The Sliding Scale: How To Implement a Sliding Price Scale Online

I love writing about the sliding scale and financial accessibility, but I didn't expect that my two previous posts on the subject would not only be some of my most read of mine, connecting me to lovely folks all over the world. There's still a big need for resources on the sliding scale and financial accessibility in business so I'm working on expanding my original posts into a bigger community course (i.e. a donation-based course on sliding scale, financial accessibility, and thinking about money in a way that makes sense for you and your community). If that sounds like something you're interested in then sign up for my newsletter for updates.

In the meantime, I wanted to write a short post on one of the questions I've been getting again and again: 

A sliding scale sounds great, but how do I implement one on my website?

First of all - great question! There are a few options that I've used myself and come across online. Of course, anything you choose to do depends on the type of platform you're using, so I've tried to keep my recommendations general enough to allow for their usefulness across multiple platforms. However, no matter how you end up offering a sliding scale online, a lot of the success of your clients using the scale in a way that benefits you both is by being clear about your expectations and parameters of use. You can learn more about these things in the first, second, and third part of the sliding scale and financial access series. Now, on to the practical bits!

image via @ninaluong

Managed vs Unmanaged

If your platform allows it, the easiest way to implement a sliding scale is to list multiple price tiers for a single item with each price corresponding to one part of your sliding scale. There are two variations to this: the unmanaged sliding scale and the managed sliding scale. An umanaged sliding scale would mean that you offer your service from $0 on up without restrictions on either end (i.e. someone can pay $5 for a service while another person pays $65 and there is no minimum or cap to what someone can pay). You'll sometimes see this type of sliding scale called "Name Your Price" or "No One Turned Away for Lack of Funds." Some online shop platforms allow a Name Your Price option, but if yours doesn't a workaround is to use a third party platform to set up a donation button for your services where folks choose their own price that way. I have a donation button set-up on my support the work page if you want to see an example of this (and some questionable poetry).

I have used the unmanaged sliding scale model both online and in-person in the past and found that clients have found the amount of un-guided choice to be very stressful which is why I tend to use a managed sliding scale. A managed sliding scale involves listing a few prices that you choose and that reflect different points on your sliding scale (i.e. $5 for the low end of the scale, $10 for the middle, and $15 for the top end). Managed sliding scales can be as wide or narrow as you like and you can see an example of a wider sliding scale on my Begin With the Breath course and a narrower sliding scale for my Solace course. You can also check out my old listing for my Samhain Oracle where I listed out dollar amounts from $1 to $21. I talk more about the managed sliding scale and why I like it over here.

image via @jorae

Discount Codes

The other way to offer your sliding scale online is to list one standard price and then offer discount codes for folks to use to access different parts of the sliding scale. I first learned about this technique within the world of knitters  (specifically through Jessa Maed who now offers access to discount codes once you sign-up for their mailing list which is a great way to build a newsletter community). You can see an example of a sliding scale accessed via discount code on Francoise Danoy's Aroha Knits page (also, you're welcome, dear readers who are also knitters and who have not yet discovered Francoise's or Jessa's knits). I recently used this technique for my annual fundraiser - where I sold a series of ebooks - and on the backend it was super easy to implement and folks seemed to find it easy to use. Here is the language that I used on my listing:

• Check out my Sliding Scale Guide below to help you find the price for you. The suggested price is $9. You are invited to pay less or pay more as you are able.

• The current listing price is set at $12 which is the Pay-It-Forward price.

• Use the coupon code JOYFUL to purchase at $9.

• Use the coupon code ABUNDANT to purchase at $3.

image via @dirtjoy

The Language of Your Scale

The language we use around money, financial access, and our sliding scales is one of the ways you help folks not only understand your own values, but a way to help folks feel empowered. I'm always adjusting the language on my course sales pages as I learn how to more clearly articulate how to use the sliding scale, why I use the sliding scale, and the feeling of confidence I hope folks feel when they're engaging with my sliding scale. It is a constant work in progress and I even spent a long time trying to figure out for this post if "managed" versus "unmanaged" was too formal and binary but then reminded myself that I can use the language I have right now and adjust again in the future.

For me, it's important to try and tie the concept of my scale and pricing to the greater Worts & Cunning learning community, so I use words like "support" and "community supported" to describe different levels of my scale (you can see this in action for my Solace and The Plant Ally Library courses). I also use the concept of Pay It Forward in my sliding scale because it feels empowering to folks who have the means to not only access a course they want to take but help others access it, too. Here is the current language I use for my sliding scale:

• Standard Membership: The actual cost of the course

• Supported Membership: For students on the low end of the sliding scale

• Extra Support Membership: The most supported membership price for those on the lowest end of the sliding scale. (This is only available for part of the year - see details below.)

• Pay It Forward Membership: Cost of the course plus a little extra to help create access to the course

Through my sliding scale I hope to communicate to folks that I want to support their ability to access my work and want them to feel welcomed in from the start of their journey as a student in my courses. As you create and adjust your sliding scale its important to not only keep in mind the financial parameters of the exchange but what you're feeling about your sliding scale and how people are using it as well as how you hope those accessing your sliding scale might be feeling.

