Lula Garner | Earth Pathways Showcase

Diary 2018

I unroll my yoga mat in my hilltop garden to land once again
like a returning voyager to the space within:
naming the heart, claiming the body, stilling the soul.
Amid the rushing pictures of my life I ask
Where am I trying to get to? And why?
It really is quite tiring, this constant striving and desiring!
I fling my arms wide, taking a breath to greet the here and now.
Rather than seethe inside, I take a moment to see the inside.
I picture a wedge of ancestors standing behind me;
cheering, steering the present expression of this lineage.
All anyone can do to heal the broken in the world
is tend to the self first, from which to deliver ourselves.
To simply stand and breathe I am blessed beyond measure -
bone-deep, heart-wide, mind-full,
soul voyaging high:
grateful am I.

Voyager © Lula Garner 2016

Diary 2017

We meet in a local wood covered in Beltane’s bounty, that herald of Mayday mayhem: bluebells, sited somewhere between azure and amethyst. Longtime companions in crafting ceremony to mark our passage through earthly festivals, we have travelled time together turning on nature’s wheel. We begin our honouring sat back against back. Thus supported we call in directions to describe sacred space within which to breathe in awareness a while. Amidst our delight at Beech’s lime green silken petticoats weaving a lacelike canopy, we are still and silent in contemplation of what lies before us. Rooted, we absorb each other’s heart-full presence: resonating gently, solid in the years we have shared, nourished by this mutual validation of our way of being, we turn and speak out bright blessings, naming gratitudes from our lives, tumbling one over the other, ending with a prayer framed as a wish. Blessed be to Beltane’s promise of the rising tides of light, warmth, growth, and thanks to all that be; for thee, daring, darling, soul sister and me.

Ceremonial Companions (Lula Garner & Viveka Bowry) © Lula Garner 2015

Diary 2016

The Festival Pages

In our busy modern world the eight Celtic Earth Festivals offer us the opportunity to take pause, to reflect on our lives and to re-discover our true home in nature. We can align ourselves with these auspicious moments in the annual journey by gently opening our awareness to the forces at work within the Earth’s rhythms. Perhaps we might also conduct a small personal ritual to help us access what is pertinent to our own unfolding journey and to mark each transition. These rituals can be done alone, with special loved ones, or in an open community celebration (or of course all three!)

I invite you to celebrate this year of Solstices, Equinoxes and Cross Quarter Fire festivals by engaging with your heart. Each festival page will guide you to connect with the qualities of that time of year through your heart energy at the centre of your being. There will be suggestions for you to consolidate your individual journey of continual evolution – I will ask what you wish to nurture, to bless and to invoke in your own heart. I offer you the chance to converse with yourself using practices from the Dru Yoga tradition. I wish you well on your path with heart.

Imbolc

Imbolc is the time of new beginnings when the earth is beginning to arise from her long winter’s sleep, yet still the cold and dark lays strong against the land. Remember though all that is stirring in the dark – seeds and bulbs are awakening beneath the ground mostly beyond our vision; notice buds on the trees tentatively moving outwards.

Bring your awareness to your heart. Maybe it helps to place your hand over the place in your body where the physical heart sits, and focus your mind on your breath for a few moments to still your thoughts so as to allow your inner wisdom the space to speak. Notice, in this quiet place, how your heart invisibly sustains your life with its every beat and give thanks for this life-giving endurance.

Imbolc is the time to ask what you wish to awaken in opening this dialogue with your heart. What needs to germinate in your heart to bring greater health and wellbeing? Pay attention to what inspires you and take note of how you can cultivate more of this quality for yourself. What do you wish to invoke thanks for? What would you like to receive in your heart this year? Give light to your blessings and wishes by floating them down a stream in a handmade paper boat with a lit candle.

Imbolc © Lula Garner 2015

Spring Equinox

At Spring Equinox sunlight falls on the earth in perfect balance, with day and night of equal length, heralding light’s burgeoning strength bringing growth to all living things. Green shoots are emerging from every nook and cranny. Be we plant, animal, human, in this time of blossoming we shake off the last vestiges of Winter and turn our faces to Springtime’s wind, rain and promise.

