Author Archives: Vania

Embodied Psycho-Spiritual Therapy: Somatic healing and witchcraft

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“Ancient goddess traditions understood what modern somatic therapies now affirm: that pleasure, embodiment, and connecting to the senses are gateways to healing and transcendence.” Dr. Denise Renye

As i deepen into my personal practices of spirituality and somatic healing, I’m noticing more and more how i’m weaving them together. When i once kept the spools of thread very separate, i’m now appreciating how the tapestry is more enriched when all of me is present. In this unfolding i’m dancing with, i’m learning to weave liminal threads and incorporate a more full expression of myself as much as i can. While i will forever remain a feminist therapist, i now also embrace a psycho-spiritual approach to my work as a psychotherapist.

Here’s a little known fact about me – i’m called to the magic of witchcraft. That doesn’t mean you also have to identify as a witch to receive my support. What it does look like is i infuse ritual and holistic practices into my therapy space, as a way to de-colonize my therapy practice and also embrace the ancient wisdom of nature and my own lineage.

Luckily, just as somatic-based therapies have been accepted by the professional mental health world, so too are spiritual practices like meditation, and more transpersonal practices like dream work, depth psychology and rituals. They have always been here, on the margins and hidden in plain sight. Now that more and more folks are rightfully asking for this, we are starting to feel safer in bringing these ancient and healing practices into the therapy room.

There is a rich history from time immemorial of somatic practices as well as witchcraft. I have seen first-hand the healing potential of integrating soul work and body practices. Transformation and (possibly) transmutation can happen only when we truly welcome mind body soul work in what we call psychology or mental health. The term psyche means soul mind after all!

A lot of my sessions begin with a grounding exercise or breath work. I offer this to the people i support as a way to get more fully present in the session, and as a way to become more aware (attuned and interceptive) to their inner experience. This also helps slow down their overwhelm of feelings when they arrive to the session. In my spiritual rituals and sacred gatherings, we also do breathwork and grounding practices when we cast a circle or start a ceremony, for the very same reasons. It helps to shift the energy field, frequency and vibrations and let the everyday hustle and bustle of life stay out of the circle.

Breath work is beneficial as a way to altar consciousness. In Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, this practice is called Dual Awareness. It is used as a tool to release tension and embody relaxation and calm. This allows us to be more present and expand our window of capacity by titrating the feeling that may otherwise get in the way of processing what has happened.

Speaking of breath work, I love Laura Tempest Zakroff’s book The Anatomy of a Witch. She devotes the book to sharing her wisdom of how the body is a part of witchcraft practices. She describes in depth the Witch Body (see the slide on the left) as a way to see how our body is our temple, a tool, and is technical. She also shares how the mind body soul trifecta and the 7 chakras have a similar analogy in The 3 Cauldrons. Based on ancient Celtic roots, this theory sees how the Cauldron of Wisdom is the mind’s capacity to have mental clarity and transform. The Cauldron of Motion is found in the heart and lungs to find balance for our emotions (e-motion!) and create movement – this is where we get to the heart of the matter. Finally, the Cauldron of Warming is in our womb and pelvis, where passion can create new things and birth sovereignty.

I’m sure you have heard of the book The Body Keeps the Score. Van Der Kolk’s work is not new, but a culmination of facts and evidence about how the body has wisdom and can be an alarm bell when something in our present experience is reminding us of a past trauma, harm or danger. When we can see the vagus nerve travelling through our body, connecting body parts together like a serpent, it’s easy to see how magical our body is. The amygdala is a tiny almond shaped alarm bell in the brain that gets activated when reminded of something. We know it does this and so much of the brain is till mysterious. My body has another special alarm. Have you heard of the canary in the coalmine concept? This is when a canary or song bird is placed in a cage deep in the depths of a mine. They sing when they are relaxed and feel safe. When they stop singing, this gives the miners who are working a hint that something dangerous might be imminent. My vagina does this whenever i see someone who gets cut and it’s bloody. My vagina tingles and turns on like an alarm bell out of empathy and wordy. My body is a source of knowing, and for that it is powerful as fuck. Is this just me?

“Ritual is the original therapy. Before diagnoses, before credentials, before “private practice,” there was fire, circle and song.” Holly Truhlar

We can bend time in therapy. While it’s true there may be a focus on our past in the therapy session, it’s not because we think we can go back and change things. We don’t actually want to cause harm and open old wounds. Rather, one of the powerful things we have learned about how the brain can heal trauma is to have reparative or corrective emotional experiences in our present day life. Having a reparative experience in a somatic way is a bit like witchcraft as we are rewiring our neural synapses in our brain to add in a new experience or ending for something that didn’t happen and yet feels like it did. We can’t change what happened to us. We can change our relationship to what happened to us. Neuroception is a form of alchemy and energy field attunement. Our brain can rewire the new neural pathway to create a new ending – what wires together fires together!

