The Golden Trinity for Expansion: Breath. Movement. Spirit.

Highly recommended for shifting perspectives

Dear Reader,

I’ve had my fair share of embarrassing my kids and at times, myself throughout the years from dancing, and even have a video of dancing to “Cherry Bomb” with my daughter. I fell backward perfectly on queue choreographed with the chorus, “Ch-ch-ch cherry bomb” the wind up and fall on the word bomb.

Another time, my daughter was showing off her natural talent, dancing at a Bat Mitzvah with the party motivator. I joined them and as I went over the scene in my mind, I wished had stopped to allow my daughter to enjoy her moment. I wasn’t trying to take the spotlight, I was tired of being contained as a mother and responsible adult. Underneath was sadness that I had attended another family event without my husband because of his severe back pain.

It’s no secret that dancing is a powerful reminder of the joy buried deep within and can be a way to move energy and lighten your spirit. And it can be a way to bring up the tightly wound emotions deep beneath the layers of “pretendville”.

“In many shamanic societies, if you came to a medicine person complaining of being disheartened, dispirited, or depressed, they would ask one of four questions: "When did you stop dancing? When did you stop singing? When did you stop being enchanted by stories? When did you stop being comforted by the sweet territory of silence?”

―Gabrielle Roth

Last week, I attended the 5 Rhythms retreat on the Native land of Esalen in Big Sur, California where movement ignited a form of meditation I had never experienced. This meditative methodology was founded by Gabrielle Roth about 50 years ago and has been passed down to various teachers. The participants and I were blessed to experience a teacher who studied with the dance guru herself, a wife and husband team, Lucia and Douglas, who created a container and space of expansion.

Dancing to the beat of the drums in one room and the DJ spinning in the other room was easy for me, however, when I shifted my body from feeling the beats to connection to my breath while moving into the spaces between bodies, it all shifted. It takes time to move through the 5 Rhythms; Flowing, Staccato, Chaos, Lyrical, and Stillness.

Resting eyes between spaces, the energy flowed like the fog, rolling in and out, twisting, turning to find uncovered discoveries and new spaces. The mystery unfolded like a trance within the dance between light and dark within the blend of breath and beats as part of the cosmic interconnectedness of nature. Bodies entered the satori zone of surrendering and letting go.

After abrupt moments of letting go enough to feel the goosebumps bringing me to the primordial zone for seconds only to be brought back into the 3D the moment I realized I was out of my body. In those moments, I was the river, transparently flowing and the other people were the rocks and sticks I flowed between. “Thank you,” I thought, “thank you for it ALL.” The dance redefined me again and again throughout the hours through many renditions.

Old flashes to the past feelings of my body dysmorphia surfaced as I battled my hormonal imbalance causing many uncomfortable lows and highs. (I later found out I am anemic and dangerously low iron thanks to perimenopause but that’s a whole other health story.) The inertia took over like a welcome gift to slow down, honoring the gratitude for having a body to move as I please like working with the tension of the bow on a string.

By the second day, time became a bubble of expansion contained in a community world of interconnectedness and authenticity. All of my experiences of my past self insecurities melted away and I stopped caring about being kempt, hair frizzing out, dark circles exposed to every face, and flowing garments flowing through the 5 Rhythms. I honored all the unseen ancestors along with Mother Earth, Father Sky, and four corners of winds, North, South, East, and West through movement. The portal of harmony, heart, and soul reigned numbing any appetite for food as my heart was full.

Embracing my inner weirdness in a space to play was an act of service to my children.

We all know the phrase, “put your oxygen mask on first” as a thing on the airplane and when my child had his first psychotic break at the age of 14, my support groups would say this often. As a parent, protecting them is one of the vital parts of the relationship and this advice doesn’t always fly. Sure, I meditated and wrote in my journal in the mornings setting intentions, and asked the Divine for help but those seeds I planted daily had a difficult time sprouting much beneath the topsoil.

However, as my son is now 22, I realize as a parent of a child with neurodivergent characteristics, who is finding his way in the world, letting go, being in worry, and grief all balled up in fear is not easy. I am consistently reminded that it is myself that needs to change for him to evolve. When we stop evolving we lose our connection to the Divine, to the magic of life, seeing the actual gifts of life become blurred, monotonous, drab, and sluggish.

“The Buddhist scriptures say, Look within. Thou art the Buddha.

The Christian tradition says The kingdom of heaven is within you.

The Hebrew sages say, Keep a little slip of paper in one pocket that says, ‘you are everything.’ And in the other pocket that says ‘you are nothing.’ Look at both to stay in balance.”

—Nancy Slonim Aronie

Finding tools for these shifts can be of utmost importance to our relationships. Having no WiFi or cell service for a whole week helped me to experience shifts like these as an individual being, a soul in a body. Floating in a monastic prayer of impersonal love with others; no attachments, strings attached, or complications in parallel with a personal love with myself feeling the Divine within. This awareness was fleeting as I re-entered the “real” world and when I heard my son’s voice on the other end of the phone, we met one another with love and open-hearted connection.

That’s all I ever want. I recommend this to every single parent no matter your child’s circumstances. Take care of your healing journey for yourself as much as your children’s. There is always more healing to do from loads of ambiguous unnamed grief to inner child wounds that may have not been expressed. There are also general life hurts that occur from relationships, events, and our loud, obnoxious inner critic.

Once you begin or continue to heal, so can your child, and the cycle can be broken.

These are the themes of the book I am currently working on - healing, motherhood, spirituality, and mental health.

I am with you on this journey, dear parent and reader. Please feel free to reach out if you need guidance to talk about this or want more from the unseen support. I am now offering a free Angel/Tarot intuitive card reading for any paid subscribers at the price of a coffee for $5/month or $50/year.

Thanks for being here.

With love and light -

Shelley

Special offer to connect

Dear Reader,

It’s nice to get a little help from our Higher Self, who only has our best interests in mind.

As a mother who has witnessed her child experiencing visual and auditory hallucinations without the use of any experimental drugs at such a young age, I have wondered, what does this mean? Where are the teachings in these experiences, and how can they serve my highest and best self?

Life happens for us, not to us, as difficult and gut-wrenching as it can be. It can be unfair and severely unkind on multiple levels, with crossroads presented to choose from.

Over the last year or maybe more, I’ve often supported friends with a grounded presence and pulled a card or two as we discussed their challenge. It was always a message they needed to hear at that moment.

For instance, I practiced with a few friends this week to validate that I might be onto something. One friend was having health issues and wanted to know anything about that. I pulled the Arch Angel Raphael, the healing angelic card where he is surrounded by the healing green light; this card presented itself to show her that she was supported in this difficult journey. Another friend spoke to me about her relationship challenges, being tapped out of patience as she’s growing in a different direction and finding it hard to connect. The cards I pulled for her sent messages of taking time away to assess and coming back with new, energetic, loving connections.

Many messages affirm our need to surrender and to let go of the illusion that we are in control.

Are you still curious? Want to play?

Let’s help one another!

I’m offering a free 30-minute Angel/Oracle and tarot session to anyone who becomes a paid subscriber. This offer will only be available for the summer.

Once you become a paid subscriber, I will email you for a mutually beneficial time for this Higher Self Zoom session.

I look forward to supporting you!

With love and light -

Shelley