RETREAT Open (!) + Update on Work Future
It's All In Here
On this full moon, I’m wiggly on my balance board in my morning kitchen feeling into how best to say all the things. Birdsong outside. Laundry piles, always. List of books I am suddenly hungry to read. A new whoa new breathing pattern in my chest. Sunlight through the window on the scatter of a puzzle the girls and I broke out last night.
You’ve heard me say it before: I am unapologetic about being a FULL animal. I am 100% pro in-person life. The glam and new frontier of phones and gadgets and robots and screens over our eyes does not intrigue me. At all. Bring me the humans.
To that end, bubbles rise as I announce my upcoming work!
2024 has been my deep commitment to folding back into my local community more fully in personal and professional ways (still in process and progress and so good).
2025 will be more of the same + collaborations + more integrations with you (stay tuned) + many many in-person opportunities elsewhere.
First up?
From Unseen to SEEN
retreat at Whispertree in California, January 17-21, 2025
2 1/2 hours north of San Fransisco
Registration is now officially open: 20-ish spots. I won’t repeat all the info on the website: testimonials, videos, lots of language about what we will be doing. You can read it here. My Story Mammal retreats have become increasingly very mythopoetic and mammal-y and focused on lasting sustainable change beyond the retreat. People return to do it again because each time it’s different. Different crew. Different flavor. Different me. I am most alive in these environments. Side by side. With others. This era, in particular, is calling for group work. It’s the way through. Never ever gets old.
It’s a short application process and the first round closes May 5th. Payment plans. One full scholarship. Options.
If you feel called, come join us!
I wrote in the description that I can promise it won’t end up just being a cool thing you did once. Retreats are my soul-song.
What does this mean about my virtual spaces?
Still happening!!! The Loam is lit and, if you are part of it, you know so. I often receive photos from Loam loves saying, “Look we found each other in person”… true forged connections, friendships, support and traction happening in that soulful online place. I’m continually astounded by the wide-ranging and deeply wise people in this crew. Doors open again in December.
My 6-week comprehensive Story Mammal workshop now happens 1x a year, in the fall. Like going back to school. I consolidated it down from the twice a year model (at least for now) because that works better for my seasonal rhythm and also creates, I believe, a stronger pulse and concentration for the work and play and gathering of the course. It’s also a very affordable way (I keep the price intentionally low) for people to have access to my work and to me.
CONTEXT, because it matters:
You’ve heard me say My body told me so. From the beginning, I’ve been vocal about my struggle with online life, even as I track the profound benefits of virtual groups I run and am part of; we know how those can be expansive life-lines and I cherish them. But I have long felt like an outlier about my pro-in-person leanings. I’ve spent the last 5 years asking myself daily questions. Am I missing the plot? Am I not current or hip enough? Am I scared of disconnection and generalized overwhelm and therefore not showing up to the new modern reality? Am I sitting in a privileged bubble by avoiding social media? Should I get on this screen/tech train like everyone else? Ugh. My body kept saying hard-stop No. So, I have made almost a religious practice about listening to that message from myself.
These days, though, I’m hearing more and more people across backgrounds and life stages and experiences come to this realization and articulate: “Wait, I want to be in person with people.”
YES! So much yes. We are mammals, after all.
I know the screen/tech train is here to say and I’m relieved, for all of us, that the texture of our zeitgeist is turning toward integrating the tactile back into life even as we evolve into new ways of being.
Love, love, love,
I don't think you're an outlier. I'm a huge fan of in-person. I am also grateful for what being online has afforded me professionally. I wouldn't be able to make a living at all if I only taught in yoga studios or gyms locally. The pay is painfully low -- not enough to support my family. And the one yoga studio in the town where I currently live recently closed.
Being online allows me to gather with people all over the country, which is really cool.
And gathering in person, for big events like retreats or workshops, can be unaffordable for lots of people (and like you, I keep my prices as low as I can). I've taught the same retreat every year at the same time since 2015 (except 2021) and only raised my prices once, by $25. And yet every year, I'm holding my breath that the retreat will fill (it usually does but a few times it hasn't).
I wish I could offer more in person things but logistically, it's difficult.
All of this is to say, I crave more in person connection and also find it professionally challenging. It's a mixed bag.