Healing Droughts

This is what I woke up thinking after a nap...

The earth right now has been so dry this winter, the sky spacious blue when it should be pouring. I think of the myth of Demeter(earth mother), who cries for her lost daughter Persephone, thus creating the seasons as she mourns her daughter's loss and rejoices her return. It is her tears that nourish the land even in the darkening season. It is her frozen emotion, melting upon Persephone’s return, that feeds the cycle of life.

When we as people choose not to allow our tears to surface because “we are strong enough not to,” we do greater injury to our delicate emotional makeup. When we deny that emotional process of grieving however it is most honestly reflected within us, then we starve our own future.

It is through the cleansing release of our own tears, and through the reflection of those emotional waters (even if frozen) that we gain the equilibrium to keep moving forward. If we never give in to the waters of our emotion, then how will the flowers of spring be fed? If there is no rain, how will new crops grow? Even our messier emotions feed our sunny days. We only make space in our lives for new and beautiful experiences if we allow our own inner terrain to stay permeable, soft, and open to new experiences.

It’s possible that we may need a period of deep winter freeze, of no life, of no activity. Eventually, winter turns to spring. Eventually, we will bloom again. So when it is time to cry, let yourself cry. You are simply honoring the cycles of life, and feeding a future that has yet to unfold.

blessings!

Dailey

You Can Have It

from my Facebook Musings:

Is there a reason why you can't have everything you're asking for from the universe? A good reason?

Really think about this, and Please share! Because I believe that you, as well as I, deserve the very best that the world has to offer, and there's no reason it can't be that way.

Imagine how things might feel if you simply expect to be met in all of your ventures, no matter how scary or unlikely they may be. Imagine if you surrender your specific expectations around what you want, but are able to hold on to faith that your dreams, or something better REALLY ARE ON THEIR WAY.

All of your problems will be resolved, and whatever you need to know, learn, do, or face, you will do with grace and confidence. If you ask the world for support and learn to listen to the signs, you will receive clear answers.

What if you hold, just for this weekend, that this process can be simple and even joyful? What if you begin, from today, to see your path as paved with good fortune?

What if you engrave that feeling of joyful expectation into your very bones, and allow appreciation to flow for every thing that occurs in line with your visions?

Blessings!

Dailey

Why Should I Meditate?

WHY SHOULD I MEDITATE?

This morning I am thinking about the act of meditation as I break from my morning meditations. Sometimes meditation is really just about calming the mind. That’s the surface of what meditation can be. When we crack the outer shell of our ego voices --you know, those voices that stream a running commentary in your mind about everything that’s happening around you and how you should feel about it-- we move very deeply into our bodies.

We begin to hear the stories that we have pushed aside, or pretended not to notice. When our minds get quiet, we may remember traumas that occurred to us: anything from a thoughtless catcall as we were crossing the street, to how the death of a loved one took its toll on our emotional well-being. We don’t have to remember these traumas, but as they come up, we can quite naturally let them go.

We all have masks, ways of moving in the world that allow us to “save face,” to be comfortably protected from emotional ravishment by our vigilant egos. When we meditate, calming our rolling waves of continuous thought, we open to the chance of moving deeply behind our mask, and behind our protective armor.

People often tell me, “But Dailey, I can’t meditate! It’s so hard!”

Yes, it is hard. It is hard to face vulnerable truths, to see things we may not like about ourselves or how we have been moving in the world. It is hard to tell the ego to shut up. But it doesn’t need to be. We can remove the label of toil from it, and simply think of meditation as sitting down with an old beloved friend; that beloved friend is you.

You can be kind and compassionate with yourself. Allow yourself to get quiet enough to slip into your being and see what your body wants to tell you, and listen without judgement. Listen to back aches an allow tears to come up, or desires, without castigating yourself for the experience. Just allow. Just be.

This is the very basic, very first step in what meditation is about. Everyday, sit with yourself. Get to know yourself beyond the projections and protective machinations of your ego. You can sit, stand, circumambulate, dance, run. . . there are many ways to be both mindful of your being, and to settle into the inner quiet that characterizes basic meditation. The more consistent you are, the more rewarding it becomes, just like nurturing any good relationship.

