Gratitude

The Cacao Journals: Holding space

~ nicole
The blessing of letting go is creating and holding sacred space for healing. – Debra L. Reble

In my own personal work with cacao, I found this to be true, that it was in letting go of my mind, my need to be in control, and my disbelief that I created sacred space (an emptiness) within that held me, so I could begin to heal and feel whole.

This is what holding sacred space is:  creating a safe receptacle or container where things can fall apart, disintegrate, and dissolve, and then come back together again more whole than before.

When I hold sacred space in group ceremony, the process is similar. While each participant must create their own container to receive the wisdom, guidance or medicine that they most need in that moment, I hold the energy of the entire space, so that each person can trust that they will feel held and supported on their journey.

To do this well, I have to create with devotion and intention, and be completely present in the moment.

When I co-create ceremony with Spirit, I often receive a “download” of a theme. Sometimes it feels more like an “upload” as it emerges from the ground of my being. I might at first just receive one word such as “Grace” or “Gratitude” and then it starts to flow. My opening words and guided meditations often just arrive, although I do write them down (you can’t take the writer or editor out of me).

The music playlist is the same. It all just comes together in perfect harmony. If at any point, I begin to think too much about it, that’s when it becomes a struggle. And that’s when walk away for a little while….

My presence on the day of ceremony starts with grinding the cacao while I listen to the sacred music. It is both devotional and intentional as I honor and bless the cacao.

On my way to ceremony, I select flowers for the altar that reflect the theme of the day and reflect on what can grace the altar in addition to my sacred “always” pieces.

When I arrive at the studio to set up, I am fully present with each action–unpacking, checking the sound, setting up the altar, making the cacao elixir and greeting the guests–and the act of being fully present with each begins to create sacred space and fills the space with light energy.

By the time ceremony begins, I am fully there, both in my body and out of it; an embodied presencing, connected to spirit through the ground of my being.

It’s rare that an outside thought intrudes and when it does, I notice, laugh to myself and send it away. The music keeps me quite present and in the moment I often dance (while seated) as I hold space for everyone’s journeys. Clearly, I am as nourished by the experience as they are….

Sacred space brings us such clarity, nourishment and healing when we create it for ourselves and others. It asks us to be intentional, devotional, and present. It’s in the noticing of what we receive from it that we can answer the call. Begin by simply noticing.

Copyright ©2018 Soulscape Coaching LLC

 

 

The Cacao Journals: from Gratitude comes Abundance

~ nicole
The miracle of gratitude is that it shifts your perception to such an extent that it changes the world you see. – Dr. Robert Holden

If grace is ever present in our lives, just waiting patiently to be noticed, then once we do see and acknowledge it, what arises naturally is a feeling of gratitude. Grace is the unexpected gift for which we wish to give thanks.

Now granted, sometimes the gift may not be exactly what you asked for, but in the case of Spirit, it’s exactly what you need in the moment; it just may take a while to see it….

In indigenous cultures, giving thanks to Spirit and showing gratitude is integral to their way of being, expressed in their daily rituals, ceremonies and prayer. The indigenous peoples understand that we achieve nothing without the aid of the Spirit and that we must be humble enough to ask for assistance and be grateful for what we receive.

We of so-called “modern” cultures have lost this connection, this daily giving of thanks. It can take but a moment, and the benefits are beyond measure.

Gratitude is the open door to abundance. – Harbhajan Singh Yogi

Each day before I meditate while chanting a mantra, I share an intention, a prayer if you will, for what I would like to receive. Some days my prayer is for clarity on an issue I’m facing; on others I ask for financial abundance, so I may keep being of service with my work; and sometimes I ask for grace on someone else’s behalf. I allow the intention to rise from deep within me, write it in my journal and then let go.

Not being attached to the outcome, and allowing Spirit to bring what’s most needed, requires deep trust. It can shake you to the core of your being this trust piece. With trust comes abundance; with fear, scarcity.

Abundance is a process of letting go; that which is empty can receive. – Bryant H. McGill

Before I begin each meditation, I pause, reflect on how grace has shown up, and give thanks for what I have received. There’s a beautiful sense of reciprocity about the acts of asking, letting go, receiving and giving thanks. It is from, and into, this place of emptiness that abundance comes.

