Spanista Reflection Walk Kansas City Style Part 1

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      Wellness Seekers,

Spanista Reflection Walk Kansas City Style is an experience I look forward to sharing with you as another dimension of my Spanista Wellness Lifestyle. Coming back to Kansas City is always cathartic. Even though I have to break into a new routine, it is the place that grounds me because it is where love blossomed into a devoted commitment for life. So my Reflection Walk takes me down memory lane with the Intention of Gratitude for the many blessings that unfolded since coming here years ago.

A few months after we were first married we moved to Minneapolis (while keeping our home in Tampa) for my career while my husband commuted to engage in the crazy tech world of San Francisco. At the 5 year point, we determined we would move to Kansas City, where we set down roots as a family after our first years of demanding work and extensive travel always moving us in different directions. Back when I knew I was moving into a serious relationship with Bob he wanted me to take a trip with him to Kansas City to see where he grew up, went to university, started his career and became a Father to his beautiful daughter. I remember him saying, “You are going to be surprised.” And indeed I was.

There is a delightful creative, cosmopolitan and independent lifestyle here. Yes, right in the middle of the country is this gem of a city and for someone who lived in Manhattan and traveled to far off lands eventually establishing a home here, I am excited to share its virtues. The city has a rich wild west history that dates back to native Indian settlements and was noteworthy on The Lewis and Clark Expedition stopping a Parkville, a small village near home as they journeyed along the mighty Missouri River. Wherever I have lived, I am drawn to be near water so we live high on a bluff that overlooks the river and cityscape. When the atmosphere is right the cityscape takes on an aura of the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz. The surrounding hillsides are lushly green and some how Mother Nature’s watercolor brush washes a beautiful green cast over it all.

I find on my early morning Spanista Reflection Walks, I am memorized by the amazing number of shades of green nature offers along my path. No wonder it is the color of healing. You can almost taste the oxygen the trees emit. Soon they will begin to change color so the trail will become a blaze in the colors of fire. The rolling hills in our small neighborhood are killer to climb – so much so I find a need to focus on each step in a medative fashion to push through to the top. It calls for me to breathe deeply so any tension I feel emits from my body with every step upward. When the trail plateaus to offer relief, I observe more of natures gifts. If you are open to receive they always appear. My trail starts outside my front door, then up my first long hill taking me past rows of cozy homes with pets in the windows and glorious trees. The first view over the hill top is of the lovely pond – absent of geese who will return when the weather changes.

Then I come to Briar Cliff Village where a well designed lifestyle center features all locally owned shops and eateries. The Village is designed after the first outdoor shopping center in America, Country Club Plaza in the heart of Kansas City which was inspired by Seville Spain’s architecture – rich terra-cotta colored masonry and lovely waters fountains everywhere. Kansas City boasts more fountains than any city in the America. (More on this in future posts.) Of course I welcome the site of Spa at Briar Cliff Village as it is one of my favorites and make a mental note to schedule a massage for when I return from San Francisco.

I walk past the pond on to the a main road that comes to a round about and onto another path of gentle hills until I come to my turn around spot – the waterfall. Here I linger a bit on the bridge to ponder today’s Spanista Reflection Walk Intention – Gratitude. Gratitude for being lucky enough to meet my husband on an airplane and enjoy living together in another great place like Kansas City. There is loads to share about life here so will write highlights through the eyes of Spanista in weeks to come.

What do you love about where you live?

To Your Self Care Journey To Joy,

Ginny

Spanista Founder & Self Care Advocate