Regenerative Rhythms + Soul Remembering

Solstice greetings Sun beings,

As the Sun approaches it's peak for the light half of the year, we are ushered to a threshold- a threshold drenched in warmth, radiance, pause, potential, and power. How we hold and harness that matters, ripples out, has implications for not just ourselves but the greater web of life to which we belong.

Remembering this is a coming home, a bone knowing; embodying this is life affirming, revitalizing to the soul (that unique ray of the infinite that shines through you).

However, it is not alway easy.

I have struggled to hold and harness the inherent power and potential within me, the sun, out of fear, shame, conditioning, rootlessness, straight up physiological nervous system bracing, and I know I'm not the only one. And, I now know, it's not because there's anything fundamentally wrong with me.

Also, by power, I mean the life force within us that thrives in power with v. power over.

We're alive and have been shaped by experiences, culture, relationships, ancestors, and systems. We've adapted the best way we know how based on what we've had access to (this greatly varies depending on race, gender, socioeconomic status, sexuality, education, and other identities and circumstances). At times, I have had to diminish the power and potential within me to ensure relative safety, connection, and survival, maybe you have too. 

However, this shaping is not meant to last forever, and ultimately, no longer works because it's not regenerative, it does not breed new life, it hinders it; it is not satisfying nor fulfilling; it is not aligned with my values (what about you?); it does not allow me to be all of me; it does not move the dial toward a more loving, caring, life-affirming, relational, rooted, meaningful existence.

AND, it can change, it gets to change, it must eventually change.

Our wise and well ancestors, the Earth, the Cosmos, know without a doubt that we are all interconnected and move through cycles of change. To ignore this, forget this, disconnect from this creates a rootlessness, an insatiable hunger for meaning, a lingering ache, a felt dissonance, an uncomfortable stuckness, a crippling loneliness.

Twentieth century philosopher, Martin Heidegger talks about the term "rootlessness." Rootlessness being a problem of modernity that fuels anxiety. I also sense it is a source of shame, festering internal wounds, fragmented sense of self, overall disconnect, chronic disorientation, oppressive perspectives and beliefs, environmental calamity, and adjacent ailments. Carl Jung also talks about rootlessness as a type of soul sickness due to lack of meaning and homelessness.

This rootlessness is an extension of systems and culture (industrialization, colonialism, capitalism, consumerism, extractivism, dogmatic religion, hegemony, etc.). If you are reading this, you were likely born into these systems; there wasn't much choice. 

And whether intentional or not (I'm not interested in debating that) these things impact us. They diminish our power and potential and separate us from our regenerative rhythms. They "other" anything that is not human and squeeze us into tiny boxes called cultural norms.

However, but, there's more...

We can come back into relationship with other ways of seeing and being, we can remember, we can unlearn and relearn, we can change.

Our existence is an evolution and constellation of environment, ecology, the elements, innate intelligence, spirit (insert whatever word works for you) which have continuously consumed and composted life into new life, over and over again. We are held by a diverse, wise architecture, threaded with meaning and the many shapes of home and the sacred-

the rotted and decayed structures of snails, crabs, butterflies, foxes, deer, nuts, apples, bones, sacred sites, ancestral wisdom, ancient knowing turned into soil and water, into substance we consume, into our bodies. 

We are the byproduct of sunlight, liquid gold turned into vitamin d by our bodies, nourished by plants that photosynthesize.

Of course our bones remember the ancient ways of collaboration, connection, and cooperation.

Of course our vitality is dependent on such things.

Of course our souls are hungry for this remembrance whether conscious, subconscious, or unconscious.  

We are beholden to the Sun (symbolic of the Soul in Vedic Astrology) and its rhythms for flourishing. When we forget this, we tend to not feel well, more disconnected, like something is always off. The same could be said of our relationship to soul- when we are no longer tuned in to this deep, unique, intelligent, universal blueprint within us, we sense something is missing.

When we celebrate the Solstice or the like, we remember and reclaim a bone knowing and nurture the souls intrinsic vitality- a flame always there, more robust and available through intention and attention; through regenerative rhythms and nature- we are rhythm and nature in human form.

And celebration is a conversation, a two way street- it is not just us tending to Summer Solstice but letting it tend us. I wonder what happens inside of you when you sense, feel, imagine the warmth and radiance of the sun tending you, ripening what you need and decaying what has become a burden, a barrier to your souls becoming, to your rootedness, to your remembering.

This is the pulse of vitality- being rooted in regenerative rhythms, relational wisdom, and the remembrance of soul and spirit.

The upcoming Solstice gathering and other tendrils offered through Inner Woven seek to tend to this rootedness in validating, digestible ways that are not overwhelming. 

I don't claim to have all the answers (please walk in the other direction if someone does), I do claim to be devoted to truth, regenerative rhythms, and remembrance.

Kindly join us in this remembering? <3

Practices and concepts to connect with from your home in honor of the Summer Solstice (engage with what makes your ears perk up, leave the rest): 

• The seasonal cycles/rhythms can be found inside of us, in our very breath. There is a natural pause at the bottom of the exhale (Winter Solstice), and top of the inhale (Summer Solstice). Additionally, Solstice means to stand still. Therefore, we find ourselves in a cycle of pause. What does the invitation to pause mean, look like, feel like for you right now? How might you be shaped by pause? If there is resistance to pause, what do you make of that?

• Sense, feel, and imagine the Sun in its exaltation, the warmth and radiance rising and spreading within you; now feel or imagine a timeless continuity to something ancient, wise, and rooted within and around you. Linger there, let in 2% more of this goodness.

• What is ripening? What are you ready for? If you could write the next chapter, how would it go?

• What wants to wither and decay, to make space for the ripeness (thoughts, habits, behaviors, beliefs, patterns, relationships, etc. that weigh you down)?

• What is the next smallest action you can take to honor the answers you've excavated?

  • Tip- check in and make sure it feels doable, if it feels overwhelming, chunk it down into an even smaller step (e.g. instead of organizing the whole house, maybe just one room or one bin)

• How would it feel to embrace and hold a few more molecules of your inherent power and potential? (if your power and potential had a color or quality, what would it be? Then sense, feel, imagine the pores of your skin soaking in just a few more molecules of that color or quality as you steady your breath, sit in that for a little longer that you think you should, what wants to happen from this place).

• Lastly, a practical Ayurveda scoop for courting Summer- stay hydrated, stay cool, stay compassionate. The fire element is prominent this time of year, which can lead to burn out, excessive internal heat, and harshness/judgement/criticism. For the sank of brevity, I am not going to list out cooling foods and beverages but you can easily find those things online if you feel keen.

xxx Ashlyn