if i could live anywhere it would be a treehouse.

feeling the rain drops on my arms, and the wind in my hair. watching the light bounce off the leaves and the birds sing from the branches.

because it reminds me of where i most belong and the beauty from which i come.

if i could have any kind of conversation it would be deep and real.

if you ask me how i am i want to tell you how i really am.

what is true in my heart.

and i want to know what is true in yours.

if i could fashion the world it would be softer, slower.

because i am most at peace when the world is quiet around me. when i am breathing slowly into my heart, belly and feet. when my mind softens and my heart feels safe enough to lead.

but it’s hard to live this way

to live this intimately with life.

because life is busy and loud. there are a million things to do and the doing is never done. everything moves fast and is forever moving faster. we are out of sync with our natural rhythm and disconnected from the living, breathing pulse of life.

living life on the surface. skirting the real and the raw because to go deep is to be labeled intense or too much. hiding our feelings so that we aren’t seen as sensitive or high maintenance.

to try to cope, i disappear into my head where i think judgment, planning and evaluating will keep me from feeling the bigness of being human and protect me from the truth of my emotions.

i say the things i’m supposed to say, what the world expects me to say. not because i have to but because to say the most true is often to say the most vulnerable. even if the most true is expressing gratitude, joy, love. sometimes that feels the scariest to say.

except that i’m devoted to living an intimate life.

so this is what i do

i drop into my body through my morning breathwork, my meditation, my writing. conscious connected breathing, meditations focused on body sensations and writing that is intuitive, heart-centered journaling.

and i am not the same person.

i am not so small, disconnected, scared. i do not feel so far from everyone and everything. it’s like the world is beating through me. i stop running everywhere, going almost nowhere. i stop getting lost in the endless spiral of doubt, fear and i find myself inside of peace and possibility. i smile more. my shoulders relax. my belly loosens. my chest opens. i feel my feet on the earth.

breathwork, felt-sense meditation, and soul writing soothe the nervous system, slowing the heart and returning the body to a more regulated state, bringing a sense of safety so you can listen deeply and trust more. quieting the anxious thoughts and calming the distracted mind so that you can do what’s right instead of what’s next. it’s easier to establish boundaries that the sensitive soul requires and to recharge in the midst of all the things.

it’s not magic but it can feel magical.

living intimately.

this is what it means

an intimate life is living in connection with the dirt and the trees, the city streets and the skyscrapers. it is present in the big moments, like a breathtaking sunrise, and in the small ones, like a neighbor’s wave as you carry in groceries.

it is the epic life happenings and the mundane daily tasks. it is always possible. it is in the breathwork and meditation practices you carve out for yourself, the intuitive movement classes and the time spent journaling but it is also when you remember to breathe one more time than you forgot, to pause into presence even for the briefest of moments.

an intimate life is pulling towards rather than pushing away. it is coming back here instead of leaving. even when it’s really hard. instead of constant input, always noise, it’s listening deeply: to your soul and your heart. it’s honoring your intuition instead of an expert’s answers. it is belonging instead of feeling separate from. knowing you are of the earth and will return to the stars.

to live an intimate life is to…

to live an intimate life is to live this life. not the life others expect of you. not the one that is full of supposed tos and shoulds, guilt and shame. but one that is true and honest, real and raw.

it is a vulnerable life, a risky, brave, bold life.

it is saying the words you aren’t sure you can speak. it is hearing another’s point of view before defending your own. it is taking a nap when your body is tired but your mind says don’t stop. it is leaning in closer.

but slowly.

according to your own rhythm. within your own sense of safety. something we discover and nurture with every breathwork practice and felt-sense meditation. something we clarify each time we sit and soul write.

it is a willingness to drop from the known of all that has been – the facts and the past – to the mystery of all that is. a courage to let your breath and your heart teach you what’s next and why and how. to drop from head into body.

in head we are constantly analyzing and judging. we are organizing, doing, and thinking abstractly. in the body we soften into now, attuning to the relationships between things, resting in the present.

we feel the world deeply, sensing rather than analyzing.

you can feel the difference when your mind starts to quiet and your body begins to release tensions held in muscles. it can be difficult at first but it gets easier the more you practice.

and when it’s too much, it’s stopping

because living an intimate life is one slow, gentle step after another. because life is busy. sometimes too busy. in those moments we can gift ourselves grace knowing that we can pause when we have a few more moments at the end of the day, or we can breathe more deeply when life isn’t spinning quite so fast. it’s not all or nothing. it never is.

through breathwork, felt-sense meditation and soul writing, we explore an intimate life together.

the body knows so much that the mind does not. the breath can heal in ways the head doesn’t understand. breathwork brings buried emotions to the surface to be seen and released. it gets underneath the stories of the mind, down to the real feelings of the body. connecting to breath and body help us return to what is most true in our sensitive souls and to honor what is most alive and to live most aligned with our whole being.

together we live an intimate life.