Good morning All. Coffees on.

[Vidanjali]

7 hours ago, Maddee said:

 

How do you work on your chakras?

 

 

There are standard answers to this such as meditation, postures, chanting, etc., but I think there's a personal aspect to it too. Here's my personal take. Take the throat chakra, Vishuddhi, for example. It is located at the height of the thyroid gland, in the pit of the throat, in front of the spine. It is associated with the discriminatory faculty, meaning the gift of being able to gracefully find freedom of expression and creativity in all circumstances. It's guilt and shame that block this potential freedom. A simple example is suppose you went to a karaoke bar and were too frightened to sing even though deep down you believed you were a good singer. What's at the core of this fear? Guilt: Thoughts such as "Who do I think I am anyway?" & shame: "Everyone will think I'm a fool." Unless these self-deprecating beliefs (or sins of omission, say) are challenged and destroyed, we won't sing. Metaphorically, this "singing" we desire is the freedom to confidently express ourselves, firm in the knowledge of our value and oneness with all of creation. In my opinion, to this end the skill of discrimination can be practiced. Case in point, when I get very upset, I feel like someone is standing on my throat. When we experience pain, our instinct is to avoid it. Instead, I try to direct my attention to the throat and practice pranayama (yogic energy work, often in the form of breathing techniques). I try to experience the physical sensations of that pain equanimously (unattached to the related thoughts and emotions - seeing my physical form as merely flesh, bones and a nervous system that is at present running amock). I try to categorize the level of consciousness of my thoughts; e.g. "That's a thought associated with shame (or guilt)." Ultimately, I endeavor to let those thoughts go. (How to let go is the big challenge!) Personally, I try to see it as an austerity; a sacrifice to the Divine. I pray for knowledge that severs attachment to these thoughts and feelings (greater discrimination) & I pray my thoughts will be directed to my identity as spirit. 

[Vidanjali]

Cute kitties, everyone! ?

[April-Showers]

17 hours ago, Jackie C. said:

Aww! Look at the little murder machine! So CUTE! Why are her rear paws in dressing?

Eleanore came to the shelter as a 4 week old kitten unable to walk. as she walked her back legs would drag behind her. she had a rare disease for a cat called “vasculitis” that caused her back legs to rot. we were unable to save her legs but we wanted to give this cute fluff ball the best possible life we could. we decided to work with our veterinarian and a specialist in Canada that makes prosthetics. since then she has had a few different surgeries to get her stumps ready for prosthetics. she is now just over a year old and has been going to the vet office once or twice a week since she was 4 weeks old. the specialist and our primary vet told us that we would have to wait until she was old enough to get her permanent sized prosthetics which is now.

the veterinarian has taken molds of her stumps and sent them to the specialist that will be making her permanent prosthetics. this has been quite a ride with Eleanore but a worthwhile one! this is just one example of what our no-kill rescue shelter does. every sweet furball that comes to us deserves the best life possible. thank you.  

 

[Davie]

Good morning, folks.

 

Into a day of excellent weather so I'll take a walk just after an elder counselor visit. Feels like a medical appointment so it scares me. But I know this fear is irrationally based on an abusive doctor in my childhood so I always show up. It's also unusual to have visitors at my home, which is a mess because of my renovation and cleaning and sorting efforts. Oh, well. Hope there's no Yelp review. (A friend found me in a photo in a cafe, pre-covid, on Yelp yesterday.)

Have to take my naps each day until my diabetes gets under control again. It's got pluses and minuses, my life these days. Stick with moving forward and remembering change is a good thing. I'm easing into my feminine side, and that feels good, honest, and wholesome. And writing a lot about that.

I'm back to wearing a mask with guests or anytime outside again despite the fact that most folks have given them up. I won't enjoy this next COVID-D surge without one. Mask up and live, folks.

hugs,

Davie

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Heather Nicole]

Been pretty down lately, loneliness and some other frustrations just getting to me I guess.

 

Buuut...this shy gal did make a very early little first yesterday. It was only for a virtual meeting with my gender therapist, but I presented in girl mode for the first time. One of my favorite dresses and some nice feminine earrings. It felt very comfortable and really nice.  First words out of her mouth were "Well you're looking much more Heather-ish today!" Ha ha.

[Billie75B]

3 hours ago, Charlize said:

Fresh blueberries from the farm and a home made blueberry pie and a hot cups coffee. How better to start a day? Now on to the tractor to get the cut hay ready to bale by making windrows. This afternoon I’ll be in a skirt taking my wife to the eye doc. Great day ahead. Hugs, Charlize

@Charlize I would gladly help bale and stack hay for a slice of that pie and a cup of coffee, but then again since I love farm life I would do it for free to.

