When our hearts break, when our hopes and dreams shatter, we feel devastated. Crushed. Lost. There’s likely no one among us who has not experienced this. Perhaps a father who was emotionally unavailable. A mother too hurt to tend. A favorite pet disappearing into the night. A wanted job given to another. A 100-year-old tree cut off by the whip of a storm.
 
Our hearts break and break again from birth to the last of our days, from sunrise to sunset, from one moment to the next. Our hearts break and break again over big dreams and small hopes, over small connections and big loves, over big arguments and small silent retreats.
 
How do we live? How do we survive this? How do we find the courage to rise for another day, face potential heartaches, and keep on going? Howwwwwww?
 
Because our hearts break and break again in the wholeness that we are. Our hearts break but who we are is not broken. Our hearts break and break again but wholeness remains. Because. Because we are breaking in wholeness. 

May every heartbreak be embraced in wholeness,
-- Shira Oz-Sinai

The summer solstice is upon us! 

Traditional celebrations focus on cultivating a sense of connection and community with the shared warmth of gatherings, bonfires, merry-making, feasts, and picnics.

These events honor the life-giving force of the sun and the bounty it produces. They're a great reminder for how the warmth of connection heals our wounds of separation--both from ourselves and others. This is a gateway to feeling our always-present bountiful joy. 

Our hearts know this time well. Moved by the rhythms of the nature that we are, our hearts are naturally drawn to (re)connecting with others and ourselves, to unstructured play time, and that embodied fiery experience of being alive, open, and an integral part of the interconnected web of life. 

I find summertime in general, and the week of the solstice in particular, to be especially potent for healing wounds of heartbreak, for easing the rapid heat of anxiety, and for soothing the parts of ourselves that have felt alone for far too long. The way is paved by the gentle warmth of compassion and the safe fire of our presence. This is what guides us back to feeling love(d). 

If you're called to it, I suggest taking a moment to connect with your heart of hearts. Imagine yourself holding it delicately in the palms of your hands and nourishing it with the warmth of your attention, compassion, and love. 

May the peak of sunlight teach us about the peak of love that we are,
-- Shira Oz-Sinai

P.S. Still got my old address in your contact list? Please be sure to delete shira@awakenmyheartnow.com as I can no longer receive any emails sent to that address. Please replace it with info@shiraozsinai.com. ​

Summer's expansiveness and heat can bring up all kinds of feelings. Many of us vacillate between wanting to be on permanent vacation, not wanting to leave the house (ever!), and feeling consumed by anxiety of what exactly to do with our time and really, our lives. 

Chinese medicine points us to the connection between the summer season and the heart. This is not a reference to the physical heart but rather the energetic center in the middle of the chest. It is said that our energetic heart's "job" is to be at peace. Imagine if it were your job, your actual job, to be at peace. What would you do from 9 to 5? What would you need? How would you feel?

When our hearts are at peace, not only do we feel serenity but also joy. Why? Because it's simply so joyful to feel at ease, safe, and secure in your own heart.

We are actually quite lucky in that peacefulness and joy are not just fleeting experiences but innate aspects of being. They do, however, become veiled. We lose sight of our peace. We lose touch with our joy. We forget that we are ok, and we begin to believe that we are not. 

Meditative practices, like Chakra Tai Chi, offer us a place, a gentle way, to remember. Register now @ shiraozsinai.com/summer-chakra.

Can't join me for the class? Please let me know of your interest! It helps inform my future offerings. Also, I'm happy to offer Chakra Tai Chi private sessions and/or acupressure for cultivating joy this summer! So contact me and let me know what you think. 

May all beings experience the joy and peacefulness that they are,
-- Shira Oz-Sinai

I'm happy to announce that I have just added Thursday evenings to my acupressure schedule, starting May 24! 

If you've been unable to come in for acupressure because our schedules haven't matched, I'm hoping these Thursday evening hours will give you much more flexibility. As a special invitation, if it's been 6 months since your last visit, or if you are wanting to try acupressure for the very first time, please enjoy 25% off when you schedule for Thursday, May 24, 4-9pm. Book now @ shiraozsinai.com/acupressure!

If you're already a recipient of acupressure, then you know how much it supports you in meeting challenging thoughts and emotions as well as releasing physical tension. Regular sessions, whether once a week or once a month, give us an opportunity to work on the root cause of any symptom and invite ease into your body, mind, and heart. Now that's something we all need!

To assist you in making acupressure sessions part of your regular self-care routine, I offer package deals of 3 or 4 sessions with great savings. Purchase yours now @ shiraozsinai.com/store/c9/Acupressure_Sessions!