Speaking of fire, i love how some therapeutic practices incorporate the elements into the process of healing. One of the reasons i was pulled to Internal Family Systems was the intentional use of air, fire, water and earth as a way to heal and release an old wound or stuck Part. This article offers a beautiful ritual for you to do yourself. Yes, Dick Schwartz was heavily influenced by Carl Jung’s work as well as shamanistic practices. IFS is internal animism or shamanist work, and for good reason – these rituals and ceremonies are the original therapy!

Let’s take a moment and notice how the elements can be a resource: In Air, we can cast a new spell: In my last journal article, i spoke at length about the power of story telling and talk therapy. Speaking our truth out loud is like casting a spell. It lessens the hold it has on our body and can act as an alchemical change. It’s like shedding emotional skin. Air is a form of communication. We gather information by our sense of smell. Our olfactory system is our most ancient sense. With Fire, we can alchemize our anger and keep our inner spark alive. With Earth, we embody our ancestors and also root into this present moment. And with Water, we can find flow and honour our wellspring of feelings. All of these have rituals and practices that can enrich us in our healing.

“Rituals and care practices aren’t just ways to keep our hands busy while we hope time heals all, but they are proactive ways to stabilize and make sense of what just happened.” Carla Fernandez, Renegade Grief: A Guide to the Wild Ride of Life after Loss

In her book, Anatomy of a Witch by Laura Tempest Zakroff shares her term “witchual.” I’m so here for a good pun, and this one really captures the ritual of witch-influenced ritual crafts and pratices. Rituals are a part of a ceremony as a way to deepen into an experience. They enhance our presence and participation in something. This can lead to a sense of agency as a ritual has a purpose and result. This is a big reason why i’m drawn to practical magic like herbal medicine and ritual crafts like how a witch ladder talisman becomes a guide. I also keep a selection of oracle cards at my office, and at times i either begin or end a session with a card pull. A ritual doesn’t have to be lengthy or complicated to be powerful. Having a way to begin and close a session together is a beautiful way to honour the process.

I see a therapy session as a ritual and ceremony. Each session has a clear beginning, middle and end and in the overall work. Sometimes, we start and end with breathwork. Meditation is a big part of how we access our Parts and become more aware of our body’s sensations. Sometimes, someone i support asks to pull an oracle or tarot card or do a specific ritual to honour an ending. Therapy is a way that folks can be witnessed in their growth and transformation. This is also a big goal in ceremonial gatherings – to be witnessed. There is a blend of masculine structure and a trust in the feminine strength of following an organic flow.

Dance and movement are a part of witchcraft practices as well as somatic therapy. I have learned some beautiful ritual dances myself, and have grown up with the magic of dance to help me process my emotions, release my sadness and stress. I find dance, be it ecstatic dance or ballet, 5Rhythms or a group rave to be a conduit for an altered state of consciousness. Dancing helps us access a felt sense of joy and pleasure, and to express ourselves in non-verbal ways. Another benefit of dance as a somatic resource is that it can connect us to our ancestral and cultural roots. As a child, i used to take Serbian traditional dance classes, in a circle with my peers. When i join in circles now, i feel this connection alive in my body, like i’m dancing with the ghosts of my past and former lives. I know some time ago in my lineage, my Babas (grandmothers) worshipped and danced for the Goddess. Again, Zakroff reflects this sentiment well with the following words: “Finding the song of our bones can help us heal past wounds and aid our own work.” Sayings ‘we feel it in our bones’ or ‘it has good bones’ comes from somewhere and is so wise! The human body is truly a vessel for magic. Our breath can inspire something new, our blood is our engine that moves us through life, and our mind can cast spells.

Similar to dance, there is also a connection between the therapeutic resource of psychodrama and witchcraft. For instance, tarot is the card depiction of the fool’s journey. It is a story that steeped in our ancestors’ way of turning to wise guides and elders. Tying in myths, fairy tales and god/goddess stories are a key ingredient in psycho-spiritual therapy. It is the story that matters, not the medium. We are social creatures and can see the relevance of an archetypal story in our own personal plight. This transfers well to how role plays can be a catalyst. When we act out a limiting belief or an alternate ending, our body creates an alchemical metamorphosis.

Witches shapeshift as a way to bend reality and also glean wisdom. It is done intentionally as a way to change an energetic frequency, and can be a way to connect to more-than-human guides. In another way, when feeling threatened or scared, people default to a trusty (albeit faulty) nervous system response of fight/flight/fawn/freeze. It is a type of shapeshifting as way to protect ourself that needs an update so we can instead embody power within. Have you ever felt frozen like a deer in flashlights or like a turtle who falls into your shell? Maybe you want to flee the scene of conflict or scream your truth outloud. That’s a Part who is shapeshifting for you. I think of the powerful book and movie Night Bitch. The main character literally shapeshifted as a way to state shift and create a change in her life. I can’t say more because it will spoil the movie for you!

