Like most of us, you probably have too much to do. You respond by submersing yourself in distractions, committing to more than you can accomplish, or feeling guilty about what you are not doing. You know that none of these responses are healthy for you, yet seem unable to extract yourself from your habits. What's the solution?
You've got to find practices that nourish and feed you.
Example: I stretch and meditate in bed before I get up. When I rise calm and peaceful, my day is smoother; if I wait till later, I won't do it.
You've got to find practices that are easy for you to incorporate into your day.
Example: I go outside and do five minutes of qi gong or yoga stretches. Just enough to stretch, feel the breeze, and shift gears. Then I go back to seeing clients or working at the computer refreshed.
You've got to connect the practice to your intent.
Example: I joined a gym, but got frustrated using machines--couldn't remember what to do half the time, and didn't like the energy in the room. My intent was to stay fit, do some cardio, and feed my spirit. I found some classes and teachers who helped me with all three, and now I attend religiously!
Example: You have psychological insight--you know your habits of feeling not enough, of wanting to be perfect, or of overthinking--but don't know what to do about them. That was my experience when I first learned energy work in the Andes. My shamanic teachers kept encouraging me, and Energy Alchemy became my salvation--using simple practices of releasing one kind of energy and taking in another helped me transform my whole way of being in the world.
You've got to use what you know.
How many workshops have you taken where you learned great tools, came home, and didn't use them? Even though you knew you should?
Most of us know what to do, but can't quite get around to it, and that's when someone else's support can help you make a difference. I help many of my clients integrate and focus their deep life wisdom, or learn what they need for their next steps. It can help to have an ear, some feedback and guidance, and support! Get support now.
What If You Don't Know What to Do?
One tool I use regularly is watching and listening in the world for guidance. Signs, metaphors, and natural rhythms--tidal flow, moon waxing and waning, bird migration, planting and growing cycles, and movement of constellations in the sky--offer clues for both focus and action.
I listen in this way, for example, when deciding what to write about each month. We are coming up on the Summer Solstice, time of light and growth, fruiting and flowering. I was wondering how to focus on these themes when I woke one morning to the rising sun streaming in my window. Immediately I opened my mouth and began swallowing the sun (see below).
A long time ago I didn't know how to be a person of light. But my indigenous Andean teachers did know about this. Seeing and experiencing their joyful awareness and connection, I was inspired to try out what they knew: I started swallowing the sun regularly, taking the light and power of the sun into my body and all my cells.
Over time it was one of the practices that helped me learn how to be light. And, as an added gift, it repaired a great sadness. When dermatologists told me to cover up and stay out of the sun--me, a California girl who loved the sun and loved being tan--I no longer knew how to relate to the sun. If I had to hide from it, how could I enjoy it? This practice of swallowing the sun showed me what to do:
Facing the sun, tilt your head back and open your mouth so the sun hits the roof of your mouth (if you are indoors, move so the light comes through the window into your mouth). Swallow the sunlight four times, feeling and seeing the light and heat spreading though your whole torso and into all your cells.
Practice your luminous becoming in this way. Expand your relationship with the sun as it reaches its zenith and comes into its longest days (in the northern hemisphere). Feed your own light and growth, fruiting and flowering. And think about learning more cool energy and light practices this fall in my first Live, Online Energy Alchemy class!
May you have a luminous Solstice,
Meg Beeler/Earth Caretakers
