Awaken Your Senses {Mini-Pilgrimage Day 2}
Hello Sexy Pilgrims!
Welcome to Day 2 of the Romance & Adventure Mini-Pilgrimage! How did yesterday's challenge go? Are you breathing with love? I want to see more of your pics on Instagram! Tag them @morgandaycecil #RAchallenge
I know a cure for sadness:
Let your hands touch something
that makes your eyes smile.
I bet there are a hundred objects close by
that can do that.
Look at beauty's gift to us--
her power is so great
she enlivens the earth, the sky,
our soul.
- Mira
I remember a time when an old Italian woman spritzed me with a clementine. She peeled back the skin and pinched it so that the fruit kissed me with its juice.
I flinched, then froze. I had no container within me to fit her vibrancy and joy. My world was a world of sadness, even while living in Italy. Though I was on an adventure living on my own in another country, I had little sense of true freedom and play. Nanda was changing me though. With her citrusy-sweet practical jokes she was awakening me to a kind of life I had forgotten. The kind of life where all our senses are engaged.
When she spritzed me again the room became electric with new life and I began to see, really see, the way poets and those in tune with everyday beauty do. Seeing, I began to laugh with joy. "This is what it must feel like to be Italian!" I thought, and I ached to be Italian.
When I came home from those months of living in Italy I bought a clementine at the market and peeled the skin back. No matter where I was living I decided to train my heart to see like Nanda, to awaken all my senses to the beauty around me everyday.
Something I’ve learned is that adventure isn't a place, it's a perspective. Sometimes it takes a great amount of bravery to search for the beauty in your everyday world. Maybe you feel stuck in a rut and have been living in the doldrums for longer than you care to remember. Be courageous and search for your clementine anyway. Dare yourself to engage with the world around you in playful new ways.
Today's Practice
Start a list of all the things that you love- call upon all your senses to create this inventory. Ask your eyes what make them smile, ask your hands what they love to touch. Ask your nose what delights it. Ask your tongue what flavors makes it sing. Ask your ears what music calms your oratory soul. Put it all on the list. Add to it every day this week until you have at least a hundred items. You’re compiling your own cure for sadness by training your whole being to look for beauty’s gifts to you everywhere.
Every moment life can begin again. Sometimes, it is as easy as kissing yourself with a clementine. See you tomorrow for Day 3.
Grace & Peace,
Morgan
Morgan
p.s. Share a pic on Instagram from your first day on the pilgrimage and tag @morgandaycecil @romanceandadventure #RApilgrimage.
p.p.s. My husband and I actually did a whole podcast episode on delighting in your senses. We recorded it last Spring while staying at a farmhouse in Spain which sat at the edge of a fragrant orange grove! I was in heaven. Can you tell I love my citrus fruit? Listen here for more sensual talk.
CORE TRUTH: Life can begin again.
Meet Your Guide
Hi! I'm Morgan. I wanted to share a little about me for those who are new here! (Welcome!)
I come from a personal and family history of anxiety and depression. That dark world almost swallowed me whole, but it didn't; I found the path of romance, adventure and feminine wholeness instead.
By way of yoga and meditation and overcoming my own struggles with womanhood- from sex and food, relationships and to self-worth, motherhood and career-- I found my way into my current work as an Integrated Feminine Wholeness Coach specializing in Sex, Love & Relationships.
I am so in love with this job where I get to partner with incredible woman (like you!) to help them FEEL in their bodies and soul what they are made to feel. I hope this Mini-Pilgrimage gives you a taste of what's possible when you come home to yourself.
My all time favorite quote is "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." That sums up the message of Jesus to me, perfectly. It's always and forever about Love.
Fun facts: My husband and I sometimes do a podcast called Sexy Tuxedo Jesus. I've held many fun jobs including flight attendant and pole-dancing instructor. I'm a mom of two. We live in Portland, Or. But I escape to warm places as often as possible. My favorite place is Italy and I'll be there with 9 of you in July for the Sophia Embodied Retreat! That one is sold out but I'll be opening up a September Sophia Retreat in Palm Springs soon.
I'm so happy you are here. And I'm always just on the other side of these emails, so don't hesitate to hit "reply" and say hello! I look forward to it!