1 Imox: Listening for the New Dream

{Read the full post here.} When I feel hungry, I wait. I notice the sensation instead of rushing to fix it. I feel my belly growl. I take a few sips of water or simply pause for a few minutes, and often the hunger passes. In that waiting, I feel my body more clearly: my legs and feet, my arms and hands, my head and my heart. I remember that not every impulse needs immediate action. Some things just want to be felt.

That feels especially resonant today, on 1 Imox, the first day of a new trecena, the return to the primordial waters.

Today is a day for a new dream.

And yet, I realize I’ve already been living a dream for a long time. A full cycle of 13 years. From the day I moved to Panajachel (10 B'atz, June 15, 2012) to June 1, 2025 (12 Kan, our 10 year anniversary in Pasajcap). From early motherhood to adolescence. From planting roots at Lake Atitlán in the western highlands of the Maya to watching those roots deepen, tangle, and strengthen.

Another 13-year cycle is nearing its close as well. In February, 13 Iq’ will give way to 1 Kej as the year bearer. The winds will settle. A new axis will form. Something steady will begin.

So what is my new dream?

One dream is literal and joyful: a family worldschooling journey this summer, traveling through Spain and Italy together, learning through movement, culture, art, and shared experience.

Another dream is quieter but just as devoted: to continue writing these daily reflections on the energy of the day, moving all the way through a complete 260-day cycle of the sacred Mayan calendar. I began on 1 No’j in October. Today, on 1 Imox, I’ve written through eight of the 20 trecenas so far. That feels worth celebrating. Go me. (Truly.)

Today we begin the Joy Path Retreat. A weeklong circle of six humans coming together in spiritual community—arriving with open hearts, curious minds, and a willingness to slow down. We gather in the beauty of Guatemala, held by the land, the lake, and the living traditions that continue to teach us how to listen.

Over the coming days, we will practice yoga and mindfulness, sit in reflection, share meals and stories, and orient ourselves to time through the sacred Mayan calendar. This is not a retreat about fixing or striving, but about remembering joy as a path—one that unfolds through presence, connection, and reverence for the rhythms of life.

May this circle be spacious and kind.
May learning arise naturally.
May joy reveal itself in simple moments.

Imox reminds me that new beginnings don’t require grand declarations. They begin in the body. In attention. In listening. In letting the dream reveal itself slowly, like something surfacing from deep water.

Today, I don’t need the whole map.
I just need to stay receptive.
To float.
To trust the current.

Maltiox, Nawal Imox.