March Message from Amber:
Rebirth and Renewal – Taking time to go deeper to restore your strength.
As I lay here staring up at the sky, and the sun is setting on this most beautiful beach in Costa Rica, I can see the planets that are aligning and are shining very brightly in the sky. Venus and Jupiter are in direct alignment with the setting sun and the moon in the sky right now. It is a sliver of the moon, a new moon. Once again welcoming the energy of change to our awareness. For the last week I have been preparing to take retreat for myself. It is time for me to enter a space of silence and reflection, to nurture myself. Many of the people I help are tired and worn down, having worked so hard, relentlessly for years, taking care of their families, making others a priority, they start to burn out. As we start to burn out, our health recedes.
In preventative medicine It is our goal to take care of the body in a way that is mindful and present to providing the mind, body, and spirit with the nourishment it needs to stay strong and not fall into illness or dis-ease. Although it seems like common sense, it is challenging for everyone to do this. Usually, it takes us hitting a wall before we are ready to make major change.
I encourage you to not allow yourself to hit that wall, I encourage you to listen to your body, mind and soul and rest when it calls for resting. My soul is calling for rest and it is timed perfectly with the coming of Spring! The spring equinox is March 20th, ushering in a time of awakening and rebirth. It occurs when the sun moves directly above the equator and daylight and darkness become equal in length. From this day forward the time of light and sun increases until the Summer Solstice, when it begins to go inward again. It is a time of fertility! But in order to experience that growth and to burst through the soil, in order to blossom and be fertile, it requires energy. One of my dear friends and an incredible Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, Dr. Kathy Wang, once told me that there are a higher percentage of deaths leading into Spring because it takes a lot of Chi to push through into the Spring wood energy.
It is important that we give our bodies rest, and I’ve been feeling that calling very strongly. So, I am committed to resting over the next couple of weeks and I invite you to do the same. As we approach Spring, take a small retreat, take a vacation, put your computer and phone away, disconnect from your electronics, find a sense of peace, recommit to your meditation practice, or choose to go into silence.
During this rest I am taking I have decided to take a minimum of 3 days to be alone, only with myself to do a silent retreat. No speaking, journaling, listening to music, watching movies, reading books. Allowing myself to truly be undistracted and in silence. I will be spending time in nature, preparing food, meditating, and just being.
I don’t believe I’ve ever NOT spoken for more than a couple of hours since I was an infant and started talking. So, this will be an interesting experiment and experience! You are welcome to join me in any way that feels fulfilling and possible for you. Whether it is disconnecting from electronics, or taking a vow of silence for a couple of hours, or maybe you are able to venture out and find a place of solitude to be alone for a day or 2. Let’s gather our energy, lets restore our Chi, return to ourselves, so that we may break through the surface of the dirt and grow strong, grow tall, grow beautifully, to blossom and serve our purpose and offer the gifts we are meant to offer on this planet. Offering our gifts from a place of strength (rather than from a place of emptiness) will be more fulfilling for us, more nourishing for others, and will allow us to continue on in lightness and grace.