All in Good Time - A Cycle of Activations

Please set aside time for yourself to fully experience this Ceremony.

ISAIAH OFFERS - Smudging is a good place to start learning/understanding ceremony, also understand not all Indigenous People smudge in the same manner, this is one way of many. Also keep in mind that there is no right or wrong way to smudge, only your way that feels natural and right to you, trust your body and spirit through your process. All of these steps are my personal ways of being, related to smudging and my general approach to my moment to moments in the day to day. —----------- (EAST) Entering: walking a path towards the place of arrival. (Audio) Welcome! Please invite yourself to look around. Notice what direction is North. East. South. West and turn your body to face the direction that is calling you today. Settle. And fill your cheekbones with joy. Ask someone nearby “How are you today?” Listen to their response and practice receiving it. If you are alone ask yourself this question and practice receiving your response. When you are ready turn towards the Entrance Path and in your own time begin to make your way towards the next marker where you will Arrive for your All In Good Time Ceremony today (Phil) TEACHING : Acknowledging Creation and all that it offers to us as human beings, examine your own sense of responsibility towards being a steward to our environments and all that exist within them, including others and most importantly ourselves. Mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally. + (written on website page accompanied by images and GIFS) SMUDGE: As we come and enter the space (and spaces in general) we come as we are, with no expectations, guided by our sincere intentions. —-----------

1 Arriving: orienting towards a sense of Self-in-Place in this moment, now. (Audio) Notice where the sun is in the sky. You may see it or you may just feel it. Sense its position. Imagine that the sun is shining a huge spotlight down on this place where you find yourself today. What is illuminated? Rub your hands together and place them in front of you so you can see your palms and fingers. These are your hands. Your hands can change the world. Invite your heart to fill your hands with kindness. Receive this kindness. Slowly bring your hands towards your body and let them Arrive at a place that is asking for Kindness today. Receive this kindness. Keeping your hands on your body, bring your attention to your Breath. Breathe in and feel your lungs moving. Your lungs are just one part of your body. Now can you see your body as one part of this Place where you find yourself today? And can you see this Place as one part of the World that the Sun is illuminating today? Invite your hands to gently float away from your body, connecting your body with the Sun’s life force energy. In your own time, allow your arms to lower. Settle your gaze with your breathing. (Phil) TEACHING : Our eldest brother, the Sun, travels the same path every day providing unconditionally its strength and power, from its source all of Creation benefits from its original instructions. + (written on website page accompanied by images and GIFS) SMUDGE: As you enter, arrive, and become aware of your breath. Acknowledge that breath feeds movement, it feeds every cell in your body, become present with the medicine you are breathing and arrive in the present moment. —----------- 2 Awakening: grounding, activating Body-Earth connections (Audio) Notice the surfaces of your feet connecting with the ground, or your seat connecting with your chair. Imagine yourself in the centre of a magnificent field of flowers on a warm sunny day. The flowers are gently swaying in the wind. Each flower represents someone or something important to you. Gesture repeatedly with your hands to fan their sweet essence towards you. Some flowers have fallen to the ground. Reach down to pick them up, gathering and cradling them in your hand(s). Invite your body to rock or sway as you comfort and honour these fallen flowers. As you sway, extend your hands outwards inviting your body to be the flower stem. Your fingers may begin to blossom, and your heart, eyes, and imagination become sweet with the fragrance of the flowers. Your movements bring good wishes to all. Close your eyes and imagine your flower stem bulbs rooting deep into the ground beneath your feet and continue to sway enjoying this time with your dancing flowers. And when you are ready, return the flowers to the ground in any way that feels right for you. (Phil) TEACHING : Smudging- we offer the essence of the medicine to bring us to a good mind, to allow us to focus on what's important in this moment so that we may send her thoughts and prayers to Creator, to assist in our daily lives because we're only human + (written on website page accompanied by images and GIFS) SMUDGE: To assist in staying present, become aware of the earth we all