Are you being a Willow tree or an Oak tree?

This has been a heavy week for surrendering, letting go and transforming on many different levels.  Today felt to me like it was the heaviest day of all.   I literally could not get out of bed this morning; I felt drained and weighed down. I was definitely grieving certain events that had happened over the course of the week.  I was thankful that I was on holiday so that I could have a good cry and sit with all the feeling that was moving through me. I sensed though that I was not alone in this state of being.  The whole world felt heavy to me.  I trudged through my usual morning routine and then turned on my computer.  Today, like many other days this week, I had quite a few e-mails from clients who wanted to share how their healing process was going.  I value being a supportive witness to their lives.   I also enjoy supporting a client through a healing crisis, even though it can sometimes be a tough process for both of us.  This week had been exceptionally challenging as there was death occurring in people’s lives, either literally or figuratively.  Many had people close to them die by suicide or accident, others had events happen that were shaping their next choices and next phases of growth; they were dying on another level.  All were having a difficult time making sense of it all, processing the emotion, grieving and letting go.  Increase in physical symptoms followed for some as a result.

From my perspective, those that literally died decided they could not make the journey up the ladder of evolving consciousness on the planet, whether from lack of certain life skills, lack of faith, lack of self love, lack of courage or perhaps they just plain gave up.  Or their journey here was done and we just cannot fathom the outcome because their life did not play out the way we would have wanted it to.

However, those of us left behind can benefit from death and subsequent rebirth around us.  It can strengthen our resolve to carry on and live a meaningful life.  And we must always remember that we have a choice as to how we live it.   As I mentioned in my June blog, the human race is being called to release our narcissism and materialism and embrace a soulful and spiritual way of living.  The universe is turning up the heat and is demanding that we continue to let go of our old dysfunctional ways of operating on mother earth. So we can either move with this new energy or struggle against it.  Our bodies will tell us if we are not surrendering to this transformation process:  constipation, headaches, tight muscles, clenched teeth, sleep issues, digestive complaints, high blood pressure and a host of other health issues depending on the person.

When I work with a client that is resisting their healing, struggling with the meaning of events or trying to control their life path, I will ask them to act like a Willow tree not like an Oak tree.  A Willow tree bends with the wind, whether a light breeze or raging storm; it knows how to go with the flow and bends as needed. Yet it still remains resilient.    An Oak tree is more rigid and therefore appears stronger than the Willow, but its branches will snap when the wind is too strong.  It may even be uprooted if the forces of nature blow hard enough.  Therein lies the lesson from nature and a great metaphor for the feminine aspect of empowerment through change:  there is strength in yielding.  Sometimes this is all it takes to allow us to go with change, shift into a greater version of ourselves and heal our bodies.  Simply letting go.  No resisting, no questioning, no blaming.  We just need to get out of our own way.