Expanding and Contracting Your Sliding Scale

At different points of the year, I extend my sliding scale options for folks who need extra financial support and this allows me to create deeper access in a way that is also sustainable for my business. I announce sales, extended sliding scale, and payment plans at the end of one calendar year for the next calendar year which helps to reduce feelings of scarcity or pressure buying. For example, twice a year you can access Solace, which is a $36 course, at an "Extra Support Membership" of $12. I make sure that information is posted about this year round on the FAQ as well as the Creating Access section of the Solace sales page.  

Either version of a managed or unmanaged sliding scale (or a mildly managed sliding scale to be more accurate) can have boundaries put in place including limits around how many tickets, sessions, products or whatever it is that you offer are available at each price point. I go into this more on my post How to Make the Sliding Scale Better for You & Your Clients but essentially with a managed sliding scale you can say that three spots are available at $5 versus five spots available at $10 while a unmanaged sliding scale might look more like three spots are available at the $5 and under option and five spots are available within the $6 to $10 range and so on. I host my classes through teachable and they allow you to cap enrollment for different price points and I'm sure other online course hosts offer the same. I especially like creating these boundaries with my sliding scale for my in-person offerings where I have to cover expenses like travel, renting a space, class supplies, and so on.

I've expanded and contracted my sliding scale through the seasons for a few years now and I enjoy the rhythm of knowing that I can create more access in as stress-free and sustainable a way as possible. As you experiment with what works for you, know that your sliding scale and the way that you exchange money for resources and define your pricing is a living energy within your business that needs to be honored, changed, and adjusted as needed. 

Some questions to consider when incorporating a sliding scale into your practice:

Why do I want to use a sliding scale?

What form of sliding scale feels the most supportive to me and my community? 

What worries me about using the sliding scale?

What excites or interests me most about using the sliding scale?

How does using the sliding scale support my ability to create a sustainable and values-aligned practice?

How do you want a possible client to feel when they are learning about and participating in your sliding scale?

᠅

These are the easiest ways I have seen the sliding scale implemented online, but let me know in the comments if you do things a different way. This post was inspired by questions left in the comments of my previous sliding scale posts, so if you have questions about the sliding scale, implementation, and financial accessibility in general, leave them down in the comments and I'll get to them as I can.  

Thank you for all of your support, encouragement, and kind words about my work around the sliding scale and especially for letting me know that so many of you have found it useful. That's the best feedback and I hope you find the system that supports your ability to thrive in your work. 

As we imagine a culture beyond the confines of capitalism, I hope that you’re able to access these visions of a more just and more kind world with greater ease and steadfastness. May our acorn dreams be the trees which shelter our descendants.

This post was made possible through patron support.
❤ Thanks, friends. ❤

How We Tell Our Stories: A Review of the We'Moon Planner

"Huh? What's a We'Moon?" 

That's what I asked when my friend, who was taking a wholesale order for our college Pagan group, offered to sign me up for a copy.

"This," they whispered, reverently and smiling, while producing a well-worn and colorful book from their bag. "Is a We'Moon planner."

I flipped through the pages, seeing that it was a weekly guidebook and planner full of unfamiliar symbols alongside lunar phases and artwork and words that I hadn't seen elsewhere. It was a cackling of feminist noise, a song of welcoming, a viewing of the world from an unihibitedly queer and womxn-centered lens.

Suffice to say, I signed up to order one and have been using a We'Moon ever since for the last 15 years. 

I have wanted to write about We'Moon and the importance of womxn's independent publications for a good long while so when the lovely folks at We'Moon offered to send me a copy of their 2022 planner to review and share with all of you it was a very easy yes. 

A small collection of my We’Moons over the years…

But, first - what is a We'Moon? A We'Moon planner, known fully as We'Moon: Gaia Rhythms for We'Moon, is a full-color feminist weekly datebook guided by lunar rhythms and overflowing with art, poetry, sacred prose, holy days of the wheel of the year, and astrological insight (including an emphermeris and multiple Moon calendars!) reflecting the ever-changing diversity of womxn's culture from around the world. It is created by and for folks who identify as womxn, is trans-inclusive, and committed to the liberation of all womxn. If you identify as a womxn you can answer the call for contributions and submit work inspired by the annual theme. I've always found the editorial team at We'Moon to be really great to work with and highly recommend submitting art or poetry if you're feeling called. 

The name We'Moon reflects the long tradition within womxn's culture of reweaving, reclaiming, and redreaming language to better reflect our experiences outside the boundaries of patriarchal oppression and the bindings of the binary. Wemoon means "we of the moon" and is a way of creating space for womxn to create art, culture, and spaces to exist in our own image as well as realigning ourselves with the rhythms of Moon, Star, and Sun rather than endless cycles of production, extraction, and consumption presented to us by patriarchy and capitalism. In the spirit of dismantling oppressive powers and centering the voices of womxn, We'Moon continues to seek out and center the voices of BIPOC womxn in addition to holding space for dykes, lesbians, and queer womxn.

But here's the reason that I've continued to support We'Moon for all these years: I've ever encountered another publication that so consistently and radically tells womxn, and especially queer womxn, that they are loved and adored and needed and magickal. All of this is done in the holy container that We'Moon has created over the years, inviting in familiar rituals alongside new words, and helping womxn to track their rhythms in ways untethered from endlessly being othered into a Moon-shaped world of just being.