"I have personally seen Shira during times of difficult life transitions and I’m able to enter each session with complete trust in the partnership we create to help me heal from my physical and emotional pain." -- Natalie

Learn more and schedule yours @ shiraozsinai.com/acupressure. 

May all beings experience the healing of tender touch,
-- Shira Oz-Sinai

At the recent Befriending Yourself: Spring Meditation Retreat (pictures here), I shared with participants that to me the characteristic sensation of the spring element in Chinese medicine is discomfort.

It’s not the discomfort of hurt exactly. Nor that of an ache per se. It’s more the discomfort of having outgrown where you’ve been without quite being ready for what’s next. Not yet.

Many of us are experiencing such discomfort right now. The temperature goes up, then down. The winter coat comes on, then off. When is spring coming? Have we outgrown winter yet? When can I go out and play? This is so uncomfortable!!!

Perhaps when the decision has to do with whether or not to grab that winter coat, the stakes are fairly low. But when you’re pondering leaving your job, going back to school, having another child, taking on some new role, starting a relationship, moving to a new home, making a career leap… well, the gains and losses feel quite significant then.

How do we know when is the right time to make a move? To grow in a new direction? To leave what we have come to know and spring into the next… unknown… uncharted… big big step?

When discomfort arises, I like to remind myself that it's natural. It's natural to feel agitated, restless, and uncomfortable. This is a feeling tone that pulsates with a desire for change, for growth, to blossom!

So next time you notice discomfort, sit with it for a moment if you can. Tell the feeling you wish to know what it’s about. Ask it, “What vision would you like to share with me? What decision do you wish for me to make? What action are you pointing me to?” Listen intently and together you may find exactly when and how you grow. 

• To further this inquiry, please enjoy a FREE MEDITATION on vision @ shiraozsinai.com/blog/whats-your-vision.

 

• The spring element in Chinese medicine is all about movement. When this energy is challenged in us not only do we feel agitated but also lots of body tension, aches in our joints and ligaments, as well as difficulty making decisions and an overall feeling of being stuck in life. Acupressure alleviates physical symptoms, eases mental processes, and balances emotions, so consider scheduling your springtime renewal today @ schedulicity.com/scheduling/SORJJM/services!

May discomfort reveal to you the unfolding of your greatness,
-- Shira Oz-Sinai

Last week's email about how we replenish ended with this: "As we care for the water element in us, as we rest and repair on all layers of our being, we nourish the next element in the cycle--wood." In addition to giving our brains a chance to recuperate and our bodies a chance to destress, rest fundamentally nourishes our life force.

This is the vitality you feel after a good night's sleep. The pulsating sense of aliveness after a deep breath. The spring in your step after seeing a beautiful flower. It's also the renewed desire to grow, to express who you are to the fullest, and THRIVE!

As we make the transition from winter to spring, we still need plenty of rest and we may feel quite raw and vulnerable. At the very same time, that urgency to grow is beginning to thrum in our cells. What does your own power feel like? How are you wishing to grow? What do you need in order to stand fully in who you are and unabashedly proclaim to the world "I am ME!"? This is our springtime meditation, and here are two perfect places to explore these questions and more:

• Befriending Yourself: Spring Meditation Retreat, Mar 23-25, Annapolis, MD. With only 4 weekends to go and just a few slots left, I invite you to sign up now with a friend for a shared room and get $125 off each! Included are 6 retreat sessions full of Chinese medicine wisdom and mindfulness exercises, 5 plant-based, whole-food style meals, 3 Yoga Nidra healing meditations, 2 nights’ stay at a charming B&B, and 1 Chakra Tai Chi practice. Details @ shiraozsinai.com/spring-meditation-retreat.  

 

• Meditative Card Night, Thu, Mar 29, 6:30-8:30pm, Silver Spring, MD. The Spring Equinox on Mar 20 marks the astronomical first day of spring. Just as the trees and flowers start budding, we humans too are supported by nature to explore new ventures and renew our direction in life. So how about an evening of magic, play, and inspiration using oracle cards to call on the wisdom within? Register @ shiraozsinai.com/spring-meditative-card-night.

May rest transform your wildest dreams into reality,
-- Shira Oz-Sinai

When our storehouses of energy have been overdrawn and depleted, how do we replenish? This is a quintessential Chinese medicine winter element question, one that shows up throughout all seasons of our life. ​Maybe we’ve gone through a bout of the flu or a nasty cold. Maybe we’ve had to tend to an ailing parent. Maybe work has been taxing and we’ve had to put in longer hours. Life does occasionally demand that we tap into our reserves. So, what do we do to replenish?
 