You can reach into your heart space with this simple heart alignment breath – as you breathe in, visualise white light streaming in through the top of your head down to your heart. Breathe out and see the light emerging from your heart to the space in front of you. The next inbreath takes the light back into your heart and the out-breath takes this light from the heart down through your feet into the earth. Reverse the pattern of light with the next set of breaths (earth through feet to heart, heart to front of body, front to heart, heart to sky through crown).

Equinox is a chance to tend to what needs balancing in your life. What speaks from your heart to lighten or give weight to achieve harmony? What blessings have blossomed to be grateful for? Reach for new intentions now with the generative energies at your disposal. Plant them using seeds as a token of your intent, and set a lit candle in the earth above them.

Spring Equinox © Lula Garner 2014

Beltane

Beltane’s energy is wild and rampant – all of life rushes forth. The swallows swoop in, the hares are leaping, newborn of all kinds spring forth. Green things shoot hither and thither with great abundance. The world is full and fertile and we would do well to foster a sense of awe and wonder at her bounty, to align with the clarion call to growth and transformation.

Connect with your heart’s adventurous spirit by lying prone with your breast on the earth, hands cupped together palms uppermost, holding your forehead, legs wide apart with heels falling inwards comfortably. With each out-breath imagine your belly and heart sinking deeper into the ground, so you feel more and more held in the ground beneath you. Rest here awhile, and affirm your union with the life force within and beneath your body.

Beltane’s expansiveness can breed a playful spirit – with whom or what does your heart desire to frolic? Do you have a wild dance growing within that might lead you into a change of heart? What possibilities does your imagination tempt you into voicing? This is the time to dream your visions into form. What thanks do you hold for what has manifested in your life? Make a wish for yourself, one for your community, one for the world. Collect dew at dawn and anoint yourself and loved ones.

Summer Solstice

At Summer Solstice, nature’s growth has gone way beyond abundant to rampant – she is at the peak of her powers. Green is in full flush, painted with the many hues of grasses, leaves, wildflowers and plumage. Bird and beast are rounded with sustenance. Yet now, already so soon it seems, the cycle turns to its waning phase and we must go with it into darkening days.

Investigate your heart’s purpose using this standing heaven-earth stretch as a meditation. Stand with feet hip-width apart, hands in prayer position with palms pressed together, thumbs resting on breastbone. Breathe slowly, focusing on your heart and elongating your spine. Breathe in: simultaneously lift your right hand up to full stretch above your head whilst your left hand travels down to stretch toward the ground resting just below your hip. Turn your right palm to the sky and your left palm parallel with the ground. Breathe out: reverse the movement so your left hand ends up with the palm stretched to the sky and your right ends up with the palm towards the ground. Repeat for as long as you wish.

Declare thanks for what has gladdened your heart, so you enter the darkening cycle with contentment. Invite your heart to take a leap of faith to realise your most daring dreams. But stay grounded - keep your power in check, measured by a wider meaning than your own selfhood. Smudge with sage incense and watch the rising sun.

Summer Solstice © Lula Garner 2014

Lammas

At Lammas we celebrate the abundant harvest as the grain kingdoms grant us their plenty. The soft green of vibrant growth is giving way to the ochres of hayfield architecture. Small mammals are busy squirrelling away stores for the long winter months, as should we. We hear the owls a-wing on the hunt – their call a signal to celebrate what we have brought in from our summer quests; as did our ancestors at their magnificent Lammas fairs.

Tend now to the heart’s ease by spending time breathing strength into it. Aligning the rhythm of your breath with a simple visualisation is a powerful way to slow down thoughts and enter a more meditative state of mind. Sit comfortably (back against a tree can be magical) and as you breathe in, see white or gold light (or whatever colour you like) enter your heart space. As you breathe out, see the colour of the light become more vibrant. With each breath you can expand the size and strength of the light.

Lammas signposts the shift to a slower time. Now we consider what we wish to store from our outbound adventures. Express what has ripened within your heart and gather it in, to sustain you on your inward journey. What has grown strong and steady and what has fallen away? Make a garland, wreath or headdress from corn heads and bestow on an altar or loved one.

