Wisdom Rising

Embracing Seasonal Change: Self-Nourishment, Community, and the Cycle of Life and Death

• Christine Renee, Isabel Wells, and Shantel Ochoa • Season 1 • Episode 22

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Uncover the hidden wisdom of autumn as we journey through the shamanic lessons of the season. Join Isabel Wells and Shantel Ochoa as they explore the transformative power of autumn's energy, revealing profound insights into self-nourishment, community connection, and the cycles of life and death. With the vibrant energy of summer giving way to the introspective call of autumn, this episode promises to guide you towards reflection and renewal.

Discover how to align with the earth's energy, embracing rest and reflection while letting go of what no longer serves you. Together, we highlight the vital practice of gratitude and the importance of sharing life's bounty within our communities. Chantel and I delve into the concept of being "self-full," offering practical advice on how personal nourishment can fuel community support. Inspired by the teachings of "Braiding Sweetgrass," we encourage you to prioritize self-care and embrace the gifts of nature's cycles to sustain yourself and others.

This episode is a heartfelt invitation to reconnect with the eternal wisdom of nature, as we explore themes of change, gratitude, and personal transformation. Through engaging anecdotes and reflective discussions, we challenge you to find peace amidst modern life's hustle and bustle. By listening, you'll gain insights into finding magic in daily life, embracing change with gratitude, and fostering a deeper connection with the natural world. As autumn unfolds, let this episode be your guide to harnessing its gifts for growth and renewal.

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Speaker 1:

It's time to remember your divine purpose and limitless potential. Welcome to Wisdom Rising, the official podcast of Moon Rising Shamanic Institute. Join shamanic Reiki practitioners Christine Rene, isabel Wells and Chantel Ochoa as we guide you on a journey of radical self-discovery and spiritual guidance. Each week, we'll dance through the realms of shamanism, mysticism, energy, healing and personal development to illuminate your path to true healing and self-sourced wisdom Through weekly inspired conversations and interviews with leading spiritual and shamanic practitioners. We are here to help you acknowledge, reconcile and balance your energy so that you can awaken to the whispers of wisdom rising from within. Welcome back to another amazing episode of the Wisdom Rising podcast.

Speaker 1:

I'm your host for today, isabel Wells, and I'm so excited and honored to be joined with Chantel Ochoa, our moon-rising shamanic mystic, for a conversation around the shamanic perspectives of autumn, as the leaves begin to change and the energy begins to slow. We dive into how autumn teaches us how to nourish ourselves, the importance of community, the cycles of life and death, or new beginnings and endings. We also explore the significance of autumn in shamanic traditions, emphasizing the importance of introspection and renewal. We'll explore how to connect with nature's cycles to deepen your understanding of self and your place in the world, and we also touch on the importance of surrender and how we can gracefully let go of what no longer serves us. As this conversation today takes us on a winding road, just like the wind outside our windows, we hope that you enjoy today's episode and we would love to hear your top takeaways or the inspiration that you took from today over in our Moon Rising Shamanic Mystics Facebook group. And, of course, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so that you can hear new episodes like this one sooner.

Speaker 1:

With that said, let's dive in to today's show. Welcome. Welcome to another amazing conversation. I'm joined here today by Chantel Ochoa, our wonderful mystic here at Moon Rising Shamanic Institute, and today we're going to be talking about the cycles of nature. Help us process and move through our own cycles and our own transformation, especially as we change from the more intense action-oriented energy of the summer into a little bit more of that restful harvest time that we see in the fall. So I would love to welcome everyone to this conversation and invite Chantel to kick us off.

Speaker 2:

So definitely with the marrying of the seasons, a lot of people right now, if you're starting to feel like you're on the more of a downslide of rest and relaxation, wanting to feel more at home in your cozy clothes and thinking of different soup recipes and that kind of thing, it's because we're following the flow of nature and as nature is starting to cool down and starting to get into, you know, it's natural like hibernation, and the leaves are changing and everything is in transition, and so this is really a period of time for us to look at our harvest, you know, with the fall, equinox and everything that we had, and knowing that we can reflect on the full year, from spring all the way till now, to recognize how far we've come.

Speaker 2:

So this is a time of self-reflection, to think about where you were back in January and how you viewed 2024. And now we're coming to the end and wrapping it up, and so, as you're doing this energy work with yourself and really reflecting on yourself, noticing where you've been and where you are, it's time to also give yourself the credit that you deserve for the growth that you've done and wherever. You are Right, because even if you're going through a transition that's not necessarily fun. It's still a piece of life that we need and the lessons that we need to help us to continue to grow. But we are definitely mirroring what the earth, in our current weather patterns, are doing, and so it's really interesting to watch it in ourself as it's reflected outside.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely. And one of the things that I really love in particular about autumn, and one of the metaphors or analogies that we've been using here on the show quite a bit, is this idea of the tree of life. Right, this tree that has different branches for all the different aspects of life the plants. This tree that has different branches for all the different aspects of life the plants, the animals, the rocks, the people, the mystical creatures right, we have all of these different branches that are wound together in the trunk of this tree of life, and that concept is a very shamanic concept and we've spoken about it in previous podcast episodes, so if you're unfamiliar with it, I would encourage you to go back and listen. But something that I love about this is that one of the ways that we can conceptualize our human lives right is by being one leaf on that tree of life. We are this one final manifestation of spirit, and when we look at leaves and trees in nature, autumn is really a time where they start to almost investigate each leaf and look at which ones brought in a lot of nutrients that we can absorb and take back into the tree as life force, energy, and which ones are ready to, you know, kind of be let go of so that they can go into the earth and create fresher soil or more nutrients there. And so there's this process of like Chantelle was saying reflection on what nutrients, what benefit, what lessons and learnings do we want to pull from this year's experience back into the core of ourselves and really hold onto so that it can help nourish us through this next season, especially as we think ahead into wintertime, where it is such a period of inner reflection and rest and not a lot of outward energy. It's very internal, and autumn is kind of this transition process between the very action-oriented energy of summer, where we are planting and we're spending time with family and we're going on vacation and we're doing all these activities and everything's very go, go, go, go go, and as we step into autumn we're transitioning from that external energy towards that internal energy of winter, and we can see this happening right with those leaves on the trees. And so this really is, at the very beginning, this invitation to reflect and think back to yourself. What are the messages, what are the learnings, what are the experiences and emotions that I want to soak back into myself, that I want to make sure that I have really received all of the gifts of each of those moments and each of those circumstances, and where are the emotions and the situations or the thoughts that I'm carrying with me? That maybe I'm ready to let go of those parts of the leaf that are ready to kind of crumble and be released back to the earth for reuse and recycling?

Speaker 1:

And what's so powerful about this kind of fall season and energy is that it gives us the space to be able to do this almost pruning process in a way that is really gentle and sacred. It doesn't have to be, you know, like the weeding that we see in spring when we're trying to get plants to grow right. It's not this process of ripping things out, it's this process of really just being gentle with ourselves and just noticing. And again, if we look to the trees, if we look to the leaves, at what's happening in nature, that just happens naturally. There's no active process happening. It's just the leaves that are ready to be released are released and the ones that are ready to have their nutrients return to the tree. That happens naturally before they begin the next stage of their cycle. And so it's this space where we can step in and come back into connection with our intuitive knowing of what's ready to go and what's ready to stay right.

Speaker 1:

We always talk about spring cleaning right in the spring, but I find that so many people who are really in tune with the energy of the earth often feel that urge to have a fall cleaning, but in a much more relaxed way, like this is typically the time where you're like, oh, there's a lot of clutter here, let me clear that away. Or maybe I want to rearrange the furniture in my living room, and I think it's the same thing with our internal energy and emotions of what needs to be rearranged, what needs to be let go of, and so this is a really beautiful place to start. This conversation is thinking about. What are all of those fruits of your labor, what are all of those beautiful blessings that have come through over the past year that you really want to make sure that you are taking into yourself and internalizing and pulling all of the benefit that you can so that you have this treasure trove of opportunity for gratitude right when we step into the fall season.

Speaker 1:

We also have, you know, here in the States we have Thanksgiving and there's traditions like that across the world, but it's this idea of stepping into gratitude, and why?

Speaker 1:

Why do we have that gratitude?

Speaker 1:

Because it's a time where we are really noticing and being open to harvesting all of the benefit and all of the gifts and all of the bounty that life has given us so far this year, so that we can then overflow into gratitude and look at what these last little bits of energy that we have going out into the world around us.

Speaker 1:

How can we use that energy for goodwill, for community, for healing, for connecting with our loved ones, or even with the stranger that lives across the street right? There's an aspect to this autumnal energy that does have this communal energy to it of using those last little bits of outward energy to take these gifts that you've received and pour them over so that it creates this cornucopia effect, if you will, of sharing with everyone, and that's a really beautiful place to start with. Fall is just asking yourself what are you ready to keep, what are you ready to let go of, and how can you let that process of integration fill you up and spill over so that it can then be given to everyone else and keep that cycle moving?

Speaker 2:

I really like the idea of the communal, communal, communal energy, of coming together, because I think that there's been so many shifts and changes over the last few years that and a lot of people have become very separate in a lot of ways, and really coming back to that tradition and that feeling, that natural feeling of wanting to start, like having parties and having gatherings and offering what you do have to others and really getting into that space with people again, and and not that we haven't been but it, you know, it has been a transition over the last few years. And when you said that, it just really reminded me of yeah, that's what this is really about, and I think that we have been detoured for so long now off of that. That if we can get back into that collective consciousness of coming back to unity, coming back to gatherings and togetherness and sharing our bountiful you know gifts and everything that we've received, our harvest, whatever, that is the abundance of it, it really does bring a lot of space in the heart, like a lot of healing just to think of that, because we go, go, go. And I know like for me, I was thinking about our conversation this morning and I thought you know what for like the last 30 years of my life it's really been. I've always been very traditional with family and stuff, but it's the go go go of building a career and having a family and doing all of you know everything that needs to be done.

Speaker 2:

And now I'm at a stage in my life where my work is more I don't want to say relaxed, because it's not. It gets really like ah too, but my mindset with it kind of triggers different emotions of. It's okay if you want to relax, it's okay if you want to take the day to go outside or go hang out with friends or whatever it is. And I think that this season right now gives us the permission to do that. And I really love this time of year because it isn't about growing and evolving and working.

