Spring sneezes and sparkles

A list of joys and caring for myself this season

Every now and then, I pry open my (metaphorical) eyes, look around my life, and take stock of the joy-filled things. I try to imagine the little delights of life that just find their way to me and give them attention and a place to shine.

Life is feeling so, so heavy right now. I am sure many of you can relate. These little pockets of joy are little lifelines to the goodness in me and around me.

Seemingly, this practice of noticing is the hardest when you need it the most. I am really needing the infusions of joy in my life, and maybe reading about mine will help you remember some of yours.

Teaching yoga and dance online

I have mentioned on numerous occasions how important dancing is to me. After a beloved teacher retired a dance class I religiously took, I helped to organize a way for a group of us to keep dancing. I adore everything about this. I love scheduling the emails. I love meeting and dancing with my friends. I love the little notes of gratitude I receive in my email inbox. I love leading free-form dance. I love crafting a playlist and cueing my friends to go inside of themselves, follow a sweeping violin in their body, or weep. Here’s the link to our fabulous teacher Jurian, who still occasionally offers pop up yoga dance classes and offers yoga each week.

Would you like to weep? Give this a listen:

I am taking on virtual nutrition counseling clients! If you or someone you know is struggling with their relationship with food, consider booking a free Discovery call to see what it is like working with an IFS-informed dietitian.

Tarot??

I don’t know much about tarot but my friend pulled three cards for me as I held the future of my private practice in my mind. Apparently these cards mean hope, expansion, exploration, forward momentum and a visionary leader who is passionate, bold and enthusiastic. Umm, yes please!! (can we also appreciate the incredible art?)

Four ways I am taking care of myself

1. Practicing coming back: I started going to a warm yin yoga class each week. Sometimes we do “self-care” things because we like them; other times we do them because we need it. I certainly like this class but I go because it feels essential. I can sense how important it is that I have time to stretch, breathe, and aim to be present. Yesterday, I kept lovingly saying to myself, “Come back, you’re away again”. Practicing this for 75 minutes every week feels supremely important right now. Come back, you’ve gone too far without me is a new mantra I am trying to integrate into my mind’s inner monologue.

2. Creating (and prioritizing) mindful goodbyes: My parents are selling my childhood home. Even though it’s a little bit inconvenient to travel, I am making the trip home to say goodbye. When I leave physical places behind, I like to sit in every room, take some breaths, and let the memories born in that room flow through me. I feel apprehensive about doing this for a place I have been physically and energetically tethered to for 30 years, but it is time for them to move forward to their next exciting and beautiful phase of life.

3. Remembering I am loved: I have a photo of a 2-year-old me being held by one of my grandfathers. He is looking at me, smiling, with what I imagine is love in his eyes (he looks at me, so you can’t see his eyes in the photo). Tiny me is mouth-open-grinning. I am making a little practice out of staring at this photo and remembering and feeling his love. Today is my grandmother’s birthday, she was born 107 years ago. My other grandfather visited me in a dream last week; in the dream I couldn’t speak to him but could feel him hugging me. I guess this whole paragraph is to say: if you have a living grandparent, maybe give them a call.

4. Actively find wonder: I have been mindful to find wonder and awe. Sometimes I forget that we can actively pursue wonder and awe--we don’t have to wait for them to happen to us. I have been screeching with delight as I drive around Atlanta, enjoying the blooming trees. Also visiting the aquarium which was very awe-inspiring.

not pictured: a freaking massive whale shark

Bonus!! Daily allergy meds:

Pollen marble art

Reading

The past two weeks, I have had such a noticeable urge to constantly read. Memoirs, novels, professional books: I can’t get enough!

I tend to feel kinship with controversial main characters (i.e annoying or unlikable according to Goodreads reviewers). Last year I encountered and loved All Fours by Miranda July and this year it was Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo. I can’t fully express it, but I just felt some cosmic empathy to the complex inner workings of their minds. I “got” them, so to speak. I LOVED Same As It Ever Was. I was totally captivated by Lombardo’s beautiful writing style, character building and expression of the ordinary-ness of life.

I devoured Nicole Antoinette’s two books How To Be Alone and What We Owe to Ourselves in a span of 72 hours. The books serve as trail diaries of long distance hiking and though I am not a long distance hiker--I was so inspired! I also really appreciated such clear examples of positive, loving self-talk. Nicole also writes a fantastic substack!

Professionally, I am totally swept up with An Internal Family Systems Guide to Recovery: Healing Part by Part by Amy Yandel Grabowski. This book is an amazing resource for clinicians who use the IFS framework and clients hoping to gain a greater understanding of their parts.

Consumable things I can’t get enough of:

Fourth cookie already

• Maple tahini cookies. I eat these for breakfast. For dessert. For a snack. Literally whenever and wherever, these are amazing. I double the recipe and omit cinnamon and maca from the recipe just due to my preferences.

• $1.77 blackberries from Kroger. Need I say more?

• Matcha lattes, especially iced ones from Spiller Park

• Dandy blend mixed with a tablespoon of cacao powder and some glugs of soy milk. This drink is a little heartier than tea and is so quick and easy to put together.

• I cannot stop with these bougie “chocolate gems”. As in, I have placed multiple Target pick up orders with zero other items in the order obsessed. Wellness culture aside (& the food dye of it all), the crunch is far superior to a namely competitor and the chocolate splits in such a satisfying way when you bite into them!

Greeting my parts instead of silencing them

If Internal Family Systems is unfamiliar to you, perhaps check out a post I wrote introducing the concept:

The multitudes of me & you

Something I have been working (tirelessly) on is aiming to greet parts of me that come forward instead of silencing them. My particular brand of silencing includes: numbing on my phone, distracting myself, ruminating as a means of avoidance, or “problem solving” to be able to mentally dismiss the feeling.

I’ve used similar statements below to tend to my parts…

• Oh you’re scared; come here, let me breathe with you

• We can’t fix this, it’s bigger than us, come back here with me

• We don’t have to change anything today; share more with me here

• I’m here, I’m not going anywhere; I will always be here

• I know you’re here but I can’t quite find you; show me where you are

Thank you so much for reading and taking a glimpse into my world. Tell me, what has been invigorating your spirit this spring or bringing sparkle into your life?