This email contains: - A slow check-in from my 3 week wintering cave
- Zach Bush’s take on hibernation
- A short celebration of what went well in 2024
- A peek into how to work together in 2025
- Something special coming for queer folks in this space 🌈
Thank you so much for being here. |
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Sacred Hearts, I write to you today from a cabin in the woods where I’ve been having a slow wintering retreat for just over 2 weeks now. Most of this time has been spent by the fire, reading & watching movies… not writing, sharing, scrolling, wearing makeup or planning a single thing. I am slowly listening to the energy return to my body. Yesterday I lifted weights for the first time in weeks, responded to client emails and began to feel into what wants to happen in 2025. Letting myself rest deeply, unhook from external pressures and follow what wants to happen has allowed a natural progression of movement from the *inside* - my continual work. |
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I love what Zach Bush says about this potent wintering time: "In the moments where rest and preparation coincide, a species has more than just the potential to survive, but the vitality to thrive and evolve. We live during a time where it is encouraged to remain action-oriented amidst a season representative of slowness and reflection. Yet when nature’s voice is given a chance to be heard, we are gifted a reminder: To maintain life, there must be a period where enough energy is cultivated and stored so it can be utilized for cyclical growth later in time. Returning to the natural rhythms between dormancy and flow gives honor to the biology within and around us. During gestation, proper fetal development requires not only new energy in the last trimester of pregnancy, but adequate nutrient reserves that were made during the first trimester. In the process of metamorphosis for butterflies, moths, and various insects, pupae rely on energy reserves from larval cells in order to grow and eventually transform entirely. For a seed to germinate, enough water and light must be provided in the beginning stages of planting. Through this process, it’s able to break open, produce roots, become a sprout, and fulfill its potential as a plant. During Winter, Deciduous trees go into dormancy in order to survive. Before shedding their leaves and going into energy conservation, a supply of the most essential nutrients are sent to the roots for storage. Their cyclical nature relies on a period of rest in order to thrive when spring arrives, much like animals that hibernate. Across not only species, but cultures, winter is a critical season for rest and reflection. It can be difficult to embody this wisdom when the systems that surround us demand otherwise. Yet, can we nurture the vitality that comes from intention–simply and boldly? To give individual and collective callings a deep enough inhale to achieve their fullest potential with the exhale of spring?" |
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Odilon Redon, Pink Conch, pastel My winter cave has allowed me proper time to integrate all that came in 2024. Truth be told, it felt like a really slow year professionally, but when I paused to integrate before jumping onto the next thing, I was surprised at how much had been accomplished & was yet to be properly recognized. (This is why time for integration, recognition & preparation gives way for what wants to happen next - a principle I teach in my private practice & in my year-long program, The Fortress). If 2023 was the year of disillusion, intense personal recovery & trauma resolution, 2024 was the year of behind the scenes foundation building, a reordering of my private life, and aligning the bones of my life to suit a newfound sense of privacy, stability, wellbeing and integrity. 2024 marked a decade of operating this business (!!!) and came with a series of full circle success moments my young self would likely pass away having heard. Here are some of those wins! - After closing down ALL my group offerings in 2023, and shifting my business to primarily private practice somatic alchemy, I’ve truly never been more fulfilled in my work. Praise be!!
- I so graciously received the BYCA’s America’s Coach of the Decade Award.
- The Garden of Goodness, my personal Substack was launched, which offered me a place to share my poetry, memoir-style writing, and create a bit of distance between my professional and my creative, personal self in a way I really needed.
- I realized my business surpassed 1-million dollars of sales over the last 5 years, which feels like a really big deal as a service-based healer & creative. (I paused and hesitated sharing this because sharing money wins can be so ick… but also, it's possible when you keep showing up, honing your skills and staying true; this is something I wish I'd have known that a decade ago!)
