Practicing Presence

A Conversation with Town Hall Seattle

While I share healing practices like meditation, movement, creative exploration in Awakening Artemis that have helped still my swirling mind, embrace my body and become more present, my practices ebb and flow. I used to berate myself for ’slipping’ but I’ve come to feel that it’s okay — even necessary — to let them go for a time to unravel, recalibrate and unlearn.

In a recent podcast with Town Hall Seattle, I was asked about my daily practice and I had to be honest; lately, my practice has been presence in my new relationship. Since we met six months ago, Enrique and I we have been letting go, falling in love, confronting our fears, and I have been rediscovering my body. A body I thought I knew so well.

But there is an aspect of mindful awareness that is woven into my way of life that I hardly notice: endless curiosity about the plants and fungi around me. Before I learned about local plant medicine and began to explore herbalism, foraging, and ecology, a veil stood between me and the natural world. Now that the veil has lifted and the wonder never ceases.

I talk about that aspect of practice, my journey of healing and Nature as cure. You can listen here.