Wishing you such a restful, joyful, peaceful and whatever else it is you need for your own sweet self, this holiday season.
After immersing in the deep medicine yesterday with the Sumerian Goddess Inanna, this winter Solstice and Venus Retrograde period offers great healing potential. Of power struggles, entanglements, emotional turmoil, self sabotage…you know. ..the stuff we all move through as humans…
In these divisive times playing out, it is ever more key we discover and remember ways home to ourselves. We are not our thoughts. We are not our bodies. We are not our minds. We are not our beliefs.
We are embodied hearts that all yearn for connection, authenticity and peace. It is not our nature to go to war.
The biggest war really is the one we rage with ourselves. And so too is that the biggest opportunity and way in to transformation. So like the ancient myth of Inanna, that is some 4,000 years old, birthed in Mesopotamia, we journey to the underworld, to hang our corpses on meathooks, to rise anew. After we have been stripped of all the illusion. This myth speaks to me. To every cell.
The awakening process is not fluffy. Not whimsical. It repeatedly asks us to face our fears, so we can indeed let go. To viscerally understand that attachment is sorrow. That when we judge others, we are only judging ourselves. All is a mirror.
Our inner resourcing is what feeds us. The lighting up from within. The kindling of our breath. Remembering what is sacred. What we truly do wish to embody.
Some of you might be bathing in deep appreciation for life. Some of you might still be in a turbulent grieving process. Some of you might be on your knees with exhaustion, churning fears, wondering - am I going to make it through.
Wherever you are at, simply acknowledge it. There is no need to push it away, blame another for it, cloak it in pretence, drink your way through it….oh all these tricks we might turn to! The illusions.
Please know all the ups and downs, the twists and turns are all the learning. ALL OF IT. You are still here. You made it. So chances are….you’ll keep making it. Let it be more and more on your own terms. In resonance.
There are many tools to help you. It can take lots of iterations to find what resonates. To mix your unique alchemical recipe. And that changes. And that’s ok. I know for me mantra, movement, breath, deep connection to nature and spirituality, a giant sprinkle of dancing, singing, a bit of Kali FU when its needed…and much, much more, all help. There is ever renewing assistance when we land more and more in our hearts. That is the most real thing there is in my experience.
If something doesn’t help. Change it up! What works for your friend or partner, might not suit you. Only you can know this.
For those who enjoy mantra, or are seeking to explore it, here is the mantra I’m sitting with this Venus Retrograde cycle - which began 19th December, completes 29th January. OM SRI SHUKRAYA NAMAHA. Reverberating with the energies of the planet Venus. youtu.be/Fmrk6siI_oU
You might use a mala, you might use the video each day so you feel supported, or you might tone and chant it around your home. Make it work for you. Inanna is closely connected to Venus. The symbolism of the evening star, as Venus is now, rising to become the morning star next year. These Venus retrogrades only happen every 18 months. Tap into your sense of personal worth. Your relationship with money. With others. With yourself.
Yoga is a path within. To self realisation. It is not a set of rules and restrictions. Just like nutrition. When we continue to dive deep into our human experience, into our spirituality, our relationships, we become the seeker, the quester. The adventurer. Recognising that life IS the learning. And from that place, we make better choices to enhance and nourish our lives, rather than the opposite.
Many peaceful wholly aligned blessings your way!
In warmth,
Ciara