APRIL TOPICS
1) Grounding techniques: this can be rituals, objects, people, anything! How do you ground yourself when you feel untethered?
"If it's day time, I go out to my back garden and look at what has sprouted, what birds are chirping or quarrelling, what squirrel is crashing their party. I make sure to stand on the exposed earth, and greet the cherry tree in the back, and the pine tree in the neighbour's yard beyond. Then back inside to join Eliott, my 4 year-old-son, in his play, if he'll allow me. If it's night time, and the sky is dark, i look for the moon, the stars and the constellations. In the warmer months, i stand there in the darkened garden, listening to earthworms gently rustling in and out of the earth, like miniature whales surfacing the water." Serene Daoud
"I usually try to change my environment; to take a walk, or to do my yoga practice (inverting my body is like a pill for groundedness for me). Other times, I just try to slow down, take a few breaths and try to remember that I am not a victim of time." AG
2) Walking to the beat of your own heart: how did your reality change? What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
"There is no ground beneath my feet anymore, only a tightrope,and i must walk it, for what seems to be miles and miles, and year upon year; sometimes with things piled on my back, with my son in my arms, and with my eyes closed, but my heart wide open." Serene Daoud
"I've always walked to the beat of my heart, which has caused many problems in general. In the past, I would divide myself into different pieces so my psyche was perpetually fissured. Nowadays, I don't have to do that. I try to honour what my heart and body tells me and it actually makes things much easier. Things I ask for come easily, and I see each difficulty as a road of transformation in which I emerge with more and more superpowers if I manage to overcome them." AG
3) Strength-building for the soul / warrior-suit donning > what feeds you, what makes you feel strong on the inside ('empowered')?
"The hollow silent place that I always find in the center of the ever-spinning wheel of my heart-mind. It's an emptiness that is not empty because of a lack of something, but of space being itself unhindered. " Serene Daoud
"Being with my soul twin, knowing I am supported in everything I do and that he has my back. What feeds me is honouring my soul self, with its desires and needs. Helping to empower others helps to empower me, because I also find my voice becomes clearer." AG
4) Childhood perceptions and realities: imaginary friends, make-believe worlds, belief systems
"When I was 3 or 4 I was sure I knew how to levitate, and I would jump on the bed and try to hover. I knew how to do it, but it wouldn't work, and by the time I was 7 I began to doubt this certitude." Serene Daoud.
"I used to think that I only had a finite amount of words, and if I spoke I would run out of them by the time I was an adult, so I never spoke. I would say spells to myself after I spoke because I believed that words had immeasurable power and I would do myself harm if I said something false. I also believed my stuffed animals had souls and their bodies grew heavy if I paid them more attention. Lastly, I thought I could turn invisible if I willed it hard enough and adults wouldn't be able to see me. Needless to say I had a lot of strange beliefs and summarizing them is hard." AG
5) Building your sacred space: Where do you feel the safest? Is this a space you go to or a space you have created? Do you use any specific objects, scents, colours, light? Do you practice specific rituals within this space? (by rituals, I also mean drawing / yoga / art-making / meditating)
"My sacred place is in the mind that is within my heart, not the one in my head. And it's actually a desert. the silence is profoundly deep and anyone is welcome." Serene Daoud
"I don't have a sacred space but the one I bring with me. It is more like a state of mind I bring with me." AG
6) Defences and Shields: these can be shields of light as well. How do you deal with it when you feel attacked? Sometimes it's necessary to put up a shield, but other times, it's more effective to plant seeds of light. Tell us about what worked for you.
"After years of perfecting putting up shields, it did a very good job of keeping everyone out, and keeping me in,, even when I wanted out. Now I find if I'm truthful to myself in the moment of encountering someone else's shield (which is often appears to be like an attack) then that truthfulness neutralizes all shields, mine included, so there's nothing to attack and nothing to shield. " Serene Daoud.
"I find conflict usually breeds more conflict, and I am deftly afraid of conflict. I am not one who thinks of people as attackers or enemies, so it is sometimes hard for me to see that someone may not mean me well. I just try to be true to me, and trust that will keep me safe. It's not much, but it works." AG