The answer is rest. But I don’t just mean sleep because sometimes sleep is inaccessible. Rest is a moment of reflection and a deep breath in the midst of a hectic day. It’s gazing at a beautiful flower or candle after hours of staring at the screen. It's listening to a Yoga Nidra recording at bedtime whether it puts you to sleep or not (downloadable here). We cannot survive without sleep. We cannot live without rest. We cannot succeed without reflection.
 
As we care for the water element in us, as we rest and repair on all layers of our being, we nourish the next element in the cycle--wood. And we all know what happens when a tree is watered... It grows, and so do we!

Consider joining me for the Spring Meditation Retreat one and the all new Spring Meditative Card Night!

May deep rest refill your reserves,
-- Shira Oz-Sinai

​I was asked recently why my seasonal retreats are titled "Befriending Yourself." The answer involved reflecting back on a time when I did not know what being a true friend to myself actually meant. I was raised to be a good friend to others; never did anyone mention being a good friend to myself. 

I wish I could tell you a lovely little story of how I started cultivating a friendship with myself, but the truth is quite grim. Many winters ago, my tools for dealing with life were sparse, I felt lonely more often than not, and depression hung around like a black cloud that followed me everywhere.

While happy moments did occur, the lows were so low, so bottomless, that I'd often feel lost to myself for months at a time. It seems almost unreal now because my life today is so vastly different. But the felt-sense arising from these memories does not lie. 

It was on one of these down spirals, when I was so desperately longing for the presence of another in the darkness, that I realized I am here with me. I am here to hear my cries and wipe away my tears. I am here to see my pain and hold my hand tightly. I am here to smell the acrid odor of hopelessness and remind myself that "This too shall pass." It is I, my always-present presence, who is here with me always.

You don't have to suffer from depression to know what I mean. You just have to be human. We all have tough moments. So what would it be like if in your next tough moment, your own presence is within reach to offer you comfort and warmth? This is why I offer these befriending yourself retreats, so that together we cultivate a deep and loving friendship with ourselves.

Please join me for the Befriending Yourself: Winter Daylong Retreat on Feb 3, 2018!
​Details @ shiraozsinai.com/winter-daylong-retreat-2018.

​
May you always feel your presence within reach,
-- Shira Oz-Sinai

The bridge between Thanksgiving and the next holiday is often packed with lots of planning and doing, working harder at our jobs to wrap things up before the new year, and feeling a fair amount of stress and tension. Sounds familiar?

So much of the strain we experience, however, has little to do with shopping, budgets, travel plans, or hosting a gathering. That's simply the "surface" stuff.

What shows up as a tightness in the shoulders or a back ache (seemingly out of nowhere) is more often due to unsettling memories from past holidays, the painful absence of loved ones, broken promises, and/or unresolved strife between family members. 

Insert deep breath here. 

We need a deep breath here because this is the "deep" stuff. This is the stuff we might not be aware of on a daily basis. [More on this in my last blog, Am I Psycho(somatic)?].

These old memories, those unresolved arguments, this grief--all of it has a charge, does it not? And this charge pulls and tugs on us now. So... what do we do?

Here's a suggestion:

1. Notice where you feel the charge in your body. Is there an area of tightness or soreness? Tension or pain? Locate it in your body.
2. Come as close as you can to it with your attention. Study it. Observe it. Learn everything you can about it.
3. Only if it feels accessible, guide your breath to this area (as if you were breathing directly into it). Give it breath as you give it attention.
4. Gently place your hand on this area. Listen to what shows up and see what else is needed.

Caring attention and gentle touch are our natural healing tools. Throughout the holidays, keep coming back to this. It may not change how you feel overnight, but it does invite ease. And ease can help us all get through the holidays.


​May loving attention and gentle touch be a healing balm for all your wounds, 
-- Shira Oz-Sinai

Looking for additional ways to cultivate loving attention and receive gentle, healing touch?

#1: Starting THIS Tuesday, 6:30 - 7:30pm, 3 meditations for holiday stress relief!!
More @ shiraozsinai.com/holiday-stress-relief.

#2: There's really nothing more appropriate than eneregywork for meeting that electric charge in the body pulsating from unresolved past tensions. The style of acupressure that I use is specifically designed to care for the root causes of current challenges without re-living past horrors or losing touch with reality. While the touch is gentle, the healing impact is profound. Call me to see if acupressure is right for you or learn more / schedule your session @ shiraozsinai.com/acupressure.