Entries Tagged as: nature
Winter Guest Post by Goddess Leonie
December 6th, 2011, Comments (5)
How to stay connected to nature even when it's cold!
Hola gorgeous goddesses!
For me, a huge part of my creativity is feeling connected with gorgeous nature. Before I create I get my hands in the earth, my face in the breeze, I let my skin tingle with the love of the earth.
I call it sacred grounding.
What's so important about grounding?
Grounding helps us get out of our heads & into our spirit.
It helps our souls feel centered & at home.
It helps to invigorate & inspire our creative spirit.
And most of all - it gives us the energy to birth our creative dreams!
Grounding in Winter
What happens though when it gets ding dang cold?
How can we stay connected to Mama Earth when it's freezing, and possibly even covered with the glorious white stuff?
A moment to acknowledge the purdy photo at the top of this post. I took this photo of my hunky-Wise Man-love a few years ago when it snowed here in Australia. It doesn’t snow here, so when it did have a freak burst last winter, we jumped in our jeep and headed for the mountains to play. We were standing in the snow just listening to the sound of quiet, to the sound of snowflakes rustling through the air. This photo was taken when I headed back for the car. I turned back to see my beautiful man, soaking in the moment, connecting with the earth. To me, this symbolises how to ground even when it’s white and cold – with arms wide open, embracing this whole gorgeous world.
How to Ground: Get outside
When I talk about grounding, I usually advise goddesses to get their band hands & feet on the ground.
To ground – you don’t NEED to have bare feet. If it’s warm enough, it’s delicious and gives you the extra joy of grass tickling your soles. But if it’s not – still take the time to go outside, and take some deep breaths outside.
The earth is a source of completely healing and rejuvenation for us. Try it out.
Go outside, look outside, look at the earth, look at the sky and take ten deep breaths.
Visualise yourself grounded.
When you *visualise* something, you enact the same neurological responses as you would if you were *experiencing* it. Visualisation can work so powerfully in grounding. In larger women’s circles, we often use a grounding visualisation inside instead of having the whole circle troop outside to do it.
So, either sit down or stand with your legs apart. Take deep breaths down into your core, right down into your belly. Visualise yourself as a tree – your branches reaching into the sky, legs growing like roots into the Earth. Feel yourself deeply connected into the soil and earth. See yourself as a strong oak tree – the perfect balance between sky and earth. With this image in mind, take three deep breaths in and out through your core – visualising that you are inhaling and exhaling through your solar plexus. On your last exhale, exhale with a noise… like an “aaaaaaaaaaaaah.”
Use a Tree.
You can also use actual trees to connect and ground because their roots go through the snow right into the earth. They are the perfect symbol of groundedness!
Is there a park you can go to that would give you a little bit of quiet space to connect with a tree? Even if you could pop down a plastic picnic mat and sit with your back against the tree for a few minutes, you can pick up on the energy, groundedness and strength behind you.
Different trees have different energies and medicines. There are a couple of great books that give the meanings and energies of trees – but as always, the knowledge, wisdom and intuition is right inside you. Give it a go. Listen. Feel. Experience. Trust. This is second nature to you.
Let the beauty of the world intoxicate you
There is so much gorgeous beauty in this world. Nature can be our biggest healer & muse when we let her in!
Get grounded! Make art!
Do let us know how you go! I’d love to hear your experiences and soul stories!
How do you stay grounded to mama earth even when she's covered in cold?
wild joyful love,
Goddess Leonie is the creator of the Goddess Circle an online creativity & spirituality world for goddesses. She blogs from a tree (or her turquoise gypsy caravan) & makes miracles happen. She lives in tropical paradise in Australia with her hunky love & their owl baby daughter Ostara. You can find her at www.goddessguidebook.com. She's just released her uber popular 2012: Creating your Goddess Year workbook & planner too!
Day 10: Fall
November 10th, 2011, Comments (23)
Another day of starting art during the morning nap and finishing it after the baby's bedtime. This is good! I'm finding ways to fit art in that work for all of us, even if it is a tight squeeze, especially on days like today when Annabelle fought tooth and nail to stay awake. Oy!
I had the inkling of an idea for this piece at the end of last month and today felt like a good day to bring it to life! The woman at the center is letting leaves fall from her hands. I think it's an homage to letting go. She is like a tree herself, letting the leaves fall to the ground.
Someone asked me today what medium I've been using. In this piece and the last, I worked with acrylic paint on watercolor paper, with a bit of ink for the small details.
Day One: Night Mother, Work-In-Progress
November 1st, 2011, Comments (41)
For day one, I had my husband helping me out a bit during the day and was able to spend a little extra time painting. How nice! I had already completed the collage background for this piece, but I'm SO happy to have started painting the image I've had in my head since Annabelle was about a month old.
It has to do with the strange time that is the middle of the night when you're up constantly, nursing a newborn baby. It's like this whole other world. Kind of lonely, but kind of sacred.
