This full moon just past – while making pesto – The Eloquent Gardener suggested we invoke The Winds of Change with a simple ritual. It’s amazing the flashes of inspiration which come when you’re in the kitchen!
After dinner, we headed off beneath the moon to the seaside and a fierce wind, all set with fragrant white flowers, salt, spring water and clear intentions.
We were ready to create and meet change head on.
In the days which followed, I got to thinking about rituals and their role in modern life, and of change in general.
One of my recurrent observations in clinical practice, is the struggle which so many of us have with “change”.
For some, this can be grappling with the pain and incapacity of acute injury, for others it might be workplace change and stress, for others it’s the transition from one stage of life to another.
With its roots in Eastern philosophy, the medicine I practice reminds us that change is inevitable. It’s the role of an acupuncturist to help people move through life with ease, resilience, and equanimity.
How do you meet change?
Do you make it happen, and does it excite you?
Do you dread it?
Do you risk-manage with plans and protocols, go with the flow, or put it all down to “fate”?
How do you mark your passage through the big and small moments in life? I’m beginning to think there’s a place for simple, meaningful rituals in daily life. My sense is a simple ritual can help us to focus our thoughts, settle our nerves, and to move with the times.
Wikipedia has an enlightening entry about rituals here.
And if rituals just aren’t your thing, this exercise in cognitive restructuring might be for you.
You might want to read Thomas Moore’s book The Re-Enchantment of Daily Life.
And what happened to the pesto? I promise that’s coming in the next post.
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Images: All from Monet’s 1891 “Poplar” series. From The Wikimedia Commons
Margi Macdonald 
Reblogged this on The Eloquent Garden and commented:
Beautiful blog, Margi!
Reblogged this on The Wellness Ninja and commented:
The wonderful acupuncturist and perfume creator, Margi Macdonald, has put together this great post with her thoughts on ‘change’ for The Health & Happiness Collective blog hop. How do you deal with change? Do you use ritual? And check out the nifty link she has included to change the way that you think when life is not going your way.
Reblogged this on Your health. Your life. and commented:
A lovely post from Margi about managing the winds of change.
This is part of the ‘Change’ blog hop series I’m taking part in with the Health and Happiness Collective, which you can read more about here.