Ruby Room Love.

I Love the Ruby Room...

It is really no secret, but it is also not public enough yet... 

The above picture is a thoughtful gift from a friend who knows how much I like it. Can't wait to spend my gift card!

And it's really not a habit of mine to gush about a business (except occasionally about places where I work), but I am grateful for my experience this year at the Ruby Room. I don't have any official connection with them other than being a customer, but I do get a helpful discount on their services since I work next door to the spa at Yogaview on Division Street.

Paul

I first went in on a tip from a friend that Paul does awesome eyebrows. And he does. Over the course of months we moved step-by-step to a shape I really like. At first I was afraid to let someone in on my brows, but I did know that I  wanted some help with this (but not too thin...). Then, when Ruby Room had their "Spa Week" insane discounts I tried a facial with Paul. He is a master and a professional. I am always so impressed by his level of preparedness for his work. He just always seems ready for doing an awesome job. Extremely knowledgeable, super-sweet and fun, I totally trust Paul with my skin and eyebrows.

Thanks, Paul!!

Jenifer

During one of my visits, I noticed makeup in the store. I hadn't worn makeup for years! But I was looking to update my look, and learned from the desk staff that Jenifer is great with everyday makeup. And she is! I learned a lot from the session, and since I bought some make up the service was free! I am super-happy with what I bought, and months later I am still enjoying and wearing what I bought on that fun day!

Thanks, Jenifer!!

Melanie

I just always felt so good going in and out of the Ruby Room. And I became curious about their "Intuitive Readings". I heard someone say they were really good. It took me a while to get around to it, but I tried a session with Melanie, and she did not disappoint. Melanie is super-warm and knowledgeable on subjects related to moving one's life energies in an intended direction, and great at finding opportunities for healing. She offers great support in times of change and has good ideas about things. I believe that Melanie's guidance comes from a beautiful and good place. Thanks. Melanie!!

During the "Spa Week" discounts I also tried a massage at Ruby Room. I made the appointment with a therapist, and I thought I heard the name "Jane." I thought to myself, "Whew, a relief to have a female massage therapist." (You see, I had recently received a suspicious breast massage from a male therapist at another business, and I just didn't feel good about it. I don't think I gave permission for that...) 

James

Anyway, I arrived for my appointment and found that the massage therapist's name was actually "James." I'm glad it worked out that way, though, because if I would have heard the name correctly at first I would have not followed through with scheduling the session. (I was just a bit traumatized from the earlier experience that I had received somewhere else.) James is really sweet and easy to interact with, and he does a great job. I liked him from the start, and also told him about my discomfort over the strange breast massage, and he sort of joked about it and it was okay. I felt safe, and he was nice. I had a bizarre sense during the massage that his hands were very much like mine, meaning very perceptive and respectful. I do adjustments with my hands in my work as a yoga teacher, and have though a lot about touch. So I was impressed and fascinated with James...

Thanks, James!!

And thanks again to the Ruby Room for helping me to feel a bit more beautiful in 2011, 

both inside and out!

Yogic Musing on Change.

Hi, Yogic Muse Reader!

Thank you for YOU! I appreciate all readers.

...Even if there has been a bump or some kind of difficulty in our relationship: I'm glad you're here (even if you don't like me, and of course I like it when you like me.).

Changes are here! I believe them to be the kind of changes that I explained in this video about my reading of The Magic Mountain, by Thomas Mann—changes that slowly ripen over time...

I am a changing being—no joke. I believe it because I am living it.

I've heard people say oh such-and-such, they are always this way... And there seems to be assumptions about people not changing, well, I am changing.

And I don't mean that I reject my old self (or selves): I love her dearly. She is my precious one.

I've had some insight from a recent makeup consultation—I'm not kidding! At some point I would have thought that to be so superficial, but I really valued the experience and results (which you can see in the above image).

It was about bringing this one (the person I am now) out more vividly into the world.

I saw something in my eyes that I'd never seen before.

It's someone who has secrets (in a good way).

In the past I have felt raw, open and unprotected. I seemed to require approval from everyone I met, which is (of course) not possible. Even worse, I think that I wanted everyone to forgive my sins, which is something that nobody else can do for me... What was so bad about me doesn't really make sense for this woman in an adult body. It had something to do with childhood wounds which I had zero control over.

The makeup brought out my eyes in a more vivid way, while offering a boundary—a mask if you want... I'm thinking that I want to present myself vividly to the world while maintaining a safe and nurturing interior space for the images and memories from my past. And only sharing what I want.

It seems very feminine (another concept that I've had some difficulty with) to maintain safety in a protected internal space while sharing what I want. Offering what I choose to as a gift to my friends (instead of desperately looking for their approval or love to fill my old wound) seems like a really awesome way to be.

In the past I see or remember myself almost compulsively over-sharing to just about any friend who offered a generous ear, or I was completely shut off from them. This was due to my unattended to internal pain—it really seemed too much to bear on many occasions. And so I needed others to save me, yet nobody else could. Only I can.

And I can.

I like her, too:

The above picture is good old me without makeup, early in the morning at the Willis Tower Skydeck.