an animated world

Long before any ism or religion existed in humanity's consciousness, animist practice was the embodied experience of living beings. 

Animism is not a theory, a philosophy, or an idea. It was simply how things were. A common understanding - across the entire world, for all of time. 

The fabric offerings tied to a tree mark offerings to a being of the landscape.
Olkhon Island, Irkutsk Oblast, Russian Federation. Roberto Quijada, CC BY-NC

Animism is not a religion one can convert to but rather a label used for worldviews and practices. It identifies and describes acknowledge relationships between nature and the animal world. A driving force and influence over humans and a way of being that needed to be respected.

midwinter rites

Bonds of spirit, bonds of sisterhood. That is the glue that binds us together. In our blood and bones the cosmic web of life thrives. 

Cocooned in the wintering womb of Gaia, earth goddess, mother nature - our inner self and all or creation hibernates within - infinite and insulated. 

elemental sisters - water, earth, air, fire

All allied and at One - mind, body, soul - identity incarnate. In the bosom of an ever expanding cosmos augments the power of incubation. 

magical mystical life

Our bodies often store in our cells and DNA what our thoughts are unable to process as thoroughly - yet pass through our generations and are often at the effect of and hence affected by.

It is beneficial then to open pathways to build and access this energetic field for deconstruction of what we inherit and a creation of our own true self.

A great way to achieve this would be by expressing ourselves through story. There are a variety of options in which we can choose to do so. Whether we keep it private and intimate or make a public declaration is truly up to each of us.

Journaling, automatic writing, memoir, storytelling, song, performance, expressive art, therapy - the list is endless.

Finding the methodology to access and activate aspects of ourselves that have been culturally exiled - whether within our families or in our communities - liberates us. To acknowledge and embrace our personal power is our birthright. 

Storytelling serves as one of life's primary teaching and learning tools - as well as a step toward discovery, perception, contemplation, or realization. The use of phenomenology - our lived experience - ignites the inner wisdom stored within each of our bodies. 

This need not be limited to the physical body either - since we are all sensate beings, perceiving life through all our senses. This is an incredibly magical journey we are on! 

breaking wave

One must say Yes to life and embrace it whenever it is found - and it is found in terrible places; nevertheless, there it is.

Banzai Pipeline - Oahu, Hawaii

For nothing is fixed - forever and forever and forever, it is not fixed; the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does not cease to grind down rock.

Generations do not cease to be born - and we are responsible to them because we are the only witnesses they have.

The sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other, and children cling to us.

The moment we cease to hold each other - the moment we break faith with one another; the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.

~ James Baldwin “The Price of the Ticket”

wellbeing

We had a discussion on another blog about the importance of setting our boundaries. When lockdown was imposed on us due to a worldwide pandemic the value of healthy working boundaries increased in importance. Now that we are back to being more mobile and interactive the benefit of these boundaries are being tried and tested even more. 

Self-care is how we treat ourselves. It's how you find enjoyment, play, happiness, balance, rest, and companionship. Everyone is in the middle of a life story, and that story is shaped by what we say yes and no to. Our YESes and NOes are what boundaries are made of.

Let's begin with the most essential boundary tool that everyone has. Take a moment and visualize a compass in your hand. It looks just like this - it has two words on it, yes and no. We use this compass to make decisions, figure out relationships, and set boundaries our whole life.

conserve life in death

According to a study published in the Berkeley Planning Journal, funerals use enough wood to build 4.5 million houses each year. Two thousand seven hundred tons of copper and bronze are buried annually, along with 104,272 tons of steel and 1.6 million hectares of forest. Maintaining the manicured appearances of traditional cemeteries, with their perfectly tended lawns, requires gallons of fertilizer and hours of lawn mower use. ~ Garielle Anctil, A Death Full of Life

For as long as humans have lived, we have also died. As populations increase and cemeteries multiply - risks of death and disease spread quickly.

The world soon became overpopulated and polluted and causes of death have multiplied along with growing numbers. Famine, wars, disease, pandemics, genocide - countless natural and manmade causes for humanity's demise and disposal became a growing concern.

image by Ashim D. Silva in Unsplash

One thing is certain - cemeteries can play an essential role in hosting ecosystems. Although with good reason they also have a bad environmental rap.

