to nourish & tend the soil

i used to think that experiencing tough times was directly related to something I did wrong. i now understand that life happens, and it’s not my job to blame myself… it’s my job to love myself through.

— yasmine cheyenne, the sugar jar

matrescence — a new term to me, defined as the physical, emotional, hormonal and social transition to becoming a mother. It’s a process that takes anywhere from several months to a few years to complete. Identity shifts. Values are challenged. Forget the old routine. Most notably, I’m learning how many faces support can show up as, and what it means to be seen at a deeper level.

At my core, I’m learning again that there will always be more revealed to me and more work to… more excavation, more healing, more growing… and more softening. So much more softening. That’s what I’m inviting into the next turn of seasons.

To stay with the nourishing and the tending and the sitting with myself in all the ways I am. To deepen the love I have for myself so that I can show up more fully for those I love.

BHAKTI : That our devotion to our own practice can bring goodness and healing not only for ourselves, but off the mat and into the lives of others.

— the yogic path of bhakti guides me to cultivate love, compassion, and service. tantra tells me that everything in the world arises from a sacred source, and shows me how to find that source inside my own body. when i practice these foundational principles alongside intentional movement, I build trust in the power of presence through all things… good, bad, indifferent, and unsteady. and i certainly do trust that this truly is an ever-expanding journey of the self, through the self, to the self.

I expect to be challenged in all the best ways.