Thank you to the Finger Lakes Health Fair for putting on an AMAZING event! Please remember to check out my Youtube for excerpts from the event in the spring season of the video series.
Since the Yoga Festival I had hoped to attend in August was cancelled, the Health Fair was my first event setting up a tent and performing sample reiki on my own. This was a completely different experience than being a volunteer in the Grassroots Healing Arts area. My video of that will be on Ithaca cable channel 13 this Friday, and I have it up on Facebook. I plan to upload the Teaching Ithaca Wellness Grassroots Special to Youtube after Friday's broadcast.
The inspiration for this post comes from a perhaps humbling event at the start of the setup process. . . (insert dreamy flashback music here) I was super nervous the morning of the event. Even though I had thoroughly packed my kit the night before, planned out the entire day's schedule by the quarter hour, practiced my workshop, managed to bring my teenager and her musical talent, pack lunch, and more stuff that morning into the car, I kept jerking back in my mind while on the road like I might have forgotten something really really important (and I did, and that is the point of this post).
We arrived at the "fairgrounds", parked, checked in, and drove up to the assigned site. Randy was a huge help with unloading, but I guess I was beginning to sound a bit sturn. Perhaps it stems from having people with bad hearing around when I was much younger, but people started coming over asking if I needed help, I'm assuming due to the volume of my commands. On the drive to the place, I had been using calming breaths, but I guess I had not yet fully arrived into the healing space. I can't transcribe verbatim how the conversation went forth, but I had to thank most one honored teacher who offered her help for the opportunity to notice the disharmony I was projecting through my worry and doubt to carry on with a more graceful and competent demeanor.
What I had forgotten was my presence. Sure, I was aware in driving to the venue enough to take deep breaths, but my awareness was in lack for not having what I need in the future, or scolding a past self for forgetting this thing or that if only to then frantically search my memories for it without physically stopping to look. I was looking in the future what I wanted the tent and set up like without noticing in the now where the misunderstandings where and that my true intention of teaching my child wasn't being respected. In that moment of feeling that people were looking at me, flocking to me, asking if I needed help I noticed the tone of my barking orders. Instead of feeling insulted, or something I was able to be really grateful for that opportunity. Because I noticed that, I could be more present with what was going on. I could really be there in how we needed to work together, and where it was better for them to just entertain me with music, or at least herself on the phone.
The day really did go ideally to plan. I was able to interview several practitioners who I can feature as wellness experts for my spring season, offer sample reiki, and present my workshop. I did forget to bring my box of tissues for kapalabhati breath, but other than that, I felt that the exercises went really well, and I will be very interested to see how the thing went when I review my recording. It's such a nice feeling to be done with something and feel good about your contribution at the end of the day... namaste :)