Tonight was the final call of a four month group that I’d been running, I was both excited to share more on our final lesson togther, and sad that such an amazing experience was coming to an end.
It was fitting then, that our final topic was on supporting our sacred self, and looking at the spiral path that women walk.
As I spoke about honouring our sacred selves, the topic invariably turned to cycles and nature – two of my favourite topics.
It seems like a lifetime ago, but I used to teach people about how to create amazing raw food recipes.
Raw food didn’t appeal to me because it was healthier, in fact in my case, when I was pregnant, raw food wasn’t the best choice for me – but that’s a whole other story… But I love raw food because it’s food in its natural form (or at least much closer than heavily processed foods!), and when I ate a high raw food diet, it was one way that connected me more deeply to my own true nature.
There was no hiding from emotions or feelings by stuffing them down with foods such as breads and pasta, but eating more raw food, allowed to to relearn about my relationship with myself, and highlighted the areas in my life that needed some attention.
It reminded me that ultimately we are part of nature in all of it’s glorious, colourful, juicy, tasty, powerful, and unruly ways.
We’ve done a good job over the years of trying to control nature. To harness her power, and protect ourselves from the very same wild, unpredictability that both scares us and has us in awe.
Don’t get me wrong, I am forever grateful that I live in a house with electricity, heating, and wi-fi.
I love having a car, and being able to fly round the world if I choose to!
This isn’t about thinking the past was ‘the good old days’, I for one, am very glad to be alive in our current part of her-story.
However, being able to shield ourselves effectively from the elements, temperature control our houses, and eat all types of food, all year round, does make it easier for us not only to disconnect from nature, but to also forget that we are part of nature itself.
“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us.” ― Albert Einstein
One of the very reasons that I’m so passionate about working with the cycles of nature, whether this be the moon cycles, or the Wheel of The Year and the changing seasons, is that they remind us of our very own cycles and rhythms.
I don’t think the cycles around us are ‘right’, and that we have to align with them, or force our own cycles to match them, but they are really useful to be aware of when we start to feel overwhelmed, anxious, disconnected, or out-of-sorts.
When we are connected with our own internal rhythms we feel more confident to handle whatever comes our way.
We experience a sort of inner peace, and inner-knowing.
We have a deep understanding of our own energy and emotions, and can act accordingly, making the most out of our peak energy states, and supporting ourselves when we know we need to rest and take things slower.
We are aware of how we fit into the world around us.
But sometimes we get lost.
When you get lost, the cycles of nature can lead us back home. We can reconnect to their rhythms, as they show us how to reconnect with our own.
They offer us a template to reconnect with, until we can re-find our own.
Following this cyclic journey leads you right back to your own heart, and your own truth.
This is walking the spiral path.
The spiral path leads us in towards our centre, diving deep into who we are, and releasing that which we are not. It then requires us to pause at the centre to receive. And then leads us on the spiral journey back out, with the new information we have learned.
The spiral path asks that we:
- Let Go
- Receive
- Integrate
You can see this more clearly as you follow a labyrinth.
Walking a labyrinth has three stages:
- You journey inward, with your question, or guidance you are seeking. As you spiral in, it’s the time to release any burdens or distractions that you’ve been carrying.
- You pause at the centre, ready to receive whatever wisdom and guidance is waiting for you.
- You leave the centre, and take the journey outward, bringing, and integrating, the new information, gifts and wisdom that you have received.
Women go through many of these spiral paths in a day, month, year, and lifetime.
Some spirals are life events, and some are the very nature of being a woman.
Each spiral is an initiation into a deeper connection with yourself. Whether as a rite of passage such as Menarch, Motherhood, or Menopause, or a transition in life such as beginning or ending a new job, or relationship.
Each event gives you the opportunity to spiral in, leaving the ‘old’ way of being behind, a pause in the centre to receive the wisdom and learnings of the event, and then finishing with the spiral out, where you integrate your new information and wisdom.
With all of this continuous change, the cycles and rhythms around us act like an anchor, or touch-point, so that we can always find our way home.