Inner Space Astronomy

Life in year six post TBI feels like an absolute dream.

It’s always felt so impossible to put into words how my injury was/is the most difficult and the best thing that has ever happened to me, and how much it has transformed my experience in the most magical ways.

Recently I read a book that captures so much of that experience: S*x With a Brain Injury: On Concussion and Recovery by Annie Liontas.

I encourage everyone to read this book, especially if you or a loved one has experienced a brain injury, though the author also does a wonderful job of illustrating how this is a social issue affecting all of us (I also love that she refers to her Craniosacral Therapist as “the witch”)

As usual in my experience with reading brilliant books, this one came at the most divine time and helped me to continue to heal & be open to embracing the next grand adventure.

& The Universe, knowing I was now ready for it, thrust me quickly into the next grand adventure! Within a day of finishing the above mentioned book I accepted the most wonderfully aligned career change, then spent a week in the beautiful city of Baltimore training with some incredible folks, and then spent this past weekend in Minneapolis/St Paul celebrating life & love & almost one year of marriage with Nick 💖

I will continue to offer sliding scale Craniosacral Therapy in the evenings (feel free to reach out if you want me to be your witch lol), but during the day my focus will be on holding space for high school students as a Mindful Moment Facilitator. Students can either refer themselves, or be referred by school staff, to visit a room I facilitate within the school designated for meditation, breathwork, and yoga.

I am so grateful & excited to be able to provide free, accessible, and empowering resources to students, faculty, and community members so they can connect deeply with their bodies and access their limitless potential. & I remain deeply committed to my Craniosacral work, I see these two roles complimenting & supporting each other beautifully.

(Conclusion in the comments 💖)

As we transform with our world into the next season during today’s summer solstice, allow your body to feel & embrace all of the growth around you & within you.

You’ve come so far to be here now, and I am so grateful you’ve chosen to continue to co-create this world with us.

Even though it may not always feel like it, our bodies are our greatest resource, and they want to do all they can to support us in repair & growth, to support us in liberation at the cellular level.

If you feel passionate about our collective liberation, know that this goal begins with your body - with creating space & time for your body to rest, process, release, remember, integrate, regenerate, and soften.

Creating an environment where liberation is inevitable begins with creating that environment within your own system. Build momentum towards collective growth by focusing on strengthening your greatest resource, your connection with your body.

Craniosacral therapy is a resource for somatic liberation. In a session you can give your body the opportunity it’s been waiting for to do whatever it needs to do right now, free from expectation, analysis, and judgement. You have the ability to be in your body & feel what you need to feel in a safe, supportive, and radically neutral space.

To allow this resource to be financially accessible, sessions are sliding scale: $60 - $120 for 75 minutes. If this sliding scale is not accessible for you, 3 free sessions are offered a month to support organizers, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and low income folks. I am also always open to exchanges.

You are an essential part of co-creating this world, and you have the power to create collective liberation through the time, love, and energy you dedicate to supporting your system.

To create an environment where liberation is not only possible, but inevitable, we need to create space and time to be in our bodies.

Liberation is not a way of thinking, liberation is a way of being. We are not there yet, but each day we are expanding what is possible.

The popular university movements have strengthened my belief in our collective future. I cannot accurately put into words how moved I am by students strength & passion for justice. When UWM students began their encampment, I felt called to support them.

I am not an organizer, and I am not able to attend to the urgent strategizing inherent to social movements. But we all have a role to play in collective liberation, and I am so grateful to have found mine.

Supporting folks with craniosacral therapy in the liberated zone medic tent was an incredibly beautiful experience that I will never forget. The amount of connection & ease I felt in the liberated space created by students who refused to be complicit in genocide was palpable.

Students at UWM and around the world have shown us, through the loving & powerful act of taking up space, that collective liberation is possible.

Radical action & healing modalities are inextricably linked, and both are essential for our collective liberation. We need the space & time to process and integrate the magic of the actions, so that we can feel that liberation in our bodies. So that we can become that liberation.

