Integration and Alignment

Integration and Alignment

Amber_Young

This past month in my tending your inner garden classes we’ve been exploring the energy and practices to support us in our process of Integration and Alignment. I love the picture of the fern in this phase, in a cocoon of growth before it’s emergence with new life – every year going through this life cycle, mirroring back to us what’s necessary during periods of integration.

Through our life journey, we not only gather in all the pivotal moments of our life experience, but we also need to practice discernment and surrender into healthy support to release trauma, doubt, entanglements with others that we’ve accumulated through our experiences that take us away from our sense of wholeness. This is all part of the process.

In our tending sessions we’ve been exploring a tree of life meditation and related practices, these offerings have the potential to give us a grounded place to integrate from, and to welcome in supportive energy. If we choose to make the time there are so many things we can do to support this ongoing process; journaling, dancing, guided imagery and free movement, closing your eyes and honouring the movement that wants to unfurl from inside of you, breathing in intention and seeing how this moves you.  We can also turn to the wisdom of wild animals, who shake and shudder after traumatic events – releasing the imprint of stress so they can move forward.

We had a very small and intimate circle these past two weeks, allowing the opportunity for some deep work. This was a special class, creating gratitude bundles and dropping into the practices. Our Monday group met under the solar eclipse, it was so powerful as we moved through this portal together.

I think the world needs more moments of intentional silence, I find often folks feel the need to fill the spaces of silence but I think this is where the healing and the deeper understanding of eachother happens. I find as the noise in our world gets louder I need more time in quiet just to survive.

I’m really feeling the ebb and the flow of fluctuating energy levels this year, honouring the balance of rest and movement, emergence and introspection, it is definitly a dance.  

After our tending gathers these past 2 weeks,  I felt filled with this remembrance of the sacredness of the earth and the interconnectedness of all life. Sometimes when I come to my drum and open myself, I feel the pain of our greater collective, the sorrows of the earth and of all of life, allowing this the space to move through.

 This time of year – in the early days of Spring, and again in the turn of the wheel to Autumn,  I often find myself reflecting on the eternal cycle of life, death, and rebirth that binds us all together in the intricate web of existence, none of us are immune to these cycles.

Our time here in these bodies is limited, I wonder, are you living in alignment with your core values, is your outer reality reflecting your inner reality?  It’s important to surround yourself with people who can support you to step into the truth of who you are, and slowly you won’t care who you’re with – you will simply be living your truth if you’re not already – it is my wish we could all get to this place in ourselves.

Are you able to take some time to integrate the experiences of your life in ways that will support you to grow from the experiences on your path, and to learn from what you have moved through.  

While we’re here, How we choose to live our lives matters, I know this can feel hard for some people but we do always have a choice – even simply the choice of where we put our attention and our energy. 

Before I close for today I’m feeling called to share with you a ritual of gratitude we moved through during our tending sessions, I am honoured to offer you this here, it is inspired by Richard Wagamese from his book, One Drum. The wisdom of this book is such a sacred gift he left for us, and incredibly important for these times we find ourselves in. It is with deep respect and love I share this with you.

This ceremony reminds us of our place within the web of life; offering gratitude to the elements, to the 4 directions, to our ancestors, to the spirits of place, and to all of our supports and spiritual allies, gratitude to the earth and to the sky, and to the portal within our hearts. 

Supplies needed:  string / yarn   , cloth – cut into 9 – 12 (or more) small circles or squares, an open heart.

You willl also need to collect an offering for inside each bundle.  Notice what you’re called to collect – dried leaves, rose petals, pine cones, pine needles, dried herbs, sand, soil, small crystals or stones, dried legumes, etc……

Once you’ve gathered your supplies, you may want to find a place in nature to create, or light a candle to honour this time. I encourage you to take some deep breaths to center yourself into the space around your heart.

Once you feel ready, taking a length of string about the length of both of your arms and cutting it from the ball of yarn/twine. 

Placing one of your pieces of cloth in front of you, tuning into your heart and seeing what arises – what are you grateful for, as this comes into your awareness gathering your offering for inside the bundle and perhaps breathing into the herbs (or contents), sending what you’re grateful for into your offering and placing it in the centre of your cloth.  Gathering the edges together and  leaving enough string at the one end to connect the two ends, tie your first bundle. Continue this process, tying each bundle alongside the one before it, along the length of the string. Once nothing is coming to mind and / or you feel like you’re at a place of completion (this may be based on the number of cloth pieces you have), tying the ends together (cutting off any excess string), creating a circle with your bundles, like a wreath. A circle with no beginning and never ending – a circle of gratitude.

