When you grieve, let yourself rest. When you grieve, let yourself be. When you grieve let yourself feel and experience the waves of emotion that move through you.
If you try to resist the waves of feeling, you may find yourself tumbled , knocked down, drowned by their unexpected and surprising power. Resistance is futile!
The only way through is to let yourself float. That is to feel what you are feeling and ride the waves of emotion as they show up. No matter how unwelcome the feelings are, let yourself feel them rise and build, crest and then drop away…
Like a chip of wood in churning water, the waves of emotion won’t drown or sink you, but take you for a wild ride that is a part of your life’s journey.
All who walk this earth in human form must at one time or another know the storms of grief. You will survive, Dear One, as you ride the waves.
What heavy anchor keeps you from floating? What ballast keeps you from soaring?
What ties you down and limits the work that spirit can do in your life?
Are old fears keeping you stuck? Do you fear change? Does comfort in the familiar , the known even when it is mind numbing and soul crushing keep you in place?
To let go and move forward, you must gather your courage, trust in your intuition, trust in source and release your grip on the shore of the comfortable and the known. Put yourself in the current, the flow of life once again.
This is your life! You are the sculptor, the creator of your experience! Don’t let fear hold you back!
Move forward one step, one heartbeat at a time in the direction of your dreams.
You have been given the ultimate, the highest gift – life itself. Your spirit has chosen this path: Life in your body in this very place at this particular time.
You are meant to be here – with all that means.
Living in a body is not easy. It means you will experience grief, loss, and despair, sometimes happiness and flow and joy. You will know the pleasure of creativity and at other times you may feel stuck and alone.
You will experience illness and health, love and connection, you will know what it is to feel peaceful and calm, to rest at times, and be restless at others. You may know what it is to be injured in body or mind and to recover and feel whole again.
You are meant to know and experience the full spectrum of emotion to know all the joy and sorrows of life. You are meant to be fully present, knowing and trusting the process of living.
Life on this planet is not for the
faint of heart!
Life means asking for help when you are unable to stand on your own. Life means lending your strength when others need your support. Life means heartfelt connections with other living beings that share this earth with you.
Life means paying attention to your body, mind and spirit, living by your heart and intuition, taking care of yourself and your needs, learning to love and accept yourself.
As an inhabitant of this planet, life means that you will know great loss that will take your breath away. And you will know many blessings that fill you with joy.
Source hears you, loves you, answers your heartfelt prayers throughout your life.
Breathe deeply and gather courage and strength for your unfolding journey.
Finally the heavy snow and ice cover begins to soften and thaw under the warming March sky. Melt water runs merrily into the low places forming temporary streams and ponds.
What was once frozen and solid like a stone now flows freely, sparkling in the sunlight, released once again.
What part of you has been frozen like a block of ice? Buried under cold piles of snow? Cut off and shut off from the fullness of experience, from the flow of life?
You too can experience a thaw, a new season of life and growth, allowing yourself to feel and let the feelings move through you- a thawing of what has been stuck and jammed, blocked and impassible.
Welcome back to life once again, dear ones. Welcome to spring.
Have you been shut up in the house due to extreme cold, heavy weather, ice and snow? Has the sun hidden under thick layers of gray cloud for many days?
Please dear friends, come out of your warm winter cages and move your bodies. Breathe in the fresh cool air. Put one foot in front of the other, find a way to let nature heal and revive you with her pure clear air, her life giving light, the birds that sing their ancient songs, the animals that play their age-old games.
Nature revives you with her healing power of renewal. Witness the dark leafless tree branches writing on the sky, like ink on parchment – nature’s own calligraphy. They are soon to be covered in lacy green leaves unrolling to soak in the warm sunlight.
Each step you take, each breath moves vital energy throughout your body circulating your life force, connecting you to the rhythms of life, rhythms of the earth.
Have you noticed all that blesses you and your life lately? Even when things seem dismal and dreary, you are surrounded and gifted with may blessings, large and small. This is your birthright as an inhabitant of planet earth
Blessings do not have to be expensive gifts, something shiny and new and different, or related to your financial well-being, something out of the ordinary, or from the jewelry store.
Yellow Swallowtail butterfly on purple coneflower
Think of these as blessings:
The clean pure air you breathe every moment of your life, the amazing workings of your body, the beat of your heart, the flow of blood within you, your awareness making itself known through your senses,
the sight of the sky at sunrise and sunset, the sounds of birdsong, the fragrances of flowers, the sparkle of fresh snow, the colors and movements of a butterfly, your warm and comfortable home,
the creative spark within you, manifesting in your creating art, or designing your living space, devising a garden, creating a new process to make life easier, the relating to your children in loving and effective ways each day.
What can you add to this list of blessings?
Use your creative power and imagination to discern acknowledge and enjoy the amazing blessings in your life.
