It is only the second week of May and I feel like I have already participated in a month of activities. Is anyone else having a similar experience? I suspect the busyness of the season is due in large part to May being the end of the academic year. Whether or not you have a school-age child, you probably know someone who does or you work in a school system. Either way, you may be swept up in end-of-the-school-year commitments and celebrations. (I have already attended one graduation. Shout out to my nephew, Jackson, for earning his Masters in Sport Science and Coach Education.)
I also suspect this month feels busy because we are in the heart of spring. The weather is more conducive to being outside, and gardeners and nature lovers alike are flocking to the great outdoors. The Shakti Hiking Group has another hike planned for this Saturday (see details below) and the Shakti Garden is in full swing, getting ready to plant warmer weather crops like tomatoes and peppers. (If you would like to become more involved in the Shakti Garden and/or become a Shakti Garden Fairy, then please contact our head gardener, Cleo Hankins, for the details.)
In the midst of all the fullness and aliveness of spring, I invite you to slow down and to set an intention for the new lunar cycle beginning on May 16. New moons are excellent times to get clear and to start fresh. Perhaps you want to develop a new habit or to start a new project or maybe you simply want to change the way that you feel. Any of these ideas are possible intentions to work toward over the course of the next month.
To support anyone who wants to work with the New Moon this weekend, I have created a small ritual below. Please take what works for you and leave the rest behind.
In the meantime know that as I begin to work on the Shakti summer schedule, my focus is on planning events and gatherings that promote slow living, reciprocity, making things with our hands, enjoying food from the garden, and sacred space and practices. If you have any suggestions, then please send me an email so we can connect.
Wishing everyone a wonderful week!
Love,
Kim
New Moon Practice
If possible, I encourage you to find a place outside for this practice. Placing your bare feet on the earth and sitting on the ground helps you to connect to the beautiful web of life. If an outside practice is not possible, then find a place indoors near a window where you can see the life that flows around you.
With a journal or notebook nearby, begin in a standing position with soft knees. Spread your toes wide and focus on pressing your feet gently into the ground. Imagine little, tiny roots emerging from the soles of your feet spreading and dropping into the earth. With each inhale, picture yourself drawing vibrant energy up from the ground into your body. With each exhale, focus on releasing physical tension and distracting thoughts.
Continue to stand and to breathe until you feel calmer and more relaxed. When you are ready, find a comfortable seat and sit with the following prompts. Give yourself time to simply be with the questions before writing or drawing your responses in your journal.
- What do I want to grow in my life? What seed am I planting under the new moon?
- How do I want to nurture and to protect this seed as it sprouts?
- How will I know this new growth is in full bloom? What will it look like, feel like?
After recording your answers, take a moment to create an affirmation that reflects the intention that you just set. Write the intention down and place it in a location that you will see daily. As the moon grows bigger in the sky, notice how your intention evolves and grows.
Do not be surprised if you encounter a challenge to your intention one week later. This progression is natural and means that you are working toward your goal. Give yourself permission to feel the tension inherent in the challenge and ask yourself what needs to shift in order for you to navigate the challenge. Growth requires change. Allow the change to happen. In another week, under the light of the full moon, you will see what blooms from the seed that you planted.
Congratulations Jackson on earning your Master’s degree- well done!
Thanks to a recent generous donation we were able to restock our Little Free Pantry reserve.
A Shakti neighbor is celebrating spring. May we all find garden fairies!🧚🏽
For nearly thirty years, Kim Bushore-Maki has served Appalachia as both a pioneer and champion of holistic well-being and community health.
A licensed clinical counseling professional, she became the first Master level clinician at East Tennessee State University's Counseling Center, where she provided therapeutic services and directed the Sexual Violence Prevention Program and the Alcohol and Drug Prevention Program.
During her tenure at ETSU, she was a founding organizer of the Tennessee Coalition for Healthy and Safe Campus Communities as well as Tennessee's representative for the National Prevention Network. She drafted ETSU's first Sexual Violence Response Policy and coordinated the region's first "Take Back the Night" program and fundraiser (the oldest worldwide movement to stand against sexual violence in all forms), the proceeds of which funded the first SANE nurses at the Johnson City Medical Center. Kim also served as Interim Director of Disability Services for 11 months.
In 2010, Kim followed her intuition and vision to found Shakti in the Mountains, a thriving healing-arts center that draws on somatic expressive therapy, archetypal psychology, wisdom traditions, and regenerative economics. Kim continues to maintain a small private therapy practice and also leads healing programs and retreats, guides the Shakti Stewardship Program, and serves as a community-building consultant to justice-oriented initiatives committed to building safe, inclusive, vibrant, and resilient communities.
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