And just breathing into your heart,
Coming here into this moment.
As I call upon the beautiful goddess,
Thank you for this day.
Please guide and protect me as I honour your way.
Your light of protection,
I carry it strong.
No ill wishes or troubles can come along.
Nothing can harm me or weaken my soul,
Because light is my weapon and peace is my goal.
May the universe surround us all with its beautiful light and love,
To protect and shield us from above.
Surrounding us with that shield so bright,
Keeping us safe both day and night.
I invite you to breathe in that light.
Breathe in that energy from the universe.
Breathe in that love.
Taking one more nice deep breath in.
And out.
Feeling that light connecting us all here,
Keeping us safe.
As we grab our cacaos,
Holding it in cupped hands,
So that you feel the warmth around your fingers.
You feel that warmth growing through your hands,
Up your arms.
Starting to smell that beautiful aroma.
As we take a moment to pay gratitude to this beautiful medicine.
Thank you Mama Cacao,
For this divine gift that we are about to receive.
We respectfully acknowledge the traditional custodians,
Farmers,
Ancestors and families of the sacred lands from which you came.
And the lands on which we all now stand.
For me,
I thank the Yugamba people for this beautiful place in which I call home.
And together,
We pay respect to all the Elders,
All around the world,
Past,
Present and emerging.
With this cup of cacao tonight,
We open and connect to the wisdom of our hearts.
And with Mama Cacao as our guide,
We learn to say no without guilt,
Without fear,
Without explanation.
This cup is your reminder that you are allowed to protect your peace.
You are allowed to say no without apology.
Dear Mama Cacao,
Please join us here in this ritual.
And as we take our first sip together,
May you grant us the power of earth.
To support us,
To ground us and to connect us with deep,
Healthy roots to your beautiful golden core.
For the power of earth.
And as you feel that first sip entering your body,
Just breathing in that earth energy,
Visualize yourself standing barefoot on a ground,
Laying on the grass,
Hands in the soil,
Connecting with Mother Earth beneath you.
Just breathing that in.
With our second sip together,
Please Mama Cacao,
Grant us the power of air.
To breathe nourishing life into us,
So that we can inhale peace and exhale chaos.
For the power of air.
Just breathing that in,
Feeling that air energy.
Perhaps visualizing that early morning breath on a cold winter's day.
Visualize your breath when you blow on a dandelion,
Watching all those wishes floating away.
Just breathe into that air energy.
With our next sip together,
Please Mama Cacao,
Grant us the power of fire.
To ignite our passions and creativity.
To burn those bridges that no longer serve us to cross.
And to stoke the flames within,
So that nobody can put them out.
For the power of fire.
Just breathing in to that fire energy.
Visualizing that flame within you.
Allowing that flame to burn away what no longer serves.
Just breathing into it.
With our next sip together,
Please Mama Cacao,
Grant us the power of fire.
Please Mama Cacao,
Grant us the power of water.
To freely feel the ebb and flow of our true emotions.
Giving ourselves permission to feel those emotions,
So that we can cleanse ourselves with the tears that we shed.
For the power of water.
Just breathing in that water energy.
Visualizing yourself standing at the water's edge.
Allowing the waves to lap at your ankles.
The ebb,
The flow.
Allow your emotions to come and to go.
Breathing into that water energy.
With our next sip together,
Please Mama Cacao,
Grant us the power of spirit.
To listen to the whispers of wisdom from our higher selves.
To know and trust our intuition.
And to connect with those universal energies that love us and support us unconditionally.
For the power of spirit.
Just breathing into that energy.
Seeing yourself divinely connected to your higher self.
To the energies around you.
And breathe into that beautiful white light.
With these powers of earth,
Air,
Fire,
Water and spirit.
Dearest Mama Cacao,
We thank you for these gifts and these blessings.
We now take a moment to fully embody these elements.
And commit to keeping a promise to ourselves.
To consistently show up each and every day.
For ourselves.
For our healing.
For our growth.
For the power of me.
Just breathing into your heart.
Feeling that power within you.
Connecting to yourself.
On that beautiful,
Deep,
Loving level.
And as we sit here,
Continuing to sip our cacao.
