Purpose Starts With A Feeling

In times of great upheaval, we can feel strong shifts in our purpose and direction in life.

When things are especially tumultuous we can feel as if that purpose is challenged, obscured, or even lost. Like a fragile seed of inspiration being blown around by not so subtle winds.

It is usually during these times that we are being asked to slow down, take stock, and entertain a deeper level of self reflection than before.

Nature has this uncanny ability to model for us the way seasons of change work.

As spring approaches, I notice layers of hibernation, heaviness, even grief shedding, soft, gentle, new green sprouts emerging, and a renewed energy of creativity.

Today’s full moon in Swati Nakshaktra is symbolized by the image of a fragile new green sprout and represents the power of the wind to scatter.

With this full moon we might feel restless about the changes underway, feel insecure about our choices or the opportunities available, as well as an overwhelm of new creative energy.

This full moon is asking us to reflect on how grounded in ourselves we are and to hold a steadiness for the newness underway. Part of Swati’s power is to “scatter like the wind”, in Ayurveda it would be likened to an over abundance of Vatta (Air/Wind) energy, but also indicates renewed energy, momentum, inspiration, and a creative mind.

When this energy within us is in balance we feel a renewed sense of inspiration, motivation and change that feels liberating. If we are still clinging to old ideas about how we grow, or feel ungrounded in ourselves, this cosmic push might feel overly intense, straining, stressful and overwhelming.

The practice here to help you balance is to engage with the practices and healing tools that ground you. Feel your feet touch the earth, get rooted in yourself, and feel the essence of who you are through your body and breath. Notice what ideas are here that feel new, but also solid, seeded, and sustainable.

The ideas that you will follow through on, and that will support your life and work the most, will be a result of your natural creative essence.

For those in the healing and multi-creative entrepreneurial spaces you may be seeing a pivotal moment of change in your work and vision. A new direction may be presenting itself that feels both subtle and poignant at the same time. You may be asking yourself: “What do I really want to put my creative energy into?”

The challenges that arise for you will also bring the process that is needed to unearth those things that for you will be more fulfilling and authentic. The question is: How much are you in touch with yourself and are you able to trust the process even when outcomes aren’t guaranteed?

This pressure cooker energy we’ve had all of April is shifting our focus and direction and with more fiery energy ahead (Mars moving into Aries on May 11th) it can indicate a strong tendency to push ahead without staying present to your needs.

One of the biggest shifts I see my clients making right now is how they handle stress.

We help ourselves through big changes when we learn to process stress in a way the yields greater self-awareness and agency.

Part of this process is noticing our level of expectation and impatience. Stress causes an uncomfortable tendency to push ahead without looking first. At the edge of burnout we can feel like the only option is to push ahead, do more, try harder, try again. Often this presents a cycle of repeating the same pattern of over-doing and undervaluing our deeper needs.

When you are at the edge of expansion stress, challenge, and burnout will present themselves. This is your invitation to slow down and get in touch with what is really here for you.

We all have to learn how to not bulldoze through the stress.

Usually what we are learning is how not to avoid the fears underneath. Studying yourself at the edge of impulse to meet yourself in the moment is a practice. It offers awareness, compassion, and understanding in order to implement an entirely new way of being in the world.

When you find yourself in a pattern of pushing - notice what are you pushing up against? What are you trying to force? Is there an emotion here with you?

Can you notice what you might be trying to protect yourself from feeling?

When you know you can’t keep going with the way things are and the path ahead isn’t quite sturdy enough for you to fully trust it completely, this is your invitation to slow down, connect inward and LISTEN.

Reroute your attention to yourself. Embrace your energy instead. Release the compulsion to control the external circumstances.

It is a moment of letting go. A moment to find flexibilty despite the urge to hold on tighter. A moment to remember what gentle with yourself feels like.

You deserve a tantrum every now and again. Let yourself feel what needs to be felt. Get in touch with what your motivations actually are.

Is urgency the driver? Are you avoiding out of fear?   Are your choices rooted in self-trust or coming from a place of scarcity?

Get back to neutral.

Get back to yourself.

A more self honoring choice is here for you.

One that will carry you much farther than a short term quick fix.

Yours for the journey,

Andrea