park leases run month-to-month. I began freeing myself of stuff, and without planning to, I quit my “permanent” job when my gut told me it was the only course to take. I took a contract job doing the same kind of work for 3 months, and I can do that again if I need to.
I found a nice trailer park and will soon have it moved here. Then I’ll update it and move in. My monthly housing and utility costs will be one-third of what they were. That makes a difference — I can pursue the training I want, and I can do some work from my new home.
I know that I am very, very lucky to be able to do this. At the same time, I bought my house in 2000 with an eye to charm, location, and appreciation, so in a way, I created this option before I knew my life would take this turn.
Not everyone has a house to sell. I think reducing one’s living expenses is about being creative and knowing yourself, which are other aspects of coming alive. Usually housing is one’s biggest expense. You can rent a room in a house, share a house or apartment with roommates, couch surf, house-sit, buy a trailer, take work that includes room and board. You always have more resources than you think you do. If you feel stuck, seek a resourceful friend or a coach. Like you did, B, by emailing me!
Work is the area of life that can create the most happiness. See my recent post about right livelihood. We spend more waking time working than anything else, and work can have a sense of purpose and meaning to it.
Imagine what work/lifestyle is ideal for you. Dream big. Put no conditions on it. Then look at how you can get there incrementally. It’s a direction, not a destination. At each fork in the road, ask yourself, “Which is the happier choice? Which will take me closer to living the life I’m meant to live?”
Good luck, B, and all you self-actualizers out there. I’d love to hear from you.
I’m ending this post with a quote from the Dalai Lama that helps put everything in perspective:
The Dalai Lama when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered, “Man…. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”
The Well: bodymindheartspirit 