[Stefi]

1 month into Transition with Patch and T blocker. No changes noticeable yet. I will wait patiently. Called and set up an appointment with the Vaginoplasty surgeons for April of next year for consultation and to set a date for the Bottom Surgery(about 4 months from then). That seems like a long time but is only a little more than a year from now.

 

Stefi

[Maddee]

@Vidanjali
Thank you for detailed reply.
I have tried to work with what I believe is called microcosmic orbit.  Breath energy centered at tan Tien. The energy points I believe are the same as the chakras.

 

[Alice_Sybilina]

https://blog.sivanaspirit.com/md-sp-open-chakras-beginners/

 

https://www.yogajournal.com/practice/yoga-sequences/7-poses-chakras/

 

https://iarp.org/chakra-basics/

 

These links will help. Each Chakra is responsible for an aspect of your life and inner self. 

[Alice_Sybilina]

@Vidanjalidid a good job with their explanation. I use yoga, Thought exercises, a lot of breathing techniques, vagus nerve stimulation, heavy visualization, you open them bottom to top. Starting with feeling safe, ending with a connection to the divine. 

[Vidanjali]

2 hours ago, Maddee said:

@Vidanjali
Thank you for detailed reply.
I have tried to work with what I believe is called microcosmic orbit.  Breath energy centered at tan Tien. The energy points I believe are the same as the chakras.

 

 

My pleasure. Yes, indeed. Dantian (aka tan tien) energy centers are analogous to chakras. I've worked in that paradigm a bit with tai chi & qigong. I find it to be excellent work. 

 

@Alice_Sybilina believe it or not, it was my asthma dr who told me about vagus nerve stimulation for vocal chord dysfunction. A game changer, lol! 

[Alice_Sybilina]

@VidanjaliI was first "taught" about vns during my dmt therapy. I later did the real research on it. The therapy taught me what I call "breath of life". You take the deepest breath you can, arch your back, tilt your head back far, relax and open your Chakras, then slowly exhale. I've dropped my blood pressure so far doing this that I've passed out a couple times. 

[Bri2020]

15 hours ago, Maddee said:

Good morning.  Getting ready to check out and drive home.  Yesterday was my third high volume electrolysis session. 

 

Who do you go to? I'm looking at a place in Chicago to do high volume, sedated electro in prep for bottom surg.

[Bri2020]

7 hours ago, Heather Nicole said:

Buuut...this shy gal did make a very early little first yesterday. It was only for a virtual meeting with my gender therapist, but I presented in girl mode for the first time. One of my favorite dresses and some nice feminine earrings. It felt very comfortable and really nice.  First words out of her mouth were "Well you're looking much more Heather-ish today!" Ha ha.

Way to go!!

[Bri2020]

A couple of good night sleeps have made me much more stable.  I had some good news on transition fronts as well which helped.  My case manager called me and she went through everything for getting set up for my new surgeon for FFS and sent in requests for authorizations for not just my FFS but my vaginoplasty as well which I wasn't expecting her to do for another two months or even longer.  The only kicker is my second opinion psych appointment isn't until Sept 14.  I'm on a cancelation list so maybe get in to see him sooner.  They also put in a request to authorize high volume electrolysis with pain control reimbursement for my vaginoplasty prep. She seems to feel that everything will be approved by Monday or Tuesday next week! (vagino pending 2nd letter)

And last but not least, By boob job got moved up by 3 weeks so that's only 4 weeks away!

 

 

[Jackie C.]

That's fantastic news @Bri2020! Congratulations!

 

Thanks for sharing @April-Showers! One of our rescues is a tripod kitty someone found on the highway. The vet botched the dressing on his broken leg and we had to amputate. He's still a happy little guy. Worth his weight in gold. He got cancer from one of his vaccinations. Normally they just take the cancer leg, but he's only got the three so he had chemo for a month last year at MSU. He tolerated it well and despite some hair loss, he's bouncing around the house just as well as he did before.

 

Hugs!

[Beatriz]

On 7/22/2021 at 8:11 PM, April-Showers said:

this is why i do what i do. look at this sweet baby. she never complains and look at the love in her eyes. still a long way for her to go but she found the right place. please support your local animal shelter. thank you!  ?

? You're an angel! ❤️

[Billie75B]

2 hours ago, Bri2020 said:

A couple of good night sleeps have made me much more stable.  I had some good news on transition fronts as well which helped.  My case manager called me and she went through everything for getting set up for my new surgeon for FFS and sent in requests for authorizations for not just my FFS but my vaginoplasty as well which I wasn't expecting her to do for another two months or even longer.  The only kicker is my second opinion psych appointment isn't until Sept 14.  I'm on a cancelation list so maybe get in to see him sooner.  They also put in a request to authorize high volume electrolysis with pain control reimbursement for my vaginoplasty prep. She seems to feel that everything will be approved by Monday or Tuesday next week! (vagino pending 2nd letter)

And last but not least, By boob job got moved up by 3 weeks so that's only 4 weeks away!