I've still got more to do on this piece, but I really like the way it's going so far! I know that many days this month, all I'll be able to do is part of a piece, but as long as I'm creating every day, I'll be happy with that.
I hope everyone has had a beautiful start to Art Every Day Month! And even if you haven't, keep at it. It's a long month and every day is a new beginning.
Gratitude for the Small Things
April 30th, 2011, Comments (13)
To finish up the month of Small (can you believe it's the end of April?), I thought it'd be nice to take some time to reflect on all the small things we're grateful for. It can be so easy to get caught up in the things that stress us out, bring us down, frustrate, or sadden us. But there's always much to be grateful for, even if those things are very small.
Perhaps this weekend you can make a short list of the things you are grateful for. Start with five things. If you feel like continuing, stretch that list to 15, 25, 50, or even 100 (I've done this, you can too!)
I took a long walk yesterday, moving slowly, but oh so grateful for the movement, the gorgeous day, and the colorful scenery. One of my favorite things is flowering trees that bloom in Spring and my neighborhood is currently filled with them, all so beautiful that it makes me giddy. So right there, are several small things I'm grateful for: mobility, a long walk, gorgeous weather, beautiful flowering trees, and taking pictures with my iphone. Some other things I'm feeling grateful for today are my sweet husband, soft kitty paws, the white noise of the air purifier, ice water, and Alba pineapple quench lip balm.
So tell me, what are 5 small things you're grateful for today?
Fire Underneath
August 26th, 2010, Comments (6)
I've been feeling a little fire-less this summer, but lately, I'm starting to feel an inner-fire kindling away beneath the surface. Sort of like in this painting that is all reds and oranges underneath, even though the top is all in blues. At the joining of sky and land, you can see a bit of the red poking through.
This weekend I'm heading north into the mountains for a wedding. Since it's a drive, we'll be staying at a B&B and I plan to soak up the sights and soak myself in the big bathtub in our room, the perfect place to start pondering next month's theme, which I'll be announcing soon!
Fire and Water
August 12th, 2010, Comments (14)
I'm a total water person. I'm soothed by the sounds of water, blue is my favorite color, and my sign is Cancer (a water sign), so it's an interesting challenge to focus on fire this month. As I was working on the piece above, a play between reds and blues, I received my weekly horoscope email from Rob Brezsny, which reads:
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Here's a thought from the Cancerian
philosopher Gaston Bachelard: "He who listens to the singing of the
stream cannot be expected to understand the one who hears the singing
of the flame: They do not speak the same language." While I mostly agree
with that poetic formulation, I think you're about to be a temporary
exception to the rule. Normally you are acutely attuned to the singing of
the stream; your skill at reading its nuances are supreme among the
zodiac. But I expect that in the coming days, you will not only have the
power to appreciate the song of the fire; you'll even be able to empathize
with and understand people who are entranced by the song of the fire.
How perfect is that?
When I read the horoscope, there was just blue below and red above. After reading it, I drew in the tree which intertwines the two. Are you resistant to firey natures? How do you bridge the gap?
Fire Red Kayak
August 8th, 2010, Comments (6)
So much fun with the hubster yesterday out on the Charles River in a fire red double kayak (how perfect for the fire theme!) Man, what a workout! It was wild being out on the river, it felt like we were in another world, far from the hustle bustle. Everything but the tips of a tower were hidden by the greenery hugging the shore and our only company were birds and other kayakers.
I was inspired by the reflections and ripples in the water, the bits of flowers and trees that grew up in the middle of the river, and the birds sleeping peacefully while balanced on one foot. At the end of it all, I was quite cooked by the sun and paddling, but we had a great time. And the afternoon nap helped. 
My attempt to snap a picture of he and I in the kayak with my iphone didn't go so well, but you can see a bit of his hairy leg in there. Hehe. I hope you've all had a beautiful summer weekend!
Life Outdoors
July 23rd, 2010, Comments (10)
I've spent a lot more time outdoors in the mornings this summer as I've been jogging and it's just too hot to go later in the day. But no matter what time I'm out, I'm often using my iphone to snap little shots here and there of things that catch my eye. A gorgeous skyline, a fluffy pink flower, a path lines with eye-poppingly green ferns.
I think the summer heat sometimes makes you slow down and notice these beautiful little moments around you. What beautiful moments have caught your eye this month?
Tree of Life
July 20th, 2010, Comments (16)
Here's what the layers painting became, a tree of life, drawn with ink over the layers of paint.
Last night the hubster and I watched an installment of Through the Wormhole, a program on the Science Channel, narrated by Morgan Freeman. The program was all about how life began on earth and it was fascinating. Life is truly miraculous. In the program, they talked about the tree of life and how all living things on earth are connected. After awhile, it all starts to blow your mind!
A Poem to Inspire
July 8th, 2010, Comments (15)
In Blackwater Woods
are turning
their own bodies
into pillars
are giving off the rich
fragrance of cinnamon
and fulfillment,
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders
and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is
Every year
everything
I have ever learned
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this world
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
