Welcome to our connecting cacao ceremony today.
I invite you to bring presents to the process of making your chosen cacao drink to start with.
So perhaps you may be preparing a drinking cacao or brewing up a cacao husk tea and this presence also includes choosing a fair trade and sustainably sourced drinking cacao if possible.
And we want to create a clean space to both prepare and then drink our chosen cacao drink.
And remember that cacao is traditionally a bitter beverage and this bitter taste supports the fire element as described in traditional Chinese medicine.
This element is said to correspond to our heart so we're opening and nourishing the heart with this cacao ceremony today.
And I also encourage you to try your chosen drink without any sweetness but if you do need to sweeten it use a natural option like honey or maple syrup.
So let's start.
Once you have your cacao husk brew or your drinking cacao ready let's consciously pour it into our favourite cup.
Sit up,
Take a delicious deep belly breath and gently lengthen your exhalation.
I invite you to reach out for your cup and hold it in both hands.
Bring it close to your heart.
Close down your eyes and take a deep inhalation.
Smell the cacao.
And take your first delicious sip and truly let the taste linger on your tongue.
And I invite you now to take a moment to acknowledge and recognise where this cacao drink has come from.
Pause and consider the many many people involved including the generations of cacao farmers and their families.
Consider the people who harvest and dry the cacao,
The transport workers and the people involved in creating and producing the transport machines and containers.
Consider the people who design,
Produce and use thoughtful and environmentally friendly packaging.
All the beautiful packaging materials for this cacao product.
And of course consider the chocolate makers making their magic with the cacao.
So all together there's thousands,
Possibly millions of people involved in allowing you to hold this drink in your hands at this present moment.
So taking a moment to really acknowledge our interconnection,
Our connection with all these people through this cacao.
And I invite you to also acknowledge the involvement of our precious planet,
The cacao trees,
The sun,
The rain,
The tiny little flies required to pollinate the cacao flowers,
The nutrient dense soil,
The cycles,
All the many many things required to facilitate the cacao growth.
There's so much involved in allowing you to have this gift of cacao in your hands.
I invite you to take another breath in,
A conscious breath in and allow your heart to fill with gratitude.
And as you breathe out send gratitude to the thousands,
Possibly millions of people and to our precious planet all involved in allowing you the gift of this cacao drink in your hands today.
Give thanks.
And as you continue to drink your drink I invite you to think of three more things you're grateful for today,
Perhaps three big things or three small things.
Remember the small things are things that we often forget about or take for granted.
It may be something as precious and simple as having two hands able to grasp and hold this cup of drinking cacao or cacao husk tea.
Just visualising three things you're grateful for right now.
Again breathing in allow your heart to fill with gratitude and as you breathe out send gratitude and acknowledgement out to these three things that you're grateful for today.
And I invite you to finish with setting an intention for your day or perhaps setting an intention for the meditation or mindful movement practice that you plan to follow on with from this cacao practice.
And when you set your intention you might find this poem helpful,
This beautiful poem by an Australian poet called Lunig.
God help us to live slowly,
To move simply,
To look softly,
To allow emptiness,
To let the heart create for us.
Amen.
And as we come towards the end of our cacao practice today you might like to gently start to reactivate,
To re-energise your body a little further with a deeper breath or two,
A wiggle of the fingers,
The toes,
A gentle stretch.
You might like to give yourself a hug and I wish you all the best with your practice.
Thank you.
