The contractions of our lives during Covid—minimizing interactions, working at home or worrying about not being able to work at home, rethinking what we spend, too much time on Zoom—have brought us back to basics.
Home. Family. Food. Land.
And now fires and unhealthy air, hurricanes and floods, and all the other shifts exacerbated by climate change are contracting our lives even more.
Oddly, I keep receiving messages about getting bigger. They’ve come enough times so I’ve begun asking “what does this mean for all of us?”
Today, huddled inside because of air quality and listening to the noise of air filters for too long, I got it: the more we contract, the smaller we get, the harder it is to breathe. To feel confident. To believe in ourselves. To make change.
The contracting emotions of fear, anxiety, and worry paralyze us, or send us into hiding. As soon as we can come back into the present moment—the in-breath and out-breath—things aren’t so bad. As soon as we reconnect with our source energy, we feel able to move again.
What Does It Mean to Expand?
I was preparing for a ceremony this morning, creating sacred space. I invited the elements, my spirit helpers, the four directions, the ancestors & descendants into my ceremonial space.
Feeling the presence of all these allies and friends—my team—I felt bigger. And was surprised: I’d never thought of this shamanic process in terms of expansion, but being in the field of energy of so many, I did feel bigger, more present, more powerful. When I connected with the many others doing this ceremony at the same time, the field expanded even
more.
When I’m outside, it’s the same: I am with the trees, butterflies and dragonflies, flowers and tomato plants. I’m no longer my small self.
Even doing yoga, pushing the edges of balance and stretching, there’s a sense of stepping into my strongest and most flexible self, and of being aligned with an ancient practice that’s sustained so many over 5,000 years.
These experiences, and others like them, help us feel present and alive. In that state, we can bring our love and equanimity to others more easily.
In an expanded (wise) state last week, for example, I posted “what you can do about the fires.” It helped people remember:
1. Stay grounded and connected to your source energy. Your calm will radiate to others.
2. If you can, align with fire. Listen. Bring your groundedness to the chaos.
3. Stay present, in this moment. That means noticing your fear or anxiety, finding where it is in your body, and letting it be OK. Then let it go, and come back to this moment.
In these very hard times for everyone—when PTSD is triggered and survival responses are heightened—your love and presence makes a difference.
Expansion Into Infinity
I was interviewing my friend Cynthia Sue Larson for my new book when she said “we’re constantly engaged with the universe.” Wow.
We talked about how our engagement with the universe is most evident when we’re still, or meditating: our hearts naturally expand, our breath helps us align, and our beingness comes home to rest. We stop doing. And that’s when our boundaries become more and more fluid and soft, as if they are breathing. That’s when our awareness can expand into the field of
being together. And that’s a beautiful, healing state.
Seeds for A New Story
As I interview people about the seeds that need planting and nurturing in the collective for our species survival—the main question I’m asking as I dream this new book into being—I’m aware that some of you reflect on such questions as well. I’d love to talk with you if you have input, so email me!
My working title is Seeds for A New Story: How to Find Heart, Reconfigure Your Luminous Energy Body, and Create A Beautiful World.
What do you think?