Lammas © Lula Garner 2014

Autumn Equinox

As the leaves begin their downward dance we spiral into the Autumn Equinox, seeking balance as day and night reach equal length. Hedge fruits abound and our orchards give generously, encouraging us to connect with this moment of poise between giving and receiving, acting and perceiving, outward and inward. Laying down stores with preserves of all kinds is a timely way to honour nature’s bounty and reflect on our particularly blessed place in the cycle of life.

Anahata’s breath (the Sanskrit name for the heart chakra) can help when the turbulence of being pulled into balance needs our cleared intention. Stand strong with feet hip-width apart and become still with hands pressed together in prayer position. Feel your feet solid upon the ground, earthing you. As you breathe out, gently push your hands away from your body with palms facing outward and bend your knees slightly. Breathing in, turn your palms to face your body and bring them back towards your chest. Repeat for several breaths, calling in what you wish to beckon into your heart as you breathe in, and releasing what you wish to reconcile as you breathe out.

Equinox’s fulcrum invites us to centre our heart’s discourse – what do you need to find equilibrium in? Which transitions do you wish to weave into your heart’s response? Give thanks for your abundance by creating and blessing a basket of harvest fare.

Samhain

Samhain’s gift is evident in the easy release trees effect at this time, building their own renewal through letting go the canopy’s furniture to make fresh soil at their feet. Darkness holds more and more sway; bird and beast sally forth to feed, then hurry home to hibernate in nest and burrow.

Scrying is an ancient tradition, and can be used to drop beneath our superficial selves into the depths of our heart’s inner wisdom. Collect a bowlful of spring water or use filtered water cleansed overnight in moonlight. Sit quietly, hold the bowl in your hands resting in your lap. Drop your gaze to the surface of the water and soften your focus. Make a link to your heart centre by seeing the bowl of water as a metaphor for your own inner pool, and breathe into it steadily. Simply sit, stare, take in air, be there.

Our ancestors believed All Hallows’ Eve to be the ‘day between the years’, when the veil between the corporeal and non-corporeal worlds was thinner, allowing them to speak more directly with those who had passed. What or who might your heart need to enshrine in remembrance? Samhain is a perfect time to release all grudges and channel forgiveness to our dustiest corners. Align yourself with all that needs to disintegrate now to allow new possibilities to emerge by burning a sacred fire and scattering its ashes.

Winter Solstice

At Midwinter’s still point we live through the shortest day and longest night of the year, hopeful of the eventual return of light and warmth. Be the sky cloudy or clear, we reflect on the returning power of the sun as our Earth tilts back in its favour. This is a particularly potent day to watch sunrise or sunset from a high place. Lace traced trees stand stark having shed all trappings, bar the precious evergreens we gather now to honour and bring indoors.

As beyond, so within: lay down the old gnarled pathways of the heart and allow rebirth. Find inner quiet through walking a small pilgrimage in a special place. On the way there keep silent and alert for what offerings you can gather for marking your intent (perhaps a bunch of seed heads or spray of pinecones). Choose a sacred pattern and walk it with deep attention on each step, around a favourite tree or bush (a spiral or flower or what you will).

Reflect as you walk, on the holy conversation you have held with your heart this year – how has this nourished you and yours? What has deepened in you across the seasons? What resolutions will serve the world as we work together to make it a lovelier place? Pause this day to give thanks for the path trodden and to lift your eyes to the trail yet to come. Blessed Be.

Diary 2015

My garden greets me with a symphony of flowers – each blossom giving her tone to the composition that wafts its solace across me. Each time I hasten down the path to conduct left brained busyness, a sideways glance calls me to sit awhile and immerse myself in today’s masterpiece – or at the very least take a single slow breath to marvel at her orchestra. But this year I understood that I can hold their elemental qualities in tincture form. How is it that I never thought of this before – for goodness sake I’ve been using shop-bought Bach flower remedies for more than two decades!

So I sit in meditation with a native Geranium to tune into her notes and I collect her essence in sunlit water to make a mother tincture in brandy – to mother me and mine when her voice is resting beneath the ground through winter months. This holy communion lights me up from within as she tells me – none too shyly – of the vibrations and qualities she has to share and I write them down to remind me of her particular melody when her paper veined petals have long since dropped and melted into the earth.

By summer’s end I have garnered a precious treasure chest from my garden’s ensemble. Such bounty for the modest cost of some brandy and some time to sit in the sunshine.