Mending My Heart, One Net at a Time.
Healing, Hauling Gear, and Letting Life Get a Little Wild Again
The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea.
Isak Dinesen
It’s been a busy week. Summertime is always hectic for Alaskans. We take the phrase “make hay while the sun shines” to heart, because it doesn’t shine for long. In just a few days, the steady increase of daylight will peak, and we’ll begin that slow march back toward darkness. It seems almost inconceivable as I sit in my sunlit yard, listening to birds sing at 11 p.m. I want to soak up every last drop of this midnight sun while I can.
Alaskan summer is rich, bountiful, and brief. Everything arrives in abundance, and none of it is taken for granted. We saturate our skin and our spirits in the near-constant daylight. We grow enormous, blue-ribbon vegetables destined for salads, stir fry, and the tables of bustling farmers markets across the state.
As lovely as sunshine and produce are, they’re not the main event. At least not here in Southcentral Alaska. Around here, people come for the salmon.
My little hometown has been building to a steady thrum as everyone prepares for the fast, furious run of red salmon about to fill our rivers…not to mention the tourists who’ll soon clog our roads, restaurants, and grocery store aisles. They’ve already begun to trickle in, but once the weirs and sonars start counting fish, that trickle will turn into a flood.
River banks and beaches will soon be teeming with more than just salmon. Fishing guides, traveling families on their Alaskan dream vacations, seasoned anglers, dipnetters, and more than a few bears will all show up to take their share of the harvest.
Thankfully, my family will be far from the chaos. We’ll be out on the water with the rest of the Cook Inlet drift fleet, local families casting nets not just for income, but for love of the culture and the thrill of the chase. No one’s getting rich doing it.
I share all of this for two reasons
First, it’s Father’s Day, and fishing, specifically commercial gill netting for salmon, always reminds me of my dad. I grew up watching him (along with my uncles, grandpa and cousins) set nets from the beach. Now, i’ll be setting mine from the bow of a boat. Different methods, same result: long days, honest work, and the painstaking process of picking every salmon from the net with nothing but my two, hard working hands.
Second, the Cook Inlet drift fishery opens Thursday. Which means, I’m about to get really busy. But don’t worry, I’ll still be showing up in your inbox every Sunday. You can count on that. I’ll just be writing to you from the boat. I’m actually tapping this one out at our tiny, galley table right now!
The Rise/Practice section will be full of all the resources i’m using to stay steady and ready for action. Yoga, breathwork, meditation, Nidra, podcasts; whatever’s keeping me grounded through the long days of traveling to the fishing grounds, setting the net again and again until the fish holds are full, delivering to the dock or tender, and filling up with fuel and ice for the next opener.
It might get interesting. I’ll be practicing Yoga Nidra snuggled into a sleeping bag on the boat bunk and as for movement? That might have to happen on the bunk too. I guess we’ll find out!
Ready for Change
Over the past eight months, you’ve walked with me through one of the hardest seasons of my life. After an unexpected, life altering event last fall, my personal practice became a lifeline. And this newsletter became the place where I made sense of it all. Week after week, I’ve poured my heart onto these pages. You’ve been there through the grief, the healing, and each tender, uncertain step toward wholeness.
Now, I’m inviting you to join me for something new. Something wild and salty. Something fresh and alive. I’m ready to get messy in a whole new way. To get rough and rugged. To come to you exhausted, covered in fish scales, slime, and stink.
Are you ready for the next chapter? I sure as hell know I am.
Yoga For New Beginnings | Yoga With Adriene
19 Minutes | All Levels | Beginner Friendly
My personal practice is already shifting. After a long winter of lazy mornings, taking my time with gentle yoga asana sequences and lengthy yoga nidra sessions, I’m having to be more strategic with my time. Often, choosing between asana and nidra (Nidra wins every time).
Lately, movement has been happening later in the day. I did this class mid-morning after a short Nidra, coffee with the fam, chores, and a couple hours of newsletter work. The movement felt so good after a busy and fulfilling morning. I know I enjoyed it more than I would have right after crawling out of bed.
So, here’s to change, and letting our routines stay fluid enough to meet something familiar in a brand new way.
Yoga Nidra For The Heart | Ally Boothroyd
52 Minutes | All Levels | Beginner Friendly
I practiced this Nidra on a day when I was trying desperately to sleep in but somehow woke up at 5am. Funny how that works. We had plans to launch our boat at 7pm and I was wiped out by 2pm.
Now that it’s warmer, I’ve been sneaking off to the camper when I need a quiet place to rest. My family knows that I’m off duty when I’m in there. So, I let them know where I was headed and settled into a deep, refreshing Yoga Nidra with Ally Boothroyd.
I emerged feeling refreshed and ready to face an evening on the river. This one’s a keeper.
It’s Times To Get Your Hopes Up | Brad Yates
7 Minutes | All Levels Beginner Friendly
I’m still loving EFT (tapping), and Brad Yates (aka Tap Daddy) is by far my favorite guide. He makes the practice feel so accessible and down to earth.
Tapping has become an integral part of my daily routine, and I’ve noticed a real shift since I started about a month ago. This video fits perfectly with the theme of this issue and it just happens to be one of my favorite!
Enjoy!
No questions this week. I’m wrapping up this issue on the Seldovia Ferry and it’s a bit choppy out. My stomach is protesting the motion of the ocean combined with the computer. So, I think I’ll sign off for now.
I hope you all have an adventurous week!
See you next Sunday.
This is so interesting. I look forward to reading more of your adventures on and off the boat and mat.