September 2020 - Rest

 

September 2020

 
Welcome to the Dare to Blossom Newsletter 

Reflections: Rest
From my archives: September titles poem
Events and ways to Dare to Blossom: 7/9 new six week programme, and 12/9 a stand-alone workshop, all on Zoom

Reflections: Rest

How interesting. I intended to write about fresh starts this month, about how September feels like a time for that, a stepping into the new...and it will be for many of us. Some will be entering the new academic year, one quite unlike any other for those studying or supporting their family in doing so. September is also a time when, here in Cornwall, it feels as if everyone, everything, breathes a sigh of relief as the weight of people visiting reduces a little.

I have often thought I have heard the land, the earth herself, breathe more easily. I am not sure how it will be this year, if there will still be many more holiday makers here than usual as people choose not to go overseas.

Always, I hope to feel full of energy and enthusiasm as this time begins. The period between summer and the preparations for Christmas, when people may have time to reflect, to think about what they wish to plan for their future. Instead, I find within me (and maybe for you?) a deep exhaustion.



(I have chosen this photo, taken some years ago now in the Chalice Well Gardens in Glastonbury, as the perfect image to inspire me to rest. To imagine sitting here, gently rocking, looking out over the gardens.)

We have all been carrying so much 'weight': physically, emotionally. We have been coping with extraordinary times. I have often written about 'rest' before. And I know how little I allow myself to do that, to truly rest, recharge, revitalise my body and soul. 

As well as the global pandemic, and everything else happening in the world around us, we all have the other 'stuff' of life going on: celebrations of marriages and births; the grief of death - and the celebration of that person's life. 

In addition, many of us are struggling financially through the effects of the measures to try and control the pandemic, with fear of the future underlying all that as well.

And yet, and yet - the human spirit is so resilient, so amazing at rising above the pain and struggle; so wonderfully adaptable. For me, I find rest and rejuvenation in my walks on the cliffs and in my connection with nature wherever I find it, not least in my garden, which is full of a bounteous harvest at this time of year.

Yesterday I had another wonderful connection with the fulmars on the cliffs, as I watched them swooping and soaring in the wind. This time there was a very special encounter: One came very close and connected directly with me, eye to eye. The message was the same as always: "Go with the flow: use the uplift." Here is a link to a short video. (The photo below you may have seen before, it is from another occasion as I was busy enjoying the moment this time.)



Reflecting on that message now: "Go with the flow" could be seen as being inactive, letting go. Not necessarily a bad thing when I need to rest, and at the same time I feel I need something to help me begin to find energy as we move into the 'fresh start' time of September. Then "Use the uplift" provides exactly what I need: the fulmar is not being lazy, simply minimising exertion, maximising the results. To mix metaphors, maybe it is time for me to stop trying to struggle upstream against the flow of the river, but rather to enjoy the energy, the power of the water as it carries me down stream towards the new.
 

For you: for your flow-writing in your journal, your meditation, your doodles, your song, your dance:

• Are you feeling the need for rest right now?
• What would feel most deliciously refreshing for you to do?
• Write about "Go with the flow" and 'Use the uplift". What emerges for you?
• Choose one of the titles from the poem below for some flow-writing with no expectation of the outcome or destination.

From my archives: September titles poem

Here is my 'past titles poem' for this month, you may like to try reading it aloud. I find the flow changes each time I do that, and at the direction change in the middle, which can be interesting. 

Mud flats – and the incoming tide
Change
Changes
The changes of age
Ode to true friends
Reflection and renewal
Reflections
The light within - becoming our own teachers
Distilling
Reap your harvest
A quest, and an invitation to join me
Fresh beginnings
Deep and slow
 
Deep and slow
Fresh beginnings
A quest, and an invitation to join me
Reap your harvest
Distilling
The light within – becoming our own teachers
Reflections
Reflection and renewal
Ode to true friends
The changes of age
Changes
Change
Mud flats – and the incoming tide

Events and ways to Dare to Blossom

"Your Powerful Voice" Autumn Online Six Week Circle - begins on 7th September

There is still time to join us in this next turn around the Compass Rose, and the exploration of "Your Powerful Voice".  The full details are here. We share in a private Facebook group and with weekly Zoom gatherings, on Thursdays at 2.30 pm UK time. The price for the full six weeks is £88, with discounts for people who have been to past circles. You can choose to pay in two instalments if that helps you with cash flow.

If you would like a chat on Zoom first to be sure this is right for you, simply use the contact form here. 

If the timing is not right for you, the next circle will run from late October to early December. The Zoom gatherings will be on a different day and time, to be decided in consultation with those who are interested. Or, you may prefer the Online Workshop, a stand-alone event with no need to interact with Facebook, see more below.

Online Workshop 12th September: Your Powerful Voice, an exploration

Join us for a special event on Saturday 12th September, from the comfort of your home, via Zoom.

Many people have taken part in the online programmes over four or six weeks, but for others this is not possible, so this standalone circle offers you an opportunity to experience the magic for yourself.

I will offer you the tried and tested processes: drawing Dare to Blossom cards for each of us, and leading us on a guided visualisation, a Magic Carpet Ride. You may find your magic carpet, or you may not. You may take off on a journey, or you may not. You may return with messages, insights for your business or your career, you may simply returned refreshed after a rest. Everything that happens is simply perfect for that moment. 

The 'magic' truly happens in the gaps between the structure, the container, I provide for our circle. It may come through a card drawn for someone else; or in the words used in a description of a magic carpet ride; or later, after we have parted ways. There is always a nugget, or several, for each person who comes along.

Details:

When: Saturday 12th September, 10.00 am UK time for one and a half to two hours.

Where: on Zoom video-conferencing.

How much: £22.00. Book using the PayPal link on the website here, or contact me to arrange payment by bank transfer.

One to one Coaching: "Your Powerful Voice" Coaching Programme

Maybe groups are not for you? Maybe you don't wish to be on Facebook? Or you would like to dive deeper into this work for yourself? I offer one to one sessions on Zoom and I have recently developed a new six session programme, around the theme of "Your Powerful Voice". We will follow the same flow as in the group work, around the points of the Compass Rose, beginning and ending in your centre point, in Peace.

Here are the details - if you visit soon, there is also a one-session trial special here. At any time, you can book a twenty minute complimentary consultation. Contact me here.

This process can change your life if you choose, why not give it a try? If not now, then when?

Thank you dear friends for visiting with me again this month and sharing my musings.

Until next time,

with love,
Mary

Find 'Dare to Blossom Life Coaching' on Facebook, @daretoblossom on Twitter