Sitting with your offering, perhaps laying it on your belly or over your heart, breathing this into yourself.

Over the next week finding a place in nature, ideally somewhere you visit often, and hanging your wreath on a tree, or a rock, or you may feel called to bury it.  Bringing intention, as a gift for the earth, honouring our reciprocal relationship.  You may want to whisper a prayer from your heart.  Your gratitude bundles can be a reminder for you when things feel off kilter.  They may blow away or fall at some point, when this happens, we honour the release, burying , making a new wreath, or burning the bundles as an offering, feeling into what would be the most resonant thing for you to do. 

I make one of these every year, and my old ones I either bury in the ground or burn in a fire. 

Thank you for your openness of creating these with me, and for sharing my thoughts.

Sending you love for the days ahead,

till next time

Amber

Click here if you’d like to find out more about upgrading to a paid supporter for $6/month, helping me to continue to do this work. This will also give you access to weekly recordings of wellness capsules and mindful minutes.

If you’d like to practice with me I teach weekly online zoom classes , plus I have several different membership options with an ever expanding video library offering you supportive practices whenever you need them through a diverse collection of offerings.

I’m so excited to be back offering Healing Massage Therapy sessions and sound therapy. If you’d like more information I would love to hear from you, send me an email at amber@suryadaya.ca.

Our next Tending Your Inner Garden offering will be starting in the fall of 2024, stay tuned for dates.

Spring Reflections

Spring Reflections

Amber_Young

I love the transitional seasons, I find they are a welcome pause for integration, they help me find my footing and allow a gentle and reflective return to my centre.

I wonder how you feel?

I felt so blessed yesterday to hold space for 2 very special groups; the chair yoga class I teach for Carebridge and my tending your inner garden Tuesday night circle. It felt so perfect to be reflecting on this transitional time in cycle, honouring the pause of integration while being held in community.

Over the next 6 months we’ll be experiencing a slow increase in the abundance of sunlight, witnessing new growth all around us and feeling into an expansion in energy.

Spring brings to my heart the tender embrace of the earth waking from months of hibernation, her long winter slumber. In this turn of the wheel we often set intentions and plant new seeds – both in our outside garden spaces, and also our inner garden landscape – the two not so different and for me the two dependent on eachother. As I tend to our family garden and witness new life emerging under our gentle care, the same thing happens inside of me in caring for the earth. A big part of my personal tending happens when I’m outside nurturing the life all around me, connecting with spirit.

In the depth of winter, we’re given the opportunity to look inwards and honour the healing months of cocooning – and if we choose, to build our inner resources. When we live in resonance with the cycles around us, we begin to learn deep in our cells how important this winter rest is.

For many however, the pace doesn’t stop and the spring may emerge as a wish for a little more time to rest.

Spring can be filled with anxiety over perceived expectations, or an urgency to get moving.  These days I’m hearing the echo of folks feeling agitated inside, without understanding the why. 

Allow this to be a slow emergence if you can, especially if you find yourself feeling depleted this time of year. There truly is no urgency, this feels especially important this year as we have experienced and continue to navigate so much change and so much heartache on a micro and macro level.

This Spring I’m making a commitment to simplify things, to lean into the things that bring me joy.

The last few days I keep being reminded of the weeks I spent in the hospital after my spinal surgery just over a year ago. I felt so lucky as I landed in a room with the most amazing view. Every morning I woke to the sun rising and the most beautiful colours in the sky, it was welcome medicine. The nights were hard on my floor, so much screaming and machines going all night, so much sadness and pain. Every morning when the sun was rising just before the nurses would switch shifts, they would come to my little cubicle in our room and we’d close all the curtains and they would sit with me, sometimes just for a few minutes. We would breathe together in the precious rare moments of silence, just sitting together during this liminal time of transition from night to day. We would sit in awe at the colours in the sky (photos are posted on my instagram account) – grateful for a new day and grateful for the strength that helped everyone get through the night.

I’m not 100% sure why I’m sharing this memory, I think it’s a reminder that no matter how hard things get the sun rises again tomorrow, we get to start again. Perhaps it’s because those early morning moments remind me of the spring – I think they embody what Spring represents that no matter how dark the winter, the spring comes – no matter how dark the night, the morning comes.

We are here again, welcoming in the spring, pausing after a long night in good company simply breathing in awe of the beauty in unexpected places.

