Day Yoga Studio Ayurvedic Massage

So I had a lucky weekend. A few things happened. One was that Devon Schmidt of Day Yoga Studio needed volunteers for a class she teaches in Dayton, Ohio. I got one of two spots and had an Ayurvedic Massage on Sunday. It was very healing and spiritual. Thank you Devon and Team. I feel the Divine Feminine in your shop and business. I hope it brings you all many blessings as you work to heal people holistically. 

I have gotten a few massages in my life. Honestly, I am not a huge fan all of the time. I am kinda old fashioned, so it is always kinda awkward to have anyone touching me. And deep tissue massages although sometimes do feel great, sometimes they don't. But this massage was totally not like that. I have been going through a ton of stress lately, so I just thought, hey this might help me, and it really did. 

An Ayurvedic Massage is four handed, so there were two women working on me. They started with my feet and worked all the way up to my head and hair. I had to wear my hair down actually. They put Sesame Oil from my toes to my crown. And they worked in unison on both sides of my body. It was not a deep tissue massage at all. It was more a cleansing and healing one. They did repetitions, for example fanning out the massage in an area, in either units of ten or three. They did tickle my toes a bit at the beginning, but I am ticklish.  They even put the Sesame Oil in my crazy, curly, Irish hair, which if you know it, could always use some oil.  First, I laid on my stomach and put my head through the face holder thing at the end of the table. Then I flipped over about half way through. The second part also they worked on my stomach and digestive health.  The entire massage took about sixty minutes, but I walked out feeling so healthy and rejuvenated. They also had me put oil in my nose. Oil is a big part of Ayurvedic Massage I learned. I definitely felt that these women were helping not only my body, but also my spirit and my soul. 

Day Yoga Studio is just a gem. It was my first time there, but it won't be my last. Many of my friends take Yoga and Hot Yoga there. A few friends have taught there. Devon also takes Yoga trips across the globe. What an incredible business in Dayton, Ohio. It is on Brown Street near the University of Dayton. It is one of the old fashioned Dayton homes turned business. The massage room is my favorite color - purple - like a purply blue. You are covered by sheets and blankets the entire time, so that made me feel very comfortable. The sheets were very soft. It was warm in there, like a mother's love.

All in all, this was one of the luckiest events of my life. Thanks Devon and Day Yoga Studio! Namaste. The Divine Feminine is apparent in this business model and only karmic benefits should follow with the love you are putting in the Universe. 

70x7

So I am in another situation where I am having to find the inner strength to forgive someone for hurting me. 

This is when I turn to my faith. We are taught that God forgives us for our sins. I hope so. No one is perfect. We all have times in our life when we ourselves need forgiveness. 

My Godmother taught me a Bible passage: 

Matthew 18:21-23

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.

So, I will work on forgiving this person. It is freeing to do so.  It is healing to do so. People makes mistakes. I just need the strength to actually forgive him now. I keep praying for the Holy Spirit to guide me on this journey. Things take time. 

So basically I must be Marge Simpson

 So I was married to Homer and just broke up with Mr. Burns. What is wrong with me? I'm just kidding, sort of. I loved both these men obviously. But see The Simpsons captures so many truths about humanity.  And it is so funny. 

See, I am a Simpsons fanatic, so much so that I even teach a class on it. When I teach the class, I always tell my students, God has a sense of humor. 

But this show is just so hilarious to me for so many reasons. It is no wonder it is the longest running show in American history. 

In my college course, we look at the show through four academic lenses. Obviously English Studies. The other three disciplines are Religious Studies, Philosophy, and Psychology. 

Some Simpsons facts I have learned over the years that I never knew before, even though I am sure we watched Simpsons every night of my college career:

1) The Simpsons talks about Religion more than any other show on television. One of my absolute favorite episodes is when Bart gets sent to Catholic School, and Homer and Bart convert to Catholicism against Marge’s disapproval. Jesus is in the Catholic heaven with Michael Flattley and his Riverdance crew and Mexicans :)!

2) Many of the original writers, one of whom was Conan O'Brien, were Ivy League educated. They intentionally write jokes for the one percent who get them. 

3) And yes the Simpson predicted Trump would run for office - actors, elevator, Melania, and all.

4) And there is that bizarre 9/11 comic book cover. Maybe Matt Groening can actually time travel.  I don’t actually believe that. I think he and the writers just keep paying attention to what is actually happening in our bizarre society.

I personally love The Simpsons because of its brilliant critique of American Capitalism. 

Anyway, I just think that the Simpsons is brilliant. I always thought I was more like Lisa, but maybe I am actually more of a Marge. And I love Marge. Heck she created Lisa. 

Marge is a great woman. She stands by her man. She’s moral. She loves her children. She is a devoted mother and wife and sister. 

See nothing to me is more attractive than intelligence and a sense of humor. And I could not make it through life without laughter. 

"I've learned that life is one crushing defeat after another until you just wish Flanders was dead."

Long live Bart. Eat my shorts man (or men)!

I thought I was broke ... but turned out I wasn't

So today was a happy day. See I am a single mom of three kids, one of whom just started college. I had a ton of expenses this past month. We had a kick-ass vacation, all four of us needed glasses/contacts, and school started back. We all needed supplies, especially my daughter who moved to college. So, I have been a little cash strapped as of late. But today I realized I had more money than I thought the whole time. (Okay not a ton - still pretty broke. I am just not as broke as I originally believed.)  Driving to work I had this epiphany that maybe this actually has a spiritual meaning:  maybe people think they are broke or broken when they really aren't as bad off as they thought. 

