Warm Equinox Blessings to you Dear Friends!
Hello Again! I made a brief reappearance last spring, after the birth of my daughter in February, and then was called away and inward again. In the early months after she was born, I really struggled with the surrender of "doing nothing" as I stayed home and took care of her and so I wound up diving back into my healing work before I was ready.
It is a vulnerable time to bring a baby into the world, things often feel uncertain and many of us feel helpless at times. Between talk of climate crisis, desperate acts of violence and rising political tensions, it has been challenging for me to sit back and feel like I was "doing nothing" (a complete nontruth that is very common for new mothers) when it feels like the world could use my support.
I felt so driven by my need to be helping the world that I didn't care that I was too sleep-deprived to hold space for anyone but my new baby and refused to accept that her early bedtime meant I couldn't go out in the evenings at first to do my usual thing. But in reality it just didn't work for us and so I took a second babymoon break and another pause from my offerings over the summer.
These first six months of motherhood have been so full of deep surrender, letting go of my plans every single day to open to the unexpected beauty of the actual moment, to finding how the sacred and spiritual reside within the completely mundane and to digging down so so deeply to find my own strength and power while being sleep-deprived, constantly emotionally wrung out and giving away almost all of my energy to this tiny human every day. And yet it is so very beautiful and I have become so grateful for the way being her mama pulls me back down to earth again and again in the deepest and sweetest surrender.
Big things are happening all around me as always and also, I feel that being present here with myself and my daughter is some of the best medicine I can offer to the world right now...
So I hope that you had a nourishing and peaceful summer and that you are transitioning into autumn with ease as you also navigate any difficult feelings you may have around what is happening in this time. I am feeling really appreciative of autumn this year. I love the cooling temperatures, the change in the air and the sound of the rain gently falling. All of these things help anchor me into presence.
Every year as summer winds down I allow myself to grieve the sun’s warmth as it drifts father away and I simultaneously feel myself beginning to bring my focus from the outside world into my inner world. This year I am diving even deeper into myself, feeling out what I wish to offer to the world in this time, in what ways I can be of service while caring for my little one.
Autumn calls me back to myself, to the comfort of routine and ritual, peaceful rainy walks, warm food and comfy cozy clothes. I love the invitation of autumn to slow down as the weather calls us indoors to rest. Autumn has much to teach us about transition and letting go as we move along in our annual cycle of death and rebirth.
This time of year feels SO perfect to me to settle in to warm and cozy spaces with all of you to share peaceful, simple, sacred, heart-centered time together. It feels so nourishing to me when our community comes together with intention. ❤️✨🎶
I am going to be resuming a few monthly offerings of sound healing and ceremony, bringing intention, music, beauty and a quiet space for people to be with themselves and to practice being present with what is happening within their bodies, minds and hearts in the moment. This practice feels so vital to me as this moment is the only time and place where we can actually do anything to help bring change!
I hope to connect with you at a sound bath or ceremony this autumn!
Wishing you joy, the nourishment of early-autumn sunshine on your skin and the feel of the solid earth under your feet,
Marissa Leigh