Organizers deserve nervous system regulation. They deserve to have the space and time to feel deeply so they can continue the high risk actions they do on behalf of the collective sustainably.

Contact me to learn more about opportunities for free craniosacral sessions for organizers, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and low income folks. Let’s create an environment where liberation is inevitable together 💖

With everything happening in our collective environment, it’s incredibly valid to experience hopelessness.

When this experience comes, it can feel safer to shut down and disconnect rather than allow ourselves to feel that hopelessness fully.

What if we allowed ourselves to feel exactly as we feel in this moment without judgment or analysis?

The fear of feeling too deeply keeps us disconnected from our bodies.

When we’re disconnected from our bodies we forget who we are, why we are here, and how incredible it is to be alive.

Crainiosacral therapy supports our body’s innate will to live and regenerate.

Your body wants and needs you to be here. All our bodies want and need you to be here. We will build a world in which it is safe to feel deeply.

We expect so much of ourselves. There is so much happening all of the time, and we are constantly adapting, analyzing, and predicting in order to survive. We rely on our expectations to inform us, protect us, and to help us avoid the unknown.

The pressure of expectation can create disconnection with our bodies and with our environment. In order to deepen our connections, it’s essential we create space & time to exist without expectation.

To exist without expectation is to be fully present and aware, simply being rather than analyzing, judging, and predicting. Just allowing yourself to be however you are in this moment - not holding on to the previous moment or anticipating the next one.

This can be a difficult practice when we are so used to centering our lives around expectation. But when we intentionally create space & time to exist without expectation we allow our most authentic experience of this moment to emerge.

Craniosacral therapy is a powerful opportunity to allow your body to exist without expectation in a radically neutral space. If you are interested in creating space & time for your body, schedule a 75 minute sliding scale craniosacral therapy session.

What becomes possible when you allow your body to exist without expectation? I am here if and when you are ready to find out.

What becomes possible when you allow your body to exist without expectation?

Are you ready to find out?

Craniosacral therapy is a powerful opportunity to allow your body to exist without expectation in a radically neutral space.

Inner Space Astronomy offers sliding scale craniosacral therapy in Milwaukee, WI - visit innerspaceastronomy.com to schedule space & time.

Space & time are our most valuable resources.

Experiencing space & time to just be/exist as we are in this moment is what our bodies need more than anything.

How often do you create radically neutral space and time for your body, free from judgement and analysis?

How often do you allow your body to exist without expectation?

Craniosacral therapy is a powerful opportunity to create space & time to allow your body to do whatever it needs to do - process, release, remember, integrate, regenerate, soften.

I have some openings available this November for donation based craniosacral therapy before I transition to a sliding scale payment system this December.

Send me a message if you’re interested in creating space & time for your body 💖

If you’re ready to dramatically change the way you perceive existence, read the book “Black Holes: The Key to Understanding The Universe” and let’s talk lol.

The last couple months I’ve been spending a lot of time wrapping my brain around the concept of spacetime - the forth dimension that we know exists but cannot perceive.

Everything that has ever happened and will ever happen already exists as a place in spacetime.

Our universe is infinite, so every outcome is not only possible, it already exists.

We are all actively co - creating the future of our universe with the choices that we make.

Anything is possible as it all exists already.

Life is not suffering. Life is feeling.

We have the incredible ability to feel absolutely everything.

Some of what we feel we label as pain. Those feelings can remind us of when we are pushing past our capacity or boundaries, or those feelings can be grief holding the reminder of love.

And maybe these feelings of pain just exist sometimes, not as a reminder of anything, but just part of being here and being alive and feeling everything there is to feel.

To be alive is to feel, and not everything will feel pleasant.

Electricity is present in 99.999% of our universe, so it is quite literally everywhere and in everything.

Electricity is the catalyst for transformation and regeneration of cells and communication among cells.

Lately I’ve been learning a lot about bioelectricity and the possibilities of the future if we can truly understand our own bodies.

