Mid to Late Spring: Opening Up to Possibility
As the earth is filling with lush green life here in New England, it reminds me of how much possibility surrounds us now. May 1st brought us Beltane or May Day, the half way point between the spring equinox and summer solstice. In pre-christan celtic culture, Beltaine or “bright fire,” was a celebration of fertility and protection of crops and animals. It’s a fertile moment. The beginning of the summer season starts on June 20th and all of the days leading up to it are brimming with possibility. How do we make ourselves ready?
Taking advantage of the beautiful warm weather, I spent a few weekends ago planting all of the baby seedlings that I had started indoors in early spring. While I had hardened them by allowing them gradually more time outside, I found myself really concerned that they wouldn’t survive the transition into their new garden beds. It didn’t help that the sun was blistering hot and their tiny leaves wilted faster than I could get them situated. I felt scared as I left them looking so vulnerable. I reminded myself that I did all of the preparation I could, I gave them some water, and I let them be. When I awoke in the morning, most of them had perked up and seemed ready for the day. While a few cauliflower plants were not strong enough to survive the transition, the others have grown faster and stronger than I expected.
Spring has largely been about preparation for me. Early spring was about laying the foundations for change. But, I’ve noticed with late spring that a different lesson is coming my way. Just as I had to leave the baby plants that night, I am called to let go and open to possibility. Part of that means that I may lose something, but I may also gain more than I imagined. Similarly, I have been nurturing some exciting possibilities in my private practice over the spring season. I will now be offering ecotherapy at Hopespring Holistic Health Institute in Alfred, ME. And, I found a new office space in Kennebunk that I will be moving into at the end of this month. When we open ourselves up to possibility, we also open ourselves up to change which often requires us to let go of what is familiar.
Keeping our hearts open...
When faced with uncertainty about the future, many of us feel anxious and search for ways to control and predict the outcomes. Often when we do that, we close our hearts. We get lost in our minds and the future. We have a choice to stay open and curious in the face of possibility. We can shift our attention to our heart space by asking: what just caused me to close my heart? So many of us have experienced fear, loss, pain, and trauma. We need to spend time examining how closing our hearts kept us safe. There also comes a time when we need to challenge ourselves to open our hearts again. Why? Because it is through our open hearts that we feel the energy of aliveness. When we close our hearts, we close ourselves off to the possibility of the present moment. When we open our hearts, we allow joy and love to move through us. But, we also allow pain and loss to move through as well. We can’t selectively filter what is allowed to move through and what isn’t. When our hearts are open, we feel it all. That is why the winter work we do to be present and compassionate with our pain and loss is foundational to the summer work of being present and compassionate with our joy and love. For more, check out Michael Singer’s book The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself.
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.When you feel pain, simply view it as energy. Just start seeing these inner experiences as energy passing through your heart and before the eye of your consciousness. Then relax. Do the opposite of contracting and closing. Relax and release. Relax your heart until you are actually face-to-face with the exact place where it hurts. Stay open and receptive so you can be present right where the tension is... You will feel tremendous resistance to doing this, and that’s what makes it so powerful. As you relax and feel the resistance, the heart will want to pull away, to close, to protect, and to defend itself. Keep relaxing. Relax your shoulders and relax your heart. Let go and give room for the pain to pass through you. It’s just energy. Just see it as energy and let it go.”
You are worthy.
Another barrier to letting in possibility is when we feel like we don’t deserve it. Late spring teaches us that the earth is a tremendously fertile place. Many of us get stuck in old stories about whether or not we are worthy of it. I recently watched the documentary series The Me You Can’t See by Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry. Dr. Essam Doud provides a beautiful metaphor about how childhood trauma impacts our growth. If we imagine ourselves to be a plant, childhood abuse and neglect can impact the strength of our roots. When a storm blows as an adult, we are more easily uprooted. When someone has had emotional nurturance and safety, that strong wind may blow but their root system holds them in place. This can play out in a lot of ways as adults. If we did not have attuned emotional connection, we may have a hard time with self love and care. If we were not protected from abuse, we may have difficulty noticing our boundaries and standing up for ourselves. If we did not have a lot of guidance, we may feel confused or anxious around decision-making. Without this fertile ground, we may not have internalized the messages we needed to feel worthy of possibility, love, and support.
“Wholehearted living is about engaging with our lives from a place of worthiness. It means cultivating the courage, compassion and connection to wake up in the morning and think, ‘No matter what gets done and how much is left undone, I am enough.’ It’s going to bed at night thinking, ‘Yes, I am imperfect and vulnerable and sometimes afraid, but that doesn’t change the truth that I am also brave and worthy of love and belonging.”
Luckily, we have the ability to reclaim our roots and give them the nurturing, protection, and wisdom they need to grow and strengthen. Tapping In by Laurel Parnell teaches us how to use bilateral stimulation to literally tap in the supportive resources we needed as children. Bilateral stimulation was originally developed as part of EMDR therapy to help the brain reprocess trauma so that it stores in our memories differently and with less distress. This kind of therapy is only done with an experienced trauma therapist. However, Parnell has made it accessible for anyone to use when they are tapping in positive resources. She has found that simply using our hands to tap our shoulders or legs in a left, right, left, right alternating pattern while thinking of a positive place or figure can open up neural pathways so that we have more of a felt sense of that place or figure in our lives. If you are interested in this work, you can try it out with a Parnell trained EMDR therapist or get the audio version of her book so you can listen as she guides you through tapping in a peaceful place as well as real or imagined figures that feel nurturing, protective, wise, and powerful.
Preparing for the abundance of summer...
When we open our hearts and tap into our internal support system, we are making ourselves fertile for possibility. As we head closer to summer and practice opening our hearts, you may notice some old and limiting thoughts and beliefs about yourself. Having a burn ceremony in a fire pit under the stars is a beautiful way to release any shadow material that may be lingering from the dark half of the year. By writing down what you’d like to release on paper and giving it to the spring fires of creation, you are clearing space and opening yourself up to the abundance of summer. I’ll meet you there.