I hope you found a way to celebrate the arrival of another new year!

In the first few days of 2014, I’ve been thinking a lot about my intentions. The beginning of a new year naturally opens up the space for this kind of consideration. I invite you to join me and consciously set your course for the next year. It can be helpful to imagine the upcoming year as a journey down a winding river. Ask yourself the following questions: Who’s in my boat with me? Where am I going? Are there any leaks in my boat? What tools do I have with me?

This exercise is a gateway – and it invites you to review where you stand and helps identify your goals. Empower yourself by writing your plan or drawing your map!

My plan is always constructed around my commitments as a teacher. I know that I’ll be abroad at certain times, and that there will be periods where I’ll be busy beyond belief. It’s important for me to schedule times of rest and rejuvenation. This month I’ll be spending a couple of weeks wandering around Costa Rica.

Looking ahead to find an interesting Continuing Education Workshop is vital; to re-inspire my practice, add skills, reconnect with like-minded souls, and bask in that sweet sense of community.

When you plan your upcoming year, I invite you to consider joining me for one of my workshops, I’d love to reconnect with you at least once in 2014:)

Char

As many of you know, the challenge of the bodyworker is in maintaining balance. Life is full and often demanding; we may find ourselves faced with exhaustion. The trick is to notice the signs of fatigue and take restorative action before the pendulum swings into imbalance and energy drain.

Fatigue can come in many different forms; Our work can be emotionally exhausting. The amount of energy we spend holding space and being attentive shouldn’t be underestimated. Massage Therapists, like nurses and others in the helping professions, are prone to something called ‘compassion fatigue.’ Our natural empathy isn’t an inexhaustible spring. Fortunately, with supportive self-care and the practice of healthy boundaries – our ability to be compassionate, present and effective will not be diminished.

All this being said, I’ve also found my massage practice to be profoundly restorative. It’s my sanctuary.

As 2013 draws to a close, and the frantic energy of December rushes in on us, I hope that you are able to stay present and powerful within yourselves.

Take Good Care,

Last month I spent ten days camping and hiking in southern Utah! Much like the wilds of Big Sur, Nature’s life force or Ki is powerful, and the landscape is dynamic with unusual rock formations and vibrant colors. Spending time in that spaciousness reminds me how fundamental Nature is to the quality of my life and work; it nourishes and replenishes, providing a sense of wellbeing. Back at home I make it a habit to touch nature by walking barefoot on the beach or putting my feet in the grass at a local park connecting directly with the Earth’s magnetic field to rebalance my energies.

As a Bodyworker, I’ve learned to manage my energy… yet there is no denying that, after a full day of seeing clients, I need to recharge both body and mind. Finding stillness inside myself strengthens my innate personal connection with the natural order and plays a large role in my own self-care. The meditations and Ki techniques I’ve learned from Komyo Reiki help me to find stillness and alignment with the highly refined energy called Rei.

My 20 year relationship with Reiki has been personally transformative and I delight in sharing the Komyo teachings with others. I recently spend time here in California with my Komyo Reiki Kai teacher Hyakuten Inamoto. He is a Buddhist monk from Kyoto, Japan. What Komyo Reiki offers is a twofold path of spiritual practice and therapeutic energy work.

If you’re looking to deepen your practice, either personally or professionally, I highly recommend taking a Reiki training. I’ll be teaching workshops in 4 different locations starting in December in Monterey and Esalen in March. If you’re in the Bay Area, I’ll be teaching on both sides of the bay. Hope to see you there!

Esalen Massage Certification trainings are an intense experience. I had the pleasure of guiding a new group of students through the first half of the training in Canada. Each time I encounter a new group I am reminded that undergoing this process is more than learning the fundamentals of massage. Touch is a beautiful and immensely complex interaction. Esalen Massage has a way of unifying the body, mind, and spirit – reaching each and weaving them back to the whole.

As practitioners we learn to hold the space for the recipient to experience the movement of this work. We learn to recognize the body’s holding patterns and at times suggests to breath into the sensation to allow a release. As many of you remember, in a workshop or certification program, you are both a practitioner and recipient of massage. In the 28day training especially, students are giving and receiving a huge amount of touch. It takes a special mindset to be both open and ready to move ahead through blockages – emotional, physical and spiritual. It’s an apportunity for transformation.

The body holds patterns of stress and tension that have developed as a response to living in the world. Touch facilitates a re-balancing and some degree of purification. As the tension patterns within muscles are given relief through massage, tight muscles that have been holding in response to emotional trauma simply melt away. This process of unwinding is profound. Massage returns the body to a state of relaxation and comfort – a pure, safe place, free from mental, emotional blockages that hold us back from becoming our truest selves; a spiritual being living within the temple of the physical body.

