Reclaim Your Personal Power: Celebrate the New Moon in Leo in Rural Lititz

Body Talks Therapy will once again host a new moon circle in rural Lititz on Saturday, August 11, from 6pm to 8pm! This time, I am honored to welcome and partner with members of Lancaster’s Wild Woman Project as their leader, Emily Alvarez, takes the day off to begin a new chapter in her life!

Some of you may know that while I’ve taken several months off from group events to focus on rest and self-healing, Emily graciously opened her circle to members of the BTT community.  In gratitude for the nurturing, sisterhood, and sacredness her group offered over the past year, I will facilitate practices Emily includes such as guided meditation, journaling and/or drawing, oracle card reading, and group discussion and sharing.

This year’s New Moon in the sign of Leo affords the opportunity to reflect on leadership, creativity, and self-expression. During a small fire ceremony, we’ll shed obstacles to self-confidence and set the intention to step fully into our personal power.

Bring a journal or paper, pen, and your creative instrument of choice (your words; markers or paints; your voice or a musical instrument; dance shoes or bare feet; and any poem, essay, or song you’d like to share). Weather permitting, we’ll gather outside; thus I strongly urge you to bring your natural mosquito repellant and a blanket or chair to sit on.

Attendance is limited to whomever can fit into 10 cars since parking is limited. Therefore, please RSVP here in advance. If your ability to attend changes prior to the event, please update your response as soon as possible to allow others to fill your spot. A $10 donation is suggested but not required.

I am thrilled to see, listen to, share, laugh, and shed tears with all of you again in August!

— Allison Brunner, LCSW, Body Talks Therapy

September New Moon Healing Ceremony Benefits Texans Hit by Hurricane Harvey

Join Body Talks Therapy’s next New Moon healing circle, Friday, September 22, at 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Cash donations paid upon arrival will benefit people and pets via the United Way of Greater Houston and the Houston Humane Society. Suggested donation is $10.

We’ll open sacred space, sing, set intentions for the new moon cycle, send healing to those hit hardest by the 2017 hurricane season, and engage in group sharing and connection.

Bring a journal, an object sacred to you for the altar, art supplies you’d like to use, and your authenticity. All open-minded highly sensitive people are welcome regardless of spiritual background or beliefs who share the desire to impact the world with your inner light, wisdom, and love.

If you would like to share a gift, meditation, prayer, ritual, or heart-thoughts with the group, please contact me by September 20.

Space is limited to participants who can arrive in nine cars or fewer, so please RSVP here in advance and update me as soon as possible if you cannot attend. After you RSVP, I’ll send you the address of our meeting in rural Lititz, PA, as well as parking instructions. We’ll gather outdoors, weather permitting, so please bring a lawn chair or blanket and mosquito spray if current climate conditions still require it.

I look forward to creating miracles with you!

(Note: Proceeds from our August New Moon ceremony are being donated to the National Urban League to support civil rights for Black Americans. Deep thanks to all who contributed!)

—Allison Brunner, LCSW, RM, Body Talks Therapy

Turn and Face the Strange: Changes at Body Talks Therapy and August’s New Moon Solar Eclipse and Healing Circle

Let’s connect once again on Sunday, August 20, at 6:30pm, to celebrate the New Moon Solar Eclipse and all she reveals, at my residence in Lititz, PA. Parking spots are limited, so you must RSVP in advance. Cost is $10.

 

The New Moon Solar Eclipse peaks on Monday, August 21. The eclipse will be visible from the Northwest to the Southeast of the United States. We won’t see it here in Pennsylvania, but we’ve likely begun to notice a shift well in advance and will continue even after.

A new moon solar eclipse brings into our awareness all that we’ve hidden from ourselves that we didn’t want to see. It’s time to return to wholeness and balance.

My ancestors believed that while in the astrological sign of Leo, we’re encouraged to acknowledge our inner royalty and honor ourselves in more dramatic ways. We’re called to become better friends to ourselves, set healthier boundaries, focus on self-care versus abandoning our own needs to meet others’, and step into our power.

