On a warm day in January, I gave myself the gift of a walk in the park.
It was hard to take this time to myself. It felt so selfish.
I had a ton of work.
The kitchen was a mess.
There were important things to do.
But the wind was warm, and the geese were flying in beautiful formations over Cayuga Lake, and as I drove back from preschool drop-off, I did something unexpected: I kept driving down Rt. 13 all the way to Stewart Park, thinking that I’ll just take a 10 minutes walk.

It turned into an hour and a half of pure joy.
I want to share that joy with you, and hopefully inspire you to give yourself the gift of time for yourself.
It’s not selfish. It’s Self-Ish
Self-Kindness, it’s oxygen mask self-care. There is nothing fishy about bing selfish (get it?)

In a culture that promotes maternal martyrdom, acts of self-kindness are subversive and political, and if we talk about them, we can empower each other to be more self-ish. Everyone will benefit from such a cultural shift.

So I vlogged.
(I hate this word)
I video-blogged.
I’m shy about it.
I don’t love being in front of a camera, esepcially not one I am holding myself (I don’t think that angle is flattering to anybody…).

And in the video, I chant.
I’m shy about that too.
I don’t have the world’s best singing voice.
Plus this is a chant in sanskrit,
I’m kinda shy about chanting in sanskrit for all to hear.

So this video is chockfull of imperfect and stretching of my comfort zone.
So what if my face looks funny in that angel?
So what if I fall off-key here and there?

I’ve learned at the Mama’s Comfort Camp is that we mamas love each other even more every time we show our human imperfections. So I’m kinda banking on that one here, cause this video is hugely imperfect, and by God, I’m still publishing it.
(It only took me a week to gather the courage to post this here, and by now it’s freezing in Ithaca again).

So here it is:

About Chanting:

In the act of chanting, there is a magic I can’t explain. It is EnChanting. You don’t need to have the best voice. You just need to have the willingness to let your voice be what it is, and allow the vibrations of the sounds move through you, working their magic. Chanting helps me deal with sadness, anxiety, and overwhelm, and makes me feel more connected to my inner wise woman.

When I hurt, there is nothing quite like EnChanting my way into my own self-comforting powers.
Therefore I am keen on sharing this healing magic with as many women as possible.

On Valentine’s Day, I invite you to EnChant with me.

I chose Valentine’s Day because the stoooopid commercial holiday can be quite painful for many women, especially for mothers. And I think that EnChanting ourselves into getting in touch with our inner wise women, our sacred selves, and to do that in community, will be a delightful antidote to the pervasive commercial vibe of Valentine’s Day.

So I hereby proclaim that on Valentine’s Day Mama’s Comfort Camp will be hosting this:

An EnChanting Healing Circle of Women Singing Around the World.

This Song Circle will be accessible from anywhere on earth, thanks to the magic of a conference calling.
We will chant in English, and our songs will be all about the healing power that women possess.
This is just the tip of the ice cream, I’m still working on the blog post that will have the full scoop: introducing my partners in crime, as well as the lyrics and recordings of the chants we are going to sing, so when we come together for the chant, you will have already heard the songs, you won’t have to learn how to sing them from scratch.

For now,  I’d like you to save the date: Valentine’s Day, Thursday February 14,  at 11:11am til noon.
(I’ll explain the choice of time in the next post.)

So, are you interested?
If you would like to join us, please sign up to get the event information via email right here:

 

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