Feel It All: Waking Dream

[one_third][/one_third][two_third_last padding=”0% 0 0 0″]Dream, escape, diffuse, compose. Florist, Katie Chirgotis of Eothen, poetically guides us through the deeply feeling seas of Pisces Season with her empath connection to the natural world after hosting a dreamy floral design workshop, deeply embedded in the mysticism of Mexico and it’s historical artist, Frida Kahlo. Photography by Katie Chirgotis

My recent travel to Mexico gave life to my notion of a Waking Dream. Drawn in by the inner and outer worlds of Frida Kahlo (a major influence), mysterious ruins of Mesoamerica, mysticism of sacred plant medicine, the karmic span of Teotihuacan weavers, saturated cascades of bougainvillea – all a tapestry of warmth and vibrancy. It’s all true. So, too, is fear of Montezuma’s revenge, stilted language barriers, and the lack of kale in my life for half the month. Dreaminess and inspiration countered by confusion and disillusion. Piscean to a fault. The line between the two called to be dissolved, the colors of daily reality to bleed and swirl to a hue where I could be both myself and Other. To re-connect to a core pulse so often dampened by email pings and to-do lists.

Since the Roman Calendar new year, many of us have been hyper-active in the practice of
Awareness. Vigilant of shifting sands beneath our feet, so difficult to find balance and move quickly, so we looked towards one another. During Aquarius, we connected to each other and formed community and new identities of Relationship – all just on the cusp of creation! Yet there’s expressed frustration and confusion of wanting to do so much, to act strongly, yet strangely feel mired in a viscous energy drag.
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[two_third padding=”4% 0 0 0″]And so sweeps in the school of Pisces, dissolving that sand beneath our feet into water. A colloidal liquid, filled with particles of this life and the last and the next, in which we may be suspended. Ourselves and Other. Land and Sea. Earth and Cosmos. Caught in a gentle whirlpool, cyclically turning like fish swimming head to tail. YES there’s fear, to be unsure what’s below and above you is almost too vast to bear. But with these softened lines of our experience, this allows for creativity to come coursing through. A chance to be new.

Within the microcosm of a floral design workshop I guided in Mexico City, I witness this state of being first hand. I watched student’s hands move untethered. Using gestures somewhere between shaping clay and fanning air, art flowed from fingertips like water, like music. To be lost in The Process is like a trance, time doesn’t matter, hunger unimportant. All that exists is creating existence. Once a piece was complete, the eyes refocused and one comes back into the body. Like waking from a dream. There are few experiences as validating as guiding others to the realization of their inherent magic. A shared healing that loops like infinity, two fish swirling in the stars. It can be felt in parenting, deep friendships, love – it’s lifting one another up so they can See. [/two_third][one_third_last][/one_third_last]

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[one_third][/one_third][two_third_last padding=”8% 0 0 0″]Soon, this colloidal mix of sand, spirit and cosmic water will settle to form the earth beneath our feet. The increasing warmth from the sun will warm it, causing the soil to swell and the waters to evaporate back to the skies. We will collectively refocus our eyes and return fully to our bodies to plant, work, grow. Exciting stuff.

But, for a little while longer, let your hands move by forces unseen. Become a channel, with boundaries between you and the next person, this life and another, be liquid. Let us open our eyes under the water to See the vastness that surrounds us and, rather than fear it and struggle for air, allow it to hold us. Pass through us. Become Us.[/two_third_last]

Feel It All: Where Are Your Bones?

[one_third][/one_third][two_third_last padding=”5% 0 0 0″]Katie Chirgotis of Eothen joins us with her uber sensitive connection to the feeling realm and her poignant ability to identify our nurturing needs for the seasonal energies, through nature’s notes. Durning this exposed season of Capricorn, when mother earth gives us a peek at her own structuring methods (through bare branches and frosted windows), Katie points out how to take note and start connecting to our own framing. Words & Images by Katie

Have you ever stood in a room filled with chattering, shimmering people? All flashing eyes and teeth, emanated heat and magnetic poles pulse throughout the space? In that crash of sensory waves have you thought to yourself, “where am I?”

