Develop contentment with whatever you have—the present moment, the silence, the breath.
Ajahn Brahm
Welcome back to our Co-Creative Mandalas blog!
Each month, we share insights, inspiration, and all the ways the cycles of the Great Mandala uplift and support you. We draw upon the metaphors and messages of each season to explore and celebrate our individual and collective journeys toward Unity.
The Co-Creative Mandalas have a name that represents something about the natural world and the energy of the current time.
This month's mandala is Contentment.
We are in the deepest, darkest days of the year, but it's also a time that reminds us of the light around and within us. And it is from darkness that our light comes forth. This is the season of welcoming and honoring light. Ancient traditions and celebrations of light include Chanukah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa. These holidays occur at the end of the Hebrew and Gregorian calendars.
In nature, it's also the end of the year that began with winter solstice in December of 2021 and officially begins again with winter solstice today at 2:47 pm MST. The cycle
of the earth around the sun this time of year spiritually symbolizes light and darkness, life and death.
From nature we learn this is a time of rest. We see reflected all around us--in the trees that have lost their leaves are resting before new buds form in the spring. The animals are resting and conserving energy (I see very few critters on my wintry walks). When spring arrives, all of nature has been preparing for bringing forth and nurturing new life. I can't help but feel wonder when I think about the ease with which all of nature persists each winter and is reborn in the spring.
This pattern of changing seasons reminds me that life is continual and never-ending rest, reflection, and renewal. The winter solstice offers a natural pull inwards for contemplation and inner listening.
The winter solstice also brings our attention to how we find our way through the darkness toward the birth of inner and outer light.
As we honor the year that’s ending, we celebrate the new spark of light being ignited within us, the tiniest spark of new fire burning deep within. It's a time of hope for everything that will grow in a new cycle of life.
This is the time to invite contentment into your life. By staying in touch with your inner stillness, you allow contentment to flourish.
We are all capable of producing magic and blessings in our lives. We can also choose contentment with our thoughts and with how we interact with one another.
Yesterday I felt like I wanted to crawl out of my own skin because I had some hard stuff coming up for healing. So, I took a walk off the beaten path to move some energy. My destination? Nowhere in particular.
It was a windy day (this month has seemed particularly blustery), the tree branches were swaying wildly, but the scene on the horizon was serene.
Nature moves me. It grounds me, it settles me, and it helps me get above the inner chatter and noise so that I can reach that special place inside where thoughts just pass
through, and then there is nothing--and there is everything. That place of contentment.
It's magical to walk in nature, feel the blessings of the season all around me, and see and feel things I've never experienced before. I love to listen to the sound of birds (even yesterday I heard, then saw, a robin) and the sound of the water flowing in nearby Poudre River. I noticed the trees, pine and blue spruce, and the stark, bare maple tree branches against the bright blue sky. I saw my breath. I noticed the purple, orange, and pink sunset colors.
When I’m out walking, I notice how many paths there are for each of us to travel down. Each path leads us somewhere different, and it’s up to us to choose where our
journey will take us. It's up to us to choose our thoughts, our focus, our way of being in the world and looking at the world. It's up to us to choose contentment.
Is it time for you change the story you have been telling yourself?
This winter, I'm going to remember to bundle up and walk both when I am in a state of joy and when I am going through a difficult time. In the "wintering" phases of your
life, when restlessness is calling you toward deep healing (paraphrased from the book Wintering by Katherine May), what are the things you can count on to help you stay
present to what is up, to allow yourself to be transformed by the challenges, and to land in a place where your soul knows contentment?
For some, this is the season of joy and good tidings. For others it’s the season of depression and gloom, or a tumultuous, emotional roller coaster ride.
If you find yourself stuck or confused or overwhelmed, I suggest you take a walk.
So, in this season of gift-giving, it's worth remembering that the greatest gift of all is your presence, your magic, your blessings, your contentment.
The Co-Creative Mandala--"Contentment" from a photograph of juniper, pine, and ice crystals. It reminds us to pause and appreciate the completion of the grace-filled cycle of the Great Mandala. It's been an upward spiraling journey toward Unity within, with others, and the natural world.
