Shine On

Happy Fall!

I am back from a summer of traveling mercies. I feel rejuventated by the time away from my bodywork practice and more excited than ever to return to my Massage-Reiki Rhythm in DC.

Last week, as the Fall Equinox sounded Summer’s end, I discovered this amazing video by the singer-songwriter-activist Morley.

As the days shorten and the Light becomes even more precious, I extend Morley’s words to us all:

Never apologize for the Light that’s in your eyes.

Glow on Wonder Women!

Now is the time.

City of Hope

Poem for City of Hope

Down on the National Mall on a cloudy Sunday morning
I laid hands on the women wearing purple boas. The ones who made it.
At this Walk for Hope, a sign: ‘one in three women will be diagnosed with cancer in her lifetime.’
Women have died and are dying. Who knows what to say?
Mrs. Donna, my beloved preschool teacher, quieted us to sleep with hip dances before naptime. A handful of months the only signposts of breast cancer. Then, a great vanishing.
Women are dying. They are surviving too.
Eating pomegranates and mushrooms, removing body parts, raising children, testing their DNA, dancing.
For these women, a right of passage. And a hope they can feel in their feet.

Donate to one of the nation’s renowned NIH-designated comprehensive cancer centers today.

Power of Partnering

On Saturday, I went to hear famous choreographer Liz Lerman speak about her new book of essays. For years I have been inspired by her work in blurring the boundaries between performer and audience and her insistence upon dance being something anyone can do (one of my credos).

She told a story about a Masters in Fine Arts in Dance student who came up to her after a talk to ask if she should get a Movement Therapy degree. The student was doing a lot of teaching in prisons and thought it might be useful for her students.

Lerman’s answer: Partner with a movement therapist. You don’t necessarily need to become one. And bring as many different kinds of artists with you as you can.

In recent weeks, I have been starting to get to know acupuncturists, counselors, pyschotherapists, and other bodyworkers in Metro DC. Lerman’s words affirmed my belief that we don’t have to be all things people. In fact this is impossible (and unnecessary).

This is the power of interdependence. Each person has unique gifts to share, and partnering makes this sharing more possible.

Where in your life are you trying to be an Every Wo/man? Where can you partner with others?

These are questions the fiercely independent loner in me will be (reluctantly, I must admit) pondering in the coming weeks.

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