The Messina Movement

What is the felt-sense? And why does it matter?

This photo with my hands in the grass could have been captured whether or not I was actually feeling the grass — present, in my body, connected to the sensation.

You can’t tell from the picture. That’s the whole point.

The essence of this photo isn’t about the look of it. It’s about what it feels like, and that can never be known from the outside.

This is what I’m always working toward with the people I do somatic work with. When I ask what they’re feeling, they answer with a label — tired, frustrated, sad, calm, okay, whatever it is. That’s a doorway, and a necessary one. But I prompt them to go further, into the felt-sense:

How do you know you feel that?
What are you noticing?
What are the cues or signs?

Here’s why that matters: the more familiar we get with what a feeling actually feels like — the sensation of it, not just the name of it — the easier it becomes to recognize when it shows up. And the sooner we recognize it, the sooner we can tend to it.

This is how healing actually happens. Not in one big shift. In the small, subtle ones — caught early, tended to right away, over and over.

This is what is meant by the felt-sense. It’s not in the label, it’s in the texture, temperature, sensation, or rhythm in your body. For example, the felt-sense of calm for me is: my breath slow and full, my jaw soft and loose, aware of and hearing sounds close and far away, my own heartbeat, tingling in my feet. This is how I know that I am calm.

And here’s the hope: this gets easier. Every time you return to safety, and let yourself have that experience all the way through, your system takes note. It’s collecting evidence that this place is available to you. And the more evidence it gathers, the more it starts to trust it — the less automatic the trip to survival mode becomes. Not gone. Just less automatic. Because it now knows there’s somewhere better. Somewhere real. Somewhere it’s actually been, and felt.

What is the felt-sense of your current state, right now?

This isn’t an escape. It’s a return.

Three months from now, we’ll be waking up to the sound of the Pacific Ocean in Oaxaca.

Sharing nourishing meals. Moving, resting, swimming, exploring. Remembering what it feels like to return to ourselves.

Two rooms left — and one of them could be yours.

If you’ve been quietly thinking maybe it’s time — this is your sign.

Link in bio to join us in Mexico 🌊

I tend to my garden.

I water it. I pull weeds. I notice what’s flourishing and what’s dying. I decide what stays and what goes.

Have you considered the impact of the environments and energy you’re surrounded by?

Not just the physical spaces we inhabit, but the entire ecosystem that surrounds us.

The people around you.
The spaces you inhabit.
The conversations you have.
The energy you invite in.

I’m currently taking a course with Cory Muscara and he posed some questions that have stayed with me. Here are my versions of them:

How can you make your environment more supportive of living as the person you love to be?

How can you make your environment less supportive of the patterns you’re growing out of?

Who supports and inspires you to be the person you love to be?

Who supports and entices you toward being the person you’re growing out of?

This isn’t about creating a perfect bubble.
It’s about becoming aware of what’s around you—and remembering that you have the power to shape it.
Because we don’t exist in isolation. We are constantly in relationship with everything around us.

Just like this garden, your environment needs attention and intention to flourish.

What needs tending in your space right now?

📷 Tara McMullen

Making Space.

This photo reminds me of something I’ve been thinking about lately.

Space.

We spend so much of our lives craving space.
More time.
More quiet.
More room to breathe.
More moments where nothing is being asked of us.
And yet, the moment we find it, we often rush to fill it.
With planning.
With worrying.
With solving.
With scrolling.
With thoughts about what’s next or replaying what’s already happened.

Maybe we’re not as comfortable with space as we think we are.
Maybe because space asks us to be with what is, instead of escaping into what was or what could be.

The irony is that we tell ourselves there’s nothing there.
But space isn’t empty.
It’s filled with birdsong, the warmth of the sun, the breeze against your skin, the smell of summer, the softness of your sheets, the sound of your own breath.
It’s filled with a life that’s happening right now.

Presence isn’t about never planning ahead or reflecting on the past. Both have their place.
It’s about remembering to return.
To this moment.
To the space we’ve been longing for all along.

What becomes available when you leave a little space unfilled?

📷 Tara McMullen

When I see myself, caught like this—smiling, my hand on my heart—I realize...
This is what trusting myself looks like.
Not because life became easier.
Not because I have all the answers.
But because I’ve spent years learning to listen.
I trust myself.
I speak the truth that lives in my body, even when the old voices whisper that I should stay small. Even when the familiar pull to keep the peace is still there. Even when I know not everyone will understand or agree. I’ve learned that other people’s discomfort doesn’t have to become my silence.
I honour my needs.
I set boundaries.
I choose what feels true over what has been expected of me.
I listen to my body more than I listen to fear.
I listen when my body says yes.
I listen when my body says no.
I have hard conversations that sometimes bring tears because they matter, and because they leave me feeling more like myself.
When I hear the whispers of a storm, I don’t turn away. I welcome it because I know I can weather it. And every storm I’ve allowed myself to move through has left me with more capacity, more compassion, and more trust in myself.
I stand on my own two feet.
I respect myself, and I love myself for the woman I have become.
There was a time when I couldn’t imagine feeling this way.
I wasn’t born into an environment that could support me in the ways I needed. For a long time, I believed that meant this was simply the life I had been given.
What changed wasn’t my past.
What changed was finding people who could meet me differently.
It was finding people and places where I could finally grow.
Teachers.
Mentors.
Therapists.
Elders.
Friends.
People with the capacity to come underneath me, to support me, challenge me, and gently guide me toward more without asking me to become someone else, and to remind me—again and again—of who I was beneath all the ways I’d learned to protect myself. They saw something in me that I couldn’t yet see in myself, until one day, I could.
(Continued in comments…)

If you’re on the fence or considering if Hola Sol is right for you, now’s your moment!

There are only 3 rooms remaining and I anticipate they will go quickly. Reserve yours before they sell out!👇

HOW TO BOOK:

Send an email to [email protected] letting me know you’re ready to book and if you’re coming solo or as a duo.

Receive an email with instructions on how to pay your $850 CAD deposit per person.

Once your deposit is paid, your spot is reserved! You will promptly receive your welcome email containing a comprehensive retreat guide and participant form so I can learn a little more about you and what you’re hoping to gain from Hola Sol.

Book your flights!

flights!

✈️ Pro tip: Flying Friday to Friday offers the best direct flights and flight prices have dropped $350 CAD in the past couple of days.

HUX and PXM airports are both approximately 1-hour from Monte Uzulu, and I will help arrange your ground transport once I receive your flight details. ✈️

If you do choose to book Friday to Friday, Monte Uzulu has generously offered our guests a discount on their rooms for the extra two nights.

From point a to point b, our small but mighty retreat team ensures you are well taken care of so you can slow down, soak it all up, and say hello to what matters most.

I look forward to welcoming you to Hola Sol!

See you in Oaxaca!

5 ROOMS LEFT!

From the moment you reserve your room to the second you step on the beach, we have you covered.

Look out for our next few posts featuring how to get to Hola Sol, how to extend your stay, and how to experience more beyond the retreat.

See you in Mexico 🇲🇽

San Agustinillo, Oaxaca
Nov 6-11