The magic of electricity - flowing within us and within every other cell around us, is incredibly exciting, and I also notice ways in which we struggle to find balance living in a constant state of polarity.

In this charged world, neutrality is an incredibly powerful practice.

Neutrality is the practice of being completely open and free of judgment or analysis.

Rather than focusing on knowing and understanding something, neutrality is focused on simply being present and open.

Although we have constant currents of electricity moving through our bodies and working within our cells, we can work to create balance through moving towards neutrality in our meditations, in our interactions, and in all aspects of our daily life.

Craniosacral therapy is a practice of radical neutrality for both bodies involved in the session. Sessions create space to allow the body to do whatever it needs to do - process, release, remember, soften - all free from judgement or analysis.

If you live in the Milwaukee area and you are interested in giving your body a radically neutral space to transform within, reach out to schedule a by donation CST session.

Caves are a monument to the incredible beauty and history of our Earth, a Time Capsule of minerals where time slows all the way down.

Growth happens in a cave at 1cm per 100 years, so they remind us that growth is an incredibly slow process.

You may be thinking, “I’m not a cave Rosa! I would only grow a centimeter or maybe even less in my lifetime in cave growth! I want to grow and expand far beyond a centimeter!”

What if it’s more than ok that all we are is a centimeter of growth in a cave?

What if we could see ourselves as part of the grand trajectory of growth, each centimeter helping to form a structure of spectacular beauty?

As we transition to spring, it’s a beautiful time to receive (love, knowledge, inspiration).

Receptivity is the ability to be present, open, and vulnerable enough to receive.

Qigong is a practice centered around reaching out for and accepting Qi (love, knowledge, inspiration) from the universe. We strengthen our receptivity muscles by gathering and receiving resources together.

April's free Qigong practices are on Monday, April 3rd & Monday, April 17th from 6pm to 7pm CST. 

When folks experience craniosacral therapy, they allow themselves to be receptive to communications from their bodies and the universe.

Qigong & CST are wonderful resources for completing the powerful circuit of giving and receiving.

Just as we need both a power source and a conductor to form a circuit, we must both give and receive to create growth individually and collectively.

What are you doing to strengthen your receptivity muscles? How can you be more open, present, and vulnerable? Imagine what you’ll call in once you're fully open to it.

The spring equinox is a portal. How will you prepare yourself to enter this portal? What will you bring with you? What will you leave behind? Who and how do you want to be on the other side of this portal?

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about our wedding day, and how that will be a grand portal that transports us into married life.

Each day until then is focused on preparation, working towards being ready to meet and embrace this divine portal.

Each event in our lives and our environment is a portal, an opportunity to transform and evolve.

During an Equinox, we can choose to change along with our environment.

How will you celebrate & welcome this Monday’s Spring Equinox portal?

You are so welcome to join us for a free online Qigong practice! Entering the Qi Field is a wonderful way open the portal to the next progression. We are gathering from 6pm - 7pm CST, this Monday, March 20th.

Craniosacral is another beautiful resource for opening and transversing portals, within your environment and within your body. Interested folks can reach out at any time.

However you choose to celebrate the Spring Equinox, know that you can use this portal as a magical opportunity to grow and bloom along with our earth.

Congratulations! You’ve made it to March. Even though it may not feel like it, we’re in the home stretch to Spring.

March is a transitional month, and Qigong is a wonderful way to welcome and ease transition. Join us for two free Qigong practice opportunities this month:

🌱 Monday, March 6th from 6pm - 7pm CST

🌱 Monday, March 20th from 6pm - 7pm CST. Celebrate the Spring Equinox with Qigong!

Craniosacral therapy is also a wonderful resource for aiding transition, and I will continue to offer sessions by donation for Milwaukee area folks. If you’re interested, send me a message.

Spring is coming! Remind yourself of this often. Celebrate the extra minutes of sunlight as they slowly expand our days.

