the current will find you - week four - wild river

Here we are at week four, my final week of exploring this particular topic in this particular way. ♡

We've explored being earth-connected and resourced, splashing in the sensory, and receiving wisdom directly from the divine. In each of the weeks, there were pathways for receiving answers while also finding comfort or pleasure in the experience of living and being, even if immediate answers were just out of reach.

This week, we'll be exploring this concept even more: being open to Knowing while also savoring the rich texture of mystery. ♡

To learn more - The Current Will Find You - Intro ♡

the current will find you - the divine - simple poem

 

I walk through twilight air (lavender, indigo, crushed lilacs) opening my arms to endless sky (violet, heather, scattered thistle) breathing in the wild liminal To learn more - The Current Will Find You - Intro ♡

the current will find you - the divine - amethyst

 

I'm thinking about tales that have traveled through time, folklore and fairy tales, or even ones woven of magic and fantasy in more modern times. I'm thinking of cloaks and inner power. Of epic voyage. Of no forest too dark, no path too complex. Of bravery, of knowing, of awakening. 

Amethyst is an ideal companion for such a journey. It is a pathway to intuitive opening and knowing, but it's also the cloak that cocoons us in safety as we walk that path.   

In her book The Encyclopedia of Crystals, Judy Hall states, "Opening multidimensional awareness, it enhances metaphysical abilities and is an excellent stone for meditation and scrying. Sleeping with amethyst facilitates out-of-body experiences, helps dream recall, and assists visualization. It guards against psychic attack, transmuting it into love..."

♡

To learn more - The Current Will Find You - Intro ♡

the current will find you - the divine - activity for receiving insight

PRE-ACTIVITY THOUGHTS ♡
For this, it's ideal to go outside to a place where it's safe for you to lower or close your eyes for a few minutes without interruption. Doing this on a day where there's at least a light breeze will add to its beauty and ease. (If you cannot go outside, feel free to do this inside using your imagination.)

When you are asked to imagine, visualize, or “see” something, you may experience visuals, or perhaps you feel the sensations in your body, or have an inner knowing that this is happening, or have words surface into your awareness. There's no one right way, despite the language used. However you experience it all is perfect.

ACTIVITY ♡
Please go outside, walking intentionally to your chosen spot, taking care to breathe fully - nourishing inhales, fully emptying exhales - while observing everything along your path.

Feel free to remain standing or sit down, whatever feels best for you. Lower your gaze or close your eyes. Take a couple of minutes to be with your breath, allowing your body and mind to soften more and more with each cycle.

Imagine a golden, glowing circle of light around your physical form. Know that you will be safe and that you will only receive wisdom that is for your highest good.

Do you have a specific question that has been tugging at your mind or heart? If so, state this aloud or in your mind. If not, perhaps state something like, "What do I need to know for my highest good?"

Feel the breeze brush against your skin, your clothes, your hair. Does it soothe? Tickle? Something else? Be with the sensations as you breathe in, out, in, out.

Now you realize that this breeze isn't just a normal breeze. It's made of energy that's earthy, swirling with what almost looks or feels like roots and moss, rich browns and deep greens. It's also made of energy that's cosmic, swirling with golden and silver light, glimmering like quartz. You have access to what is both deep and vast.

This breeze continues brushing against your skin. As you inhale, you feel this breeze mingle with your breath, flowing into your body. Stay with this breeze and your breath for a couple of cycles.

Say, "I am open to receiving my answer now." Listen. Receive. Don't over-think or analyze, just let whatever words or images arise to do so.

Take another breath and open your eyes, feeling your feet touching the ground solidly beneath you.

♡ Jot down any important messages and observations in a journal, xo. To learn more - The Current Will Find You - Intro ♡

the current will find you - the divine - guided journey to discovery

OPENING ACTIVITY ♡

Do something that allows you to feel really grounded, such as spend a few minutes outside barefoot or resting your hand / body against a tree.

