Things had been feeling a little wonky in my internal landscape as of late, both from an emotional and physical standpoint.

When I slow down after a really full season (Iike this past spring was with two back-to-back delightful launches) here’s what I notice:

There’s space to feel feelings that may have been pushed aside during the faster-paced months and my body tends to join the party with a 24-hour fever, a sty, or a cold in the middle of July (or all three, as has been the case within the last week.)

Hot tip: When we finally slow down, it often feels like things are getting worse, not better. Now there’s space to feel all kinds of stuff there wasn’t space for before. But I promise, the emergence of unfelt feelings is good news and is a sign of progress.

Stay in The Slow. The feelings need to be felt otherwise they get stuck in our bodies/nervous systems and turn into illness and burnout. Feeling feelings (even the ones that don’t feel good) is wildly productive and is usually a sign of improving well-being.

Something I’m still working on is fully realizing (and admitting) that I’m feeling off. My default conditioning is to simply shoulder on and go about mothering and tidying and emails and such without facing the “off-ness” full frontal.

It’s often not until I get sudden relief from the subtle current of anxiety or malaise running under the surface that I become fully aware that something was off before.

That’s exactly what happened last Wednesday night. It’s also when I got my most recent scar.

Several months ago I decided to book an Airbnb for the kids and me for a week in Rhinebeck, NY because when texting with a girlfriend who lives in the UK about a possible visit with her there, she informed me she’d be on my side of the ocean.

I knew she’d be teaching a weeklong workshop at Omega (don’t miss my workshop there in October) but that we’d get to have an evening together.

As impractical as it sounds, booking a family trip around getting to have an evening with one of my favorite people was a full body yes.

From there I found out one of my best friends would also be in town for the week prepping for her upcoming workshop and another dear friend I haven’t seen in 7 years lives in town.

I’ve dubbed this the Summer of Synchronicity so, of course, the Goddess said, “Game on!”

Everything was in total flow – from the timing to getting rides to the takeout to the fact that I intuitively knew where to find the firewood to set the fire-pit ablaze.

No one had to hold anything alone because the circle of five was holding it together in the way that the best circles do.

We co-created one of the most powerful rituals I’ve ever experienced with no advanced planning other than a simple group text with a start time, an address, and a takeout order.

Each of us contributed her energy in a way that was essential, exquisitely individual, and ultimately, alchemical for herself and everyone else there.

I felt like I was on a medicinal journey even though the only substances I’d imbibed were water and steak frites.

Afterward, I felt plugged back into Source and like I’d dropped off 15 trash bags of old stuff at Goodwill.

I hadn’t realized how much I needed to feel the connection with the Divine and myself that’s so readily accessible in a circle of magical women until we were lying on the floor in a mandala of giggles afterward.

No matter your lineage, your ancestors knew the healing power of gathering in a circle.

The more I learn about the nervous system and the science of healing, the more I realize that the number one thing that makes nearly everything better is this:

Connection with safe humans.

From decreasing pain to improving immune function to signaling to our bodies that the threat has passed to increasing longevity and being in community is so effective it should be the number one prescription that doctors write.

When I was getting our fire going before our ritual I accidentally touched my leg with the extremely hot end of the lighter I was using and yelped. I now have a perfect circle branded on my skin that’s for sure going to leave a scar.

I’ll have that little circle emblazoned on my inner left calf forever to remind me that any problem I ever need to solve, any healing I require, or anything I long for is immediately available inside the circle.

We so often discount the healing provided by things that are as simple as safe human connection but, can we try not to do that anymore?

Whether it’s a knitting group, a book club, a choir, a dance class, or a gaggle of far-flung women gathered for the first time around a fire pit for a bespoke ritual imagined in real-time, let yourself be held and healed by the circle.

Xo,
Kate