You can continue as you have been, or try something new. You can step out of your comfort zone. You can move away from the familiar, try something different from your accustomed actions, thoughts, beliefs, and ways of relating to others.
Try a new path, see where it takes you. Trust. Take heart and try something new when life has lost its color and magic when you do not like where you stand.
Grandmother Cottonwood
I see walkers bikers runners zip downhill past me without losing their momentum. Taking the easy road. Others slow down and take time to notice me and my companion trees. Some of those who slow down on the path will take the gentle turning into the open meadows and continue in a new direction.
The sun at their back as they continue down the hill is now lighting their side as they continue to the south.
Changing your perspective, the angle of light, your inner landscape, changing your direction does not need to threaten your place or overthrow your entire life, but can bring you fresh ideas and new energy.
Even a slight change in direction can open up delightful new possibilities. Do not change direction to escape and deny your reality but to heal and see it from a new perspective to renew and regenerate and bring fresh energy to your life.
Start with baby steps – New ways of relating to others, a new positive belief about yourself. Stir things up a little, and have some fun.
In winter, the ice and snow and wind keep you snug at home, keep you separate in your warm wrapping of sweaters and blankets, down comforters and scarves. The roads and walks can be dangerous with slippery ice and packed snow. It can send you humans reeling and sliding with no warning… so you stay at home.
Grandmother Cottonwood in snow
I ask you, is there a winter in your heart that keeps you isolated and separate from others? Does this inner winter cause you to fear venturing beyond the confines of the known, the familiar, the safety of your known world?
You can turn this inner winter to spring. As you heal, you can thaw the frozen thoughts and beliefs, have patience until the poor visibility clears. You can get yourself unstuck from deep snowdrifts and move forward. You can begin to melt the ice within you that keeps you isolated and alone.
Have patience dear one, the spring thaw takes time as the weather gradually warms. When the earth is no longer frozen, the runoff permeates the thawed soil bringing new life to the earth, new hope and growth.
The deep freeze will soon be over, and you will regain your flexibility ease and flow.
Do your intentions flow directly from your heart and spirit, or are they products of your thinking logical brain that knows what’s best, what you should, what you should not?
The part of your brain trained up by your schools and parents and society knows the “rules”. It knows what is physically possible and impossible, (you learned it in a book) what you can and cannot, how to get ahead, which careers will bring you the most money, and who is misbehaving according to your code of conduct.
Grandmother Cottonwood and friend
To be effective potent and powerful, your intentions must flow from your heart and spirit, the part of you where dreams are created. The part of you that existed before your cultural training set in and upset the balance of your creativity and grace and flow and restricted you self concept.
When you tap into this reservoir of creativity and power, you can imagine yourself moving beyond old limitations. Then you can set your intentions for your life based on expansion and possibilities you dream of.
Leave behind the old restrictive rules and boxes and limitations you’ve placed on your dreams!
When you can feel it, dream it, imagine it, define it, and intend it, you can become it.
Dear ones, when you are hurting, let nature soothe you. When you need a rest, let nature refresh you. When you need space, let nature provide a refuge.
Pair of geese swimming in the evening
When your heart grieves, nature gently embraces you with her fresh greens in spring, her new shoots, her bursting growth, flowing water, swiftly moving cloud formations, impromptu thunder showers that threaten, break with intensity, then dissipate and roll away to the east, leaving a pure blue sky.
Let nature soothe your soul with the deep rich colors of autumn, the dappled and shifting shade on a hot summer day.
In winter, the deep silence enfolds you, even in the coldest cruelest months there is a stark beauty , an elegance of light and dark of bare reaching branches against the pure white snow. Breathing the pure clear air, walking through the quiet woods, moving your body can bring serenity to your day.
Snow covered wildflower
Once again in spring the wildflowers open and share their delicate beauty with all who take the time to notice. You see a haze of pale green about the woods as new leaves unroll.
Nature can soothe with her steady rhythms, the stream, deep and running fast in spring, frozen in winter, always new yet ancient, timeless. Changing seasons, the return of geese and ducks and robins, nest building season, times of incubation, hatching, fledging and flight.
Let yourself lean back against a tree and absorb the loving energy, feel the solidity, let it anchor you to the earth. Here you can create a stronghold for your heart and mind and body. Here you will find a peaceful refuge when times are hard, a place of solitude, renewal, and safety.
Pay attention to your feelings as you commune with nature. Playful squirrels might bring laughter and fun, the bright colored songbirds might help you feel hopeful, the drumming of the woodpeckers and their bright markings, the breeze through the branches can give you a backdrop of peace. Twin fawns observing you from a thicket can bring a sense of awe.
Let nature soothe, heal, comfort ,and restore you. In every moment, you will find a new possibility in her healing powers to discover and appreciate.
Allow yourself time in nature each day. Take her in through your senses to renew and restore your life.
Ask Grandmother Cottonwood 