This kind of intentional bodywork, the kind that inspires us to look deeper into our being also has the glorious side effect of strengthening the bond between our body, mind and spirit.

This is the beauty of these certification trainings. Students come to learn the Esalen Massage Technique, and end up receiving so much more. The process of opening, diving into our own mental, emotional stopping points, and ultimately coming to know ourselves as a unified Being.

As always, I invite you to join me at workshops where we can intentionally participate in this unifying practice together,

Char

The Summer Solstice is nearly here! The sun reaches its highest point on the 21st – giving us the gift of extra daylight hours (the most we’ll have all year). I’ll be celebrating this gift and the season’s transition by sharing Kirtan at the Seaside Yoga Sanctuary. This melodious practice of call and response begins with the group becoming aligned with a single intention which we project out to all beings. Together we’ll raise our voices, using our collective energy to heal and amplify the body~ mind~ spirit connection that begins deep within ourselves.

Our chants and the healing energy we create originates from the heart… stoking the fire element within the body. It’s a wonderful way to celebrate summer, the season of the fire element (according to Traditional Chinese Medicine). If you’re on the Monterey Peninsula during the solstice, come join me as we welcome Summer — the season of the fire element, the season of the heart.

Wishing you all love and a peaceful transition into the new season,

Char

PS. Kirtan is a profound practice that I recommend to everyone. It’s fundamentally changed my relationship to my breath and being. Take a minute to find a group practicing near you.

I’ve recently returned home to the beautiful Monterey Peninsula after three weeks in Japan! The experience of teaching in such a highly attuned culture and spirited place was an absolute pleasure. This time I had the opportunity to lead workshops in Esalen Massage, TRE:Tension/Trauma Release and “Celebrating the Divine Feminine.”

Throughout the trip, I was contemplating the emerging common threads between these distinct kinds of work. The one thing that these teachings all have in common is an awareness of the breath. The breath is central whether you’re chanting, practicing massage, or doing Qi Gong. The breath feeds your spirit, your energy, your mental/emotional state and as well as your physical activities.

The breath can be used to reduce stress; conscious slow deep breathing can induce the body’s relaxation response by activating the parasympathetic nervous system. Learning to be conscious of the breath… and learning to let it move freely through the body is a profound key to natural vitality and wellbeing.

Breathe deep.

Wishing you all love and peace,

Char

Let’s get right to it…how are you navigating through your life these days? Remembering to take 5 or 6 deep breaths to calm your nervous system and regain your center? Connecting with sources of inspiration? Moving your body in ways that you enjoy and know promote wellbeing?

Some of you know about my passion for dance. I found this social/cultural documentary to be very inspiring; Bailar Para Vivir, Dancing For Life. It profiles 11 people as they express their passion for dance: a priest, two 16 year olds, a blind woman, an 85 year old married couple. I Loved it! I know you will too!

I’ve just returned from 3 weeks of teaching various body/mind/spirit workshops and TRE classes in Japan. I have such admiration and gratitude for the Japanese people. They bring such focus and enthusiasm to whatever topic is being presented.

There is still a high level of tension in the aftermath of last years disaster. The media is continually broadcasting warnings of another major earthquake in the near future. The 4 TRE:Tension/Trauma Release classes I taught were booked to capacity as were my other workshops.

I left Japan with my heart feeling full and light; looking forward to returning next spring.

Winter Solistice is upon us! Rejoice in the return of the light.

And how is your inner light? How do you stay connected to inspiration during challenging times? For myself, I’ve always found music and voice to be good medicine.

When I arrived at Esalen in 1977 I’d been supporting myself as a singer/guitarist. Once there I was invited to join the Esalen Rock Band as a vocalist. This was juxtaposed with being introduced to Sanskrit chanting, a love that has carried me through many changes. I’m happy to announce that I will be offering a Kirtan and Crystal Singing Bowls experience each month here on the Monterey Peninsula.

My travels in 2012 will take me back to Japan in the Spring to teach several workshops of massage/bodywork, Tension/Trauma Release(TRE) and a women’s workshop of Celebrating The Divine Feminine. I’ll also be returning to Quebec, Canada to co-lead an Esalen Massage Certification Training with Jessica Fagan. Below is a list of my workshops scheduled throughout the year thus far.

My life long passion, as expressed through PiaSoma, or devotion to the development of the embodied soul, is something we share.

I look forward to exploring this path with you. I’d appreciate your passing this information along to your friends.