Movement and Diversity

"No one ever reaches a point where he or she is immune to further movements of the soul; the soul's capacity for richness is infinite. There is no end to the raw material that life and personality can provide." ~ Thomas Moore

I have been moving for as long as I can remember and even before my memories began.

When my mom was eight months pregnant, she and my dad hitchhiked from Oaxaca to Oregon so I could be born in the tiny town of O’Brien.

The first seven years of my life were lived in overlanding, traveling up and down the west coast of the United States and throughout Mexico. Our first house was in Crescent City, California and five years later, I moved to north eastern Oregon. Add a few years and we found ourselves in Baja. Up and down the west coast again until a week before my nineteenth birthday when I said, enough! I need to put down roots.

My roots are in Baja where my family lives; this is home. Still, I am a mover and movement is a constant part of my life; I am a citizen of the world.

Whether we are moving from one place on the globe to another, work places, in and out of chapters of our lives, relationships, rearranging inner and outer landscapes, moving ideas around our minds, feeling the movement of emotions, the beating of our hearts and movement of our internal organs, watching the sun slide across the horizon or a pool of light move across a patio floor, movement is constant, even when we are sitting still. Movement is life and life is movement.

When I filled out the application for the meditation teacher program I will begin next year, the question of race offered a variety of answers to choose from and explain. I chose Multi-racial and explained: my father and family migrated to the US when he was two; he was born in Germany after World War II. His parents were Jewish and Holocaust survivors. My grandmother was Lithuanian and grandfather was Polish; both their parents and ancestors were Russian. My mother was born in Texas and although her parents were born in the United States, previous generations were from Ireland and Scotland and more. My name is Modoc Indian and Polish. I live in Mexico with my husband who is Mexican and our children who’s DNA is fascinating as I imagine the movement of people around the globe to create these two diverse individuals. I remember stories from my mother-in-law about family members from France, Spain and indigenous backgrounds. 

Upon acceptance, the welcome letter I received from Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach for the two year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program includes the following paragraph:

“Participants are coming from many parts of the globe, and we are diverse in race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic background, and more. This gives us the opportunity to create among ourselves the community we believe in and want to see emerge in our world—one that is truly inclusive, awake, welcoming, and caring.” 

Another reminder of unity and diversity.

This week, I moved back into my office at Healing Winds; Javier and I are starting a new construction project next week. Building will slowly begin to re-open with as much care and awareness for our mutual health and wellbeing as possible.

After being at home for almost two months, one thing I noticed was the sound of voices, the people walking by the center. At home, I hear the sounds of cow bells, birds, dogs, vehicles from the road below, sometimes music and occasionally the neighbor’s voices. But at work, I kept hearing people and marveling at the sounds of their voices moving by.

From my desk, I can see through the Gaudi influened tiled opening to blue sky and the movement of light crossing the brick patio floor. I often wonder who has time to watch a pool of light move around a courtyard floor and walls, the dance of light and shadows and how they change season to season. It isn’t a matter of having time, it is the opening to notice, appreciate and feel. Awe.

Moving in and setting up a new office for the umpteenth time, I step back, breathe and take it in. I feel like I went home and integrated a part of myself that I need to move into this new chapter.

Healing Winds holds an all-inclusive heart and mindset, honoring and welcoming diversity. This place is an extension of my own heart, body, mind and soul, as well as, my ancestors. It is also an extension of all who have treated, been treated, served, trained and practiced here. This place is a tribute to our shared humanity, a mirror of unity, diversity, family, friendship and community, local and global. 

While I don’t have all the details in place for how we will serve our community moving forward, I do know this – a tidbit I learned in all my years of architecture – to be onsite is insightful. It is one thing to research and plan from a distance and another entirely to stand on the ground where the work will happen, tap in, feel and do the research here.

Our mutual health, safety and wellbeing are the number one priority as is an all- inclusive heart and mind set, now and always.

We have a tentative plan to re-open with body/energywork, therapeutic treatments and classes mid-October with new guidelines that I will communicate as the time gets closer. Everything we offer is beneficial to our individual and collective wellbeing yet we will have to learn new ways to be of service in the new era. Meanwhile, we continue to offer presence and classes online. 

For now, we will work where we can, breathe where we are, connect within and across the distance;  feel the movement of life and soul happening in the riches of whereever our feet touch the ground.

May we be gentle and compassionate with one another, kind to each other;
may we be well, healthy, happy, peaceful and live with ease,

Tehroma