A is for Abundance

It's no coincidence that this is the time of year when my patients start job searching, giving their boss the extra side eye, or dreaming about that business they want to start.  That's the Wood Element within us, pushing us toward the fullest expression of ourselves.   We learn from the Wood Element: 

 

A flower doesn't ask for its share of the sun, it just grows instinctively toward the light.  

The Wood Element is about self-actualization, and encourages us to ask ourselves:

Am I living my best life? Am I living ON PURPOSE? 

If the answer to those questions  is Yes- we feel ridiculously abundant.  Money and resources effortlessly flow our way.  We sing on our way to work (there's a playlist for that). We stand in our power.  

If the answers to those questions are NO- we feel stuck. Burdened.  Overwhelmed. Frustrated.  Powerless... and often- broke.

Here are my favorite ways to energetically tap back into the flow of abundance that is our birthright:

 

1. Write Money is Love on all of your checks and credit card slips.

According to Barbara Wilder, author of "Money is Love: Reconnecting to the Sacred Origins of Money", this will help to shift any fear and limiting beliefs that you align with your money.  It also sends a positive vibration of money out into the universe. I've tried this, and it really, truly works.     

2. Practice Gracious Receiving

Allow yourself to receive gifts, praise, and compliments without negating them, discrediting them, or trying to return them.  Why? Because you are worthy, and worthy of abundance.

  

3. Practice Generosity

The more your share, the more you have! It's just as true for money as it is for love and happiness.  So, practice giving expecting nothing in return, just for the heck of it. Donate to organizations you love, tithe at a spiritual organization, or 

give surprisingly great gifts (for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, or just because!).

 

4.  De-Clutter

Get rid of stuff- mental, emotional or physical- that may be blocking the way for something new to come in.  Let your Spring Cleaning be both inside and out! Let go of anything you no longer need or doesn't bring you absolute joy, and create space in your life for more.  As Ms. Badu advises, "Let it go, let it go, let it go, let it go."

Want a deeper dive into the science of abundance?  Check out the recording of my webinar Flower Essences 101: Attracting Abundance to learn about key flower essences to shift your blocks to abundance.  If you're ready to get your business dream off the ground,  come in for In My Element Business Coaching. There are so many ways to tune in, and to live on purpose.

Wishing you love, light, and abundance this season!

xoxoxoxo

Lindsay 

Listen to the Rumblings...

In my universe, Michelle Obama won the Presidential Election, the Atlanta Falcons won the Super Bowl, and Beyonce's Lemonade is undeniably the Album of the Year. 

How's that for #AlternativeFacts?

Listen y'all...  it's been an interesting few months, to say the least.  There's lots of ridiculousness and crazy out there- with lots of justified fear and anger in the mix.  

But also, I believe, there is something beautiful sprouting.  

We can always learn from nature.  Right about now as you read this, the sap is beginning to flow in the trees. The life force of nature is beginning to stir beneath the ground. In the I Ching, this shift in energy  is described in the 3rd Hexagram:   Thunder beneath the Water.    These rumblings- this stirring of the life force- is what wakes up our wise old groundhog and sends her above ground after her deep sleep.  The 3rd Hexagram is translated as  "difficulty in the beginning"- because, well, it is difficult in the early stages when a new consciousness is awakening.

Maybe you're feeling that too?  In my clinic, I'm finding rumblings of righteous indignation and resistance are inspiring many of us into action.   Rumblings of discontent that are awakening many of us from illusion, ignorance and slumber.   Rumblings that are calling many of us to take a stand for who we are and what we hold valuable.  

For me personally, its been a spiritual practice just to stay "on purpose".   My rumblings took the form of a deep despair about the world.  I thought of all the activists on the front lines, the families facing fear, the hearts confused and broken.  I felt deeply that all I was doing- all we were doing- was simply not enough.  

The rumblings eventually shaped into a very real desire to be of greater service and impact. They helped me understand that my path is not disconnected from all of this madness, but intrinsically connected.  The rumblings were a call for me to get serious about my mission, and to stop playing small. 

   Elementals: a collection of Five-Element inspired flower essences to heal the mind, heart, and soul- was my first born from these rumblings.  These 16 archetypal essences make it possible for my patients to pick up 'a little sumthin sumthin' for their partner, parent, sister girlfriend or kid who needs some soul support.  Elementals makes it possible for those who can't make it into my office to access the magic, healing and transformative power of flower essences online. Within the Elementals collection are flower essences for aligning with abundance, for healing broken hearts, for speaking our truth,  cultivating intimacy,  for managing mamahood, for meditative presence , for self-validation, for resisting oppression.  

You name it and yes, there's an essence for that!

