New Moon in Leo's Invitation to Embody Self-Compassion
Well, Hello New Moon in Leo!
Moon cycles are always a great invitation for us to take pause and reflect.
This particular New Moon's energy was potent (also the same day as the Lion's Gate Portal - read more about it HERE!).
This New Moon was an invitation to "start fresh", and to relinquish habits that are holding us back in life. How do we do this? We allow deep self-compassion and kindness for who and where we are.
This invitation couldn't come at a better time; I feel that with everything that's transpired in the past 17 months due to COVID...that we need this practice more than ever. ESPECIALLY as we've shifted this summer toward gathering again.... and now with the variant & masks coming back...the sense of unknowing, overwhelm, and exhaustion is real and gaining traction.
I sense so much exhaustion from this past year. Shifting from long term isolation back to the unbalanced 'GO-GO-GO' lifestyle of western culture, has many of us feeling a sense of fragmentation, depletion, or loss.
Whether you're someone who was anxious to get back to "normality", or an individual who feels lost in the overwhelm of suddenly shifting back to "in-person"... I feel there has been little time and space to process what these past 17 months have been and what they've bestowed upon us.
We, as a species, need the ritual and practice to integrate experiences into self. It's no wonder that so many of us feel the innate longing to integrate this wild, confusing, and devastating ride of COVID and feel into how it has affected our body - our nervous system, our minds, our breath, our souls.
There is so much fragrance of grief and hardship when I speak to folx about this past year.
So, let me ask:
How are you?
Have you been tending to yourself?
Can you offer yourself deeper support and self-connection? What would that look like?
Today, on the New Moon in Leo...I took pause and I reflected.
I laid to rest any to-dos...and I offered myself all the support, tending, and nurturing I needed.
I slowed down.
I breathed long and deep.
I drank in every moment
I played in the waves,
I worked the soil with my hands,
and allowed space for more space.
If you're feeling a bit fragmented, overwhelmed, or that you're needing space and time to integrate this past year through support and self-connection, click below to look into my 4 part series 'The Art of Allowing' starting September 6th.
This is a series where in safe space, we will uncover pieces of ourselves/experience that need nurturing, and gently integrate these pieces of self/experiences, and learn how to develop self-support moving into the future.
This is a series about supporting, nurturing, and developing self-awareness so we may soften into who we are and step in ways of living that ALLOW and SUPPORT are needs and who we are.
I also have a short embodiment practice below for you all. It invites you to slow down and offer calm support to body and being.
Until Next time,
big love xo
Brooke
PREPERATION: (2min)
- Find a quiet and calm space to relax/sit/lay down so the body feels wholly supported
- Have a device (silenced) near by to play Clair De Lune after breath exercise
- Journal & pen for reflection
BEGIN PRACTICE:
- Settle into stillness in whatever supportive shape you've taken & close the eyes (if this feels safe).
- Begin to notice & watch your breath:
-> Follow the breath as it enters the nostrils and dissolves down into the lungs.
-> Follow the breath as it leaves the lungs and dissolves out the mouth. (1min)
- Starting at your feet and moving up toward the head - notice every point of the body that's held/supported by earth or props. (1min)
- Next, breathe (full inhale/exhale) into every point of the body you noticed that was held/supported by earth (2min)
- Release the breathing practice & return to your natural rhythm of breath
- Notice the current tempo of your body. The tempo of your mind. (1min)
- Recognize and feel into any sensations in the body; the heart, chest, shoulders, belly, etc. (1min)
FINISH PRACTICE
- When ready, slowly open your eyes & take in colors, textures, sites of your surroundings (1min)
- Remain rested in your position & press play for Clair De Lune - Listen deeply. Allow the eyes to close or be soft.
- Notice how each note permeates your body. Witness the effect the sounds/music has on your body - does it soften or tense? Do you feel soothed? Washed? Prickled? Activated? Where do you feel sensations?? (5min)
- Allow the song to finish. Breathe 3 full breath in through the nose and out the mouth
- Journal about any experience and/or any discoveries (1-4min)