Happy Women’s History Month! The theme for this year’s Women’s History Month is Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories. May we all choose to share stories of women (living or dead, famous or not) who shape and impact our lives.
One special date during Women’s History Month is International Women’s Day which occurs this year on March 8. Shakti in the Mountains is celebrating this day with a craftivism project (drop in between 3 and 5 pm) and a program which includes a potluck dinner (5 to 7:30 pm).
The program is curated by four students from the ETSU Public Health Doctoral Program. These wonderful women have planned an incredible evening for us which includes:
- information about the way people eat from around the world
- an invitation to share a dish which is meaningful to your family and/or culture (please bring the recipe to include in an addition to the Shakti in the Mountains’ Cookbook)
- a dialogue opportunity about how to highlight women’s voices from our region
We invite you to wear purple to the event and to post pictures of you giving yourself a hug with the hashtag #embraceequity – the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day.
Initially registration to the evening event required a financial donation. This is no longer the case. Because some people want to bring family members and because some people are not able to donate financially, we changed the registration process. A financial donation to the Shakti Scholarship Fund is now optional but not required.
We also have included a question in the registration process that allows you to indicate how many people will be attending with you. This question is to help families so each family member does not require a separate registration. A big THANK YOU to everyone who gave us feedback and helped us to make this event accessible and registration easier.
Please know that I am finalizing plans this week for the Shakti Spring Schedule, which includes a reorganization of the way we honor the equinoxes and solstices. I also will soon announce the new people moving into the building who, in addition to seeing private clients, plan on offering workshops in the space. Lots of growth happening!
Speaking of growth… it is time to start planning for and working in the Shakti Garden. I would love to find a block of time for people to gather and help prep for planting. If you are interested in being a part of the Shakti Community Garden, then please send me an email this week indicating your interest and your availability to tend to the earth.
This week’s newsletter is shorter than usual because I felt the need to explain what is happening next week for International Women’s Day and because I wanted you to know that I have been busy with a lot of behind the scenes work. (I finalized the webpage copy for the Shakti Stewardship Program. It posts next week. Woot! I also am in the process of revamping the facility use policy – not exciting but necessary.)
Before I leave you with a poem, I want to draw your attention to a Shakti registration policy (published at the top of our event page). This policy states that registration closes 24 hours before the start of an event. This policy is a kindness to our facilitators who need time to gather supplies and to prepare for the event. Please note I am not able to respond to private messages about registration if messages are left 24 hours or less before an event starts.
I chose a poem by Sonya Renee Taylor, author of The Body is Not an Apology, because I want to celebrate her story. Her work inspires me and makes me think. Her poem, which you can listen to her perform in the video below, seemed like a great way to kick off Women’s History Month.
Wishing everyone a wonderful week!
Love,
(Click the image to watch Sonya Renee Taylor, performing at Button Poetry Live.)
My Mother’s Belly
The bread of her waist, a loaf
we would knead with 8 year old palms
sweaty from play. My brother and I marveled
at the ridges and grooves. How they would summit at her navel.
How her belly looked like a walnut. How we were once seeds
that resided inside.
We giggled whenever she would recline on the couch,
lift her shirt, unbutton her pants, let her belly spread like cake batter in a pan.
It was as much a treat as licking the sweet from electric mixers on birthdays.
The undulating of my mother’s belly was not
a shame she hid from her children. She knew
we came from this. Seemed grateful.
Her belly was a gift we kept passing between us.
It was both hers, of her body
and ours for having made it new, different.
Her belly was an altar of flesh built in remembrance
of us, by us.
What remains of my mother’s belly
resides in a container of ashes I keep in a closet.
Every once and again, I open the box,
sift through the fine crystals with palms
that were once eight. Feel the grooves and ridges
that do not summit now but rill through fingers.
Granules that are so much more salt
that sweet today. And yet, still I marvel
at her once body. Even in this form say,
“I came from this.”
Kim Bushore-Maki is a soul-driven entrepreneur who understands the undeniable urge to create a business and a life filled with meaning and purpose. Her vision of opening a center where women could heal and grow led her to open Shakti in the Mountains in Johnson City, Tennessee: a place where the creative, feminine energy is nurtured and valued.
Since 2010, Kim continues to build and to support a healthy, vibrant community and now guides retreats, teaches yoga, and provides one-on-one services for women who want an immersion experience into the life-affirming, Shakti energy.
Kim’s training as a therapist and yoga teacher allows her to safely and compassionately guide women on a heart-centered journey to Self, where women re-connect with their beautiful, authentic spirit.
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The Shakti Stewardship Program
For those who seek to live and to serve from their soul’s purpose.
Registration is now open.
