January 11th is the first new moon of the new year. Being tuned into the cycles of the moon has always felt more poignant than a calendar day, like January 1st. It feels much more organic and natural to set intentions and dreams into motion on the first new moon, that day where it feels like there's a pause of nothing before the moon fills up and expresses itself, brand new, clean slate, full of potential and possibility.
I think that life is the expression of our daily creations, a macrocosm of the microcosm and I find that tuning into the frequency of nature is really helpful in anchoring, guiding and supporting my Being, both small scale and large. Nature is a fine model. It's been doing a great job for a long time. I see the morning time as the new moon time of the day, a time to be in the sweetness of the nothingness/emptiness, setting a day into motion, one that's also full of potential and possibility.
My morning meditation recipe
I use the template of a moon cycle or daily circadium rhythm or single breath cycle for my morning meditations. Empty to full to both empty and full at the same time. Once I'm empty and full at the same time, it's show time, game time, time to execute, play, and practice. And I don't get up and start my day until I've resourced that state.
Here's my morning meditation recipe:
Start with acknowledging and loving what IS first, meeting yourself right where you are. Celebrate yourself for showing up. Appreciate your life, your self, the people and things you love. Take several minutes or as long as you'd like.
Then move, expand into nothing, into space, into the awareness all around you. Expand into the you that's observing, The You that's aware of You being aware. Sense it, feel into it. Again, linger. Stay here, it's luscious.
When you're in Nothing, in space, let your self get really big to dream what you might like to be, do, create, experience more of.
Feel it, experience it, be consumed by the dream/image/feeling of it until it feels so real it's like you're right there already having/doing/being it. Turn up the volume on being immersed in it - linger.
Then bring that experience back to the heart, back into your body, grateful for the Both/And of what IS now and what IS TO COME as your created future. Grateful like it's already happened, grateful like you've already experienced it because you went there - not from a place of lack, envy, jealousy, wishing, not enough-ness but from a place of appreciating and loving all that IS already AND dreaming bigger and deeper. Take your time. How present can you stay with each step?
Remember that on the other side of every some thing is nothing. It's a great place to go into: the darkness, the void, to create some thing from. Just like a new moon out of darkness, just like an idea out of nowhere, just like the conception of anything, it wasn't there and now it is. All some things come out of nothing. Go into nothing to create your something.
Empty, Full, back to Empty/Full at the same time.
Zoom in, zoom out, then zoom the Both/And back to the heart.
Honoring the Both/And
For me it's ALWAYS the Both/And. Life is a daily creation, an inclusive creation. Any time we exclude, shut off, deny, resist, hate, shame, ignore a part of ourselves, we're reaffirming separation, lack, ego, suffering. When we include all of our parts - the messy, the wounded, the grieving, the happy, the wise, the curious, the healing, the child - then every one gets to be a part of and gets a taste of wholeness.
And isn't that what health is? Wholeness. A feeling of completeness.
So, who are you Being? Inclusive? Exclusive? Loving? Conditional? Picky? Victim? Can you acknowledge all of it, inclusively and move from there?
It's being both Cautious and Courageous.
It's being both Modest and Confident.
It's being both Tough and Tender.
It's being both Giving and Accepting.
It's being both Afraid and Willing.
It's being both Skeptical and Curious.
It's being both Safe and Stretched.
It's being both Trusting and Aware.
It's BOTH being grateful for who I am already AND allowing room for even more love, more joy, more power, more grit, more honesty, more tenderness, more heart and then bringing that back into my heart to start my day -
Who am I being today, who might I need to Be to Become more of her?
Then apply it. Be with it. Walk as it.
It's BOTH knowing I am being/doing/having enough AND making space for more by dreaming of what else I can be/do/have and then bringing that back into my heart to start my day -
Who am I being today, who might I need to Be to Become more of her?
Then apply it. Be with it. Walk as it.
It's BOTH acknowledging that I'm healthy, wealthy and wise right now AND being curious about how much more I could experience, how good I can feel, how much opportunity can I embrace, how much more can I learn and then bringing that back into my heart to start my day -
Who am I being today, who might I need to Be to Become more of her?
Then apply it. Be with it. Walk as it.
Keep Going, Come Closer
Mathematicians and scientists say the universe is not only expanding but is actually accelerating! How can something so vast, so deep, so big, so grand, so immense actually be getting bigger and bigger faster?
The way I see it, there's always room for more love, more creation, more space, more mystery, more curiosity, more adventure, more to discover, more awe and wonder and amazement.
This year more than ever I believe that love is at the end of every rabbit hole, every big, overarching question of Who Am I? What is Life? Where do we come from? What's it all for? All philosophy, questioning, exploration no matter how muddied or crypted or disguised or illusory - under all the anger, frustration, fear, division, separation and hatred - love is waiting for us to connect with it, to remember, to acknowledge and appreciate, to embrace and embody.
Contraction comes with Expansion, just like the seasons. If it's 2 steps forward, 1 step back, that's ok. Honor your rhythm and cycles. Notice them.
Love is forgiving when you stop doing your daily creations but it beckons you to start again. It wants you to remember that life is happening for you, not to you. Love is encouraging. Love whispers, "keep going, come closer."
Intention and Attention
So today, this year, my intention is to keep my attention on the Power of Love, to let it swaddle me in its Being so that I'm taken over by the wholeness of it. To Be more of it and to Be more aware of it. I intend to Be Loving. I intend to Be Loved. And I intend to start my day, grateful for all that is, and then expand out into potential and possibility of more of it, and then bring it back into my heart, like putting a love note in a pocket and walking with it through the rest of my day. So I can enjoy, and be helpful, and feel connected, anchored, supported, stable, flexible, happy.
Will I mess up? Will I react, lose my way, need to say I'm sorry, forget, get too worked up, get it all wrong? More than likely! Chances are looking like a 100% yes, but it's not the destination of perfection that I'm interested in. It's the journey. So will I also be resilient? Will I recover? Will I eventually remember? Will I be able to brush myself off? Will I be able to take response-ability? Will the morning come, empty and fresh and include an invitation to start over and self-correct with grace and poise? 100% yes to that one, too.
These are my new moon, new year, new day intentions.
What are your intentions and where will you keep your attention this year, this day? It's worth all the time in the world to get clear on what it means for you. It doesn't have to be the same as anyone else, in fact you can pretty much guarantee that it won't be because you're You.
This upcoming new moon is a beautiful time to start, to explore through writing, contemplation, reading something insightful, spending your time wisely.
May you Be moved, Be well, Be loved, Be you.
Loving you,
Sarah 💗
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