How do you respond to breakdowns, blocks, disappointments and delays? (Or what my teacher Frank Bach affectionately calls ‘sticky spots’?) When I first started going to his classes he would regularly stand at the end of my mat and repeat gently but firmly, ‘nothing’s wrong’. ‘Easier said than done’, I used to think to myself as I struggled.
It took a while to absorb this truth right down to its roots: our life challenges don’t signal imminent disaster. In fact, quite the opposite. Contrary to what New Age folks would have us believe, a life well-lived isn’t filled with rainbows and unicorns. Though I’d be the first one out the door with a feedbag if a unicorn did show up on our lawn, I no longer require constant reassurance that everything is going to turn out ok. I’m letting go of my need to know — releasing certainty in favour of trust.
As it turns out, this is not so easily done! (yikes.) Fortunately, there’s plenty of help to be had (hurray!). And that’s one of the keys to our ability to respond (rather than react) to the inevitable challenges any good life will bring our way: receiving support. It’s amazing how difficult this simple act of acceptance can be. Sometimes our tendency is to judge what’s on offer as undesirable, or from the depths of our discomfort, we might be unable to even see the outstretched hand at all. It’s true that even in nature, the very medicine we need to move us more gracefully along our life’s path can seem hidden from view at the moment when we need it the most.
This is where another key comes in: stillness. ‘Knowing’ — in the form of deep awareness — is made available to us most often when we’re willing to be still, go within, and ask. This is the very place where trust transforms, from a potentially desirable but fuzzy concept, to an active state of being. From trust as a noun, to the consistent act of trusting: trusting in the flow of life (inclusive of all those disappointments and delays); trusting in the universe’s benevolent intentions for your flourishing (just as it has for every living thing); trusting in yourself, in your sacredness.
On March 27th, Inspired Centre officially turned 5!
In the Earth Count used in our Lodge, 5 represents the Sacred Humans in the natural world — self in its purity — our human blueprint. Though in our clearest moments we may feel the truth of this sacredness and our inherent connection between the ‘As Above’ and the ‘So Below’, often our day to day living (those blocks and breakdowns) serve only to fill us with self-doubt.
This celebration day is dedicated to our reclamation of that sacredness…
Following close on the heels of the Spring Equinox and full moon eclipse, we’ll explore the ways in which we can engage in our own personal renewal and celebrate the return of the light within.