Those rumblings also led me to Mia Herndon, L.Ac., the newest practitioner on the Oceans & Rivers team.   She is not just an amazing acupuncturist and somatic coach, she's an amazing human.   (Synchronicity is my pretty much my religion, so I did not take it lightly when I met Mia "by chance", just as I was asking the Universe who would be the right person to join my practice.)   Mia's work is rooted firmly in social justice and community healing, and she brings all of that commitment and integrity with her into the treatment room.  You will love her.  

(click here to book an appointment with myself or Mia)

So those rumblings- though difficult, scary, and full of uncertainty- are necessary. We should listen to the rumblings-  they remind us that something is awakening.  That something new is sprouting.  That all those seeds that we planted are beginning to crack,  push up through darkness, and reach toward the sun.  

May we all be so inspired.

xoxoxoxoxo,

Lindsay

Lemonade: My Album of the Year

Ya'll know all of last year I was absolutely obsessed with #Lemonade, right?  I was so taken by it that  I joined forces with another sacred feminine powerhouse and hosted an exclusive event-  a gathering at the New Moon to watch the album, have an intimate discussion about the Sacred Feminine, and to sip on our own special lemonade cocktail. 

As I watched Beyonce's performance on the Grammy's last night, I was reminded of how incredibly honored I feel to be part of the lineage of Goddesses she paid homage to in her performance.  I felt incredibly proud of her well-thought out acceptance speech, and choked up a bit hearing Adele's honest deference to the Queen Bey.   Sure, there are talks of cultural appropriation and all kinds of critiques, because that is what our logical minds are literally programmed to do.  But I just feel proud.  It was beautifully and magically done.  But i digress.  

I'm a self-proclaimed neoancient, so I'm always looking for ways to connect what happening out there in the world with what's happening in here. As the ancient axiom goes:  as above, so below;  as without, so within.  When #Lemonade dropped,  I immediately started dreaming up flower essence blends for each song.  Now, as I prepare to formally launch Elementals- my new collection of flower essences to heal the heart and soul-  I am struck by how many of the essences align with the archetypal themes explored in the 
album:

 

The Catch Me Remedy (Sacred Source) Sometimes what we truly need to honor is above the pay grade of our logical minds, and we can only find solutions through intuition and alignment with our inner knowing.   Sacred Source is a recipe with  Star Tulip essence to create space for meditative awareness, Deerbrush essence to tap in to our true feelings about a situation, Mugwort essences for cultivating a relationship with the messages received through dreams, and Cerato for the confidence to trust our intuition. 

The Sorry... Not Sorry Remedy (Worthy)

A major recurring theme in my executive, entrepreneurial, and personal leadership trainings is 'sorry not sorry'.  We explore the many ways that women in positions of power overwhelmingly over- apologize, give disclaimers, and ask for validation. The Worthy recipe includes Buttercup essence for self-validation and confidence, Gold essence for honoring our inner worth and value, and Larch for confidence and clear expression.

Get Up Stand Up

On November 8^th,  I told my 9 year old who won the 2016 Presidential election.  She looked at me incredulously.  

"What?!!!" she exclaimed as she burst into tears, "now we have to move to Canada?!....  but I like my school and I don't want to leave all my friends and…" 

Me: (finally catching up to where her mind was) "Honey,  we're not moving to Canada...  Our work is here."

She: (nodding slowly, taking it in). And then, another explosion of tears.  "But why aren't we moving to Canada?!?!" followed by an incoherent rant that involved burritos and walls and kittens and a bunch of other stuff I didn't quite grasp.

And then, in an uncharacteristically quieter, frightened voice...

"But if we don't have white skin, how are we going to be safe?"

What followed wasn't a perfect conversation, but an honest one.   I explained to her that it was my job to keep her safe, and that she would always have a million ancestors walking with her.  And that the reason she was born with so much light was so that she could be part of the change the world was begging for.   I explained to her that things were about to get realer than real...  And for the first time ever, she didn't try to dismiss a conversation about the importance of our cultural identity and values.

As I rode the train to work that morning, the silence was eerie.  No one met each other's eyes.  In my gentrified Brooklyn neighborhood, I felt like I wanted to shake every white person I passed and ask, "Are you one of the ones who voted against our lives, our families?"  And as one of the only brown faces on that train, I felt threatened and unsafe.  And then, to my absolute horror, silent tears rolled down my cheeks. 

Y'all know I have a "I don't cry in public" rule, right??

I was ashamed of that part of me who was sad and disappointed. Intellectually, I knew better than to be surprised by the election results.  I was not new to the politics of race and oppression in America.  Fellow activists would admonish those of us who expressed hurt, as though being part of "the struggle" made us impervious to pain.  As if the myth of the "Strong Black Woman"  wasn't a dangerous one.   

