Shift in Costa Rica

I just returned home from leading my first Shift retreat in Costa Rica. The experience was rich, important and utterly game changing. It sold out. Everyone got what they came for and much more. The feedback has been incredible. Beyond incredible really. It was more than I hoped for in every way. Some of the participants were former or current clients, one found me via Google search (thank you Mr. Google!), some were brand new to my work and all now feel like chosen family.

I've been trying to put the experience into words and I trust that you will find what you need in here as I share. The very fact that you are here reading this means you are exactly where you are meant to be. Thank you for showing up! You are right on time.

Last year I did a health history with a women who did not become my client. As I answered her questions about packaged cereal bars I knew that our purpose together was being served. I will forever carry what she taught me in our brief exchange.

I could tell by her voice and demeanor that she is a strong, proud and rooted woman. She took herself seriously asking questions with such conviction while inquiring from a place of gentle strength. She was full of uncertainty about what to actually eat to nourish her body but she was clear and unashamed about not knowing. She unknowingly changed me by simply being herself.

I remember talking with my sister after the call telling her how struck I was by this women and that starting NOW I would no longer dismiss myself in big or small ways. I would honor my desires and most of all my gifts. I would not shrink even in moments when I did not know what to do. I would be myself. I would continue to live more and more authentically. I would be rooted in transparency and give up the need to struggle. One baby step after another I have come back to those intentions.

As I reflect on what unfolded in Costa Rica I'm recalling moments like that one on the phone with the women who did not become my client. I am seeing themes and threads in my life with such clarity that looking back they all seem like well worn paths leading me to the next chapters. I believe that the past is not who we are but that is shapes who we are becoming.

So there we all are in Costa Rica on day 1. We sat together in a circle propped up on cushions and Mexican blankets on smooth teak flooring. It was humid + hot but not in an oppressive way. The weather felt intentional as if to invite us to begin the feeling process with sticky skin and beads of sweat rolling down our backs. The room was open to the jungle via two walls of sliding glass doors where Howler monkeys jumped from tree to tree. Yeah. Jungle. Monkeys. Magic. It was the perfect backdrop for doing transformational work.

I asked, "Are you ready to step into your new life?" and as I looked around the circle I saw beautifully eager eyes full of uncertainty. Someone spoke up saying, "Umm even hearing that I just had to swallow really big and I feel a little scared." Nervous laughter followed and then a "Yes, ready." And we began.

Inviting healing with fire + ritual.

What happened over the next few days was miraculous. Break downs. Breakthroughs. Tears. Laughter. Inquiry. Energy moving. Contrast. Breath moving. Time seemed to stand still. Old wounds were healed. Old beliefs shed or transformed. We ate clean food. We listened to each other. We sat in joy and discomfort and celebrated it all. We meditated our brains out. We Shifted.

This is Patty's Shift selfie before and again on the last day. Speaks volumes, doesn't it! I see love unleashed. I see her certainty. I see her inability to hide her infinite potential.

I watched their faces change as the week progressed. I watched my face change as each person in the circle held me with such love, trusted my guidance and listened to my voice chanting through the chakras. We were each others teachers, friends and confidants. We entered into a sacred circle and healed together.

Cliff had breakfast with this guy a few mornings with full on conversations.

One woman said, "There's a difference between making changes and being changed. I AM CHANGED." and she then went on to say that she knows now that she is not broken and the physical pain that used to live in her feet and ankles was gone from her body. Gone. I asked her to repeat herself and as she said, "I AM NOT BROKEN. I AM NOT BROKEN. I AM NOT BROKEN." I knew once again that I would never be the same, that another thread in my life was coming into focus.

This is work I am meant to do and I show up humbly to do it feeling more gratitude than I've ever known. It's wild you guys. Freaking wonderfully wild. While it's true that I can tell you about each of the chakras, what foods are best to eat in particular situations and even some of the science that is happening in your body when you're in meditation --- I know that what I'm bringing to this work is my own special alchemy.

Can you even get over that view!?

I spent a decade with serious breathing issues and now I use my voice to share what I know. I have healed my throat chakra by continuing to take inspired action in my life like moving into an RV, going on soul journey to Bali, leading this retreat... Some days you can hear me breathe, some days you can't and all the days are perfect. I don't worry about it like I did before. I know that one can not fully heal until they feel the fullness and the truth of being whole health. As that dear woman said over and over I AM NOT BROKEN it resonated and reverberated through my entire body as truth. None of us are broken. We never have been and that realization may be some of the most worthy work of your life. The truth is, I am whole health. You are whole health. And being our authentic selves not only heals but it helps to give each other permission to be true and it ripples out into the world.

If you are ready to do this work, if you are feeling called then please join us in Calistoga July 31 - August 2. All are welcome. You only need two things... 1. The desire and willingness to change and 2. an open heart. The rest really will take care of itself.

You can read testimonials from some of the participants here. Apply for Shift Calistoga here.

Thank you for witnessing this journey. With my whole heart, thank you. Lacy

p.s. This. Watch this.

Tremendous gratitude to Ashlie Woods for all the images.