View fullsize

We'Moon is part of the long but often untold and unknown story of radical womxn's publications such as Sinister Wisdom, Azalea, Amazon Quarterly, Of A Like Mind, Lady-Inclination-of-the-Night, and WomanSpirit, to name just a few. We'Moon is unique in its longevity having been in publication for forty years which is no small feat for a group of mostly lesbian and queer womxn indepentendly publishing a printed book during some of the hardest periods endured by the publishing industry. And they're not just publishing a planner but caretaking land and leading educational retreats for lesbian feminists - it's amazing and inspiring. The We'Moon anthology, In the Spirit of We'Moon, is a beautiful read if you want to learn more and also just have a lovely collection of words and art to feed your soul (it really is like a Book of Shadows in addition to an anthology). 

And, holy Goddess, is this sort of feminist rabble-rousing, queer dyke gathering, and womxn-centered story-telling needed during this time when trans-exclusionary folks are noisier than ever.

Trans-exclusionary folks who are binary-bound and biologically-reductionist in their thinking are not only terrifyingly un-feminist by modern standards but also by the standards of many of our feminist ancestors who were truly radical in their philosophies. I've been around long enough to watch elders and their followers in my community become poisoned by the powers of patriarchy that they are fighting and embrace patriarchal thinking, swayed by its illusions of power and adopting its cruel and threatening tactics of silencing womxn's voices - all which makes them seem more numerous than they really are. I've also been around long enough to see plenty of my elders continue to be incredible in their radicalism (hello, Judith Butler).

View fullsize

One of the ways that patriarchal systems of power are dismantled is through spells of storytelling, of collecting and distributing herstories and ourstories and theystories like dandelion seeds on the wind. Because the power-over narratives of the patriarchy are paper thin and easily shredded by the stories of brilliance and love and struggle and resiliency that emerge when we tell our own stories. And that is why We'Moon continues to be more relevant than ever - it is a current of telling, an upswelling of songs, a flow of herstory through time and space, messy and revelling and wondrously wild.

If you've been following me long enough, reading my newsletter or blog over the years, you've read poetry that I first encountered in the pages of We'Moon. I've been published in We'Moon a few times and it's been an incredible honor. More importantly, sharing my work has connected me to an intergenerational community of womxn, as readers of We'Moon have reached out to me, and let me know that my own words has been shared in rituals around the world (it is truly wild to know this). Knowing that I'm participating in this vast network of womxn caring for eachother through the power of our words and art has shaped me and how I move through the world.

Every year, when my friends and I receive our We'Moon we sit down together, sometimes with a greater community of other wemoon, sometimes just ourselves, and read out loud the astrological forecasts of our signs. We look at the poetry and art on the pages surrounding our birth dates and fill up on the vision of a world that is kind and feminist and queer and sees us as we see ourselves. Friends, it's a powerful magick, and if you're feeling called to participate I highly recommend getting a copy of the We'Moon planner or calendar - you can purchase them directly from We'Moon or often find them in co-ops and similarly rad spaces.

View fullsize

The 2022 theme is The Magical Dark so as you can imagine I've been reveling in the deep resonance I'm feeling for so much contained in these pages. Every year a portion of proceeds from We'Moon is donated to a values-aligned organization because we all thrive when we cast seeds of resources far and wide. You can get a spiral-bound planner, a sturdy paperback (my preference) or unbound (I always imagine that this if for the most chaotic of hags who shuffles the pages and lives according the the random order in which they fall and, holy heck, do I want to meet you). The planners are also available in both English and Spanish.

I hope that I have succeeded in introducing some of you to the magick of We'Moon much in the same way that I was introduced to it so many years ago - with excited whispers and the sort of wonder that emerges when you finally see yourself reflected in the world and choose to say "YES."

🌙

This post was made possible by the womxn of We’Moon who sent me a copy of their 2022 planner for free in exchange for an honest review.

🌙

Herbs for Breathwork + Respiratory Health

Last month I wrote about how breathwork is a community tool and works in online spaces (thank the Holy Ones for transcendent digital magick). I wanted to follow-up that post with suggested herbs that can assist us in our breathwork but are also useful for respiratory health in general. We're in the midst of protest season which is looking like it's going to be an appropriately long one also while living through a pandemic. Respiratory health, whether we're being exposed to viruses or chemicals like pepper spray and tear gas, is really important right now. Breathwork combined with attention to the bodily systems which help us breath helps us to return home to our bodies and nourish our nervous system after prolonged periods of stress. You can combine these herbs not only with your breathwork but with other centering and body-grounding practices like healing movement modalities, therapy and mental health practices, walking, sex and sensual touch, ritual and spellcraft, and more.

I've listed four categories of herbs that I think are particularly useful for breathwork: Nervines, Adaptogens, Respiratory Tonics, and Heart Tonics. There are so many herbs present in each of these categories that I could recommend but hopefully by describing the types and qualities of herbs I recommend you'll be able to find ones that you are already familiar with, that are stocked in your cabinet, and/or more regionally relevant.

