March 2021...
a whole year has passed
since everything changed...
Who knows how this Spring will be?
Will March roar in/out like a lion?
Or creep silently in/out like a lamb?
There is no way to know.
We must wait to see.
March is a tempestuous, exuberant month that can teach us patience
and give us hope.
It is a sacred time of rebirth and enthusiasm.
As March begins, I always find myself longing for warmer, sunnier days and looking for surprise splashes of green, tender new sprouts, and springtime flowers that seem to somehow magically appear out of cold frozen ground.
What perseverance they demonstrate!
What hope they bring!
I want some of that!
Maybe you too feel the tension of a bud or a sprout; the desire to expand and grow, to push against seemingly impossible barriers, to create, to reach toward the light, to embrace hope and new possibilities, all with the the urgency of impending birth.
I hope you are starting to see a light at the end of this long dark tunnel.
It is time.
Springtime brings strong, powerful, and wise energy to teach us to bravely and beautifully hold the paradox between sleep and wakefulness, yin and yang, effort and surrender.
I find it also teaches us to honor this sacred transition gently, to go slowly, to wait until the time is right to bloom.
In this sacred time of rebirth, let the energy of Spring help you to consciously declare your unique place in this glorious life dance.
“This is the time to be slow,
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes.
Try, as best you can, not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All sense of yourself
And your hesitant light.
If you remain generous,
Time will come good;
And you will find your feet
Again on fresh pastures of promise,
Where the air will be kind
And blushed with beginning.”
John O’Donohue
🌷
We are hopefully entering into a new phase with this pandemic and perhaps we will soon enjoy long missed gatherings and hugs.
I'm hopeful though that we can heed the lessons of this transitional time and move toward what we desire without being willful or blind or acting impetuously because we are tired.
Let's take our sacred time to embrace vision and hope and new possibilities with courage and gentleness as we begin the healing process.
This has been quite a year.
As we are called by Springtime exuberance and pandemic fatigue to rush forth excitedly, to push through, let's also try to resist returning to the unconscious, automatic pilot way of living that used to be "normal" and create something new, sustainable, sacred, inclusive and beautiful.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Springtime is related to the Wood element.
Excess wood/spring energy can show up as anger, irritability and aggression; insufficient wood energy shows up as self judgment, timidity and inability to speak up for yourself.
When in balance, however, Wood exhibits exuberant vitality, certainty, clarity and determination, but also softness, tenderness, warmth and vulnerability.
This Spring, how about setting the intention to strive for balance in all things, especially in your practices, whatever they may be?
I invite you to spend some time this Spring to consider the intention with which you practice, whether your life practices are spiritual, mental, emotional, energetic or physical.
I have learned (seemingly always the hard way) that it is way too easy for me to engage in practices of all kinds with sights set on a particular outcome, often with the wish to "fix" or change something, to be "better than this".
When I engage in my practices in such an out-of-balance way, I find that I am inadvertently manipulating my experience (at best) or re-traumatizing myself (at worst) by forcing change in the wrong direction or before it is time. In this way I am utilizing and reinforcing the very same unhealthy and unhelpful energy and nervous system patterns and habits that are ingrained, engaging old ways in which my mind/body/spirit/energy have been defiled, disrespected, or unconsciously trained to behave in the past.
This imbalanced way of practicing inevitably arises with the thought that I/things should be different,
or are somehow not OK.
When my intention is anything other than to befriend myself exactly as I am, my body/mind/ spirit/energy body drift quickly toward protective mode, sometimes straight to survival. When that happens, the very things that I am doing with the intention of healing or finding ease, instead become a trigger, or a source of stress or dis-ease. There is no healing or ease in survival mode.
For this reason, I believe that it is well worth your while to periodically examine your relationship to your practices. Although they may ideally be "good" for you, check in to to see if in fact they are NOT good for you-not because they are the wrong practices, but because you are practicing them with the same old familiar, unhelpful patterns that wounded you in the first place-patterns that keep you locked in fear, mistrust, judgment, betrayal...you know the ones😉
Since energy follows intention, the more gentle and accepting you are of who and how you are in the moment, the greater the likelihood that your practices will be useful and healing.
The more you can befriend all your parts, the more safe your body/mind/spirit/energy body will feel with you.
