Begin Here

A Morning Ritual to Come Alive in Your Body and Spirit

Some art can’t be made in the daylight.

Twice a month, we gather off the beaten path, sharing raw beginnings, wild drafts, and half-formed dreams in a space where your untamed ideas have room to breathe. The Understory is where art grows in shadow and light, where stories are swapped like secrets, and where deep listening changes everything.

If you’re ready to ignite your spark, walk beside other makers, and tend the fire together, join us in The Understory.

A Daily Practice for Creative Intimacy

One way I’ve found to deepen connection with others, whether with humans, animals, or land, is to deepen my intimacy with myself.

This week, I want to share a short daily practice that has been a touchstone for me these past three months. Doing this ritual outside every morning at sunrise, before the day rushes in, has changed the way I show up in my relationships.

1. Begin with Breath
I close my eyes and let my shoulders soften. I draw in three deep, slow breaths, each one deeper than the last. My belly rises like the tide. My exhale pours out like a river returning to the sea. With each breath, I anchor myself: I am here. I am enough.

2. Come Home to My Body
One hand rests on my heart, the other on my belly. I feel the steady thrum of my own aliveness. I ask, without demand: What do you need, love? I don’t rush the answer. Sometimes it arrives as a whisper, sometimes as a flicker of sensation. I trust my body to speak in its own language.

3. Call Forth the Spark
I turn toward the ember inside me, the thing I most want to make, explore, or taste today. I let myself want without apology. I notice the pull in my chest, the ache in my fingers, the way curiosity begins to stretch itself awake.

4. Stand in My Own Light
I plant my feet on the ground and connect to the earth that holds me. From this grounded place, I write down four things:

• what I notice

• what I feel

• what I want

• what I need

5. Name My Compass
I choose one guiding thread for the day. It could be a single word or a sentence: Honor my needs. Move toward joy. Create without fear. Rest. I speak it aloud so it vibrates in the air and echoes back to me. This becomes my quiet north star.

6. Seal with Gratitude
I thank myself for showing up, for carrying both tenderness and fire. I take one last, slow breath, feeling the fullness of who I am, and I step into the day, loving myself as I am, right now.

Feel free to join in, from your neck of the woods!

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The Understory: A Creative Circle

Here, the pace slows. The air is thick with stories, ideas, and the quiet thrill of being seen. We gather in the half-light to share what’s real: our tender beginnings, our wild drafts, our half-formed dreams. This is where we slip beneath the noise, where we learn to listen to ourselves and to each other with the kind of attention that changes things.

Twice a month, we meet to tend the fire, igniting sparks, keeping each other warm, daring each other forward. Writers, painters, poets, photographers, dancers, daydreamers—if something inside you is ready to grow, you belong here. Step off the beaten path into a place where stories are swapped like secrets, where art grows in shadow and light, and where your untamed ideas have room to breathe.

What it is:
The Understory is a twice-monthly, half-hour creative support group on Zoom, exclusively for paid annual subscribers to Forager Wildlife. No extra charge, no pressure. Come as you are, when you can.

What we explore together:

• Nourishment for Creativity – meditation, somatic movement, and playful daily practices

• Storytelling & Connection – the power of being witnessed and witnessing others

• Creative Resistance – shedding perfectionism, fear, and judgment

• Nature, Rewilding & Group Support – foraging tips, field notes, and grounding in ancestral wisdom

Details:

• When: 2nd & 4th Saturdays, noon PT (on Zoom)

• Duration: 30 minutes

• How to join: Become a paid annual subscriber and type “The Understory” in the comments (feel free to share what you most want from this space)

• Spots: Limited to 16 for the inaugural session on October 11

Why join:
Because creativity thrives in community. This is a place where your voice matters, where your ideas are met with curiosity, and where we celebrate growth, vulnerability, and the magic that happens when we show up together. Expect a little improv, some creative play, and a monthly challenge to keep you moving forward.

Ways to Connect

The Understory – begins October 11
To join the waitlist, type “The Understory” in the comments below—feel free to add what you most hope to find in this space.

The Artist’s Way Online Cohort
Weekly written check-ins + monthly Zoom gatherings (currently in progress). Become a paid subscriber to join us. Next Zoom: Sept 6.

Creativity Retreat – Sunday, October 19, 10:00 AM–4:00 PM (In person, So Cal)
Creativity isn’t a gift. It’s a rebellion. A rebellion against the idea that you have to fit into a box. Against the pressure to be perfect, polished, and “finished.” This retreat is for the wild-hearted, the ones who feel the stirrings of something inside them that’s ready to break free. A light lunch will be served. [Click here to register.]

In-Person Yoga

• Yoga at the Maloof, Rancho Cucamonga – free, every Friday at noon

• Yoga at Claremont Craft Ales – 2nd & 4th Sundays, 11:30–12:30

The Forager Wildlife Retreat – Nov 6–9 (San Bernardino Mountains)
Four spots remain. Paid subscribers can reply to this email for details. If you’d like to book a corporate retreat for meditation or survival training, email me for more information.

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Here’s a LIVE conversation with Bennett Rea, from Cookin with Congress

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For our Artist’s Way cohort

Please answer as many of the following questions as you have time for in the comments section, and respond to one another as support in our shared journey.

We are in the home stretch. How did it go for you this week?

• Did you experience any synchonicity this week?

• How many days this week did you do morning pages? How do you feel about the process so far?

• How was your artist date? Did you take your actionable step toward your dream?

• Have you experienced any resistance to any of the above activities? Do you know why? Tell us about how resistance manifests itself for you.

• Did you do any of the tasks? If so, which one/s? Any discoveries there?

• Are you interested in joining The Understory for a less rigid creative practice? Please share anything you’d like me to include.

  Can’t wait to see your faces on Zoom on September 6!

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Thank you for being on this journey with me. I am grateful for the gift of your presence. Walking this path, knowing so many of you are walking it too, gives me hope. May we recognize our interbeing, with one another and the anima mundi, supporting each other in growth and recovery, like a mycelial network.