Monday, the last day of the Unemcumbered Festival at West Winds Sanctuary had arrived. We opened up with yoga on the hill, led by Ashera. Then we all went around the circle and said different people we wanted to pray for and send good energy to. I named some family members. Afterwards we thought about all the good things we wanted to send them and put it all into an energy ball and pretended we had bow and arrows and shot them out into the universe.
Outside by the cauldron, Suzanne was doing some muscle testing and healing work. I don’t fully understand it, but I will do my best to explain it. She had a light sensor that she would put on different parts of the body, like the liver for instance, and it would show if you had an energy blockage there. Then she would have you raise your arm and push down on it while she moved the light into different places. If your arm stayed straight and lifted, your energy there was good and flowing. If your arm went down, it meant you had a blockage. She would use a book called Feelings Buried Alive Never Die that explained different emotions and feelings that are associated with that area of the body. It was fascinating. One thing she told me while working with me is that my belly button piercing was acting as a blockage for my energy. I took her advice and removed it, at least for the time being.
The rest of the day I spent relaxing. Sam V. had to leave that day, which sadly meant I also had to say goodbye to my pup.
Later that night we all gathered together in the house for some poetry. Mitchel and Michelle led it. They had each of us pick a random word. Some we came up with were doorway, abducted, and wippersnappers. Then we had to create sentences that represented each word. For doorway we picked: What did I come in here for again? And for wippersnappers we chose: Get off my lawn. They then took the phrases we’d come up with and put them into a very random, silly poem. It was hysterical. Mitchel had a whole book of poems collected from different events and eventually plans to publish it, giving the proceeds to events like the one we were at now. When it ended my eyes were starting to close, but I wanted to chat with my new friend, Melissa, before going to bed. Our short talk turned into a few hours long talk. We eventually went outside and sat on the wooden swing as we continued to talk about life, our families, and relationships. The next day the festival was over, but people still lingered. Val offered to lead us in yoga. It was a peaceful, slow session, but I could still feel my body giving out at the end with everything I had done that weekend. After yoga a few people decided to go on a hike up St. Regis Mountain. I wanted to go for a hike but it was a little over six miles and I wasn't sure if my body could handle it. At the last minute I decided to go, and I'm so glad I did. Five of us went, Emma, Stefan, Teela, Sam, and I. We danced and sang in the car the whole way to the trail entrance. Once we got there, Emma and Stefan decided to do the entire hike barefoot. I decided to join them, but I only made it about four miles barefoot before deciding to put my shoes back on. I always prefer to be barefoot, but that was my first time being barefooted while hiking. I loved how I was able to feel every root under my feet and the mud between my toes.
It was absolutely beautiful at the top of the mountain. We had a 360 degree view. There were multiple lakes placed throughout the mountains below. It was breathtaking. There was a tall metal fire tower and we all climbed to the top. In the tower there were maps on the ceiling that named a lot of the lakes we could see below. We sat in the tower eating snacks we had brought with us. Before we climbed back down, Stefan said he needed to let out a yell. We all joined in, screaming to the mountains below, releasing anything we had pent up as we screamed.
Climbing back down the tower we all sat on the rocks enjoying the land and taking in the view. Even though we could have sat there all day, we eventually had to head back down. We walked the trail as the sun started to set. We walked along in the dark for as long as we could, but eventually we needed to bust out the flash lights.
When we arrived back at the house my friend Melissa was cutting hair. She had cut multiple peoples’ hair throughout the festival. I sat in the chair and she started trimming away. I normally had been cutting my own long hair, often without even looking in a mirror, so it was a bit of a mess. She ended up taking off about two inches, and got it all evened out. It felt so much healthier.
I hung out with some friends and chatted as the night went on. I even was able to get a bath in, which was amazing. At the end of the night a few of us retired to the cauldron to sleep. I slept in a loft area with a mattress, It was nice to sleep on a bed with a roof over my head.
The next morning Val directed another yoga class. I helped a bit with clean up. Then I said goodbye to all my new friends, packed up my belongings, and hit the road, heading to my next stop, wherever that may be.
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