I’m so excited to see us all transform together.

The past few years I’ve been slowly opening my heart to the world. I continue to work towards embodying love in each moment, so that each choice I make can come from a place of love and divine presence.

With craniosacral therapy, every communication and intuition comes from the heart. I feel so much gratitude for the folks that have been open to receiving sessions. If you live in the Milwaukee area and you’d like to experience a by donation CST session, let me know.

With Qigong, the practice of (re)joining the universal Qi field is heart centered. There are two opportunities this month to join our free online Qigong practice:

⁃ Monday, February 6th at 6PM CST
⁃ Monday, February 20th at 6PM CST

Here and now is the most vulnerable and open I have ever been with my heart, and I hope that continues to grow with each moment that comes. Love and presence are inextricably intertwined, we cannot truly be one without the other.

Lately I’ve been focusing on embodying love as a resource for pain management and the results have been powerful. The more we can become love, the more we can meet any challenge that arises.

However you choose to spend your time this February, I hope you create space to be present so you can hear and follow your heart 💖

If you haven’t yet had the opportunity, go read Tricia Hersey’s manifesto “Rest is Resistance”.

I fell in love with the line “I’m firmly planted in my imagination and the beauty of my own liberation” and I’ve been repeating it to myself like a mantra the last few days.

I started experimenting with rest involuntarily after my accident in 2018 and have been intentionally and excitedly moving towards rest since 2020.

There are infinite ways to find rest. If you haven’t identified what methods are most restorative for you, now is always the best time to start!

No matter what else is going on in my life and my day, I create space for at least 30 minutes of meditation in the morning, and at least 30 minutes of reading at night.

I make that time possible because they are two practices that I absolutely love, and that’s the most essential element of a rest practice.

When you find rest practices that you absolutely love, it won’t feel difficult to prioritize them - to fit your schedule around rest practices instead of the other way around.

It’s incredible what ideas & opportunities come through when you create time & space for rest.

So many wonderful things are happening this December (including my intensive craniosacral therapy retreat at an ecology center in IL!) and I want to make sure I can be present for all of it.

That being said, part of my December rest commitments involves me taking a break from social media. You are still welcome to reach out via email at [email protected] with questions about the free online Qigong practice and CST by donation.

There will be only two free online Qigong practices this December: Monday, December 5th from 6pm-7pm and Sunday, December 18th from 3pm - 4pm. You can join these practices from the events page at innerspaceastronomy.com.

I hope you have a magical holiday season filled with beings & experiences that you love, see you in 2023 💖

Join us on Sunday, December 18th from 3pm - 4:30pm for a free online Qigong practice and winter solstice celebration! 🎉

December is an important month to slow down, rest, and integrate & celebrate everything that has happened this past year.

Looking back at everything you’ve experienced in 2022, when did you feel most present, most connected, most alive?

Where were you? What were you doing? Who were you with? How did you feel?

Revisit these times and remember as much as possible about them so that next year you can create space for more of that.

As you reflect on this year and imagine the next, commit to a rest practice this season.

Whatever that looks like for you - drawing, writing, napping, stretching, meditating, breathwork, bathing, puzzling, reading, playing, crafting, cooking, Qigong, whatever you want!

A commitment to rest is a commitment to growth, individually and collectively.

The Inner Space Astronomers free community group meets seasonally around the solstices and equinoxes to celebrate, connect, and commit to self & community care.

We’ll start off with a Qigong practice to calm our nervous systems and create connection across time and space.

After Qigong, folks will be invited to share connected moments from this year and commitments for this season.

You can join us by clicking on the events page at innerspaceastronomy.com - I hope you’ll choose to be there 💖

When you make connections you create reality.

Our entire collective reality is built in connection, built in relationships.

So when we form connections we are generating an act of creation.

“Creation isn’t a ‘long, long ago’ event, because creation is still unfolding now and will continue to unfold if we know how to know it.” - Tyson Yunkaporta

Creation continues to unfold constantly, and it’s fueled by our connections, fueled by our relationships with others and our environment.