We can use this chameleon energy intentionally, and with full awareness. For instance, when i want to feel more empowered and strong, i put on the suit of my Inner Warrior. I envision putting on my armour and stand like a Warrior. When i feel the need to buckle down and write this article, i channel my inner Carrie Bradshaw. And, when my kids are being treated unkindly, i know i’m not alone when i want to embody my Inner Mama Bear!

Herbs and holistic care also offer a positive impact on the body. They act as a way to connect to the natural world and remember the ancient wisdom, as well as the truth that we too are a part of the natural world. In this very helpful article, the author shares the following: “In witchcraft, this is often expressed through the use of natural objects such as stones, crystals, and feathers, which are believed to have energetic properties that can be harnessed for healing and transformation.” Similar to pagan and earth-based natural remedies, somatic healing offers such deep guidance and wisdom and guidance. What we now call Ecosomatics is also ancient medicine, practices, and rituals that integrate forest baths, walks, and meditation. While i don’t explicitly use herbs in my therapy practice, i have essential oils on hand as a means to self-soothe. I offer tea and grounding techniques that help folks resource in their own body. As i entrust in people’s autonomy and agency, i also inquire about their own knowledge and practices that may infuse plant medicine, herbs, crystals, and other holistic resources.

Similar to the elements, the use of the senses also offers such support and healing. When we slow down and become attuned to our body’s sensations and become present with the here-and-now, we are also given the gift of being with nature. Humans are nature too and so when we re-inhabit the home that is our body, we are bending time and coming back home to our innate intelligence and knowing. This deepens our self-trust and intuition, and also gives us a felt sense of belonging – to ourselves. When we blend these practices into our life, they can heal more than ourselves. Our ancestral wounds and legacy burdens get tended to, our bodies become more connected to our mind, and our soul’s journey becomes more present so that we can become our truest self.

Storytelling as Medicine

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We are in the season of Spring where i live, which is represented by the element of Air. This is the time of new beginnings, the fresh air of change, the rebirth and the sunrise as a new dawn. Air is connected to the suit of swords in Tarot, which are all about action, ambition, courage and change. Air is also magical for the speaker and listener. We use our words, and repeat them into the air by casting a spell with our words. When we speak out loud what we want, we are in fact speaking our truth more assertively and intentionally.

Storytelling is one of the oldest and most universal forms of community-building. We are not meant to tell stories alone, they are meant to be shared. And, since we are social creatures, we heal in healthy relationships. I view storytelling as a resource for healing, growth and transformation. Integration and acceptance of a new life transition or realization cannot truly happen without being witnessed and companioned through it. Stories are meant to be shared with listeners who hold space for the story and teller, both. This form of holding space ultimately becomes a catalyst to be more fully actualized as ourselves.

Here are some ways that i have found being a story listener to be a central piece in how i work and hold space as a psychotherapist. As a psychotherapist who works from a feminist, narrative framework, story-telling and listening, as well as holding space is a big part of the alchemy that happens in my therapy sessions. Feminist Narrative Therapy is a post-modern modality of therapy that is based in a deeper connection to the subjective meaning that is typically lost in everyday conversations.

Talk therapy gets a bad wrap and yet I’ve noticed that it is through speaking out loud that we get the opportunity of integration that helps our cognitive parts understand the information we receive from our body. We need to talk in order to process the work of everyday life. It is a balance of both/and of talking and doing. We offer this integration after major trips and pilgrimages, or a psychedelic immersion. Birth story processing is a key resource to help folks heal from birth trauma. Sometimes the experience is quiet reflection alone, or in a journal, but it is typically recapping or debriefing the story that unfolded regardless.

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” ~ Maya Angelou

I used to work as a front-line crisis counsellor for folks who experienced gender-based violence. One of the strongest messages in the gender-based violence sector is that ‘your silence will not protect you.’ These powerful words by Audre Lorde are a direct proclamation of the power of healing that can happen when we share the truth of our lives. We also now know that we do not need to in fact go over our past traumas in chronologically story-book form in order to heal them. This is not how healing works, and yet when a person wants to be witnessed in their resilience and strength, that is also a powerfully catalyst to get to heal. One of the programs that i was most honoured to organize was an annual gathering for the people we supported. We would spend the day together, in workshops and intentionally sharing stories of healing and resilience. One of the stages of Post-Traumatic Growth is to share our story as a way to heal, and to also be an inspiration for others.

Stories help heal shame, as it is in the shared experience and common humanity that we offer a balm to shame, which would otherwise thrive in isolation. I have found this especially empowering for the people i support who may carry limiting beliefs about themselves, their bodies, or how they gave birth, or the break-up or break-down they experienced.

Some stories do not have to be real to be impactful. They jut need to be relatable in some way.

Archetype stories have become a special kind of steward for me, in so many ways – when i became an adult, a mother, and also in the years since becoming motherless. Now, as i surrender to perimenopause i am once again reading the feminine-based archetypal stories that feature wise women, medicine women, wild women, hags and crones. Myths and fairy/folk tales offer a universal truth for all of us, as well as a map that is possible for us. Any one of us can read the story and glean something that is familiar in it that reflects our own lived reality. This is comforting and affirming.