I'll follow these categorical descriptions with short profiles on eight herbal allies that I've been turning to frequently these days. Since these are just short descriptions of each herb, it is important for you to do your research with reliable materia medicas and consult with herbalists for further information, contraindications, and stories that will deepen your relationship with our plant friends. Of course, when you are able to, meet these plant allies in spaces where they grow and ask to sit with them to learn directly from their wisdom.

image by Isaac Quesada

The Four Categories of Breathwork Herbs

Nervines are plants that calm the nerves and often nourish the nervous system. Since so much of breathwork is about interacting with our nervous system in healing and beneficial ways, helping us to return to a state of rest and digest, nervines are beautiful companion herbs and guides in our practice. They help us to relax and open up to breathing deep and purposefully. So many of our diseases and ailments either have roots in or are exacerbated by stress which is why knowing and working with nervines not only in breathwork but in daily life can be of such great benefit to us. Nervines include Milky Oat (Avena sativa), Lavender (Lavandula spp.), Holy Basil (Ocimum spp.), Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla), Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora), Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis), and Catnip (Nepeta cataria).

Adaptogens are herbs that do a multitude of healing actions, but are probably known most popularly as helping us to adapt to stress. Adaptogens and nervines work well together and when it comes to breathwork, adaptogens can help us stretch back into ourselves after a period of prolonged stress. It's important to remember that adaptogens don't "cure" stress and are not meant to replace stress-reducing actions and choices in our lives from healthy movement to mindful consumption. And also, the reality is that many of us are dealing with tremendous social and political stress in our lives further impacted by global environmental changes. Adaptogens can help us develop a sense of resiliency and purpose so we are less distracted by stress and more invested in the tools which help us (such as breathwork) continue on in life with a feeling of wholeness and purpose. Some adaptogens are Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus), Holy Basil (Ocimum spp.), Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum), Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica) and Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea). The following wisdom from Toni Morrison from a talk at Portland Statue University in 1975 feels like an adaptogenic one to me, helping to tell the story of these plants:

“The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language and you spend twenty years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn’t shaped properly so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Somebody says you have no art, so you dredge that up. Somebody says you have no kingdoms, so you dredge that up. None of this is necessary. There will always be one more thing.”

Of course, if we're talking about herbs to support respiratory health, I'm going to feature Respiratory Tonics. These include herbs which can be immunostimulating (since the respiratory system is an primary entry way for viruses and bacterias) as well as decongestants, demulcents (herbs that moisten mucous membranes), and expectorants (herbs that relax lungs while promoting elimination of mucus from airways). Many respiratory tonics are also considered aromatics - herbs that are rich in volatile oils and deeply scented. Aromatics often do all the actions I just described for respiratory tonic herbs and have a wonderfully harmonizing or synergizing energy which helps to bring a blend together as well as helping a tea taste better. Respiratory tonics herbs include Mullein (Verbascum thapsus), Elecampane (Inula helenium), Licorice, Nettles (Urtica dioica), Thyme (Thymus vulgaris), Goldenrod (Solidago spp.), Wild Cherry Bark (Prunus serotina), and Pleurisy Root (Asclepius tuberose).

I also include Heart Tonics in my recommendations. In my experience, so much of breathwork is heart work. Yes, the benefits of mindful and meditative breathing are many - it is calming to our nervous systems, lower blood pressure, stimulate our immune systems, shift emotional and mental perspectives, disrupt anxiety and panic attacks, and so on. It is not unusual during breathwork and working with our respiratory system in general for there to be a feeling of opening, expanding, and along with that, grieving for un-grieved for experiences. Heart tonics help us to open our hearts with support (many heart tonics are protective along with being opening) and make space for grief to move through and out of our bodies instead of stagnating. Herbs include Hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa), Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), Rose (Rosa spp.), and Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca).

So sitting in the center of our circle, we sit with our backs against the tree of life, calling to us respiratory tonics from the east, nervines from the west, adaptogens from the south, and heart tonics from the north. Let's meet our plant allies gathered here... 

image by Wolfgang Hasselmann

Herbs for Breathwork + Respiratory Health

Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) | Respiratory Tonic, Nervine
Mullein is great for all sorts of lung-related complaints from asthma to bronchitis, the herb opens the respiratory passageways helping us to breathe deeper and more effectively. It's a demulcent which also reduces inflammation and helps to protect against infection. Mullein is one of my favorite herbs for fire season here in California. Overall, it helps us to release tension from our bodies. Within breathwork, Mullein is good for those type of folks who overwork and stretch themselves thin - the herb helps them to soften and open up to relaxing as an act of justice and repair.

Elecampane (Inula helenium) | Respiratory Tonic, Heart Tonic
I've written a full plant profile on Elecampane and it is a well-regarded lung tonic in traditional western herbalism. The herb is an astringent decongestant as well as being antiseptic and antibacterial. It is really useful for treating chronic coughs and long-term lung complaints. Elecampane, also known as Elf Wort, has a traditional use for "elf shot" in Celtic culture which can be interpreted as a number of ways one of which is as a sudden energetic and emotional pain brought on by a traumatic event. Drop dosages of the herb or flower essence can be really helpful in cases like this. For breathwork, Elecampane is a helpful ally for those who are coming to the practice after a shock-inducing experience.

