When I was younger (specifically the summer when I was 19), I was obsessed with the game Tetris. I was living in Santa Fe and my boyfriend back home sent me a game boy to help keep me entertained. The only game I had was Tetris. While I was having plenty of fun in Santa Fe without this addition, I became obsessed with defeating the game, once and for all! I carried it with me everywhere I went.
When you start to play Tetris, the little blocks fall slowly enough to be able to analyze their shape so you can make a perfect judgement about how to stack them so that each one can help to form a complete line. It then disappears, making space to form the next. As the game levels up, the blocks begin to fall faster and faster. You reach a point, where you just throw blocks in any direction, moving as quickly as you can to make the best decision before the next block races down. It's not pretty. Jagged lines stack up. They become harder to clear and even though you may keep accomplishing the task of removing lines, you know you're only one wrong block placement away from reaching the top and watching it all crash down around you.
It occurred to me recently that in this Tetris game of life we live, where sometimes our blocks are falling so fast it is all we can do to keep everything fitted together in whatever disordered chaos possible at any one given time, we have suddenly been granted a non-optional leveling down. A moment to realize that a race to achieve some unknown finish line, just possibly, isn't what it is all about. An opportunity to see the pieces of our lives more clearly so that we can place them with greater care.
But, oh, the discomfort of leveling down! This is not what any of us were taught to willingly do. And, yet, here we are. Leveled down. We can fight it and bemoan everything that was about to be unlocked or we can surrender.
Mark Nepo said, "surrender is like a fish finding the current and going with it." The river cannot be achieved. Despite all the efforts we put in place, all the blocks we quickly and proudly are able to manage, our true power is found in the letting go. In the release of the idea that it is ours alone to own and the false belief that if we try hard enough we can control the swift current. We must accept that managing the blocks is exhausting and, instead, jump into the flow with trust.
When we surrender, it feels like it will all come tumbling down around us. Instead, what we find, is that there was actually never another level to achieve. That the blocks recede on their own. That they were simply an illusion all along.
Mantra: I release control and surrender. When I let go into divine flow, I trust that all will be just as it needs to be.
Nourish
Grant your physical body this same space by joining the upcoming Restore You Group. Restore You is the combination of the 5 day mimicked fast by Prolon and a mindfulness program to elevate the experience for the body and mind. Surrender to your body's natural clean-up processes by taking a "break" from food, while using that pause to provide extra soul nourishment.
You receive your box of food and mindfulness program (online program and pdf). The mindfulness program includes a daily reading, tips for fasting, mantra, journal prompts, and audio meditation. There is also useful information for set-up and transition, in addition to bonus features delivered via the Facebook group each day. Fun and supportive connection is made ongoing through the Facebook group.
How to join:
1. Purchase your Prolon box and mindfulness program (Restore You) here. The box will arrive to you in the mail soon thereafter. Until April 20th, receive 10% off with code: RYQUAR. You are also able to use a rebate form from Prolon to receive $50 off each box in the order through the end of May. The rebate form will be provided to you upon purchase from my website.
2. Register for the Restore You Group (May 3rd-May 7th) here.
3. Let the rejuvenation begin!
Upcoming Events
April 19th, 2020 - Virtual New Moon Yoga and Sound Bath 4:00-5:30pm
FREE (Zoom link: 806-442-6459, password: 908117)
May 3rd, 2020 - Virtual Full Moon Yoga and Sound Bath 4:00-5:30pm
FREE (Zoom link: 806-442-6459, password: 908117)
Join us for an hour of yoga designed to release unneeded holds, blockages, and emotional distress— rinsing your soul, just as the ocean’s high tide washes over the sand and rinses the beach of debris. The yoga class will be followed by a 30 minute extended savasana sound bath when Andrew Marshall will play crystal bowls to create an immersive experience, in which sound vibrations shift your awareness and state of being. You will walk away feeling complete relaxation, realignment, and reconfiguration.
September 17th-20th, 2020 - True Nature Retreat More info here (NOTE: Early bird registration has been extended to 5/31/20 to accommodate the uncertainty of the Covid-19 situation).
Are you yearning to immerse yourself in the peace and harmony of nature? This three-night magical retreat will connect you in a meaningful way with mother nature, drawing you more deeply into connection with your inner nature.
We are more excited than ever for this retreat as it will likely come at the perfect time for all of us to immerse in community once again. It will be a time to reflect about the unique situation we all currently find ourselves in, both inwardly and in connection with others. We know that our time in nature together will provide a beautiful space to process and heal.
Nestled in the heart of a beautiful Oregon forest, next to a babbling creek, we will gather for meditation, yoga, guided forest bathing, crystal sound bowl healing, and fireside gatherings.
You will join with nature and connect in spirit with those around you, while still enjoying space to retreat and tend to the needs of your soul. Each day we will wake and gather for morning meditation and invigorating (yet suitable for all levels) yoga. Following breakfast, we will feed our spirit with nature! Moving through the forest in a meaningful way will allow you to fully absorb the magic and access a true state of inner harmony. Lunch will be a collective effort with the guidance of Katrina, a passionate Nutritionist and food-lover. Afternoons will be open for you to nourish yourself with whatever appeals to you. Hiking, enjoying the creek's swimming hole, visiting with friends, relaxing in the hot tub, reading in a hammock... all options in this lovely setting. Late afternoon, we will gather for restorative yoga and sound bath, followed by dinner. Before heading to bed, we will circle around the fire to reflect and enjoy.