Hello Friends,
Welcome to you, if you’re reading here for the first time. Welcome to everyone who’s been on this journey with our community for a week or a month or a few months. Welcome to you whether you had an amazing week or a hard week or like most of us, an all of the above kind of week.
This message is a pause. A chance to breathe. To check in. To notice your connections to the landscape around you. And inside of you.
And if you want, to write about it. To exercise the expression muscle. To reflect. To share. To get it out of you and onto a page. Just 5-7 minutes can make you feel lighter.
This image is of a lake near me that I visit many weeks with my older son, George. It helps me to feel calmer and more grounded when I sit by it.
George likes going to the lake, too.
This week, I visited it in my imagination. I had the opportunity to take a meditation workshop with a wonderful teacher. We focused on a text and visualization about blue space—water, sky and even the expanse of heaven.
Before the workshop, I hadn’t been aware of the research on the healing benefits of time in blue space but the idea of it resonated from my intuitive experiences. My body calms and relaxes near water. Have you had that experience? Do you have a pond, river, lake, stream or spot near the ocean that comes to mind—a place where you can feel yourself regulating, even as you imagine it?
In the meditation, I was surprised that I focused more on the sky than on the water. Many mornings when I take my dog for his early walk (he smells my coffee, I swear, and trots downstairs to nudge me away from writing), I focus on the sky and the clouds and get that same calming effect.
Imagination is always with us, so the blue of the water and sky can be, too.
This week, I invite you to journey with me and notice how your body, heart and spirit feels around blue space. Let me know about the places you access and what you discover from your blue time.
Writing Practice: Set aside 5-7 minutes for this practice. Write in a journal or open a ‘Journey with The Season’ document where you can return each Sunday.
I’ve recorded this writing exercise—just click the arrow at the top of the page to listen to me read it to you.
Call to mind blue spaces. Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and see what places arrive: a favorite body of water near you or one that you’ve visited. Imagine being near the water. Look up to notice skies and clouds. Pay attention to any sounds that come to mind…streaming water or waves on the shore. Stay in your blue place for as long as you’d like.
When you’re ready to open your eyes, capture what you experienced. Some prompts to get you started:
In my blue place, I saw…
While I was there, I felt…
Being with the (water, sky, etc.) helped me to…
Please share responses as a comment or email them to me at gabriellekm@gmail.com
Deepening Practice:
The water’s far from blue, but I do walk by a little stream in my neighborhood a few times a week. Lately, I’ve been seeing this duck family there.
For a deepening practice, write a note to the creatures who live in the blue spaces: birds of all sorts, fish, crabs. Whales, geese, sharks, mermaids. Whoever comes to mind, whatever creatures from the vast and deep blue spaces capture your attention.
Write a note to them about what you love or admire about them. Notice how it feels to connect with them.
We are connected.
Coming up!
On June 21st, I'm offering a Summer Solstice Circle. Join in community on the evening of the Summer Solstice for guided meditation & writing prompts to welcome to explore what it means to shine.
If you are a paid subscriber to Journey With The Seasons, you will receive a complimentary link and don't need to register.
If you'd like to join the circle, you can upgrade your subscription or register here for this session.
Wishing you a week of peace!