Marion Woodman was a great advocate for archetypal stories. In her book The Maiden King she shares this: “Our bodies love metaphors because they join our bodies to our soul rather than abandoning them to a soulless state. The ancient alchemists called this body soul state “the subtle body”. They believed that the deeper we go into the subtle body, the greater the soul treasures it contains.” I would take this point a step further and connect it to how stories in general are a way to deepen our relationship with our soul. If you have ever been in my therapy room with me, you will know that i love to share a good story as a metaphor as a way to explain a theory or experience.

Just as we are not meant to be alone with a story to tell, so too are we not meant to be alone in our grief. Transformation can happen for grievers when they are able to share these stories with someone who holds space for them, and both welcomes and encourages the stories to flow. This is done through the power of storytelling.

When my mom died, something that i found so kind and generous was when people in my life asked me to talk about her, to share her stories, to honour her legacy. In my own therapy practice, i offer grief work and tending to the broken hearts of someone who has experienced loss. I see how transformative this dedicated time is in the healing journey. It is through the process of being seen and heard that anyone who is grieving a loss can feel more held and less alone. Incorporating narrative in this stage is a helpful way to establish a more full sense of self.

Taking this a step further, when people are given an audience that is both compassionate and attuned, links can be made to the story and to their own life. For instance, I have found solace in cleaning out my mother’s things. Being able to share the experience of cleaning out my mother’s belongings is a universally understood rite of passage. We are not meant to do it alone, even if the act itself is a solitary process. Friends who asked me more than the standard “how are you?” received a more full and true account of my learnings and discoveries.

“Stories can be helpful tools for surviving hardship and navigating complexity. That is, when we craft them as sturdy boats, built to our dimensions and desires. But many stories are bigger than our single lives and desires. Many stories are invisible: so big, so culturally ingrained, that we are blind to the ways in which they drive and constrain our lives.” The Body is a Doorway, Sophie Strand

Not only was my grief more held, it was in the telling of the stories that i was able to come alive amidst my mourning. I was also able to truly express what i was going through, in detail. This invitation offered depth and spaciousness for me to debrief, unpack, and process what i was encountering in my grief.

No one is fully prepared for the time that their mother dies, no matter how expected it is, nor if the griever is a therapist herself, well-versed in holding space in grief counselling. I had to find the right balance between my personal grief process and my role as a psychotherapist who is well-versed in the healing balm of storytelling.

Where does the listener turn when she needs to be held and companioned through her own loss?

As we see in Rites of Passage theory, it is necessary to be witnessed in the transition from one version of us to a new sense of self. This is in fact, a way that we can move through the process of a rite of passage such as mother loss. Being witnessed in this transition is what can deepen the healing process, and in fact get to a more transformed and integrated sense of self.

In these dark and painful times, i’m turning to fantasy novels as support, solace, and sisterhood. For instance, in Starhawk’s novel Walking to Mercury, she shares that the healing that happens from ritual isn’t necessarily the trance work, drumming, dancing or singing that helps. “What healed was simply the opening to speak their pain and have it heard.”

I am working on ways to decolonize my therapy practice and life in general. In Dr. Jen Mullan’s book, Decolonizing Therapy, she shares powerful insights and guidance on how to shift from a western capitalist model to one that is more holistic and person-centred. As i deepen into my own process, i am reclaiming trust in my ability to bring in more a psychospiritual lens. While therapy is not inherently a ritual, we can infuse ritual into our work together. ((Stay tuned to my next journal article where i share some of the ways i do just that.)) ETA: Immediately after i posted this, i saw someone i deeply admire also share that “ritual is the original therapy.” One of the most beautiful experiences to witness is the shift folks experience when they sit in session and have someone who holds unconditional regard, a compassionate and non-judgemental stance, and also undivided attention for their story. This is what we call relational alchemy. The ultimate gift is witnessing someone transform and i am given the opportunity to experience vicarious resilience.

I see my therapy practice more and more like a ceremony. It is not mere work, transactional at best or hurtful at worst. Having a “career” is capitalist after all (thank-you Dra. Rocio for this reframe). Sitting together and sharing breath in the same room is a ceremony webbing the invisible golden thread of co-regulation, attunement and medicine between us, through us, and around us. Therapy is a prayer. It doesn’t have to be with another person; it is a catalysing moment that deepens our healing and transforms it. It just needs words spoken in some way to create that shift.