Do you meditate? I would love to hear your thoughts below about why you think it's important, and what challenges you come up against when--or if--you do! Will you share your thoughts with me?

blessings,

Dailey

Crystal Wisdom With Lepidolite

Crystal Wisdom with Lepidolite

The other day I woke up and went to get water when, in the still morning silence, a single word came to mind: Lepidolite.

I was pretty surprised. I don’t know anything about lepidolite, other than that it is a stone. Pushing myself to remember anything I could about it, I also remembered that I’d seen it at a crystal shop a few weeks back. I was surprised by how sharp and clear the word resounded in my thoughts.

“Well,” I thought to myself, “When stones speak, there is usually a reason.” I looked up lepidolite in my crystal book but nothing about the entry jumped out at me. A few days later I was browsing in Crystal Channels when it occurred to me to ask the owner Kami if she had any lepidolite. Sure enough she did, some very lovely pieces. With incredible kindness, she made a gift of lepidolite to me. The moment I held it in my hand, I didn’t want to let go, and I knew that this stone had work to do with me.

When I receive new stones, I usually cleanse them under clear running water, spend time to sit with them and check in about spiritual messages that may come through. However, there is no right or wrong way to work with stones. For the lepidolite, I felt drawn just to be with it, without doing any advanced shamanic work.

At home, I reread the same entry as before, and this time, it seemed like lepidolite was exactly what I needed. In the passing days between my original intuitive hit to look up lepidolite, my mind and spirit had gone through a number of experiences that had shifted my outlook, and now the gentle energies of the stone felt rejuvenating just when I needed it.

Here is just a tiny bit of what Melody (“Love is In the Earth” has to say about lepidolite (she’s got two pages of info!):

“[This mineral] opens the crown chakra and allows for the flowering of the inner blue lotus, assisting one to become aware of the subtle vibratory energies both within and without of the self. It is used for stress reduction and to alleviate despondency. The energy of lepidolite is refreshing and almost sentimental; it assists in the transformation of the energies of the lesser spiritual ideals to the energies of universal light, hope, and acceptance. It is recognized as a ‘stone of transition,’ helping one through situations of variability in this life and assisting in the restructuring and reorganization of old patterns. It further serves to gently induce change and to allow for smooth passage during change.”

This seems like the perfect stone coming out of a busy holiday season, doesn’t it? Who doesn’t need to release the stresses that come from family gatherings (or lack thereof), shopping, responsibility and social expectation. Likewise, we all have personal beliefs--especially around love, self-care, and familial socialization--that are especially challenged during the holidays. If we can integrate the transformative lessons from our everyday living and allow ourselves to move into deeper alignment with love-based values, we unlock a deep well of joy within our lives.

It doesn’t need to be complicated. It can be very simple. Lepidolite has an energy that supports this vision of simple access to our joyful selves. Child-like is the word that comes to mind.

Stones do so much more than what a book says. There is no way to honor in words the power of their full-spectrum ability to heal. We must spend time with them and get to know how they affect us personally, just as we would a piece of art, or a new friend, or a good book. I met a woman who is helping someone through cancer, and I knew intuitively that lepidolite would be good for the both of them. I know someone else who is struggling with muscle tension and cramps from extreme tension to the point that they have become desensitized. Perhaps a piece of lepidolite would not erase all of that tension, but the stone speak on sublingual levels, sharing frequencies of wisdom with the body that trickle up to our consciousness. We find ourselves more prone to making necessary shifts for our well-being.

Some people simply will not seek or carry stones. I believe that sometimes we carry stones not just for our own incredible internal healing, but for the healing of others. As we heal what is out of balance within ourselves, we shift everything around us. I’m reminded of cars on a race track, and how one can get pulled into the wind pocket of another, being influenced for better or worse just by proximity to other cars. We people are like that, influencing one another. So I believe we are often carrying stone medicine that, while absolutely for us, may also be with us in order to touch other lives the stones might not otherwise reach.

Children play with stones all the time. If that we could all return to our childlike inner wisdom, and enjoy the gifts that nature has provided! (A very lepidolitian statement, haha)

blessings in the New Year,

Dailey

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Art: Lepidolite © jarous - Fotolia.com. My lepidolite looks very similar to this in color, but it is polished and smooth. Lepidolite comes in many shapes and colors, all of which affect how the stone may best be used.