Blossoming Feminine Wisdom: Wisdom

Life has been busy and broken into a fast paced flow of intersecting situations that have been coming at her from everywhere at once. So many places to heal ...

Lined up outside the door is the line of many faces representing the areas in which she is required to heal. Each of these faces carries a message with it that she is required to receive with grace so that it may be accepted as part of allowing the full essence of who she is to emerge and to blossom.

She receives the messengers one by one and with the guidance of the Healing Council she assists with the integration of healing into each of these areas.

Occasionally, one of the messengers carries something they feel is so urgent that they storm the door, ignoring their place in line, breathlessly expressing a need that must be dealt with immediately.

The messengers voice and the message delivered raise alarm inside of her. A big one. There is a depth to this message that permeates all of her being. She knows this because she feels the little girl in her, her humanness, wanting to run and hide in the safety of the woods.

Wisdom, in her place at the center of the Council knows ... like she knows, like she knows, like she knows ... that all is well.

It is what it is.

It's all good.

Relax and be in the flow.

Strengthen your muscles.

Enjoy the ride.

Curious as to why the little girl is running she follows her for a bit assessing the best way to support her with love and divine guidance. She observes the layers of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual pain that the little girl travels though while she runs to the safety of her cocoon. Recognizing the essence of healing in each of them she returns to the present moment in the council chamber knowing what to do.

She thanks the messenger with a warm smile that carries the essence of a loving embrace. "Thank you for trusting your voice and delivering this message. I understand the urgency you brought with it. I will take care of this for you. Run now and be in Joy. Relax and be who you are. I will take care of this for you."

Satisfied, the messenger relaxes into the healing energy of council. She feels the shift. Preparing to release. Preparing to fly ...

She adds, "Please deliver a message to the faces outside the door that thanks them for their patience. I am honored to be a vessel through which the wisdom of healing can be integrated and I wish to honor each of their messages to the fullest with the same attention I am giving to the urgent message you just delivered. Tell them that I stand in gratitude for their patience."

Wisdom closes her eyes and with her breath receives the gifts of the message.

Tight at first ... Relax your shoulders and breathe ...

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh ... That's better ... In the feminine flow ...

What am I required to do?

...

I am afraid.

All is good. All is well. Enjoy the ride.

...

I am afraid.

...

She knows what she must do ... like she knows, like she knows, like she knows ... she has done this many times before.

The first step always requires the most courage ...

I’ve shared a little bit about my ah-ha moment(s) in experiencing Oriah Mountain Dreamer’s book The Call which, among many other things invites women to stop doing and rest. I have also shared my resistance to rest and observations that when the “is” (it is what it is) is accepted, embraced and thereby removed from the word “resist” the word is then transformed into “rest”.

This call to rest has been challenging. My husband and I recently spent an incredible week camping in the woods. In preparation for this week I packed a lot of things that I thought I might like to do while camping. In my backpack were several books that I am reading or re-reading, art supplies, my cameras and lenses and various other tools. I packed these things thinking that I might feel called to ‘do’ some of them.

Halfway through the week I realized that I had been so enjoying being in the moment experiencing camping in the woods that I had ‘forgotten’ about the things I brought to do. This observation brought a scolding with it and I observed myself ‘beating myself up’ in admonishment for resting and not being productive. I again remembered Oriah Mountain Dreamer’s call to stop ‘doing’ and rest and gave myself permission to do just that – to let go of the ‘busy-ness’ of doing, to rest and be still with myself, to be quiet enough to hear the truth of my own quiet voice from deep within, to connect with the Divine Essence of who I was born to be.

This morning as I was on my way out to the front porch to sip my coffee in the comfort of my wicker rocking chair I noticed a praying mantis clinging to the house near the door frame. I observed it for a few minutes noticing that while its body remained still, as if frozen, its head rotated around to follow me keeping an eye on me as I moved to capture it with the camera. The moments spent with the mantis inspired me to contemplate the symbolism of its appearance at my front door this morning. What message am I to receive from this creature?



The Praying Mantis is a messenger that carries the essence of the Power of Stillness. An appearance from the mantis is a message to be still, go within, meditate, and experience quiet and calmness. It can also indicate the need to be more mindful the choices you are making and confirm that these choices are congruent with your purpose.

The origin of the word Mantis comes from a Greek word that means “Prophet”. Perhaps if we can be still with ourselves we can open to our own prophecy. This stillness can be practiced as simple contemplation in the moment, in meditation or the restorative stillness of sleep and dreams.

Being still with the essence of mantis can teach us how to let go of the outer layers of thought and connect with our own inner power so that when we do take action we do so with confidence, precision and with great power.

There are many stories of the mantis across many cultures, one of the most widely known being from African lore. The Kalihari Bushmen of Africa believe that Mantis was a Bushman who carries plentiful tales of his many adventures. When he found that he got himself into trouble he would go off alone, go to sleep and dream a solution to his problem. This tale embodies the essence of this curious insect and brings with it the gift of the power of stillness. When we learn to still the outer mind and go within we can draw upon a greater power in the physical, mental emotional or spiritual realms to create peace that comes from being truly connected to our own Divine selves.