stand upon. Our hands are one way we form and control our exterior environment. Reach down and grab hold of the earth, we cannot but that’s okay, we cannot control every single aspect of our lives, you are here and that’s all that matters presently. —----------------- 3 Sensing: activating flow and inner-outer life force energies (Audio) Today you are either physically near a river, a stream, a pond, a lake or another body of water. If you are not, can you be present with water in another way? Perhaps in the tiny droplets of air around you, or streams underground, or possibly in the pipes of your home? Imagine your hands dipping wrist-deep into a shallow pool of freshwater. Swirl your hands gently in this cleansing bath. Here is a fact about you: approximately 60 percent of your body is water. Your inner rivers of saliva, tears, blood and lymph are 90 percent water. Now soften your elbows, the back of your neck, your knees and your belly as if you could float. The water in our bodies is the same water in the streams, rivers, lakes and oceans of Mother Earth. This is her blood. Can you sense the waters of Our Being? Notice any sounds of water and allow the sound to move you until you begin to notice the presence of water inside your body. Invite your breath to participate in this water body-bodies of water dance. Invite your eyes to twinkle, your knees to swivel, your arms to undulate, your hips to sway. (Phil) TEACHING : Water is the blood of our Mother the Earth, as it circumvents it cleanses and purifies, providing sustenance to all living things, promoting and invigorating in all of its forms + (written on website page accompanied by images and GIFS) (Isaiah) SMUDGE: Moving on from your sense of breath, focus on your sense of touch and physical feeling. Feel the wind wrap around your body, heat from the sun and various warmth to all parts of your body. Remember the breath feeding your body that is making this all possible. —----------------- 4 Discovering: attuning to inner pulse, rhythm, Heartbeat, and the vibrations/frequencies of Place. To bring awareness to passages of Time (Audio) Look or listen to the world around you right now and bring your attention to where you notice cycles of Time. Observe Water. Earth. Air. The Sun. Others (human and all beings of Creation). Pause here in the Now (present) and reach into memory (past) or into dreams (future) and picture yourself standing at the base of a thundering waterfall. Listen to the pulsing rhythms of the land, the water and your body, your breath. Being in the Present, take time here to receive this connection with Time and Place, allowing these currents to soften and nourish You. Observe the pace of life around you when you slow down. Raise your left foot and stomp the ground. Raise your right foot and stomp the ground, Stomp left again and right again, left again, right again feeling your own beat rising. Continue stomping, inviting your hips, shoulders, elbows and heartbeat to come along. (Audio) (Phil) TEACHING : being one with Mother Earth speaks to the frequency level that she resonates, when we are in harmony with her we feel the presence of the now, as we move about her and dance, we are caressing her back with love and kindness + (written on website page accompanied by images and GIFS) (Isaiah) SMUDGE: Now aware of self and inner surroundings, discovering your outer surroundings. Everything exterior to ourselves is what sustains/feeds our bodies and spirits. There is a great flow of all things and we are part of this. —----------- 5 Connecting: activating relationships within self and with this Place and Others Being a Good Relative. (Audio) Wrap your arms around yourself in an embrace and say the word “Ummmmmmmmm” a few times. Notice how the extended ‘mmmmmmm’ sound creates a vibration in your body. Allow the Ummmmmmmmms to transform into Hummmmmmmmming. Invite yourself to hum notes of any length and any pitch that feel satisfying to you. Find a tree with a solid trunk and continue humming as you walk towards it. You could also approach a kind friend or family member. Offer a greeting by extending your hand out in a gesture of peace and humility. Ask the tree (or the person) for permission to lean your shoulder against their shoulder. Now ask if you can lean your back against their back. Ask them if they will hum with you. Begin to hum together, enjoying the rivers of sound that are created by your unique connections. Being One with Mother Earth. (Phil) TEACHING : listening to all things in Creation has always been the inspiration on how to conduct ourselves as human beings, watching all things live in unison with each other shows us our true potential, and if we listen with our hearts the songs will come + (written on website page accompanied by images and GIFS) (Isaiah) SMUDGE: Acknowledge this flow, and the more frequently we do this, the ease to connect with energies outside of you grows