I’m not talking about where Google Maps pins you as the app runs in the background, or, on the opposite spectrum, your spiritual path to Enlightenment. I’m talking about your tangible, physical self–in this moment; in this crowd. On what do you stand? Where are your bones?[/two_third_last]

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[two_third padding=”3% 0 0 0″]So get in there. Close your eyes. Turn-on the x-ray vision. Witness your gorgeous skull balancing on the delicate vertebrae of neck, the fanning of collar and shoulders that square themselves above the fusion of ribs, a backwards wrap to the column of spine, diving into the bowl of hips, spinning on top of long trees of legs, pooling towards the roots of feet. This is your structure, this is how you stand. This is what carries your whirl of heady experience through the world. In some variation or another–it’s a similarity that we share. It houses a Self, and whether we’re in that crowded room or standing on some solitary stone on the Earth, we are all rattling here together.

We see the skeleton of many things this time of the year. The bare lines of trees and exposed raw ground, or the connective joinery that made up the past 365 days of who we were. In this seasonal sparseness, many begin building a structure for what’s to come. We may set intentions, saying them out loud to make them real, and to hold ourselves accountable. This is one of the few times where we collectively get humble about the notion of starting again. That perhaps this year we can be more present for ourselves and each other. We reconnect with our bones, the basal framing of who we are, to flesh out the hope for something more. [/two_third][one_third_last][/one_third_last]

Feel It All: How Are You Transitioning?

[one_third][/one_third][two_third_last]New Contributor Katie Chirgotis brings an in-tune perspective to our community, a nature lover who works magic with flowers in the bay area through her company, Eothen. We wholeheartedly welcome and share her passionate voice and imagery as an empath, Millennial, artist and muse.

I often ask people how they are doing–not an exceptional way to start a conversation by any stretch. It’s something I genuinely want to know, no doubt. But the answer to the question also lays down the baseline for what I’m tuning into–whether I’m meeting someone for the first time or connecting with a friend from decades before. There’s plenty of lines to read between with the cheery response of, “Fine!”

Interestingly enough, what I have found, as we have all turned slowly into these longer nights and south-slanting light, is my lead-in question has changed. More and more I ask, “how are you transitioning?” It sounds a little strange coming out of my mouth, but there it is. What I have found even more interesting is that the response is often a level gaze, a thoughtful pause, and an articulation of change.

Leading into Sagittarius where big, blousy Jupiter takes us all up in large, fiery swaths of re-examination and questioning, and we have all experienced a different understanding of how we may think, feel, and move in comparison to those who stand beside us. But our experience of change, transitioning, and shifting are common denominators.[/two_third_last]

[one_half padding=”5% 0 0 0″]For many of us, particularly if you are a Millennial as I am, we have long been in cruise mode. The generations before fought wars, felt deeply about causes, shifted culture and, generally, believed in something. Because of that amount of work, or if you want to get woo-woo with me, transmitted energy, decisions were made and patterns set with no sustained volume of curiosity about it on our part. We were told the story, and we believed it to be true.

Now there’s a new frequency. From what I’m picking up, we are collectively waking up. Paying attention, stretching our muscles to ask why. And thank goodness! Doesn’t it feel so damn good to act? To see those patterns of your life, and decide that it doesn’t dictate who you are today, or the next? Perhaps now, there are things we must fight for rather than living within a lie.

So. How are you transitioning?[/one_half][one_half_last][/one_half_last]

Yoga Poses to Produce More Discernment & Refinement

[full_width]CosmoMuse yogi, Brooke Musat, brings us some Virgo Season love with poses that help us balance our yin & yang energy for the current season. Photography by Bus Couch.

With Virgo season upon us until September 22nd, we can all learn a lot about the power of discernment. Being able to sift through the intricacies of life, determining what is good and what is bad, examining the pros and cons of complex situations, and generally being able to celebrate our ability to recognize what is right and wrong for us in any given moment, is something we can thank Virgo and her ruling planet, Mercury, for.

Confidence in Virgo’s ability to discern only gets stronger through their September reign with the sun in Virgo until the 22nd. The influence of the sun can bring intensity to almost any situation, so it is wise to stay balanced by recognizing the importance of rest, relaxation, and a good work/life balance. Virgo’s ruling planet Mercury is also in retrograde during this time, so be cautious not to put all your eggs in one basket, having a backup plan for everything you intend to do is probably a good idea.