A friend had called earlier to report that in North Carolina, a KKK march cut off her car on the way to work that morn.  The KKK.  In 2017.  In broad daylight. 

 I realized that even the loss of illusion is still loss. My heart was broken, and I am still grieving for the lives that may be wrongly incarcerated and prematurely taken over the next four years.  I would hear people talking about how we need to respond to the election with love, and my heart would harden with rage.  Love on the side of the oppressed has never been the problem.

What followed for me was not pretty. In my practice, over and over again I was treating trauma symptoms- hyperviligence, loss sense of purpose, anger, grief.  Eyes glazed over. Hearts hurting.   I would lay in bed and think of the work I am honored and blessed to do. But, instead of feeling gratification, a single thought continued to bubble to the surface:

It's not enough. 

"It's simply not enough", the voice would say.  Not in a mean or hurtful way,  just in a plain-ole-matter -of-fact way.  "It's not enough.  Reaching people one at a time is not enough.  The world needs more.  Did you see all that red? Don't you know how insidious White Supremacy is?" 

As I do when I'm on that slippery downhill slope,  I mixed up a blend of flower essences: 

Gorse: for hopelessness and deep despair

Scotch Broom: for fear for the state of world

Rock Rose:  for terror that one will be annihilated, destroyed or harmed

Mountain Pride: to awaken the ability to take a stand as spiritual warrior

Goldenrod:  for the courage to stand fully in my own truth

   

I called the blend Get Up Stand Up, full of golden flowers to activate the Solar Plexus.  My fellow-alchemist sister prayed with me over the blend, calling on the ancestors of indigenous people from all four corners of the earth.  Calling on the resilience and fortitude of nature herself.  The Bob Marley song, its namesake, started to shine some light through the dark cloud.  My sadness, terror, and rage began to shape themselves into action.

Eventually that voice started to get more specific. "It's not enough", it would still say, and then adding:  "It's time to scale up."  Ideas started flowing:  make flower essences available online so they can be purchased without an appointment. Start a wholesale program so practitioners can reach patients in other states and communities.  Write that book you've been talking about.  Scale up.  The world needs you NOW, and doesn't have time for your fear, doubt, or insecurity. "

And I began to realize that my genuine, authentic life purpose is not separate from my response to the political madness.  In fact, it's just the opposite- the madness is a challenge, a call to arms, a pleading of the universe to actualize my purpose in service of humanity.  

A call to all healers: Get up, stand up-  hearts are broken, souls feel lost and confused, and trauma is real. 

A call to all activists: Get up, stand up- oppression is epidemic. We need your strategizing, your organization, your education, and your fight.

A call to all spiritualists:  Get up, stand up- let's raise the vibration of this planet.

A call to all families: Get up, stand up- let's raise our children to be change agents. Their eyes are watching.  

A call to all lovers: Get up stand up-  love hard cuz love heals.  Let's be forces of humility, honesty, caring, patience, validation and compassion for one another.

A call to all of us with privilege:  spiritual privilege, academic privilege, economic privilege, racial privilege.   Let's be real about our privilege and use it to make space for those who don't.

Listen.  I am clear that we don't all have the same struggle.  The plight of white feminism does not often address the specific needs of black women (hence the controversy over the upcoming March in Washington).  The struggle for human rights that LGBTQ communities face is not the same as the Black Lives Matter movement. 

But there is resonance, and there can be solidarity.  

The truth is, there are so many things to get up, stand up for.  But we can do so in a way that one movement does not usurp, co-op or drain resources from another.  The lungs don't ask the heart to breathe...   but very certainly, if one stops fulfilling its mission, the whole organism is going DOWN.

Its reminds me of my favorite cartoon, when the four nations ban together to defeat Firelord Ozai as he prepares to destroy the planet with his cultural incompetence, tyranny and greed.   Each of the four nations- Earth, Water, Air and Fire, had a role to play. Each had different gifts to share. Each had a purpose to fulfill.

  And those differences are not something to run from, hide from, or be politically correct about.   

Firelord Ozai, from Avatar the Last Airbender

Let's Get Up, Stand Up together.

Are you Neo-Ancient? 7 Ways to Tell

Forget all this talk about Millennials, Generation Xers, and Baby Boomers.  These  crazy times call for the ones I've been affectionately calling Neo-Ancients.  As confusion, worry and fear run rampant, the Neo-Ancients can be found gathering our inner resources as we prepare for assertive, clear and directed action.  Here are seven clues you just might be part of our tribe:

1) Solstices and Equinoxes are your holidays

Maybe you go all out with fasting, cleansing, meditating and aligning with your intentions at the change of of each season. Or maybe your body takes care of it for you by giving you seasonal cold or fatigue at these cross points.  Either way, the Summer and Winter solstices and the Autumn and Spring equinoxes hold special meaning for you.   Interestingly enough, many popular holidays tend to fall around these powerful shifts in the balance of Yin & Yang.  At this time of year, festive lights and candles for remind us of the return of the Sun after six months of increasingly long nights.   If the solstices and equinoxes facilitate physical, emotional or spiritual shifts in your life, you might be Neo-ancient.

