So….I just joined a gym

I think the heading for this post should really have a scared emoji after it as this is a really big thing for me and I’m not at all sure how it will go, although after my first session today I am at least hopeful it will work out.

It’s not that I am really unfit but I have become increasingly aware of how static I am between work, writing and art. I have realised that when I am away on holiday I am much more active and my body feels so much better. This last break away involved white water rafting, zip lining, snorkelling, paddle boarding and kayaking plus the usual walking and taught me that my body is capable of doing much more than I give it credit for.

The problem for I have had for some time has been finding something that suits me. After an upper back, neck and shoulder injury a few years ago and lots of work to heal I have tried Tai Chi, which I love but has classes on at the same time as I got to my art group, yoga which aggravated my upper back (I blame downward dog) and pilates which is too hard on my neck and shoulder. Today though I started at Curves. Lots of machines for different muscles plus a stretching area offering exactly what my body needs. I can skip the one machine that is impossible at the moment and do two others lightly and gently to build up strength rather than injury myself. Also I can come and go whenever I want, or at least I will be able to when they can trust me to use all the machines correctly 🙂

I don’t feel as good as I felt after pilates but my neck feels better, but there again I don’t think I worked out very hard today. That I am sure can come in time.

What does feel good through is that I have reached a point where I am doing something constructive, moving forward instead of just repairing damage, although I am sure there will be times where that is still necessary as I uncover things that have not yet healed or been released.

I work on myself a lot, mainly with Reiki but also with Chios, and with help from my allies in my shamanic work when I get stuck. I have also used this life and past life regression to shift things I have been holding and of course I know when to reach out to others such as my massage therapists or my craniosacral therapist. It feels right that now I can work on myself physically too, a better balance than there has been for a long time perhaps. I will let you know how it goes.

Pagan Portals and Shaman Pathways

As some of you reading this may already realise, I my first, and so far only, book, ‘Web of Life’ was published by Moon Books as part of their Shaman Pathway series but did you know there are lots of other books in the Pagan Portals and Shaman Pathways series too?

A  Facebook page was also set up recently for the series.

These series consist of lots of small books, packed with information and in many cases, exercises to help you, so why not click and have a look. If you like the page then its easy to stay on touch with what is being published in the series too.

The wanderer returns

 

I’m back! I’m not sure if anyone missed me but I have been travelling for the last few weeks, firstly to Panama City and then on to Costa Rica and if there is one thing to sum up Costa Rica it’s the wild life, hence the photo of the Capuchin Monkey 🙂

I honestly think it is the country where the experiences I had couldn’t have been bought for any amount but relied on an adventurous spirit and the willingness to be still, connect with nature and wait.

The adventurous spirit came in handy when white water rafting, kayaking, paddle boarding and zip lining. I would add canopy walking but I already loved that and so it would be disingenuous to do so.

A few years ago I was in a car accident and received severe soft tissue and muscle damage to my upper back and damaged my left shoulder and neck. Through the years I have had Bowen treatments, lots of massage and Reiki and more recently Cranial sacral therapy and Scenar. I have also worked on myself a lot including regression to re-program my body at cellular level. I went back to yoga in the winter but had to stop, as using my arms a lot, or holding my arms up above my head (downward dog for example) is difficult and creates longer term problems that I then have to undo. I am only mentioning this because all the activities I listed, apart from the canopy walking, meant I had to use my arms way more than is comfortable and in ways I would usually avoid. Short of missing out, what was I to do other than dive in and see what happened. What happened was that my body amazed me in its ability to cope. The more I did the more I could do. Some of this may of course have been to do with the warm weather and high humidity but deep down I believe that it is also about allowing my body to move, so I am soon to try out pilates and see if that works for me plus I plan to re-introduce chi kung and tai chi to my life.

The willingness to be still, connect with nature and wait, resulted in many amazing encounters such as standing in the humming bird garden whilst the tiny bullet like creatures zoomed, buzzed and dived at and around me, watching Capuchin monkeys playing, rolling over each other and sliding down the palm roofs of the lodge, seeing how what looked like a tiny green leaf unfolded to become a green frog with red and orange legs, standing on the river bank and watching Jesus Christ lizards run across the water, and having been calling on and connecting to the spirit of the Quetzal, finally seeing it then being quiet so it wasn’t spooked away. There is of course so much more, way too much to list in this blog but I’m sure you get the idea.

Yes I appreciate that money was needed to get to Costa Rica but once there if I hadn’t been willing to have a go and to spend time being at one with nature my experience would have been a very different one.

And before I go I will share with you both a humming bird and the Resplendent Quetzal 🙂