Embrace the blessings of contentment
and share you gifts with others.
Contentment Practice:
Intention:
The real power of the practice is the intention you place behind it. Start your day with gratitude and by setting the intention that you are dedicating time for self-care, to remembering Contentment, and awakening to Unity. This practice is a simple method of helping you to release stuck energy and shift your perspective toward Contentment. This practice reminds you to remember the light within you, be grateful for what is, and consciously wish yourself and others contentment.
Allow yourself plenty of time to complete this practice. You can start and finish on different days. The most powerful time for this practice is on winter solstice. Remember, as you co-create this practice, be gentle with yourself as you discover what nurtures and sustains you.
Before you begin the practice:
There are two parts to this practice.
Part 1: Invest time toward moving into stillness.
When you are ready, invite any subtle colleagues, allies, your guides and helpers to join you in your sacred practice. Wait a moment for that connection and alliance to form.
Next, invest some time for reflecting on the Contentment mandala.
Let you gaze fall softly on the mandala. Use one or all of the following prompts for connecting your energy to the energy of the mandala:
What message does it have for you? How will you embody the gratitude that is the foundation of Contentment ? How will honoring Contentment support manifesting your vision? How will you nurture the mandala of your life? How will you practice self-care and self-compassion by welcoming the shift toward the dark side of the Great Mandala?
Part 2: Burning Ceremony*
Background
A burning ceremony at winter solstice, marking a new year in nature, is a symbolic way to leave behind what no longer serves you and bring light and contentment into your life.
Fire is portrayed as a powerful symbol of wisdom, knowledge, and purification. It is also used as a symbol of inner and outer light.
Burning ceremonies have been used historically in many religious traditions and adopted for spiritual practices as a way of releasing the past.
Native Americans have a burden basket or worry basket. While their tradition does not burn their basket, it is a place to deposit worries so that the house would be peaceful and conversations would not be burdened with worries.
Anytime you want to clear out unwanted memories and conditions from your life, a burning ceremony offers a sacred and powerful way to release stuck energy.
The goal of the burning ceremony is to make space for new beginnings. It can be done at any place, at home alone or in a gathering with others.
The ceremony is sometimes done on or around New Year's Eve as an alternative to creating resolutions for the new year.
By burning away that which we choose to leave behind, we create room for new opportunities, experiences, and possibilities. Letting go opens us to the abundance surrounding us.
Your personal ceremony can be very simple.
You can be inside or outside, wherever you can complete the ceremony safely.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
Paper
Pencil or Pen
Lighter or other source of flame
Candle
Burning-friendly surface/vessel: e.g. large metal/glass/ceramic bowl cauldron/cast iron pan, a fireplace, dirt or stone clearing, etc.
Whatever else supports you toward embodying contentment.
Burning Ceremony Steps:
First, invest some time reflecting on the year ending, what you're releasing, what you're ready to let go of.
Letting go opens us to the power of inspiration, insight, wisdom, love and contentment.
Write your answers on a piece of paper.
1. What do you want to leave behind from 2022? Is there stuck energy weighing you down? Are there old resentments, hurt, grudges, regrets, suffering, or limiting beliefs you’re holding onto? What else would you like to let go of?
2. Light your candle. Very carefully hold the paper to the flame and let it drop into the bowl.
3. Offer an Affirmation of Release
Example:
Easily, gracefully, I release the past so that I am content in this moment.
4. Bring the ceremony to a close with an affirmation. As the smoke travels up, say words of letting go such as:
Today I release what I don’t want. I am renewed. I open my heart to love, and I am blessed with contentment.
Begin Your Intention List for 2023
Once you've completed the burning ceremony, it's a good time to consider the future. Set aside some time to journal or to visualize what you want to take the place of what has been released. What do you want to experience in life for 2023? How do you want your intentions to take shape? What are you already starting to dream about?
Write your intentions in a journal. Come back to it in January when we'll explore how Inspiration supports your intentions.
May you be gentle with yourself as you find your way to contentment.
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