The Sacred Everyday

Sunshine dances across diamond dunes outside the homestead kitchen window.  Late afternoon stretches across shadows as light plays fairy-like ascending into ether. Sparkling crisp breezes call my soul out of doors, while my mind and body tend to the bread rising and baking in the oven.  Comforting wisps of fragrant ferment permeate the air and tickle nostrils, reminding me to slow, and allow the process.  The sunshine pulls on my heartstings, as I know how fickle it can be, yet I breathe in the smells of fresh bread baking in our homestead kitchen and know in my bones, that the unfolding of time for sunshine will come.

All this reminds me of the inner conversation I have been having with myself, the unfolding of a new awareness, a new pattern, an expedition inward to find what I hold sacred, what I am coming to know are non-negotiables, the everyday sacred, and how to create the space  to hold them with intention.

We are all souls living a very human experience.  Our physical body is the home for our soul, our temple, our link to our source.  Our connection to God.  How we view and care for the body we were given for this trip around the sun, refracts into our soul, and reflects in our lives.  Learning to live this takes time, more so for some than others, and intentional action.

Self-care does not come naturally to most, especially in this age of fast paced technology.  The energetic drain is like a slow leak, a dripping faucet, that slowly depletes both body and soul.  Joining the drops of water from a slow leak are tributaries of energetic rivers moving at mock speed, especially if you just so happen to be a type A personality, a people pleaser, a go-getter, a hard worker, a driven to the point of cracking your own whip over a bruised and bloodied back.  Rather than a slow leak, dripping constant, you now have a raging river, whitewater style, an outlet of energy rushing away from you.  So where do you begin when you realize you need to stop the leak before it sweeps you out to a tumultuous sea?

Creating calm waters within your own soul, and in your life takes practice.  It requires you to take inventory, size up what makes you feel connected, peaceful, content, and joyful.  What brings you energy, and what is draining you.  What in your life are you ready to let go of to make space for something new.  Whether that newness is of spirit or manifests itself in a new choice, decision, or pattern matters not, they are both one in the same.  Most often creating the space for the waters to calm, opting for peace, choosing more of what feeds your soul will allow things to slow, time to appear, and energy to renew.

For me, these are becoming my non-negotiables.  The everyday sacred that I need to be the best me I can.  When I make time to do the things that I need to do to care for me, time and space open up to give more of my best self to those I love, and even to those who I meet on the street, or in the grocery store.  When I  maintain my everyday sacreds, the blocks are lifted, stress is released and relieved to free and open my heart, so love can flow through me nourishing myself, and others around me.

I have long held the pattern of caretaking.  Making sure that everyone’s needs are met, but not so much my own.  I always put off the shower when the babes were in that stage of needing constant care, I put off my own feeding to nourish others, grabbing whatever I could in between, never being conscious of feeding my body, let alone nourishing myself. Recognizing and understanding this pattern helps me to remember to take care of me as well.

My yoga practice was my sacred everyday through the season of babies, and still is my lifeline, my self-care routine, my soul care.  Time on my mat combat the stresses and the exhaustion that can come with mamahood, and open me instead to the joy of being present as a mama.  Time spent in nature has always soothed my soul, left me with a deep peace and connection to the divine presence that is creation.  Meditation, prayer, and devotion allow me to fill the well, deepen my faith and trust that the entire universe is supporting me, lifting the weight of the world from my shoulders.  And when all else fails, music sings my soul, dancing motivates a deep release, reminding that we are here on this earth for a purpose, to connect with each other, to experience and share joy. I continue to need the routine of intentionally and repeatedly choosing peace, embracing love rather than fear, creating space to breathe, and consciously releasing that which is no longer serving me.  This sacred act of choosing frees me to elevate and uplift myself and others.

I believe that we are always learning, healing, and revealing new layers or levels of this expansion of expression into our lives.  Sometimes to learn something deeply, we must experience a depth that may be uncomfortable.  God guides us to the healing, into the light, allows us to choose peace, or fight against it.  Sometimes life happens and we forget  the sacred everyday holds us together, makes us who we are, completes us, and we let it go in ways that trickle downward eroding away the solid foundation we have built.  The trickle builds and soon giant waves are crashing down, washing away everything we thought we had.

This is when I remember and cling to the everyday sacred.  Those practices that hold the space for healing and renewal.  For me, I have come to know, and am coming to know with greater depth of certainty, that these are the things that calm the raging waters, slow the leak and buoy me through the day, elevating me above just surviving, but allowing me to thrive.  Find joy.  Breathe peace.  Serve with love and compassion.  They allow me to participate fully, body, mind, and soul with the moment at hand, and be the best most lovingkind self I can be.

Here is a list of my Sacred Everyday.

Yoga

Meditation

Prayer

Spiritual/devotional reading

Outside Everyday, movement in nature.  Skiing, walking, snowshoeing, breathing.

Heartfelt time with my hubby and kids.  Screen free, looking into eyes, speaking soul to soul.

Nurturing myself and my family in the kitchen.  Passionately cooking and creating together.

Creativity.  Writing, crochet, sewing, creating.

Music.  Sings my soul, elevates and unites.

Dancing.  Movement creates spontaneous joy and allows me to fully experience my physical body in a creative and healthy way.

I invite you here to reflect, make a list and acknowledge, What is your Sacred Everyday?  Those practices that hold the space for healing and renewal?  What would you like to cultivate in your life, more peace, more love, more joy, more quality time with friends and family, health or wellness, or more creativity?  What sings your soul, fills your well, and elevates your spirit?