“Begin again.” These words showed up spontaneously in this collage I created during my recent A Wild Life Sanctuary™ retreat. (What a fabulous time Jovinna Chan and I had! Thank you to Omega Institute and to all who joined us. Save the date; we’ll be back next year, Aug 24 – 31, 2018, for more dance, voice, yoga and play!)
I love the dark mysterious void at center and all the teeming, swirling, exciting life coming out of it. I love even more that it’s unclear from this picture whether I’m spiraling into that deep richness or emerging from it. How wonderful it would be if I could have no judgment about what direction I’m going – whether I’m climbing into that void (or what usually feels like falling clumsily into it!) or emerging up out of it; because really and truly there are always amazing gifts in the Void – the times of The Unknown and The Empty.
As summer comes to its unofficial conclusion this weekend, with Labor Day and kids’ return to school, I can’t help but feel a little sadness as long days become shorter, leaves begin to fall, sweaters come out of their hiding places, and my psyche says, “It’s time to get back to work (sigh).” And yet this transition is the most natural (and inevitable) thing in the world.
Just as with the Sun and Earth, Life is always moving between darkness and light -- toward or away from an increase of light; toward or away from an increase of darkness. What if we could sit back and enjoy the ride more gracefully, whichever direction we’re going?
My work with the Chakras helps me to do that. Understanding and working with these seven energy centers allows me to feel and see myself more clearly; to acknowledge where I’ve gotten waylaid and need to ‘begin again’; to appreciate where an imbalance has taken root and made me sluggish; or to sense where some part of me remains not yet fully formed.
Oct 20 – 22 I’ll be leading Chakra Immersion at Kripalu. Join me as we dive into this beautiful, powerful, mystical map of the human organism together. Without judgment and with great compassion (and some humor!) we’ll explore the state of our bodies, minds, hearts and spirits. Through yoga postures, breathing techniques, meditation, visualization, chanting and affirmations we’ll “assess and address”, recharging the parts of us that have gone to sleep and rebalancing those that need softening or releasing. I hope you may join me.
Wherever you may be in the cycle of light and dark today, remember that you, too, get to “begin again”
Jurian
