where to start?
hello dear friends.
It has been awhile since i have written and wow where to start. i think this entry will be a sort of stream of consciousness if you don't mind....
So at the moment there are children parading by with drums and dragon costumes for the holiday Kuningan. It is the end of a 10 day holiday Galungan, where there are many ceremonies to appease the bad spirits and welcome the good ones. There are a million more offering than the usual thousand in a day and my host family has said that tomorrow will be a special feast of yellow rice and smoked duck and chicken. The family which I live with ( i rent a little studio in their family compound) is very religious and always going to the temple, making offerings, and having feasts. I would love to go to temple and such with them but my priority is midwifery which they are supportive of because Made, the father, serves on the board of the clinic. They are a very respected family in the village and i feel honored to live with them- and there is always time to feast with them! : )
It is actually my first day back at the clinic in a week. There are tons of volunteers here right now - volunteer coordinating is not the strong point of Bumi Sehat- so I decided to take a craniosacral class that was being offered in Ubud. It was taught by a Russian man who lived at Esalen for 10 years and blends a few types of craniosacral therapy. We had mutual friends so I knew it would be a good class. And it was. 8 of us at a quiet balinese villa feeling the depths of anatomy in our hands, in the space,.... in the pool in which we swam every day at lunch!! I invited 2 of the midwives to join me- one New York CNM whose world got opened up in the best of ways and the other one the midwife who has been assisting me in the perinatal psych sessions. It was tricky for me not to bring in perinatal psychology at every turn but all in all it was a beautiful learning with my teacher having great respect - most of the time- for what I contributed. It made me excited for my long term plan of doing a full craniosacral training with the teachers who have done the perinatal psychology training already and integrate it into their teachings.
What else?
My friend Shannon has just arrived for a 3 week visit. She is an intuitive healer and it is so nice to have her here!! She came to the clinic earlier today and did a little healing for the clinic in general and then we went around to all the new moms and babies and did energy work, craniosacral, and the basic breastfeeding support of course. It felt really peaceful and sweet to support the families in this way. So speaking of babies- I just heard one crying so that is my cue to do another check in.
More later I promise - and tell me how you all are doing!!
Chantia
