Embodied Heart Somatics

A continuation of reflections for my 40th birthday...

Belonging is the bridge between our inner world and the outer world.

When we truly belong, it’s safer to compassionately be receptive to others, because we have a taproot of belonging that fosters a deep sense of support greater than our individual capacity.

It is also easier to share our medicine, hearts, and gifts to others when we know that we will be received, valued, and encouraged.

Friendships are balm for the Heart - especially for those of us who have not experienced a sense of belonging easily in our upbringing or in this world.

My heart is overflowing with gratitude for the caring, loving hearts of my friends. I don't know where I would be without them.

As I have done a lot of inner work and deep healing, I have come to realize that the most important thing is community, family (including our chosen family), and friendships rooted in trust and love.

I celebrated my 40th birthday in several ways over the course of two weeks with amazing friends. This is one post of a few that I will share to capture the magic.

My birthday was on June 20th, right before the Summer Solstice, and I had the amazing opportunity to facilitate a ceremonial gathering with a small group of close friends.

The community of friends here in Portland, Maine is cultivating a sense of belonging for me. This ceremony and celebration was so special.

We gathered wild roses from the Maine coast, and brought them in as a centerpiece for an altar, and built the altar together.

Then, we went outside, walked to a nearby river together, and honored the land and the water.

We had an opening sharing circle, sat in silence, and then we shared songs together throughout the evening.

We had a closing circle, ate some soup, and went to bed as the sun rising on the day of the Summer Solstice. It was profoundly nourishing and tender!

Ritual is powerful - as ancient as humankind, yet something we have collectively forgotten.

Spending the evening with the medicine of Rose, and the medicine of community opened my Heart in ways that I didn’t expect.

There were beautiful moments of emotional opening for a couple of people that likely would not have occurred without a container of intention, community, and loving presence.

This experience leaves me with the realization that we are not meant to move through this world alone trying to heal our own individual wounds.

Nor are we meant to continuously strive for wellness.

Rather, we are meant to witness and hold each other as we move through the inevitable waves of intensity of being human.

It was wonderful to honor this threshold of turning 40 in such a meaningful way, and I hope to continue cultivating spaces of love, care, and presence for healing, holding, and witnessing.

I'm grateful for the medicine of Rose to support this process. 🌹

I have walked far to get here, yet the path has just begun.

I meet this work with humility.

Every client, every session—I begin with not knowing,
honoring the mystery that allows something true to emerge.

I’ve come to feel that this is how healing unfolds, too.

After all the effort it takes to move through trauma,
the moments where we remember our wholeness
are often the most humbling of all.

As a Certified Hakomi Practitioner—and soon-to-be therapist—I am deeply honored to walk alongside others
in this work of somatic psychotherapy.