The Weasel in All of Us
Dear Friends,
I promised a practical letter this week mostly because I’m mapping fall classes, workshops, sessions, and gatherings for me and for Tenth House. Sharing wisdom within our community is such a treasure.
I recently re-read my all time favorite essay called Living Like Weasels by Annie Dillard. The cadence of her work is so rhythmic and essential it feels almost disrespectful to excerpt:
“The thing is to stalk your calling in a certain skilled and supple way, to locate the most tender and live spot and plug into that pulse. This is yielding, not fighting. A weasel doesn’t “attack” anything; a weasel lives as he’s meant to, yielding at every moment to the perfect freedom of single necessity.”
This time of year and this season requires weasel-like single pointed yielding which shines through the curriculum of mind-body-spirit offerings at Tenth House. Whether pain, restricted movement, anxiety, depression, PTSD, loneliness, or basic longing for change, at Tenth House, we yield, and we are embraced. Most of us come to this work through discomfort: most of us stay for the creativity and connection.
Everything offered at Tenth House has been part of my journey.
Meditation helped me penetrate mental hinderances with enough compassion to receive truths that lead to growth.
Feldenkrais freed me from the tyranny of a herniated disc and restored access to unrestricted lumbosacral movement.
Yoga balanced my mind and heart, brought me into community, helped me to deeply experience breath and postures, and offered a container to explore the mysteries of life.
Craniosacral Therapy freed me from old trauma, opened my heart, channeled my extra sensory perception into a meaningful and helpful container, and endlessly engaged my perceptual curiosity.
I continue to explore and experiment with all kinds of practice like those in the fall line up including Ayurveda, Voice Work, and Somatic Experiencing. In any given season I have a a weekly class, a monthly session, and a quarterly workshop. That rhythm keeps me connected to my creative energy.
It is up to each of us to choose a syllabus that helps us find our perfect freedom of single necessity. The point is not to do everything, but rather to find the next right thing for you.