Making Eden Energy Medicine Our Own

Blue Dreaming ~ Part 1

Water is the first element and rhythm we encounter as our energies help manifest our physical bodies on our blue planet. Rocking gently within our mother's womb, suspended between time and space, our spirits are quietly nourished in the darkness until, like our primordial ancestors emerging from tepid oceans, our infant bodies are birthed into the light and air.

Like a baby within its watery cocoon, our mother planet rocks back and forth in space, her delicious energies balancing and dancing in accordance with the suspended reality and alignment of the moon, sun, planets, and the greater cosmos. Her rhythms rejoice in celebration of the endless cycles of birth ~ blossom ~ creation ~ contraction ~ release, this spiral dance soaring and diving, composed by the Greatest of all Composers, rhythms of drum beat...quick, slow, quick slow...commencing over and over again.

We are at a peak of the dance, the tempo slowed and hushed as our mother has rocked back, opening her arms and inviting the breast of her Northern Hemisphere to enter into the watery realms of Winter energies. And like the great whales of the oceans, her energies have taken a great breath and have sunk gracefully, silently into the rich, dark belly of the Earth, away from the life-sustaining sun, to rest and rebuild until the pace of the drum beat quickens once again.

This water rhythm dance is a fantastic mystery isn't it? A fine mist is suspended over the quiet land and lake here this morning and, while the scientist-aspect of my creature appreciates the intricate physics and properties of what aligns to allow such a magnificent spectacle to present itself, the spiritual-aspect of my creature holds an even deeper reverence for this element's energies and symbolism.

Since my earliest memories, water in its many forms has been a constant medium upon which to celebrate. I believe this in part because the fire rhythm is strong in me and the slow, undulating water rhythm helps to keep those fires cool.

I remember dreaming I was a mermaid when I was little, spending hours in whatever bodies of water I could find myself. I trained my lungs to hold air for (what my parents thought) "dangerous" amounts of time, yet while I was under water there was a blue, silent stillness, that cocoon of protection and connection once again where my body was weightless, carefree, unburdened. Growing into my formative years I remember listening often to a relaxation tape which had humpback whale song interwoven with etheric music and then as a young adult the gravitational pull of water invited me to spend summers and breaks serving as a lifeguard for many years. Once I finished my studies at university I consciously moved to a strip of land between the Florida Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean so that I could hear the ocean roll each night and watch the dolphin play in the waterway on my way to work each morning.

My energies find Home wherever there is water and I am grateful to the Eden Energy Medicine community for creating a transformational homecoming for me earlier this year when a group of us traveled and shared our passion on top of blue Caribbean waters. The loving gravity of the community and water paired magically with the rhythm of the local people of the islands who invited me into their personal blue stillness. I surrendered willingly into their warm cocoon of laughter, hospitality and Caribbean beat. Incredible connections were created there and I do intend to go back.

That journey also came at a serendipitous time when I was able to offer blessings to the waters of the islands in conjunction with fellow Sisterwomen from the EEM community who were traveling to sacred sites within the UK to offer similar blessings to that land's waters.

While I still dream of my mermaid-self swimming in warm waters near and far, past ~ present ~ future, I currently find myself living in the Great Lakes region of Western NY, across the street from a large field and a small lake and am within a 10-minute drive of the shores of Lake Erie. Copious amounts of time are spent outside appreciating the land and the water and celebrating the rhythms of our Earth Mother.

As I sit here this morning, watching the mist shapeshift, holding the Earth with my own body of water, I deeply look forward to this New Year of Sharing Possibilities. During this holiday season, I offer prayer for us all to sit and hold reverence for each other's sacred drum beat, in stillness and in love of our radiant light energies, and relishing our collective healing presence on this planet at this time.

And now, I inhale deeply and dive as a great whale, and dream into depths of blue stillness...

Blessings ~ Blessings ~ Blessings

With love ~
Jennifer Mills

Compassion for Self

It appears to me that here in the United States we live in a culture in which the media encourages us to look as young and vibrant as long as possible, acquire vast material possessions, and "work hard" filling our 24-hour day with as much “productivity” as we can pump out. Collectively we compare ourselves to others and our young generations bear witness to this. Add to this a growing list of responsibilities, be it family, civic, and otherwise. Our energies become thin as our collective expectations grow thicker.

My question: with our predisposition to hurdle into the whirlwind of checking the proverbial box and gotta-know-now media, where is our lesson to slow down for self-compassion? We are taught ad nauseum to treat others as we would like to be treated, but there remains a great divide between that and treating ourselves. Is it possible to put aside the wishes and desires of others and their perceptions of us so that we may give ourselves permission to live the beautiful life we are designed to live naturally…and perhaps begin that life with self-compassion?

