on imbolc + transition | Winter 2022
Hi all and happy new year!
I hope you’re staying warm and held and supported through this bitter winter. This has been a trying time for me personally, as some of you know we recently re-homed our 1.5 year-old dog who we raised as a puppy. It’s wild how bonded we can become to our animal companions and in such a short time. This is one of only a few losses I’ve had in which I know I will never really move on from the grief of it. I’m learning that this is how love works, and that’s okay! The following words have been a comfort, giving language to somatic sensations that feel hard to understand and, at times, impossible to shift:
“Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.” ―Jamie Anderson
Thank you to everyone who’s been so patient and kind to me through the process. I had hoped to offer more juicy, somatic applications in this season’s newsletter, but my lingering mental fatigue is asking me to write something short n sweet. With that in mind, I would love to share a bit about today’s celebration of Imbolc and what it means to me and my biz.
IMBOLC | a pre-Christian, Gaelic festival marking the beginning of spring from the 1st-2nd of February. This is the very dim and early stage of fruitful transition, halfway between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. Imbolc is also considered the feast day of Ireland’s beloved Brigid of Kildare, patronage of fire and light, birth and fertility, milk and abundance.
The painting above is one of my favorites, titled St Bride by John Duncan, 1913, displayed at the Scottish National Gallery. It depicts the Irish Saint Bride (Brigid) being carried by angels to Bethlehem to attend the nativity of Christ, the seascape reflecting the Outer Hebrides and the Isle of Iona.
When I think of what draws me to working with the body, so much of it is about meeting folks where they’re at and seeing what kind of spaciousness and greater abundance we can rebirth through intention and nurturance.
At the beginning of my training, I was most interested in providing prenatal and postpartum support through bodywork. This vision has expanded over time to become a focus on transitions of many kinds— a magnetic pull to work within the in-between places where uncertainty overlaps with potential growth.
If you’re interested in learning more about the celebration of Imbolc (and all things Euro folklore, tradition, and abundance over imperialism), I will always recommend Danica Boyce and her project, the Fair Folk Podcast. Danica’s recordings on Imbolc can be heard by joining her $5 tier on Patreon. The following words are hers and feel perfectly timely:
“On the other hand, perhaps this is not a broken world.
How do you feel when you hear or read a sentiment about the so-called “state of the world?” Connected or disconnected? Weak or powerful?
Do you imagine fault-lines of nothingness, black holes inside life itself that take and take? If you want to feel lonely, tell tales of a world lacking in reality, failing presence, ceasing to be.
Our capacity to thrive is measured in our relationship to what is. Relationship can only grow between those forces and things that are assumed to exist, to have agency, strength, and resiliency.
Do you think you know better than your body? Than the soil? Than the sun and moon? They go on, certain of their wholeness and worthiness. You can let them carry you home.
What seed is quietly and dewily unfurling in the deep soil of your belly? What future delight are you nurturing today?
What fresh wonder sparkles at the edge of your perception? Can you let it be evidence for the completeness of this place?
You are strong.
You are whole.
You belong here.
Life springs eternal.
I love you.”
T W O %
November through December, I donated 2% of my profits to the the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women.
This January and February I will be giving to Pro-Choice Ohio. It’s my hope that Ohio will remain accessible to folks who want and need to choose abortion. If this donation is not in alignment with your own beliefs, that’s ok; that’s part of why I offer this transparency. I hope to continue working together either way, whether it’s now or later!
Beautiful GIFT CARDS are available! Treat your loved ones with the gift of bodywork. Offerings are 60 min ($85), 90 min ($115), or 2 hour ($145) sessions, no expiration. Call or message me to purchase!
with gratitude + hope + light in the new year,
Zoey
photo by nikita gross