“The truth is, in order to heal we need to tell our stories and have them witnessed…the story itself becomes a vessel that holds us up, that sustains, that allows us to order our jumbled experiences into meaning. As i told my stories of fear, awakening, struggle, and transformation and had them received, heard, and validated by other women, I found healing. I also needed to hear other women’s stories in order to see and embrace my own. Sometimes another woman’s story becomes a mirror that shows me a self that i haven’t seen before. When I listen to her tell it, her experience quickens and clarifies my own. Her questions rouse mine. Her conflicts illuminate my conflicts. Her resolutions call forth my hope. Her strengths summon my strengths. All of this can happen even when our stories and our lives are very different.” ~ Sue Monk Kidd, The Dance of the Dissident Daughter

Healing requires recovery, and it is a life-long journey to heal. Not because we are incapable of doing it better. Rather, new experiences can activate what felt healed in the past and is now being brought back up to the surface, but in a new way. For instance, maybe as a child you were not listened to. Maybe you were never asked to share your dreams or hopes, or what imaginative stories were. Growing up, we then internalise the story literally – that what we have to share is not worthy to be heard by others. The story isn’t the only thing that can be silenced – our dreams and self-worth also are threatened to die inside us.

Therapy can be an alchemizing experience where clients are reborn, birthing their healed self from the embers of a former life. Therapists are the doulas who support their clients in this transition of becoming. When we share how we are feeling or what we need, we are being authentic to ourselves. This level of witnessing or experience and listening with attention also lets us know that we exist and we matter. When we stop speaking up for our feelings and needs, we suffer a level of self-abandonment, and also possibly a true death.

I know this might seem dramatic. And yet I sit with this truth that my mom died because of complications of undiagnosed ovarian cancer. The story she was sharing for so long was that her stomach hurt. I know that this was a complaint, and I also know that no one really took it seriously, including myself. If only someone had listened sooner, I know things would’ve been different.

“During both painful and joyful moments, we can often recall the things that kept us going — the people who mirrored our own goodness to us — the words shared that reminded us of what could be, what could become, what was possible.” Lisa Olivera, in a newsletter

As a feminist therapist, one of our principles is to self-disclose from our lived experience. We don’t share where the wounds are still raw, but where the scars have healed over. Sharing stories can also be so affirming, empowering and inspiring for the folks that I give this medicine to. This shared humanity experience can further fuel their own motivation. Knowledge is Power and sharing resources is also a Feminist principle.

Another aspect of the therapeutic container is that the therapist becomes an active listener to someone’s story, with undivided attention and a very present attention. This then becomes a Reparative Experience – we are given the healing balm of being heard and listened to, and not carrying the fear of being too much, as we possibly once believed. So many of us, especially women, mothers, and life-long care providers are starving for the attention to be seen and heard as well. This may be a band-aid to a larger problem, the mental health and therapy industrial complex exists as an imperfect solution to a lack of strong community and connection. And yet, as we can practice repair work, earning secure attachment, and healing relational wounds in the therapy space, for now this is a solution that works.

The therapeutic relationship offers more than psychoeducation and passive listening. It also is a space for tender acts of affection, and vulnerability by wearing our hearts on our lab coat sleeves now and then. A compassionate witness and true space holder listens with reverence. Having a place to reflect and unpack can be alchemical.

At least for me, it is more than just a couch and a quiet nod. I get right into your story, and get comfy in my chair or on the floor right beside you.

Sweet (Inner) Child of Mine

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Earlier this month, a poem went viral. At least it did on my Instagram feed. Maybe you saw it too? I loved it for its simplicity and also for its depth in reminding us that we can always make time for our younger selves.

In fact, for one of my 28 Days of Self-Love prompts, i did a version of it instead of writing from my future self as per the suggestion. I love writing, and especially poetry. Poetry is what literally got me through my darkest days in my youth, and it is still something that i turn to again and again, for solace and support.

The Brunch Date
I had coffee with my younger Self today
We were both early and sat with our backs to the wall
She had a cappuccino with soy milk
I had an americano.
We talked about her biggest dreams
I let her know they had come to life
She was amazed to learn that this could be true

And i told her to be patient
To stay on the path of her own life
To choose herself again and again

She had a short pixie cut and wore low cut jeans
And was a bit surprised by my long wavy hair
My red lipstick and flowy dress
She asked if i still listen to Mazzy Star and Depeche Mode
I reassured her that they will always be my first love
I have found my voice and kinship in women’s circles
I let her know that dancing is still my best medicine
And i have found my way back to the Goddess
I thank her for buying my first oracle deck
I give her the news that I’m partnered in a wonderful marriage and
Have two kids of my own

She asks me what my secret is that i found this life
I tell her i did the work to break the cycle
I stared my shadow parts in the face
And i embraced them

I saw her for who she is
In her fullness
Knowing that is all she ever wanted

I walk her to her bike as she makes her way to work at the shelter
We hug and i sneak a glass bottle of rose oil
In her basket to remind her that she is magic
~ vania sukola

Speaking of spending time with your former self, I saw My Old Ass recently. It was such a lovely movie with some sweet surprise twists. I won’t ruin it for you but let’s just say that i love how it addressed anticipatory grief, how to be present with your life right now, and not take it for granted. And remember, my word of the Year is Presence and i definitely noticed this message. One of the lessons in the movie was to carve out intentional time together, to not take this precious time for granted. This also allows for space to have the real talks.

