Precious, Fleeting

Precious, fleeting…

Sara Avant Stover introduced this phrase in the last retreat this summer of Reversing Our “Curse,” her course on aligning with psycho-spiritual and feminine hormonal rhythms. She learned it from one of her teachers, Ty Powers.

And I’ve been living with it ever since.

Precious, fleeting…

As a woman, who, (quite astonishingly!), entered her 50s a few years ago, I am facing the fact of getting older. It’s happening to me! I never thought it would.

I was not concerned with ageing in the past. In fact, I enjoyed the woman I was becoming. My 40s felt so expansive and energizing—I even met and courted my husband during this time, and started a new life, moving halfway across the USA to be with him and his two boys!

And now, I am uber-aware of age. Of life. Of most likely not having as much of my life left as has already passed.

Precious, fleeting…

This is the stage I am now in—I have just moved from Queen to Crone as I completed my one year of not having my mooncycle on August 16th, 2015. My body is not participating in that renewing hormonal rhythm of life-death-rebirth in the same way.

A Crone. That word sounds so OLD. And so wise.

I liked the word Queen and what it signified. That made peri-menopause feel manageable, even if I did have a rocky road hormonally for a time. I really was coming into my own. I was retraining and owning the gifts that are mine to live in the world. I was stepping into a place of more sovereignty—in and with my bodysoul (body-heart-mind-soul). But “Crone…”

Precious, fleeting…

My bodysoul is holding her blood-wisdom within now. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, this time of post-menopause is called the Second Spring. I like that! Now I get the chance to nourish myself with my blood, which is no longer released on a monthly basis. Now I get to nourish myself with my wisdom, valuing what I have learned and integrated over these years on this earth, what I am still learning and integrating.

Precious, fleeting…

I still recognize the woman I see in the mirror. I see her as a child, as a teen, as a young woman, as a mother, as a lover, as me.

And yet, this physical form of me is getting older. I’m starting to see wrinkles that show the life I have lived. My skin is not as toned as it used to be—something I totally took for granted before now. The ways I have treated my body without love over the years are adding up so that I notice aches and pains that were not there in the past.

And yet…My magical inner child still loves to climb trees, to skip, and to race barefoot at full-tilt down the street—and now I actually follow that desire! My relationship with my body and my sexuality continues to heal and allow for greater expression of my desire and deeper contact with my husband—and I listen. My brilliant bodysoul invites me to travel deeper within and connect with what nourishes her on all levels—and I follow.

Precious, fleeting…

As a Crone, just beginning my post-menopausal years, I am given a new life. A precious, growing ability to be with my bodysoul with more understanding, compassion, depth, respect, and love. To develop her wisdom, which, of course, is Her wisdom flowing through me. Without all that went before, how could I have arrived in this place?

Precious, fleeting…

One of the practices that has supported me since that Reversing Our “Curse” retreat is to actually breathe in these words as a gatha, a mindfulness verse.

Inbreath: Precious
Outbreath: Fleeting

Sara said Ty Powers recited this in bed before arising. I have practiced this as well and I find it particularly powerful to bring it fully into my day. When I am walking, I look around and breathe in Precious and breathe out Fleeting. I also practice this as a walking meditation, matching my steps to the rhythm of the words, or I say it any time when I remember.

This practice immediately lands me in the moment—in gratitude for this precious life that I am living right now. And it reminds me that it really is only this moment as I release my breath. Who knows what will come next? But this moment, this breath, I am here.

This is a perfect end of Autumn practice for us here in the Northern Hemisphere, as Summer’s light is coming near its lowest point. The recognition that everything is precious, changing, dynamic, and fleeting. And so worth bringing our full presence to, so we can live—right now.

Precious, fleeting…

This season.
This life.
This understanding.
This feeling.
This body.
These relationships.
These words.
This moment.

Precious, fleeting…

If you’d like to learn simple presence practices to support you in your busy life. I invite you to check out my virtual practice group, Tea Time with Katy, Winter & Spring Practice Series. Starting on January 14th, we will be focusing on ways to align with seasonal rhythms and to add more loving mindful attention into our days.

Babysteps work. Each time that you stop and try on a practice that brings you into more presence, instead of following that old pattern, you create new neural pathways in your brain for a new more supportive habit.

Join me and a group of like-minded women to receive fresh inspiration and cultivate a garden of practices that will support you in feeling more in touch with your authentic self.

In Tea Time with Katy, I am bringing together some of the practices that nourish me on a regular basis—drinking tea, living in rhythm with cycles and seasons, meditation, looking inside, mindfulness practices, and being in relationship with each other.

The Winter Series starts January 14th and meets every 2-3 weeks for five sessions, followed by five more sessions to bring us through Spring!

DISCOUNTED price extended until 10 pm CT Wednesday December 16th.

Read more and register!

p.s. Do you have friends who would love support in being more mindful? I’d love if you would share this link with them on Facebook!