City planners, in particular, can play a key role in promoting conservation burials by incorporating burial practice into the larger context of public infrastructure planning. Taking a role in the development of the next generation of cemeteries. 

breathe in, breathe out

Our breath is so valuable and intrinsic a part of our life force and yet how many of us can honestly say we breathe at our optimum best?

Do you take round full breaths or are you a shallow breather. Under stress or duress, does your breath remain deep and steady, or do you find yourself hyperventilating? 

Watch this animation of how our lungs look and work to get a better idea of how they serve us. 

Single Cell Animation of the Respiratory System

Did you know that our lungs are different from one another? The right consists of three lobes - Superior, Middle, and Inferior. While the left only has two lobes - the Superior and Inferior.

Lungs are encased by the Pleura - a membrane surface that lubricates the lungs movement as we breath.

The Diaphragm is the muscle that helps pump air into and out of the lungs. As it contracts (moves down), the air is sucked in, as it relaxes (just as bellows work), the air is pushed out.

The respiratory system is such an amazing wonder. It is good to remember this to appreciate and care about ourselves more.

a manual for peace | within & in our world

Thich Nhat Hanh distills the essence of Buddhist thought and practice with the grace and serenity he is world famous for. 

Since the 60s, when we were first introduced to his words and work through his efforts to end the Vietnam War, he has emphasized the power of mindfulness to transform our lives. 

His book, You Are Here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment, delivers his wise words simply and directly. Providing us with an easy and doable manual for day-to-day living. 

available online

Simple, warm, direct, and startlingly potent, this book reveals the heart of the Buddhist path and helps us to reconnect with the joy and wonder of being alive, regardless of life’s changing circumstances. 

In, out. It is enough to breathe. 

Deep, slow. Simply witness your breath. 

Calm, ease. Let go and relax - no thoughts, no plans, no agenda. 

Smile, release. Connect to our self, here and now, body and mind, all and whole. 

We are here, completely alive. That is the magic and miracle of life. 

transmutation with Sandra Ingerman

intention + harmony + love + concentration + focus + union + imagination = transmutation

Sandra Ingerman offers this formula to recall our light and let it shine forth. 

In Shamanism we are taught that everything is connected. Everything that is alive has a spirit and is connected in a web of life. 

Begin to get in touch with your true nature which is light by putting on some relaxing soothing music and allow yourself to get into a quiet place. 

• Take some deep breaths bringing you to a centered place where you will be able to experience a state of harmony and love. 
• Allow yourself to go inside holding the intention that you want to experience the light that shines within your being.
• This will bring you into a state of union with your creator or the power of the universe. 
• Keep your focus and concentrate on your intention. 
• Allow your imagination to help you feel and see your internal light. 
• Give yourself permission to let your light shine fully through you. 

This light is always there and cannot be used up.  The capacity to share your light and be filled by it yourself is endless. Your light cannot be destroyed or taken from you. You do not have to worry about becoming depleted, as the source of this light is infinitely abundant.

Should you wish to continue this practice and share it Sandra has also been generous enough to share this incredible transfiguration ceremony.

May you be filled with light and love and radiate it in your daily life. Blessings always!

ready, willing, able

Dearly Beloveds -

We are invited to immerse our Self in deeply soulful and embodied conversation with every one and every thing that surrounds us.

Step out in the world - embrace the living creatures and breathe in Mother Nature. Attentive to all that surrounds us - in the midst of our urban jungles and out closer to the untamed and wild.

Explore our inner landscape - the structures and systems we build our belief and character on. Touch each item, feel each sensation.

Do they pierce the heart? Do they bring joy and satisfaction?

Do we love them? Are we loved back by them?

Connecting. Cocreating. Collaborating.

Where do I choose to focus my embodied attentiveness?

Does my awareness bring things around me to life?

Make them live? Or be more alive?

What is our relation? our relatedness? our inter-being?

Interrelated. Sparking our being.

Let us enter a conversation.

At once wise and practical

Unfurl our intuition.

Be guided by imagination.

Significant. Purpose filled. Life giving.

"Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into the

 conversation. The kettle is singing

 even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots

 have left their arrogant aloofness and

 seen the good in you at last. All the birds

 and creatures of the world are unutterably

 themselves. Everything is waiting for you." 

~ David Whyte from Everything is Waiting for You 

Every thing IS waiting for you. Come out and play.

Let go and be lured.

Let be and be allured.

This is the love story that our life is. 

Let us find each other here.