I’m taking this lesson to heart now that my kids are teenagers. They are the age i was when i really started to want to have my own voice and autonomy, and also to be seen for who i was. And yet, i also still needed guidance and information. This is what Gabor Mate talks about – we all need Authenticity and Attachment. I am noticing now that my teenagers are making new friends and decisions, it’s time for me to upgrade my skills and understanding as a teenage mom. Some of the things i never got to experience are getting in the way.

Take the topic of dating for instance. My daughter has told me that she wants to go on dates with her crush. This is something i so desperately and needed to talk about my own mother and yet i couldn’t.

I am still finding this new terrain challenging. It sure looked familiar on the onset, especially as i used to be a youth shelter worker. I think i forgot along the way just how old i am. I took the compliments from my kids’ friends in stride: Did you know that my house is ‘house goals’ and also that i’m a ‘vibe?’ I also like to think of myself as a mom others will want to come to for the big step, to be their village auntie.

And yet, now i’m sitting with some big parent decisions – how to navigate dating, gender identity, next steps in life and catching my kids in their lies and goodness. A part of me sure misses the ease of two-year old tantrums over snowpants or steamed broccoli. I really identified with being a School-Age Mom.

All of this has brought me back to my own childhood and the mother i wanted to be. That meant seeing the one i had and also grieving the one i needed, not the one i had.

Last year, Glennon Doyle posted about her work with her own inner child. She wrote about her little kid self using four categories: her likes and dislikes, what her main needs were and what i would tell her now. I thought I might do the same here today, to introduce you to this powerful exercise, as a way to acknowledge your own Inner Child Part, and perhaps receive a healing reparative experience as well.

Meet Lil V
Her Likes: Strawberry Shortcake dolls, unicorns and mermaids, ballet classes and pointe shoes, Goonies, reading , swimming in the ocean, Punky Brewster, New Edition, hiding in the lilac bush, parties in the Florida room, writing in her journal, playing in the nearby creek with friends, making friendship bracelets
Her dislikes: yelling voices, angry eyes, bracing for bad moods, being told that her anger is not allowed, not having a say in what she wore, eating meat

Her Main Needs: time alone, openness (in schedules, spaces, hearts, minds), soft fabrics, cuddles, ambient lighting, artistic ways to express herself and her truth, to be seen, heard, met, understood, and empowered, to have her feelings matter, to dance and listen to music she loves

What I Tell her Now: You matter. I’m so glad you’re alive. I see you for your fullness. I hear you and your brilliant soul. I love all of you. I’ve got you. I’ve got it from here. Whenever you need this reassurance, let’s have a date with cocoa and collage. We can cut our favourite pictures while we chat and catch up.

I have some to some realizations lately, as i heal my Parentified Child Part. I became a therapist because i was my mom’s when i was a child and throughout my teen years, albeit a shitty and unqualified one. For years, i thought that my core wound from childhood manifested into being a People Pleaser. I think that was a Part’s way to handle things but my wound was in fact worthiness – i made myself small and struggled with speaking in groups because i learned i didn’t have anything worth while to contribute, that my own feelings and thoughts didn’t matter.

That has been my healing over these past few years.

Inner child work can be the balm my tender heart needs in order to show up in the present (wow, i didn’t even do that on purpose) and also hold space for all of my own Parts. For me, that can be having a hot cacao and calling in the energy of Lil V, writing a poem or reading a favourite one, or it can be listening to Mazzy Star or re-reading a favourite book from my teen years. It is also speaking to my younger Parts with love and reverence, and letting them know i see them, they matter, and i have a plan. Maybe you feel called to do some writing as well. If so, this old journal article that i wrote many moons ago, may be a great guide – it offers steps to be with your Inner Child and write a letter to them.

It also means reading about adolescence and updating my skills and knowledge. This is a corrective experience for me as my own parents didn’t do this work, partly because the abundance of books didn’t exist back then. Luckily for us, they do now. There are so many books, podcasts, and resources that can be a guide for us as parents. Some of the books that i have found to be mentoring along this new path are How to Hold onto your Kids by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate, Jessie Harrold’s book Mothershift, and i’m about to reach <em>Untangled by Lisa Damour.

We repeat what does not get repaired so spending time with our younger selves offers a reparative experience for them. It also helps me hold space for the versions of me that did not get what they wanted, without also getting in the way of what my kids need now. My children are not me, so what they need may not be the same.

Time for Rest: A Winter Ritual Bath

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I have been struggling this month with slowing down and just being present with the moment that is right in front of me. I have found it hard to write and allow space for my dreams to land. Even as i write this, on the final days of January, my heart is racing and i am needing to practice what i preach.

I am turning inwards, listening to the soft call of my body.

I am working on slowing down and turning towards what brings me pleasure because it then gives me the gift of presence.

There is no urgency.

This is the time to rest, to pause, to dream, to slow the fuck down.

I know that to be true.

I just have to get my Inner Planning Committee to listen.

It’s not lost on me that my word of the year – dreamed into being last November and December – is PRESENCE.

Wow, am i really been tested on it already.

