2/22/13
The beautiful Potawatomi, Lemon Water, Gardening, and Yoga
I very much enjoyed volunteering chair massage at Firekeeper's Casino, which was a special event in many ways. It was a Red Dress Event with a signature power; fifty tribal members and various health care booths and a luncheon begun with an elder and a young man drumming and singing prayers of gratitude together, and the incredible warmth and purity of it all was profoundly moving. That was, however, twenty days ago, and it's no longer present for me, though I was invited to help out with another Potawatomi Indian event in April. What is most present for me as of this day is all the seeds I ordered for my garden.
Gardening Through The Dragon's Gate
Thus is the the title of a book that I read that convinced me to make some soil beds that are curved and rounded. Each year the shape of my garden changes, from an arial view. This is my fourth year with our back yard, urban garden.
Although most of the seeds that I plant are productive edibles, I always succumb to a little bit of whimsy when browsing a seed catalogue... Tangerine Gem marigolds took me in this year, with their light yellow ruffly delicate edibleness, for some reason, I was very drawn to the non-edible flower called "Painted Lady" (looks like a Sweet Pea) flower. It reads: "Cultivated since the 1730's, Jefferson grew these deliciously fragrant, pink and what bicolor flowers at Monticello. Plant on a trellis near your doorway to enjoy the scent as you pass by. Prefers cool spring weather and mild coastal climates." Oh, I know I live in Michigan and there's nothing mild or coastal about us... still, I couldn't resist the thought of Paul walking by them on his way to work, or coming home to them. If the Painted Ladies, there will be some heavenly blues and bright pinks to back them up in the form of Morning Glory and Clematis.
Lemon Water for Health
That said, for the past two mornings I've been drinking a cup of hot lemon water before my morning coffee, and finding the effects to be very interesting. Here is an article about the effects of lemon water:
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-4769/Why-You-Should-Drink-Warm-Water-Lemon.html
In my body, it seems to cleanse not only my teeth and tongue, like a mouthwash or gargle, but it's more like a great fresh warm river of cleansing lemony goodness flowing through me and nurturing my digestive system and my morning all at once. This river slows and pools a little in the stomach as it continues through, and I imagine that it's pulling out stagnation from deep within my face. That's kind of a nice way to wake up in the morning.
Massage Therapy and Hospice Care
We finally finished the work that we set out to do on our kitchen, and I've begun the volunteering process to provide massage therapy services at a new Hospice care facility in Kalamazoo. This is a nice organization and the people who I've met who work there are amazing. I've been going through their orientation via hours of reading articles and watching Dvd's about dying and Alzheimer's and boundaries and hands-on work, and I'm very excited to soon be able to help provide comfort to people who are in their last phase of life. Easing suffering is ultimately what I want to do with massage, and this is what I interpret Hospice care to be. I just handed in a huge stack of things I needed to read and sign and on Monday I'll go to Borgess Hospital and get my tests taken (TB and drug test) and I'm considering getting a Hep B vaccination since it's offered, as I want to continue in the health care vein. What I want to do, ultimately, is to provide massage to home-bound people, and also to do some light cleaning and cooking/errand running for them. Also I'm hoping to find some part time massage therapy work in a chiropractor's office and in a physiatrist's office. These are my dreams! These and planting sweet peas.
Yoga
Going to Power Yoga today at Sangha Yoga, and very much looking forward to that. My home practice varies from 15-45 minutes a day, and I really love attending a class now and again to help me think about my yoga practice in new ways. I can finally stand on my palms without bending my knees, but it's seldom that I can rise properly into high plank position from low plank position on the floor. I would do yoga simply because I enjoy feeling amazing in the morning, and it means more to me than that. Yoga helps me to enjoy being where I am and blessing where I am even if it's not as complete as I think it could be. Therefore, if I can't rise to high plank (it's like a push-up with your hands beneath your shoulders, inner elbows rubbing ribs and a straight body), I'll shine some love into my knees as they support me on my way up. www.LaraOberlin.com
Love to all.
1/31/12 3:30 p.m.
Snowed in today, not quite enough snow to go snowshoeing but just enough so that the cats are curled up into little balls, my teacup cools quickly (over and over again), and Paul is working from home!
This is my first blog post ever... and so I'll keep it brief. Ha! I'll do my best.
I have been feeling a little bit restless when it comes to my work, and that's an understatement... it's more as though there is a great grey flag of mist spanning the length of an otherwise brilliant sky, and it is embossed with shadowy black lettering that is spelling out the words "WORK HARDER." And, snow day or not, the snow has been falling in big, wet flakes since last night. Nothing I do makes this feeling of wanting to WORK HARDER go away, whether I'm painting, working with contractors, scraping 100 year old glue and subfloor out of my pine wood kitchen floor with a heat gun and a borrowed electric scraper, trying to prepare healthy meals and juices without any counter space (due to renovations), dreaming about my business, cleaning the house for the massage therapy sessions that I am so grateful to be able to give, keeping the therapy room perpetually sacred and open, organizing my basement (I dream in color), volunteering, etc.