Life sure is hard at times and can get very messy and complicated. It is easy to feel overwhelmed, especially in times like these. But maybe we all need to focus more on the positives in our lives. Martin Seligman, the once president of the American Psychological Association, researches happiness. He founded the Positive Psychology Movement. (A sidenote - he founded it at the Grateful Dead House in San Francisco - I love this little fact). He conducted experimental studies that show that we can actually increase our happiness quotient by practicing gratitude. 

He also coined the term "learned helplessness" I think. See our mindset is a malleable. We can increase our happiness or we can believe or be conditioned rather to believe that we are helpless. But really, we are not. 

So today, I am going to be grateful that I am not as broke as I thought. I am going to also take this as a symbolic event because I am not as broken as I thought either. We will survive this era. You aren't probably as broken as you thought either. Peace

Taking off the gloves

What is that saying, "Don't worry if you make waves. The moon does that all the time simply by existing."

I am just one of those people that drama seems to come into my life. I literally was hired as a drama teacher when I had only had two theater classes under my belt, and I did that for the better part of a decade. I loved that experience, but in my own life I am really ready for no drama. 

I just always wanted a normal life. I will check my own privilege. I have had a ton in life. I totally am aware of this. That does not mean life has always been easy. Is life easy for anyone? I don't think so. 

This city girl married a farm boy looking for the normal life. Well that did not work out too well. 

I have had to fight. I fought for my marriage that failed. I fought infertility and went on to have three beautiful kids. I fought very hard in public ed, where I saw the face of poverty for the first time in my life. I fought very hard to get my master's degree. I worked full time and went to school at night. I had to fight harder to get my doctorate. I taught college full time and went at night.

I have had to fight for respect at work, as I am not a tenured professor, am female, and a mother who started in higher ed without a phd at my alma mater. But recently my peers have sure given respect to me as of late. They voted me into positions. That is a huge honor.  Thank you. 

But I am sick of fighting. I am gonna heal now.

It seems like everyone in America at least is always fighting anymore. Maybe we all need to just put down our dukes for a minute and take off the boxing gloves. This is getting us nowhere fast. And I am done fighting too. I am done fighting for respect in the ivory tower. I am coming back to that we need to be happier and healthier people and the only way to do that is to love. Love unconditionally. We need to quit with the divisive, narcissistic society.  Narcissism is an epidemic. People need to stop only thinking about themselves and try walking a mile in other people's shoes. Our nation is really lacking empathy, and it is scary. 

So I for one am done fighting. I am done proving myself to anyone. That's the thing about being an older woman - you do get wiser. You actually stop caring what other people think of you because as a young woman that is all society tells us should matter. I don't have to prove anything to anyone anymore. That is all I have done my entire adult life. So over that crap. 

People can accept me for who I am. I am a flawed individual like everyone else, but I also have a lot to offer the world. And we all need to start accepting others for who they are and try to understand where each other is coming from. We need more empathy. We need more love. I'm done fighting. I'm done with other people's ridiculous expectations and drama. On to happier days of being my authentic self. The right people will be in my life, and I hopefully attract better. I have no fight left. 

Peace. 

She's Flying the Coop

Well, I was an idiot again. I didn't think this empty nest syndrome was going to affect me because my daughter is very independent, has lived with her dad for four years, and is going to the college where I work. I am already seeing more of her than I have in four years. So I just didn't think packing her up and moving her into her residence hall would affect me. 

But, it is affecting me. Empty nest syndrome is real. And I will be okay. 

My cognate in my doctoral work is in Student Development. I studied under brilliant professors in the field like Dr. Michele Welkner and Dr. Molly Schaller.  We read Kegan and Baxter-Magolda. I wrote about Self Authorship a ton for my dissertation. And I helped write the Residential Curriculum for the college I work for and it has three points - one of which is authorship. So I know a bit about this idea. And I am an author who teaches writing.

It is time now to let my baby fly and get her wings and author her own story. Now I know why my own mother prays so much. :) 

Wish us luck! 

Happy Feast of the Assumption

Campus is closed today. It is the Feast of Assumption. That is the day Mary trancended into heaven. I am usually so abustle with the beginning of the academic year that I never really take the time to focus on what this Holy Day means. But today, I am. 

I came to the University of Dayton because of the Marianist. To me, they are the most Christian people I have ever encountered. The order emerged out of France during the revolution. Of course this is where I belong. Marianst care about the earth, each other, and community. They walk in the footsteps of Christ. 

My high school was run by the Immaculate Heart of Mary nuns. I am also from a predominately female family, so Mary has just always been very important to me. And now, my daughter is going to study on this campus. That is just such a blessing. 

You know Mary had a hard, hard life. She watched them crucify her son. She had to have enduring and spotless faith to do all that God asked her to do. And she did it all with such grace. I have Protestant friends who don't really understand the Catholic devotion to Mary. We are devoted to her. God chose her as the mother of Christ. She created, carried, and raised Jesus. She watched as they killed him. She believed and endured. She had constant and unbreaking faith. A dear Jewish friend gets it. She gave me a book to read actually that was about how Mary was just a Jewish mom. She was. 

I lost my father a few years back. I had a transcendental experience on campus six days after his death on his birthday. I had always believed in Heaven, but I know that he passed over to it for sure now. That's another thing other faiths question about Catholicism - the belief in the supernatural. We do believe in miracles. Mary was one of God's biggest miracles. This is sacred and holy day. We should honor the female deity, the mother of Christ, and God's immaculate conception. Happy Feast of the Assumption. Prayers for peace all over the world.