When we spend time immersed in the drama of government corruption or arguing with people who live in fear and intolerance, we become drained and give away our power. We forget that our light is alchemical and can transmute hate. If we remembered and lived each moment as though we are the changemakers, here to share our gifts and create a new reality (because we are), what would we do differently? With whom would be share our precious time? Where would we plug the leaks?

With so many inner and outer changes upon us, it may be helpful to ask ourselves what’s important to hold sacred, how to stay centered, and what’s important to release. We could re-evaluate our requirements for those we allow in our inner and outer personal and professional circles and whom to respect as fellow human beings then simply bless and be on our way.

Time Has Changed Me 

One effect of the person transformation in which I’ve been engaged this summer is a desire to orient myself differently as a healer. While I’m proud of my hard work in obtaining my credentials as a clinical social worker and the financial and educational investments I’ve made to maintain licensure in Pennsylvania, the current paradigm of psychotherapy feels a bit weighted and outdated to me. I’ll continue working with current clients in that role for as long as you ask.

Meanwhile, I’ll work with new clients in the capacity of bodyworker (or somatic therapist), energy healer, and/or coach, which will afford me the freedom and creativity to construct the truss of a more effective way of practicing so that I can later bridge the divide between old and new. I’m not abandoning psychotherapy; it is a mix of science and craft that has served humanity well for decades. It simply requires an upgrade.

Further, to ensure the sustainability of Body Talks Therapy as a community offering one-on-one services in an era that has become a bit chaotic for some, I’ve made changes to some policies (which you can read and download here). Engaging in inner exploration, growth, and integration with me by your side is an important personal and financial commitment to Self. I promise to continue to prepare well in advance for and respect our time together and ask clients to do the same. I consider it the highest privilege to be a part of your journey.

As of next week, I’ll require payment when scheduling sessions, and I no longer offer refunds for sessions canceled within 72 hours of our planned time. Clients have the option of engaging by phone or video when unable to see me in person.

Ch-ch-changes 

(Thank your for patience as I get ridiculous with the theme here.)

I’ve never seen so many monarch butterflies in one summer, and it’s not over yet. Meanwhile, I’m still in a cocoon phase, dreaming of what’s to come with regard to workshops and group gatherings here at Body Talks Therapy. Surely as I change, so too will my approach to facilitating community. You can look forward to more news on that before harvest time.

Now I’d like to encourage everyone to frolic and play as a Leo would, basking in the August sun, swimming in sweet summer waters, and connecting more deeply to your own inner fire. Join our next New Moon ceremony and healing circle. It’s going to be a potent one.

—Allison Brunner, LCSW, RM, Body Talks Therapy

Body Talks Therapy Community Members Facilitate July’s New Moon Gathering

Temperatures finally heated up last month, and we’ve had few breaks since! Regardless of where we go to escape, the humidity is pervasive, pesky even indoors.

Something deep, down inside of me (a nagging gut feeling) has worked similarly. It has demanded my attention, followed me around, and gotten persistent by becoming physically and emotionally uncomfortable when I’ve tried ignoring it by staying busy. It has called me into deeper silence, stillness, a place you may have encountered if you’ve ever tried a sensory deprivation tank (which I highly recommend). Like the summer heat, my need to go deeper into this experience of personal transformation hasn’t yet broken.

Some members of the Body Talks Therapy (BTT) community have described similar experiences recently (more on that in a later post). Yet others have sent me text messages and e-mails expressing the need to stay connected to each other in-person.

I want you to know: I hear you. This is your community, after all, and as a BTT member pointed out: We need each other now more than ever to move forward in our collective mission to heal the planet. (I feel you on that; I’ve never sensed the urgency more than I do today.)

You don’t necessarily need me though to facilitate the connection. As I am a healer, so are you (even if you don’t get paid to be). While each of our journeys looks unique, we’re all heading to a similar destination. And there has never been a hierarchy here; you are my peers.