So, instead of a whole article, i’m going to listen to my own advice. I’m going to resist the pull towards Hustle culture, especially as it’s a product of toxic masculine energy and patriarchy at its worst.

I’m going to gift myself and you, dear reader, the practice of a Self-Soothing Ritual Bath

Winter Bath Salts
Ingredients:
*Mix 1 cup Epson salts, and ¼ cup Himalayan pink sea salts together in a bowl
*Add 20 drops lavender essential oil, 10 drops pine essential oil, 10 drops rose oil, or others that you prefer
*Sprinkle in dried lavender, cedar, rose petals, small crystal pieces

Steps:
1) As you gather your ingredients and supplies, hold in your thoughts what your intention is for this bath. Picture yourself in the bath and the felt sense you hope to experience
2) Connect this intention to your ritual craft by repeating “With this bath, i welcome rest” or “My body is resting and so too is my mind”
3) When you are ready to take the bath, set the room up as a sacred space – light candles, burn incense or a smoke bundle, place a rose quartz crystal nearby, and have a playlist going quietly. Welcome a screen free moment. Purify this space and time
4) Run the water and share this moment with the cleansing waters that resonate in your own body. Add the salt mix and start casting the spell by repeating your intention “with this bath, i welcome rest.”
5) Visualize how you will feel after this bath and also give yourself permission to not do anything productive after. This is not just a moment of pause, but a way to find the balance you need
6) Immerse yourself in the water. Close your eyes, take in the water on your body and the soothing scents in the room. Take deep cleansing breaths, with a deeper exhale – don’t be shy to sigh it out your mouth!
7) Enjoy this solitude of the moment. When you catch your mind wandering, come back to the song, or look upon the candle. Practice Candle Gazing if you feel called!
8) Take this time to reflect on what you want to release, or what you are grateful for from today.
9) Start to picture what you want to let go down the drain as the water is released.
9) When you feel ready to get out, remind yourself of the intention and see if you feel even 5% more present or relaxed. Add more hot water if you need to stay in longer – remember there is NO RUSH here!
10) As you get out of the water, ground your body in this moment. Send yourself appreciation for choosing your own well-being over hustle culture, as a way to heal your internalized patriarchy and Rushing Woman Syndrome.
11) Blow out the candles, send a thanks to the waters for this gift of time and rest. Do a somatic check-in and see if your body feels a bit more renewed, energized or alive. Embrace this new version of you, anoint your body with special oil or lotion. Care for this new skin!
12) Wrap yourself in your towel, pull the plug and watch the water flow down the drain, as well as the stuck thoughts or limiting beliefs that have gotten in your way. Let the worry go, or the pull to practice toxic productivity
13) If you feel called, integrate this practice even more with a journal session, meditation. Or feel free to hop into bed!

Possible Journal Prompts
In what ways have you listened to your inner knowing this week?
What limiting belief have you noticed that is getting in your way?
Who are you becoming as this identity shift is calling to you?

A Bold Embrace of Change: Finding My Deepest Self

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It’s Christmas evening and i’m sitting in my dining room, with only candles and the light of my laptop giving me light. I felt called to use the quiet and peaceful moment as the gift it is. I don’t usually take this day to be reflective. Since my Christmas feels so different this yet, it seems like the perfect time to honour my word of the year – embrace – as i embrace this moment of quiet for myself.

I felt like i cheated a little with a word that i already enjoy and use. And yet, like every word each year, my word for 2024 pushed me to go deeper. To go to a full abandon, and to really embody what the word offers. I was able to unfold from a truth that was no longer serving me and fully embrace the version of me that was waiting patiently on the sidelines.

This year I chose to embrace my beliefs and values as well as my fears and imperfections. Doing that meant i met versions of me that have been hidden for so long and somehow I didn’t even know existed. Some i forgot existed all along.

Embrace
Encircle
Empower
Energy
Being
Breath
Bone
My body
My life, the journey
My imperfections
My inner circle
A beginner’s mind
Soft strength
Intuition
Futility
Conflict
Inner slut
Radical acceptance
Soft strength
My inner dragon, may i soften her fierceness
Vulnerability, because beyond it is the dream.

~ A Warm and Loving Embrace
vania sukola

When we embrace a rebirth, we are surrendering and courageous. This practice is also a deepening of a full acceptance of the cycle of life we are in. To embrace something is more than simply holding it; it is a practice of radical acceptance. This indeed is what helps us embody transformation.

Embracing my Body with Grace
I had a whole plan to build muscle and feel more strong in my arms: The whole obvious connection of ‘embrace’ felt literal. And also because in order to embrace the fact that i am in the perimenopausal stage of life, I learned more about what that entails and what i need to do. One thing that came up again and again in my research is i need to build muscle strength. I have little upper arm strength. I had a whole plan to use the ketel bells i asked for Christmas last year. I looked at them, i moved them, and i even looked up exercises to use. And i never used them. Not once.

