9.23.2024. Autumn’s Wisdom of Disrobe
So many treasures below. Steep a cup of tea, give a read.
One offering to know about, get on her mailing list too, Megan Dunne-Krouse (dear friend and Embodiment Retreat leader along with Courtney Riley and myself) FALL EQUINOX PRACTICE, a free 45-minute virtual somatic breathwork practice.
I soaked in every breath. Rooted myself into the pause, into this equinox-moment where the sun hovers above the equator and day and night are equal. The day in our bones we know Autumn’s wisdom of disrobe, of letting go, of death and life, the essential rhythm of dying that brings new life. The provocative welcome of waning light. of chilled nights. of trees standing denuded. Beauty exposed, bark and limbs stripped bare, and the ground beneath our feet slowly hardening, preparing us for the arrival of the midwinter God, and her holy hours of the nestle-in. The long dark nights required to bloom.
Love, Wini
Below, lovely offerings for your Heart: 2 Poems. 3 Quotes. 1 Book-to-know About. 1 Sign-up. 1 Closing Soak-in Song.
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Two Poems to Share
The Bright Field | R.S. Thomas
I have seen the sun break through
to illuminate a small field
for a while, and gone my way
and forgotten it. But that was the
pearl of great price, the one field that had
treasure in it. I realise now
that I must give all that I have
to possess it. Life is not hurrying
on to a receding future, nor hankering after
an imagined past. It is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush, to a brightness
that seemed as transitory as your youth
once, but is the eternity that awaits you.
R.S. Thomas reading his poem The Bright Field
The Bird | Victor Hugo*
Be like the bird, who
Pausing in her flight
On limb too slight
Feels it give way beneath her
Yet sings
Knowing she has wings.
🌿 *In loving memory of Karen Masterson (June 7, 1942 - September 11, 2024)
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Three Quotes | Pema Chödrön. Mother Teresa. Gunilla Norris.
“Letting there be room for not knowing is the most important thing of all. When there's a big disappointment, we don't know if that's the end of the story. It may just be the beginning of a great adventure. Life is like that. We don't know anything. We call something bad; we call it good. But really we just don't know.” ― Pema Chödrön
🌿 This quote above is from When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times, one of Pema’s most beloved books, a treasure to read.
“I used to pray that God would feed the hungry, or do this or that, but now I pray that God will guide me to do whatever I’m supposed to do. I used to pray for answers, but now I pray for strength. I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us and we change things.” — Mother Teresa
"I think of human blossoming and how much it, too, needs to be staked and supported. We need a circle of friends to hold us if we are going to open like peony buds and let out the beauty that is in us….
How many of us have keeled over just in the time of blooming for lack of support and encouragement? How many of us have not dared to reveal our true selves because we fear being cut, we fear the dying afterward? How many of us say to life, 'This is a mistake. I can't do it. It takes more than I've got'?
…It does take everything we've got.” — Gunilla Norris, Journeying In Place: Reflections from a Country Garden
🌿 Who does not know this place Gunilla Norris speaks of, the not-so-easy pruning and staking required to bloom into our fullness. Oh I see, how the Instinct-archetype, the energy that wants to ‘fight, flight, fawn or freeze,’. the collapse. the bend by the weight of it all. the hold tight. refuse to open our precious bud. put the covers over our head and says, “This is a mistake. I cannot do it.” AND there is another energy always present too. An unceasing, unrelenting Sacred-hum hymn that says, “Holy, holy amen! You were designed to be wide, pink peony petal-soft and tender. Let your Beauty open, bloom.”
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A Book Recommendation | Poetry of Presence
This came my way, Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems, and I ordered two! One to keep and one to gift-on, it is that gorgeous. filled with exquisite poems. filled with spacious silence, pauses and refuge. filled with some of my most beloved poets.
And, a book to begin your day with–to use as prayer, to open to any page, read the poem you landed on and notice. Here is an offering on how to sit with, engage a poem, rooted in a Benedictine tradition, lectio divina or "Holy Reading", a modified version.
To begin, Notice a word or phrase that jumps out at you, calls to you, shimmers in you. ✨
Now something radical and different, put the poem aside.🍃
Write that phrase that called you at the top of a blank journal page. ✍️
Free-write (7-10 min) with the questions, why did this phrase choose you? What does it want you to know today? 💖 write freely, unedited you.
May you listen and stay true
to what your Soul is asking of you,
calling into you and let her current lead you.
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Sign-UP ✨ | Healing Vessel Energy Circle: October 8 & December 10.
There are 4 spots open for Tuesday, Oct 8 Healing Vessel
Come Join Us!
How do you reserve your spot?
Email or text 847.971-7010 Gina.
Let her know you are a ‘YES’ for one or both! 💖
Join me and my two dear friends, Julie Fedeli and harpist and music-thanatologist Margaret Pasquesi for an evening rich with being, with meditative prayer and silence. An evening of quietude for yourself, bringing attention to your body, breath, and soul. Come rest in an energy circle where those in the Healing Vessel receive the Universal Energy of the Holy One.
When: Tuesdays: October 8th & December 10th, 2024.
Time: 6-8:30 pm.
Space limited: Limited to 12*
Cost: We offer a sliding scale of 3 fees for payment. Please choose the amount that is best for you.
STANDARD FEE: $140
SPONSORSHIP FEE: $150-$250. Includes added donations to support scholarships and our overall costs. THANK YOU for supporting our scholarship program!
REDUCED FEE: $100
*Note: Space is filled by order of response.
"Since I’ve learned to be silent, everything has come so much closer to me.”
– Rainer Maria Rilke
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Closing Song | Break the Shell
A song to bathe in. to soak into your bones. enjoy! Break the Shell by India.Arie Simpson
I met a prophet dark as the night
She could see into my soul
Said she'd been watching and had some advice
She said shadows make you whole
A life without pain is a wolf in sheep's clothes
Cause if you listen to the lessons that it holds
You'll find the gold.
That there is no such thing as perfect
Were all simply doing the best that we can
Listen here YouTube (4:05 min)
Spotify here (4:09 min)
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Have a blessed day 💖
🌿 Thank you for reading, a bow of gratitude for being here!
This Metta Newsletter is a Love-offering, it is…
…an offering to bloom more Light ✨
…more Goodness 💞
…more gorgeous tenderness on the planet.🌎
Please consider making a small donation to help Metta Mondays newsletter to continue to ripple out into the world for the benefit of all.
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