Me & Mama dog at home on a cool summer day.
Greetings readers. Summer is passing quickly before my eyes, as tree leaves brandish over shortening days. The song of seasonal friends — the grasshoppers and crickets — sounds out for the time being, and Great Lake Michigan still splashes warm waters!
Here upon the cusp of seasons, I am exited to announce some arts news. September marks two developments for me in Kalamazoo. First, my studio is moving to Lots of Little Things Gallery, which sells work by more than 20 artists. The site is part of several shops connected through one building in the heart of the Vine Neighborhood at the corner of South Westnedge and Forest Road. Little Things is open Tuesday through Saturday, including Art Hops on First Fridays.
Second, I am a studio member with the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center! After several courses this past year, the step is very exciting toward establishing my small press Femestiza. The KBAC is located in the Park Trades Center, an amazing building chuck full of artists and artisans. While my art studio is leaving the PTC, I am very glad to continue being one of the residents by way of the KBAC.
My personal reflections at this changing of seasons is sparked by the recent Intensive Retreat at Crow’s Nest Center for Shamanic Studies. I am exploring how my creative-healing journey has come to include Sacred Breathwork. This development is thanks to a year of programming through Crow’s Nest and — without doubt! — the supportive community springing from its center.
What is Sacred Breathwork at Crow’s Nest? I point readers to this article for an in-depth explanation. Meanwhile, I am stitching together a blog post of poetry and prose about the unfolding nature of my process. What I can say: my encounter with “the breath” via Crow’s Nest has deepened and expanded what I brought to the mat after a year of formal shamanic studies. Thanks to my first teacher Colleen Deatsman for a firm foundation, and current teacher Mikkal (C. Michael) Smith for an amazing adventure.
In closing, I share a new poem, “I Live Here,” as a small window into how Sacred Breathwork most recently has shifted my relationship to Body. And in the near future, I look forward to sharing an exploratory — rather than expository –piece weaving this poem and others with prose.
“I Live Here”
before Sacred Breathwork…
Says the person to herself,
‘I live here,’
repeating the reminder
about her body
as she stretches her legs
upward from the bed.
‘I live here.
I live here.
I live here,’
as she breathes between
the words,
an invocation to unite
the tangible and ethereal,
an invitation to inhabit
her material form.
during Sacred Breathwork…
Says the body to the person,
‘I live here,’
repeating the reminder
to her mind
as the body stretches legs
upward from the floor.
‘I live here.
I live here.
I live here,’
as the body breathes between
the words,
an invocation to unite
the tangible and ethereal,
an invitation to inhabit
her material form.