Chinese martial arts evolved around the activities of the praying mantis. In the practice of kung fu there is a meditation called “chi kung” which uses the breath to go within and direct the life force of the body along the seven major energy meridians or chakras of the body. This healing meditative practice can strengthen and empower the many organs and systems of the body and through it we can learn to use the gifts of this stillness in varying degrees from creating to healing.

The mantis hunts by remaining still and blending into its surroundings making it a great hunter. When the time is right it suddenly grasps its prey in its long forelegs folding them over its victim like a jackknife. This stillness before acting can be applied to ourselves as we contemplate the message of the praying mantis. Mantis asks us to observe our own actions in life. Are you sharing your plans and ideas prematurely? Are you impatient or acting in a haphazard or chaotic manner? Are you missing opportunities to receive life’s many gifts due to acting or speaking to quickly? Being still with the Essence of Praying Mantis can assist with these questions.

I am humbled and grateful for this Universal affirmation appearing at my front door this morning. Within its stillness mantis carries the essence of Awareness, Creativity, Patience, Mindfulness, Calm, Balance and Intuition. It brings peace and acceptance of "It is what it is." and "I am what I am." I allow myself to experience the healing stillness of going within and connecting to the truth of my deepest self.

Hello my BraveHeart Sisters,

I have been practicing letting go of "do-ing" and simply "be-ing". I am growing. I had a small ah-ha moment this morning which prompted a series of questions that I am beginning to explore. I would love your perspectives on this.

As I practice loving and accepting myself, just as I am, I am conscious of being required to also love and accept others, just as they are. I see my degree of love and acceptance of others as a mirror indicating my own love and acceptance of myself.

Is there a fine line between 'loving and accepting' and 'enabling' when it comes to behavior that is not self serving? Does love and acceptance mean "without criticism or analysis"? What energy is required to tap into to fully embrace "I love and accept me/you unconditionally" yet that also allows for or nurtures the energy of growing?

When acting in a relationship in such a way that I am enabling negative behavior am I also enabling a variant of the energy of the behavior in myself?

How do I release enabling and embrace fully honoring myself and others? I am not sure I even fully understand how I am enabling, however, I am conscious it happening ... at the same time, the warrior within me is whispering louder and louder ... there seems to be a connection between allowing that warrior to use her voice and breaking the cycle of enabling that is creating challenges in some of my relationships.

What does your feminine wisdom have to share about this? Are any of you seeing this manifest in your lives? How are you embracing this challenge?

with humble gratitude,
love,
Lisa

What Would You Say by Trailer Choir

My son Josh shared this song with me on his way out the door this morning. As I listened, I felt increasing waves of emotion roll through me with each line of the song. The words and the music seemed to touch so many things … all at once.

When my tears started and Josh moved to comfort me, I said “It’s okay. I’m okay. This was just what I needed to hear today … the tears are perfect and cleansing ... I’m not hurting I am just releasing old bullshit through the tears … clearing the way for the journey ahead. It’s all perfect … Thank you for sharing this with me today … it’s all perfect.”

Thank you, Joshua. I love you and I am honored to be your mom.

What would I say?



What would you say?

...

There are so many shifts happening in my life and so many ways that I am opening to and blossoming into my own, inherent, feminine wisdom. There has been transformation in many aspects of my life. Some I’ve accepted joyfully and some were and still are a bit more challenging to get through. Collectively though, they’ve ALL collaborated to bring me to right here … where I am right now ... experiencing a joy-full, peace-full and beauty-full moment in my own evolution.

To me, transforming means that I fully realize that I am not bound by the "rules" of yesterday. This realization allows me to sever the connection and “pull the plug” on yesterday with the understanding that the severing of the connection does not have to come from a place of rejection, but rather it can come from a place of acceptance. Acceptance brings peacefulness.

I can now remind my Self that “it was what it was” in “that moment” but that moment is over now; that this is a NEW moment with no attachment to prior moments; that it is what it is … right now; to be in this moment not with the attachment to all of the moments that have come before but to really BE in THIS moment with the WISDOM of all of the moments before.

I am beginning to see how this acceptance can assist me to celebrate every moment, in the moment, whether it feels joyful or is challenging. The acceptance of all of them leads to inner peace.

I wonder ... is transformation is a deeper level of blossoming or is it perhaps an entirely new bud on the same flower? Or perhaps both?

What does transformation mean to you?

with love and BraveHeart hugs,
Lisa

I commit to revealing and nurturing my true inner light, to gratefully embracing and gracefully rising above life's challenges, to choosing FAITH over FEAR and LOVE over HATE, to recognizing and supporting what's right ... with me and with the world ... vs focusing on what's wrong, to being open to redefining and active in recreating who I currently know my Self to be and to transforming and evolving into truly BEing the change I wish to see in the world.

Happy New Year to all of my BraveHeart Sisters. May 2012 bring you Peace. ♥

~Lisa