In this moment, I notice my own breath begin to deepen. In this moment I am choosing to feel into the natural world and all of life emerging once again, cherishing this breath, amidst all of it, with hope in my heart for our future – not just mine but yours to. 

I love the feeling of the Earth waking – I feel that in my body too, and the feel of the soft breeze on my skin enlivening my senses. Closing my eyes and hearing the bubbling of streams, the gentle fluttering of wings, and birdsong. Spring truly is a magical time of year, reminding us of the magic that lives inside of us too.

Sending you support as we witness the beauty of springs unfurling all around us, sitting with the state of our world, feeling it all – anger, sorrow, joy and hope.

Much love

Amber

xo

If you’d like to practice with me I teach weekly online zoom classes , plus I have several different membership options with an ever expanding video library offering you on demand support through a diverse collection of practices.

Send me an email at amber@suryadaya.ca if you’d like to book a private yoga or massage therapy session.

Click here if you’d like to find out more about upgrading to a paid supporter for $6/month, helping me to continue to do this work.

Moment To Moment

Moment To Moment

Amber_Young

Hello Beautiful souls, I’ve been quiet for a while, spending more time on an inner journey than an outward exploration. 

When you’ve been through a big moment in your life, it changes you. I know we all know this, but do we remember this for others. People remember you as you were before, and there’s a popular perception that once the event, trauma, birth, illness, death, etc…..is over, it’s business as usual. You look strong, your hair grows back, your back in the community albeit in small ways – so you must be back to how you were before. 

The thing is, you never go back to how you were before. 

Life changes us, in small and big ways – daily. I’m feeling like we need to give eachother more space to grow and evolve, and relate to one another with this understanding. Try not to put people in a box that fits so tightly there’s no room for growth.

I find there’s often a tendency to compare life to how it was before an event, wanting things to go back to “normal”. What is normal anyways? I’ve always wondered that, what is normal, the term doesn’t even fit in my vocabulary anymore. 

I have needed to be on here less, as chemo and the surgery I had on my spine over a year ago has left me with some invisible physical and mental challenges. I’m not going to dive into explaining what those are, but I wanted to acknowledge that they exist. Yes, I survived this bout of cancer and the treatments cancer gave me the opportunity to experience to help me to heal – AND I find myself now learning to live with the ongoing effects of those treatments, a new awareness of my mortality, heightened gratitude, a very different experience of changing energy levels and the reality that I am now navigating life with a blood cancer. 

Honouring it all.

I am living a life of truth, satya – the truth of who and where I am. I wonder what your truth is. I know I’m not alone, and neither are you. 

I choose life, everyday, and somedays it’s really difficult. 

There is a poem I’m reminded of as I write these words. It came to me in the hospital from a dear friend when I was first diagnosed with cancer, and I proceeded to send it out to a circle of support in the hopes of shedding some light on how I was. Now, a year and a half later, I think I actually only now understand the words. I’m going to share this with you (I may have already), as it feels pretty resonant.

For When People Ask

I want a word that means

   okay and not okay,

     a word that means

devastated and stunned with joy.

   I want the word that says

     I feel it all, all at once.

The heart is not like a songbird

   singing only one note at a time,

     more like a Tuvan throat singer

able to sing both a drone

   and simultaneously

     two or three harmonics high above it—

a sound, the Tuvans say,

   that gives the impression

     of wind swirling among rocks.

The heart understands the swirl,

   how the churning of opposite feelings

     weaves through us like an insistent breeze,

leads us wordlessly deeper into ourselves,

   blesses us with paradox

     so we might walk more openly

into this world so rife with devastation,

   this world so ripe with joy.

Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

This humaning journey definitly blesses us with paradox, everyday, and I think it’s not about making sense of it all, but instead taking care of yourself in the midst of it – regardless of anyone else’s idea of who they think you are or what you need. I encourage you to try different things to help you find your way to be able to step more deeply into yourself in whatever way that needs to be for you..

For almost 20 years I dedicated my massage and hands on healing practice to working with folks with cancer, trauma, and chronic illness. Maybe this was a crucial step in my training – moving through this experience so that I could truly understand, and honouring a new pace to open my life to a more meaningful moment to moment experience. I look forward to engaging in this work with a new perspective. 

I’m writing this piece as I’ve been blocked in my writing. I needed to acknowledge the truth of where I am before I could actually take steps forward for myself, this is part of my process. It’s not “business as usual”, but rather a new way forward. I’m taking my time easing back into my life’s work, AND continuing the dance with my own healing journey – a dance that will be joining me for as long as I am. 