PRE-MEDITATION THOUGHTS ♡

With meditation, be as comfortable as you can be, in a space where you can be uninterrupted. No rigidity is required; the body deserves comfort. Be cozy, either sitting, reclining, lying, or intentionally moving.

When you are asked to imagine, visualize, or “see” something, you may experience visuals, or perhaps you feel the sensations in your body, or have an inner knowing that this is happening, or have words surface into your awareness. There's no one right way, despite the language used. However you experience it all is perfect.   

When doing the following meditation, feel free to read through it, then do it without referencing the words. In the future, I plan to record guided meditations.   

MEDITATION EXPERIENCE ♡

Start by lowering your gaze or closing your eyes, focusing on your breathing, inhaling in a way that feels nourishing and filling, then exhaling and completely emptying. Continue with your breath for a couple of minutes, allowing your body and mind to soften more and more with each cycle.

Imagine a golden, glowing circle of light around your physical form. Know that you will be safe and protected as you journey deeper and wider. Continue focusing on your breath, feeling both secure and elevated with inhale and exhale. 

Now you see a staircase form in front of you. What does it look like? Is it rustic or ornate, classic or spiraling? Begin walking up the stairs, taking in the sights, textures, feelings, whatever details are available to you. Continue with your breathing. Walk higher, then higher.

Eventually you come to a landing with an archway that is painted purple. Pause a moment before entering to take another breath. Feel light enter and saturate your body with your inhale, feel resistance and limitations leave with your exhale. Say, "This room is for my highest good."   

Now enter this room and explore. What do you observe? What feelings, sensations, or thoughts surface as you look around?

In the middle of the room is an opened book. You have the sense that whatever is on that page has special meaning for your life right now. When you walk over and take a look, what is on the page?

Explore for as long as feels good, then walk back down the staircase. Refocus on your breathing for a couple of cycles. When it feels right, open your eyes again, rub your legs and feet, returning fully present and grounded. Jot down any important messages and observations in a journal, xo. 

To learn more - The Current Will Find You - Intro ♡

the current will find you - the divine - poem

I weave a nest of all the things
that made my heart skip a beat
then grow a bit wilder

first kisses, recent kisses,
an owl flying toward me
as I danced on dark land,
lines of poetry, night dreams
that became real in daylight,
puddle splashing, seeing
energy like vibrating colors,
twined fingers, deep hugs,
the mystery, the knowing,
the expanding mystery

and once my nest is a real
thing in my hands, heavy
with experience and glow

I climb to find its perfect
place in the tree just outside
my open window

stepping into the nest, I feel
my breath merge with breeze,
and I fly.   

For more info - The Current Will Find You - Intro ♡

the current will find you - the divine - mindfulness dancing

Sometimes meditating while in motion really opens up my energy in a unique way, helps release whatever is stuck emotionally or mentally, and allows me to step into a new plane of receptivity and aliveness. Maybe you'll find the same to be true, or just have fun exploring. ♡   

Don't worry about being a good dancer. This isn't about skill level. It's feeling the music and the spirit, setting intention, and flowing with it. Also, if you have any physical limitations, please modify as needed, such as remaining seated and swaying your body or moving your arms from your chair. 

This activity is inspired by Dancing Mindfulness: A Creative Path to Healing and Transformation by Jamie Marich that I read some years back.  

PRE-DANCE ♡

Choose a song that feels "divine" to you. It can have words or be instrumental, feel soft or higher energy. I like using shamanic drumming because those rhythms get my brain into a flow state. I like using cello music because the moodiness gets me in touch with deeper layers of myself. I also like to use a variety of modern music with words that resonate with whatever theme I'm exploring. I highly suggest "Astral Plane" by Valerie June. 

DANCE ♡

Chose a place and time where you can be uninterrupted, where you can feel uninhibited. Then, turn the song on, putting it on repeat so that you don't feel time-limited. 

