The Practice Sessions: Regyna Curtis of Atmaitri

a creative practice for self-love: Body Landscapes

Hello beautiful human,

I always ask my Practice Session contributors to recommend one or two creators I should reach out to, to add their voices and offerings into our growing Practice Sessions. I believe creative and powerful people know creative and powerful people. Elizabeth Shepley of Owl Create (and our very first Practice Session guest) recommended Regyna Curtis to me so quickly I had to catch my breath.

In her own words, Regyna is a soul rhythm amplifier. She’s the founder and CEO of Atmaitri, and co-founder of Mingle! Learning Collaborative. We spoke together back in February, connecting through Regyna’s charming Mingle! Zoom space (seriously, she has it set UP, people). And I knew right away I wanted her voice and stories to find a way into An Inviting Space. We agreed that publishing right in time for the spring equinox, a time of balance and shift, felt appropriate to both of us.

Drum roll please…

Hi! I’m Regyna, a soul rhythm amplifier and intuitive artist. I help entrepreneurs implement strategies that honor their natural energy cycles so they can get out of the dance between burnout and radical rest. A key part of this strategy is the international virtual co-working space that I co-founded and joyfully run my own business out of daily.

I have two feline interns that keep me on my toes and remind me to stay present for love, play, and rest every day.

Some things to know about me:

•  I love exploring the world, and I learn new things about myself every time I travel.

•  Although I have a degree in art education and worked in the industry for decades, I didn’t feel confident calling myself an artist until I found my unique style which is nothing I learned in art school!

•  I’ve been published several times through collaborative projects, and am currently very excited to be working on my first solo book. Coming soon!

•  I love meeting new people and chatting about what you’re creating, so check out my world here and set up a connection call if it feels right.

The Five Questions for the Practice Sessions

What are your current fascinations?

Currently, I am most fascinated by the interplay of the universe.

I have always been interested in the patterns I see with my eyes, as well as those I feel and sense. I didn’t understand for quite a long time that my ability to recognize and easily interpret the frequencies of time and space and how they dance together was not a common talent. Now that I am aware, I understand how important it is for me to stay curious and explore the things I am fascinated by.

My fascination at this moment sits somewhere in the bigness of it all. The ability of energy to form and reform massive structures out of sheer will… or submission, depending on how you spin it. And likewise, in how all of this applies to our daily interactions. How we, too, are driven by the same universal forces from which the stars are born and celestial bodies dance together at high speed.

And yet it all just feels so normal.

All of this is happening as I sit here writing—my cats playing nearby—and my biggest pending decision is what to make for breakfast.

Fascinating.

What does a “delicious day” consist of, for you?

For me, a delicious day could go one of two very different ways. I am a fan of both extremes, yet oddly worn out by the middle bits where they intersect.

I’ll begin with the day filled with adventure. Although, to be honest, from my perspective, both extremes are based on adventure. What is adventure anyway? The dictionary says that it is an unusual, exciting, or dangerous experience, journey, or series of events. I agree, although I don’t often think of my adventures as dangerous. If you measure dangerousness by how much is unknown or by how much an experience will change you forever, then yes, I do. But I do not embark on adventure seeking danger, especially not on a delicious day.

Or do I?

I go in search of wisdom, of connection, and of expansion.

The more I share about this, the more I realize that the two days I originally imagined to be quite different are not so much at all. It is merely the landscape through which I journey that is different and whether the people I meet along the way sit before me in tangible form or share their experiences through words and images alone.

Ultimately, my most delectable days are spent exploring.

Some days I explore thoughts through words. On such days, I generally prefer a quiet environment and a cozy atmosphere. Other days, I explore experiences with people or in new locations on our planet. I would describe my most favorite atmospheres as beautiful, interesting, thought provoking, inviting. There are moments when I enjoy the world through sound, yet I generally prefer the world in quieter spaces. At least in my current phase of life. I am able to digest complex visual landscapes with ease, but noise is quite distracting for me right now.

At the end of a delicious day, I fall into bed feeling completely spent, not worn out by any means, absolutely full!

Full of love.

Full of new information to process.

Full of inspiration and excited to digest it all in the worldscape of my dreams, where I am likely to have yet another adventure fueled by the one before it and the prologue for the one that follows.

How do you take care of yourself?

