A July Letter from Your Wise Woman
Hi friends. I hope you are well.
It’s been months since I last wrote to you. I’ve been gestating. Coccooning. Architecting and birthing.
Thanks for sticking with me. Today, I have a lot to share!
There is a particular heat that arrives in July — not the gentle warmth of early summer, but something more insistent. It insists we slow down at exactly the moment our old patterns want to speed up. It demands we sit still while it does its work.
I've been gently stewing in this heat. Here in Bacalar, it’s hot and sweaty and buggy. I’m not fighting it.
As much as my mind resists the fire, my body is remembering. Move slower. Do less, with intention. Be with water.
What the Jungle Has Been Teaching Me
I came to Bacalar because I was called. The lagoon called me, the way Mount Shasta calls, the way Sedona calls. La Laguna is a place of sanctuary. What I didn't expect was how much space this place would carve out in me.
This month, to ensure I was paying close attention, the animal teachers came in hot. Scorpions (three times), frogs, fireflies and a bat - all in my bedroom. Into my sanctuary. (I swear there was a portal that brought them through, as all doors and windows were closed tight the entire time. You bet I sewed that portal shut!)
The lesson these creatures brought was about what lies hidden in the shadows, especially what is boundaried. Not boundaries as in the kind our minds explore in workshops, but the ones that live in the body.
I got to explore an embodied series of “NOPEs,” tested every few days in unique, animal ways. I got to expand and contract into feeling boundaried. And what my body needed me to do to feel safe when it didn’t…as in each scorpion appearance.
The good news. My Guides were talking. Each time they alerted me to the scorpion. Post big-scorpion encounter- containment experience,, they sent fireflies as a goodwill gesture - into my sealed bedroom, people. (And I’ve only seen them once outside!) The frogs and bat, each gently escorted out, speak into transformation.
OK, I HEAR YOU.
The truth for me is this: In the quiet sanctuary of Bacalar, my nervous system has started speaking up in ways I used to override: this is enough now, this is too much, rest here.
I’m recognizing relationships that are not aligned, and those that are out of balance, and I’m working with what wants to happen next.
Most importantly, instead of talking over my body’s language with productivity or performance, I'm trusting my body’s communication to me.
Alongside that has come something unexpected: permission to not-do. To imagine without producing. To let an afternoon be shapeless the way it was when I was a child — before "should" moved in and took over the schedule. I am finding a kind of creative wildness that only shows up when I stop demanding it arrive on time.
And we are back to a quiet indoor sanctuary space. Thank goodness.
Called to Stewardship
I didn't choose Bacalar so much as I was pulled here — called into stewardship of something much larger than my own plans for it. That's a strange, humbling thing: to build a life around a dream that was never fully yours to design, only yours to tend.
And I'm not alone in that pull. I'm watching community form here almost on its own, among people who felt that same pull and didn't quite know why, until they arrived.
Bacalar itself is changing — growing, waking up, calling people toward it the way Bali or India have called seekers for decades.
But this energy is softer. Gentler. It doesn't ask you to climb toward vision; it asks you to float, to be held, to let water do what fire can't — to cool you enough to see and feel clearly.
This is what I love about being here. The gentle invitations to presence and conscious awakening.
The Full Moon Ceremony
Under the last full moon, a group of us gathered for a cacao ceremony at the water's edge. Men and women, of all ages. For some, it was their first time meeting cacao as a heart-activating medicine. For other, it was a deepening into themselves.
That evening, under the bold gaze of the Strawberry Moon, we held each other in the warm waters of the lagoon’s Cenote Negro, each person taking a turn to be held, suspended in the circle by our hands and the rocking water. We sang to each other, until something in each of us cracked open, revealing tears, tenderness, joy and laughter. .
Afterward, we swam into the center of this 100m deep cenote. Dark water, bright sky, everyone quiet in the particular way people go quiet when they've just remembered something true about themselves.
It was one of those peak moments, one I’ll never forget. A rebirth. Physically crossing from one side to another.
If this sounds like something that you’d like to experience. Join me in Bacalar for a private or group retreat. I would love to create and curate something just for you and your favorite peeps.
Coming in Feb. 2027: Gifted yogi Liz Skarvelis and I will be offering a Women’s Week-Long Restorative retreat here in beautiful Bacalar, at the water's edge. Stay tuned…sign ups and info coming soon!
The Circle of Emergence
I am thrilled to share something that’s been brewing inside of me for many months. It’s ready to come to the light!
I'm longing for a place to connect with others — a space where together, we remember that none of us are meeting the future alone.
The Circle of Emergence is a council for wayfinders, visionaries, midwives, and future ancestors
The Circle is a free, 60-minute monthly gathering for women who feel this shift, and desire wise companions for the journey. This space is for women asking big questions, who prefer to swim in the deep end of the pool. Discerning women — thoughtful and creative — who are exploring the worlds we can create. Women cultivating the capacity to meet uncertainty with wisdom, courage, imagination, and care.
Inside the Circle, you'll find:
- Wisdom for the Times — short reflections, questions, archetypes, and insights that expand awareness and deepen discernment.
- Meaningful Kinship — relationships with women who see the world, and themselves, with curiosity, depth, and possibility. Not networking. Not performance. And definitely not another social feed.
- Shared Inquiry — conversations that help us see more clearly, think more broadly, and respond more skillfully to what is emerging.
This is a sacred place — held monthly, just for you — to pause. To receive, reflect, reframe, and reclaim. To imagine, and to create through authentic connection.
