The summer holidays are finally here! Whether you’ve booked yourself time off work for a stay-cation or a trip abroad, it’s important to cut yourself a bit of time and space to ‘switch off’ from your daily routine, let go of to-do lists and ‘just be’. As much as we love the idea of instantly switching off, we know old habits die hard (no emails for a day has you in a panic? Join the club!) – so we asked wellbeing expert Jane Kersel for a little guidance. Here is her simple practice to help you ‘switch off’ and connect to the source, for your ultimate wellbeing.
That big, beautiful burning sun is beaming bright and inviting us to slow down, find time to smell the roses, rest up, bask in the light and enjoy this one sweet life. It’s time for the holidays – all that
work you’ve put into yourself, your life, your job, your loved ones – now go reap the rewards – it’s time to harvest the gold.
So what do I mean by rest? I mean have to days with no agendas, no clocks, no schedules, let time unravel and unfold hour by hour, minute by minute. Allow yourself to be immersed in the now because this month, there’s a huge fork in your path – one labelled “I should” and the other labelled “I desire”– notice which one you default to and make August a month of following your desire and intuition: less the left brain logical, pragmatic thinking and instead, to take delight in the new things that unfold through following your desires. It may sound simplistic to our minds, but it’s a simple practice that will literally open up your field of vision to new pastures.
If you have kids, they can be your greatest teachers in this because that’s what childhood brings: moment-by-moment living, absorption in the smallest of things, watching butterflies, watching clouds, eating ice cream at breakfast, star-gazing, driving to the coast on a whim in the middle of the night, taking a train to a part of the country you’ve never been before, eating foods you’d normally not eat, not ‘doing’ exercise, but instead just turning the volume of your music up loud and dance wild. Make it a rule to follow no rules and live wild!
And on that topic of ‘Wild’, here’s a sweet practice I often do at my retreats that always brings loads of smiles and rejuvenation to even the most frozen bodies and minds (and I mean that metaphorically, as in we can literally begin to look like the shape of our jobs and the shape of our office chairs, so be warned!). Take the word Wild and write it on a big sheet of paper with a big heart drawn around it. Then close your eyes and let the word just sit in your field of awareness. Allow free word associations to come as you ask yourself what does the word ‘Wild’ mean to you?
Let yourself go into it, notice how at first your response is may be clumsy and dry, or notice a part of you maybe judging or scared that if you connect too deeply to your wild side you may disappear
into it… Put some drumming music on, something with a great deep beat to it and begin to move, listen to your body, when it wants to move slow let it, when it feels like whirling like a dervish, go for it! Follow the beat of the drum, the beat of your heart, don’t stop, keep going until you’re wet with sweat and out of breath. Then, take your pencil again and write what wild means to you, where are you at your wildest? What do you fear about being wild? Who sees you wild? When was the last time you were wild? Are you wild in bed? Are you wild only in your own company? What do you fear if someone sees this wild side?
You may find that wild doesn’t mean out of control, if anything, for a woman it’s when she’s at her most intuitive, most rapturous, insightful, connected and powerful: there’s nothing out of control or to be feared, when she’s deeply aligned with her heart, body, soul and mind – though for thousands of years the patriarchal society has viewed her that way. Wild means that she knows her depth, she knows what she needs, her desires, what she yearns for. She knows she’s deeply connected to the earth, to all beings and she seeks to follow her calling, to trust her own energy, to connect to a level of bliss that is constant: it’s her birth right.
In such a space she is channeling light and the most powerful emotion on the planet – UNCONDITIONAL LOVE because she is free, untethered and connected to her energy and the field around her. Her energy is as powerful as the waves in the ocean and her heart is as nurturing as the sun, it gives life and beams light on everyone around her – when you’re not stuck in admin, school runs, meetings, meal planning, juggling, peace-keeping, cleaning, supporting others – remember that’s who you are at your essence. This August go let her out of her box! It will be the most rejuvenating thing you’ll ever do for yourself. Then, invite others to join her in the dance.
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READ MORE: Beam Your Light this Summer by Jane Kersel