The present and the future are actively created by the vast network of connections we are forming with each and every entity within us and around us.

Disconnection is destruction.

When we disconnect from ourselves and our world, and we do this collectively, as a society, we create an unsustainable future.

So to create the sustainable future that we all deserve, it’s imperative that we actively move towards connection.

How are you moving towards connection in your life?

What are you doing to create space for the people, places, and experiences that call to you?

Qigong has been a powerful practice for me personally, that’s why I’ve created a free online practice space every other Sunday & Monday through next Spring, and I hope you’ll choose to join us!

Craniosacral therapy gave me the space to move from a place of extreme disconnect to a wonderfully connected one. If you live in the Milwaukee area, I’ve started offering sessions by donation, and I would love to schedule a time to connect with you.

However you choose to spend your time, choose to move towards connection.

Free online Qigong practices this Sunday
& Monday! 🚀

Events — Inner Space Astronomy Together we have the power to build the systems we deserve.

Seasons are changing and our Qigong practice is moving to an online format allowing folks to join from all around the world!

This free online practice will take place on zoom on select Sundays & Mondays through spring 2023.

The first two practices will be held on Sunday, October 9th from 2pm - 3pm CDT and Monday, October 10th from 6pm - 7pm CDT.

You can sign up to receive the zoom links by going to innerspaceastronomy.com and clicking on the events page.

This practice is open to anyone who is interested in joining, Qigong is all about intention so prior experience is not necessary.

These practices are led from a standing position but can also be done while sitting or lying down. You are welcome to turn your camera off for all or any part of the practice.

Celebrate the transition into Fall with Qigong and an Inner Space Astronomers meeting!

We’ll be gathering a few days after the Equinox on Sunday, September 25th from 2pm - 4pm.

A free group Qigong practice will take place between 2 and 3, and after folks are invited to join the seasonal Inner Space Astronomers meeting from 3 to 4.

Qigong is all about intention. During the Lift Qi Up, Pour Qi Down Zhineng Qigong practice, we will access the Qi field as a group, creating a wonderful sense of relaxation and connection.

From this place of regulated presence, you are invited to join the Inner Space Astronomers meeting. This group is open to folks who are interested in exploring and experimenting with their Inner Space to check in, ask questions, be in community, and give and receive support.

If you’d like to attend one or both parts of this event, you can go to innerspaceastronomy.com/events to join us.

I hope you’ll choose to be there!

Portal to Connection: a practice/event that regulates the nervous system and inspires a sense of presence, curiosity, and wonder. Experiences that create a sense of time and place.

Qigong is a portal to connection, beautifully demonstrated by the pedestrian tunnel that folks enter on the way to our practice in Hubbard park.

The tunnel is symbolic of the practice itself, intentionally making the journey from the man made concrete to the magic of the natural world.

The practice of Qigong is the process of entering the Qi Field, the universal energy field that connects all of existence.

When you enter the Qi field, you feel both energized and a deep sense of calm grounded presence.

Despite the circumstances of the time before your practice, you feel a wonderful sense of being in the right place at the right time.

The more we access portals to connection together, the more we create time and space to imagine new worlds.

What experiences in your life have been portals to connection? How can you create more space for similar experiences?

“The external point of view is a view that does not exist. Every description of the world is from inside it. The externally observed world does not exist; what exists are only internal perspectives on the world which are partial and reflect one another. The world is this reciprocal reflection of perspectives.”

Recently I read Carlo Rovelli’s book “Helgoland: Making Sense of the Quantum Revolution.” This short and accessibly written book on the relational theory of quantum physics was a delight to read.

I had no idea there was such a scientific backing for the view I’ve intuitively held about the world and it was so magical to see it supported by someone who has dedicated their life to this theory.

The relational theory states that rather than the world/reality being made up of things, it’s made up of relationships, of interactions, of events.

Things do not exist on their own, they exist only in relation to other things.

