Posts about: gratitude
Monday, February 20, 2023
While the activity of the ceremony may vary depending on the facilitator, the ceremony I attended combined the drinking of the cacao with a sound bath from crystal singing bowls and journaling prompts to connect and have a dialog with our inner child. The ceremony concluded with optional sharing of our individual experiences and a unity circle.
In Western culture, the Cacao Ceremony is somewhat new, but the cacao plant has long been revered by Meso-American cultures, where the plant was of central import and used both ritualistically and as currency, perhaps because the health benefits of pure cacao--which are plentiful! Full of antioxidants and minerals, the chemical compounds found in cacao have been shown to enhance mood, reduce insulin resistance, stimulate your brain and cognitive function, slow aging, improve sleep quality, support the gut and cardiovascular systems, boost the immune system and protect from chronic disease. No wonder the Wizarding World of Harry Potter employed it for dementor recovery!
Though much healthier and slightly more bitter in taste than it's highly-processed, but more famous derivative cocoa, the hot, rich, cacao drink felt both comfortingly familiar and boldly new at the same time. At the opening of the ceremony, we held the warm terracotta mugs full of pure cacao drink garnished with edible flowers to our heart's center in gratitude for the experience, all that we are, and all that is to be.
We spent about one hour in meditative and self-nurturing dialog with our inner child, either journaling it by switching the writing between dominant (present self) and non-dominant (inner child) hands or in quiet reflection, while the crystal sound bowls, each of which is tuned to the frequency of one of the seven chakras, were played by the facilitator. Prior to closing, each participant had the opportunity to share whatever they wished from their experience. The resulting insights I gleaned personally and shared by others were profound and I left the ceremony feeling lighter, having shared some of my most painful thoughts with a compassionate friend and listener--myself.
Why attend a cacao ceremony?
I have always been an adventurous spirit, curious about other cultures and traditions and I almost always say yes to new experiences that help me know myself and others better. Why not? And also...
In the past 13 or so years, I have investigated many healing modalities beyond Western medicine after experiencing a series of health crises beginning during my first pregnancy, for which the doctors I had previously consulted had no answers or understanding. While I have found relief and transcendence in so many methods, from tapping and crystals to meditation and homeopathic immune therapy, I continue to seek and try any and all experiences that help me connect more frequently and deeply with my heart. In doing so, I have found that my physical health has not only been restored, but now thrives as I take care of it in loving concert with my spiritual health. I am so glad to have found the Cacao Ceremony as another way I may continue to heal and offer love to my own heart and share that love to all around me.
Are you curious about or craving more healing in your life, but need a little hand-holding getting started? If you are ready to embark on a restorative journey of creation that supports and nurtures you every day as you do whatever you're meant to do in life, I would be so honored to be your coach.
I offer group courses, virtual organizing, feng shui consultations, and 1:1 coaching on your timeline to meet your needs. Visit the contact page of my site to book a session or send me a message to set up a discovery call.
Monday, February 13, 2023
Have you ever wanted to accomplish something that you technically knew how to do, but got lost in the weeds the first moment you attempted it (and eventually abandoned ship)? I recently completed a 5-day online course/challenge to set up and launch an email marketing list. While I started working with email marketing approximately 100 years ago (in Internet time) and have, like everyone with a pulse, received my weight in marketing emails, I felt paralyzed by the thought of (or the many thoughts about) creating my own and [whispers] "being out there." What if it seemed spammy? What if no one signed up? What's it going to be like out on the WORLD WIDE WEB?!
I would say, truly, that none of the information in the course was new to me and was honestly very basic compared to other programs and books I had utilized. But the very simplicity of it (" 'Step 1. Write your name here...' 'YES! I did it!' " ) gave me tiny wins that created momentum to keep me going to the end when I was able to assemble all my baby steps into a larger, slightly-awkward email sign-up form and thank you content. Sure, my "thank you content" looked very impressive--if it had been on a late 90s Geocities free site, but I had done it! I did the thing. And once I did the thing, I could refine the thing, and try it out and make more mistakes and not die of being spammy or lack of subscribers or existing on the WORLD WIDE WEB or anything at all. Feels great to be alive!
So in honor of my big (or at least first) email list launch, I wanted to offer you some hand-holding to something that, perhaps in your heart, you already know how to do, too. But I am going to say it in my way, with love and appreciation for where you are in your process, and maybe this time you will hear it and get out there and do the thing. Or another thing you've been trying not to do, but that you really want to do.
The thing I want to walk you through is creating a home sanctuary that nourishes and uplifts you, restores you in rest, and helps you connect more completely with yourself (and your partner, too). I'm going to tell you in 5 steps and I'm going to be cheering you on the whole time! Compassionate, hand-holding is here. Ready to create your blissful bedroom?
Sign up here, by clicking the image below. See you soon!
|
| 5 Steps to a Blissful Bedroom Guide |
Want a little more personalized hand-holding? If you are ready to embark on a restorative journey of creation that supports and nurtures you every day as you do whatever you're meant to do in life, it's time to create your high vibe home.
I offer group courses, virtual organizing, feng shui consultations, and personalized coaching on your timeline to meet your needs. Visit the contact page of my site to book a session or send me a message to set up a discovery call.
Tuesday, November 22, 2022
It can be difficult to access gratitude when we receive criticism if we are disposed to thinking of it as evidence to support the most painful stories we have about ourselves, which in whatever form they take in our minds, usually amount to: I'm not enough
 | |
| Thank you for noticing my worth and helping me finish strong! |
The fact is, your worth and your value is absolute and nothing that you do and nothing that anyone else thinks about you can diminish your enoughness. (You didn't create you, so stop trying to take all the credit.) Nothing you think about you or anyone else changes it either, so why not think a wonderful thing about the person offering you criticism and most importantly about you?
What if the person who criticized you is offering feedback...
- To help you finish strong?
- To push you to grow?
- Because they are in pain that has nothing to do with you?
Even if the person says words in anger, you still get to choose whatever you want to think. When you think of their words as a gift, you are able to cultivate more love for yourself and for the person offering it in the first place, a gift to them. Think how much less painful such an encounter would be if you are simply willing to be wrong about both your own story and the other person.
It's a gift that will cost nothing of either of you and the only space it will occupy is in your newly-expanded heart.
If you found this simple exercise of believing a new thing gave you fresh perspective, consider working with me and let's be curious together about how much your life can transform one thought at a time. Visit the contact page of my site to book a session or send me a message to set up a discovery call. Much love.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Media
Search