Speaker 2:

It really is coming back to rest and there we all need that. We all need to be able to come back to ourselves, to rest, to relax, to hang with our people and and know that we're in flow. We're in this natural flow with the Earth's energy, to have permission to do that and to give it to ourselves. Because we're not giving ourselves that permission, we're always in that state or flight, you know, state of fight or flight, or we got to go, we got to go be the doer.

Speaker 2:

You know that masculine energy becomes so strong and overpowering and right now we're really stepping into like that feminine energy of relaxation and our sacral and our root and everything, and we're in like the way of the teacher of what lessons have we learned and what is it that we are producing in a way that others can witness and see. So it's not always just go, go, go, but if it is, you know what? I'm going to have a gathering and you're all welcome to come and experience it and enjoy each other's company, and then we're just going to chill out with it. That's a great way to like hang you know what I mean and to embrace life right now.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and there's so much to that piece that you were saying of just being able to rest, because so many of us as a community, as a culture right now en masse, if you will we have this inherent instinctual belief that our worth is based on our production, how much we are making, how much we're doing, how much work we get done, how many items we take off of our to-do list. And so often I find that autumn, and especially as we step into the holidays but this is around the time of year that I think people really start to feel burnout more keenly, because it is that time of year where, naturally, our energy is moving into this state of rest and flow and that ability to just be. But so often it's also the time where projects pick up and businesses get really busy and everybody's gearing up for the holidays, and so we're almost fighting our natural instinct to step into this space of rest and reflection and that can often lead to burnout of so many people feeling like I can't do this anymore. I don't want to go to my job today, I don't want to do my commute again, I don't want to put all of this energy in, because we don't have the energy to give that we do in the summer, right. And what I love about this is I think women especially can really understand this conversation, because we have four phases to our menstrual cycle, just like there are four seasons, and they line up beautifully, right. But even men experience this energetic shift, because we are of the earth, we are nature, right, we are a manifestation of nature and spirit, and so we are intimately connected with those energy flows. And one of the things that I think autumn can really teach us, if we're open to it, is the ability to give ourselves permission to rest, to say that you know what, it's okay if I don't get as much done, it's okay if I don't meet all of my to-dos, it's okay if I take things off my to-do list, right. And I know that for so many people who maybe have nine-to-fives or work in corporate environments, that's a little harder to do. But it's this question of where can you let yourself rest, Because so often we put so much more on our plate than we realize we're doing.

Speaker 1:

We set all of these expectations for ourselves that, even outside of the to-dos that you have for your job or for your family, or the things that you do have to do, given the circumstance that you're in. We end up putting more and more on our plate because we feel like that's what we need to do, right. We end up thinking that, if we get what we're supposed to get done at our job, that that's just the bare minimum, right? That's the baseline, and we need to be doing more and more and more. And so we constantly are putting stuff on our plate until we break down, until we have a moment where we can't hold it anymore, and then suddenly it's this moment of, oh okay, you know what, I could take this off, and I could take this off right, and I say this as someone who's very guilty of this right, but it's a cycle that we put ourselves in so often because of that focus on our worth coming from our actions or our productivity, and so, when we step into autumn, it is also an invitation on a personal level to really look at.

Speaker 1:

Yes, there are going to be things that you have to do in life. There are going to be things you have to do for your job and your family and your spouse and all of these things, but what are the things that you've added to your to-do list that don't actually need to be there? Where are the places that you are putting more on yourself simply so that you can feel better, so that you can feel like you're more worthy? And can we take a moment to really look at what is your definition of worthiness? What is your definition of success? Right? Not what are you getting from society? Right? Not the number figure that you're making from work, or your job title or how many kids you have, or any of it. Right? Not what you've been told to think of as successful. But you, when you sit down and you really think about if I was going to be living the most aligned, successful, abundant life that I could live, what does that look like for you? And let yourself come up with that definition of whatever it means for you and notice how it's very often different than what you think it is.

Speaker 1:

Right, because the things that we are so focused on as a society as markers of success aren't the same markers of success that our soul has. Right, our soul has markers of success Like how often have you walked outside barefoot? Were you able to hear that bird singing? When was the last time you laughed or felt joy? When was the last time you truly connected with someone on a heart level. How often do you let yourself just rest and enjoy? When was the last time that you engaged with a hobby that has no purpose other than the fact that you enjoy it? Right? These are the things that our soul lights up about right, those moments when we feel like, yes, I feel connected.

Speaker 1:

And what I love about autumn is that energy is in the air. When you step outside right, when you step outside your door, you can feel it. You can feel that energy, lively, density to the air, if you will, where there's just this energy of come back to yourself, come back to your home base, just watch and listen and notice how everything is magical if you just take a moment to be aware of it. And so, when we have this idea of you know what my definition of success isn't making six figures, it's not being a partner in my company, it's not all of these things. It's.

Speaker 1:

Was I able to do my hobby today? Did I have time to read a book to my kids? Did I have time to read a book with myself, with my cat in my lap? What happened today? That really filled you up and brought you joy, and I think that autumn is again such a fantastic time to be asking ourselves these questions, because it's exactly what nature is doing it's taking stock of. Where are the nutrients coming from, and how can we focus on gathering those nutrients so that we have resources for the winter? This is a time to really be engaging with, yes, our community, but also ourselves, in a way that allows us to acknowledge and recognize what is filling us up, knowing that it's not selfish to do those things, and that's another thing that I love about fall.