Honest Work

This is work I am meant to do and I show up humbly to do it feeling more gratitude than I’ve ever known. It’s wild you guys. Freaking wonderfully wild. While it’s true that I can tell you about each of the chakras, what foods are best to eat in particular situations and even some of the science that is happening in your body when you’re in meditation --- I know that what I’m bringing to this work is my own special alchemy.

Shift In The Making

Full circle today. I saw the vision of this retreat in Bali last November. It was a deep knowing that the intersection of nourishment and awareness is transformation and that IS my work. 

Before leaving Bali I purchased malas for the people who would be at my first retreat. I remember feeling so nervous and giddy when I purchased them wondering who they were for and curious if the faces that were clear in my vision would show up and say yes. Of course they did! 

Cliff and I sat with the malas today putting love and blessings for each person into them. As I took them off my neck to give them out I felt gratitude like I've never experienced before. They have all shifted. I've shifted too. 
Thank you for being witness to this journey! For the love you've always shown me here and for the celebration I've felt around honoring this knowing. We really are all lifted by being our true selves. 

Ready to shift? Lacyyoung.com

Love Your Selfie

I've been encouraging my retreaters to take selfies along the way to notice changes in their faces as we go deeper into the work of the week. This is me yesterday post body work with an amazing woman named Pascale. She asked what my intention for our session was and I said to clear all inflammation, stagnation and blocks from my body especially around my heart and throat. That by the time our work together is complete I want to feel open in my heart, open in my throat, wildly free and flowing. 

What happened after that was the most profound and deepest shift I've ever felt from body work. Ever. I metaphorically died and came back to life not once but twice. Old parts of me were shed, New beliefs were formed and truths realized. As I walked out of her room everything was brighter, I noticed animals everywhere -- Lizards, birds, monkeys, gorgeous bright red bugs -- I felt a sense of belonging in a way that I've never felt before. I was not just a visitor in a new land... I am them. I am the land. I am. 

Shift IS NOW

Five months ago I returned home from Bali and told Cliff that I knew what I was supposed to do next… I was going to lead retreats, sit in sacred circles and be a part of transformation and healing. The first retreat is here and we are making our way to Costa Rica. Life is so freaking cool.

Pruning.

A dear client told me today that my blog is on her list of comforts. Sandwiched between take a bath and make lentils is read Lacy's blog. I've had this post welling up and swirling around inside for weeks and after that amazing compliment now feels like the perfect time to share. We've been working on renovating our family cabin for the last several months. Total gut job. It's a HUGE project. We are still living in the RV and are currently parked in a nearby(ish) campsite in the mountains. We thought we'd be done by now. Famous last words. Every timeline we've set along the way has been way off. I'm learning to release the need to set timelines at all. We are both itching to get on the road and at the same time feeling the importance of this grounding time sitting still in the woods.

Cliff goes to the cabin nearly everyday and I meet him on my days off. There's this one tree that we pass on the way in that always grabs my attention. It's my favorite. It's riddled with suckers and has obviously never been cared for. I watched it go from seemingly dead to covered in little white flowers and now it is full of leaves.

One day I decided instead of working on the fence or sanding cabinets that I wanted to prune this tree. It took me a little over and hour of sawing off dead limbs and cutting off suckers. With each one I said, "There, that's better. Let's free you up. How does that feel?" With every branch removed I could feel the tree breathing into this new found lightness.

As I stood back to admire my efforts I thought of all the things that I want to free up in my life. I thought of how sometimes we need to take an honest look at our "limbs" and get to work on clearing. There are times too when we need to invite a trusted someone to help remove the dead stuff that's hanging on and the suckers that are perpetuating chaos in our being.

May I give you some permission to stand back and truly survey what's in front of you so much so that you can clearly see what needs to go and what wants to stay? Here's what came up for me that particular day:

• I took "friend-ven-tory". I said each persons name that came to mind aloud and either said 'Thank you, I love you' or 'I release you, I love you.' This is a practice I do a few times a year. My goal is always to live in alignment with what feels best in the simplest way possible. The energy exchange has to be equal or it just doesn't work. Trust me, I've tried the way of forcing it. Lots.

• I thought of our marriage and how as we have been simplifying we are learning to see each other as new each day. Sometimes that is so refreshing and other times it's all caps HARD. We are learning how to give each other space living in this tiny home.

• I thought of drinking alcohol and how much I have loved calling myself a "drinker" and how it feels like it's time to let drinking go.

• And I thought of how life is so full that it goes far beyond living new chapters but living different lives all together and along the way I've been experiencing hundreds upon thousands of personal mini deaths (I mean that in the least morbid way possible). Each is part of making space for the new to enter into this human experience.

If it feels good to you consider embracing the idea of living many lives and moving through many personal deaths. Look at how that's happened in your life up to today and notice what you've learned along the way. Find the threads of your story and you just might see where they are leading you next. Experiment with your life in the most loving way possible. Change jobs. Stop eating or drinking something that is not serving you. Say goodbye to someone, reconnect with someone else. Speak intentionally. Don't say things you don't mean (especially to yourself) and when you do interrupt yourself as soon as you remember and begin again. Shake things up a bit. Give yourself permission to enjoy the ride in the joy filled times and the pure shit times. The truth is, it's all beautiful. It's life.

Get pruning. Lacy

P.s. If you need a trusted someone to help. I'm here and we are going to get dirty on this next retreat. Just like this.