The River Reminded Me of Something
Every time Jen and I push our pack rafts into the river, I feel it.
Something shifts.
(If you're new here, Jen is my wife.)
Within minutes, I'm no longer thinking about my inbox or my endless to-do list. My shoulders soften. My breathing slows. The pace I've been carrying begins to melt away.
As we paddle, the river invites me back into the present.
I notice the trees lining the shore.
The birds calling to one another.
The occasional eagle soaring overhead.
And my favorite part...
Watching the light dance across the surface of the water.
For a little while, nowhere else in the world feels more important than where I am.
I don't know if you've ever watched sunlight hit a river or lake just right, but it's mesmerizing. Every ripple catches the light differently, as if the river itself is alive... dancing right alongside us.
After we've paddled for a while, Jen and I usually connect our boats together and just float. We bring snacks, iced tea or coffee, sometimes even takeout. We'll put on music, laugh, dream, and occasionally have the hard conversations that life asks us to have.
That’s me in the front, Jen in the back.
What's interesting is that my mind doesn't always stay perfectly quiet out there.
Sometimes it wanders.
But instead of wandering toward worry, it wanders toward possibility.
We'll dream about the retreat center we'd love to build someday. We'll imagine what's next. We'll talk about life, community, and the kind of world we want to help create.
A couple of years ago, I had a realization — presence isn't perfection.
It's not clearing your mind of every thought.
It's not meditating for an hour without distraction.
I think presence is a spectrum.
If you go for a twenty-minute walk and find yourself fully present for ten of those minutes... that's beautiful.
If you're dancing for an hour and you lose yourself in the music for thirty minutes... that's enough.
Those moments matter.
Every time we return to the present — even for a few seconds — we give our nervous system permission to soften. We remind our body that, in this moment, we are safe enough to breathe, notice, and receive.
And maybe that's where pleasure begins.
For so much of my life, I treated pleasure like something I had to earn.
After I answered the emails.
After I finished my work.
After I crossed everything off my list.
The problem?
The list is never finished.
There is always one more thing to do.
And yes — I'm still challenged by it.
But if we wait until everything is done before we allow ourselves to experience joy, we'll spend our lives postponing it.
Pleasure isn't a reward.
It's nourishment.
It's medicine for a nervous system that's forgotten what it feels like to simply be.
Sometimes it looks like dancing as your fullest self.
Sometimes it looks like fresh blueberries picked on a warm July day.
Sometimes it looks like a homemade meal shared with people I love.
And sometimes...
It looks like sitting in the middle of a river, watching the light dance on the water, remembering that life isn't waiting for me on the other side of my to-do list.
It's happening right here.
In this breath. In this moment.
As we step into July, I'm inviting all of us — including myself — to practice something different.
To pause more often — because presence is always available. And to let pleasure be something we receive, not something we earn 💜
— Danielle
July is devoted to Presence & Pleasure ✨
Throughout the month, we'll explore what it means to come home to the present moment, reconnect with the wisdom of the body, and remember that pleasure isn't something we have to earn — it's something we're meant to experience.
Not because life suddenly becomes perfect.
But because even in the midst of imperfect, beautiful, messy lives...
Presence allows us to notice what's already here.
And pleasure reminds us we're worthy of receiving it.
What’s Inside July
Weekly JourneyDance®
Full Moon Release (Ceremony + JourneyDance)
New Moon Intention-Setting (Ceremony + JourneyDance)
Kundalini Dance: Exploring Lakshmi & Lalita
Laughter Yoga with Terri
The Superfine Reset — a FREE Day to experience self-care!
Inside the growing membership, you'll have access to:
29 full-length JourneyDance® classes
7 Kundalini Dances
Steady Ground Yoga Nidra
4 Brave Women JourneyDance + Yoga Nidra experiences
3 Laughter Yoga Sessions with Terri
Dark Moon Ceremonies (for release + reset before a new cycle)
All inside one private, Netflix-style app.
No pressure to keep up.
No expectations to do it perfectly.
Just support, tools, resources, and community — when you need them most.
If you can’t make it live, you’ll receive the replay and playlist.
Membership is $35/month and includes this class and all upcoming classes.
If cost is the only thing stopping you, use code SISTER50 for 50% off or apply for a gifted membership. No questions asked. We take care of each other here.
This reflection was originally shared with our email community.
We'd love to welcome you to an upcoming experience.