Speaker 1:

I'm actually I'm reading Braiding Sweetgrass again, which is a phenomenal book, and if you guys haven't read it, I highly, highly recommend.

Speaker 1:

We'll leave a link in the show notes, but Braiding Sweetgrass is this amazing, amazing compendium of indigenous knowledge written by a woman who's a botanist and a mother and a member of her native tribe, and she just has this wealth of perspective, and one of the things that she talks about is how nature is always working to feed itself and the rest of nature, and how the process of trees absorbing the nutrients from the leaves actually benefits the soil and the grass and the rest of nature, and how the process of trees absorbing the nutrients from the leaves actually benefits the soil and the grass and the other trees, but it's also rooted in keeping itself alive, right?

Speaker 1:

And the moral of this is that nature understands what it means to be self-full while also giving back to the community, and I think I wish that we had a word for that. This is something that I think of every fall of. We have a word for selfish, right, we have so many words for taking too much and doing too much for yourself and being narcissistic and being selfish and being all of these things right, but we don't have a word for nourishing yourself for being self-full or soul-full, right? This word of what it is, yeah, I'm like let's use that one right, let's just make that a thing Because it is.

Speaker 1:

It's so different. There is a difference between being selfish and taking something at someone else's cost right, and being self-full where, like a tree, you know that you have to absorb your own nutrients before you can send them out in the roots to help the soil, to help the grass, to help the other trees right. There's this inherent balance between the self and the community of knowing that we have to fill ourselves up first and in gaining nutrients for ourselves and gaining the highest possible experience for ourselves, we are actually in that, giving back to the rest of the community, to other people and this is something that I think fall really invites us to step into is this understanding that when we take time for ourselves, when we take time to rest, when we take time to listen to our soul and what our soul is calling us to do, it's not calling us to do those things because it's lazy and it doesn't want us to do. It's not calling us to do those things because it's lazy and it doesn't want us to work. It's not calling us to do those things because it's selfish and it wants us to have all the resources. It's calling us to do those things because it is nature itself and it understands that it's only when we take in our own nutrients, it's only when we nourish ourselves, that the world can be nourished as a whole.

Speaker 1:

And we live in this society that has it backwards, where we're constantly trying to send our resources out and away, out and away, so we can take care of everyone else before we take care of ourselves. But if that happened in nature, we would have no forests, we would have no flowers, we would have no grass. It's only by taking those nutrients into themselves that they can then send them out and feed all of the other plants and all of the other animals. And so it's this really interesting time to begin thinking about. Where in your life are you stopping yourself from bringing in nutrients because it feels selfish? Where in your life are you stopping yourself from receiving because you feel like you aren't worthy?

Speaker 1:

And can we use those moments of discomfort where we start to feel like, oh, I'm not worthy to receive, or now's not the time, or someone else deserves it more? Can we use those moments of discomfort, instead of letting ourselves get stuck in those patterns, to say, isn't that interesting, isn't that curious that that's my instinctual reaction to receiving a gift is no thank you, right, and can we flip the script? Can we look to nature, can we look to the cycles of magic and energy and life happening right outside our window and realize that those gifts that we are given, those moments where we can step into presence with ourselves and with nature, they are our opportunity to be self-full, so that in filling ourselves up, in nourishing ourselves, we then give back to the rest of the community and the rest of the world? And can we look to nature to give us permission to break out of that cycle of selfish and unworthy and step into this really empowered place of I am worthy and I am one with nature and I do deserve this. And it is okay to take a moment and rest and fill myself up, because that's part of this. That is the healthy way to move through these cycles.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, beautiful. It's like society norms have really done us a disservice in disconnecting us from ourselves, and it's not to blame. You know any one way of doing things because in the end, we have the free will to follow what it is that we choose to follow and what our patterns are. But for the corporate, like doers and the nine to fives, you know there's a lot of ways to incorporate rest and time for yourself. You know, even if all you have is a short period of time, like your lunch break or whatever, you know you can go outside, you can go take a power nap in your car, you can find a place that allows you to rest and to come back within to power up for the second half of your day. And a lot of times it's like I don't think people really think of it like that or they're like I can't just go nap in my car and I'm going to say, yeah, you can. As an interpreter for 24 years, I have taken many, many naps in my car and I have created many like beds in my bed, you know, in my car. Because if you're working eight to 11 hours or whatever some of my shifts were, there's times where you got to be able to just go check out and it's and just find a space for you, even if it's like I'm just going to go scroll or going to go just read a book or whatever it is. Sometimes you have to get away from other people's energy as well and just be in your own energy. And if it's too cold or it's too whatever hot outside and you don't want to sit outside, but you can park somewhere where you're under a tree or you are next to a hill or something like that where you can still take in the views of nature or you can roll down your windows and still smell and hear the birds and all the things. There's definitely ways of creating a space for yourself, but you have to know that you're worthy of it and you have to know that there is containers that can be created for you wherever it is that you are and commuting, take in what you see, you know, like, tune into um, the to nature.

