Spring is a time of birth and rebirth after the winter. In April, we held our Spring workshop at Eastman Nature center. It was a beautiful day with plenty of time spent in nature. One aspect of Earth we worked with was muck. A combination of mud and water with the consistency to suck your boots off if you step in it. We think of getting stuck in the muck, mired muck and most people don’t want their feet to touch the muck bottom of a lake while swimming. There is a negative connotation to muck. But muck is also fertile. Cattails which are nature’s purification system grow in muck. The lotus flower grows out of the muck and is a symbol of beauty, rebirth, overcoming adversity and enlightenment. In Minnesota, we have the water lily emerging from the muck in our lakes- a symbol of rebirth. So next time you feel covered in muck or stuck in the muck consider turning your attention to what is trying to grow, is something trying to be birthed in your life? What is the adversity you are needing to overcome and heal in order to bloom? How is the adversity feeding your rebirth?

You are invited to join us at a future workshop to explore your internal process in the natural rhythm of nature. We would love to see you there.

Spring is the season of new beginnings. The season typically starts with snow on the ground and perhaps, one last snowstorm. By the end of Spring everything is green, flowers are blooming, baby animals have arrived and the sunlight is noticeably increased and stronger. It seems spring takes forever to arrive and there is a chaos to it’s entrance as it establishes itself. New beginnings in our lives are often a bit chaotic just like spring. There is a need to regulate our emotions and nervous system and it takes more skills to do so, analogous to most people during an April snowstorm. The temperatures vary from mitten weather to short weather and our ability to be prepared and adapt is at times tested. Just like the new beginnings in our lives, vacillating from looking back to the familiarity of those mittens and looking forward to the freedom of wearing shorts all of the time. Spring is full of surprises, just like the new beginnings in our lives. Newly planted plants and ideas begin to grow and sometimes get nipped by the frost. Within all of the chaos there is order, the hardy plants thrive, the effective ideas begin to take form, and a path starts to emerge and we follow feeling a little more in alignment with what is starting to manifest. We can start to see the order, the organization and our nervous systems follow suit and settle. The sun does come up tomorrow, the moon cycles with it’s waxing and waning, the new growth becomes stable and blooms and we have survived another new beginning and perhaps learned something about ourselves in the process.

We are in between seasons- moving from the dormancy of winter into new beginnings. The trees are still holding the hues of brown as we await the coming of the buds. Perhaps you have been in a place of slumber, dreaming into the seeds that are laying inside. It’s not too late to take time to turn awareness inside to listen to what is wanting to unfold in you. Take some time to drop in, feel into the rootedness of the earth. Once you hook up to the vibration and blood of Mother Gaia, feel the natural flow that starts to wake up in you. What is calling you, what is your true nature? Lean a little deeper into the earth or the trees and listen to the sounds and vibration that is calling both from below and from the air, the sky, and the winged ones. Songs are getting a bit louder from the birds- what are they singing to you? Movement between the two is getting more potent- squirrels are chasing in the trees. Can you feel the momentum building? Listen….. it is always there to support you.

As you are drawn into the stillness and depth of December notice the quiet nature brings. This invitation to slow down even in the hustle and bustle of holidays, time with family and friends can be a present! Go ahead and be with the trees, the cold air, the breeze and the sound of your feet on the snow or slushy ground. Take some time to walk with the stillness of earth and nature among the trees, maybe find a forest, a meadow, or a park to take a stroll. Take time to sit by a fire and absorb the smell of the wood, the sound of the crackling embers, and the glow of the fire. We invite you to notice your breathe as you exhale, let the cold chill warm your heart and touch your soul.

Some invitations to connect with yourslef and the natural world:

Allow yourself to take a moment and gaze out the window and be with all that you see in nature and be ‘with’ and part of the natural world.

Grab a friend take a walk, giggle, sing and maybe just listen to the sounds of the time of quiet, stillness, and low light.

Notice the barren ground and trees without leaves be with the stillness and while you notice remember there is not nothing going on—the trees and earth may be resting yet transfomation is always occurring. Be with the mystical in the natural world.

Darker days, cooler temperatures, the landscape turning to hues of gray and brown. What is nature inviting in us as we transition into winter? This is a time of year to turn inward, slow down, create space to begin to nurture dreams. This is an opportunity to expand consciousness and ponder what needs attending in us. What lies dormant and ready to be contacted? Some say it is a time to nurture the light within our own darkness.

We invite you to take time to meditate, dream, sit in stillness, walk in nature without an agenda. Listen for the whisper and calling of your healing and initiation.

Join us on January 24th at Sacajawea Retreat Center in Apple Valley as we collaborate with nature to explore your internal process with you.

We had a couple of amazing experiences on our retreat and fall workshop. For the retreat we had amazing weather, swimming comfortably in a northern Minnesota lake on the last weekend of September, drumming and dancing, using the sauna and restoring our souls.

The fall workshop at Eastman Nature Center was also beautiful fall weather with all of the fall colors and sunshine. We worked on clearing the sludge of our ancestral lines, the family legacies that keep us mired in familiar patters that no longer serve us. We often don’t think of healing the patterns we inherit from our ancestors, the epigenetic or transgenerational wounding. But what a gift we give our descendants when he heal. Some say it goes both ways, and the ancestors also heal. The best part is how we get to be free of the no longer helpful lineage experiences and live more authentically. At the workshop drumming assisted releasing that sludge and a sense of calm with some playfulness permeated the group.

Thanks to all who participated. We hope to see you again soon

What beauty do we overlook as we navigate through life? Do you notice the mushrooms, the moss, the tiny flowers as you visit the woods? Or do you only see that which is big and right in front of your face? Stop, look, take in the intricate detail of the minute structure, color, form of these beauties lying along the forest floor. So much goes into their existence – they breath, take in water, sunlight, grow, transform, decay, decompose, and begin again.

Can we also honor the unique organization of all living things…….. human, plant form, and animal? Whether we are seen or not seen- we each have a make up that deserves to be honored and recognized. We invite you to start seeing more magnificence in the world. The brilliance of nature has so much to teach us.

Will you listen to the messages with us? We would love to hold space for you to slow down, sit with yourself, and hear what the woods wants to communicate to you- join us for our September 27th Weekend Retreat or our October 11th workshop to explore your true nature. www.amidstthetrees.com