- I celebrated my graduation of Alchemical Alignment: somatic trauma resolution and embodiment of spirit, which allowed me to take clients deeper into healing early imprints and return to wholeness without overwhelming their system or having to blow up their life. (This work changed my life personally in a way I can only describe as a miracle, and continues to blow me away in sessions with clients!)
- I completed a 2-year personal training with Karen Duncan LPC & Shaman, and have now committed to a year of professional apprenticeship!
- I completed a 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training at the Circle Yoga Shala for fun! It was the perfect way to spend a summer.
- My beloved collaborator Melissa Benentendi and I hosted our first Elemental Embodiment Retreat, which will be open for registration for our fall retreat soon!
- My new flagship year-long program, The Fortress was launched and welcomed over 30 people into her fold. The intimacy and depth of this space continues to blossom and blow me away!
- Season 3 of Everything Belongs wrapped up, with no plan yet of it’s return. ;)
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2025: WHAT'S UPCOMING & How to work together |
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PRIVATE SOMATIC COACHING: The work I facilitate 1-1 is intimate somatic healing & energy medicine to alchemize shame & reveal your True Self. Many of my clients are seasoned practitioners themselves, are queer or neurodivergent folks, and/or people looking for more congruence, alignment and wholeness in their lives. If you’ve been receiving therapy or coaching for some time and are looking to add expert somatic and spiritual support, I’d love to hold space for your process. - I offer 1 or 2 sessions a month for 4 or 6 months.
- $250/session, paid monthly
- Sliding scale price: $175/session - Please respond to this email if you are interested in sliding scale sessions. They are reserved for folks making a household income under 60k or LGBTQIA & neurodivergent folks.
- Now booking consultations if you desire to work 1-1 starting in February
SOUL-ALIGNED BUSINESS COACHING: Available for a select few starting in February. I work best with heart-centered business owners who honed their skills in their craft, who have a built a solid foundation of clients (consistently make $2500+ a month) who are looking to clarify their marketing & offerings, receiving support with copywriting, launch plans and strategy. This work bridges business consulting with somatic & spiritual support so your public work is aligned with the soul of your business and integrity of your heart. I will bring my skills as a seer, wordsmith and my decade of experience as a healer and business owner to draw out of you what makes your work so damn special, potent and needed at this time. This offering is $3000 and includes: - 6 x 60 minute calls over 3 months
- Two depth reviews of your public marketing with my feedback & insights
- Live support crafting one potent Signature Offering including my support as a wordsmith & copywriter for your one offering.
- Private visioning for your year so you know where to place your energy and when.
THE FORTRESS: In late spring, my year-long program The Fortress will open again for enrollment. The Fortress is a 12 month live online program with ongoing support for folks who want to alchemize shame without the treacherous self-help grind, who want to fill their life up with goodness, beauty, and ease. Offering you a space to come out & be seen, mirrored, received and regarded as sacred in a space that would never shame you for being YOU. It's only $125/mo and includes monthly live group support, monthly Q&A calls, somatic education, potent teachings and ritual.
RETREATS: Elemental Embodiment Retreat: Informed by shamanic spirituality and somatic sciences, Melissa and I hold this space aiming for it to be a bridge– reconnecting you to your inherent aliveness and embeddedness in the natural world. October 24-26, 2025 in Jasper, Arkansas
🌈AAAND… IF YOU’RE QUEER, 🌈IF YOU LOVE ADVENTURE, 🌈IF YOU WANT TO BUILD COMMUNITY, 🌈IF YOU WANT HAVE FUN & GET INTO YOUR BODY… STAY TUNED. A RETREAT IS BEING CREATED JUST FOR YOU. :) REPLY “FRIEND OF DOROTHY” NOW IF YOU WANT ON THE WAITLIST.
Well, there you have it. I’m diving back into my wintering cave, and I pray wherever you are, you’re feeling nourished, unhurried and fully alive. Goodness is coming, -Madison |
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“I found God in myself. And I loved her. I loved her fiercely.” -Ntozake Shange |
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PO Box 242
Springfield, Missouri 65801, United States |
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