Greetings , Dark gray smoke billows from shattered buildings. People wander, bleeding or searching the rubble. Steady streams of refugees flow on every continent. The temperature is unbearable, the fires catastrophic, the rising waters frightening. We ask: How do we bear the grief?How do we orient ourselves when the world we have known is coming undone and new configurations are still taking shape?How can we step up, witness, and change the
dream? Finding ways to shift is the challenge and gift of living in these times. As writer Annie Lamott told me many years ago, “Just write one sentence. Then another.” Meaning, don’t weigh yourself down with the whole thing. Take one step, then another. Do one practice, then another. Take one breath, then
another. It’s our spiritual practices that fill, us, sustain us, help us return to the present moment. It’s our self-awareness that helps us see what is weighing us down. It’s our intent, our dreams, and our equanimity that keep us going. Don’t get me wrong. I know that
individually and collectively we’re carrying a huge load. The exhaustion, avoidance, despair, and rage that keep arising are not just personal. The people venting, blaming, making scapegoats, and spewing rage fan the flames. Deep inside, our grief overwhelms us. When my heart sinks and my body feels too heavy to move, I’ve learned that it’s grief weighing me down. When I’m immobilized,
unable to focus, unable to act, I’ve learned that it’s grief getting in the way. Until I acknowledge the grief, let it arise, watch it fall away, I’ll be stuck. Until I fill up my depleted reservoirs with resilience and compassion, love and light, I won’t be able to do anything. As beloved Buddhist and teacher Joanna Macy taught me years ago, facing our despair is what empowers us. Being Present When you notice your grief or despair, the source doesn’t really matter. What does matter is shifting your energy. What does
matter is coming into presence in your body and heart. Breathing in stillness. Letting your tears fall. Letting your heart feel heavy. Letting yourself acknowledge how unbearable it is. Looking at all the awful pictures that arise. That’s when you can begin to breathe it out and release your grief. You have ways. You have practices. Use them! NoticingMy dear friend Susan’s son passed recently from invasive cancer. In his last weeks he shone with radiance, despite being in huge pain (it got into his bones), suffering though COVID in hospital, so weak he couldn’t walk up his apartment stairs. I wasn’t there. But Susan and his family held the space for him beautifully, modeling for all
of us in their extended circles. I didn’t even know Wendell, but his death triggered much other grief, loss, and despair in me, and I couldn’t shake it. But I did notice. That’s the first step. I sat with the feelings until they subsided and my breathing deepened; I sat with the feelings until I could open up my heart and come back into the light. In witnessing, in stillness, I was able to shift. Releasing
and Flowing If you feel unsure about how to release what weighs you down, here are some suggestions. These are all Energy Alchemy practices I use regularly. I know they work. You probably know some of them, or have read about them in my guide Weave the Heart of the Universe Into Your Life. If not, that’s a great resource, along with my short online course Using Energy Alchemy to
Thrive, or YouTube videos that demonstrate Energy Alchemy. - Breathe deeply into your belly. Breathe out all your air. Do this until you start to feel a flow again.
- Lie with your belly on the earth for as long as it takes to calm down.
- Release your heaviness to the sun, and fill up with the light
from the sun behind the sun, what lies beyond what we can see. See more about releasing and filling here.
- Spin literally,
or in your mind, anchored to one point as you watch the bits and blocks of density fall out and off, rolling away. See more about Spinning here.
- Breathe consciously some
more.
- See yourself in a column of light letting breath and light flow through your body, past feet and crown. Watch the light move through you with your breath. Feel the flow.
- Come practice and heal with me, online or in person, to build the power and resilience you need. https://megbeeler.as.me
Coming Up: Annular Eclipse and Samhain, the Day of the Dead The next two and a half weeks are full of
energetic possibilities for going deeper and feeding your own transformation. Samhain, the Celtic ceremonial time of grieving our dead, welcoming new life, and reminding ourselves that "What is remembered, lives" gives us the opportunity to honor our losses together. The annular eclipse, visible Oct.14 on the West Coast and Central and South America, is a portal time,
revealing energies that help us complete a journey or shift our course in some way. Enjoy! “Grieving is a sign of spiritual health. But it is not enough to weep for our lost landscapes; we have to put our hands in the earth to make ourselves whole again. Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose
joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.” ~ Robin Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass
Heal Your Soul, Lighten Your Spirit Are you looking for earth-based shamanic healing, soul retrieval and integration, or
mentoring? Make an appointment! I will help you explore the mystical, address the trauma, find your wholeness, and learn to interpret and integrate your shifts of consciousness. We can meet
in person in Sonoma—in my sacred medicine wheel or healing space—or remotely on Zoom. Make an
appointment here Earth Caretakers Blog WisdomVisualizing yourself spinning is an easy, wonderful way to release your dense
energies—heaviness, doubt, distraction, or whatever is getting in the way—so you can be clear, present, and open. Imagine... Read More… Aligning Heart and Mind to Meet These
Troubled Times The ancient Andean prophesy—that the Eagle of the North and the Condor of the South will come together as we meet the “pachacuti,” or turning over of the world—is a powerful guide to shifting your perception and walking a path
of heart-mind. Read More… All Earth Caretaker Blogs Medicinewoman Meg Beeler—Author, Shamanic Guide, and Spiritual Mentor—helps you heal your spirit and find your luminous presence through mentoring, training, healing, and community ceremony. She is a
lifelong explorer of shamanic, animist, and meditative consciousness who practices Earth-centered, nature-based, ancient wisdom ways, and studied Andean mysticism extensively with the Q’ero in Peru. Meg is the creator of Energy Alchemy™ & founder of Earth Caretakers Wisdom
School. Author of Weave the Heart of the Universe into Your Life: Aligning with Cosmic Energy, she is a contributing author and photographer to Where the World Begins: Sonoma Mountain Story and Image. Meg lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. megbeeler.com. “Where your attention goes, your energy flows...” |
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