Take a couple of focused breaths and ask yourself, "What quality do I want to embody as I explore the Divine this week?" Let the answer flow naturally into your awareness. For instance, maybe it's intuition, grace, or curiosity. You know what you most need.

Once that quality has been revealed to you, use your finger to write the word into the air in front of you. Then, step forward into that word, see or feel your body touch it, absorb it, become it.

Now, dance! Explore dancing while softening your eyes. Move your body in whatever ways feels good. Sway, spin, become the music. Whisper (or yell!) the word you chose. If you feel led, write it again into the air and pull into your body over and over. 

Stay with this for at least the length of the whole song, but dance with this quality for as long as feels right. 

When you're finished, place your hands on your heart, take a couple of breaths into your heart space, and affirm aloud, "I embody (your chosen word)."    

♡

For more info - The Current Will Find You - Intro ♡ 

the current will find you - week three - the divine

 

At the edge of mystery or slipping into its texture. Grounded and well-resourced internally and externally. Exploring the sensory as a spiritual and delightfully human pathway. Now? Now! we delve into the Divine. 

Of course it's woven into earthiness and the senses as well, but this week we're going to explore the more overtly esoteric aspects, including how you can connect to the divine and how you, too, are divine.   

This concept can be received however feels best to you. For you, the Divine could be: your inner wisdom, your highest self, the universe, mother earth, source, god, goddess, angels and guides, or whatever energy flows into you and from you that gives your existence deeper and more expanded meaning + connection. 

♡

For more info - The Current Will Find You - Intro ♡

the current will find you - the sensory - mary oliver + dare

As we wrap up the second week's theme, I dare you to make an extra effort to pay attention. Perhaps this poem will give inspiration.  

"This Summer Day" by the incredible Mary Oliver ♡

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean—
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down—
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

For more info - The Current Will Find You - Intro ♡

the current will find you - the sensory - poem

a space opens up inside me;
I step through it, into the day,
my hair still streaked with stardust
and dreams as sunshine soaks
the field, the trees,
my awaiting skin 

For more info - The Current Will Find You - Intro ♡

the current will find you - the sensory - simple activity

Today, consider taking time to have a pleasurable experience. Not just hedonistic; instead, cultivate or step into an experience that nourishes your senses, that feels good in your physical form and also elevates your spirit. 

Some ideas: go for a nature walk. lie on a blanket to watch clouds, the sunset, or stars. have a tea, coffee, or snack. take a shower or bath with products that smell + feel good on the skin. dance. go barefoot. give yourself (or receive) a massage. splash around in water. make love. sing your favorite song. watch an animal in the home or wild. wrap yourself in the softest blanket you own. smell flowers. go for a country drive. give / receive a long hug. create something.  

Be with your breath as you're feeling through the experience - take conscientious breaths before, during, and after. This allows us to settle more deeply into the experience, making it oh!so!sweet!, while linking it more fully to the spiritual.   

Also? It does something pretty incredible in the brain. Neurologically, we're wired to have a negativity bias. In order to survive throughout the timeline of humanity, we've needed to remember the bad. In his book Neuro Dharma, Rick Hanson gives an activity to counter this effect, to utilize "beneficial" experiences and "increase the neural traces they leave behind." It's a whole lot like mindfulness. His method is: have a beneficial experience, enrich it through breath + feel it + "see what is fresh about it" + "find out what is personally relevant in it," and absorb it through intention ("the experience is sinking into you").      

♡

For more info - The Current Will Find You - Intro ♡

the current will find you - the sensory - guided journey

Opening activity ♡

Take a moment to hydrate with a favorite drink, warm or cold, whatever feels most comforting right now - perhaps tea, coffee, lemonade, water. Pay attention to how the cup feels in your hands, how the cup looks in the light of your space, the fragrance as you bring it to your mouth, then the taste and the sensation of your body receiving the nourishment.    

