A tod@s, buenos días!
Happy Virgo full moon eclipse, and welcome to my newsletter for those of you who are new.
I’m Shayna, a developer for healers, educators & artists who want to toss their screens like a rind, taste an embodied life, build long-term growth, and rely less over time on algorithms, ads, Google, and social media.
But hey, I’m also a writer who loves connecting through stories.
There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.
—Ursula Le Guin
(Thank you, Zita Christian, for this quote in a podcast episode with Marty Schreiber.)
What I’m really after is embodying creativity, and I love working with others who want that too.
I believe we don’t have to silo ourselves in our writing or in our marketing, and we can let the infinite categories of our libraries and memoirs build….
You can find all my newsletters on my website newsletter archive.
The🌕full moon newsletters are gated (for now) and may require your subscriber email address to access.
The 🌑new moon newsletters are nonindexed versions of my Substack posts, but enhanced with Table Of Contents blocks 😉 for those who geek out on these Virgo details!
🌕Today’s URL: https://shaynagrajo.com/get-an-anointed-grip
Today’s Stories
Get an anointed grip
It took me all morning to let “anointed” arrive as the word for this headline.
I was going for “unctuous” from Latin’s unguere or ungere, “to anoint.”
But unctuous has a slimy, fake, and negative connotation.
I wanted the “oily, greasy” definition from its Latin roots in healing and sacred service.1 (p.s. for the full footnote experience, you’ll have to visit my blog.)
That took me to “unguent,” from Latin unguentum, “ointment.”2
But “Get an Unguented Grip” didn’t ring.
A moisturized grip, an emollient grip (a bit too clinical)…
A glossy grip, a glistening grip…
But I’m harkening “anointed,” because why not have it be a sacred grip?
A sacred grip: Devote the time to it
Sacred, from Latin sacer.3 “Worthy of devoting the time,” as Zita defined it. “That’s how we make it sacred.”
Portugal bound
You may remember from my 🌕last newsletter, Piensa en el 80 por ciento, that I mentioned an incumbent trip to Portugal for digital fingerprinting.
Well, that trip has come!
Thursday my partner and I are driving to Portimão in the South.
It’s happening.
We’ll arrive for the grand opening of the new office location of a company I’ll definitely write more about later.
I plan on doing them the service of writing a review, because they’re helping me out a lot.
And by “write a reivew,” I don’t just mean a review on Google or adding a testimonial to the company’s Senja collection. Nope.
I mean a blog post to signal to the 40 percent of their incoming customers (folks like me who’ve had troubles processing their fingerprints in the past) that this company is the real deal.
Or, let’s hope so. My fingers are crossed. Dedos cruzados.
When on the phone talking with or texting various companies who offer these services of in-person fingerprinting (with expedited submission to the FBI for a background check), the advice I’ve gotten has been, “religious moisturizing.”
That if I religously moisturize my hands, I’ll reduce the chances of having my prints rejected, as they were rejected twice in the past.
In both rejections, I’d submitted paper prints to the FBI by mail. The first rejection was DIY with materials I bought online; the second rejection was done for me at the local police station.
So I’ve been keeping an unctuous, which is to say an oily or anointed grip lately.
An unctuous grip of my pen pressing 1.0 mm lines of a jet stream.
Moisturized clicks of the mouse, emollient transposing and typing on the keyboard.
Listening to my hands
Last week I had a very Freeze to Flow moment.
Freeze to Flow being the theme of a five-week somatic offering I’ve been exploring with a group online, led by Alexandra Lais.
That Monday morning, I practiced the morning ritual of my dreams: woke up, made myself a coffee, then practiced somatics, then yoga, then flamenco.
My flamenco class was smaller last week, as some students weren’t in class.
One was out of town visiting her daughter in Tenerife, and another was taking care of her mom.
So, with just me and another student, class was like a private lesson and very tailored.
Before class, I told my teacher of all the projects in my head and of being generally blocked (lately, this winter, or longer).
She told me she could recognize the block and described this beautiful metaphor in her Andalusian Spanish: that of a tiny pristine river where one stone (work, sitting at a desk, bureaucracy issues, worries) doesn’t hinder a stream…
But enough stones will cause the flow to be one-sided or alter the stream.
Hay que soltar y dejar ir.
We then flowed into some movement, with a focus on our hands. She put on some music.
She told me to visualize the music in front of me, as if I were caressing it.