1 Practice

2. Active and compassionate listening

3. Following my joy

4. Sharing it with others

5. Going on adventures with people I enjoy

6. Going on solo adventures in both internal and external landscapes

7. Spending time in silence

8. Walking with nature

9. Playing with my intuition through creative practice

10. Movement

11. Allowing

12. Giving myself gracious spaciousness for whatever I need, whenever I need it

13. Showing up fully where I am when I am there

14. Pausing for appreciation when I notice beauty

15. Letting my emotions be expressed

16. Being my full, weird, bright, genius self

17. Writing

18. Traveling

19. Being both a learner and leader in the same spaces

20. Taking imperfect action

21. Dreaming out loud.

We are the stories we tell. I’m curious if, at this point, you sense yourself moving into any new stories, or if there are stories you feel you’re recovering?

I’m currently in the process of writing a book, so stories are very much alive for me right now. In truth, I’ve written many books that I’ve never published. Some actually made it onto pages in the form of words. Others were written and re-written a million times over in my head. I’ve published several times in collaborative book projects, and each time, I have been asked to “tell my story.” And each time, a tiny voice would ask, “which one?”

There are many ways I can tell my story. It is not just one story; it is a collection of stories. Each collection has its own personality and perspective.

At first, I told my story from the wound.

My childhood was complicated. Aren’t they all? For me, the bizarre paradox of love and violence occurring in the same space created complexity. It took me some time to unravel these two polarities and understand how they each affected me.

I remember the exact moment I decided to stop telling my story from the perspective of pain. I was sitting on a friend’s couch, and she asked about my family. I opened my mouth, and no words came out. So I listened within, and I asked why.

“I’m tired of telling that story,” my soul shared.

The words came easily after that. I was ready to tell a new story, the story of who I was then in that moment. For several years beyond that conversation, I only told the stories from the perspective of my present moment and of the future I was creating.

I felt reinvigorated and inspired. It wasn’t so much that I chose to ignore my past. It was a conscious choice to no longer allow it to hold me back. To no longer allow it to keep me stuck reliving the same stories over and over.

I gave myself the gracious spaciousness to acknowledge how far I had come, to celebrate my successes, and explore who I am becoming. I allowed myself to be the main character of my story, as well as the author.

I played with words a lot throughout this time. It was during this time that I recovered my identity as an author and learned a new appreciation for my unique style of storytelling.

When I began writing the book I am in the midst of authoring, I had no intention of telling stories from my childhood. “I’m done telling that story,” I believed, so I was a bit surprised when they arrived on the page. But this time, they were different.

I was no longer writing from the wound. I was no longer reliving the pain I had experienced.

This time, the stories were told through the lens of love.

These are the stories I am recovering. The stories of my childhood self that were so for so long hidden by the fog of pain that had gone unhealed as I swam through the sea of my emotional wreckage over and over for so many years. And for some time, it was necessary for my survival.

Until it wasn’t.

My body knew.

She told me, and I listened.

She told me without words.

In fact, it was the absence of words that made me certain of her message.

This leads me beautifully into the next question.

Let’s include a gratitude you’d like to share with us…a person, or a place, or something you’d like to express gratitude for who has helped you arrive at this moment.

Yes. A thousand times yes. There is so much that I am grateful for in this moment. There are so many people, experiences, and choices that have led me to this exact moment.

Right here.

Right now.

I am grateful for my body. For the wisdom that she shares with me each and every day.

I am grateful for all the ways through which wisdom is communicated to and through me.

I am grateful for my lived experiences, for without them, I would have no stories to tell.

I am grateful for my ability to interpret the insights I receive throughout my lived experiences and weave them into wisdom through the tapestry of storytelling.

I am grateful to all of the wise and powerful women who have courageously kept the art of storytelling alive throughout lifetimes of challenging landscapes. Many more dangerous than others, yet steadfast they remained.

I am grateful for my grandmother Dolores, who always reminded me that I was loved no matter what else was occurring in the world around me as a child and has never once left my side, even after death.

I am grateful for Elizabeth Shepley, who recommended me for this opportunity, and who has a been a dedicated ambassador and heartfelt supporter of all that I do. Even before I was aware she was listening.

I am grateful to Sarah for creating this beautiful space, for sharing our stories, and for the practices provided here.

I am grateful for you. You who is reading this right now. I am grateful for the time you have spent with me here on this adventure.

Welcome to this delicious day!

Regyna is a fellow lover of words and shared a few of her favorites with us over at Baker’s Dozen Book.

Find Regyna’s creative practice for growing self-love shared below: “Body Landscapes”