Friday, March 2, 2007 at 2:02am
Go with Oshun's flow
Column: Outing the Goddess Within
You've waved your visitors goodbye, washed their sheets, hung them out to dry, remade the guest bed, added their belongings to the "lost and found" basket, texted them to wish them a safe journey home (again), made coffee, and now you're sitting down to read a magazine.
Ahhh, there's nothing like the feeling of coming out of the other side of a major project. ... The change in pace, however, can be somewhat of a head-spin. I wouldn't say the head-spin is better than drugs, but it sure beats the alternative — staying stuck in the high-adrenalin ride that the project brings.
Don't get me wrong. Change is inevitable (except from a vending machine). It's just when it's pedal to the metal one minute and floating in space the next that it can cause the gray matter to splat.
It's the ebb and flow of how life works.
Ebb and flow? With words like that spilling out, there can be only one goddess energy resonating with me this week — Oshun. Patroness of rivers and the bloodstream, this Nigerian goddess (also brought to Brazil and Cuba) was honored as the goddess of love and sensuality.
Love and sensuality aside (who's got time?!), it's her river energy that is affecting me this week. I've just got through a couple of weeks of visitors, the Wild Woman Weekend and other workshops, moving house, birthing a book, getting my Boy Wonder off to high school ... now that I have Internet connection again (albeit dial-up only at this stage), it's time for me to go back into the flow of doing what I love the most: writing!
I welcome the flow!
So why am I hitting a wall? I'm normally so astute with getting my columns in on time. The early bird might get the worms, but I've never fancied them as part of my diet. I'm more of a cheese girl — call me the second mouse who gets the cheese.
Fortunately, Oshun teaches us to "go with the flow" of our instincts in order to find inner tranquility. Just as water ebbs and flows, so should we allow ourselves to live, being generous with our time for ourselves during an "ebb," and for others during a "flow."
When you decide it is time to stop bobbing along with the bubbling brook without direction or intent, but instead to find a place where you can simply "be," here is one way to do it. It's a method I've shared with my InnerGoddess group before with lots of gushing feedback.
Take an orange blanket with you to a peaceful place by water. Whether it is a river, a beach, or in front of a collection of stones under your garden tap, it doesn't matter, as long as you can be with yourself in peace. Bring an orange scarf if you don't have an orange blanket, as orange is a colour related to the sacral chakra, and will bring you fluidity and grace, depth of feeling, sexual fulfillment, and the ability to accept change.
(Sexual fulfillment? At this stage I must intervene to advise that no, this is not available in tablet form.)
Using an affirmation about stillness as an anchor, release your mind to wander the depths of your consciousness. Acknowledge shopping lists or "to-do" jobs as they float into your head, but then release them so that you can focus on the "now." Watch the water and let yourself wonder at its ever-changing face yet ever-constant properties.
Likewise, understand that you can also ebb and flow while keeping your essential integrity. Give yourself permission to occasionally ebb away from your chores, knowing that you will flow back to them again with renewed energy.
— — —
Anita Ryan-Revel is the creatrix of Goddess.com.au, a resource-rich site aimed at helping you connect with your beautiful, sassy, intuitive, lovable, sacred and authentic self. Catch her on tour in the USA in March: see ChakraGoddess.com for details. © copyright 2007 by Anita Ryan-Revel.
Ahhh, there's nothing like the feeling of coming out of the other side of a major project. ... The change in pace, however, can be somewhat of a head-spin. I wouldn't say the head-spin is better than drugs, but it sure beats the alternative — staying stuck in the high-adrenalin ride that the project brings.
Don't get me wrong. Change is inevitable (except from a vending machine). It's just when it's pedal to the metal one minute and floating in space the next that it can cause the gray matter to splat.
It's the ebb and flow of how life works.
Ebb and flow? With words like that spilling out, there can be only one goddess energy resonating with me this week — Oshun. Patroness of rivers and the bloodstream, this Nigerian goddess (also brought to Brazil and Cuba) was honored as the goddess of love and sensuality.
Love and sensuality aside (who's got time?!), it's her river energy that is affecting me this week. I've just got through a couple of weeks of visitors, the Wild Woman Weekend and other workshops, moving house, birthing a book, getting my Boy Wonder off to high school ... now that I have Internet connection again (albeit dial-up only at this stage), it's time for me to go back into the flow of doing what I love the most: writing!
I welcome the flow!
So why am I hitting a wall? I'm normally so astute with getting my columns in on time. The early bird might get the worms, but I've never fancied them as part of my diet. I'm more of a cheese girl — call me the second mouse who gets the cheese.
Fortunately, Oshun teaches us to "go with the flow" of our instincts in order to find inner tranquility. Just as water ebbs and flows, so should we allow ourselves to live, being generous with our time for ourselves during an "ebb," and for others during a "flow."
When you decide it is time to stop bobbing along with the bubbling brook without direction or intent, but instead to find a place where you can simply "be," here is one way to do it. It's a method I've shared with my InnerGoddess group before with lots of gushing feedback.
Take an orange blanket with you to a peaceful place by water. Whether it is a river, a beach, or in front of a collection of stones under your garden tap, it doesn't matter, as long as you can be with yourself in peace. Bring an orange scarf if you don't have an orange blanket, as orange is a colour related to the sacral chakra, and will bring you fluidity and grace, depth of feeling, sexual fulfillment, and the ability to accept change.
(Sexual fulfillment? At this stage I must intervene to advise that no, this is not available in tablet form.)
Using an affirmation about stillness as an anchor, release your mind to wander the depths of your consciousness. Acknowledge shopping lists or "to-do" jobs as they float into your head, but then release them so that you can focus on the "now." Watch the water and let yourself wonder at its ever-changing face yet ever-constant properties.
Likewise, understand that you can also ebb and flow while keeping your essential integrity. Give yourself permission to occasionally ebb away from your chores, knowing that you will flow back to them again with renewed energy.
— — —
Anita Ryan-Revel is the creatrix of Goddess.com.au, a resource-rich site aimed at helping you connect with your beautiful, sassy, intuitive, lovable, sacred and authentic self. Catch her on tour in the USA in March: see ChakraGoddess.com for details. © copyright 2007 by Anita Ryan-Revel.