When we define abundance from a “modern” perspective, we most often think of financial or outer abundance; it’s rare that we think of inner abundance, the state of being connected to self and source in a reciprocal relationship.

To create a state of inner abundance in your life, find a way to give thanks each day. Start a gratitude journal and write something you are grateful for every day for 41 days (that’s the time needed to create a new habit that begins to “inhabit” us, changing our mindset and behavior).

Believe me, some days you will be challenged to find anything for which to be grateful. On those days, be grateful for the smallest thing: the clean water you drink, the nutritious food you eat, or the flowers that you see growing through some chains or through a crack in a rock.

When I did my own practice, I took an unbelievable amount of pictures of flowers growing through things, flowers growing freely, trees, the sun, the moon, water, the beach, and animals. I was grateful for them all and I began to see the world differently; it was more vibrant, more alive and more loving than I ever imagined. Eventually, you begin to notice more and more of the grace that surrounds you. And life feels and becomes more abundant.

To live in gratitude allows fear to fall away and abundance to appear. From gratitude comes abundance.

Copyright ©2018 Soulscape Coaching LLC.

The Cacao Journals: Grace Ever Present

~ nicole
I do not understand the mystery of grace–only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us. – Anne Lamott

I’m writing this post at the tail of end of 2017. It was one hell of a year, one that many of us would choose to forget. And, yet, for some, and I include myself among them, it has opened us up to grace. I for one, never conceived that I would not just acknowledge the existence of grace, but bow to it. As I am now….

Profound change, if you recall from one of my previous Cacao Journals, comes in three ways, according to Arkan Lushwala, an indigenous spiritual and ceremony leader: 1) a gift from spirit, or what we might call, grace; 2) the mystery of the black jaguar, who “destroys the prisons where we feel safe and comfortable so we wake up;” and 3) the will of the heart or Munay, which has us “constantly seeking encounters with the sacred sources that support our awakening.”

2017 was the year of the black jaguar to be sure; its claws lashing out and its tail sweeping everything clear, forcing us to accept change and transform ourselves. This clearing out awakened our hearts actively like a lightning bolt asking more of us and reconnecting us to who we truly are. For many, we sought out sacred experiences by coming together in community and in ceremony, and through inner reconnection. We began the journey home.

And, at some point along the way, you may have asked yourself like I did, “Where were the moments of grace?” Perhaps they still surrounded us, but we could not notice them until we had fully surrendered to what is and to who we truly are.

Grace is ever present. All that is necessary is that you surrender to it. – Ramana Maharshi

After much inner struggle, I surrendered and found myself in that place where grace is ever present. It took my breath away. While I still stumble on the path home, hit my head and forget about grace for a moment, I come back to its presence, and it gives me strength to continue the journey.

I believe that 2018 will be a year of grace. It will require seeing the gifts, the blessings of it, everywhere. It will require gratitude. It will require devotion. This may feel like a heavy responsibility, but it’s actually the opposite. It is a lightening, not of responsibility, but of the feeling that we are somehow carrying a burden and can’t quite make it home.

It’s in the letting go that we find our burdens lifted. It’s in the letting go that we find the light and the lightness of grace. It’s in the letting go that we find ourselves home again. Wishing you all a Happy New Year, full of endless grace.

Copyright © 2017 Soulscape Coaching LLC

The Cacao Journals: Full of Wonder

~ nicole
We had the experience, but missed the meaning. – T.S. Eliot

Most of us have experienced wonder at some point in our lives. It shows up as a peak moment of aliveness or awareness when we let go of all thoughts and are overcome with joy in the moment. We might be riding a horse at a full gallop, lying under a night sky full of stars, standing in a majestic redwood grove or participating in ceremony honoring the sacred.

Some call this state of wonder, a sacred, spiritual experience; and see life through these eyes. Others see and forget, or even suppress, the experience in a blink of an eye and return to a life preoccupied with other matters.

For a moment we touched a live spark, but did not fan it into fire, we let it go out. – Brother David Stendl-Rast

According to Brother David Stendl-Rast in his foreword to Meister Eckhart’s from Whom God Hid Nothing, the flash of this experience challenges us to embody, remember, and endure. He shares that “those brave ones who rise to the challenge endure the blinding vision, remember it in whatever they do, and so embody vision in action.” This “experience of communion with the Ultimate” provides them with a “sense of ultimate belonging.”