 

 

@Bri2020 That is such awesome news, I am so happy for your girl.

[Davie]

@Heather Nicole

Congrats, Heather on the "girl mode" with your therapist. That sounds like fun . . . and (for me) like a brave thing to do. I happened to just connect with a gender therapist for the first time today and we're setting up an appointment soon. That's progress, I guess. Do you have any advice for a first-time virtual visit with one? Couldn't hurt—I couldn't be more confused could I? Anyway, congrats again.

You can still call me

Davie

[Willow]

Hi everyone 

 

not sure I’ll remember everything I wanted to comment on but I’ll do my best.

 

@Elizabeth Star Liz love the analogy.  Guess we were too “Law abiding as males”. Did all the right things we were supposed to do but here we are.  Sure wish there had been a way to switch lanes when I was 12.  But in a small town with only one lane to travel you can’t switch until it’s too late.

 

@Charlize I guess I’ve been looking in the wrong places, I haven’t seen many posts.  That pie sure looks good!  It took me years to start getting a crop of berrys worth picking, sold my house and the new owners tore them all out!  I had several varieties so they weren’t all ripe at once, one or two bushes each depending on pollination requirements.  Some were big berries and some average but they were all good.

 

time to go eat.

 

Willow

[Elizabeth Star]

8 hours ago, Bri2020 said:

Who do you go to? I'm looking at a place in Chicago to do high volume, sedated electro in prep for bottom surg.

I think a lot of people have been using this place https://precisionhairremoval.com/.

It's kinda funny. I'm only 45 minutes from them but have yet to find myself using their services.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Elizabeth Star said:

I think a lot of people have been using this place https://precisionhairremoval.com/.

It's kinda funny. I'm only 45 minutes from them but have yet to find myself using their services.

Just checked out the site. Pricey but probably worth it.

[Heather Nicole]

9 hours ago, Davie said:

@Heather Nicole

Congrats, Heather on the "girl mode" with your therapist. That sounds like fun . . . and (for me) like a brave thing to do. I happened to just connect with a gender therapist for the first time today and we're setting up an appointment soon. That's progress, I guess. Do you have any advice for a first-time virtual visit with one? Couldn't hurt—I couldn't be more confused could I? Anyway, congrats again.

You can still call me

Davie

 

Thanks ! To be honest, it feels kinda weird to me (in a good way) for someone here to find a step I took to be braver than where they feel they currently are. I still feel like a total newbie here, still no hrt or legal paperwork or anything for me yet, or (gasp!) going out in general public as my preferred gender. So I appreciate the complement!

 

Big congratulations to you on getting started with a gender therapist! ? That really is very a big, significant step. It may be an early one, but it's significant! ?

 

I'd love to give you advice on it, but heck, like I said, I still feel like a total novice myself. I guess what I can say is just, be open and honest, have as much confidence in yourself as you can muster, and just roll with it. See how it goes, one meeting at a time. And go from there.

[Heather Shay]

Every stage of transition has advice well worth sharing. We all can learn. I remember Eric Clapton once said he loves to play with Every guitar player from novice to veteran because he can learn something from Every one. @Heather Nicole your have so much more to offer then you know.

[Elizabeth Star]

My wife was having a good day yesterday so we decided to go out an visit a friend. Although the sky looked questionable, we cast aside our doubts and took my jeep. Well, it finally happened. We got caught in a downpour with no top, doors or any type of rain gear. By the time we got there, there were puddles in our seats, on the floor and we left puddles everywhere we went. Thankfully our friend hangs-out, outside on their deck most of the time and it was still pretty hot out so were able to mostly air-dry with in a couple hours.

 

On the way way home we stopped to grab a late lunch/dinner to take home. We found ourselves a table to sit at while we waited. While we waited there was 5 or 6 people in another group on the other side of the dining room. Two of the were staring at me. I opted to just ignore them but after a few minutes my wife decided she had enough and in a half yelling tone (my wife is kind of loud) started "Can I help you? Is there a problem? Why don't you mind your own business." The two customer just stumbled over their words and within a few minutes the whole party left.

 

 My wife's developing a new attitude towards life. She knows she doesn't much time left so she's speaking her mind. A lot of which is making her a better person. I have been too. Surely they weren't staring at me because I'm trans. It must have been my unstoppable beauty that caught their eye, ?.