Reconnecting to our Innate Wisdom as we step into the unknown

Every day we receive differing information as the pandemic unfolds. Fear and scarcity is driving a lot of the narratives and it is all too easy for people everywhere to move into their protective defenses of fear, control or escape through addictions. 

 

The fact is we don't know what solutions there will be for this virus, what this time is going to do to the economy, to what feels human, to what coming together will look like moving forward. Nothing is predictable. Initially, I like many, kept finding myself dropping into the rabbit hole of numbers, what to do, what if, what if, what if...and the negativity created when a lot of people are in fear/control does not feel good!

 

So I've been focusing on remembering that our ancestors have moved through frightening times such as these. Their survival through perseverance, tenacity and attunement to spirit/Creator and the natural world is why we are all here. We stand on their shoulders and their blood still lives inside of us.

 

Connection to the natural world outside and inside of us (our innate wisdom) is something we have all lost in this modern society. And yet this is a time when we not only need to reconnect to this practice of our ancestors but some of us, actually have more time and less distractions from doing so.  

 

As I was growing up in foster care, I learned that (though many sincerely tried) the people in my life were not the ones I could rely on. The only constants in my life were spirit/God and the natural world that brought me peace and vitality wherever I was living.

 

I remember clear as day many moments interacting with plants, like the fig tree in my grandmother's backyard, or a wild canyon in a cousin's backyard, that I would disappear into whenever my dad would drop me off for one of my 'temporary stays.'

 

Mother Earth and Father Sky were alway with me. Though I moved so much that the people and place details were always fuzzy, I knew deep in my bones that I had this essential, timeless, spiritual support from God/love and nature. Throughout my journey, I used to pray and sing a song I had learned in church, "When I'm down, you bring me up. When I thirst you fill my cup. And though I could be anywhere, I bow my head, you're always there. You're always there."

 

This divine love, in all forms, always was and is here for us.  

 

And now during this time, I remember again, that when everything is changing moment by moment, my spiritual/ancestral guidance, the divine all around me in nature, and the innate intuitive design of my being are my daily moment by moment respite. My shelter.

 

This reconnection expands in the natural world, where I listen and learn in the ways that my ancestors did, infusing the guidance of Love/Creator into every waking moment and experience. Taking the concept out of my mind and into my whole body and soul, feeling myself cradled in the vital life force, adaptability, and unending creativity of plants, animals, elements.  This is a time to get quiet, to observe and melt in the warm, nurturing arms of a divine, wise, and ancient earth grandmother.

 

To learn from the plants, animals, birds, bees, trees as they continue humming with life and doing exactly what they know to do. They are unfazed by the information circus and are still thriving with the innate knowing and resiliency that is deep within them. How do we reclaim this?

 

Inner Bonding has been my road map for this practice of self-reclamation for 25 years now. It literally saved my life when I was an emancipating foster youth. Now, it's how I find my way no matter what life presents. By starting my days and entering my moments dropped into my heart, and opening to earth/ancestral/spiritual guidance, asking what is loving in any given moment, I always know better how to parent myself and my children. I trust this process so deeply because it helped me to heal, and also because it was how I intuitively survived as a little orphan. Our birthright of reconnection lives inside all of us, and often those experiencing trauma find it in the slivers of light the fragments create. 

 

So as each day is bringing such uncertainty, I encourage you to remember that you have a birthright to be deeply connected. You have it all within you. Structures, routines and expectations may fall away. We may be entering a time that we can barely conceive at the moment. But if we take each day and each moment, walking hand in hand with our Inner Child and our Spiritual source, opening wide to the unconditional Love, wisdom, and healing that surrounds us, we will never be alone, and we will be guided.

 

We are all orphans in a way. We have been disconnected from so much, but maybe this is a time to find the slivers of light in what gets fragmented. 

 

Try imagining that you are holding a precious child, and you are walking through an unknown, newly unfolding path. Commit to being there for her. You are her keeper. Recognize that coming from your small mind your ability to problem solve for her, will be limited. Then imagine extending out to the LOVE, COMPASSION, and WISDOM of your spiritual/ancestral source and guidance and the healing aliveness of the natural world.

 

As you take each step, ask your Spirit/Love to lead. Surrender trying to control, simply practice being fully present with yourself, and fully present with Spirit (which naturally extends to full presence with others). Rest back into this. Let this love surround you and hold you as you hold yourself. Ask for the loving action you can take on your behalf in the face of each new challenge or moment. Observe the natural world as they point you back to resilience. 

 

The details of each situation/challenge of the day vary, but the healing is essentially the same. Rest and trust in LOVE. 

 

Surrender to what is falling away, let go of what needs to fall away, so that you can rest deeper and deeper into your true path in ways you may never have discovered before.  

 

 

Sylvia Poareo, MSW is passionate about sharing Inner Bonding and nature connection, now and always. For more info visit: www.connectingwithin.com