‘Find your medicine and use it’

As part of my spring energetic reset, I’m integrating the Aries new moon energy into my morning ritual with a medicinal mushroom & cacao spiced elixir, breathwork, time in nature, movement, journaling, and healing music. Plant allies can help us heal, get clear, find our inner voice, connect to higher wisdom, and expand our awareness. After a few days getting clear on my priorities, I’m feeling strong and motivated, ready to cocreate some magic. But first I have some decluttering to do.

Remembering your purpose is only the first step, you have to live it

When Autumn came around last year, I asked the Universe for the healing I needed to finally embody my purpose. The months that followed were filled with harsh learnings, intense fear, awesome wonder, illuminating insights, synchronistic realisations, and profound wisdom. In alignment with mama Earth, I went deep within during winter, feeling and transmuting suppressed emotions, unconscious insecurities, toxic patterns, and limiting beliefs. I still have a lot to process (the conditioning and wounding that make us small and lost get deeply ingrained in these bodies), and though so far the journey has been uncomfortable and scary at times, it has given me a deep sense of clarity and knowing. For someone who spent long periods crippled by self-doubt, this new feeling is pretty cool.

Now as we are transitioning into spring and those seeds are sprouting,  I’m facing a new challenge of focusing my energy on my mission and letting go of any commitments not serving this. The conventional way of living is polluted by information overload, distracting noise, fear-based dramas, crazed consumerism, and unnecessary action. I’m being asked to step up, clear space, and integrate the full potential that exists within each of us so that I can continue to awaken, to answer Earth’s call, and to be in service of all living beings. For a perpetual people-pleaser who not only has a habit of saying ‘yes’ to every call for help but enthusiastically offers it before even being asked, refining my energy expenditure is going to be a challenge. If you’re an empath, you’ll know how tempting it can be to pour your energy into others when you sense their needs and to try to help them in any way you possibly can. But over-committing to others can leave us depleted and burnt-out, with no energy left for our higher work here (and it can even harm then by robbing them of important learning opportunities). Starting to say no can be challenging if you are hyper-sensitive to disappointing people and face opposition when you try to break the draining patterns, but I’ve realised that it is our responsibility to care for our own energy and we can actually do far more good by channeling its flow rather than giving it away freely. (I’m not saying we should never help others, of course, but that we should be mindful of the most moral and effective use of our energy)

With the new moon and spring blossoming, I’m feeling charged and ready to progress on my path.  But to make sure that I remain centred and focused, I’m currently decluttering my life and releasing anything that is not in alignment.

Some of the benefits of simplifying your life:

• Can reduce stress, scatteredness, burn-out, and disconnection, and improve health
• If you feel and strong calling or purpose to make a positive contribution to existence, simple living can help you to channel your energy to make achieving this much more likely
• It also opens up more time for self-care and recharging practices to ensure you don’t burn-out
• Can provide space to make better, more informed and ethical decisions, rather than acting out toxic preconditioned and unconscious patterns and behaviours
• This often also means we are less reactive and less easily triggered, which can lead to more fulfilling relationships
• Frees you from the never-ending cycle of consumerism
• Helps you disconnect from the dominant fear-based control systems and propaganda
• Can help you access your intuition, connect to higher wisdom and other beings, increase your awareness of truth, expand your consciousness, connect with the Universe and the lessons it’s encouraging us to learn

Some practical tips for decluttering your mind, body and space:

1. Discover your purpose. This might be a slow process of getting clear and quiet enough to find it, but is so worth the effort. You might feel like you don’t have time to do this, which is normal pressure we all face in this society. Our culture is designed to keep up overworked, distracted, overloaded with information, and constantly entertained, keeps us from thinking more deeply or questioning the system. You have to choose to transcend it. What is the point in continuing with all the activities that keep you busy if you don’t know why you’re doing them? If you don’t think you have time, try swapping half an hour you’d usually spend watching TV, online shopping, scrolling through social media, whatever it is you do to entertain yourself, and sit down and meditate on this. Try asking yourself ‘why am I here?’ ‘what do I have to learn, realise, contribute?’  Choose to prioritise finding out what’s important to you. (And check that it is in favour of bringing about good fairly for all beings, including yourself)
2. Choose to prioritise this. It might be one thing or several, but make the choice to focus on it as much as is achievable.
3. Evaluate your current commitments. Ask yourself, what am I giving my energy to? Whether at work or home or in the community. Analyse how you spend your time. Drop any commitments that aren’t in alignment with or serving your mission if they aren’t your responsibility. There are so many things our society tries to convince us are necessary but really aren’t. This should free up space to not only work on your purpose but also recharge so you can continue to do so in a sustainable way.
4. Learn to say no. This is a lesson I’m still learning to integrate. If someone asks something of you that isn’t your responsibility and takes you away from your priorities, you have the right to say no. Overcommitting to others can leave use scattered and burn-out with no energy left to channel into our own higher work.
5. Be conscious about your media consumption. We live in an age of information overload. Turn off the TV and radio. Limit social media to certain times, or completely if you feel called to. Try a media fast and disconnect from all sources for one day, 7 days, or longer. I find scheduling total technology fasts to coincide with retreats gives me great clarity and helps me connect with my intuition and higher guidance.
6. Do a communications cleanse. Unsubscribe from all of those unnecessary marketing emails and newsletters, get rid of old messages and files, have a clearout of your Facebook friends, limit the amount of information bombarding you.
7. Declutter your space. This can take time, so it’s easier to focus on one drawer, area, or room at a time. Be ruthless and sell, recycle, or give away anything that isn’t necessary to your purpose and doesn’t add value to your life. Get rid of clothes, technology, paperwork (can be composted!), old furniture, books, and any general junk you don’t use. Take photos of any sentimental items you don’t have space for. When you’re done, perhaps commit to not buying or accepting stuff into your home that isn’t essential.
8. Rethink your buying habits. Living in our consumerist culture perpetuated by ubiquitous advertising makes it easy to accumulate more and more stuff without even thinking. Ensure any new purchases are necessary, ethical, zero-waste and environmentally friendly. This will also reduce the need to declutter in the future, saving even more time, energy, and money.
9. Start growing and cooking your own food. Simplify your diet at home to nourishing, fresh and naturally delicious plant foods using as many homegrown, foraged, locally sourced and seasonal ingredients as possible. Create a list of recipes that are easy to prepare and can be made in bulk (choosing one or two days per week to prep a variety of dishes makes mealtimes much quicker and easier).
10. Start a reflective daily(ish) ritual. I like to start my mornings with meditation, movement, intentions, and listing my priorities for the day. It’s useful to then reflect again before bed. Try to make time for the natural medicine of your choice (whether its ceremony, music, walking, running, yoga, contemplation, tea, etc.)  that nourishes you and allows you to recharge. Having time to reflect also always us to be flexible as our priorities change over time.

The process of simplifying our lives basically comes down to discovering what your highest purpose is and then cutting out anything that is excess (unless it is your responsibility, such as children!).

Let’s keep centered and focused, earth warriors.