Demitra, Maggie & Kacey
EVERY time I gather with women, Every. Time. I love the sense of community that is created. Sunday, February 15 was a bitter, cold, icy day, and yet, women from all over joined Kacey, Demitra and I for a day of self love.
This was our second foray into a day like this and oh, my, goodness, what a day.
Kacey hosted this month - frankly, as much as I love the salon, Shine On, her Reiki studio, has a much better flow for this type of event.
(Note to the Universe: seriously, I need a real live building for The Glass House Retreat sooner rather than later. Pleaseandthankyou.)
Kacey's space glistens with sunlight. The floors are a warm wood. There is a great place for food (the space once housed a restaurant, so there is a bar area), and there are 3 bathrooms. BONUS!
Right here, right now, I must give a shout out to Kacey's sister, Maria, for "loving the space up." Although she might have missed the actual day, her blood - literally, her daughter, HaleyJane, played live music for us, Maria's sweat, and her goodness, coupled with her eye for beauty, was evident throughout the space every where you looked.
We tightened our timeline this go round. We streamlined the food. We shortened our talks. We really DID dance this time, as opposed to January when it was in the program but we were all too tired to dance by the end. Again, the space allowed this to happen so fantastically.
We experienced chair yoga. For a girl with a wonky elbow it was all too perfect. It got our blood moving without having us sweat. All love goes out to Kathie Scanlon for the chair yoga.
Demitra, THE Queen of Prayers to the Universe, blessed our day.
Kacey, an exquisite inspirational speaker, shared her experiences of dating herself. It was, as expected, quite hilarious. It was also, as expected, profound and beautiful. After reading a wonderful essay, Kacey had us fill out hearts with something we love about ourselves. We collected them and then Kacey, Demitra, Kathie and I read them out loud. LOOK at them. They are glorious.
This was our second foray into a day like this and oh, my, goodness, what a day.
Kacey hosted this month - frankly, as much as I love the salon, Shine On, her Reiki studio, has a much better flow for this type of event.
(Note to the Universe: seriously, I need a real live building for The Glass House Retreat sooner rather than later. Pleaseandthankyou.)
Kacey's space glistens with sunlight. The floors are a warm wood. There is a great place for food (the space once housed a restaurant, so there is a bar area), and there are 3 bathrooms. BONUS!
Right here, right now, I must give a shout out to Kacey's sister, Maria, for "loving the space up." Although she might have missed the actual day, her blood - literally, her daughter, HaleyJane, played live music for us, Maria's sweat, and her goodness, coupled with her eye for beauty, was evident throughout the space every where you looked.
We tightened our timeline this go round. We streamlined the food. We shortened our talks. We really DID dance this time, as opposed to January when it was in the program but we were all too tired to dance by the end. Again, the space allowed this to happen so fantastically.
We experienced chair yoga. For a girl with a wonky elbow it was all too perfect. It got our blood moving without having us sweat. All love goes out to Kathie Scanlon for the chair yoga.
Demitra, THE Queen of Prayers to the Universe, blessed our day.
Kacey, an exquisite inspirational speaker, shared her experiences of dating herself. It was, as expected, quite hilarious. It was also, as expected, profound and beautiful. After reading a wonderful essay, Kacey had us fill out hearts with something we love about ourselves. We collected them and then Kacey, Demitra, Kathie and I read them out loud. LOOK at them. They are glorious.
Demitra spoke about each astrological sign. Some of the nuggets I took away:
The three of us manage to weave our stories together to the point that some of our exact sentiments are mirrored in each others talks. It is uncanny and more than a little special!
I opened by reading this card my dad gave me on my birthday MANY years ago.
- Everything is love or a call for love
- I am love
- Love made me
- I am a child of love
- Dare to give yourself to the world
- Dare to pour the love on yourself
- Love is in the details
- There is no greater wisdom than kindness
The three of us manage to weave our stories together to the point that some of our exact sentiments are mirrored in each others talks. It is uncanny and more than a little special!
I opened by reading this card my dad gave me on my birthday MANY years ago.
I spoke about how learning to love yourself can be your greatest gift and strength. I had everyone listen to the song, "Colours" by Margo Rey that I had on the blog last week. Then I reminded everyone that they are absolutely amazing and to own it.
We broke for lunch.
We broke for lunch.
This colorful and delicious meal was catered by Bob and Loren at B&L Deli in Cold Spring. The quinoia was divine. I could have eaten the whole bowl!
Not to worry, there was lots of dark chocolate! Nary a piece was left by the end of the day. We do love our chocolate.
Kathie came back and filled the room with love and laughter by having all of us do the breath of joy! Perfect.
After lunch Kacey led us in an exercise where we wrote a love letter to ourselves. It was a fill in the blank letter so it made it doable. We will all get it mailed to ourselves within the next few weeks.
And then, we cleared the floor and were introduced to Ken Daley, a teacher from The World GROOVE Movement. Ken led us in a structured but totally unstructured half hour of simple dancing with a purpose. Dancing from your heart and soul. When the song, "Lean On Me" came on we did. We leaned on each other while belting out the words to the song. It. Was. Powerful. AND fun! The room glowed with love and good energy.
The beautiful and talented Janel Morrisey, also a groover (who spoke Ken's name and he walked in the door!) and owner of FABU Fitness, closed the dancing with a beautiful and simple prayer and a namaste.
Not to worry, there was lots of dark chocolate! Nary a piece was left by the end of the day. We do love our chocolate.
Kathie came back and filled the room with love and laughter by having all of us do the breath of joy! Perfect.
After lunch Kacey led us in an exercise where we wrote a love letter to ourselves. It was a fill in the blank letter so it made it doable. We will all get it mailed to ourselves within the next few weeks.
And then, we cleared the floor and were introduced to Ken Daley, a teacher from The World GROOVE Movement. Ken led us in a structured but totally unstructured half hour of simple dancing with a purpose. Dancing from your heart and soul. When the song, "Lean On Me" came on we did. We leaned on each other while belting out the words to the song. It. Was. Powerful. AND fun! The room glowed with love and good energy.
The beautiful and talented Janel Morrisey, also a groover (who spoke Ken's name and he walked in the door!) and owner of FABU Fitness, closed the dancing with a beautiful and simple prayer and a namaste.
I hope you can get a sense of the love, of the beauty, of the nourishment for your SOUL, of the thought we put into these wonderful events. We want it to be something that moves you. That brings YOU joy. We want it to be an event you look forward to attending - by yourself (you now know you will make friends) or with your own tribe.
Music today: WHAT a version of this song! Listen to it!
Music today: WHAT a version of this song! Listen to it!
Lean on me, when you're not strong
I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
Oh it won't be long
You're gonna need
Somebody to lean on
http://youtu.be/LiouJsnYytI
I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
Oh it won't be long
You're gonna need
Somebody to lean on
http://youtu.be/LiouJsnYytI