Yerba Santa (Eriodictyon californicum) | Respiratory Tonic, Nervine
Yerba Santa is an astringent decongestant that dries up excess mucous by normalizing excess mucous secretion. Normalizing mucous secretion means that you won't have to go back and forth between too much and too little secretion leading to being too dried out and equally uncomfortable. Along with Mullein it is also one of my favorite herbs for fire season here in California. In addition to its powers of mucous normalization, Yerba Santa is antimicrobial and antiseptic. On an energetic level, Yerba Santa sticky resinous quality helps to pull up and out old grief and trauma so that you no longer have to carry it around. For breathwork, it can be helpful if you struggle with breathing out deeply.

image by Maude Frédérique Lavoie

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) | Respiratory Tonic
Thyme is one of my favorite kitchen garden remedies - I always have the fresh herb growing in my garden or at least dried leaves in my spice cupboard. I add it to most of my respiratory tonics because it is pleasing in taste and effective in its actions as a decongestant expectorant. Thyme strengthens the immune system without being over-stimulating and protects against bacterias and microbes. It is one of my favorite allies in removing respiratory infections from the body and one I turn to often in the winter months. Thyme is not classically categorized as a nervine, but it certainly acts like one, helping to relieve tension and mental exhaustion. For breathwork, beyond being wonderfully aromatic and enhancing the physical breathwork experience, Thyme helps us to settle into our practice while gathering our inner resources and loosening our belief that there is not enough time for all the work that needs to be done.

Plantain (Plantago spp.) | Respiratory Tonic
Ubiquitous Plantain is commonly used in traditional western herbalism for topical treatments but in recent herbs I've come to know the plant for its respiratory tonic qualities. I live in fire country and have started working with Plantain as a smoke relief ally. Plantain heals tissue internally as well as it does externally which is especially useful for healing post-exposure to environmental pollutants and chemical weapons such as pepper spray and tear gas. For breathwork (and any sort of mindful practice or magick), Plantain helps us remind us of the abundant truth that simple practices cultivate profound peace.

Holy Basil (Ocimum spp.) | Respiratory Tonic, Adaptogen, Nervine
Holy Basil, also known as Sacred Basil and Tulsi, is an antispasmodic demulcent and expectorant. The herb is immunostimulating and protective against microorganisms like Staph infection. It's a lovely warming plant and one of my favorite adaptogens helping to reduce anxiety while uplifting the spirit and sparking hope within us. Of course, I have a personal love for Holy Basil that is tied to the lessons I have learned sitting with this plant and its ancestral stories, but I can't help but feel that the recognition of Holy Basil as an earthly embodiment of the Goddess Lakshmi speaks to the sacredness that Holy Basil helps us to recognize in people and places. Within breathwork, Holy Basil helps us to connect to our holiness and the holiness of the moment while releasing those things which no longer serve us. Here is one of my favorite tea blends featuring Holy Basil.

image by Belinda Fewings

Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) | Respiratory Tonic, Heart Tonic
Holy heart opener and guardian of the gates, Hawthorn is one of the most treasured heart tonics within traditional western herbalism. I've written about its power of thorn, how it helps us to thrive in eclipse season, and why it is one of my favorite autumn season herbs. Hawthorn is known as a cardiac tophorestorative which means that it acts as a restorative for our heart bringing our physical and energetic heart back into balance. The herb helps with the brave journey of opening up again after heartbreak - no easy task and yet one essential to healing. In breathwork, Hawthorn is the ally of the broken-hearted and those who avoid quiet contemplative practices because of their broken-heartedness. It is an herb that works best when taken over an extended period of time.

Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) | Nervine, Heart Tonic
Rooibos is a relaxing nervine with anti-spasmodic qualities and cardioprotective qualities. It's one of my favorite herbs to use in daily morning teas - it's a gentle adaptogen, rich in antioxidants, incredibly calming to the nerves without being sedating, and it's just a really delicious tasting. Rooibos finds its way into many of my tea blends include this one for the First Harvest. Plants are storytellers and in this current wave of culture-changing Black Lives Matter protests, South African native Rooibos can act as an ancestral teacher and gifter of wisdom. For those of you of African descent wanting to work with ancestral herbs, Rooibos is one place to start since it is often easy to find and gentle enough for most folks to work with.  For folks of non-African descent we can learn from plants like Rooibos, too, practicing our listening skills and turning to quiet reflection with our plant teachers alongside the many other humxn teachers helping us to dream up a more just and kind future. Within breathwork, Rooibos helps us bring sweetness to our practice especially for those folks who have a hard time recognizing pleasure as an essential part of healing and justice work.

image by Kings Lee

Recommended Preparations

Many of the herbs above can be prepared in a variety of ways. I feel that the following three ways are particularly conducive to using these herbs in breathwork practices, but please use what you have available and what is appropriate for your individual needs. All of these preparations are water based and require very simple tools to make. 

Teas: One of our oldest forms of herbal medicine, teas or herbal tisanes - if we want to get fancy - are the infusion of plant material with water. Sitting with a cup of tea before, during, and after breathwork only enhances the experience in my opinion. Making tea can be a ritual, helping to set the space for your breathwork and, if drinking hot tea, the steamy aroma of the brew can further help to open airways and deliver the medicine through our breath. Typically, for herbal teas you’ll add 1 heaping teaspoon of herbs per 8 ounces of water and steep for 10 - 20 minutes.

