Hi and welcome to day three of Nurtured Mama.
Today I'd like to speak a little bit about the feminine quality of receiving.
One of the things for me about pregnancy and about birth that became so apparent was just how important the feminine attributes,
The feminine qualities are not just to birth but to really living a full and balanced life.
And for myself,
Pregnancy and birth were deep teachers of the importance of really embracing these qualities,
The qualities of surrendering,
The quality of feeling,
And the quality of receiving amongst others.
And today I just wanted to talk about the importance of practicing receiving.
I recently heard a talk by a physician who helps women to become pregnant and he made a beautiful analogy about Mother Earth.
And he spoke about how there are parts of the world where we have neglected,
We haven't taken care of,
And the Earth becomes so dried up,
So depleted of its nutrients that it actually becomes unable to receive.
There are parts of the Earth that become unable to receive rain.
We can no longer grow things there because the soil is so depleted.
And I thought it was a beautiful analogy.
And then he went on to speak about us as women and how we can neglect parts of our own bodies,
Just not bringing attention to it,
Not feeling into that part of our body,
That we can actually in a way disown that part of the body.
And like Mother Earth,
We too can become hard and it becomes more difficult to receive.
And as a mother,
I have found one of the most important things is to be able to ask for,
Accept,
Be open to receiving.
We can practice this in small ways,
Starting with wherever we are at right now.
As we walk around in our day-to-day lives,
We can practice receiving the sunlight on our face,
Receiving the breeze on our skin,
Really receiving that person that opens the door for us or offers us the chair.
And it's not just about being compliant with the action,
But really delving into that quality of being able to receive what is being offered.
You may have noticed that in the first two meditations,
I talked about just feeling yourself in the place where you're sitting and being grateful for that.
Being grateful is a form of receiving.
It's an acknowledgement of the things around you that are being supportive.
So I invite you today as you go out into your day to really practice this feminine quality of receiving.
And looking to be conscious of it in different ways,
Accepting help when it's offered,
Being grateful for all the things that are around us to support us,
And really energetically taking those things in.
And now I'd like to invite you to go ahead and come into the space where you are.
You can go ahead and close your eyes if you haven't already.
Start to notice your breath and start to be aware of the abundance of air that we breathe.
Start to become aware of how this breath connects us to ourselves,
To the higher realm.
It connects us to our child growing inside of us.
This breath is on a give and take basis with the plants and the wildlife around us.
There is an abundance of this air,
Of this life force energy that most of the time we walk around without even realizing how this main support is always giving to us.
So go ahead and just really come into your breath.
Take a deep inhale,
A slow exhale,
Inviting in this energy.
Go ahead and just sit with your breath.
I'm going to be quiet for just a few moments.
See you focus on your breath.
If your thoughts start to go elsewhere,
It's okay.
It's normal.
It happens to all of us.
Just say,
Oh,
I see you have wandered.
Bring yourself back to the attention of your breath.
And again,
If you like,
You can imagine this breath literally doing a dance with the trees,
The plants,
That as you breathe in,
Plant life gives to you the leaves,
The trees,
The earth gives to you.
And as you exhale,
You give back to them without effort.
It's a perfect balance.
And thus the reminder,
The energy of doing,
Of working hard is important,
But so is the energy of being still and receiving.
And when we're able to come into balance,
Come into harmony with both of these attributes,
Giving becomes more effortless.
And in order to give,
We must be open,
Willing,
Practiced,
And receiving.
So go ahead and come back into your body and start to notice again the support beneath you.
Start to notice the clothes on your body against your skin that clothe you,
That keep you warm.
Become grateful for all of these small but immense gifts.
And know that as you practice receiving,
Practice this gratitude,
Create more of an awareness.
We make space to hold more,
To receive more.
And by doing so,
We're also able to give more.
And I invite you to go out into your day with the intention to practice receiving and all the creative ways that you can think to receive.
Thank you for joining me and we'll see you again tomorrow.
Namaste.
