Befriend your body. Rewrite the story of your life.

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Journal

I call this “The Journal” instead of “The Blog,” because it’s personal.

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The Definition of Freedom

by Sonja Semyonova | Mar 4, 2021 | Journal

To get free sometimes looks like you’re losing your mind. Because that is exactly what is happening.

Healing Is a Million Things

by Sonja Semyonova | Mar 2, 2021 | Journal

The cures always contradict one another.

You can make an altar containing all five elements facing East, or you can let your child place her collection of seashells and pinecones on whatever windowsill she likes and call that your sanctuary.

We Have Lost a Lot

by Sonja Semyonova | Mar 1, 2021 | Journal

We have lost a lot. Car keys. Phones. Minds. Most of this will likely never be found again.

Even the spiritual teachings are incomplete.

March yoga tutorial: Walking practice

by Sonja Semyonova | Mar 1, 2021 | Journal, The Nest, Yoga at Home, Yoga Nidra

March yoga tutorial: Walking practice https://player.vimeo.com/video/521582559?app_id=122963

Bindweed

by Sonja Semyonova | Feb 25, 2021 | Journal

My favorite garden I’ve ever grown was filled with weeds. Bindweed is the name of the plant that weaved itself around my carrots, kale, cauliflower, okra, and squash. It’s such a pest that a professional gardener I know asks if a person has it in their yard before taking any seedlings. The seeds can live for hundreds of years and the roots can grow to depths of 10 feet. You have to tip your hat to a plant with that kind of audacity.

You Already Have a Daily Routine

by Sonja Semyonova | Feb 24, 2021 | Journal

Some people sleep with their phones under their pillows and check Twitter the moment they rise. Some people leave their phones on airplane mode in a separate room until 9:00 a.m.

Some people eat breakfast by 8:00 a.m. Some people forget to eat until midday.

Black Culture Is American Culture

by Sonja Semyonova | Feb 22, 2021 | Journal

Black music has fed mainstream culture like a sacred spring. The songs, the dances, the soul — all of it has laid the foundation of everything that we want from pop culture. A foundation that is appreciated, but hung out to dry in the sun until it’s faded enough to make it sell.

Why is Overrated

by Sonja Semyonova | Feb 18, 2021 | Journal

I taught a course a few Mother’s Days ago for women seeking to rewrite the stories of the birth of their children (I have an itch to offer it again this year, so keep a lookout if you missed it). In it, I got to witness a gap between something that is commonly known among midwives, doulas, and witchy wisdom guides: we don’t get the birth we had imagined.

When Clowns Get Crowned

by Sonja Semyonova | Feb 17, 2021 | Journal

I was certain that Donald Trump would never be elected. “Él es un payaso,” (He is a clown) I explained to my server in Mexico back in late 2015 with a casual wave of my hand. My server maintained a worried expression. His family was in the U.S. and what Trump was saying then was a direct threat. One that became a reality.

I Don’t Know

by Sonja Semyonova | Feb 16, 2021 | Journal

I recently unfollowed a doctor who talks about one of my favorite topics (vulvas). I like her book, and respect that she had the ovaries to write it, but she did this thing that MDs do — speak with 100% certainty about topics that their medical degree does not qualify them to say.