with practice. —----------- 6 Creating: moving from inner places of awareness vs the moving the body in space (Audio) Place the palms of your hands together and in a washing motion, sweep one hand up the opposite arm, past the elbow, to your shoulder. Without lifting your hand sweep down and in a continuous action continue to wash and sweep up the opposite arm. Repeat this at least twice. Can you identify a place in your body where you have the strongest sensation of flames, passion or fire? Can you invite energy and movement to rise and emerge ‘from’ this place of sensation? Move your physical body so the heat of all emotions, passions, desires, loves, fears, losses begins to rise from inside you and shimmers out into the world. How far out and up can you send your shimmering heat waves? When you are ready, invite your hands to settle somewhere near your heart or on the Earth. Settle into a gentle stillness, inviting empathy and care to flow through your bloodstream, honouring the power of your inner fire and tending to the warm comfort of its glow. (Phil) TEACHING : our thoughts are the most powerful gift provided to us by Creator, everything we do is birthed from thought, and if we honour where we received this power, our ability to create love, kindness, peace and harmony will empower and enlighten to extend outwardly + (written on website page accompanied by images and GIFS) (Isaiah) SMUDGE: Do not think you must do things this way, that way or the right way. While in certain cases this is true, to live is a natural way of being. Being in naturalness can be as easy as breathing, or as making your heartbeat. And in this feeling of just being, we can create what is unique to us, no one else in the world is you. —----------- 7 Naming: acknowledging what has been missed, lost, what we are still holding onto, what is coming into being, and what wants to be released (Audio) Can you identify places in your body where something feels knotted or held? Cross your forearms and gently place your hands on either side of your neck. Close your eyes and softly speak any names or words that come to you. Go gently, honouring silence, honouring space. When you are ready slowly gather your fingers together until they form 2 fists. Carefully pull your fists away from you as if you are dragging a net out of your chest. Continue pulling hand over hand, drawing out any tangled threads from your body. When you get to the end of the net, reach down and pick up 2 handfuls of the imaginary knots. Extend both fists out to your sides as far as they can reach. Squeeze your hands and the muscles of your face tightly and when you are ready, release your fists and feel the knots and tangles fall away. Softening your face. With your arms still widely extended and your hands and face now open and free, imagine you have giant wings and twist gently to the left and then softly to the right. Now align yourself with the wind and take flight and soar. (Phil) TEACHING : our emotions are our guideposts in life, they remind us slow down, turn left or right, turn around or stop, if we consider our emotions as helpers we can give pause to the question as to why and move on, emotions have never served us in a good way to conduct our lives + (written on website page accompanied by images and GIFS) (Isaiah) SMUDGE: Open yourself to the energies/frequencies of all life. This energy will guide you to where you are needed, coincidence is quite a common occurrence in life if you allow yourself to be open and acknowledge such energy (i.e.: Air/breath) —----------- 8 Imagining: remembering, dreaming & envisioning. strengthening a sense of love, trust & safety to support healing and releasing (Audio) Think of 4 people you love and feel safe with (they can be living or deceased). Place 1 person in front of you. 1 person behind you. 1 person to your right. And 1 person to your left. Allow them to see you. And allow yourself to see them. Welcome the memory of each being, feeling their circle of love and support surrounding and holding you, and bringing you closer to a feeling of wholeness. Sensing your heartbeat, take 5 deep breaths, and imagine you can hear the deep, steady drumming of waves rolling rhythmically towards a shore. (Phil) TEACHING : As Haudenosaunee, we say the Creator gave each of us individually four messengers to walk with us and guide us in our journey, even when we don't know where to, they were gifted to us out of love and surround us with love our whole journey + (written on website page accompanied by images and GIFS) (Isaiah) SMUDGE: Envision this energy assisting/helping you. In this specific example smudge, envision this medicine, cleansing the energies that have attached themselves to you and you carry. —----------- 9 Integrating: impulse, pulse, grooving, FLOWing (Audio) Soften your gaze and with your peripheral vision, try to take in everything that you can see and sense in front of