Speaker 2:

I was just talking to um, actually a student of ours who, as she was saying, she commutes. She commutes to go to massage school right now, which is actually one of my friends. She she's here and she says you know what? I was driving to school and I connected with the trees on the side of the road and she was receiving messages from nature. As she was driving through a very industrial area in Southern California, so in an area where she's feeling like she's around all these buildings and concrete and metal and whatever, she was able to actually tune in to the cycle of nature. And I told her, I said that's perfect, that's it. I said that is that shaman that's coming out in you because you're connecting to the element outside of yourself that isn't manmade, it's fully nature. You know natural and you're able to tune into the energy of the tree and the grass and everything. And so she's able now to take that energy with her. So her commute isn't as bad as she thought it would be.

Speaker 2:

But it's us having to think outside of our box and realize, like you were saying, what does success mean to you? And if it is like plunging down the road and flying at 90 miles an hour and you know just go, go, go, go, because you're so stressed to get somewhere late, and I always find it funny we have this saying it's like go, go, go Cause you're so stressed to get somewhere late, and I always find it funny we have this saying it's like man, you're like in a hurry to get nowhere. You know, if you end up like killing yourself on the way, is it really worth it? So it really is taking stock of what's important to you and coming back, turning on that music. Listen to some, you know, music that really feeds you. You let the wind blow in your hair, whatever it is, music that really feeds you. You let the wind blow in your hair, whatever it is. But find that peace within that allows you to have a flow with nature, a flow with the natural rhythms, a flow with yourself, your life, all of it.

Speaker 2:

Because then, when the week is done and you're not as stressed as you used to be, the weekend gets to be more enjoyable. And it isn't so much because a lot of people work at nine to five. Now the weekend isn't even the weekend anymore. That's not time for rest, that's time to. We've got our home to do list, we have our chores to do, we got to get caught up in everything that didn't get done during the week and it's just compiling, compiling, compiling.

Speaker 2:

And we're one of the only countries that's like that. You know there's most countries has like fiesta. It's time to rest or siesta, nap time. Right, it's time to rest, it's time to go within, and we're like the only country that doesn't do that, and so we have to do it for ourself, create it. I think every corporate company should have schools. All of it should have like nap pods, like sleeping pods. Go have it in staff rooms and allow people to go sleep, and you will have more production than you do with people that are just burned out. So, sending out love to all those who are burned out right now, cause, yeah, it's a real thing, it's a real thing.

Speaker 1:

It is, and it it can be so detrimental, because I think a lot of times it leaves us feeling like well, what's wrong with me? Why am I burnt out? Why am I the only one who's feeling these things? And I think, particularly those of us in the spiritual community who are more aware of and sensitive to energies. When we step into a corporate space or a workspace or a public setting right, we can get more easily overwhelmed because there's so many layers of awareness. And so, having grace for yourself of knowing that if you are walking this path, there are moments that aren't easy. It's not an easy thing to juggle and balance daily life and work life and spiritual life and family life and all of it. It's a difficult thing. And so, as we step into this new season and this new energy of rest, it can also be this invitation to think about what are you living for? What do you really want to be pulling out of life?

Speaker 1:

I was at a shop the other day and I was speaking with the woman behind the register and she was talking about how she feels like she's just waking up to do nothing and over the weekend she's just, like you were saying, spending the time catching up so that she can go back to work and her main takeaway what we were talking about was feeling like I'm living for nothing, I'm just waking up just to move through the day and I'm wasting my life. And I walked away from that store really thinking about how I think the majority of people feel that way because we are so disconnected from this source of magic and truth and power in ourselves. Right, if we really think of our soul as this seat of power, the seat of purpose, the seat of our connection to the divine and to nature, so many of us are disconnected from it and we live in a box, we drive to work in a box, we work in a box, we come home and that's it. And it does feel soul-sucking, right. And I think so many people end up feeling like that woman behind the register of I wake up and I go to work and that's all I do. I'm wasting my life. And it's really brought me to reflect lately on what our purpose for living is.

Speaker 1:

Right, and I think this is something that I really love about the shamanic perspective as well is that traditionally, in a shamanic perspective, there wasn't a purpose, there wasn't a thing that you were supposed to do with your life. You were just supposed to live your life. That was the essence of it was just to be alive and experience life. And nowadays, I think, because we feel so disconnected and we feel so lost and we do feel we're just spinning our wheels and wasting our life, we want there to be a thing that we're supposed to do, because, again, our worth is related to what we do, to how much we produce, and so we feel like if we can just fulfill this purpose, then we'll be worthy, then we'll be okay to rest, then we will have fulfilled our purpose and we can take a break and enjoy life. But that's actually so illogical if you look at it from the soul's perspective, because the soul is here to just experience this life. And, yeah, there's things that we need to do, right, there's lessons we need to learn, people we need to meet all of that. But that idea of a purpose like this, one thing that you're supposed to do on a soul level, the one thing that we're supposed to do is experience life and thinking about how many of us are just going through the motions every day, how many of us are living without experiencing. And this time of the year is really an opportunity to think about. Why are you here? Why are you living, knowing that in 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 years, depending on your age, it's going to be done right? Not to make this a morbid thing, but knowing that we are in fall, we watch as the trees go into that dormant space where their life cycle especially that leaf right, it's done, it's served its time and now it's time to move on and transmute into something else. And we only have a very finite amount of time here as people, right as that leaf on the tree of life. We only have a little bit in this cycle and in this manifestation. Why are we here? What are we living for and how can we reconnect to that right?

