How is your transition into spring? Today I'm sharing a story about my own shift during these past few weeks. I'd love to know what aspects mirror your own journey or what resonates.
Starting with a Ritual
Rituals help us remember that life is sacred.
As a recovering perfectionist I’ve found that following a prescribed ritual does the opposite of my intention- it creates unneeded stress and zaps the beauty right out of it.
What has transformed my life is to simply schedule the space for a ritual and then allow intuition to guide what that ritual looks like.
Celebrating Spring
For the spring equinox I carved out a few solo hours. I began with a home practice recording from the creative leadership course I’m finishing up. As soon as my teacher announced it was a heart opening meditation class I knew that I was called to focus on a longstanding sticky situation in my life where I had built up resentment.
I set the intention and added heart opening medicine to my practice. Two hours later the class was finished and I laid down with headphones to integrate. Music has become a huge catalyst for transformation in my life. (From an Ayurvedic perspective, the subtle creates physical manifestation- sound vibration and frequency eventually create our reality.)
After a few songs I felt a deep call to clear out. I lit sage, opened the windows and
blasted a playlist completely out of my comfort zone, shared by a new friend. I put together a pot of
chicken soup and reflected on how blessed I feel to be in this perfectly imperfect house as a temple of healing. I felt a real shift in my mind and body. Dare I say I embodied love and gratitude?
Physical Repair
The story doesn’t end there. Once I understood Ayurveda, I couldn’t unsee it. The same has happened with German New Medicine.
The next day I woke up with sniffles. From my recent work with
German New Medicine I knew that this was a sign of healing.
Simply stated, when we’re in an active conflict our body adapts. A “stink conflict” causes dryness in the nasal cavity. The Psychic Roots of Diseases describes the biological function of this dryness as, “Blocking out the unbearable stench through functional limitation.”
Basically my nose has been dry due to an unresolved “stink conflict” in my life (the longstanding resentment). Since the others involved don't seem to want to change their behavior I decided to focus on myself and resolving this situation through shifting my perspective. This work can’t be forced, but for me the timing was finally “right” as I’ve filled my cup with a lot of self care and rest recently. I felt open to change within.
The swelling and dripping in my nose was a sign of restoration as this conflict in my life had been resolved.
From an Ayurvedic perspective, you could say that the fear and anxiety around the thought pattern created vata imbalance (all fear is related to vata). Excess vata creates dryness in the body. The influx of liquid to the nasal passages was part of the repair process as opposites create balance. My dear friend and Ayurveda mentor
Kimberly exclaimed, “It's kapha flooding the head!”
The symptoms stayed for about a week. During this time I followed Ayurvedic guidelines for healing from acute illness: rest, drink plenty of fluids, eat foods that are easy to digest.
From the German New Medicine perspective things like a runny nose or fever are a sign of repair. I think of it like construction on a house. The repair process is messy but the end result is that the house is put back together. (Chronic symptoms happen when we re-trigger a conflict over and over, but that's a conversation for another day.)
Renewed Creativity
As a teacher recently said, “Your ability to think creatively is directly related to the spaciousness and rest in your life.”
Creativity isn't just about the arts, it's also about the way in which you think about your life.
Ideas need to time to incubate. In this story of the spring equinox, I had been practicing and thinking about forgiveness for months before I was able to see the old situation in a new light. Spaciousness and rest allowed for creative insight.
Because of my deep and unwavering commitment to rest, I'm starting to feel the flutterings of creativity circling back around, ideas dropped seemingly out of nowhere. It's exciting, but I'm also listening to the pace of my soul which says, “What's the rush?”
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Contemplations:
What does ritual look like in your life? Do you prefer to follow traditions or create something new?
What are you making space for in your life?
