FINDING OUR BACKBONE
Recently I had an intense dream. A tornado was coming. I was frantically looking for shelter. A woman found me and pulled me into her home. She guided me towards the center of the house and showed me a pole grounded in the earth that I could hold onto when the tornado hit. I crawled towards the pole and wrapped my hands around it and held on for dear life. When the strong winds hit, it blew many things away, but I was safe, even though I had to work hard to hold on. The dream said to me: stay in the center of the storm. There is always a calm in the center. The dream image has continued to nudge me back to the center when I catch myself stressed out by the storm.
In my yoga classes my students and I have been practicing visualizing our spines filled with light. Our spinal chords create a tree of light that branches out to the seven major energy centers known as chakras. As we tune in to our center, to the life that flows through us, we listen to our breath. The sound of our breath regulates our body. It brings us into the present present time. Trauma does not exist in present time. A new moment does. Trauma takes an imprint of the past and overlays it on the present moment so that we cannot see it clearly. This is the veil of Maia, or illusion.
Sound dissolves the illusions. Sound creates life. Sound helps us tune into the center, which is why we chant and sing and why a favorite song can bring us home in an instant. Sound causes patterns to form in sand. Breakthrough studies are showing how cancer cannot live at certain resonant frequencies. It is probably likely that if we humans organized a global event and all sounded together we could dissolve many traumas and pain of our planet. Groups of people meditating have shown to reduce crime rates. That's how powerful we are when we work together, when we resonate together for the highest good of all.
It is true there is a lot of dissonance in our world, especially as we march towards an unknown unstable future. However, there is also a lot of hope. There is just as much potential for us to find our resolve, to tune in, to reach across the nation and to work together to create a better future. Things must change. Our way of life is unsustainable. We want change, even as much as we fear the unknown. But we can be a part of the change. Every day, every moment, we can move towards the center and breathe. We can visualize our hopes and dreams, speak words of love and comfort, use our energy and our words not to serve our fears, not to fight each other, but to create, to co-create, to co-exist with the One Source which runs through all living beings.
May we each find our backbone, our light filled trees of light. May we be brave to face where we are chained to systems that do not resonate for our highest good and work to keep us distracted from the real work. May we be courageous to try something new. As we each do our healing work and stay centered, we help all beings do the same.
Chaos may be immanent, but we can move to the center and pulse peace out into the world instead.
Love,
Jessica
ENJOY AN INSPIRATIONAL YEAR OF FAIRY WISDOM
This playful calendar embodies the energy of Daphne the Wood Nymph as it celebrates the embodied feminine and the healing that is possible after rape. Proceeds benefit RAINN. I have ONE left! And it's on sale for $29.99.
JANUARY'S FULL MOON IN CANCER
I am new to learning about the stars, but I see honoring the cycles of the moon as a part of one of my priestly duties as I honor the spirituality of my feminine essence, the Earth, and the cycles of nature.
The crab symbolizes the astrological sign of cancer which is marked by water and the emotions. This sign amplifies the emotions, our tears, and the flood of feelings we experience being human. This sign is also about going home and finding our center as the crab carries its home on its back.
This month is a good time to reflect on being home in our bodies (maybe nestled in blankets with warm liquids to drink) and discover the deep satisfying healing that is possible when we tune in and honor our essence. <3
Have a beautiful week.
May we inaugurate our best selves.