Dear Reader, As the days get warmer and spring settles into its rhythm, I find myself unfurling like the buds on the trees and the plants. I’m called to go out into the world more, not just for errands and appointments and the daily dog walks, but for enjoyment, adventure and discovery. Hikes, drives, meeting up with friends… The sun can be intense here in the high desert and so I always like to take a hydrosol or full spectrum spray in my bag or rucksack to cool me off and bring some...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, Thanksgiving happens in the US this week, followed in a month by Christmas. While these holidays can allow us to connect to a deep soul need during this cold inward season, they can also be a significant source of stress. Under stress, we regress and can lose sight of our soul needs, get distracted and ungrounded. Many then can't wait for the season to be over, instead of taking the time to honor our soul needs during this precious time. Here are five ways to stay connected to...
over 1 year ago • 3 min read
Dear Reader, Thanksgiving happens in the US this week, followed in a month by Christmas. While these holidays can allow us to connect to a deep soul need during this cold inward season, they can also be a significant source of stress. Under stress, we regress and can lose sight of our soul needs, get distracted and ungrounded. Many then can't wait for the season to be over, instead of taking the time to honor our soul needs during this precious time. Here are five ways to stay connected to...
over 1 year ago • 3 min read
Dear Reader, Learning about the Golden Shadow, our untapped and submerged potential, was great, because it gave me a name for what I see so many people, especially women, repressing in their shadows. The term Golden Shadow was coined by certain Jungians after C. G. Jung first described the Shadow, because there appeared to be a lot of misunderstanding about what the Shadow is and some felt a term was needed for the gifts of the Shadow. That’s the thing about shadow work: So many people are...
almost 2 years ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, Nine years ago, for the first time in my life, I made the decision: “I think I should find a therapist.” Florian looked up from his morning newsfeed and breakfast of soft-boiled eggs inquisitively. I knew that if I was going to halt at this crossroads and start to poke around at not only my own, not-at-all-pretty past, but some unknown, out-of-bounds ancestral past as well, I was going to need help. It was a big deal for me. I’d never been to a therapist before. I’m not saying...
almost 2 years ago • 6 min read
Dear Reader, Florian here. You previously signed up for my Shadow Dancing checklist and video series. I hope that you found it useful, like Kimberly, who said: "This is amazing! So helpful." If you're ready for more and to deepen your relationship with your Shadow, viz. the unconscious forces that are driving you, I wanted to let you know about a unique opportunity that's coming up. On the weekend of Nov 23-24, Cathy and I are teaching a live-online class called "On the Scent of the Shadow."...
almost 2 years ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, Fall has definitely arrived here in northern New Mexico. The mountains are garlanded with bright yellow aspen and orange shrub oak under the bright blue skies. While many shrubs and flowers have turned brown, chamisa (rabbit brush) stands tall and radiant in the plains and mesas. The smell of roast chile is in the air. It's cooler, but the sun is still strong. As we head into fall and winter, we embrace the harvest season. We ask ourselves what harvests this year has brought and...
almost 2 years ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, I have a pattern where a particular word preoccupies me, or becomes very important. For the past few months, this word has been 'Immanence.' To me, it is a quality of being, of embodied awareness, of being in the moment, aware of myself, my body in deep relatedness to the environment around it, the plants and trees, the landscape, the circumstances. To me it stands in contrast to transcendence, which implies that blissful awareness is 'somewhere else,' curiously often somewhere...
almost 2 years ago • 3 min read
Dear Reader, As women in midlife, we have choices. We can deny the natural cycles of life and ignore the fact that aging holds great potential, or we can embrace perimenopause and discover the gifts that it holds. The results of all our choices have consequences. In my opinion, staying unconscious and denying that menopause can be a pathway to a vibrant, transformative, developmental stage in our lives is tragic. It means that we miss out on a journey of deepening awareness of ourselves and...
almost 2 years ago • 1 min read