Instead, i embraced my body and what she needed, not what i wanted for her, from a 25 year old Part. I embraced that my 48-year old body is going through perimenopause and needed movement that was soft and pleasurable. So i walked, i danced, i embraced the soft curves that have become the landscape of my womb space. I am also embracing that my body is more like my mother’s than i wanted to admit. I am embracing that this is her legacy. I am her legacy, in physical form.

I learned that i would rather live from a heart-centred place and still take care of my body. A sound bath or dancing makes my body feel embraced. I was taking care of myself by offering up kindness, generosity and the perfect gift that was made just for me.

“My arms grew tired
from constantly reaching
so I wrapped them around myself
and allowed them
to rest”
~ The Evolution of a Girl, by Lauren E. Bowman

I realized that the word embrace came perfectly after years of devotion to breath, grace and surrender. Embracing me is not the same as giving up. To embrace oneself as we are is a practice of gracious surrender.

My Voice and Confidence
I learned two huge things this year:
One: It’s okay that others don’t like what i say as long as it also doesn’t make me self-silence myself.

I learned that the heart Chakra lives in our body close to where we become enfolded in the embrace of someone’s arms. I love that visual – that in order to be embraced, our heart also is. And the solar plexus chakra is connected to one’s personal power and confidence. It is here that my body has been going through the most change this year. I have been journeying with my shadow, my anger, and the parts of me that have been quiet but impatiently waiting for me to notice them with love and compassion.

I have been working on ways to embrace my People Pleaser and Fawn response, as well as the young Parts of me that are afraid to speak up when i have something to say, or ask. This year, i sat with my Inner Circle (thank-you Parts work!) and gave them so much love. I also learned that i literally need to embrace my womb space and heart in order to quiet the nerves and stored trauma responses that live there.

I took a workshop on voice work and also was part of some beautiful community singing circles. In my own personal work, i was able to heal a young Part of me who hated public speaking and always got in the way now. I still have a long way to go, but it was embracing this young Part with compassion that helped me feel so much love for her, and ultimately she stepped back and let me find my own way with what i had to say.

And secondly, I had a reckoning this year, that related to my work domain. I have found a place for me as a therapist, both with the modalities that fully speak to me, and also the areas of support i want to offer others. This clarity was such a gift. And just for you to know, dear reader, i still am passionate about my work as a therapist. I have deepened into my commitment to help people with their rites of passage, especially matrescence and menopause. I also have come full circle in embracing my focus on somatic work as a trailhead in healing trauma.

“There is no such thing as true love without first embracing your true Self.” from Genevieve Delacroix, Bridgerton character

I had to change my mind, my plans, my path a few times this year. Not an easy thing to do especially when the change in plans affected others too. And yet, it was embracing that i don’t only have the right to change my mind but also to listen to that soft voice of truth that felt so honest and integral to my future self.

Soul Journey
As i enter my 50th year, i am excited to see what next year brings. Mainly because this past year has been such a pivotal year for me. It was a year of completion of my soul searching phase. Not that the journey is done, but more so that i have come through the transformation stage of wondering what my life was about, and what my soul’s code is for my time here.

“Embrace the unknown, for it is through facing our fears that we find the courage.” Emma Griffin

I had two goals that relate to my soul work. One was for my own personal practice to become more engrained in my life, and the other was to offer sacred circles and ceremonies in the community in a more aligned way.

I set out this goal for myself, based on a dream seed from a few years ago. It was to find community, and a felt sense of belonging with myself and for myself. The part that felt especially tender and also necessary was that i wanted a community with soul sisters.

I put a call out to friends to see if they were also interested in meeting monthly in a more intentional and soul-led way. I was pretty excited that their answer was a resounding yes. This has been such a gift, like a missing puzzle piece in my own life. From this experience, i learned that i am indeed embraced for who i am. I am both playful and also deeply feeling. I have learned to embrace how others see me: I am both cute and also fierce.

All of me is welcome in my own embrace.

I attended my first week-long retreat this year. It was more than a retreat actually, and not quite a training. It was a full embodied and transformative experience. I spent the week at Ghost Ranch, in New Mexico, where this photo of me was taken. I went to be with my teacher, Kimberly Ann Johnson, and 20 other soul tenders/jaguars/badass women. I made a vow to myself to be my full self, so that i could truly embrace the experience. Having never gone away like this before, i had to face many shadow parts. But i did it and i am forever changed by this time for myself.

The he first leg of the trip was anxiety-provoking. So many unknowns and first times. I felt the nerves, I cared for them, I listened with love and also gave them guidance. I still did the things that was hard because I knew I could do it. I didn’t bypass my feelings nor sensations. This is one way I embodied my soft strength.

I’m so excited to share that this year, i have put my bare-footed mark on the world with the ceremonies and circles i have lead. I started off the year with a beautiful mother blessing ceremony and finished the year having held circles to honour the change of seasons and how to help folks found their own path back to Self.

“Life is too short not be lived intensely, embraced wholeheartedly and without reservation, foregoing any hesitation or fear that may hold us back.” Suleika Jaouad