Pre-meditation thoughts ♡ 

With meditation, be as comfortable as you can be, in a space where you can be uninterrupted. No rigidity is required; the body deserves comfort. Be cozy, either sitting, reclining, lying, or intentionally moving. 

When you are asked to imagine, visualize, or “see” something, you may experience visuals, or perhaps you feel the sensations in your body, or have an inner knowing that this is happening, or have words surface into your awareness. There's no one right way, despite the language used. However you experience it all is perfect.    

When doing the following meditation, feel free to read through it, then do it without referencing the words. In the future, I plan to record guided meditations.   

Meditation experience ♡

Start by lowering your gaze or closing your eyes, focusing on your breathing, inhaling in a way that feels nourishing and filling, then exhaling and completely emptying. Continue with your breath for a couple of minutes, allowing your body and mind to soften more and more with each cycle. 

Now imagine you are walking along a path that you recognize. Perhaps this is a dirt trail with wild nature all around you, or perhaps an urban sidewalk with a planter of flowers here and there. It's a place where you feel comfortably yourself. Don't worry about exactly replicating this place from memory - it is simply inspired by a previous experience. 

As you walk along, take in the familiar, as well as the changes, with all five of your senses.  What is around you? How does the sky look? How does the path beneath your feet feel? What do you see, hear, smell, feel, and taste as you walk this path? Soak in as many details as you can, letting your body fully feel the details. 

Then, you see something that's not usually here. It is a doorway right in the middle of your path. What does this door look like? What is its color, shape, and texture? Is it simple or ornate? What do you feel when you see it? When you touch it?      

On the door, you see that a note has been written. Looking closer, you read, "This is your doorway to feeling good." Take a couple of nourishing breaths, knowing that only what is most aligned with your highest good is on the other side of the door. 

Now open the door and walk through. What awaits you? What does Spirit / Source, or your guides, or your highest good, or your subconscious want you to know about feeling good? Explore using all the senses available to you. Take your time. This is a daytrip into yourself. Allow yourself to soak in all the details, all the sensations. Stay with it, exploring or existing, for as long as feels good to you. 

When you've felt and received as much as you want to feel and receive today, walk back to the door you entered. Know that you can bring all the good from this place back with you into your daily life. You step back through the door and close it gently behind you. 

Walk back along your familiar path as you breathe fully. Refocus on your breathing for a couple of cycles. When it feels right, open your eyes again, rub your legs and feet, returning fully present and grounded. 

For more info - The Current Will Find You - Intro ♡

the current will find you - the sensory - poem

 

Once upon a time, I had to curl up to sleep
between a rock and a hard place for the night, 

and so I scooped up leaves and fallen feathers,
petals and fuzzy unknowns, lullabies to myself

and the tiniest threads of hope, to create a nest
of comfort, something to soften the edges

until shadows and moon glow eased into sunrise
watercolors, into birdsong, until I could stand

and feel and breathe, until I could laugh
at the absurdity of it all and run-dance toward

the next adventure, the one almost in view,
just at the shoreline, the wind in my hair

as the waves find me and I find them, finally
awake again, eyes bright, sand between my toes. 

For more info - The Current Will Find You - Intro ♡

the current will find you - week two - the sensory

So here we are at whatever unknown we're navigating. The daily, the life-changing, the simple or profound, the conscious or unconscious, the act of being alive right now in this complex world. Whatever or however it looks to each of us. 

We are aware of the inner and external resources we have to feel a bit more grounded and safe as we journey. What now? 

I'm a big advocate for embodied spirituality. Not trying to escape this wild and vibrant world, not trying to ascend beyond this wild and deeply-feeling body or the creative limitations of being human.  Instead, leaning more into the experience, the bright and sometimes stormy adventure, which allows us to go even more deeply within. The opening goes in all directions.   

Enjoying the sensory - the world around, five senses, layers of creativity, acts of whole aliveness, pleasure! - is one way of allowing mystery to reveal insight. It allows us to feel more comfortable in uncertainty while also opening our awareness beyond the mundane. It gets us into flow states to receive messages or nudges or inner knowing.  

