was the first thing I said during introductions at this Advanced CranioSacral Therapy intensive. I also happened to be in the hot seat as the first person to share in the round, and the statement popped out of my mouth so confidently that I had to take a half breath to pause while the circle smiled earnestly and delightedly back at me. My hands were quivering but expressive when I explained that storytelling is one of the most foundational and creative aspects of our human experience. We tell stories to entertain, to teach, to reason, and to connect. We may have a distinctive gift for spoken language, but we also tell stories through our body—how and when we move—and where we place our attentions. I went on to say that each story has a short, medium, and long version where the long version can spiral off into other stories which contributed to the events and details of the original story; and so I gave the shortest version I possibly could as to what brought me to the work of CranioSacral Therapy. 

 

 

I was an imaginative child who so desperately wanted to live in worlds created by my own fantasies that I chose to pursue acting as a career when I came of age. The summer before my third year of college, I had a psychotic break and was hospitalized for a little over two weeks, before being sent home heavily medicated. During that transition back into the world, all I knew was that I wanted dirt under my fingernails and to smell horses. I didn’t have the cognitive ability to go back to school or the life I had been living, so I WWOOFed on a ranch in central California and eventually followed a path of adventures, some of which were generative and some destructive, which led me to a comprehensive understanding of what it means to heal. My break with reality and subsequent rebuilding of what “reality” meant for me, was the catalyst for a mystical understanding of the mindbody and set the foundations for my work as a CranioSacral Therapist.

 

 

Since then, I have been interested not only in everyone’s stories, but in how those narratives function for the individual, and for us as a collective. I’ve crafted my work around where those stories live in the body and what parts they serve. When Gabor Mate talks about trauma, he refers to “the wisdom” of trauma; what is the essence of the learned information from a formative experience? Whether I see a limitation in the body or a strength in an individual, I see a narrative that acts as a through-ribbon of their personhood braided among many. When one narrative—the story that we have about an experience or an aspect of our self—disempowers us or confines our potential, it is often a matter of reframing perspective, taking a different angle on the story to turn it into one which motivates and supports us. Yes, facts will always often be facts, but our gift of cognitive flexibility to shift our perspective can turn an albatross around the neck into a luck dragon, or a ball and chain around our ankle into a weapon or a tool. 

 

Gemini season brings with it a playful and communicative energy. Gemini is also excited by storytelling, and wants us to know that there can be many ways to frame a narrative, many sides to a story existing at once. During this season I often talk about the concept of Both/And, in which the inner truth of a matter is found through both sides, and always another. It’s not an easy concept, to be able to hold two or more, sometimes, contradictory narratives and discern a truth from their relationship. And when we refer to personal narratives, the truth will always be unique to the individual. We each have a deep knowing from the self beyond experience, which we then filter through the narratives of our experiences. And what is true for an individual or a collective may not actually follow the logic of previous stories. 

 

The beauty in this concept is that the future isn’t written. You can write the present and you can reframe past narratives. You can also shift your perspective, right now in the present which changes how the narrative is being written. Doing so offers you different choices, it can alter the direction of your future. You can change your course, and you can always start anew. 

 

 When we share our stories, we can create understanding and foster deeper connections. And I don’t just mean literally telling stories, but sharing who and how we are with others. Gemini season is also relational. It wants to find playmates and soulmates and bandmates. After the eclipse in Aries, we made some changes to how we identify with our self in relationships, and how we want to show up differently from past cycles. This may have felt like a pivot, or a total upheaval of your sense of self. During Taurus season, we committed to integrating this newness into existing contexts. Within those existing contexts, we may have been triggered and tempted to fall back into old patterns. But coming back to the body, to the sensual, tangible experience of the new self, rooted us in a way that allowed for a more harmonious navigation of what still is, and what we cannot control. Now, shifting into extroverted Gemini season, the start of summer, we open up to new experiences. We have the power to write new stories with regard to our relationships, our community, as well as who we are in and how we show up to those spaces.

 

The Full Moon in Sagittarius, which peaks on Thursday at 6:53am PDT, will be her brightest tonight, illuminating a distinct transition in love and our relationships. A full moon is the halfway point in a lunation, and this one started with the New Moon in Taurus at the beginning of May. So while the sun and our outward expression is now moving into relational Gemini, our inner, emotional world as ruled by the lunar month is halfway through its integration. Many truths at one time! A full moon in Sagittarius seeks stability and emotional resolution through its philosophies and beliefs. It's riding for the feeling, riding for the feeling, riding for the feeling. (Youtube). Which is not to say it’s noncommittal. Sagittarius energy is decidedly loyal to that and those which are here for the journey. [My best friend and I often humorously talk about being Sagittarians as “the caravan is in motion, the boat’s setting sail and we aren’t here to convince you that it’s a good idea, but you’re more than welcome to join the team!”] Because for Sagittarius, the point is not to reach a destination but to enjoy the ride along the way. 

 

This full moon is trine Neptune and sextile Pluto, both harmonious aspects that add some intensity and the openness to the transcendental, but more importantly it is opposite the Venus-Jupiter conjunction. Our feminine planet of love and values will be cuddled up with our jovial masculine planet of expansion and good luck, amplifying charm, generosity, and compassion. And opposite the full moon, this can increase our need for connection. Most notably, this conjunction is occurring in the Pleiades star cluster at 29° Taurus, a critical degree of amplified Taurean energy of sensual commitment. 

 

This Full Moon in Sagittarius during the Venus-Jupiter conjunction holds the ripe opportunity for completion of a past story, liberating you to move forward in the areas of love and expansion. The eclipse in Aries let us cleanse our shadows to start attracting the right relationships. We've been integrating this newness into what is, and as we change so we make new choices and change our outer world. You have more faith in yourself, you are clearer about what you want and what you are truly capable of. It’s time to open again to the next new thing.

 

In folk and indigenous traditions of Europe and North America, the full moon in May is called the Flower Moon for the bounteous blooms which have opened as sources of nourishment and treasure to the natural world, as well as harbingers of the fruits to still to come. The Cree referred to this moon as the Frog Moon for the amphibians who fill the air with their songs and any still source of water with their young. And some older european cultures refer to this moon as the Milk Moon for the time when calving brought on the steady flow of milk into cooking and crafting. 

 

The art of communication is an ever evolving paradigm. As our culture shifts, so do our collective styles of communication. To be a good communicator, one must have a certain agility in order to navigate the diversity and evolution of contexts, relationships, and environments in which we communicate. This already sounds “heady,” but we are in the airy season of Gemini when the themes of communication and union or dissonance become a collective focus. It becomes important to name things and to explore narratives. When this energy is out of balance, we can experience a lot of empty promises, performative action, and contradictory stories.

 

It’s nearly impossible to always get it “right.” It can be exhausting to keep up with terms and styles, and folks tend to be dismissive of what they don’t understand. No one wants to feel dumb and, collectively, we’ve got some deeply rooted fear of punishment for ever being wrong. But when it comes to healthy communication, to hearing others and being heard ourselves, a little humility is necessary. 

 

Tips for practicing healthy communication:

 

Something I learned from my 7th grade health teacher was that if you need to have a difficult (or perceived to be difficult) conversation with someone, find a quiet, safe, and familiar place and have the conversation over food. Chewing reduces the sympathetic nervous system response, disarming us and making us more receptive. And psychologically, our open mouths expose our insides. We are inviting the other person into a communion with our softer, inner selves.

 

alexandra@honoredbody.com

@honoredbody