Feeling the warmth in our hearts.
Allow this to anchor you here.
Use this warmth as a reminder.
That you are here,
You are alive.
And that you can say no.
Just as lovingly as you can say yes.
As you breathe into your heart,
Continue to sip your cacao.
Keeping your eyes closed as best you can.
I invite you to imagine that you are sitting at a small wooden table.
There's a soft breeze coming in through a nearby window.
Your mug of cacao is in your hands.
And you feel safe and at peace.
This safe feeling allows you to be truthful with yourself.
In front of you on the table sits a notebook.
And the page is full of small,
Simple requests.
Reminders of all the things that consume your time and energy.
Written on the page are things like all those unopened notifications.
Any demands to take on extra work.
Or messages from people who want you to fix their problems.
Each line in the notebook asks for a piece of your time.
A piece of your energy.
A piece of your care.
I want you to place one hand over your heart.
And just notice how different things that show up in your life.
The different questions.
How they feel in your body.
Sometimes they make your chest soften.
And you know that that's a gentle yes.
And then other times your body tightens.
Something inside you goes hard.
It's an honest but firm no.
On your notepad just notice some of the things that come up in your life.
Like can you rearrange your plans?
Can you always be reachable when I need you?
Can you answer my message right away?
Can you help me with this task?
Can you run this errand for me?
Just take a moment to look over the different requests that you receive in your life.
That would be in your notebook.
Allow yourself to feel the truth of each of those questions.
Each of those requests.
Notice it in your body.
Your body knows before your mind does.
Don't argue with it.
You don't have to justify it.
Just breathe into it.
And if it's a no,
Let that no exist.
Calm.
Clear.
Complete.
Just whisper no.
And take a sip of your cacao,
Letting that word land softly in your body.
No.
It's okay to say no.
Sip by sip.
No by no.
Feel yourself becoming lighter.
When you truly give yourself permission to allow yourself to feel that truth within.
And not because you've pushed anything away.
But because you've stopped abandoning yourself.
You've stopped saying yes to please others.
And you've allowed yourself to say no to what drains your peace.
Hands in my heart.
Firm as the season.
Yes is a song.
Just breathing in to that energy.
Breathing in.
And reminding yourself that your yes is sacred.
Your yes is precious.
And use it wisely.
As you sit here with cacao running through you,
Opening and warming your heart.
Feeling your feet on the ground,
Your heartbeat steady.
I want you to whisper to yourself,
My no is sacred.
My yes is precious.
Both are acts of self-love.
Just breathing in to that energy.
Noticing how much lighter you can feel when you say no from a place of peace and not fear.
When you honour your no as a true act of self-kindness.
Also notice where you may still be explaining yourself or apologising to yourself.
Or apologising for your boundaries.
I want you to remember that no is a false sentence.
You do not owe anyone an explanation or a justification.
Just breathe in to that energy.
Practise saying no in a way that serves you.
There's many different ways in which we can utilise the tools to help support saying no.
Pausing before responding.
Give yourself permission to say,
Let me think about that.
So when we take that moment instead of rushing in and just saying yes straight away.
It actually allows our body and our mind to check in with what you really want before you agree.
It gives yourself time to go,
Is this a nourishing yes?
Or is it a protective no?
That moment,
That pause helps your boundaries stay clear and calm.
We can rehearse those simple no's.
No,
Thank you.
That's it.
No,
Thank you.
Or I can't this time.
Keeping it simple so you don't have to justify.
And you can just repeat those affirmations.
My no is sacred.
My yes is precious.
I don't need to justify my boundaries.
I give myself permission to say no.
You don't have to explain yourself or apologise for your boundaries.
I give myself permission.
Content.
Happy.
I give myself permission to care about me.
To take risks,
Make mistakes and unlearn who I thought I needed to be.
I give myself permission to be my number one.
Just breathing into that energy.
Breathing into that gift that you can give yourself.
Whenever you are ready,
Just slowly and gently return into your body.
Perhaps wiggling your fingers or your toes.
Taking a moment to pay gratitude to Mama Cacao for supporting this journey.
And for yourself for showing up.
Taking one more nice deep breath into your heart.
Thank you and blessed be.
