From Šampiňada,
I'm Colleen Thomas.
This is Everyday Magic for Ukraine.
Today we put one foot in front of the other.
Welcome to the circle.
Welcome to Everyday Magic for Ukraine,
Where we honor Ukraine,
And we also practice self-care to stay strong as allies.
If you're new here,
Welcome.
So,
Today we're going to move from any sense of overwhelm to a sense of purpose.
And to give us a little framework for our journey,
I'd like to share some words with you from theater artist Madeline Bongard.
Madeline is,
This month,
In Kyiv,
Working on some really amazing creative projects.
And her words offer us,
Quote,
A little down-to-earthness.
Getting away from the emotional,
The sensational,
The anguishing,
And above all,
The shock.
Acknowledging the state of shock,
Whatever it might be,
And coming back to the facts.
The facts are that here in Ukraine,
I haven't seen anyone shocked.
Here,
The shock took place three years ago.
Three years ago,
Ukraine understood what Russia is.
Who Putin is.
That the United States is now allying itself with Russia is something Ukrainians have basically seen coming for at least a year.
And she goes on.
It's more of a renewal of determination to get things done that is being felt here.
No one is up in arms,
And no one is criticizing Europe in what might be seen as a,
We warned them,
Kind of way.
There is rather a renewed determination to defeat this enemy.
To collaborate with all possible supports,
And to get through this at all costs.
And that's the end of Madeline's words.
I love this.
I love what Madeline shared so much because she shared it from the ground.
And she shared it as someone who is not Ukrainian,
But who is there.
Who can reflect what she is seeing.
It mirrors so well what I'm hearing from my other friends in Ukraine.
That everything is still totally crazy.
Just going to keep going.
I'm just going to put one foot in front of the other.
I'm going to go forward knowing what I need to sustain myself.
And to be resilient.
And so today,
For our meditation,
I invite you to join me on a little walking tour.
A little journey towards our own resilience.
And so let's take a journey.
Let's go to the inner.
Let's find ourselves walking on a path.
Looking down,
Noticing your feet.
One in front of the other.
Walking down this path.
And you notice that this pathway is winding through a field.
A beautiful green field on a spring evening.
Notice the sounds you hear.
Notice the fading light.
And as you walk along this path,
You come upon a stream.
The winding stream that has wound over towards the path.
And maybe you go over to this stream.
And you dip your hands in the cool water.
Maybe you rinse your face.
And maybe you sit down next to this stream.
And in this moment of pause,
Of rest,
Something comes to your mind or your heart that is one of those overwhelming thoughts.
One of those bits of anguish or moments of confusion.
Notice how this stream has come to you,
Is here with you,
And is perhaps offering you a way to acknowledge and do a little bit of releasing of this thought or this feeling.
And just begin to play with this idea of what would it be like to maybe set this thought down into the stream.
Maybe hold this anguish in your hands and place them in the stream.
Maybe to stand in the middle of the stream with your confusion or any feelings you're having.
And notice how the stream can help you honor what you're feeling and release any part of it you're ready to let go of.
Anything you don't need.
You can allow this stream to witness what you're carrying.
And to help you release any part of it you don't want to keep carrying.
And perhaps you continue to walk.
You go back to the path.
You keep walking through the field.
You still hear the sounds of the spring evening.
And you notice the back and forth,
The motion of your feet on the earth.
You sense the vibration of the earth beneath you.
And the steady rhythmic back and forth of your feet on the ground calms you.
And as you move further down the path you see that it begins to bend to the right.
And as you round this corner,
This bend,
You begin to see kind of a red glow.
It's different than what you've been seeing.
And as you continue around the bend you realize that there is a small fire.
It's a very safe fire.
It's in a very safe clearing.
It's a small fire and it's kind of welcoming.
And you go over to it and maybe you have a seat near it.
You feel the warmth on your hands and you feel the warmth on your face.
And as you're sitting here with the fire listening to the crack and pop of the wood you notice another moment of confusion or fear.
And so you take a moment to acknowledge it.
Maybe placing your hands on your heart.
Also noticing that you're right here by this fire and perhaps this fire can witness this emotion for you.
Perhaps you could even release any bits of it you don't need to carry anymore into the fire.
And maybe you spend some time resting by the fire.
Maybe laying back on the earth and looking up at the stars which are now visible in the sky.
And you rest your body and your heart connecting to the earth beneath you feeling the earth so strong and so loving along your back,
Your spine.
And after a while you stand again and begin to follow the path once more.
And while you're walking a beautiful moon rises in the sky.
She's at the disseminating phase so she's fading,
She's waning.
Her light is waning,
Her light is releasing.
And you walk under her light feeling her light come into your skin allowing her light to lighten up.
Allowing her light to light your way on the path.
And as you walk you come to a really beautiful tree.
It's growing right next to the path.
It's so big and old that you can't even fit your arms around it.
And you notice how incredibly wise and old this tree is.
And you just feel so called to sit with it and allow yourself to lean against the tree and sit on the earth and feel down into the ground.
Allowing this tree to show you to remind you how to ground.
And as you're grounding into the earth mirroring the energy of this tree you begin to connect with the things that resource you from the inside.
The little bits of you,
Of your heart of your history,
Your ancestry maybe where you draw strength from.
The places in you that tell you you know who you are.
Your strength,
Your love your promise,
Your talents your knowing.
And you sit there under the beautiful moonlight next to this gorgeous tree soaking in soaking in from the earth and from yourself and your history,
All your strengths.
And when you feel so full that you can't absorb anymore you stand and you thank the tree and you begin walking again.
And as you walk the moon begins to set the sun begins to rise the day begins anew and as you continue on this journey you notice what resources you you notice how the wind clears your mind how the sunlight warms your body and warms your heart and how that moonlight when she comes back at night time,
How she makes you strong how she helps you have clarity.
And as you walk you can call in your allies your friends,
Your community and your body wisdom.
And after several days of walking several days of this magical journey you've been on you come to the top of a hill and you have your resources,
Your allies your supports,
Your community,
Your strength right there with you,
All in you all with you,
All around you and you can look back on this path that you've walked and you can see your journey you can see every step that you took to get to this place of being ready and you can also look forward knowing that you are fully resourced and ready to continue the journey.
You might take a breath now begin to transition out of this vision,
Out of this meditation perhaps wiggling fingers and toes or saying hello to your body in another way that feels good coming back to your space I'm so glad you were here with us to take this journey together today May we all go forward with renewed determination to build the world that we want to live in May it be so Thank you so much for being here with us today Your presence,
Your energy and your heart make all the difference in healing our world Remember to breathe today,
Breathe and expand and I hope you join us again next time Please consider inviting a friend
