A friend came over this morning for a HypnoBirthing lesson and when we were done she let me palpate her belly, take her blood pressure, and find the baby's heartbeat. I was able to feel what I believed was the head, and then I got a nice solid kick against my palm that confirmed that she was right occipital posterior. I then pressed my fetoscope against her belly and immediately heard the heartbeat. It came so fast that I thought I was mistaken, but no, there it was. Mash'Allah. Mash'Allah. I am forever in awe of this process.
I returned two days ago from a week in Rosales, Spain at The Zawiyah. It's hard to come back to regular life from such a spiritually nourishing place, surrounded by old and new friends, shuyukh who spoke directly to me and to what's in my heart (or so it seemed), scholars and healers, and the mountains of Andalusia. I was able to teach some herbalism classes there, and it afforded me the chance to meet and speak deeply with some incredible women. I'm grateful that we're transitioning so quickly into Ramadan, because that's what I need right now, but I know that there are other ways to feel this connected. I can stay connected to what I found at The Zawiyah if I remember to reflect on these things happening around me. I'm grateful to my friend who let me put my hands on her belly and feel the little baby inside, and to listen to her little hoofbeat heart run wild. The growth spurt that my garden experienced while I was away, the first beans of the summer, squash blossoms preparing to unbundle themselves, potatoes quietly building beneath the surface of the rich, dark soil that the worms I've gathered and transported are moving through. A foot beneath my hand, my dear friend's body in between. Waking in the morning before my alarm, an opportunity for tahajjud. New friends. Being with old friends when I'm the one changing and opening, and finding newness with them. Thank you worms, thank you sun, thank you friends, thank you shuyukh, and alhamdulillah.