when i was learning massage and deep tissue work all those lifetimes ago, our teacher’s repeating mantra was, “sculpt the bones”. he encouraged us to venture deep into the muscle armouring, and to explore, down and down and down to the bone. it was this exploration of the chronic, protective contractions of muscle by which the work was guided. and by which the recipient of the massage could experience their core body “holding”; those “knots” that tighten around vulnerability when we don’t feel safe.

it’s become a life principle for me, to “sculpt the bones”. to search for, and reclaim the disowned, the forgotten, the wounds: the invisible armatures which form our defenses and contract our perspective.

years of working with hands-on-bodies and hands-in-clay…crafting words on pages…meditation and the passage of time serving to unwrap my heart…being loved, and raising a child…all have tempered my hard edges.

i wonder…what have been your ways in?

new rituals constantly emerge, giving form to these processes.  this blog will be one of them…a ritual of writing down the bones…sculpting the beautiful bones.