Herbal Steams: Opening up the airways and delivery herbal medicine directly to our airways can be a lovely way to connect with plants before and during breathwork. Typically an herbal steam consists of pouring hot water over a bowl full of herbs and positioning your head above it so that you are breathing in the vapors. Some folks like to cover their head and the bowl with a towel, but this can be a bit too intense for others. It is important to be careful and not burn yourself with the steam which can be quite hot initially. I like to pour hot water over a bowl of herbs, cover with a towel and let sit for 5 minutes before breathing it. You can perform an herbal steam before breathwork or have a bowl of herbs and hot water positioned before you so that you are inhaling their fragrance while partaking in your breathwork practice.

Herbal Baths + Showers: Another option is to take an herbal bath or shower. Herbal baths consist of infusing your bathwater with herbs much like bathing in a large cup of tea. You can learn more about herbal baths and showers here. I like combining herbal baths and showers with breathwork because I find them inherently relaxing and opening - both energetic shifts useful for breathwork. While you can take an herbal bath or shower and then perform your breathwork, you can also perform simple and short breathwork while bathing. As a Witch, bathing is an opportunity for spiritual cleansing and releasing unwanted energetic entanglements - combined with herbs and breathwork bathing and showering can become a powerful ritual.

I hope that these suggestions are useful and that you are inspired to meet with any one of these plant teachers yourself. Be sure to check out my companion post on breathwork for more resources. If you're looking for more resources on herbs that help remind us of our wholeness check out my post on work and worth and those plant allies that are especially useful for the more sensitive among us. Since breathwork is often connected to (re)learning how to rest, here's my guide on how to find insights on ways to rest particular to your personal starmap.

If you’re looking for a deeper dive into breathwork, check out my course on the subject.

Finally, I just received a book in the mail today that I think many of you would find useful when it comes to the overall practice of arriving back into our bodies. Nourishing the Nervous System by tayla shanaye is a beautifully designed pocket-sized book (can I tell you of my deep love for pocket books?) with simple somatic exercises you can do daily for nervous system wellness. The book is produced by Loam which I was only recently introduced to (thanks, Yarrow!) and I’m sure many of you will be as happy to find them as I was.

❤︎ This post was made possible through patron support. Thanks, friends. ❤︎

Breathing With Friends

I've had a number of conversations with folks about the gratefulness of technologies like video chat to enable essential services (like mental health and medical appointments) to continue and the complete soul-suck that many experience with the same medium. As one friend put it "I am tired of trying to create meaningful connections through video chat but I also know that I need video to be able to connect at all with folks right now." 

Video chat as an essential form of connection isn't going away any time soon, so let's come up with an alternative approach for connectivity with less suckage and more nourishment. At the best of times, for me video chat has been an uncomfortable medium and this has been true long before living in quarantine. It has always had a valley of the uncanny feeling to it and only amplifies the feeling of being observed as opposed to being listened to. As I've been navigating this new world of only video chat based meetings, I noticed that I would get off some calls feeling exhausted and other times I felt a sense of connection and wellness.

What was the difference? Breathwork. 

But more on that in just a minute.

(If you’re looking for herbs to support your breathwork practice, come this way.)

There are a few reasons so many of us are feeling burned out about video chat. Even if we're connecting with folks we love, video chat is often a reminder that things are not normal right now. That's stressful in and of itself, but then there is the empathy wall that occurs through video chat. In-person conversations and connections are full of all sorts of shared experiences, including the experience of being in the same environment at the same time as well as energetic markers that don't translate well through video (now there is an upside for folks who tend to get emphatically overloaded in conversations - the empathy wall can actually provide a bit of reprieve). Then there's all the specific to video chat frustrations like technological blips (disconnects, laggy wifi), crappy lighting, interruptions that happen more frequently if we live with others, and having to stare at a screen as opposed to sitting with a person you want to connect with.

Yet, through all these frustrations, I've had consistent moments of connection with folks over video chat and it was because we were using a tool that translates really well to this format: breathwork. Breathwork can take many forms but it's essentially the practice of paying attention to your breath with intention. Breathwork is present in a number of modalities from sitting meditation, trancework and pathworking, spellwork, martial arts, yoga, and more. If you're wanting to connect with folks through video chat but finding it draining or difficult why not try breathwork with your friends and family instead?

Breathwork gets us back into our bodies and even when we're practicing mindful breathing at in-person events it is still an inherently private and deeply personal experience. In this way, breathwork is something that can easily be shared together online but still feel like you're having a meaningful individual experience in the presence of community. What's also nice about breathwork within a video chat conference during times like these is that we can experience a reprieve from talking about the crisis while still connecting to our own feelings and holding space for others to do the same all while together. I know that some folks, especially those with an established meditation or breathwork practice, may be full of disbelief at the suggestion that you can have a nurturing, community-based breathwork practice via video chat, but believe me it truly translates well. 

