Tag: inner light

Hamani & Following What Lights You Up

(Excerpt from Flowering Within)

Every spring thousands of sakura trees (cherry blossom trees) in parts of Japan break out in bloom. The landscape comes alive as a blanket of soft pink and white spreads across its vast expanses. When the wind washes through the trees, the delicate sakura petals shake and fall quickly to the ground, some filling rivers and turning them pink. For more than a thousand years Japanese culture has honored this enchanting picture of beauty through the practice of hamani – flower viewing or flower watching – with people coming from all over to witness  and celebrate the serene unfolding of spring through these ancient forests of sakura trees.

Hold the image of these blooming sakura trees in your mind’s eye for a moment and imagine something. Imagine that when you are inspired, when you’re attuned to your inner essence and when you tap into the flow of grace, your heart flowers with the same kind of wild splendor and spreads a special kind of magic across the landscapes of your life. You light up in your center and your inner petals open to let your spirit shine. Your authentic Self steps forward and when she does, can you come to her with eyes full of wonder and honor her inner flowering through your own practice of hamani in the same way that flower viewers in Japan bear witness to the sakura blossoms?

The Flowering Within Paperback is now available on Amazon. Click here…

7

The Gentle Dance of Grass Medicine

When the moon wanes, her fading light makes the cold night seem older and wilder somehow and I begin to feel the winter more deeply.

Lately, I’ve been finding comfort in the whispers of the grasses. I watch them in the fields on my walks. I see them dance with the winter breeze, speaking a breathy language of their own. Their voices sound like freedom, their rhythmic sway feels like grace. They calm my heart.

It’s difficult not to sense the ancient essence of what they once were when I walk and listen and feel beyond the surface. I wonder if sometimes at night these remnants of the once vast grasslands/savannahs that were here long before we built this city over them look up at the stars and dream. Do they dream of a time when lion walked among them and when herds of springbok grazed the grass stubble at their feet?

When I breathe their wild stories in then I feel my spirit set free a little more, a part of me swaying slowly side to side right there in their midst. A holy hush brushes up against me and I can’t imagine ever going back to a time when life was too busy to notice – this. Too busy to be still, to hear the wild Earth speak truth or to see the glimpses of sacredness that she mirrors to me.

I gathered a few pieces of grass for a little wild word mantra inspiration, to see what soul medicine they had to offer. I’ve been doing this more often lately. It’s a practise I’m trying to make more of a habit than an occasion exercise (and perhaps I’ll share of this more of the blog going forward too) because right now the mantras help me create a positive focus to centre on each week.

Here Are The Words That Came: Light, Flow, Dance, Whispers and Gentle.

My Wild Word Mantra this Week: I ignite my inner light when I surrender to the flow of life. I am willing to dance to the gentle rhythms of sacredness as I honour my heart’s whispers.

grass wild word mantra

How Are You Working Your Light?

Plants are ancient healers. They came into being with a mission, a purpose – that is to thrive as a unique but still sacred expression of divinity, as well as heal and restore wholeness in us.

I imagine that when their seeds first fell upon the flesh of Mother Earth and they began to grow where she breathed love into them, this calling in their hearts was their compass as they prepared to journey towards the light.  And they got to work without hesitation, growing, channelling light and life-force energy from the Divine, from the Earth, from the sun, from within and transformed that energy into consciousness, healing and so many other gifts. Each has its unique properties and offerings – medicine, beauty and sometimes merely the therapy of their presence. We take this understated intelligence for granted.

Healing plants are light-workers centred in the knowing that we are each embodiments of loving light who are connected to a greater spiritual essence.

Working intuitively with plant allies has helped me see how much they have to teach about how to stay in a state of flow, how to choose the path of least resistance, how to surrender, how to honour the Great Mother and how to be of service. When I bare witnesses to the way that they often effortlessly grow, share their healing gifts, shine and work their abundant light regardless of the strife their journey may bring, I end up with this question swirling around inside me:

How am I working my own light? (in Rebecca Campbell’s words)

Asking myself that question – How am I working my light? – inspires me to be true to what my wild essence calls me to. It reminds me of the choice I’ve made in how I want to live my life and what I want to offer.

Dr. John Demartini says that the quality of one’s life is determined by the quality of the questions that you ask yourself. I feel that he is right, because asking myself this sort of question helps me shed the imaginary shackles in my mind and brings me back to what is important. It gives me a point of positive focus

When you need direction, clarity, or a bit of inspiration, it may be worth asking yourself the kinds of questions that cut through the bullshit and connect you with the guiding light of your inner wilderness. Even when the answers a simple ones only allowing you to take small steps forwards not fully knowing what lies ahead, in my experience that light bit of guiding light help me to create a sense of harmony within myself and move from one stepping stone to the next with peace of mind.

Dear hearts,

How are you working your light?

How are you honouring your wild inner light in your work?

How can you continue to walk away from fear-based living and toward an authentic heart-centred life that brings you peace and offers healing to others in the process?
image