♡

For more info - The Current Will Find You - Intro ♡

the current will find you - muddy feet - a simple practice

Connecting purposefully to our natural space is grounding. Today, consider creating temporary art with pieces of nature found around your yard, hiking spot, or town, showing respect and gratitude for everything collected. Here is mine. ♡

(I posted this on Saturday via social media, but forgot to share it here. Oops. ♡) 

For more info - The Current Will Find You - Intro ♡

the current will find you - muddy feet - smoky quartz

Life is sometimes like a fairytale - there we are, facing and entering the dark woods. Big transitions,  voyages, epiphanies, the shedding of skin, initiations, epic unknowns as we recover inner knowing. Moments or stretches in time that are significant to our identities and life paths. 

Each day, though, we come across other thresholds, maybe less dramatic, choosing which gateway to cross through, which path to walk along, which door to approach. Maybe these decisions won't turn our worlds upside down, but they are still the moments, too, that culminate into a life.   

Whether facing the (nearly) mystic journey or the (seeming) mundane, smoky quartz is a lovely and useful companion for exploring the new that each choice brings.  

Smoky quartz is readily available, yet that doesn't lessen the fact that each piece feels like a world of mystery and wonder to me, itself almost another doorway to cross through as we lean into the stone for support with others. 

Smoky quartz is well known for being grounding and protective with the ability to transmute anything that feels heavy and unaligned. In The Encyclopedia of Crystals, Judy Hall says that smoky quartz also "helps tolerate difficult times with equanimity, fortifying resolve." 

Blessed journeying! ♡

For more info - The Current Will Find You - Intro ♡

the current will find you - muddy feet - the alter of self, part two

I am (no) rhyme or reason,
and I am whole, and here.

I can create endless haiku while dancing
beneath the scatter of stars, and when
I (accidentally) became a skeleton for others,
I made the empty spaces into a garden. 

I perspective shift with ease, sweet talk
wildlife from afar, follow owls, float on energy
currents, laugh a lot. I read, meditate, question,
wrap myself in soft fabrics, whisper gentle words

into my ears. I learned the value of 'good enough'.
I problem solve, make plans, hold space, run
into dark fields. I've written hundreds of letters
to friends, to strangers, to strangers that became

friends. I fell in love across oceans. I birthed babies
into my own hands. I have connections that have
lasted decades and others that are new flickers.
I get called kind, but also blunt, but also sassy

and fierce and independent, and I take them all
as compliments even if not gifted that way.
I frown at people who tell me to smile,
and I smile freely at life.   

I can be so overcome with awe that threads
of the universe momentarily separate before
reforming. And now, I place a flower to my
heart, light a flame, honoring the wonder

of being in this body, in this world,
at this moment in time. 

To learn more - The Current Will Find You - Intro ♡

the current will find you - muddy feet - strengths + the alter of self

When facing layers of mystery, a doorway to an unknown landscape, it helps to remember all the strength we actually have within ourselves and within reach.

This has been explored in plenty of ways through scientific research, psychology, and spiritual traditions. I'm referring to the skills, resources, interests, personality quirks and traits, personal values, emotional growth, knowledge, spiritual exploration, creative development, relationships + connection, lessons learned, wisdom inherited, and, and, and.

Simply, what are the gifts you give yourself, whether pragmatic or more ethereal, very simple or complex?

When exploring this concept of strength, some possible questions to pose to yourself: How do I soothe myself and others when times are tricky? Who has my back? In what ways do I have my own back too? How do I express joy when life is bright? What makes me feel bone-deep glee? What am I doing when I feel the most authentically myself? When do I feel especially awake and free? How do I express myself? How do I explore creativity? What practices do I have that nourish my physical body? What hard times did I make it through whole? Which broke me open so that I could reweave myself, how did I do that, and who was I on the other side of it all? What hardships did my ancestors navigate so that perhaps I wouldn't have to? What skills did they have that whisper somewhere in my subconscious?