Isn't this the goal of being a strong independent woman? To aspire, always to aspire to work harder, to pull myself up my bootstraps and to take this world by storm (whatever that means) and to give to as many causes as possible without becoming depleted? I realized I was in over my head when I realized I couldn't give ten plus hours to get orientated into Grace Hospice last week. And what about my business? This business is so important to me, it is the most meaningful employment that I can possibly imagine and it is ultimately all that I ever wanted to be and do. How can I keep it going if I'm barely scraping by?
"The most important things in life aren't things." Thus spake a friend's refrigerator magnet, the Beatles, and every major spiritual leader I've ever encountered since I could read. It's as deep as my marrow, that concept, deeper... into the marrow of the soul, like all things that ring true. A friend recently stated to me that she isn't motivated by money, and that really resonated with me... so, if money doesn't motivate, how can one keep one's practice afloat? Trade can go a long ways... I need to keep giving massages in order to be in the world of massage, and as long as I'm able to practice, I will do so as much as possible.
The important thing in life is to be happy. I'm blessed and in gratitude for many old and new occurences. And, I have this tendency to look at my own life, in the spaces between the really luscious moments that life has to offer (when I'm cuddling my cats or meditating with my husband or taking a new class, or having a great conversation or just feeling inspired to play a song, to fix something, to go for a walk, to write a letter, etc.). In between these moments I tend to check in with myself, to ask myself questions, such as "What do I have to be grateful for?" and "What's not working?" in the same breath.
Today, the answer seems to be? Lots. Lots and lots of gratitude. And, I'M not. I'm not working. I'm active, and... I'm relatively new to my profession, although, I've had the great honor of giving hundreds of hours of massages to nearly two hundred different body types, all with different needs and goals. That's not to brag - what I mean to say is that I am very serious about what I do - and I love what I do. So lately, I've been wondering how it is that I've let the needs of my house take precedence over my career.
Because massage has been so broadly supportive to me, I feel very called to offer it. And I haven't been giving enough massages... Even before I graduated in July 2012, due in part to the guidance of my business teacher at the IME, I have done a fair amount of advertising and business set-up; I went out and purchased my DBA, became a professional member of ABMP, sent a hundred letters to friends and family, and, soon after graduation, I gave away a ton of gift certificates, started my website - www.laraoberlin.com, attended SCORE meetings, did a corporate chair massage gig, and began carrying business cards. On occasion, during the odd week - I actually feel wonderful sharing that I receive up to at least a third of the number of clients I can support. Still, business can hardly be described as "booming." Booming expresses what I wish I could feel I was doing - something dramatic and meaningful and with great intention. So, I renamed my website in the vague hopes that THAT would be the ticket to being more involved in a career that seemed so promising before Christmas. What happened? I mean, I know this is Michigan, but seriously, it's a beautiful state - what happened??
Hold onto all of the things that we truly feel are for our highest good, let go of the things that aren't serving us. Last year, that was in the zeitgeist at school, an oft heard phrase and adopted mantra. So, my solution is this: add to the micro-volunteering, little by little, as and when it feels right, and hold off on any new macro projects of any sort. I hope to focus a little bit of time, each week, on getting the word out that I'm doing this work. I have my dream massage therapy story in the making, and for now, this week, my husband has taken over for the next round of neighborhood organizing. That was actually difficult for me to let go of that for a little bit. Yesterday, I decided to just *stop* working on the kitchen floor. I had support from others who were willing to let go with me when they saw that I needed to do so. Thankful...
This weekend, I have the honor of giving free chair massages to members of the Potawatomi tribe. It's a heart expo and there will be lectures and booths full of educational opportunities of how we can improve our self-care with regard to our hearts. Because massage has such a positive effect on heart health, a few massage therapists will be there offering chair massages, and I have the honor of being one of them. I am very much looking forward to this opportunity and I view it as a kind of "retreat" from my normal massage therapy routines of home and mobile massage. I'm so excited to be doing this and I'm thrilled that I'm going to get to take my special massage chair, which is top of the line (a birthday present from Paul last year!). I'm very excited to meet the other massage therapist(s) and it feels great to be working with the public.
Meanwhile, the sun is burning a blinding, silvery brightness and is dissolving a tuft of dark grey cloud that hangs just above it. The snow has stopped falling in its big, wet flakes and this day has been a respite from working harder for me, for neighbors who teach at WMU, for KPS kids and teachers, and for a large percentage of this city's population.
Instead of WORKING HARDER, I am reminded that there is always time for respite. It's what I hope I can create for others when they are on my table, and it's what I hope I can create for myself, whenever I need it. This business about working harder is really unproductive when the mind is fixed on the present, and not on some nebulous place in a hazy future that frankly doesn't exist and isn't therefore important. Oh, it's good to have goals, but for my part, I will make it one of mine to be thankful for the light, and open to the many graceful opportunities that present themselves when it's O.K. to just be, to just serve, to just do my best. And while I'm being thankful, I'm also thankful for the support of great people, and the large wet snowflakes, and the sun that melts that them.
Potawatomi, incidentally, means "Keepers of the fire." Wishing warm and restful moments to us all this weekend, and grace be with us.
