Introduction and Background

Please introduce yourself and share a bit about your background, wisdom tradition you most identify with, and the language you use in that tradition (Sacred Presence, Creator, Spirit, Universe, etc.).

I have been a yoga practitioner for 25 years and feel humbled to be walking this path. The tradition is from a non-dual Tantric lens, which recognizes the inherent intelligence in all of materiality. Everything is an expression of the divine, even if many of us have forgotten this reality šŸ˜‰ I suppose I feel most comfortable using the word ā€œUniverseā€ for the bigger presence, as well as ā€œLife,ā€ and I also like to use ā€œDivine Love Matrix.ā€ Every moment can be a beautiful opportunity to remember the magic in all of life and to co-create with its divine flow.

I am an Evolutionary Astrologer as well, which to me feels to be an extension of Tantra. ā€œAs above, so below; as without, so within; as the Universe, so the soul,ā€ is a common aphorism in this tradition, so it, too, recognizes the intelligence that lives in the cosmos and all aspects of materiality. Ā 

Anticipate ~ Inviting Wisdom

In what ways do you invite and engage Wisdom to be present with you? What rhythms or practices help you to be present Now, in each moment, with an expectant, listening heart?

I practice asana and meditation daily, as these really ground me into a space of connection with the divine forces of the universe. I find that regular practice allows me to listen to the way that the divine moves in me, allowing me to be present, open, and connected with my Heart in ways that feel authentic and alive.

If Iā€™m feeling confused or like I need a bit of guidance, I often tune in to the divine force within myself and Life with one of these practices, while also using Evolutionary Astrology. Each current event aspect of an astrological chart provides insight and awareness that allows me to tune into the bigger guidance of the divine. Itā€™s a wonderful tool for becoming synched up with Life so I can be open to the flow again.

I am also a fan of listening to teachers and guides along my path, such as Adyashanti, Mukti, or Rupert Spira. I love listening to the way the wisdom of the divine moves through different people’s experiences, and these beings in particular have such an awake viewpoint that I am always moved by. I’m often listening to Evolutionary Astrology talks, as well as those on Celtic Spirituality, Mysticism, and truly anything that offers a mystical lens in the modern world.

Resonate ~ Engaging Understanding

How do you receive Wisdomā€™s Life and Presence into your own self? Is there a rhythm or practice that helps you to go deeper or expand your heart, understanding, and awareness in light of each exchange and encounter?

Similarly to what I wrote in the previous section, my practices are what truly allow me to be present to the wisdom of greater reality and thus myself. I truly find meditation to be my favorite way to connect with my Heartā€™s wisdom and light, basking in its inner presence to fill myself up with it. I often sense a warmth radiating from my Heart center while sitting in meditation, and it expands and lights up my whole being. I love that I can do this no matter where I am, no matter what time of day. In this way, I truly become grounded into my innate nature and the innate nature of Life.

Translate ~ Sharing Knowledge

How do you creatively engage and reflect to others and the world around you what you have gained in the energy of this encounter?

I find that teaching yoga really allows me to channel my deep, inner experience, into something tangible and meaningful for my students. I love getting to share the wisdom of what comes through in the beginning of class in the form of a mini dharma talk, then weave this heart theme through the entirety of the class.

Similarly, I feel connected to the Cosmos in both a magical and practical way and feel able to share this with my clients who come for readings. The wisdom of the planets and stars are certainly palpable in peopleā€™s lives, and I get such joy in relaying their deeper meaning and transformation to those who are ready to engage this aspect of their lives.

Emanate ~ Embodying Being

What rhythms or practices do you engage to help you become more integrated in your tradition ~ your own wholeness and well-being? Are there any practices from outside your tradition with which you also engage?

Because Iā€™m also a Chinese Medicine practitioner, I find that regular acupuncture treatments are necessary for me to stay balanced and connected to Lifeā€™s flow. I do this monthly, and I also receive craniosacral treatment to maintain a similar kind of openness and connection with Life. I use Chinese Herbal Medicine on a regular basis as well, as I find this keeps me as balanced as possible while moving through life, able to be more of an open channel in life.

Practices that inspire me …

  • When does your tradition celebrate the beginning of the new year?

    Tantra likely uses a Lunar calendar, though Iā€™m not totally sure about this! And Evolutionary Astrology sees the Spring Equinox, generally March 20th/21st, as the new year. The story of Demeter and Persephone is a perfect example of this. 

    Persephone, a beautiful young adolescent girl, was out picking flowers with her friends, when she totally disappeared. She was supposed to go home to her mother, but when she didnā€™t arrive home, Demeter was worried sick. She looked high and low for her dear daughter, unable to find her anywhere. An older Greek goddess, Hecate, who is associated with torches & torchlight, crossroads, keys, dogs, magic, snakes, death & rebirth, and the Underworld, for a reason weā€™ll soon see, was close enough that she heard Demeterā€™s cries and wondered what had happened. She suggested that the goddess ask Helios, the Sun, what had happened, for he surely sees and hears all things. When she did, he informed Demeter that her daughter had been abducted by the god Hades/Pluto. Apparently Hades had cleared it with Zeus/Jupiter, who said that it was totally okay for him to take Persephone to be his Queen of the Underworld without consulting anyone else. This story is truly an example of how much say (young) women had over their lives in ancient Greece.

    Demeterā€™s name in Roman is Ceres, and is from whence we derive our name ā€œcereal.ā€ Hence, she is known as the grain goddess. After asking Zeus to let her have her daughter back and being denied, she was absolutely beside herself, not knowing what to do. In her grief, she stopped growing all of the crops on the earth, and humans began to starve. There were famines everywhere, eventually sending Zeus back to her and letting her know that she could go retrieve her daughter in Hadesā€™ realm in exchange for growing the crops once more so that people on earth could live, as earth is Zeusā€™ domain.