The you that exists in this very moment is an alter to yourself. Years of knowing, ability, and strength collected into skin, heart, mind, and spirit. 

You are more than qualified to live your life.
You are sacred and wise.
You are worthy of candlelit blooms. 

For more info - The Current Will Find You - Intro ♡ 

the current will find you - muddy feet - earth comfort + animal guide

Opening activity ♡

Feel your feet touch the earth. Feel the earth touch your feet. Stand, sit, or walk around for a few minutes, continuing to notice the reciprocity, the touch given and the touch received.

Pre-meditation thoughts ♡ 

With meditation, be as comfortable as you can be, in a space where you can be uninterrupted. No rigidity is required; the body deserves comfort. Be cozy, either sitting, reclining, lying, or intentionally moving. For this particular meditation, lying down will help. 

When you are asked to imagine, visualize, or “see” something, you may experience visuals, or perhaps you feel the sensations in your body, or have an inner knowing that this is happening, or have words surface into your awareness. There's no one right way, despite the language used. However you experience it all is perfect.    

When doing the following meditation, feel free to read through it, then do it without referencing the words. In the future, I plan to record guided meditations.   

Meditation experience ♡

Start by lowering your gaze or closing your eyes, focusing on your breathing, inhaling in a way that feels nourishing and filling, then exhaling and completely emptying. Continue with your breath for a couple of minutes, allowing your body and mind to soften more and more with each cycle. 

Now imagine lying down on the earth. It's earth that feels like home to you, perhaps your yard, or wild prairie, or a forest clearing, maybe a space you've physically visited before or maybe somewhere that's freshly reaching out to you now. 

As your body rests on this piece of land, it almost feels as though the earth softens just a little, contouring around your body, the way a mattress might give gently beneath your weight, supporting you just as you most need to be supported. Let the earth hold you as you breathe. Feel the security, the safety, the stability, the knowing, the comfort. Rest in this space as long as feels good. 

In the periphery of your awareness, you notice an animal being. They mean you no harm. They are there only to support you. What do you see? What do you feel? What do you sense? Would it feel good to call them closer? To eye gaze? To converse? Let yourself have the experience that feels best with your animal guide.   

Thank them and allow them to move back to the distance for now. Feel the earth holding you fully again. Refocus on your breathing for a couple of cycles. 

When it feels right, open your eyes fully again, rub your legs and feet, returning fully present and grounded. 

For more info - The Current Will Find You - Intro ♡

the current will find you - muddy feet - poem

I wander around with muddy feet

remembering how my youngest would refuse
to immerse immediately in water, instead painting
his skin with earth as he steadied himself on shore,
making himself into an island, solid and ready,
before stepping into the flow

I wander around with muddy feet

brushing against the textures of moss and bark,
grass and blooms, feathers and leaves and roots,
weaving a crown made of petals and dancing light,
wrapping myself in sage, in lavender, in the warm
echoes of those who have walked the paths before 

I wander around with muddy feet,
and then. 

For more info - The Current Will Find You - Intro ♡

the current will find you - intro

This summer, I was in a circle / meditation about the mystic archetype. I had a couple of questions about the future, going this way or that, and received a spirit message, "The current will find you."

It reminded me some of the quote by Rainer Maria Rilke, "Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”

It was also a bit beyond that too, with added threads of spirit and energy woven in. And, so, this message evolved into this four week offering.

This concept could take up months or lifetimes, but I've divided it into four sub-themes that feel important and good for me to personally explore, and maybe they'll be a candlelight or firefly flicker for your own exploration - a spark that helps or inspires. 

For the rest of the month, I will be posting near-daily. There will be poetry, crystals, meditations, simple rituals, prompts, etc.

And, first, we start with: Muddy Feet - grounding into the known as we open to the unknown.

Welcome! ♡