I spent the solstice eve with wonderful friends in a beautiful garden feasting, dancing and embodying the joy that summer brings. It was a picture perfect evening. only i forgot to take the picture!
Surrounded by fragrant blooms of Daphne & Philadelphus, overlooking the valley I now call home. Grateful for the sunshine over the past few months that has allowed us to move smoothly with our barn build and nurture the garden and it’s abundant harvests (that said our meadows and grassland are suffering, we’ve yet to take a cut of hay for the cows winter feed and the grass is sparse and slow growing!) The night before the solstice our heifer calved and we were blessed with a healthy and happy mum and baby, who are soaking up the rays outside my window.
Life feels full. And, truly abundant.
Yet, we hold the knowledge that on lands near and far life is not abundant.
Life is in chaos and despair. Our brothers & sisters are dying. Fields, farms and homes are burning. Those who hold the power of our lands stand by and watch. In silence. They have forgotten. They have lost their connection to nature.
To life. To humanity.
The actions taken by those in power are incomprehensible to those of us who remember our place in the world. And, yet we must hold this feeling of powerlessness we have AND at the same time lean into where it is in our lives we feel powerful.
Learning to embody polarities together. Holding space for the whole spectrum of emotion, without being overwhelmed by it, is a learning curve. Allowing ourselves the space and time to build this awareness and listen to what arises.
We are not all frontline activists, but we can act from where we feel powerful. We can identify what it is that is our gift to bring to the world. We can choose to take action in our own lives, that decreases the part we play in capitalist, colonial systems of oppression.
We decide who, what and how we invest our money, our time, our energy in.
We learn how to act from love, not fear.
We choose to create true health within our own bodies, our relationships and our communities.
We remember that we are a part of nature.
When we remember this, we begin to realise that we are goverened by the same cyclical energy of the earth. We feel the energy of the seasons in our lives, our bodies and our emotions.
When we begin to eat foods as they come into seasons we forge an even deeper connection to the cycle. If we choose we can go deeper still by coming into direct relationship with this through growing our own food.
But even if we don’t, buying local food, getting a veg box from a CSA or Farm and visiting farmers markets can be a really good way of nourishing your body with fresh seasonal veg. And, the great thing is that when fruit & veg is in season there is an abundance and prices will be lower meaning that it is actually a more cost effective way of doing your food shop!
And, when we choose to shop outside of the big supermarkets that hold so much of the market and influence, and instead choose small local food systems we are opting out of that system of power, oppression and control, too.
The energy of the seasons not only enters through our diet, but through the experiences and emotions we feel.
When we experience joy, fullness, creativity we are embodying the energy of the summer. Grief, despair, emptiness meets us in the energy of winter.
If we reflect on big life changes such as moving house, the death of a loved one, leaving a job to start something new we recognise that these too move through a cycle akin to that of the seasons.
When we are aware of these cycles of energy, we can meet them with open curiosity and welcome the flow of the experience. We can prepare, nuture and hold ourselves as we navigate through them.
If we are not, often we can end up feeling ungrounded, confused, stressed out, or even completely out of control.
When we are not living in a natural way, not working with the cycles of nature. Not listening to our bodies natural rhythms; which are interupted by artificial lights, food produced in toxic environments, drugs, and other unnatural influences. It is then that it becomes hard to listen to our bodies wisdom, and it becomes hard to know what it is we are here to share with the world.
Connecting to eating seasonal food is what began my journey to creating a healthy life for myself, and those around me. It was the tip of the iceberg. From there my universe expanded, and with it came wholeness and abundance. It has led me to understanding how when we tap into these energies and work with them they can have a transformational effect on our surroundings.
Join me on Thursday evening at 7.30pm (GMT)for a FREE ONLINE WORKSHOP exploring Seasonal Living : Food, Energy & Cycle Awareness. Message me to join, or send me an email and I will send you the link
Love Jas x