Wednesday, July 29, 2026 — 11:00 AM PST / 2:00 PM EST
This offering was birthed from that yearning, an activation that's asking to come to life. Here, and right now. I hope you'll join me. There's a spot in the Circle of Emergence for you. Bring a sister with you. Sign up here
We are gathering at the edge of what is becoming.
Sanctuary & Sanity…I’m on Substack!
Have you found Substack yet? It’s the only platform I’ve found where community is kind, writing is for folx who actually like to read, relationships are diverse and generous, and good behavior is rewarded.
Little Michelle was a writer. I was also a huge reader - I won the library’s summer reading prize more than once - and I was convinced I’d write a lot of books. I wrote a lot, and as if by design, I got a degree in English, and then I became an English teacher. There was a lot of writing involved, mostly fun. Then I became an academic. And I wrote. A lot. But dissertation and white papers, reports and grant applications are enough to kill a writer’s soul.
So I stopped writing.
Last year I started writing poetry.
Then, I made a commitment to myself: I would write once a week.
Since I know I’m better when I have an external commitment, I created a Substack. I write about being conscious, about living in Mexico, as well as sharing pics and thoughts about stuff that lights me up. Most of all, it’s FUN. And idk about you, but this reformed Capricorn needs on-going invitations to bring more fun into her life. Sign up and join me over there.
Ta-dum…And now, a personal invitation to our eco-luxury jungle sanctuary, Casa Sabia.
This is the baby that wanted to be birthed in 2026. I’m so excited to introduce you!
Welcome to Casa Sabia, our eco-luxury refuge for people like you: conscious travelers who want to unplug from the world's demands with beauty, privacy, and design.
More than a vacation rental, Casa Sabia is a boutique sanctuary just off the shores of Bacalar’s Lagoon of the Seven Colors, in the verdant Yucatán jungle. Here, water, land, and sky meet.
A sanctuary awaits, one I artfully designed for maximum rest and restoration. Days unfold slowly by your private pool, surrounded by lush greenery and warm, lantern-lit evenings. Move between a sunny patio, tropical gardens, and open-air nooks designed for morning stillness, meditation, and unhurried conversations beneath the stars.
Mind. Body. Spirit.
Step through the blue doors into a world shaped by stone, sun, and artisan hands.
Limewashed walls, sculpted wood, woven light, and gently curved forms echo the rhythms of the land itself. Enjoy a full kitchen, a hand-crafted dining area and inviting lounge.
Every element has been thoughtfully chosen — not for display, but for beauty and harmony — creating a sense of calm that feels immediate and embodied.
Door to dock, the healing lagoon waters are a short 5-minute walk. The community pool and co-working space are 2 minutes away, yet a world apart.
Rest comes naturally in two serene bedrooms — one king, one matrimonial — each designed with spa-like simplicity and deep comfort. Stone basins, rain showers, and indoor–outdoor bathing elements transform daily rituals into moments of grounding and care.
Casa Sabia is a sanctuary for creatives, couples, retreat travelers, and seekers — those who come to Bacalar not only for the lagoon, but for the subtle transformation that arises when self, environment, energy, and intention come into alignment.
Most of us arrive carrying more than luggage — deadlines, notifications, responsibilities, nervous systems that have adapted to a world of constant stimulation. A weekend away can be refreshing, but meaningful restoration tends to ask for more time than that. The first day or two are often just spent unwinding. It's the days after that where something deeper tends to happen — sleep deepens, creativity returns, the internal urgency begins to soften, the body actually lands.
Casa Sabia is offered with a four-night minimum: because deep rest deserves enough space to unfold on its own timeline. (Discounts available for stays of 7+ and 28+ nights.)
Optional Luxury Concierge
I am thrilled to work with a stellar local company offering luxury concierge service for those wanting to fully held in all the ways. Choose from astonishing meals (think Mexican, vegan, or boutique) — curated by your own private chef to filling your fridge with beautiful local produce — to daily cleaning, personalized transportation, and adventures like a sunset sail, lagoon kayaking, tropical bird watching, or a day trip to the nearby Mayan ruins. Let us know what would serve you, and we'll arrange it. (What I love about this option? It’s another way to mindfully support local families and community.)
Casa Sabia is a home shaped by nature. A sanctuary shaped for you.
Stay Tuned: A Fall Couples Retreat
This fall, I'm opening something new — Sat. Sep. 26th, a one-day plant retreat devoted to opening the heart, deepening our relationship to the healthy feminine and mascultine, and developing more loving ways to relate to ourselves, our beloveds and others. Co-led by two gifted local retreat-leaders, this gathering will hold that devotion with the depth it deserves.
Come with a partner, a spouse, a friend, a chosen family member — a beloved in any form. Those who arrive with someone they love will receive a discount. If you'd like to be on the list when it opens, message me and I'll make sure you're among the first to know.
A Retreat Shaped for What You Need Now…From One Sacred Day to a Longer Immersion
Beyond Casa Sabia itself, I offer personalized retreats — one day to multi-day — designed around you, whether you're coming alone, with a partner, or with a group.
Held here in Bacalar, and in Oregon's high desert, each retreat is shaped around what you actually need: a reset, a celebration, a deep dive, a rite of passage.
If this speaks to you, message me and let's talk about what’s on your heart.
With love and infinite blessings from the blue edge of the lagoon,
Michelle
Your Wise Woman
