Did you know that your voice is a snowflake? Every single voice is unique due to your genetics, the dimensions of your face, and the shape of your body. No one on Earth has a voice like yours.

With the turn of the calendar year, we may be tempted by the idea of sudden transformation. While that is absolutely possible, more often than not, profound change happens over time, and with consistency and frequency.

The following review was published in the 2024 Conscious City Guide.

This week we arrive at the Winter Solstice, the day when our Northern Hemisphere tilts as far away as possible from the sun. Also called Midwinter, this is the shortest day and the longest night of the year for those of us in the north.

I recently met singer-songwriter Stephen Wilson Jr. at his concert on the Lower East Side. We talked about sound healing and I explained how different instruments create unique vibrations that reach distinct areas of the body—physically and energetically.

A quick note and a card pull for this missive.

Recently, I left my house without my phone. Although I’m old enough to have once been a functioning adult without a cellphone, it felt very strange to be out and about without my constant companion.

Here in the northeast, the leaves have begun to change color and fall gracefully toward Mother Earth. While this beautiful and age-old phenomenon appears, on the surface, to be a passive detachment, it actually involves intentional actions from the tree, including the release of certain hormones causing each leaf to separate from its branch.

When times feel heavy

Remember that you are not Atlas

Made to hold the heavens upon your shoulders.

Did you know that, in many ancient cultures, 13 is the number of the divine feminine? This is because the moon has 13 cycles per calendar year and, on average, women have 13 menstrual cycles per year, as well.

We are nature. And the autumn season reminds us that we, too, need to periodically shed things that we’ve outgrown. Be it a job, a living space, a habit, or a relationship…

As a collective, we’re being called to step more fully into our authentic selves. To be your truest self is to be joyfully aligned in mind, body, and spirit. But how do you do this? How do you become your authentic self?

At this point, I honestly can’t imagine my life without reiki. While it’s challenging to explain the unseen in words, I think it’s worthwhile to try. Especially when it comes to this gentle-yet-powerful healing practice.

Do you know the main ingredient in the secret sauce of healing?

It’s so simple.

Have you ever received a message at the exact right time? Maybe you got a text from a friend just as you were thinking about them? Or heard a line in a song that spoke to your soul just when you needed to hear it?

Have you ever felt an instant connection to a word? As a spiritual being and a lover of language, I find words and names highly intriguing. The first time I heard the phrase “Akashic Records” I felt an immediate shift in my awareness and a sense of reconnection, which drove me to learn more about this practice on my own and under the guidance of wise teachers.

From childhood, most of us are taught to fear our emotions. We’re told to “stop crying” and “calm down” by adults who are struggling under the weight of their own unprocessed feelings.

I recently returned home from two magical weeks in Italy. Half of the trip was devoted to a life-changing spiritual retreat steeped in ceremony, movement, song, sisterhood, ancestral healing, and more.

Now that we’ve crossed the threshold of Summer Solstice, marking the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, our days will slowly begin to yield to night earlier and earlier until we reach the Winter Solstice in December.

You may have heard the phrase “be the light” used in the context of spirituality, but what does it really mean and why does it matter?