Thus, BTT community members will hold space while I get my fill of mine this month and possibly the next.

Join the BTT community on Sunday, July 23, for our next New Moon gathering. Registered Nurse and Penn State University Lecturer Whitney Nevins will lead the group around a fire pit at my home in rural Lititz, at 6:30pm to 9:00pm, rain or shine. (Bring bug spray and a blanket or lawn chair. I’ll provide free citronella bracelets! We’ll move inside if it rains.)

Frankly, this was what I had envisioned when I created BTT: a community of artists, healers, and other Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) that would grow and become something greater than I. So if you have a special skill set or desire to be of service to like-minded and like-wired folks or to join forces with each other to serve humankind in the way you feel called, reach out to me and let’s chat.

Our newest member, Registered Nurse, Yoga Instructor-in-Training, Spiritual Director, and owner of Sacred Grove Wellness, Erin Miller Shrader, has already begun offering spiritual counseling at the BTT Lancaster office. I’ve discovered personally how intuitive, compassionate, and gifted she is. I’m confident as well as honored to recommend her services. Erin does not tell you what to believe; she witnesses your unfolding and assists you in accessing your truth.

Meanwhile, I hope that all of you are enjoying the season. Summer can be an HSP’s delight, with temperatures inspiring us to spend more time in nature and motivating us to dive into the creeks, lakes, and oceans that soothe our nervous systems so splendidly!

And I promise that when my personal retreat ends, I’ll share in future posts all of the gems I’ve discovered. For now, I look forward to sitting beside you on the New Moon!

Space for humans and cars is limited for the New Moon gathering, so please carpool with other members if you can. RSVP to receive the address, directions, and instructions on where and how to park your car. Cost is $5; please pay cash upon arrival.

— Allison Brunner, LCSW, RM, Body Talks Therapy

 

Highly Sensitive Mystics’ New Moon Meetup Starts Next Week

“One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul,” wrote Clarissa Pinkola Estés, poet, Jungian psychoanalyst, and author of Women Who Run With the Wolves, in her Letter to a Young Activist During Troubled Times. “Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it.”

You, members of the Body Talks community, are beacons of light. Some of you have been seeking opportunities to join forces with like-minded folks to beam more brightly in what a few of you have described “a tough time to be highly sensitive.”

Join me to do just that, during the moon’s darkest phase of the cycle, at the Highly Sensitive Mystics first New Moon meetup, Friday, January 27, 7:15pm to 8:30pm. There are four spaces remaining for those who want to meet in person at 237 N. Prince St., Suite 303, Lancaster (above the Lancaster Trophy House). Ten additional, from San Francisco to Philadelphia, may participate live online.

photo by Amber Johnston

We’ll start the evening by introducing ourselves, then open sacred space in the manner taught to me by one of my teachers, a shaman and practitioner of the sacred energy medicine ways of the Q’ero and the Machi and the female shamans of the Chilean Mapuche. We’ll read poetry (bring your own or a song if you’d like), bless the Earth, and engage in meditation similar to Tonglen to benefit those special to us and to beings worldwide. We’ll hold space for each other and set intentions and burn them in fire, close the circle, and sample a little food and drink.

This will be a smaller, more intimate gathering. As our community grows, we’ll move into a larger space. Until then, please be sure to R.S.V.P. here whether you’re joining us in-person or via Google Hangouts; your payment of $5 reserves your spot. (If you’re a part of my Meetup.com group, I’ve already received your R.S.V.P.). You may also contact me to place you on a waiting list should one participant cancel in advance.

Reach out to me by Wednesday with any technical questions regarding Google Hangouts (make sure you have a Gmail address, and then meet us here a few minutes prior to the start of the event).

In the mean time, I leave you with more from Estés: “I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because, the fact is — we were made for these times.”

That includes each one of you.

—Allison Brunner, LCSW, Body Talks Therapy