Then she told me to listen to the delicacy of the strumming of the guitar, and express that with the softness and relaxation of my hands and fingertips.
Then at last she told me to listen to my hands. Let them talk and see what they have to say.
Tears started welling up. I began listening to my hands and started balling.
No stories (although there could be).
Just release.
María paused the music, checked in with me, asked if I wanted a hug, then said this was great for my dance.
That all of it can be expressed, dance as a channel or a conduit for this.
I could feel that stream, that flow, that creativity.
Just by relaxing, shaking, breathing, releasing more and more in between sets of these movements that are at once technical but also demanding that tensing to this be released.
If it weren’t for being that much more with my body since my first Freeze to Flow meeting, I probably wouldn’t have been available or gotten to a place where I could let go and cry while listening to my hands.
Client Story #2: Megan’s Trust-Building Website
Megan wanted a website to convey energies of honesty and equity.
Describing her brand in 3-5 words, hers were the following: Ethical, transparent, down-to-earth massage therapy.
She wanted people to feel informed and resourced when landing on her site.
All of this indicated one thing: Trust-Building Website.
Before
The thing is, Megan was already very pleased with the launch of her first website for her massage therapy practice.
It was a one-page website built on Carrd.co.
In August 2024, I was just getting started in the remote work world of online income. As a virtual assistant with an emphasis on website copywriting, I’d briefly consulted Megan on how she could build this website herself, take full control, and make any edits she’d like.
She was so kind as to leave me a review on LinkedIn:
In her new career as a massage therapist, her first website gave her great results in the Taos, New Mexico area.
A retired professional dancer, Megan leveraged her first site to go from working at multiple regional spas to focusing on her private practice. And because she is quite gifted, well, her income also doubled and gave her more options to support her family and community.
I’ve known Megan for years, and I know how beautifully she captivated audiences on stages across the world with her performances.
And though I’ve never directly received her bodywork or therapeutic touch, I am not at all in the least surprised that she has tapped into an immense calling as an intuitive and informed healer.
But still…
It was time to set a new stage for Megan’s latest iteration of her growth, skill, visibility, and professionalism.
She needed a new online home to showcase her body of work, accolades, and connections to local and national professional networks committed to health equity and justice.
After
https://nepantlabodyworks.com/
We went live with Megan’s redesign on January 23, 2026.
There are three (if not two!) essential components of a trust-building website.
And they’re not complicated.
When you visit the “After” site, you’ll realize her website is currently more trustworthy than mine 😉
Essentials of a Trust-Building Website
- Photo
- Testimonials
- And insert-another-here
One could argue simple design—Clean, ultra-uncomplicated UX that signals everyone is welcome.
Responsive, user-centered design that says, you’re safe here on this website.
But then you’ll see her other trust signals. Logos. Press mentions. Photos with faces for her testimonials. An extended testimonial section on her About page. Testimonials sprinkled throughout her site.
And a blog that holds her vast experience and keeps the flow of trust.
Her identity, credentials, location, business address, business email address, and map are all accessible, front and center.
This website sends the massive trust signals for clients to feel secure working with Megan.
And that’s what her clients deserve.
When I asked Megan, “What was your most significant outcome with working with me?” I was delighted by the first words out of her mouth.
“The copywriting was fucking on point.”
For an anointed grip, look no further than Nepantla Bodyworks in Taos, New Mexico, on your next ski trip or visit to the Pueblo.
Correction
In my🌕last full moon newsletter, Piensa en el 80 por ciento, I’d said that Jen Mitsuke-Peters has a PhD in neuroscience.
Now, while she has a bachelor’s in neuroscience from Columbia, a master’s in neuroscience from Princeton, and an additional master’s from Naropa in clinical mental health counseling…
She is currently getting her PhD in depth psychology, integrative therapies & healing practices from Pacifica Institute, with anticipated graduation this year.
Our fingers are crossed (again!) that the dissertation will be done by summer (: Just like I’m hoping this final background check / apostille / sworn translation is my last submission before clearing the new visa for good.
Until next time…
Get an anointed, sacred grip,
- “Unctuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unctuous. Accessed 3 Mar. 2026. ↩︎
- “unguent” – WordSense Online Dictionary (3rd March, 2026) URL: https://www.wordsense.eu/unguent/ ↩︎
- “sacer” – WordSense Online Dictionary (3rd March, 2026) URL: https://www.wordsense.eu/sacer/ ↩︎
