Romeo, Romeo...
Buckle up for the boomerang effect of March.
March is a traditionally fickle month. Winter weather still bites, yet hope of Spring emerges. It’s a month of dancing between the worlds. Yet this March is revealing itself to be more of a dance than usual. Astrologically we find ourselves inside the catalytic window of eclipse season, Mercury Retrograde, and heightened lunar cycle shenanigans. But we also find ourselves inside the recent bombing of Iran, and the inevitable geo political ripple effect of that event. It feels as if we’re all walking on eggshells; half inhales stuck in the chest, still awaiting permission for a mystery date exhale down the road.
How do we function in this space? How do we anchor our energy and still choose life?
My answer today, is the same answer I’ve practiced for years:
Prayer, ritual, nature, embodiment. If you can do all 4 at the same time even better.
The combination of these 4 practices is powerful because it helps to externalize energy and move it through the body. When the energy of fear stays trapped inside, we begin to lose access to higher cognitive functioning and the flow of health in our body. In short, we move out of empowerment and into a frozen state. In that frozen state we become much easier to be controlled and manipulated. When we consciously choose to move fear, or other challenging emotions, through the body, then we regain access to our innate resiliency and adaptability. We also put ourselves in the way of love, joy, peace and protection. And isn’t that what we all want anyways?
Whether you approach life through the lens of Spirit or Science, inevitably the technology of prayer, ritual, nature and embodiment all point to one thing: everything is energy. We are energy interacting with the other energy around us on a daily basis. What we put out, always returns. Inside of heightened collective experience, such as our current state of affairs, I often find that the boomerang effect of energy happens at an accelerated rate…if you are paying attention. Prayer, ritual, nature and embodiment are practices that bring us into the present moment. This in turn, aids our ability to pick up on life’s clues and communications with us in real time, often guiding our next right step of action.
Below is my recent anecdotal evidence of these energetic principles in motion:
This week I’m in NYC, a city that requires you to anchor your energy or perish. I happen to thrive in urban spaces, so the energetic assignment of NYC thrills me. And yet, there are still some destabilizing events personally and collectively that require my attention. Within an hour of hearing about Iran, I immediately made a beeline for the Hudson River. I knew people would be reaching out to me for support, and in order to stay anchored in Self, I went straight into ritual mode.
I took 3 Euro coin from my purse, representing abundance and prosperity, and began speaking prayers into each coin. When I counsel clients on how to do ritual, I often encourage them to find a space in nature that symbolizes the transformation they’re looking to experience. If you need something to root or stabilize, go to your favorite tree. If you need to release or complete something, use fire. Water, however, is for swift, flowing movement of energy and fulfillment of prayers.
The first two coins I used to speak prayers of safety into. I prayed for collective safety of the Middle East. I prayed for the collective safety of all my friends and family. Then I prayed for my own safety with upcoming international travel. I blew my prayers into the coins and then tossed the coins into the river to activate the energy of ABUNDANT, FLOWING, SAFETY & PROTECTION. This wasn’t half-hearted. This was intentional, and I used my whole body. As a result, I immediately felt more peaceful and grounded in my body after I released the coins. But, there was still one coin left.
I found myself staring at the coin, then staring at the Statue of Liberty out in the distance. I could pray for freedom, but that didn’t feel right. I took a breath, and then decided to pray for Love. Because Love is the only frequency that can destroy fear. So, in total stream of consciousness, I stood there praying for every form of Love I could imagine. When I felt complete, I took one more intentional breath, blew it into my coin, and then tossed it into the Hudson.
There was no need to linger by the water. I knew I had done my part. When we pray or make ritual offerings to life it is important to do everything from the heart, but it is equally important to LET GO afterwards. We do not get to dictate the details of how energy comes back to us, or how a prayer gets answered. We must simply rest in the awareness that it will.
So, I followed my impulse to start walking to my favorite health food store in the West Village. If you’ve ever been to Elm Drug + Wellness then you know this place is a portal. Every employee and customer seems to have a sacred message to share. On the outside it looks like people are grocery shopping, but for those with eyes to see and ears to hear, there’s a deeper medicine being exchanged.
Well, just 20min after tossing my prayer for Love into the Hudson River, I found myself at Elm opening the door for a man as we were both walking through the entrance. For several minutes we circled each other in the store, until we eventually bumped into each other and struck up conversation. There was a light about him, and I could tell he saw that same light in me. On the surface we were having a conversation about health and wellness, but on a deeper level there was a heart connection forming. At some point he stopped talking to pause and say, “Oh by the way, my name is Romeo.”
I about peed my pants.
Of course that’s his fucking name. Romeo.
I prayed for Love and God sent me Romeo.
Now, my immediate thought was not, “oh, this is my future husband!” No, my thought was, “this is proof that life is listening.” In other words, I prayed for Love, and life sent me back a symbol of Love that I would recognize. It came in the form of a name, but often life’s synchronicities come in the form of songs or license plates with words that hold significance. Sometimes it’s overhearing a conversation in line at the grocery store, where a random stranger says something you secretly needed to hear that day.
However life decides to communicate isn’t the point. The point is, that if we initiate a dialogue, we will get feedback. Ask, and it is given. When life communicates with us it is the reminder that we are not alone, and often the contrary, that we are in flowing partnership with life itself. During turbulent times we need all the proof of this partnership that we can get.
Healing and change don’t happen in a vacuum, they happen in relationship. Prayer, ritual, nature and embodiment all bring us into relationship with life, and often the other humans we’re meant to ride life’s lessons out with. Sometimes it just takes us making the first move, so life can meet us with a miracle.
If you’re interested in learning more about embodiment tools, practices, and rituals, I offer 1:1 coaching and mentorship. I also write about several of these practices in my book, Homecoming (available in hard copy and audiobook.) Please reach out, I’d be honored to support your journey.
Keep the faith and keep breathing. I know it feels really intense out there, but who knows, your Romeo might just be around the corner.
With Love,
Sarah