There are a lot of beautiful resources out there for breathwork whether by yourself or with friends. Two accessible books are The Power of Breathwork by Jennifer Patterson and How To Breathe by Ashley Neese. Both of these books teach a variety of simple breathwork exercises for everything from helping to go to sleep, finding inspiration, exploring grief, nourishing the body, and more. There are also a number of tutorials on youtube including one on square breathing (a technique that I teach and recommend to a lot of folks) and this video covers a variety of stress-relieving breathwork techniques. Breathwork can also be combined with visualization such as a grounding and centering tree of life meditation. You can access my version of the tree of life meditation for free on my Begin With the Breath course description page - just scroll down to the course curriculum section and click on "Tree of Life" for both a recording and transcript. There are also a number of wonderful folks hosting breathwork based online gatherings like Yarrow Magdalena and her Unravel course on tending to grief through breathwork, writing, and ritual (I was just on her podcast and she's a gem).

To help you try out breathwork with friends I've created a simple breathwork gathering format for your video chats. For both of them, it helps to have someone in charge of facilitation and time management (one of the ways to make video chats less stressful is knowing that they have an planned ending) and this is a role that can be rotated each time you gather if you like. There is nothing revolutionary about the following outline - it's a format that many of you will probably have come across before. I'm writing it out both for those of you who haven't facilitated a space like this before - either in-person or online - it can really help to have it all laid out and for folks who have facilitation experience but haven't done this work through video chat yet.

A Simple 30 Minute Breathwork Outline

Gathering and settling in - 5 minutes
Time for everyone to arrive and get comfortable. Depending on how many folks are gathered you can choose to leave everyone muted or unmuted for this part. Before you move on to the next part, invite folks to take a moment to pull up gallery view for a moment so that they are able to see everyone that they'll be sharing space together at once before returning to their preferred screen setup. I learned this at a recent class with Yarrow Magdalena and it was a magickal moment similar to what I experience at the start of a community ritual where we all take a moment to gaze upon everyone we've gathered together with at that moment.

Three word check-in - 5 minutes
Invite everyone to speak or write in chat (especially recommended for groups) three words describing how they are feeling at this moment. Check-ins are a good way for folks to begin to connect with their inner world while beginning to hold space and witness the inner worlds of others. If posted in chat, the facilitator can choose to read through all or some of these words depending on group size.

Breathing with friends - 10 minutes
Introduce the breathwork practice with simple instructions (reading them from a book is just fine!) and then settle into breathwork together. You have a few options when it comes to sound at this point. At in-person gatherings you're going to be hearing other people breathing and while you can unmute everyone on the call, that can sometimes prove more distracting than helpful. One solution is to breathe together while muted - the downside is that disconnects happen and that can be stressful for folks who are trying to close their eyes while breathing but also don't want to find that they're no longer in the call. You can choose to have just the facilitator unmuted for reassuring "I'm still on the call" sound cues. Another option is for the facilitator to play a song or two through their computer or play a simple drumbeat if they have a drum.

Reconnect and reflect - 5 minutes
The facilitator gently invites folks out of the focused breathwork and into a space of reflection. This can be a time for folks to journal briefly or they can speak or write three words on what they are currently feeling. Especially for smaller groups there is always an opportunity to expand this part - just make that decision ahead of time to create an easeful time container for everyone.

Closing and departing - 5 minutes
End by reading an inspiring quote, pulling an oracle card, or some such similar departing blessing. Remind folks to allow space for the experience of breathwork to continue to unfold throughout the day and night. Invite folks to jump into gallery view again to be able to see everyone that has gathered and held space together at once. And then you're done!

I would love to hear how you've made video chat easier to manage and connect with folks on a heart level in the comments below. If you do end up doing breathwork with friends or family, let me know, too! For my fellow herbalists and folks serving as healers in your communities, here are my thoughts on serving as practitioners during times of pandemic.

If you’re looking for herbs to support your breathwork practice, I’ve written about that, too.

Maybe these new skills or connections will becomes we carry with us beyond the time of social distancing, but whether that happens or not, my hope is that you and your loved ones can experience peace and connection with one another no matter what medium it is through.

❤︎ This post was made possible through patron support. Thanks, friends. ❤︎

Beyond Scarcity: Marketing Access Not Fear

I’m doing some scary things this calendar year.

You see, last year was a shadow work year for me. While working with one’s personal shadow and the larger cultural shadows we all fall under is an ongoing requirement for showing up to magickal work that I gladly accept, last year was a doozy. A shadow fest. A messy tumble into fear-land. A lot of trembling and wrestling and negotiating and realizing. You know, just typical millennial hag anthropocene witch life stuff.

I’ve climbed enough out of the squishy fear pit of terror worms (the first scary movie I ever watched was Tremors - thanks, Dad - and so I remain haunted) to start imagining what my world might be like if my insecurities and general life challenges loomed small in a life of large, persistent hope. What I’m trying to say is that I’m finally tackling (becoming friends with? frenemies with? be gay do crime comrades together?) some big projects that I have been both desiring but avoiding. Better yet, I’ve gotten clearer on what it is I need to be able to accomplish these goals (fyi, I’ve already started writing about these goals and upcoming projects in my newsletter if you’re someone who likes to be in the know). To bring these new projects to life I’ve been thinking about accessibility and different tools beyond the sliding scale to create financial support for community projects and seed-bombing the internet with free quality resources. Don’t worry, I’ll be writing about all of this in future posts.

