Tomorrow is the New Moon, so this process I’ve been doing is going to come to an end… in a way.
It’s been a really amazing, informative, expansive, empowering moon cycle. This began by me challenging myself to more deeply embody the teachings of being a nature spirit, of identifying more clearly as native to the planet.
There have been days when it was super easy, and the teachings were readily available.
There were days when, if it weren’t for the accountability of a daily blog post, I probably would have skipped. But I’m grateful for having pressed forward on those days, and some of them offered some really wonderful insights and experinces.
I also pushed myself to go even further when I found I had embodied some of the teachings earlier in the month. I had more than one trip to the town dump. I continued to water the plants in my office and home. I continued to relax into the teachings of stopping and looking around, especially on walks with Aahana.
Of course, there was the huge loss and teachings that came with Bodhi’s passing. A week later, it’s still incredibly weird not having him here. The number of times I have thought “I should check on him” or “Oh, lemme check the litter boxes to see if they need emptying” or “Is that him I see in my periphery?” is too high to count.
What seems to be the most predominant teaching, the overarching teaching from this month, is the importance of relaxing back open. It is deeply conditioned for me to blinder myself into the small human world, and overinflated some of my immediate concerns. Every single time - whether walking in the woods, or driving and seeing the landscape, or leaning into the weather - stepping into the larger view softened my anxieties, gave me a broader sense of belonging, and reminded me of what’s really important.
So while this process is coming to an end… it’s something I will continue to do everyday, and something I will continue to advocate for others to do. The benefits after just one month are palpable. What will be my takeaway after continuing this for another month? Six months? A year? Longer?
I’m excited to see.