WAKING FROM SPIRITUAL SLUMBER,
BEGINNING ANEW
"After a long winter, the Bear arises from deep slumber. At first the movement and effort are difficult, but the Bear knows it's time to awaken and nave toward the dawning light. The Bear card represents an individual on the cusp of new directions and personal transformation. The initial weeks and months of this spiritual quest may feel tricky, cumbersome, and full of obstacles. But you have no choice, Bear. Winter wanes, the warmth of spring emerges, and your transformation begins"
WHEN IN BALANCE: inner strength, yearning to grow
WHEN OUT OF BALANCE: withdrawal, lethargy, heaviness
TO BRING INTO BALANCE: movement,exercise
I began my newest yoga series with the bear card. Each week, I will theme my public yoga classes around a new animal, beginning with the earth element, and then cycling through water, fire, air, space, and back around to earth once more as we explore the different energies of the animals in this deck of cards (The Wild Unknown). Each animal represents a different aspect of our human journey, helping us to better understand and connect to our inner and outer worlds.
The earth element represents material reality. Material reality is anything that we can experience through the senses (which is a lot!). Anything we can see, touch, hear, taste, or smell is a part of material reality. When working with the earth element, we focus on feeling grounded, safe, and meeting our material needs (like the root chakra). With the earth element, we connect to building a solid foundation. To build this foundation and grow strong roots, we learn how to transform our material world so that we work in alignment with it, instead in a constant fight against it. Transformation occurs through changing the way we (as our inner world) interact with our outer world. This is done through habits.
Here is a blurb from the spirit animal guide about how the earth element is represented by the animals in this deck as the creatures of the field and forest:
"The suit of survival and instinct, the earth creatures represent our relationships with fears and habits. In general, the creatures of this suit are grounded, dependable, and supportive. However, since they are so drawn to routine, they often become stuck in their ways. Several earth cards indicate that consciousness remains rooted in the material plane, or as referred to in yoga, the "gross" realm. This means practical concerns (money, home, work, and family) are at the forefront of the mind, not leaving room for much else. Movement and exercise are especially helpful to counter the stagnation that can accompany excess earth element."
The bear card invites us to look at our inner world (thoughts, emotions, and intuition) and our outer world (material reality) and ask ourselves, "What am I asleep to? What do I need to wake up from?"
As we know as humans, it is easy to get stuck in habits that are holding us back. A habit isn't only those daily things like brushing your teeth or hitting the gym, a habit is defined as "a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up." So, we can have a regular practice of anything... a habit of spending time with certain people, a habit of reacting to certain situations in a certain way, a habit of living in the town you live in, a habit of being uncomfortable being alone or a habit of pushing people away and isolating.
There aren't necessarily a "good" or "bad" tendencies for you to have (unless they are blatantly causing harm)... but the question is, what tendencies are working for you and bringing you into greater alignment? And which are either keeping you stagnant or causing you to fall into greater misalignment?
At one point, the habit may have served us in some way, but there reaches a time when it begins to imprison us - it just doesn't work for us anymore! This could be something profound (like a job, relationship, health issue, the place you live) or more subtle (like implementing a morning routine, refining your diet and exercise, disengaging from a certain thought pattern, or sleeping with your phone in the other room).
Waking up can feel overwhelming... "But I don't have time, energy, or resources to make this change!" Slow down. This is nothing to "fix" all at once. It is a loving recognition that something is asking to be shifted in our lives. And so whatever arises for you, pick that thing, focus on that thing. And you patiently work with it one day at a time. Whatever arises is the signpost that points you towards the next stop on your journey. Don't worry about teleporting, just start walking.
The bear warns us that there will be an initial resistance period as we attempt to implement this new change in our lives. He also reminds us that we have no choice but to continue to push forward because spring is here - the new dawn of our life path. If we try to resist the call to awaken and remain in the cave, our lives will spiral into deeper misalignment and suffering. We honor sleep as a sacred part of the process, but when we get the call, we pick up the phone and say "yes!". It doesn't matter how long it takes to walk out of the cave into the spring season... there is no timeline, no deadline, there no rush, there is no failure. There is only the devotion to never give up... don't go back into the cave when you know there is nothing for you in there.
Here's a final thought from the bear. It is common for us to default and think, "Oh I'm such a bad person for having this habit or tendency, I'm worthless, I'm weak, I'm helpless, I'm broken." What good does that do? YOU are not your habit. You have taken on this habit as a kind of clothing and it is time to change your outfit. Those old clothes just aren't your style any more.
The bear invites us to open our eyes to the possibility that life is more than it appears... more than what we've grown up to believe... it's more than our conditioning. It's more than the little bit of information that we know about "who we are" or "what life is". The bear invites the first step of the journey of our expansion.
See you next week, as we explore teachings of the water element in the crocodile!
much love, dream extreme!
- kat
excerpts from my journal:
"This is the perfect lesson for me. As I change my habits, I change my relationship with life. My relationship with life becomes healthy, loving, and understanding because I'm living in alignment with my dharma (purpose) instead of the toxic fear-based relationship with life that results from misaligned habits."
"I listen to the simple things - those tiny changes to soothe my screaming ego who is scared of the discipline of healthy habits for some reason I can't quite understand. I suppose that's just the growing pains of change. To crave what is "comfortable" and familiar because I fear the unknown. But here I am, devoted to discipline this week and it's been nothing but wonderful. There is freedom in the spaces."
Comments