you. Sense the pulse of the entire landscape, the choreography of the World. Now turn 180* to face the opposite direction.. Softening your gaze again and taking in as much as you can see and sense in front of you. Sense your own pulse this time as you experience yourself in this landscape. Now turn back to face the first direction and feeling everything that was just behind you, invite your body to very pleasantly begin to groove. Turn 180* again and repeat the last step: seeing what is in front of you, feeling what is behind you, inviting the pulse of the place to merge with the pulse inside you. Let your body groove. And flow and grow to be even groovier! (Phil) TEACHING : everything in existence is a circle, our bodies, the trees, the winds, all the celestial bodies in their universe follows this sacred formula, it circulates and re- circulates in its own rhythmic form + (written on website page accompanied by images and GIFS) (Isaiah) SMUDGE: Follow through on this and cleanse the energies on your body until you are left with just your own, and take the time to process your energy without having any others attached. —----------- 10 Reflecting - softening into the experience of the Present Moment (Audio) Take a deep breath in and then with a long exhale open your mouth and release your breath out as you would if you were trying to see the vapours of your warm breath on a cold winter day. Pause and sense yourself in relationship with the world around you. What are you discovering today? What do you see anew? What relationships are revealing themselves? (Phil) TEACHING : our lives are guided by our perspective of existence, individually, as we experience each day with each breath we can appreciate life right before our eyes, we engage with life and each other to build strong relationships that ultimately build our own Wellness + (written on website page accompanied by images and GIFS) (Isaiah) SMUDGE: Take time to reflect/meditate/process/decompress whatever that may look like for you. Remember your feeling of entering this moment a lot has taken place, and multiple feelings have been felt. It is important to take time for ourselves to process our day-to day and moment to moment, movement is consistently happening around us. Growth and change are happening at all moments, who we are today are not who we were yesterday. —----------- 11 Concluding: celebrate with joyful expression, receiving and offering Gratitude (Audio) A celebration. Acknowledge All who are present, human and all beings of Creation. Complete your Ceremony with your own song, your own dance and offering your own gestures of Gratitude towards everything and everyone who has been part of your Ceremony experience today. As you move, look around and notice how your movements inspire others. And in turn allow yourself to be inspired and nourished by Others To close our ceremony today let’s return our awareness to the 4 directions, facing East. South. West. North. Offering gratitude to the Sky, to Air, to Water, to Fire, to Earth. (Phil) TEACHING : Being thankful for all that has been provided for us by Creator, brings us to a place of peace, power, and righteousness inwardly, outwardly expressing thankfulness will bring forward the relationships we need and make ourselves, families communities and the world a stronger safer place for the coming generations, Mentally Physically, Spiritually and Emotionally + (written on website page accompanied by images and GIFS) (Isaiah) SMUDGE: In closing do not forget to sustain the body with water and food. It takes energy to live in all its being, remember all things that sustain us come from the earth, and don't forget that acknowledgement. Celebrate the little wins just as you would the big wins, your life has led you to hear and carries you on. —----------- Exiting: transitioning into space & time, leaving the ceremony at own pace (Audio) Feel everything that’s behind you now and begin to walk forward. As you walk, bring everything with you as if you have a dress or a cape with a long train trailing behind you. At some point release the train and continue walking, feeling your lightness as you connect to this present moment and move forward with ease into the next cycle of your day. (Phil) TEACHING : if there is anything that I missed in my acknowledgment of all creation feel free in your mind to fill in gaps so that we all can participate with one mind. + (written on website page accompanied by images and GIFS) (Isaiah) SMUDGE: Remember the feelings felt through this experience and what you learned. This way of life will carry you through. Life is full of ceremony and ceremony itself. The air we breathe, the food we eat, the warmth we feel, and the life we live is all ceremony. It is like breathing, making your heartbeat, can be as simple as stopping, taking a moment, and acknowledging that this is all taking place at every moment. Go with love and be well.