Hello Hedge Schoolers,
The wintery edge greets me every morning as I step outside. The cold cutting to the bone, a sign of nature's deep inner work. Such a deep retreat is a reset. A time to slow down. A time to trim back the branches of life. A time to stoke the inner fire. Personally, I find myself coming back to the little things. The micro-practices that have always provided the oxygen mask when a life of doing threatens to strangle me with overwhelm. These daily tending practices are fractals. Deliberately small in nature, but when amplified over time covers much distance. Daily steps. Daily reverence whilst sitting at the altar of you.
The Altar of You
I've been reflecting on my journey in this space deeply as of late. Two edits into a book manuscript have raised the overwhelm. And it is to my daily practices I have turned. To anchor myself in the truth that a threshold beckons. I must prepare energetically through doing and non-doing. Harmony is the name of the game.
Am I getting enough rest?
Am I allowing myself to be trapped in the grooves of story?
Can I transmute this energy?
My practices are broad. Simple. Sustainable. It is not a list of things to do but a suite of reverent rituals that I use to pray at my own altar.
Movement
This is my anchor practice. When thoughts and emotions cloud my inner landscape, I get into my body. Thoughts and emotions are energy and so I use the crucible of movement to move any stagnant energy. At the end of a run or workout, the energy of these thoughts and emotions has been transmuted. I've lit them up. Kindling for diving deeper into the heart of the matter. What is the essence of the energy behind them? Are they true? Are they serving me? I've always found movement to be the fire I need to burn off the dross of old narratives. Everything is energy, so why not move with it instead of against it.
Meditation
To counterbalance this, I always meditate after exercise. I have better material to work with as I sit in deep reverence. Sometimes I meditate with a mantra. Other times I focus on a glyph or my breath. I allow my meditation practice to emerge as it needs. It is this stillness that allows me to sit in the moments that have been gifted to me.
Nature
I sit in nature every day. My nature needs to meet nature. Under a canopy of a tree, in big nature, in my backyard, it doesn't matter. Nature is the centrepiece of my altar and I am learning to surrender more and more to the magnificent counsel of nature. It grounds me in the magnificence of my life. So much beauty in the detail.
Sunlight
This goes hand in hand with nature visits. We are beings of light. Light provides life. So I make sure that I get my fill every day. It is too easy to sit inside in comfort all day. But it doesn't serve.
Read
There are so many songs sung alive in the books I read. Poetry. Old wisdom. New wisdom. Rich questions. Better questions. I am a voracious reader. Always have been. Always will be.
Five-minute poem
Channeling my inner William Stafford, I have committed to writing daily poems. Writing poetry grounds me in moments. I am the channel for spirit to meet soul. And these are the songs that sung through me when I sit in those moments.
Shadow work
I chart this to ensure that I am living in integrity. It is so easy to speak with two faces. My shadow work is to do with the reverence of the sacred. I have spoken openly about this here and I am so proud of my work in this space. I am welcoming home all of the elements of me.
Music
Playing music. Listening to music. Singing. It doesn't matter. Music is always felt in our bones and I just love the way that music captures me in a trance. Such an ancient dance.
The point of it all
The daily practices are a deliberate way of meeting myself every day. No matter what state that is. Daily practices provide anchor points to check-in. A recognition and acknowledgment that I will ebb and flow. Some days will be up. Some will be down. It doesn't matter, for nothing is permanent. The daily practices become a lighthouse for all conditions. Helping me stand up and show up every day.
What are your daily practices?
Till next week,
Steve
The Forgotten Worship: The Altar of You