This sense of ultimate belonging is a foreign concept to many of us. We live such autonomous, fragmented lives. We have become disconnected from our inner selves and we feel as if we don’t truly belong. That inner fragmentation, disconnection, and sense of rejection (as that is what not belonging is at its core) is reflected in our outer lives. And this makes us feel very alone.

Autonomy is simply looking at life as though we are a world unto ourselves. As though we did it all by ourselves…. But the reality is, we are connected. The opposite of autonomy is gratitude. – Michael McKinney

How do we recapture this sense of wonder? How do we feel gratitude for this fleeting experience? How do we begin to embody it, so we then become the expression of wonder, of the sacred?

We start by noticing its presence. We acknowledge it. We remember it. We begin to allow it to guide us. And as we express our gratitude for it, it shows up again and again. As we attune to this, we begin to embody it; and as we embody it fully, we cannot but feel more connected to ourselves and life itself. We become the expression of it, which creates even more wonder.

Feel into how your life would be if you walked around in a perpetual state of wonder and gratitude. The word “sweet” comes to mind for me. Now feel into how others might respond to you as you express the very thing for which you are grateful. They might just see someone full of wonder and light, someone who IS gratitude.

As wonder would have it, in my inbox this morning was a post by Michael McKinney, who writes the Leadership Now blog, titled, Unconditional Gratitude.

He shares in his post, “Real gratitude doesn’t appear at moments in our life, but it is a disposition we have towards life. Real gratitude is unconditional.” And it endures, well beyond Thanksgiving.

I am grateful for my life; my work, which allows me to touch the sacred every day; my family and friends; and for you, dear reader as you grace me with your presence here.

Copyright ©2017 Soulscape Coaching LLC.

 

Intention plus gratitude: some kind of powerful

~ nicole
The real gift of gratitude is that the more grateful you are, the more present you become. – Robert Holden

As you know, I have this tendency to follow the slender threads of synchronicity that show up in my life because they always lead to something good (even if sometimes I don’t see it at first). The other week, I was on a webinar and the presenter happened to mention a private Facebook group, the Gratitude Circle, which has over 22,000 members. Intrigued, especially after noticing the transformative effects of setting gentle intentions every morning, I joined the circle and began sharing what I was grateful for each day. It was a beautiful complement to my intention setting.

As I drank my morning tea, I would pause and feel into my intention, allowing it to gently emerge and capture it on my laptop. Then I would turn my attention inward again to ask what I was grateful for that day, make my way to the Gratitude Circle and share my thoughts with a group of positive, supportive and loving people. I truly felt blessed each day; it took just a few minutes out of my day; and the benefits were tremendous. I was clear, confident, and more resilient when I set my intentions for the day. I was more open, heart-centered and compassionate when I declared my gratitude. I don’t know if you noticed, but the two balance each other beautifully, and together make for heart-centered inspiration!

Often, what I expressed gratitude for is what showed up for me after releasing my gentle intention for the day. Now that is some kind of powerful!

And what’s really fascinating is that I found myself slightly addicted (in a good way) to setting my intentions and expressing my gratitude. On the mornings when I tried to come up with an excuse (usually a lame one) not to do them, I felt strangely guilty, so I’d find a way to make time and space for them. The key to making them happen was including them in my morning routine, being disciplined, and not allowing myself any excuse (except maybe if the house was on fire).

“Cultivating gratitude has been scientifically linked to better health, less anxiety and depression,  a higher satisfaction with life, and a greater sense of joy. – Julie Santiago, The Gratitude Circle

If you are one of the brave souls who is setting gentle intentions for yourself each day, add this to your day and commit to it for one week (notice I did not say “try” this as there is no try, there’s just doing or not doing). The Gratitude Circle asks members to express gratitude every day for 60 days because we all know it takes a good while for a new habit to form, so if it feels good after the first week keep on going. I know I am….

Please share how it goes for you and if you feel different. I’d love to hear from you.

PS: Today I am grateful for everyone who reads my blog posts and is touched by them in some way. Thank you! Sending you love and light.

Copyright ©2017 Soulscape Coaching LLC.