As I was preparing for a series of international trips (including to Libya), I started reflecting upon the small daily rituals that would help me stay balanced and centered while I would be traveling… Little did I know that I would actually find myself in the middle of a huge storm (or series of storms) right here, in the US, that would test many of the strategies and tools that I knew. This episode has really forced me to look at what’s going on now from a different perspective, knowing that the absolute craziness that many of us are experiencing these days might be around for a while or that new storms may come at any time. From what I hear around me and from clients, I know that I am definitely not alone in this. And if you follow the news just a little bit – domestic and international, I am sure that you also know that what I am referring to is much larger than each of us.
Here are some of the (modest) lessons that I have learned in the past couple of weeks:
1. Change and disruption occur all the time. They may have many different forms and may well happen all at once. They might be more brutal, even violent and destructive in this period; they just are, so we better learn how to deal with them.
2. Whatever happens, it is not about you or me. Even though I was in the middle of all the craziness that recently surrounded me, I never succumbed to the idea that it was about me and that really helped me remain an observer, watching and adapting all the times. This also meant checking my boundaries at all times.
3. Old strategies and tools from the past might be of no use. As my friend Pam Sanders likes to repeat these days: “Think out of the box”! What does that mean? Mostly, connect to the moment, watch, listen, feel what is happening (or not) now, write and re-write the story now.
4. Keep grounding yourself over and over again, breathe, and cultivate a sense of strength at your core, and a capacity to connect and listen inward. We all too often make the mistake to look outward for answers and then we don’t understand why this crazy World does not provide what we think we need. But how could it? If, on the contrary, we focus inward first and let the answer arise from there, things might not come according to any plan we may have had (those would quickly appear to be no longer valid anyway) but they will come with such a strength and certainty that you will be unstoppable. So find those small daily practices that help you connect and connect and connect over again.
5. Move like a spiritual warrior, embracing the fluidity around, learning how to strike a balance between stillness and movement, patience and purposeful action, watching the flow almost moment by moment… Breathe and dance with the flow – I mean, really dance! Or run, practice martial arts, yoga… whatever helps you actually and physically connect differently with the energies in and out of your body. Forget what you think you know about movement and stagnation; it might no longer apply. Watch: start looking for what’s happening from an energetic standpoint, actually looking at how energies flow around.
6. The “not knowing” might be our common condition for a while. Forget for now about the destination or even what’s next (like the next day, or even hour or moment): we don’t know. Then, the most important becomes who and how you are, what is your anchor now and what helps you (re)center so that you can navigate the craziness of the world and keep up with the fluidity.
7. You are not alone! Reach out to your friends and loved ones, your community (including the one we are modestly forming here), not that they will necessarily be able to help but they will love you, even at distance, and nurture your heart. If you struggle, there is a high chance that others are too. And I am here for you…
Then, one morning, you might wake up feeling strong, while you are still in the middle of the storm, and know that, no matter what, The Light will get through.
Tell me how it is for you and share below how you are navigating and dancing with the storms of your life!
Béatrice | Contemporary Shamanic Healer
allowingthelight@gmail.com
Béatrice Pouligny
Allowing The Light
June 2013
Gardening and yoga work best for me to ground and be still.
Good for you Lee! These days, the difficulty for many people is that either they simply cannot have those things for different reasons or they are suddenly taken away from them. So the question is: how to remain grounded and centered (or re-ground and re-center) and find a sense of stillness when huge disruptions happen or when one travel… like I am right now? As a friend recently wrote on my Facebook page: “Let the road take you on paths unknown without fearing that they may get you uncentered. Much of creativity and joy – as well as love – comes from getting disrupted.”