Safety leads to trust...which is essential in my experience for meaningful change and deep healing.
When you are able to trust, all physiologic and energy systems shifts toward healing.
I am making it a habit this Spring to remind myself to practice and live in a way that honors, tends and and loves ME and my shadows exactly as I am/we are right now, in the way I wish I had been received and tended and loved in critical times of my life.
It matters.
When you can do this, everyone around you also gets the benefit of your personal work.
I hope you will join me in this intention in this sacred time.
So in this season of transition and rebirth, let yourself listen to the music of springtime outside in birdsong and wind.
Listen inside too.
Practice singing your very own song, finding your true voice, speaking your truth with clarity and kindness. Listen to hear what you need, what brings you to life.
Ride the unpredictable roller coaster of March from cold to warm and back as spring begins to gather strength to assert herself in her fullest most magnificent glory.
You are made of the same 5 elements as the rest of nature so you can emulate her by using this auspicious time preparing to burst forth into your true magnificence!
Just move gently, slowly, in your own time.
We are all on a sacred journey to wholeness🙏💕
So stay. Sit. Linger. Tarry. Wait. Behold. Wonder.
There will be time enough for running. For rushing.
For worrying.
For pushing.
For now, stay. Wait
~ Jan Richardson
One of the best ways I know to train yourself to wait, to gather the resources you need to burst forth in your fullest most magnificent glory, is to practice Yoga Nidra.
Most of us are masters of Doing, while not so great at Being.
Your nervous system, energy body and immune system function optimally from a place of balance and ease.
It is essential to take time to unplug from the busy-ness of life and restore.
It seems true that most of us undervalue and underestimate the power of deep restorative rest, quiet, the necessary time to rebalance, to NOT do something.
Current studies say that 86% of Americans are sleep deprived
(though that was even BEFORE this pandemic, so...)
Set the intention to tend and nurture yourself in the way that you have needed by taking time out to rest and restore.
Please join me in a class soon!!
It's the best nervous system/energy/immune system balancer that I know, and has the effect of 2-6 hours of RESTFUL sleep!
It is truly an awesome way to re-allocate resources for optimal healing.
Not sure about it? Try a free recording here:
Learn more about yoga nidra on my website
💕🙏😴
Here are the virtual offerings for March
🙏💕🌱🌷
March Yoga Nidra
Community Based Yoga Nidra for Razz Yoga
* free for Razz Community
$20 drop in
Friday March 12
7pm EST
Global Donation Based Yoga Nidra via Zoom
~Tuesday March 9 at 7 pm EST
and
~Sunday March 21 at 1 pm EST
**NOTE NEW TIME**
🌱Join us to celebrate the Spring Equinox 🌷
Join me LIVE via Zoom for a deeply restorative and healing practice, especially beneficial for the nervous and immune systems
and enjoy the physiologic effect of
2-6 hours of RESTFUL sleep!
* All registered participants will receive the full audio recording after the class
* No prior experience required -this is a restorative practice done lying down-NOT a posture practice
Can't join us live?
The recording will be offered on my website after the class for $10
Individual guidance via Zoom
These sessions are tailored specifically for you, with your unique life history and circumstances. They are meant to be empowerment sessions to help you discover the medicine that you are here to bring the world, and how to make that manifest for the good of all of us.
I offer a customized blend of mindfulness meditation, yoga, yoga nidra, energy medicine and life support to guide you in finding your gifts so that you can share yourself with the world
These self empowering tools and practices have transformed my life-and continue to do so.
I'm honored to share them with you.
Remember: your healing work serves us all🙏
Email me to inquire about cost and availability
In this season of new beginnings and rebirth, I wish you patience, perseverance, and trust in the determination of life and YOU to grow ever stronger and brighter.
Nature teaches us resilience, trust and healing. She is ALWAYS supporting life and new growth.
I hope you will take some lessons from her as Spring bursts forth all around you.
Notice the light as it increases daily.
Wallow in the spring mud.
Rise up against all odds.
Hold the balance between strength and vulnerability.
It is time for you to shine your unique light and grow
Come to life.
We are all waiting for YOU😍🌷🌱
Wishing you a glorious rebirth and a luscious spring
Take gentle care and stay well
Love
gina💕🙏✨