One of the persistent fears in my life is scarcity in its various manifestations. It’s a tenacious fear that has blossomed in the age of the internet and in my own journey as a small business owner. I also know that this is a fear that is experienced by many of you reading this post and those who take my classes. So, as this is the year of big experimentations in my life and work, I’m trying something new to hopefully create more freedom and less scarcity for those of you interested in participating in any of my courses or services.

image via @mikejersken

One of the big tools of marketing and advertising is to create a sense of scarcity. In years past I even played the scarcity marketing game in my business. It was usually because I was feeling a deep scarcity and thought that a spur of the moment flash sale would get the money that I needed in the door quick. This way of doing business never sat right with me personally and I wasn't often successful. While I do think that having limited sales make sense business-wise (I can't sustainably offer discount prices on my services in perpetuity) I'm interested in creating a feeling of access rather than scarcity in my promotion of any sales.

This calendar year I'm casting some big spells against scarcity.

I'm just going to tell you right now, and post this information on my course pages as well as my FAQ/Contact page, when I'll be having sales and when I'll be offering extended payment plans every year from now on.

First, I've decided to offer two extended payment plan opportunities this year because the feedback I received from folks was that they would like to be able to sign-up for more than one of my courses with an extended plan at different times of the year so they can allow for budgeting. And that makes a lot of sense. I cannot afford to offer extended payment plans all the time (it is the type payment plan that folks most often do not complete and the one that takes up most of my time administratively to manage even with automation), but I really enjoy being able to make them an option.

Second, I'll be having my annual sale in June which is the only time of year that I offer any discounts on my offerings. I'll send out reminders for each sale, but hopefully it'll feel less, "Gotcha! Here's a sale!" and more "Hey, remember that thing I already told you about? It's happening if you're interested, my dude."

image via @cadop

 2020 Sales + Special Offers 

You can find the sales schedule for the current year on my FAQ - including details on my new J-term offering.

February 20 - 25:  Extended Payment Plan Sale
You'll be able to sign-up for The Lunar Apothecary at $40 a month for eight months and The Tarot Apothecary for $21 a month for four months.

June 22 - July 6: Annual Sale
My once-a-year sale on all of my content from ebooks to ecourses. I'll have more details on the discounts and available course bundles soon.

Sometime between Mabon and Samhain: Fundraiser!
I need to come up with a fun name for our annual fundraiser (Ideas? Let me know!). Last year we raised $800 for RAICES and this is a tradition that I want to grow and expand - more than the year we raised together the year before. In the months ahead I look forward to asking you what type of content you would love to see offered (I want to do something else in addition to the Samhain Oracle). 

August 27 - September 3: Extended Payment Plan Sale
Same as February's offer. 

image via @mikejerskine

If you’re interested in implementing similar ways of doing business in your own work, please do (and if you feel up for it, let me know in the comments or directly how it goes). It took me a long time to figure out how to do sales and offer extended payment plans in a way that made sense for me. What you see above might appear simple, but holy heck, it’s a result of a lot of trial and error. Make sure to give yourself space to make mistakes and, more importantly, change direction as needed without giving yourself too hard of a time.

Some of the things I consider when offering extended payment plans, for example, is what time of the month to do them. When I create an opportunity of access for those in my community who need the greatest financial support, I typically do it near the end of the month or straddling end of one month and the beginning of the next. I do this because I received consistent feedback from folks that this was the most common time that the received pay checks and were also able to know they could manage all their other monthly costs before paying for one of my courses. Paying attention to scheduling opportunities not only makes it more accessible to my community but it also makes the process easier for me - I received far less emails asking me to extend or change the time of a sale from folks waiting for their paychecks and me trying to make that happen for each individual. Ultimately, most of the ways that you create access in your practice should make everything easier for all involved.

Am I worried that folks will only sign-up for my courses during a sale or extended payment plan period? No, and this is because I’ve spent a few years inviting my readers to the table of understanding and celebrating financial access. I get lovely feedback that folks feel empowered when it comes to making choices on how they’re going to sign-up for my courses and that warms my heart (seriously, thanks for the feedback, friends, it’s been super helpful). I still have folks signing up for my courses at full cost, even after I posted this announcement via my newsletter. Of course there are folks who are going to wait for the sales - but I’m really happy about that, too. I know that I’ve informed my audience to make a choice on how they might want to engage me and my work in the way that works the best for all of us.

I would love to hear about how you create transparency in your marketing (and business in general). Please comment below or feel free to get in touch. These conversations around money, access, and how we invite eachother in are necessary, inspiring, and liberating - I’m so grateful that I get to have them with all of you.

So this is my contribution to the ongoing work that I know many folks are doing to create a more compassionate paradigm for both business owners and clients on what it means to run a business. We’re all just practicing for the future we’re calling home to us.

Also, because we’re magickal folk, throughout this year I’ll be posting spells and rituals to against scarcity, along with spells to strengthen, spells to soothe, and charms to bring us together. In the meantime, remind yourself that we might be creating meaning in our work but our work is not our worth, call in those early spring dreams, and remember to rest.