On the Trail of the Wild Feminine
Nancy Lankston
The deer say
be gentle with you
It is a time to be courageous
in gentler ways
People cannot bully their way into creating magic
It is the gentle heart that will find the way forward
It is the gentle hearted who will find strength in the journey
who know that their gentle ways are forged with love
There IS nothing stronger.
~Jude Downes
judedownes.com
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Photo by Carly Rae Hobbins, Unsplash
Why do we spend all of our precious soft?
trying to be hard
talking like we’re hard
dressing like we’re hard
pretending to be hard
moving like we’re hard
acting like we’re hard
writing like we’re hard
living like we’re hard
until we wake up one morning
stone
cold
hard
and we’d give anything
everything
to feel a little bit of
soft
~Max Mundan
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#getYin
Full moon in watery Pisces, lover of the world. We are still in the midst of wild, chaotic change, but an opening, a softening has begun. The deep, calm watery energies of this Pisces moon help to quiet and cool the hot, frenetic Yang energies of the last few months.
Try not to numb out. Focus on feeling whatever arises in you. Breathe deeply with whatever comes up in your mind and body throughout the day. If you feel tension, gently breathe into the tense spots. Increase your water intake – keep your body hydrated and juicy. Spending time in or near water will also help you now. All of these actions will encourage the softening, cleansing, calming powers of water to work within you.
Turn away from wild, frenetic Yang energies. Embrace calm, cool, juicy Yin.
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Expansive full moon in airy Aquarius. We are in the midst of global change and chaos. Expect the unexpected.
Many people are feeling overwhelmed, tense, contracted and exhausted right now. Shallow, rapid breathing fans the flames of your inner chaos. Take deep, long breaths instead. Make your exhale longer than your inhale. If you are a student of yoga or pranayama, use Ujjayi breathing. Slow down, unwind and expand your energy with yin yoga.
Aquarian consciousness encourages us to expand our perspective. Change is always messy and chaotic. It is impossible to control, so stop trying. This is what is happening right now. Surrender to it.
Take a break from the news. Seek out the beauty and magic of life instead; the colors of sunrise, clouds dancing on the wind, cicadas buzzing in the trees, flowers quietly blooming, the feel of soft pet fur on your fingertips, the sound of a child’s laughter, an ice cold drink on a hot afternoon, the smell of dinner cooking, the full moon lighting up a dark sky tonight…
Life is still full of magic. Look for it.
And remember that you can be part of the healing medicine we all need right now by simply speaking and acting with kindness.
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Image: Big Sky and Prairie
by Nancy Lankston
The moon does not fight.
It attacks no one.
It does not worry.
It does not try to crush others.
It keeps to its course,
but by its very nature, it gently influences.
What other body could pull
an entire ocean from shore to shore?
The moon is faithful to its nature,
and its power is never diminished.
~Deng Ming-Dao
#PowerofYin
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When I say the feminine, I don’t mean gender. I mean the feminine principle that is living—or suppressed—in both men and women. The feminine principle attempts to relate. Instead of breaking things off into parts, it says, Where are we alike? How can we connect? Where is the love? Can you listen to me? Can you really hear what I am saying? Can you see me? Do you care whether you see me or not?
Now, these are very serious questions. And the feminine is difficult to talk about because so few people have experienced it. The feminine is presence, and relatedness, and a heart that can open so that when you meet another person you actually are seeing that person’s authentic self. What meaning does human life have if nobody has ever seen you?
… The great work of our time is to bring the feminine into this culture. And it’s not an easy path. How does each one of us contribute? Believe it or not, it’s done in the most personal ways. Take time to listen to your dreams, to write them down. Take time to recognise that there are things going on within you that need to be felt, or said, or lived, or grieved. Pay attention to these things both in yourself and in the people in your life. Pay attention to the authentic self.
~Marion Woodman
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#WhyIDoWhatIDo
#ChangingTheWorld
#OneBreathAtATime
Image: Mother and Child
Frances Hodgkins
“It’s the hard things that break; soft things don’t break.
It was an epiphany I had today and I just wonder why it took me so very, very long to see it! You can waste so many years of your life trying to become something hard in order not to break; but it’s the soft things that can’t break! The hard things are the ones that shatter into a million pieces!”
~C. JoyBell C.
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#GetYin