Speaker 1:

There's this amazing Pixar movie, soul. If you guys haven't watched it, I highly recommend it. But the main takeaway of that movie is it's this guy trying to find and help this little soul find her purpose, and they're trying to think of it as this thing that she's going to do, right, is she going to be a singer? Is she going to be a scientist? What's she going to do? And her purpose? Without giving away the whole storyline, one of the big parts of her purpose and one of the big messages of the movie was that it was just to experience. It was just to be there, to be able to taste the pizza and feel the wind on her skin and move through life in a way where she was fully aware of her senses.

Speaker 1:

And when was the last time that you were fully experiencing life? Right, and I think that's the difference too between what Chantel was saying of you know, racing down the road at 90 because you're so stressed and you're trying to get to work, and driving the speed limit in a safe way with the windows rolled down and the wind in your hair and the music on. And there's such a difference between those two. And chances are you're going to get to work at about the same time. But how much more enriching was that experience when you were fully present than when you were stuck in that stress and anxiety.

Speaker 1:

And one of the things that I think really helps kind of break us out of this perspective is coming back to that understanding that we have no idea what happens next. We have no idea what happens five minutes from now when we're driving 90 miles an hour down the road. We have no idea what we're going to get done in this eight-hour workday. We have no idea what the rest of our lives are going to look like. But what we do know is what we can focus on in this moment and what we're living for and not just living for in terms of that purpose, right, but what gets you excited to be awake? Where do you find that magic in your daily life? What makes life worth living, and how often do you connect to that?

Speaker 1:

One of the things that I love to ask our students is, at the end of the day, start reflecting on what happened that day and notice how much of your day you can't remember because you are so disconnected and you're not fully present. Right, when we're not present, we don't remember things as well. We don't notice our senses, we don't notice the gifts that nature is giving us in each moment because we're disconnected, and sometimes that's enough to wake us up and go. You know what I am? I am missing so much of my life because I'm not fully present, because I'm not here to experience life.

Speaker 1:

And this fall time, this transition time, it's also a time of huge transitions for a lot of people, right, this is often the time where school's starting up, people start new jobs, people start moving. There's a lot of people right. This is often the time where school's starting up, people start new jobs, people start moving. There's a lot of momentum and movement happening and in those moments, and even if it's as simple as a big project at work, right, when we're in these states of flux and flow in life, this betwixt and between stage that we would hear it called in shamanism, it can feel like we are unrooted, like we don't have anything secure or any line to hold onto, while everything else is changing.

Speaker 1:

And this is something that I invite people to think about when we think about what this fall energy is bringing us of what is the thing that you can hold onto? What is the constant right? There's so much unknown in life. There are all of these cycles and all of these changes, and our emotions shift and our thoughts shift and our circumstances shift and our relationships change. So much changes, but what can you hold on to?

Speaker 1:

And so often, that answer of what is that solid thing that you know, no matter what you can rely on, is nature, because nature is always going to be here. The flowers are always going to bloom, the grass is always going to grow, the trees are always going to be standing right. They have been here long before we were and they'll be here long after we're gone. But nature is that thing that keeps us rooted, that keeps us present and that sustains us, no matter what else is happening. And so we have this amazing gift of stability and security and blessings and healing right outside our door.

Speaker 1:

And when was the last time you connected to it? Right, if you've been feeling really stressed and really overwhelmed and really burnt out or really lost, or just feeling like you're not worthy and deserving to take time for yourself, when was the last time you went out and connected to one of the only solid things that we have in life of nature? When was the last time that you went out and connected with yourself by connecting with a tree, by sitting in the grass, by listening to the water running? When was the last time you spent time nourishing yourself and allowing yourself to receive the wisdom that nature has, of that constancy, that, yes, there are cycles, but that soul, energy, that life force, that nature with a capital N always remains, and so, no matter what else we can come back to that we can find the magic in that we can listen to the wind and feel the bark on our back and taste the water coming out of the stream and we can recognize that all of those are reflections of us and we are reflections of it because we are nature embodied. And even if that's, you know the five minutes on your commute where there's a really beautiful tree and you can just tune into it.

Speaker 1:

Like Chantel was saying, it doesn't have to be this big thing. But when was the last time you connected with yourself by connecting with nature and tuned back into this understanding that there's a reality here, there's a magic here, there's an essence here that's so far beyond the cubicle in your office and this passenger seat in your car and all of this? There's this magic and this inherent essence and life force to this, that that is the reason that we're living. That is what that woman behind the register saying I'm just wasting my life. That's what we're missing in those moments is this connection to something deeper and bigger and more powerful than we are. We're missing that connection to our soul that we can get by simply stepping outside and allowing ourselves to be open to it ourselves to be open to it.

Speaker 2:

You know that chick, that chick, the woman behind the register. She's probably also missing the point that you know she's giving smiles, she's she's servicing people. There's a purpose for why she's there. It may not be her big purpose and it may not be, you know, her life purpose, but it's still there's purpose and why she's there right now and so I hope she finds that. You know, just sending that energy to her, even though I've never met her, but hopefully she finds it.

