This past month in my tending your inner garden classes we’ve been exploring the energy and practices to support us in our process of Integration and Alignment. I love the picture of the fern in this phase, in a cocoon of growth before it’s emergence with new life – every year going through this life cycle, mirroring back to us what’s necessary during periods of integration.
Through our life journey, we not only gather in all the pivotal moments of our life experience, but we also need to practice discernment and surrender into healthy support to release trauma, doubt, entanglements with others that we’ve accumulated through our experiences that take us away from our sense of wholeness. This is all part of the process.
In our tending sessions we’ve been exploring a tree of life meditation and related practices, these offerings have the potential to give us a grounded place to integrate from, and to welcome in supportive energy. If we choose to make the time there are so many things we can do to support this ongoing process; journaling, dancing, guided imagery and free movement, closing your eyes and honouring the movement that wants to unfurl from inside of you, breathing in intention and seeing how this moves you. We can also turn to the wisdom of wild animals, who shake and shudder after traumatic events – releasing the imprint of stress so they can move forward.
We had a very small and intimate circle these past two weeks, allowing the opportunity for some deep work. This was a special class, creating gratitude bundles and dropping into the practices. Our Monday group met under the solar eclipse, it was so powerful as we moved through this portal together.
I think the world needs more moments of intentional silence, I find often folks feel the need to fill the spaces of silence but I think this is where the healing and the deeper understanding of eachother happens. I find as the noise in our world gets louder I need more time in quiet just to survive.
I’m really feeling the ebb and the flow of fluctuating energy levels this year, honouring the balance of rest and movement, emergence and introspection, it is definitly a dance.
After our tending gathers these past 2 weeks, I felt filled with this remembrance of the sacredness of the earth and the interconnectedness of all life. Sometimes when I come to my drum and open myself, I feel the pain of our greater collective, the sorrows of the earth and of all of life, allowing this the space to move through.
This time of year – in the early days of Spring, and again in the turn of the wheel to Autumn, I often find myself reflecting on the eternal cycle of life, death, and rebirth that binds us all together in the intricate web of existence, none of us are immune to these cycles.
Our time here in these bodies is limited, I wonder, are you living in alignment with your core values, is your outer reality reflecting your inner reality? It’s important to surround yourself with people who can support you to step into the truth of who you are, and slowly you won’t care who you’re with – you will simply be living your truth if you’re not already – it is my wish we could all get to this place in ourselves.
Are you able to take some time to integrate the experiences of your life in ways that will support you to grow from the experiences on your path, and to learn from what you have moved through.
While we’re here, How we choose to live our lives matters, I know this can feel hard for some people but we do always have a choice – even simply the choice of where we put our attention and our energy.
Before I close for today I’m feeling called to share with you a ritual of gratitude we moved through during our tending sessions, I am honoured to offer you this here, it is inspired by Richard Wagamese from his book, One Drum. The wisdom of this book is such a sacred gift he left for us, and incredibly important for these times we find ourselves in. It is with deep respect and love I share this with you.
This ceremony reminds us of our place within the web of life; offering gratitude to the elements, to the 4 directions, to our ancestors, to the spirits of place, and to all of our supports and spiritual allies, gratitude to the earth and to the sky, and to the portal within our hearts.
Supplies needed: string / yarn , cloth – cut into 9 – 12 (or more) small circles or squares, an open heart.
You willl also need to collect an offering for inside each bundle. Notice what you’re called to collect – dried leaves, rose petals, pine cones, pine needles, dried herbs, sand, soil, small crystals or stones, dried legumes, etc……
Once you’ve gathered your supplies, you may want to find a place in nature to create, or light a candle to honour this time. I encourage you to take some deep breaths to center yourself into the space around your heart.
Once you feel ready, taking a length of string about the length of both of your arms and cutting it from the ball of yarn/twine.
Placing one of your pieces of cloth in front of you, tuning into your heart and seeing what arises – what are you grateful for, as this comes into your awareness gathering your offering for inside the bundle and perhaps breathing into the herbs (or contents), sending what you’re grateful for into your offering and placing it in the centre of your cloth. Gathering the edges together and leaving enough string at the one end to connect the two ends, tie your first bundle. Continue this process, tying each bundle alongside the one before it, along the length of the string. Once nothing is coming to mind and / or you feel like you’re at a place of completion (this may be based on the number of cloth pieces you have), tying the ends together (cutting off any excess string), creating a circle with your bundles, like a wreath. A circle with no beginning and never ending – a circle of gratitude.
Sitting with your offering, perhaps laying it on your belly or over your heart, breathing this into yourself.
Over the next week finding a place in nature, ideally somewhere you visit often, and hanging your wreath on a tree, or a rock, or you may feel called to bury it. Bringing intention, as a gift for the earth, honouring our reciprocal relationship. You may want to whisper a prayer from your heart. Your gratitude bundles can be a reminder for you when things feel off kilter. They may blow away or fall at some point, when this happens, we honour the release, burying , making a new wreath, or burning the bundles as an offering, feeling into what would be the most resonant thing for you to do.
I make one of these every year, and my old ones I either bury in the ground or burn in a fire.
Thank you for your openness of creating these with me, and for sharing my thoughts.
Sending you love for the days ahead,
till next time
Amber
Click here if you’d like to find out more about upgrading to a paid supporter for $6/month, helping me to continue to do this work. This will also give you access to weekly recordings of wellness capsules and mindful minutes.
If you’d like to practice with me I teach weekly online zoom classes , plus I have several different membership options with an ever expanding video library offering you supportive practices whenever you need them through a diverse collection of offerings.
I’m so excited to be back offering Healing Massage Therapy sessions and sound therapy. If you’d like more information I would love to hear from you, send me an email at amber@suryadaya.ca.
Our next Tending Your Inner Garden offering will be starting in the fall of 2024, stay tuned for dates.