Since reality is based in relationships, and we all have unique subjective relationships with everything around us, we all have a partial perspective of reality that helps to build our collective reality.

“The world is this reciprocal reflection of perspectives.”

The relationships we have we everything around us form the reality that we reflect out into the world.

What kind of reality are you contributing to the collective reality?

Is it one based in empathy, adaptability, and reciprocity?

Or is it based in judgment, rigidity, and conflict?

When you consciously change your relationships you can transform your reality and help to transform the collective reality.

Interested in discovering new ways of embracing and shaping change? Join us at a free group Qigong practice, free monthly Inner Space Astronomers meetings, or this fall in the next Inner Space Exploration Method three month group program.

Earlier this month, Inner Space Astronomy held the first in person free group Qigong practice by the Milwaukee River.

It was such a wonderful experience, it inspired me to schedule another during this (incredibly) busy month!

Because as I take in so much information around anatomy & physiology, I know how powerful this practice is for me, and others, on a cellular level.

We’ll still be practicing along the river but we’ll be in a new spot so we’re able to have more space to include more folks.

When you practice Qigong, you calm your nervous system and access the universal energy field, the Qi field.

When you practice Qigong in a group you access this Qi field together, and create a beautiful sense of community and connection.

If you live in the Milwaukee area, join us this Sunday, July 24th, from 2pm - 3pm. I hope to see you there!

P.S. Remember to bring water 🙂

This Sunday the 10th you’re invited to join a free group Qigong practice online or in person in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

We’ll be meeting from 2pm - 3pm CDT and you can sign up by going to innerspaceastronomy.com and clicking on schedule now.

Qigong has been an essential practice for me the last year and a half and I’d love for you to come practice with us 🙂

This Sunday we’ll be celebrating the summer solstice, in person and online, and I hope you’ll be there!

Inner Space Astronomers is a free community group that meets monthly to check in, ask questions, be in community, and give and receive support.

Until this point we’ve been meeting online each month, and I’m excited to be shifting to a hybrid format of online and in person and outdoors in Milwaukee WI.

Since it’s the same week as the summer solstice, we’ll be celebrating how far we’ve come this year and imagining the possibilities of the rest of 2022 and beyond.

Oh, and there will be snacks! You are welcome to bring something to share if you’d like, but all you really need to bring is yourself!

Though, you may want to bring a folding chair or a blanket to sit on, we’ll have a couple extras if you aren’t able to bring something.

Interested in joining in person? Send me a message and I’ll let you know where we’re meeting!

Interested in joining online? Sign up to receive the link at innerspaceastronomy.com on the schedule now page.

Happy Solstice everyone! ☀️

At Sunday’s Inner Space Astronomers meeting I shared with our group that I would be shifting the way I show up there, no longer limiting myself to the role of facilitator but participating fully and sharing openly as a member of the group.

And honestly making the shift made me feel a bit uncomfortable and awkward, but it’s important to me that I begin to show up as the beautiful work in progress that I am in spaces where I ask other folks to do the same.

It’s a really strange experience to be a vulnerable facilitator, especially since the role is defined by not involving yourself in the experience.

Like a scientist, a facilitator is supposed to be objective, guiding the space while staying outside of the group dynamic.

& while I certainly understand the need for this kind of facilitation in many spaces, Inner Space Astronomers is not a group that needs that kind of formality.

My role within the group can be fluid, allowing me to show up more authentically and connect with the rest of the group. & to be part of the group, in it, not just looking in from the outside.

I’m looking forward to see how this shift will continue to progress, and that isn’t the only shift happening within the group.

Starting at our next meeting in June, Inner Space Astronomers will be a hybrid meeting, meaning that folks can attend online or in person and outside in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

There’s also an opportunity coming up on Sunday, June 5th for folks to attend a hybrid Qigong practice, you can go to innerspaceastronomy.com to sign up for either event.

I hope you’ll join us, let’s all continue to shift and grow together.