listen up! a recent interview by Amy Lynn of Holistic Pilgrimage!

some photos from today
Some photos taken today (for the most recent newsletter going out...hint hint hint....

going to pick up fabric

it is a snowy day here today

a great big heart of love for you

still working on the painting and decorating of the place. but got some calligraphy in!

say HI to Meg, our office manager! (Hi Meg!)

Our main sewing maven, Catherine. She was a monk in a former life.
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words to remember
super moon, full moon intentions

second day of juices and smoothies



today's soul musings
- Today my soul creation that I want to share with you is an altar box that I made a couple weeks ago.


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I took an old notions box that belonged to my mom. It was sturdy and in good shape. I gave the top of it to my art buddy and I kept the bottom. We sat and talked and collaged one day. I took old ribbons from the notions box and if you look carefully in that first picture, you'll see a bit of bling glued to the bottom of the box. That was also in the notion box. There are photos of the Buddha in there, St. Francis of Assisi, humming birds, flowers and I even found this artwork done by a woman - her art was done in the form of journal writing and drawing with a fountain pen. I used fabric that my art buddy brought, too. It all came together nicely. I used the words RELATIONSHIPS and OPENING and EVERYWHERE on the box as you can see if you study the photos. Inside it says "A NEW WAY OF SEEING" over St Francis of Assisi. This is my wish for new openings, new ways of seeing, new relationships. I place it on top of my book case and I have a tiny statue of kwan yin inside as well as a little urn that is black and smooth - I have NO idea where the little urn came from. It sits askew - not quite level. I bring these items with me when a few of us gather for a women's night and we share altar items for the time we are together. Otherwise, I see it daily as soon as I come downstairs in the morning. These little art intentions, for me, are strategically placed around so that I am forever elevating myself and reminding myself of where I'd like to point my boat in the direction of. Please share what you do to set intentions and daily reminders for yourself. I'd love to learn from you.
3 big juices today
today's soul musings
soul journaling
mother's day
I want to write about this before the bliss of the day's events completely leave... :-)
I woke up yesterday morning and did a little meditation first thing. I got out of bed around 8 and made myself a big huge green smoothie:
(I actually made enough for 4 people)
3 medium bananas
local frozen blueberries
kale
1 orange
rice protein powder
vitamineral green
I added quite a lot of kale so it was very dark green. It was pretty yummy, though and I felt pimped out for the day. I got dressed and met a friend for our mother's day treat to ourselves.
We went to Stowe, VT to a place called Stoweflake. There's a spa and resort there. It's a beautiful spot. My friend Linda and I drove there and got caught up on a slew of things that are good, bad, stressful and otherwise in our lives and when we opened the doors for the spa, there was an almost immediate sense of dropping everything and taking a big luxurious pause. Linda treated me to this day, which was very surprising. I didn't plan on that at all and I started to cry. For years and years now, if I want to celebrate and honor anything for myself and my family, I have to do it myself. I have for years bought my own gifts and planned things for various holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. It's just rote now. So Linda and I planned on getting a massage and she told me about this thing at Stoweflake where you can do a spa day for about the same money and have access to the whole spa and have lunch, etc. Her treating me to this was so unexpected and sweet and I just welled up and thanked her with a BIG BIG hug.
We selected our lunch and then went to the back room where we were given plush robes and slippers. Linda showed me around to the place where the cushy lounge chairs are, the pools, saunas and locker room and showers are. We got dressed into bathing suits and then went to the mineral pool. It is 101 degrees of sheer pleasure. We sat in there and floated around until we got good and warm and then went to the waterfall pool. It was awesome to have the waterfall beating down on my head, neck, shoulders and back for I don't know how many minutes. Then it was time to go back to the mineral pool until all tension and stiffness went away.
We sat in the lounge for a minute and drank the cucumber water that was delicious. Why don't I drink this all the time?! Then we went into the steam sauna for a few minutes. That was interesting. I had never been in a hot steamy humid sauna before - only dry ones. It took some getting used to and I couldn't stay in there longer than about 5 minutes. Afterwards, a shower with beautiful smelling products and then back in our plush robes to meander about. We walked down the hall in slippers and robes and ate lunch at their cafe. (We actually sat outside near the closed pool but wanted to get some fresh air.)
Linda remarked how nice it would be if this was more standard for our culture: things like turkish baths and the custom of communally caring for ourselves. It was great to see people of all shapes and sizes just taking care of themselves. It was wonderful to see the standard uniform of women walking around our private sanctuary in robes and slippers languishing in a few hours of peace. Even better to see was when the women came back from their massages with their complimentary bottle of water and the blissed out, relaxed facial expressions. Just wonderful.
After lunch, we laid out on the lounge chairs and waited peacefully for our massages. My body felt weighty in a very good way. I had no plan for these hours other than to nourish myself in this peaceful way. We talked sometimes and other times just closed our eyes and got ourselves into a deeper place of peace. My body was very very happy for this experience and it caused a deep sense of peace in my mind, too. AHHH, I really needed this and I shouldn't wait another year to do it again. With any luck, I won't.
It was a magical 5 hours at the spa. I had a glorious massage and then we rested for another hour and a half on that lounge chair, drinking cucumber water. I brought a piece of chocolate to share with Linda. It was very difficult to get up. Who would want to leave this paradise?!
We drove home on a beautiful VT country rode during beautiful weather. The magic never ends sometimes. We were remarking about how wonderful and good we feel when we get out of our heads and into our bodies. I think that's when we are open to real magic in our lives. It was great to see the difference in our speech and body language after the day of relaxation. We had so little to say in comparison that was processing and more of gratitude and sharing in all the beauty around us. We also did a bit of dreaming for future field trips here and there. :-)
The evening was spent with my children. We went to montpelier for dinner - there was only like 1 restaurant open on mother's day! What a crazy town! It was nice. Afterwards, I took the kids to get some shorts and things for upcoming trips and just because they are growing so tall now that they need the stuff.
Here's a wish for more mindful times spent in our bodies, in our lives and an openness for magical moments.
lots of love,
Linda