My family and I went out to Salem, Massachusetts last month, and to be honest, I just wanted to be at the ocean side.
So that is what we did (and everything else was overpriced anyway).
While at the ocean my children and I looked specifically for quartz, of which I found many, but we also found this fascinating rock, which I cannot seem to get enough off. The light and dark of it is fascinating to me.
Life is so hard, and as the Buddhists will say, we cause most of our suffering from clinging to our attachments and our own suffering. We don't surrender through the suffering, we hold it close to us like a tattered blanket and let it define us. As someone who has suffered from chronic depression since she was 8 years old, I can honestly say that rocks are comforting.
Life is about change, and you would think that rocks, to me, would be about how they are something that doesn't change. But they do change! They wear down, you can smash them, you can grind them up. Nature will do all of these things naturally. The stone above is smooth, but from water. It didn't come off it's original place of rest smooth like this! Rather, the ocean tumbled it along, easing the sharp edges and wearing it down until it came to rest on a little beach in Salem, Massachusetts that was covered in stones and pebbles.
Why does it give me comfort?
Because of the idea of rolling rocks. Of our souls being a rock that is tumbled through life, yet we still keep the colors we had at the beginning of our life. Our shape changes, and perhaps we lose some of ourselves, but we gain a new understanding of where we are strong inside and where we are weak.
Life is like the ocean, rising and falling with waves and currents. Sometimes at ease and gentle, sometimes with storms that rise out of almost nowhere. Sometimes we see the storms coming and we just cannot swim fast enough to get out of the way. Sometimes we are able to dive down below the waves and hold on fast until it passes.
Rocks, trees, the earth itself and the ocean. These are things we can touch and feel. The rocks and trees are decades to thousands of years old (if not older depending on the object). This is an amazing thing to realize and meditate on.
Think about the problems that you had last year, or even ten years ago. Have they resolved? I bet many of them have. Some of them are even funny now.
Our spirits are old, as old as the stars. Our bodies share star dust. This life is fleeting and rocks, the earth, the ocean and trees tell us to slow down, feel the rhythm of the earth. Feel the waves and listen to them crash on the beach over and over again. Watch the trees sway in the breeze and sway with them. Live in the moment, because the past is gone and future is not in our control. Live in the moment. Feel that moment, let the past go and the future go and surrender to that moment. What you feel isn't depression or anxiety when you do, but peace. Not happiness or joy, but a sense of being and belonging.
It's really quite amazing.
So mote it be.
Happy Monday! (or not) ☺
What a doozy this weekend was for me, how was it for you? Celebrating Lammas/Lughnasadh on Sunday was heavenly, if hot (and we had a few bees attacking people, unfortunately). But it was so nice to be around people that are so positive, kind and open.
But what I wanted to talk about today, in particular, was the fact of depression.
There are so many of us that carry it around and battle it. I know that I have since I was around 8 years old, and I pray that my daughters do not feel that depression at that age and wish they were dead. Horrible feelings.
But as I've gotten older, I've come to realize a few things.
1) We can survive almost anything.
2) We are stronger when we realize we can survive anything.
3) It is possible to not be ruled by depression.
I'm not saying it's easy, and it can take a LOT of work. But you can go from days when you can barely get out of bed and everything sets you off to either tears or anxiety laced anger (basis is often in depression though for me), to feeling that depression rising but realizing that your energy vibration is too high for it to overcome.
Let me tell you how that works.
First of all, gemstones are your friends. Charge them during the full moon, place the intention to either drain your depression away, or to raise your energy so that you can rise above it. Because depression is kind of like quicksand, this isn't about struggling with it or fighting it. It's about accepting it as part of who you are and the scars that we have on our souls from this life and past lives. It is about feeling compassion for yourself and learning ways to keep moving, even when you feel like your feet have turned to led. And sometimes it is letting yourself sleep for a day or two and taking that time to hug that echo of the person inside that is hurting and needs that love he/she didn't get.
I know, it sounds like a lot, but it is doable. This is something you can work on with your therapist and, in particular, it is something you can work on your own day after day.
1) Mindfulness.
This is a great tool because it keeps you from dwelling. Have you ever heard the story about how we each have two wolves inside us, one is bad and the other is good. The one that is strongest is the one we feed. So if we focus on the bad thoughts and give energy to those bad ideas, we are feeding the bad wolf. If we focus on compassion and love for that wounded part of ourselves, we feed the good wolf and break the cycle of depressive thoughts. Mindfulness does this by helping you focus on one thing.
Breath.
A footstep at a time.
Tapping.
Simple things to draw you into the present with kindness and compassion. Literally fueling a feeling of kindness and compassion while you do this.
2) Energy-work.
This is another great tool that allows us to learn to manipulate the energy in our body. We can learn to do reiki self healing sessions and the positive regard we continue to have for ourselves is something that is nothing but good when it comes to depression. A simple way of doing a quick Reiki session is as follows:
Breathing slow and deep, make sure your feet are flat on the floor and your hands are on either knee/leg and relaxed.
Starting from the top of your head, you are going to visualize (with the intent to heal yourself and be kind to yourself) a white light coming down and washing over the top of your head. Slowly it comes down, inch by inch. This is the light of the universe that is a healing light. It is simply going to go down each of your chakras and provide loving healing to wherever it needs to go. So keep visualizing this white light as it comes down over your third eye, between your eyes just above your eyebrows. Perhaps it turns purple when it reaches this point.
As it continues to go down, remember to be kind and love any emotions that come up. Don't worry about thoughts, just lovingly let them go, no matter how often they come up.
The light will continue to come down over your face and down your throat where it may turn blue. Allow it to continue, loving yourself, hugging yourself as it goes over your heart chakra and turns green, than your solar plexus just above your navel it will turn yellow. Than orange below your naval and finally red at the base of your spine and lower.
This is something you can do every day. You don't have to visualize these colors, and if you just feel connected to the light going down that is perfect as well.
The training that you do with these two exercises can break the hold that depression has on you. Perhaps you will never be cured, I know that I am not, especially around my moon days. But you can learn to love yourself unconditionally, and when you do that you can learn to love others unconditionally as well.
You don't have to do them every day, I don't always manage too, though I do try. But just every other day can make such a big difference.
You are not alone in your depression.
May your brón (sadness) be lifted
And your soul's energy be raised
For we are not meant to suffer
But to evolve and to love.
Blessed Be
So Mote It Be.
Be Well!
Talia Ravenspath
