Such a powerful piece, Shilpa. I've been sensing something in my life that is connected to ancestors over the last year but I've been struggling in terms of finding ways to engage around it. This is inspiring me to turn towards it. Also that exercise you described in a group of three.... just sounds so transformative. Thanks for writing, as always!
Thanks Jeff! I love that you are inspired to turn towards that connection to your ancestors. And yes, try out that exercise! It's magic. Thank you for reading! <3
I love the differentiation of noticing, feeling and thinking into our ancestry. remember a time when I was in Tennessee leading a retreat with Masankho, dancing with the ancestors. He danced on behalf of mine and I danced on behalf of his. Each of us carried back wisdom that supported the other’s relationship to ancestors. Masankho from Malawi heard my female ancestors suggest that I not work on healing my ancestry. Those that support me are there as well as the many I call on spiritually. Eventually my step father did a whole book on my ancestors, I learned many profound and difficult and beautiful things about my 1000s of grandparents. Today I feel rooted in it all
like a tree- I listen to my ancestors who are guiding me. ❤️💜❤️
Yes to feeling rooted in it all like a tree -- the difficult and the beautiful. And listening to the guidance of ancestors. I love the dancing on behalf of each other's ancestors, and can hear the beauty of doing that with Masankho. Thank you dear Cynthia!
"Like beautiful vines twisting inside my body braiding a hammock to hold all possibilities."
I love this Shilpa. I had a profound experience years ago when I realized that my ancestors are alive in me, and whatever I say about myself is a reflection of them. I would never speak about my ancestors in the harsh ways I judged myself, and once I realized that's what I was doing, the voice of my inner critic became nearly silent.
How powerful - thanks for sharing this Gino. I love this -- that your ancestors are alive in you, and your feelings about yourself is a reflection of them. And how that realization silences the voice of the inner critic. Thanks for sharing this deep wisdom. <3
Thank you Shilpa. I am coming out of my own portal of protection and living close in these last few years, tending health and family, and it is good to find your writing here, to feel a resonance and care that touches me and inspires me. Very powerful stories and teachings, and a humble wisdom gleaned from experience that you carry, with a beautiful willingness to be with it together. This past year I have been in a deep dive with my ancestors, and feeling them and their support is very strengthening, both in courage and dignity, and so important to feel accompanied in the way I do now, and a deeper sense of belonging all around, which has me stepping out of my comfort zone and into the generative spaces of stretch and growth and change and creativity. Thanks for your part in that!
Thank you for sharing this Alexis! I'm so glad to hear of your deep dive with your ancestors, and all the accompaniment you feel with them -- and how it's inspiring to stretch into generativity and creativity. That's awesome. May all of us feel that upliftment -- our ancestors providing the wind for our sails. Thank you!
Beautiful to read and reconnect with these stories and memories from that HOME Jam. When I participated in that activity, my father was not yet an ancestor. Now he is. I take great solace in an idea that emerged through that activity, that his healing journey is still ongoing, even in the ancestral realm, and that my healing also heals him. <3
Such a powerful piece, Shilpa. I've been sensing something in my life that is connected to ancestors over the last year but I've been struggling in terms of finding ways to engage around it. This is inspiring me to turn towards it. Also that exercise you described in a group of three.... just sounds so transformative. Thanks for writing, as always!
Thanks Jeff! I love that you are inspired to turn towards that connection to your ancestors. And yes, try out that exercise! It's magic. Thank you for reading! <3
I love the differentiation of noticing, feeling and thinking into our ancestry. remember a time when I was in Tennessee leading a retreat with Masankho, dancing with the ancestors. He danced on behalf of mine and I danced on behalf of his. Each of us carried back wisdom that supported the other’s relationship to ancestors. Masankho from Malawi heard my female ancestors suggest that I not work on healing my ancestry. Those that support me are there as well as the many I call on spiritually. Eventually my step father did a whole book on my ancestors, I learned many profound and difficult and beautiful things about my 1000s of grandparents. Today I feel rooted in it all
like a tree- I listen to my ancestors who are guiding me. ❤️💜❤️
Yes to feeling rooted in it all like a tree -- the difficult and the beautiful. And listening to the guidance of ancestors. I love the dancing on behalf of each other's ancestors, and can hear the beauty of doing that with Masankho. Thank you dear Cynthia!
"Like beautiful vines twisting inside my body braiding a hammock to hold all possibilities."
I love this Shilpa. I had a profound experience years ago when I realized that my ancestors are alive in me, and whatever I say about myself is a reflection of them. I would never speak about my ancestors in the harsh ways I judged myself, and once I realized that's what I was doing, the voice of my inner critic became nearly silent.
How powerful - thanks for sharing this Gino. I love this -- that your ancestors are alive in you, and your feelings about yourself is a reflection of them. And how that realization silences the voice of the inner critic. Thanks for sharing this deep wisdom. <3
Thank you Shilpa. I am coming out of my own portal of protection and living close in these last few years, tending health and family, and it is good to find your writing here, to feel a resonance and care that touches me and inspires me. Very powerful stories and teachings, and a humble wisdom gleaned from experience that you carry, with a beautiful willingness to be with it together. This past year I have been in a deep dive with my ancestors, and feeling them and their support is very strengthening, both in courage and dignity, and so important to feel accompanied in the way I do now, and a deeper sense of belonging all around, which has me stepping out of my comfort zone and into the generative spaces of stretch and growth and change and creativity. Thanks for your part in that!
Thank you for sharing this Alexis! I'm so glad to hear of your deep dive with your ancestors, and all the accompaniment you feel with them -- and how it's inspiring to stretch into generativity and creativity. That's awesome. May all of us feel that upliftment -- our ancestors providing the wind for our sails. Thank you!
Beautiful to read and reconnect with these stories and memories from that HOME Jam. When I participated in that activity, my father was not yet an ancestor. Now he is. I take great solace in an idea that emerged through that activity, that his healing journey is still ongoing, even in the ancestral realm, and that my healing also heals him. <3