And then she started running….

It was 3:30am on March 10th, 2022, when I woke up. I don’t have a clock or a phone in my bedroom, so I had to go to the kitchen to see what time it was. It felt like it should be closer to 5 a.m. I had been so tired the night before after returning from Oakland for a jaw adjustment that I went to bed by 7:30 p.m. Eight hours of sleep, I thought.  God, we are so fixated on time. In my time at Rama Business school, we often referenced Gary Vandercheck’s entrepreneurial advice: “What are you doing between the hours of 7 and midnight?” For the spiritually/meditative inclined, those who wake up during the "Amrit Velā" hours, the question might be, “What are you doing between 3 a.m. and 8 a.m.?” So, when I saw the time, I thought, why not? I turned on the hot water.

The first thing I noticed was some sadness in my chest and then a feeling of frustration. Ugh, it felt like Groundhog day. I had thought I was ready to make a move nearly a year ago, but here I was in March 2022, still with no strong impulses on where to go. I had been waiting for that shift in energy, or download of where is next, but after traveling and exploring, nothing felt like the “YES” I was desperately craving. I had my first cup of coffee about 3:45 a.m. as I started to play “cosmic love” in the background. I’m drinking this cool type of instant organic coffee that’s blended with alkaline greens, no acid, which sounds bizarre, but it’s delicious and gives me all the joy of coffee without the anxiety. Coffee is one of my favorite things and I am always trying to find a way to manipulate it in order to enjoy it more. 

I have a few teachers I’m following to help me with my morning meditation. One is very feminine, focusing on feminine mysteries and the ascending energies of the earth that move through us to ground us, while another focuses on the masculine, particularly the upper chakras and the mystical and often revered. Well, this morning, I went with the latter, Joe Dispenza and his “Synchronize to Love” meditation. It starts with this gorgeous heart opening music and then moves into the vastness of frequency. Sometimes I connect deeply with the quantum field, and sometimes I don’t, but this morning, oh how I hit it. I don’t know if it was necessarily the frequency of love, but it did take me into a new dimension that by 20 minutes in, that sadness and frustration had completely melted away.  It was  now close to 6 a.m. and I was “puttering” — a word I love because it helps women get grounded by getting us into our bodies and not our heads.  I’m engaging my body: washing dishes, vacuuming, looking out the window, watching the sunrise, and even dancing a little. It was a beautiful morning, but it wasn’t quite warm enough to head to the beach, where I had something exciting to share.Using your hands, washing dishes, vacuuming, looking out the window, watching the sunrise, dancing. So, I put on some music and started to putter and move my body.  I looked at the weather, a beautiful day was upon us, yet at 6 am, it wasn’t warm enough to head to the beach. 

So, one of my things is and has been feeling as good as I can. I’ve lost a good amount of time not feeling great in this body, and I want to avoid wasting another moment of it. Recently, I was working with this incredible “healer” — a word I use often because I’ve had my share of both teachers and healers. I entered the healing space long before it became an industry, and one of my natural gifts is spotting legitimate healers and teachers from miles away.

So the healer I was working with is essentially a Japanese Chiropractor, but going for beyond physical adjustments. He addresses the energies of a person, and the spiritual, emotional, and physical aspects of a person, which is exactly the kind of holistic approach I appreciate as we are so dynamic and complex. I was referred to him by a well-respected colleague in the industry and we had just finished some blood work to gain a full picture of my health and where I needed support.

When I walked in for our session on a Wednesday morning, he greeted me with a big grin, almost like a teenager. 

So, tell me more about your exercise routine.

Ugh, that question. The question and feeling that has plagued me for so long.

Well, I’m very active. I walk every day. I use the rebounding trampoline almost daily, I tune my body with the coolest tuning fork ever developed to strengthen and tone my body, I do kundalini yoga, oh and I dance as much as possible. He looked at me kind of perplexed and was like you need to MOVE. You are an ATHLETE. A true athlete. Your strength, your endurance, I haven’t seen anything like this in a long time. 

At first, I was like shit, what the hell will this mean? I’m not one for organized classes, I don’t ever want to go into a gym, having to commit to something, when in my other worlds, I’m trying to flow more. Doing anything like that sounds like being caged down. I did pick up skateboarding at age 41 I said. He’s like yeah, you literally can do anything and do it well, with this makeup you have.

As he said that memories of my childhood trickled in. No joke, I was a star athlete back then — track, volleyball, swimming, you name it. I was always one of the first to be picked for teams and won the decathlon at camp with a perfect score one year. But I also remembered how much I started to dislike competition. My sensitivity made me anxious about winning, losing, or letting others down. I hated watching others lose, so I stopped playing sports altogether. By high school, I joined the cheerleading team because my boyfriend was the captain of the football team.

Back to the present day, the chiropractor continued, “Okay, you’re active, but I need you to push your heart, get that cardiovascular system working. You should be huffing and puffing.” I asked, “Can I run on the beach?” He smiled, “Yes. How long?” “20 to 30 minutes is all you need.” “Barefoot?” I asked. “Yes, barefoot!” He said. “Sold.” That’s when I became a runner.

Now I know that many doctors or unfortunately not nearly enough, encourage exercise as it’s good for all humans to move but he said in my case, specifically with my genetic makeup, I NEEDED movement to get all my subsystems working together.  It would help my neurotransmitters communicate and give me the euphoria I was seeking in the etheric world. my spiritual side often craved. I was so inspired. I could give 20 minutes a day to create euphoria and bliss. I told him I’d start running to feel good and that I’d find more dancing in my life because I WANTED to. He thought the plan was perfect, and we shared an honest, eccentric vibe. We’d go way out there in our conversations and he new and often commented on what a warrior I was.

Well now it’s 7:30 am on the beach,  I’m wearing shorts, a sweatshirt, and a ponytail under a baseball cap. My EMF-free headset was in, and my phone was safely tucked in my radiation-free fanny pack. Channeling my inner Rocky, I ran — all the way down to the Getty, which took only about 12 minutes, or three songs. 

As I was about to turn around, I heard one of my favorite camp songs, “Walking on Sunshine.” Instead of walking, I danced. I danced the entire song in the sunshine, feeling alive and in my true essence. After finishing the dance, I ran again, listening to my playlist and dancing whenever I needed a break. What started as “I have to run” left me sky high with endorphins, dopamine and serotonin and feeling so excited and creative as I just started a new run/dance and could make it all my own.

An obligatory run turned into a euphoric experience of endorphins, dopamine, and creativity. I felt alive, inspired, and fully connected to the moment.

The creative juices were flowing.

I feel the love, I feel alive, I feel the love that’s really real. Walking on sunshine, baby yeah!

I ran every day that week and was more productive than ever. That is, until I twisted my ankle from not stretching. Ah, the self-care. Does it ever end? Now I’m doing high intensity training and dancing until it heals. But the creativity hasn’t stopped. Love is in the air. Spring Equinox has ignited the fire of the water tiger energy of 2022 . It is all happening. Penny Lane, Almost Famous.