“In order to understand the conditions we are in, we must place ourselves not in the mainstream of life but in the timeless stream of myth. As the fabric of life loosens, the veil between this world of hard facts and the otherworld of great imagination also becomes thinner and more permeable. Just as time seems to be running out, timeless things try to slip back into human awareness.” - Michael Meade
I
"The grace that is the health of creatures can only be held in common.
In healing the scattered members come together.
In health the flesh is graced, the holy enters the world."
II
"The task of healing is to respect oneself as a creature, no more and no less.
A creature is not a creator, and cannot be. There is only one Creation, and we are its members.
To be creative is only to have health: to keep oneself fully alive in the Creation, to keep the Creation fully alive in oneself, to see the Creation anew, to welcome one's part in it anew.
The most creative works are all strategies of this health." - (Excerpts from "Healing" by Wendell Berry)
Dear Friends,
As we all juggle the demands of living in the rushing river of modern life, I often find myself grateful for the small pools of dreamtime: the simple actions of breathing life into myself with stillness, restoring myself with nature, reviving myself with art, and beginning the whole cycle once again with reflection - in a relational rhythm of with self/with others.
Of late, I have been witnessing the flourishing marketplace of online offerings, reckoning with notions of ambition, achievement, authority, and the seductive cultural conditioning of success, making a mark, and having a following.
Are my groups enough? Do I have enough? Am I enough? Is enough ever enough? And what is gained with all the personal effort and striving that goes into accomplishing?
And then a small, simple voice reminds me: Show up. Make yourself fully available in whatever you do. Share what is alive and has value. Create the conditions for magic to happen. Do the work with whoever arrives in whatever state for however long. Make meaningful connections. Dream into the shared space. And most of all remember - whatever happens is not yours to lay claim to or possess. It is the mutuality of co-creation, I and Thou, limbic resonance, grace, health - whatever you want to call it. And then step back and away, digest and metabolize, rest and renew, find your own way - and begin again.
As always, I appreciate your taking the time to pause and reflect with me. And I look forward to seeing you online!
Warmly,
Jamie
PS Each newsletter I selectively announce what is on the immediate horizon. If you want the long-range schedule, go HERE
Upcoming Events this Month
The Power of the Pause: Breathing Room
Sunday, May 2: 9:30-10:30am or 4-5pm PDT
Saturday, May 22: 9:30-10:30am PDT
Sunday, May 23: 4-5pm PDT
A practical somatic tool for dissipating anxiety and stabilizing attention - experience 360 degree breathing and individual variations in these FREE hour-long sessions. Drop-in & open to all.
REGISTRATION & FUTURE DATES/TIMES HERE
Thinking Body, Sensing Mind Series
May 24-June 16, Mondays and Wednesdays, Group C (10am) or Group D (4pm) PDT
A progressive sequence of journeys into the inner landscape of the body designed to increase awareness, relaxation, and presence by highlighting sensory experience with the basics: breath, vocalization, alignment, self-contact, and subtle movement. Some somatic or meditative experience needed. Pay What You Are Able Sliding Scale: $50-250/Series
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION / REGISTRATION HERE
INDIVIDUAL SESSIONS
I am offering individual somatic coaching sessions online as a one-time consult - or in an ongoing way - with a "pay what you are able" sliding scale in light of the current global financial uncertainty. More about individual sessions HERE
30 minutes ($40-90) or 60 minutes ($70-160)
Reply to this email to schedule a session.
Jamie McHugh is an interdisciplinary artist, somatic movement specialist and the creator of Somatic Expression® - Body Wisdom for Modern Times. His somatic-expressive practices for re-wilding the body, mending the mind and restoring the spirit have been developed through intensive study over time with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Emilie Conrad, Anna Halprin, Thich Nhat Hanh and the wild places of the planet, and through working with diverse groups of people internationally for over 40 years. Jamie continues to study and research the mystery of the body as an element of nature and as an expression of our humanity.
Featured Video: "Remix #1" (2020)
