One of the most radical things you can do is feel satisfied with your life. However your body is, whatever you have accomplished, it is enough. This is true even if you are facing life threatening illness or working to stop climate change. There is always more to do. There is always a greater fullness of being calling us forward to love even more completely. And at the same time, you are enough.
It’s hard to let that sink in.
It is hard to convince your mind of your enoughness when your body harbors deep habits of shame and restless striving.
The message that we are not enough is so insidious it is easy to miss how powerfully it can grip us. It pushes us to work harder, buy more, and never stop.
Nearly universally I hear people expressing how tired they are. We might be physically exhausted from never getting enough sleep. We might be spiritually exhausted by watching so much of what we hold sacred feel imperiled.
Not only can it feel that there is there little space to rest, more significantly I believe we have forgotten how to rest. Truly resting involves trusting we have done enough, that we are enough in the moment.
Truly resting involves trust on one level that life is OK.
All of the striving we do is to protect us. We keep going, keep accumulating as a sort of insurance plan.
If you experience as death as the enemy of life, then that kind of restless vigilance makes sense.
But what if you could experience life as flowing in a Great Round? It is constantly changing form, but it never leaves. Life then is always with us. The awakening of this understanding frees us to rest in a profound way.
Turning out the lights is a simple way of affirming that life continues even without the florescent glare of our ego driven world. In the dark, we are in fact more able to remember what it means to be alive.
I’ve been looking for something like Winter Rest ever since I was a teenager and began seeking a feminism that wasn’t simply making way for women to participate equally in the life destroying ways of the patriarchy. I was hungry to feel authentic feminine strength.
I was looking for a treasure that lives within the dark. To give yourself time in the dark is to build a relationship with life and activate feminine yang strength – something all genders need.
This Tuesday I will be giving a special workshop exploring the Heroine’s Journey Through the Dark.
This workshop weaves together
- How resting in the dark affects our physiology and consciousness
- How we can relate to the dark through the myth of Innana and Ereshkigal
- A guided meditation and time for sharing
Recording available so you can learn at a time that works for you.
This workshop is my gift to the supporters of the Winter Rest practice. You don’t need to come to the weekly practice of darkness in order to attend! Sign up here.
With all my love,
emily
The Heroine’s Journey Through The Dark: a workshop on tapping into feminine yang strength
Tuesday, November 15, 6:30 – 8:00 PM Central Time
Online, recording available.
This workshop is my gratitude to supporters of Winter Rest, and you are welcome to sign up even if you don’t attend the weekly Winter Rest practice.
Want community support for spending time in the dark?
Sign-up (it’s FREE!) for Winter Rest and receive a link to the weekly meditation to prepare for your own time in the dark. 10 minutes on zoom, 50 minutes (or more!) on your own at home. Come when your schedule allows.