2) You are more than your Sun Sign

When most people think of astrology, they think of the sign that aligns with the month in which they were born.  They may even refer to the daily horoscope for entertainment, or you might feel a particular kinship with those who share your sign (big up to all the scorpios in the house!  heeeeyyyyyy!)  Neo-ancients know that the natal birth chart is more than just really fun insight- it's a map of human psychology. Each planet position gives archetypal insight an aspect of our psyche, as well as what we most need to feel like our authentic selves.  So if your answer to "What's you sign?" sounds like mine:  "I'm a Scorpio sun with a Libra Moon and Venus, Mars in Scorpio,  and Gemini rising...", you might be Neo-ancient.

3) Your schedule is cosmic 

You don't just set your intentions and goals on a monthly basis, but you pay attention to the fluctuations between Yin and Yang as you plan your year.  You know active force, Yang,  is at its height in summer, as well as during full moons. You know that stillness and reflection, the Yin, are amplified in the winter and during new moons.  And the happenings of Mercury Schmercury have on more than one occasion affected your plans.   If your schedule is cosmic, you might be Neo-ancient. 

4) You take care of your subtle body

Neo-ancients understand that health is not just physical- it's emotional, mental and spiritual as well. While conventional medicine is about 500 years old, it's really a baby when compared to many of the ancient healing systems that considered the physical, etheric, astral and spiritual planes.  Acupuncture, for example,  is a 2000+ year old medicine that's now gaining popularity in the West for its success treating muscular pain and fertility. In my practice, we honor the Shamanic lineage out of which acupuncture emerges.  This means we're not only attending to the physical body, but also attending to heartache, lack of inspiration, confusion, anxiety, depression and any of the myriad ways we might be out of alignment with the unfolding of our path, our Tao.   We use earth medicine such as flower essences, essential oils, gemstones and herbs to facilitate inner and outer shifts.  If you believe that health is about more than being "free from disease",  you might be Neo-ancient.

5) You're etherically sensitive 

Photo Credit: NASA

Speaking of the subtle body, the etheric body is the first layer of the subtle body.  It can be likened to an electromagnetic sheath that envelops our physical form.  It's the aspect of the subtle body that gets charged when you 'feel' someone staring at you, your back hurts cuz it's cold outside, or your knee acts up every time it rains.  Our electromagnetic bodies are in close synergy with the electromagnetic poles of the earth, and etherically sensitive folks are often affected by full and new moons and
changes of seasons.  Because our emotions live mostly in our etheric body, etherically sensitive folks tend to be very empathic- and can often sense when someone is feeling angry or sad even if their words indicate otherwise.  Being in crowds of can upset the nervous system of etherically sensitive folks, who might need to spend some time decompressing alone after lots of interaction with others.  If any of this sounds like you, you might be Neo-ancient.

6) Synchronicity has meaning
Neo-ancients know that there is no such thing as a coincidence.  Every moment has the potential to answer a question that was posed with intention (or inadvertently) to the Universe.   We are constantly  reminded that we are not physical beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a physical experience.  A random song that's stuck in our head that carries a potent message.  Being in the right place at exactly the right time.  The friend you were thinking of that happens to call at that moment.  The person on the train that catches your eye.  The billboard you never noticed before that carries a special message today, just for you.   Neo-ancients find a way to live in the meaning and magic of it all.  It's like that quote from the book Conversations with God, when God tells the author to look for her in:

"...the words to the next song you hear.  The information in the next article you read.  The story line of the next movie your watch. The chance utterance of the next person you meet.  Or the whisper of the next river, the next ocean, the next breeze that crosses your ear….”

If you have ever experienced the magic of synchronicity, you might be Neo-ancient.

7) You believe in it all

You consider yourself "spiritual" instead of "religious".  You grew up on the Bible and can drop a Proverbs quote at a moment's notice, and know all 12 signs of the zodiac.   Or you can recite the original, modified, or personalized declarations of Ma'at. You have gained wisdom from the I Ching, Yogic philosophy, the Secret, the Buddha, Earthseed scripture, Nature and/or your Highest Self in meditation.  You light candles for your ancestors and pour libation.  An Ifa reading once transformed- or saved- your life. Quantum physics has your mind blown. On top of that, you're a magic manifestress.  You believe in it all, because all is one.  If your heart can hold yes/and instead of either/or in your spiritual practice, you are definitely Neo-ancient.

Join our "Vibe Tribe" this Winter Solstice!