Morning Has Broken, Like the First Morning

Morning has broken, like the first morning
blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
praise for the singing, praise for the morning
praise for them springing, fresh from the Word
Sweet the rains' new fall, sunlit from heaven
like the first dewfall on the first grass
praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
sprung in completeness where god's feet pass
mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
born of the one light, eden saw play
praise with elation, praise every morning
god's recreation of the new day
~Cat Stevens

Greetings Beloveds,

Blessed Spring Equinox (one day late) to you all. I hope you all have been enjoying the beautiful unfolding of early spring wherever you are. Here in Santa Barbara we have had many lush rains and everything is juicy and full with Viriditas, the green-ringing re-birth-singing beauty and renewal of spring. The jasmine flowers are in bloom in the school garden where I teach. Love in a mist, iris, borage, poppies,  wooly blue curls, and so much more are coming up in my garden at home. I've found the first wild cucumber pods on all my favorite vines (see my spring newsletter from last year for more on the wild cucumber) and love seeing the harbingers of spring, the ceanothus, covering the foothills with blossoms.

I always feel just a little melancholy this time of year as spring emerges, knowing how brief the season is and what joy it brings with it's ephemeral nature. One of my favorite authors, spiritual teachers, and earth poets, Martin Prechtel, calls it 'grief and praise', the two sides of the coin, or as Milan Kundera describes it, 'the unbearable lightness of being'.

I hope to share some of these precious spring days with you, either through an individual guided spring cleanse in the Ayurvedic tradition, private yoga instruction, therapeutic bodywork, Abhyanga, Integrative Holistic Health Counseling, herbal consultations, or Craniosacal therapy.

Please scroll down for more information on Ayurvedic spring cleansing and my 'new' modality (for the past year) Craniosacral Therapy.

I am so grateful for each one of you and your presence in my life. 

May All Beings Everywhere Be Happy and Free

Namaste,
~Liz

Ayurvedic Spring Cleanse 

In Ayurveda, the science of life, the traditional medicine practice of India, based on generations of clinical study and intimate relationship and harmony with the natural world, Spring and Autumn are the two best times to cleanse the body of Ama (accumulated toxins), reset the digestive capacity (agni), and clear the excess from the previous season while preparing the body for the season ahead.

These two times of the year are sandhis, joints or junctions, periods and places of transitions. They are times of both power and danger, depending on how we harness or ignore their potential.

Spring is a time to clear and release the heaviness of kapha (earth and water), damp and cold, which has accumulated in the late winter and early spring. Good digestion is the foundation of all good health, and an Ayurvedic cleanse is designed to increase our digestive capacity, known as agni, or digestive fire. An Ayurvedic cleanse is gentle and supportive, not radical and shocking to the system. It consists of cleaning up and simplifying the diet for a few days, then moving into a kitchari monodiet (hulled mung beans and white rice cooked with digestive spices that support release of heavy metals and toxins from the body), followed by simplified diet again then back to daily life.

This pause from our daily habits gives us time to step back and review which of our habits serves us and which don't, while also sensitizing us to how our daily habits are affecting our body/mind/spirit complex, giving us the opportunity to forge new paths as we move forward.

In addition, the positive benefits of a 1-2 week seasonal cleanse have been shown to last for up to three months following the cleanse, which is a big payoff for a small investment.

If you would like to participate in a guided self paced Ayurvedic cleanse this spring, please reach out to me by replying to this email to schedule your appointment today.

Craniosacral Therapy

I am so excited to be offering Craniosacral Therapy as part of my toolbox for wellness through my clinical practice atAnahataHealing Arts.

Craniosacral therapy was developed by osteopaths, beginning with Wiliam Sutherland and further developed by John Upledger. It has gone on to evolve in a variety of ways, through Visionary Craniosacral work with Hugh Milne and Biodynamic Craniosacral. The many offshoots in craniosacral work are a testament to it's ongoing efficacy as a healing modality.

CST in an extrememly subtle, noninvasive therapy that is considered 'deep tissue' work because it goes into the deepest tissues of our body and nervous system. It helps the client settle into a still and receptive state of being, and creates a container in which ‘decisions are made by the Breath of life and the container it creates'.

I began receiving CST years ago while living and working as a massage therapist in Big Sur, where Hugh Milne lived and taught at the time. I received from many of his students and was immediately entranced. That was almost 17 years ago.

It wasn't until just over a year ago that the opportunity presented itself for me to study CST formally through the Upledger Institute. I am continuing to study and currently taking a series of classes through my old alma mater Santa Barbara Body Therapy Institute, with my first massage teacher from 20 years ago, Katie Mickey.

In my experience, Craniosacral therapy finds the practitioner connecting to cosmic light and source, grounding into Mother Earth, then orienting in presence from the heart to the hands to witness the body through a variety of gentle holds addressing fascial adhesions and long held trauma and energetic holding patterns in the body. Sometimes clients have deep seated memories rise up through the compassionate  witnessing of the practitioners hands, and sometimes the client is only aware of a beautiful sense of safety, relaxation, and freedom, leaving the session feeling refreshed and renewed.

This work is intensely profound and beautiful and I look forward to sharing it with you. 

Please reach out to book your CST therapy session today.