    Demeter enlisted the help of Hecate, who agreed that she would guide the bereft mother down into the Underworld, usually only a place for the dead and Mercury/Hermes in his message-delivering capacity. Lighting the way into the deep Unconscious realm that is the Underworld, Hecate faithfully led Demeter down to Hades, who, with his many-headed dog Cerberus, reigned over this realm. She was reconnected with her daughter, Persephone, and was told she could return home if she hadnā€™t eaten anything while she was in the Underworld. Because she was tricked into eating 3 pomegranate seeds, Persephone was forced to go down to the Underworld to be its Queen for 2/3 of the year, during which time the earth would go barren as Demeter would mourn her daughterā€™s passage down into the nether realm. Hecate led the 2 women back up to earth, and every year with Demeterā€™s return at Springtime, she brings rebirth, reawakening, and revivification as she begins again the wheel of life, creation, growth, and the flourishing of the earth. 
  • Please share any rituals, celebrations, and/or practices your wisdom tradition engages with or celebrates on the wheel of time/seasons/cycle of the year and their respective dates.

    I pay particular attention to all of the Celtic holidays, which are also part of my heritage, and can easily be associated with the Astrological Calendar. Iā€™ve listed them below! They include Cross-quarter days, which were practiced by ancient Celts and are the midway points between the equinoxes and solstices. They are beautiful times of honoring different aspects of the cycle and wheel of life, each going well with the astrological season it falls within. I still practice yoga asana and meditation to honor these times, as well as lighting candles and doing some intention-setting or letting go of old cycles, depending on the holiday. Iā€™ve written a bit about each below:

    Spring Equinox: March 21st: Rebirth, regeneration; see above! Falls during Aries Season, a time of intense awakening of Nature and life, an energy that initiates new life, new beginnings, and new projects that have been stirring within over the Winter and are ready to be brought to life.

    Beltane: May 1st: the flowering of lifeā€™s abundance, flowering, fertility, fecundity, & the celebration of mother Earth as Gaia and nurturer of all of life. Modern May Day comes from this celebration of the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine aspects of life coming together. Taurus Season holds this holiday, a season of flowering life and sensuality, of feeling well-resourced, of truly feeling abundant in our embodied lives.

    Summer Solstice: June 21st: a celebration of the lightest and longest of day in the Northern Hemisphere, the Light that nourishes all of Life, the Light that is our innate nature. Takes place during Cancer season, a time of deep nourishment and care-giving for self and other, of nurturing our feelings and deep, emotional hearts. 

    Lughnasadh: August 1st: a time for settling into the bounty of life and Late Summer; a time that invites us to move slowly and savor this special time of year, the last harvests before we begin to shift to cooler times. Lugh was a Celtic King who also represented the Light & an ability to rule in alignment with its promise. This holiday falls within Leo Season, the archetype of the King & Queen, an energy of the Sunā€™s bounty and the creativity & self-expression it inspires.

    Fall Equinox: September 21st: literally a hanging in balance when the light and dark are equal (as in Spring); a time to honor a shift toward shorter days, cooler temperatures, and quieter times. Within Libra season, this is a time when Fall schedules begin to take over once again, a time to fall into the rhythm and routine of a paced life, honoring the regularity that comes with this shift, as well as the equanimity that is ours when we honor this transition.

    Samhain: November 1st: truly a movement into the dark for the next 3 months until Imbolc; a time of introspection, death, the letting go and burning up of old cycles, & learning to do inner alchemy and engage in practices of transformation. Scorpio season holds this holiday, which is perfectly aligned with this time of death & rebirth, going deeply into the dark to immerse ourselves into transformative processes, and allowing ourselves to be vulnerable and open so that the process can unfold as gracefully as it will when we open to it. 

    Winter Solstice: December 21st: a time to honor the Light and its slow, eventual return; a time to burn up all of the old to make way for and transition to the new that will be born in the Spring. Hearkening Winter & Capricorn season, this is a time to move deeply into the dark and cold of winter, slowing down, taking time for introspection & self-reflection to nurture the inner light. 

    Imbolc: February 1st: In Celtic times, this holiday was especially ruled by Brigid, for it was she who took back the reign of the earth from the Cailleach, the Old Woman of Winter. Often she wouldnā€™t be able to quite take the reins until 6 weeks later, when the Spring Equinox actually hit, but perhaps in a lucky year, Brigid would begin her rule of Spring at Imbolc. Our modern Groundhog Day comes from this time, as Brigid was associated with badgers and similar ground creatures, was the protector of cattle and livestock, and was also known as the goddess of poetry and the tender of the hearth fire. This season is during that of Aquarius, the water-bearer who brings an ability and need to cultivate upeksha, or the capability to see from a 360Ā° vantage point, with objectivity and far-reaching awareness. Aquarian energy is known to be innovative, visionary, inventive, & original in its thoughts, ideas, and ways of seeing reality and holds within it the energy of genius. As the Greeks & Romans remind us, this term isnā€™t about intelligence, but the ability to embody the essence of oneself in a way that is truly unique & authentic to ourselves.
  • Is there anything else you would like to share about your process, practices, or your journey into your particular way of honoring the tradition(s) you currently engage???

    I honestly just feel so blessed to have found all of the practices and paths I have in this lifetime, and Iā€™m honored to get to share them with others through teaching yoga and meditation, offering evolutionary astrology readings, Chinese Medicine sessions, and writing. 

    Huge Blessings to you!