Celtic New Year

Samhain

As the shadows lengthen and the days grow short, my Celtic ancestors celebrated the start of their year.  Depending on which source you believe, the Celtic New Year’s Festival of Samhain happened on November 1st, also known in some parts as the Day of the Dead… OR Samhain may have been celebrated at the time of the new moon in late October or early November.  This year, the closest new moon falls on November 3.  So, either way, now is the time to celebrate!

As winter approaches, I find it quite natural to pause long enough to acknowledge all the blessings I have received in the past year. And I also like to reflect on what I would like to create and grow in the coming year. 

In honor of the approaching Celtic New Year, I offer blessings from elemental earth, air, fire, water and spirit to you.

“May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.”

~John O’Donohue, Anam Cara

Light Floats

Flatirons at Dawn

“There is a moment in every dawn when light floats,
there is the possibility of magic.
Creation holds its breath…”

~Douglas Adams,
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Image of Flatirons by Nancy L

Seek Wildness

The Path into the Woods
The Path into the Woods

“To learn to see, to learn to hear, you must…
Go into the wilderness alone.

For it is not I who teach you the ways of the Gods.
Such things are learned only in solitude.”

~Matsuwa, Huichol Shaman

Elemental Flow

Flow with Life

You are elemental flowing energy. No particle in the Universe stays static for long – and you are no exception! Your body is constantly flowing and vibrating at the elemental level. Your tissues are created from elemental carbon, hydrogen, magnesium, oxygen, potassium, nitrogen, etc. You are actually made from billions of tiny elemental forms dancing and oscillating in space. 

Each atomic element has a signature vibration. And each type of tissue within your body has its own unique vibrational pattern: lung tissue vibrates in a distinct way. And the vibrational dance of liver is also unique. Bone vibration is different from brain vibration. And blood and lymph each create a unique dance of their own. Each tissue has its own dance. And when a tissue is hurt, diseased or in some way unhealthy, its vibrational dance shifts into an out of balance dissonant state. True healing is all about coaxing your diseased,  injured tissues to shift back into a balanced vibratory state where your physical body can dance and flow again.

“You are a watery creature living on a watery planet.
Your optimal state of being is flow.” 

~Nancy Lankston

☾ ☽

Pause   Open   Flow

 

Elemental Gratitude

Front Range

Today I’m grateful for sun, blue sky, mountains in the distance and snow on the horizon…

Spirit dances with Fire, Air, Earth and Water and somehow the amazing alchemy of Life flows forth  Today I’m grateful for the dance of elemental Fire, Air, Earth and Water all around me. What a beautiful dance it is!

Flatirons and Sky

The Breath of Life

Open to the Magic of Flow

There is a tidal flow within you. This tide was the first motion within your tiny baby body as you formed in your mother’s womb; its gentle waves actually helped your physical body to grow. Many Craniosacral Therapists and Osteopaths call this flow the “Breath of Life”  because it is so important to human development.

This rhythmic tide flows around and within your brain and spinal column for your entire life. This motion within your cerebrospinal fluid has a profound impact on the performance of nerves throughout your brain and body. Small restrictions in the tissues around your brain and spine can inhibit the flow and block the breath of life. And a restricted flow can cause severe sensory and motor problems such as chronic pain, palsy, loss of sensation or movement, hyperactivity, headaches, insomnia and sucking, chewing or speech difficulties. 

CranioSacral Flow has been part of my healing practice for 20 years. I have synthesized many of  the teachings of Sutherland, Becker, Sills, Upledger and Milne into my energetic version of CranioSacral Therapy because I believe that helping your nervous system return to its healthy, flowing and juicy state is absolutely key to healing. 

 ☾ ☽

“Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water.
Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible,
nothing can surpass it.

The soft overcomes the hard;
the gentle overcomes the rigid.”

~Lao Tzu in Tao Te Ching

fractal flame

Nancy Lankston
Elemental Flow