A 2017 Wish for Us All

photo found: Dr. Bill Wooten

​Hello Family and Happy New Year.

2017 is here. The air is crisp. The rains and the snow have been falling and we are in the energy of the new: new resolutions, new habits, new beliefs, new, new, new.

​"​What an elder sees sitting; the young can't see standing."​
 -Gustave Flaubert

Amongst all the new and the more, I see a very needed space for the Elder and the less.  There is a time of simplicity that our hearts, souls and nervous systems are yearning for.  You may feel this when you head into Nature. 

It seems to me we need more Elder Wisdom - and some of us may need to assume that role of Elder. I know advice from my Elders still swirls through my ears.

​My grandfather, the simple sage that he was, told me when I was fresh out of college and hot to trot at my new technical marketing job, in silk suits and dangerous shoes, shaking my fist at every grievance, squealing at him over the kitchen table, he said to me: "Kid, you are either here (he raised his hand) or here (he lowered his hand)​ - you wanna be here..." his steady patient hand moved across the midline.

​And he never did tree pose or attended a Vipassana retreat. ​He simply came from a time that appreciated the moment. Iʻm still efforting to live that straight and steady line.

I love yoga and meditation and they are definitely tools in my toolbox with todayʻs fast pace - yet if I am only slow on my mat or in my living room, and I cannot slow down for myself or to show kindness to others ... the practice means nothing.

That is simple Elder wisdom.

Perhaps, we would benefit from a little less movement and a little more wisdom. In many cultures, the Earth is considered an Elder. So if you do not have a physical Elder in your life to turn to -- head out to the Grandmother, our Earth or Father Sky.

I leave you with the Hawaiian word that started this whole post, I looked up kūpuna, a word I knew to mean elder, but what revealed a longer and more telling definition:  Starting point, source; growing

Today would have been my grandfatherʻs ​84th birthday; may we celebrate those that loved us into being that is my New Yearʻs Wish for us all.


My best to you,
Kate.


What is Kate Up To?

Lomilomi Sessions:
Asheville, NC January 14th - only 4 sessions, so spread the word to your peeps! - thanks to Jess Godino of www.fourflameshealing.com for a session space​ and Maia Toll of www.maiatoll.com for the connection.

Philadelphia, PA through February.
Kauaʻi March 10 - 18th

More announcements coming as the year whispers a new pace.