This is a noble time to start. I feel we live during a time when self-compassion is no longer an option. A gentle mentor of mine once chided me saying, "How can you help others if you do not help yourself?” That was almost ten years ago and the words resonate as loud and clear today as if it were yesterday.

Grounding Our Self

Two members of our Eden Energy Medicine community have become grandmothers recently (congratulations Kelmie and Caroline) and with that in mind I do not know a more grounding experience than watching a new baby with their chosen family for the first time. It is sacred and it is profoundly grounding.

 

Grounding is inherent within our being; just watch a baby. Babies are present, focused, and available. As we age our physical body will continue to grow and adapt to stay in contact with the Earth, but our energies can become ungrounded for a myriad of reasons.

 

This is a vast topic and I feel it an injustice not to expand upon this a bit. I thank you for inviting me to share.

I begin by offering what it feels like to be ungrounded as it registers within my system...It feels disorienting. Scattered. Washed out. Over compensatory. My speech is fast, cluttered. Thoughts are distracted. I become externally detached from emotion, yet what is felt internally runs the gamut of sadness, irritability, panic, withdrawal, and fear. My body feels incredibly disconnected from the rest of my system. Movement is staccato, awkward. I hold my breath unconsciously and what eventually does make its way in is received shallowly. Life is lived reactively in a mechanical, robotic fashion. I am the untethered ship lost at sea during a great upheaval.

Re~Connecting the Web

A simple morning pleasure of mine this time of year is to discover delicate dew-dropped spider webs; each jewel reflecting a bubble of rainbow light energy pulsating with the rising sun. Eden Energy Medicine is much the same. isn’t it? Much like the pulsations perceived across the spider web, we joyfully re~connect our own energies, which then sing out radiantly to similar vibrations across the community. Like begets like: the healthier we become, the healthier the connections we make for and with others. A beautiful, creative, and gentle balance is manifested for all during this age when healthy connections are essential.

One of the most significant gifts of re~connecting with my own energies has been the birth of beautiful re~connections with others in the EEM community (I offer the term “re~connections” because they feel instinctive and ancient to me). Meeting someone in the community registers more as a re~cognition. These connections are vibrant and oftentimes a strong heart-call within is to join together with these individuals to learn, to share, and to experience EEM outside of our formal gatherings in Phoenix.

Sharing Our Arts

 
 Energy Medicine workshop at dusk, 2010 Great Rhythm Revival in Sherman, NY (Photo by Melissa Cook)

Energies create an elegant, beautifully-woven tapestry of twisting and turning our lives into what we most desire for our clients and our selves, don’t they?  We just need to know which questions to ask and put honest work (if that is what we choose to call it) into our days to make it happen.  Outside of energy work my passion is living life through art, music, writing, dance, food, travel, and sharing…most of all sharing.  The energies have begun to follow and I could not be more grateful.

A good bit of my work comes through in the form of connecting with the creative community.  There is a vast storehouse of possibilities with sharing energy work with those who live to inspire and heal others with their passion in the arts.  It is joyful.  It is vibrant.  It is colorful!

Starting from the Beginning

While celebrating a journey, it often helps to honor the trailhead.  Many of us find Eden Energy Medicine “by accidental coincidence,” having someone within their circle of friends, family, and/or healers pass on the word of Donna and David’s work, or by having circumstances arise in their lives where EEM has been found to be the source of greatest help when a difficult situation presents itself.  The story of how I began to make Eden Energy Medicine my own qualifies in the latter two selections above.

Like multitudes of others, I had come to depend on my body, my focus, and my joy to carry me through my life.  I loved the challenge of pushing myself intellectually and physically from the time I was young through the years I was in college.  Sure there were setbacks along the way, but the body and emotions heal under the right conditions.  Fast forward a few more years to the time I was expecting my daughter.  I was gifted with a marvelous pregnancy and birth experience with her.  I was on top of the world, or so I thought.

Dancing with Childlike Wonder

 

One of the immense joys in my life is to share EEM with my daughter Emily.  Raising her has been an incredibly organic learning experience!  Energy work has been a part of her life since she was about three and I often witness her spontaneously offering up techniques to the benefit of her balance and joy.  I love that she does Heaven Rushing In on a regular basis without being prompted, especially when outside!  This was our first fire of the season just a few weeks ago and was one of those occasions.

With warm embrace of childlike wonder ~

Jennifer