A yin outlook accompanies Virgo, and may be the first nod that Fall, cooler temperatures, and longer nights, are on the way. The yin of Virgo should inspire us all to cool our egos, make the most of warm evenings, and refine our lives as we prepare for the opportunities that the next season will bring. When practicing these Virgo inspired postures, be mindful of the yang and yin energies each pose brings. Bharadvaja’s Twist is an effective way to invite yang energy into the body, stimulate the digestive organs, and strengthen the spine. Inspired by Virgo for its ability to benefit the body in a myriad of ways, this pose is surely something Virgo’s gut instinct would approve of.

The passive variation of Bharadvaja’s Twist is more rooted and inspired by Virgo’s earthy element. Elbows, forearms, and hands on the ground can help bring about a sense of peace and calm to an over active sympathetic nervous system. Allowing the head to hang passively can do wonders to release tension in the neck and “shoosh” a mind busy with too much judgment.

Read on for how to adapt the yin and yang postures of Virgo season for your sign’s fire, earth, air or water element.
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YANG POSE

Bharadvaja’s Twist :: (Bharadvajasana I)

o Stimulates kidneys

o Stretches hips, chest, side body, thighs, and the tops of the ankles

o Boosts strength in the spine

o Revitalizes internal organs

o Can release tension in lower back

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[one_sixth][/one_sixth][two_third]Leo and other Fire Signs (Aries, Sagittarius): Attempt this pose before sunrise or after sunset. Focus on the rhythm of the breath with your eyes closed. If this pose is readily accessible for you, think about holding the posture for a longer period of time, or repeating your expression of this pose with short breaks in-between.

Earth Signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn): Earth signs should practice this pose in a warm environment that is not too warm where sleepiness or lethargy has an opportunity to sink in. Attention should be paid to creating length or “airiness” into the spine. A great visualization would be to think about the top of the head and root of the sacrum being pulled in opposite directions.

Air Signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius): If possible, Air signs should assume Bharadvajasana I right before retiring to bed at an early hour. A location void of unnecessary distractions would help Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius reap all the mental and physical benefits of this posture. If the urge to fidget begins to creep in, slowly begin to circle the head allowing the breath to be the initiator of all movement.

Water Signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces): Water signs should use their innate gift of awareness to observe the small shifts (tilt of the head, length of the breath, rootedness of the hips, etc) that make this posture more or less intense. Focusing in on the physical should help Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces create distance from emotional burdens they may be carrying.[/two_third][one_sixth_last][/one_sixth_last]

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YIN POSE

Passive Bharadvaja’s Twist :: (Bharadvajasana I) Variation

o Stimulates kidneys

o Stretches hips, chest, side body, thighs, and the tops of the ankles

o Boosts strength in the spine

o Revitalizes internal organs

o Can release tension in lower back and neck

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[one_sixth][/one_sixth][two_third]Leo and other Fire Signs (Aries, Sagittarius): Fire signs should feel relaxed in this posture. If relaxation does not initially settle in, let go of the weight of the head, focus on sinking the chest toward the earth while gently squeezing the shoulder blades towards one another on the back. Long, deep, inhales and equally long deep exhales should aide in the sense of letting go.

Earth Signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn): In the passive variation of Bharadvajasana I, Earth signs could play with modestly rounding and arching the upper spine. Arching with an inhale and rounding with an exhale.

Air Signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius): For grounding and a fun all-sign- variation, Air signs could practice this pose with a bolster. If twisting to the right, lay the bolster long ways just beneath the center of your chest. Palms down, stack the hands on top of the bolster. Lay head on stacked hands. Allow the chest and torso to descend toward the earth and become supported by the bolster.

Water Signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces): Water signs should feel free to luxuriate in the freedom of a dreamy mind in this posture, as long as “dreamy” doesn’t turn into a wandering of the emotions. Intention on celebrating positive parts of the day, or committing to exploring the creative limits of the passive Bharadvajasana I variation are all healthy approaches for Water signs in this pose.

For more Virgo Season inspired yoga, try this restorative yoga sequence

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