Greetings from the midst of Women Naked In The Woods Retreat!
It's Sunday morning, and I woke up early to a quiet gentle rain falling on the still tender late spring leaves. Today is the third day of frolicking, singing, caressing each other, eating yummy healthy food, and being all the kinds of naked - in body and spirit - with one another. Morning yoga/movement practice starts in a few minutes.
A theme this weekend has been a conversation about the nature of time, and how we all yearn to live less hurried - and more relaxing - lives.
One of the most powerful things we can do with and for one another is to invite each other into a different way of experiencing time.
We've all had those moments - when time slows down or seems to stop for a spell. During a juicy kiss, or on a roller coaster, or while "in the flow" on a rock climb, or on a road trip. Let this email be a reminder to you that this way of experiencing time is available to you, even right now.
The way "in" to this way of experiencing time is a felt sense - an embodied belief:
"I have all the time I need"
- for this activity,
- for this sensation,
- for this conversation,
- for this act of creation.
I first experienced this kind of time about 30 years ago when I began leading earth-based rituals as a Yoruba priestess. When I'm on "ceremonial time", there is no rushing, there is no hurry. I learned from my elders that everything that happens during a ceremony can be viewed through the lens of myth, story and archetype. The ceremony will take as long as it takes, and whatever needs to happen in the process will happen. And if it doesn't need to happen, it won't happen.
These days, I have integrated this way of experiencing time and it's part of my daily life. I regularly remind myself that I have all the time I need, as if my life was a ceremony. And every day I let go of at least a few things that my ambitious task-oriented self would have liked to have accomplished, because they just don't fit. And that's OK.
Maharishikaa, a spiritual teacher of mine, once advised me to give up trying to "make my life count for something". Ever since then, I've been less worried about accomplishment, and more focused on living life as ceremony, as art - and more clear that I do truly have all the time I need.
I'm sharing this experience for you and with you. You have all the time you need. Live this moment, this day - in that way. You don't have to make your life count, it's already sacred. You matter simply because you are.
With love,
Sarah
