Just Be...

100,000 Thai Theravada Monks in meditation for peace and in prayer to ease the suffering of the world. Thailand.2012.

Greetings Shining Stars! It is our greatest wish that your holiday celebrations are love-filled and bring you all the joy and bliss that is your birthright. Winter is the time to go within. We can look to nature for guidance; animals hibernate, vegetation lies dormant, the earth is resting and restoring herself. I like to think of winter as a long and luxurious savasana, restorative and deliciously deserved! In stillness, we receive the full benefits of the work we have put in. They say it is the most important pose of all. While the holidays often bring much external activity, if we give ourselves the gift of quietude and introspection just for a few minutes a day, and start anchoring this as a daily practice, when we are called to engage with the outer world, we do so from a much more grounded and solid place and we utilize our energy in more effective ways.

This year at Winter Solstice, I participated in a dear friend’s medicine wheel ceremony. We were twelve gathered respectfully and with revery to anchor our solstice intentions.  As we were saged before entering the wheel, the question posed to each of us was “what are you willing to release?”  I invite each of you to meditate on this as the year comes to a close. Turn inwards, connect with your truest and highest self, and contemplate this question so that with the return of the light, a space for what you wish to embrace and devote yourself to can start to reveal itself.

This is a great time to journal, make a vision board, meditate, give voice to your inner muse, breathe, ponder, wonder, walk in nature, pray, be grateful, rest, do nothing, smile inwardly, do (or don’t do) things that bring you into alignment with the seasons. This puts us in touch with our inner knowing and opens us up to guidance from our higher self. I find that when I devote myself to more internal pursuits, I have more clarity, focus, and discernment. My life seems more balanced, I am less likely to be ‘off-kilter’. Decisions become effortless and my energy has a sense of containment. I encourage you to just be in the darkness, rest in the fallow earth, just a few minutes a day can be life-changing!

I offer you this simple exercise to release what no longer serves your highest good.

Stand on the Earth. Feel your feet firmly planted and held by the Earth. Imagine that you have roots like a tree extending from the soles of your feet deep down into the Earth. Ground these roots into the Earth’s core. Then simply scan your body and your energy field and intend that anything that is not of the highest vibration to drain out and away from you through your root system. You don’t even need to name it or attach story to it. Simply release, let go, and breathe that energy into the Earth. You can see it as golden light entering the Earth as pure potential energy to be recycled and transmuted into nutrients to feed the Earth. Do this a few times if it feels appropriate or until you feel an energetic shift. Feel your weight on the Earth. These roots are your grounding cord and can serve both as a release method and a filling method to bring energy back into your body.

Once the release is complete, and reverse the process. Bring your awareness back to your feet and intend that the roots pull up and into your entire system the qualities of grounding, solidness, support, nourishment, balance, steadfastness.  Like a thirsty plant soak up all these wonderful qualities, feel youreself becoming restored at a cellular level. You can also open up your crown chakra and allow this energy to flow up and out of your crown bathing your entire aura as it washes over you like a waterfall of light.

When we attend to our connection with the Earth and Nature, shifts happen on all levels. I invite you to try this and see what evolves for you!

With blessings of gratitude~Claudia