Speaker 2:

I do with them is I take them out into nature because they're learning to relive again. You know, they're going through the grief of a loved one and a lot, of, a lot of people in grief. They go through grief for many years before they refine themselves and so with the group that I have, they're actually transitioning from another grief group to me which is kind of fell into place. But what's happening is that what I'm bringing to the table with our you know, talks of shamanism and energy work and healing and processing and stuff like that is they are actually finding their heart for love and life again. And it's very interesting to witness because they came in real, like I have a man in there. He never shares, and he shared for the first time last week and there was another woman and it touches people in such a profound way that I don't know if they even recognize it until they feel it in themselves. But taking them outside and being like, go connect with a tree, like literally, go touch a tree, go give it to the earth, give it to the tree all your sorrow, all your grief, all your sadness, all your sorrow, all your grief, all your sadness, stand barefoot on the ground, they tune into that and are able to walk away feeling more connected with themselves, with their loved one, with the cycle of life, all of it, than they did before they even came. And so it really is such a profound aspect of life when we can connect and do those things. But how many times do we walk past a tree or walk past a bush or anything, and we don't even think of it, we don't even give it a second thought, a second gaze.

Speaker 2:

And now it is like this is a um, an opportunity for you to go out and do it, like this is a, a challenge, if you will, to go out and start noticing everything around you, noticing the plants when you leave your home, noticing the trees, noticing the grass, the mountains, the sky, the clouds, all of it. Like look around and noticing what senses you can tune into. What does the air smell like? What do you hear? Like just take a moment just to breathe in and feel into what it is. And if you are in areas that have major climate shifts and stuff like that, it's okay still to even tune into. Like, if you're in the snow, if you're in the desert, if you're wherever you're at, we all have it, you know. So we can just connect to where we are and be just be one with the earth itself, because it will help to transform your emotions, your thoughts, your energy, everything that you have going on within you, and that's like the heart that starts to open up.

Speaker 2:

And if you've never read Broken Open by Elizabeth Lesser Lesser, I believe it is, that is an amazing book and just the title is being broken open. Because that really is what it is is that we have to be broken open to heal ourself. So when we go through grief and we go through all these things in life like nature does for itself, when we break ourself open or when life breaks us open and we start to transition through ourself. It's those lessons that are actually energetically charging us. We get to use that. That's our own cycling is. We use our lessons to recharge, to learn, to grow, to evolve, to transform. And that's the cycle that humans have. So when there are lessons that we have to go through, when there is grief that we go through, loss that we go through and everything, there's purpose in that and when we can find that purpose, then we can heal from it and grow and transform. And that's a great cycle to also be a part of.

Speaker 1:

And you know, there is this element to it that one of our community members was sharing, of this idea of how that understanding that with winter comes the end of a cycle and death, and how that can add to the stress. And I think this is a really beautiful place to start bringing this conversation to a close, because it's this awareness that, yes, with winter comes death and hibernation and this end of a cycle, but that, when we look to nature, there's never really an end to anything. Right, that dead animal becomes nutrients for the soil and the dead tree becomes homes for animals or firewood for people to keep them warm. Right, there's always this continuous cycle and there's that law in physics of energy can't be created or destroyed. Right, it's just kind of repurposed, and we see that played out in nature of there's never really an end to anything. There is, just as cliche as it might sound, there's just a new beginning of knowing that, yeah, the end of a cycle is coming at some point. Right, the end of what's happening now changes that only constant that we have of at some point this life is going to end, at some point this circumstance that we're living in right now is going to end and something new is going to take its place. But can we use that as firewood, as kindling for this sense of appreciation and gratitude and awe, of wanting to be a good steward for what we have while we have it, of wanting to pour our soul into what we're experiencing, knowing that, like Chantel was saying, there is purpose to everything, everything has a reason, everything has a gift or a medicine or whatever you want to call that that you can receive from it. And in that receiving like we were talking about with the trees earlier in that receiving, you then have something new that you can share with someone else or with something else, right?

Speaker 1:

And so it is this constant cycle of giving and receiving, of learning and teaching, of growing and resting that we're in as we step into fall, in this transition and, yeah, we have winter coming right, we have this time of dormancy and inner reflection and what can be seen as cold and dark and dreary, but it can also be seen as this beautiful period of rest, of this period of transmutation, where the things that are ready to be done, the things that have run their full cycle, can be released and transmuted and we can celebrate that integration of the old into creating something new that comes into spring, right, that change of the season and that's part of why winter is so slow and low and calm and inner reflection, because it is this time where what was old is being repurposed, it's being given over to, just like that dead animal being reduced into those nutrients to feed the soil, right, it's being given over to something new, and so it's a different experience, it's a different chapter, it's a different manifestation of that energy, but it's just as beautiful and it's just as worthy, and so it can bring us into, rather than a state of fear or stress. But it's just as beautiful and it's just as worthy, and so it can bring us into, rather than a state of fear or stress about what's coming. It can bring us into this state of gratitude and appreciation for what we have now, knowing that that purpose that it's serving in this moment is a gift and it is medicine, and when it's time for it to end, it would be more harmful, in a way, for us to try and hold on to it than to just gracefully allow it to release. Right, the tree doesn't try to hold on to the leaves, or when a fungus is growing in a plant, it doesn't try to keep it at bay, it lets that process go, knowing that there is that inherent gift and inherent worthiness to all things.

