by Astara
‘Tis the season to be merry. Or is it?
I love to celebrate! I do. I am a poet, so I am no stranger to seeing the immense beauty of the world inside of the most ordinary of moments. It’s my shtick. Yet, I am also aware of the spiritual bypassing that is ubiquitous in contemporary arenas of personal development, self help, and spiritual thought leadership. And such an approach falls flat when facing the complex anticipation of the holy-days.
We try meme-ing our way to enlightenment. I love a good meme and I love to create a gratitude list. I have seen the alchemical power of gratitude, celebration, and play fundamentally shift my world and my client’s world. Yet, any spiritual tool on its own cannot replace the power of presence, of getting honest with ourselves, of leaning in when life is dark. Because the dark is trying to show us something.
Thanksgiving is a different story for indigenous peoples of the United States of America. For them, it is a national day of mourning. How do we give thanks when atrocities have been committed hundreds of years before we were born? How do we give thanks when we wake up to the terrifyingly true his-story? What do we feel when we find out the actual Thanksgiving day is founded on the lie that the indigenous tribes received us happily?
Genocide and dispossession are the true history. For us to move forward in this world and create the inclusivity we desire, redemptive healing is necessary. We have to lean in, own the truth, and make amends. Even then, it will take a long time... The expansive nature of presence allows us to sit at the table with all of it.
For some Christmas is a time of joy. For some it is a time of missing loved ones, facing into overwhelm with family stress, and feeling depressed if alone.
Yes. We can feel genuine gratitude on Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day. When we do, it transforms our world every time. First though, we need to name and feel our dark out.
Feel your Feelings
During the magic of the holy-days there is a pulse of source energy available to us that amplifies the many ways to celebrate the solstice and accompanying passage of light around the world. Take advantage of this surge of energy and let it help you with feeling your feelings so you can graduate to the authentic joy and merry you wish for.
Is there a time for being un-grateful? Is there a time to be overwhelmed? Yes. We want our lives to look like a feeling good holiday film, but there is a time for healthy anger, sadness, and grief. If you bypass the darker emotions, they will either condense down in the body or in your electromagnetic field.
You cannot lie to your psyche. You cannot lie to your body. The energy has to go somewhere. If you internalize it, it will cause a wobble in your energetic flow. Which eventually dominoes into bigger issues and symptoms, from physical to mental health issues.
The antidote to catastrophizing and shame is genuine presence. It is empathy. Get on purpose with your feelings, run the energy, and escort them out of your body.
Feeling Meditation
I invite you to do a feeling meditation today. This prevents you from unconsciously taking your big feelings into your holiday and moving them sideways at yourself or your loved ones. Give yourself a minimum of ten minutes. Longer may be needed. Sit and get quiet, or play some supportive music. Breathe. Feel. Name those feelings.
Bonus: Grab a journal and write down your top five miserable thoughts your most often tell yourself. The ones on repeat. Or record yourself speaking them and listen to that fearful part of you. You become your own best friend witnessing the scared and separate feeling part of yourself. Feel. Listen. Stay. This is presence. This is love. (For additional support, launch into Inner Space Academy and you will have access to the Feeling Alchemy course, biweekly calls, and workshops inside the Soul Lab collection of 13 + courses! Or bop over to our shop and buy our Guided Meditation: Hidden Self to practice alone.)
Notice what happens. What space opens up? It may take a few tries before the shift occurs. Eventually though, genuine gratitude waits for you on the other side. Or at least a softer awareness of yourself. You could find yourself laughing, feeling lighter, and having a good time again. You might even greet merry again, look her straight in the eye, and wink.
Rearranging Photons
Search online for health benefits of gratitude, celebration, and play and you’ll find pages of scientific studies laying out evidence. Gratitude is amazing because it works at a smaller scale than what we know with our senses. Quantum physics teaches that the material world — including us — is only 0.0000001% solid. Everything is energy, including thoughts.
To affect positive change inside such unprecedented times, begin in the 99.99999% space you are. High frequency energy (thoughts and feelings) compress down into denser matter (things). Thoughts become things. When you focus your creative juiciness on fear and separation, your photon arrangement goes to more lack.
When you choose gratitude, merriment, and play you focus on what you “have” in the present moment, and photons arrange into more having. Gratitude, merriment, and play are your best friends. Even when it seems the darkest is upon us, we can choose to create a new world that is based in love and joy.
Unfortunately, our culture is quite familiar with rearranging photons into division and fear. It is no wonder our systems are broken. We value productivity over rest. We hide and avoid the darkness to cope.
Contemplation is the medicine. Gratitude emerges from contemplation. Periods of extended rest, less noise, and self-reflection lift us out of separation into the re-connection we need. We build capacity and resiliency for the important work ahead. Only then can we explore gratitude in a genuine fashion.
Genuine Gratitude & Merriment
As you go make that magical gratitude list and make merry, just make sure you don’t skip the rich difficult emotions that have important messages for you during this powerful holy season.
In the face of difficulty, be sure to honor your feelings so you can create a gratitude list that is genuine. Here is an example:
- I am grateful for the difficult truth and humility to receive it.
- I am grateful for the willingness to learn.
- I am grateful for the grace, resilience, and strength of the indigenous people over the centuries.
- I am grateful for the wisdom they share with me that will help me grow a more sustainable and just future.
- I am grateful for the indigenous tribes that are the original keepers of the land I live and love on.
- I am grateful for my loved ones that can’t be here today. My deep grief is an indicator of how much I loved them and was loved by them.
- I am grateful for authentic feelings and the freedom they offer.
- And so much more.
Being present to all of you is your golden key to genuine. And genuine presence is the remedy humanity most needs on the planet. This is the only path to the global redemptive healing we hunger for. And it is how you arrive at the grateful play you so want in this season. But first, start within and celebrate you.
For additional support, subscribe to Inner Space Academy and become an inner space astronaut inside our Soul Lab. Or bop over to our shop and buy any Guided Meditation or Sound Alchemy recording that you feel called to. Our online courses and conscious products make loving gifts for friends and family.
