What is the Past Asking of the Present?

After the full moon last weekend, I decided it was time to do some energetic releasing and begin exploring how to best direct my energy in the coming months.  While spring cleaning a few weeks ago, I opened a small box in my meditation corner that contained these little acorns gifted to me almost 15 years ago by three children at the laundromat.  I wrote my first blog about this experience which can be read here: Little Acorns. 

I kept these acorns as a reminder of how growing into your full potential requires a breaking open and shedding of different layers of your identity.  When I found these acorns while cleaning, I reflected on where I was 15 years ago and how these children who are now young adults must be experiencing the world. 

On Saturday I decided to release the acorns in the park where they originated as a signal to the universe that I am ready for the much-needed inner work at this time.  As soon as I walked away, a squirrel came over and started stuffing them in his mouth.  I now call him my shaman squirrel as he generously volunteered to ensure these acorns would be “transformed and released” so I can be free to dream a new world into reality for myself and the collective. 

What we are experiencing in the present – the uprising that’s crying out for change, the pandemic that has sent us into isolation for 3 months or more, the uncertainty for the future – is an accumulation of our past that reaches far back to long before we were even born. 

Chaos cycles like the one 2020 has presented, are opportunities to reclaim lost power as we make whole with the past. 

The present is always a result of the past and how we deal with the past in the present is how we shape our future. 

The question to ask is what aspects of the past are saying “Enough already!” and screaming out for change? 

What old patterning is ready to shift and take on new energy, passion, creativity, and momentum?  And in what areas of your life?

The weekend of June 20^th and 21^st will be one of the energetic highlights of 2020 with the Summer Solstice and New Moon Solar Eclipse in Cancer meeting each other.  The peak energy of the sun will be present to charge the seeds of intention planted with the New Moon.  However, the energetic potential held within these intentions is meant to carry us through to the end of the year and into 2021.  We’re in it for the long haul but just imagine the power that can be reclaimed during these next six months!

The energy of the sun reflects the fire in one’s spirit, inspiring action and providing the passion, courage and motivation needed to transform old patterns that are no longer useful.  The energy of the moon reflects the expression of one’s soul, providing wisdom, fluidity, and receptivity to change and transformation. 

On the Summer Solstice 15 years ago, I received my Reiki master attunement with four other beautiful and amazing women.  At that moment, our lives changed forever as we claimed our power to help ourselves and the world experience wholeness.  As I initiate my own Reiki master students on the Summer Solstice this year, the power rooted in the journey they’ve taken to get here is ready to be claimed and at a time when this healing work is needed more than ever.

Wherever you find yourself the weekend of June 20^th and 21^st, take a moment and reflect on the power you are ready to claim and how you want to nurture it in the coming months.  With chaos, comes clarity and with clarity comes inspired action.  Just ask the sun and the moon as they meet at this powerful time of the year. 

Can you just listen?

Photo by Aarón Blanco Tejedor

Tuesday morning I woke to find the #BlackoutTuesday movement going viral on social media.  Before posting the blacked-out image on my Instagram account to show solidarity, I read a little on the origin of the movement by the music industry.  As with other moments like this on social media, I knew it would have many layers of meaning for everyone who participated.

As a white woman, posting the black box wasn’t just about showing solidarity for the black community and speaking up against social injustice, it was about committing to be a better listener to the voices of those in pain.  To take a day or even a few days to not post about myself or my own thoughts or ideas, but to just read posts from those who are angry and grieving as well as those offering ideas on how everyone can work to create sustainable change.

When I learned of the killing of George Floyd, the heaviness came crashing down just at it had with Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery in recent weeks and all the other lives taken while worshiping, going to school or just simply living, year after year after year. 

Then there is the question of what can I say or do that will make a difference?

Reiki, along with many other spiritual practices, can bring you to such states of expanded awareness, bliss and connection to that unified field of love that when you return to the heavy realities of the world, the contrast can make times like this feel that much heavier.  Because of this, I will often hear people in the spiritual community say that they don’t like to discuss politics or even watch the news because it’s so overwhelming for someone who is highly sensitive or empathic.

At the same time though, the foundational Buddhist principles in the practice of Reiki and Mikao Usui’s teachings are rooted in the idea that we awaken to enlightenment in order to become a healing presence for others, to operate as a human bodhisattva if you will.  Bodhisattva’s don’t go where there is light.  Instead, they bring light to the darkness and pull out of the shadows the power needed to heal the pain and suffering of all sentient beings. 

As I walked and meditated on the death of George Floyd, I kept hearing a voice say in my mind over and over “Can you just listen?”  As this question became my mantra, I realized that it was silencing my inner empath which can take me down if it’s allowed to be in the driver’s seat.  Empaths are energetic sponges, but when that empathy is kept in check, it can become a great resource of compassion without overwhelming the nervous system.

I’ve learned that when empathy runs amuck, it’s not only overwhelming, but it does a disservice to those we want to help.  Taking on the energetic pain that another person is experiencing in many ways diminishes the personal power that is restored in the healing process.  My Reiki teacher emphasized from day one that it isn’t up to us as Reiki healers to “do” the healing for another person.  It is up to us to be present and bear witness to the healing.

For those who are at a loss for words or action but want to be a conduit for healing when it comes to social injustice, racism, antisemitism, misogyny and any other kind of hate, the first step is to ask yourself, “Can I just listen?” 

Just listen.

After my meditative walk, I wrote the following words in my journal asking myself:

Can you just listen not to evaluate but to cultivate a presence of understanding? 

Can you just listen to the pain and suffering of another through the expansive lens of love without shrinking it to fit inside the frame of your own suffering?

Can you just listen to the grievance of another through the open lens of understanding even when it’s a grievance you can’t relate to?

Can you just listen to one’s expression of anger with the understanding that it is a sign of an unmet need?

Can you just listen to an opposing opinion through the open lens of curiosity and not let it threaten your own truths?

Can you just listen to another’s suffering with the understanding that to be human is to suffer but each of us suffers in our own way?

Can you just listen to bear witness to the untangling of the yarn of suffering in another, honoring each tired and frayed thread as it eventually weaves itself back to wholeness once again?

When you listen to another with a beginner’s mind and unconditional presence, the power to heal is unleashed and takes on a life of its own.

Half of the battle is showing up to listen and then the other half is letting understanding lead to even deeper understanding which will eventually inspire the right words and the right action.

If you find yourself at a loss for words and action during this dark time, begin with listening.

If you find yourself overcome with grief, fear, anger, and confusion, I am here to listen. 

Just comment here and we can connect.