Speaker 1:

And so, even as we're talking about how you can step out of burnout or how we can connect more with our soul, or all of these things, can we also come back to knowing that that magic, that life force, that essence that we've been talking about, is in everything, even the difficult situations, even the hard things. It's just up to us to be able to see it and to be able to look at it, knowing that this is a beautiful time for coming back into understanding of our own power of choice and our own power of awareness, because we do have this dichotomy happening. We do have this awareness of the end of the cycles and of things like burnout and go, go, go, and that need to be productive, right, and we can choose to focus on that and we can choose to spend our energy there, and that's absolutely allowed, right. We have that power of choice and there's also this experience of the beauty of the cycles and of the magic of life, and that sense of appreciation and gratitude that can fill us up so it can spill over. There are these two energies that we can tap into when it comes to fall and when it comes to transitions in general, and which one do you want to focus on right? That's really what this conversation comes down to, is not there's a right way and a wrong way, but there's this way and there's that way. Which way do you want to look? Which feeling do you want to feel? Which way of life do you want to live?

Speaker 1:

Knowing that, when it comes to finding that magic and that meaning, or when it comes to allowing ourselves the permission to rest and decide that we're worthy to receive? When it comes to all of these things, your outside circumstances don't matter in the long term. What matters is are you letting yourself receive it? Are you letting yourself be open to it? Are you choosing to focus on what you want to bring in? And if not, that's okay, right. That's your expression of free will, and that's a beautiful thing, as long as we are making those choices consciously and I think that's something that autumn can really bring us into is in the awareness of these cycles and what we can bring in, and the magic and the life force and the nature and all of it.

Speaker 1:

It really reminds us of the fact that we do have these two choices. We have these two perspectives that we can choose from, and which one do you want to choose right? Which one are you going to call in this autumn? Are you going to allow yourself to pull in the nutrients and the positive energy and the benefit and the medicine from everything that you've experienced thus far, knowing that it's going to fill you up so you can step forward into the next phase? Or are you going to focus more on what's ready to let go of and what you don't want to hold on to anymore and what's not serving you? Both have purpose, both have reason. You're going to gain something from both of them, but the question is, like we said earlier, what do you want to live for? What do you want to experience? What magic do you want to have and can you allow yourself to receive that?

Speaker 1:

So in this conversation there's been all kinds of prompts and ideas and questions, and I think that's really where we want to leave you, guys, is this idea of looking at what have you received this year?

Speaker 1:

What experiences are you ready to hold onto? What experiences are you ready to release and let go of? Where can you be more present. Where can you bring in that connection to nature in your life, even if it is a 15 minute nap in your car, even if it is tuning in with nature as you commute, even if it is just sitting in the grass barefoot for a couple of minutes? Where can you bring in more of that purpose so that, as you start to look at what's your definition of success, what's your definition of worthiness, can you use that awareness of nature to help yourself rewire those, to recognize that you are worthy to receive, that you are worthy to rest, that you are allowed to change your definition of success so that you have more room in your life to focus on the magic, to focus on the things that bring you joy, to focus on connecting with your soul, so that autumn can become this time of nourishment and receiving that can overflow into that gratitude. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

No, one way that's really easy to recognize if you're in the state of like the energy to receive or the energy of holding on, is noticing how you hold your hands, like right now, are you holding, like, even if they're resting in your lap, are they in a fist or are they open? Right, how you sleep, do you sleep well, like you're protecting your heart? All you know what I mean, because a lot of us get into fetal position. Why is that? Because we're protecting, we guarding. So when you recognize those things, um, energetically, it tells the world a lot, it tells the universe a lot and energy.

Speaker 2:

So it's um, when I started doing that practice, I realized in a lot of ways I was always like fisted, how I would sit, and now I'm like I'm very, I'm more open, I'm ready, cause I'm in the receiving energy to receive, versus I can't take on anymore. You know I'm full. This is means I'm full, I'm done, I can't even accept anything else versus I'm ready and I'm here and I'm open. So that might just be like a little check-in, that, if you're watching this, what you can do, just noticing how you are holding your hands, and so just change that little thing, just open up your hands and be more pliable and ready to receive and open up when you're sleeping and whatever it is. But yeah, just open your heart and be available for all the things that we were talking about today.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely so. With that open hands, open heart, we would love to hear what your top takeaway is from today's conversation over in our Moon Rising Shamanic Mystics Facebook group. We would love to know what you're taking away, what you received from today's conversation, knowing that you are worthy to receive, that you are worthy to step into presence and acceptance and gratitude in this season. We would love to know how you're going to connect with nature and with yourself in this season of life. So feel free to join us over in our Facebook group and share your top takeaways. Connect with your community, like we were talking about, as that's another important part of this season's energy, and with that community, like we were talking about, as that's another important part of this season's energy. And with that said, we hope you enjoyed today's conversation and until next time, may you awaken to the whispers of wisdom rising from within.

Speaker 1:

In to today's show. The Wisdom Rising podcast is sponsored by Moon Rising Shamanic Institute. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcasting app and be the first to know when we release a new episode. You can find us on Instagram, facebook, youtube and TikTok at Moon Rising Institute, or visit our website moonrisinginstitutecom to learn more about our mission and find future opportunities to connect with our community of shamanic mystics. Once again, thank you for sharing space with us today and until next time may you awaken to the whispers of wisdom rising from within.