Our community has been incredible, and I would not have survived this past year without all of you. I just needed to honour this gratitude again, and again and again! I’m so excited to see where this life takes me, and where we can go together.

I’m slowly starting back to work as you may have noticed in recent updates; classes I’m facilitating and sessions I’m slowly offering. It’s been amazing doing hands on massage therapy and sound healing work with folks again (with limited bookings), especially in this healing forest that has been holding me too. There’s a reason me and my family have landed here on this sacred land – not only to care for the earth, but to heal, and also help people to deepen that connection. 

I’m also excited to mention that I was approved for a scholarship (thank you universe) for an accessible yoga training, with Jivana Heyman and an amazing collective, which starts January 25th. It’s a 6 week online program that has serendipitously come to me at the perfect time as I navigate yoga and movement in a new way in my own body. This important work is where I’ll be focusing alot of my attention through to March. I’m excited to see where this takes me.

Thanks for sharing my thoughts,

With so much love

Amber

Introducing my new monthly memberships – these give you instant access with various different tiers to virtual classes, an ever expanding video library, as well as some special bonuses throughout the year. Let me know if you have any questions! 

Oak Membership

$38 / month click here to find out more

Willow  membership

$23 / month click here to find out more

Cedar Membership

$10/month  click here to learn more

Birch Membership (Supporter)

Thank you for supporting me to continue to do this work!

$6/month  click here to learn more

Membership rates include HST

I continue to teach online, and I also practice online, this got me through this past year during my cancer journey, when I couldn’t walk and couldn’t drive. Having the option of practicing online (thank you Lisa and Anne) both with live classes and recordings, was the only way that yoga was accessible for me. It has deepened my healing process in ways I can’t articulate.

As I slowly reemerge and hold intentional space once again for folks – I sit with creative ways in which I can best do that. 

All monthly memberships automatically renew every 30 days, with the option to cancel at any time.  Let me know if you have any questions or would like to find out more!

Stay tuned for my seasonal newsletter coming soon!

Tending To Your Inner Garden

Tending To Your Inner Garden

Amber_Young

The place that lives inside of you, hoping you’ll visit often.  The place that needs to be nourished with all the things that feed your soul, on a daily basis.  The place that longs for your truth and needs to be held with love, care and compassion.

Join me on a 6 month journey, created for you. A place to tend to your inner garden; nothing to prove, no expectations, simply a space to show up exactly as you are. 

Together we’ll be tending to ourselves in cycle and in resonance with the rhythms of the earth.  Remember we’re not alone on this wild human journey, and there is a special magic that happens when we come together in like hearted community and engage in healing practices.  

Our time together begins this fall, as the leaves drop away dancing in the wind and we practice putting down what no longer serves us. In this letting go, we create fertile compost for the earth, and for ourselves – this letting go is a gift. The autumn is also a potent time to set intentions and to nurture your foundation to prepare for the coming months of deep nourishment and darkness. 

We honour the cocooning of the winter months, a time to rest, restore and look within for renewal, our seeds resting in the earth. 

Together we’ll create a warm, inclusive, and powerful – yet gentle container, with the invitation to reclaim the parts of ourselves that often get lost in the day to day of our human lives. The parts of us that thrive on grounded practices that connect us to beauty, wonder and peace in our own inner being.

As the wheel turns, savoring a slow  emergence with the spring, feeling into your own unique process.  The spring heralds a time of new beginnings if we allow it, the bubbling of energy and the stirrings of new movement – in the world within our inner garden and within the world around us.

Through each month we’ll explore different aspects of ourselves and our process:

November – Grounding and Creating our safe container

December – Softening and Letting Go

January – Visioning and Receiving

February – Healing and Being Held

March – Integration

April – Joy, play and wonder

In each of our sessions together we’ll explore:

Grounding Practices, Breathwork, Gentle Movement, Poetry, Song, Journaling and Meditation.

Each gather will also include a guided relaxation and healing sound practice.

I offer you this as an invitation to come home to yourself

You belong here.

  I invite you now to take a few breaths, notice what arises. Give yourself a moment to simply pause. 

If you’re feeling the call from deep within you to say yes to this invitation, simply click on the link below (with the option that suits you best) to register for this nourishing exploration together. Please note these sessions will be offered online through the zoom platform.

I look forward to spending these windows of self care time with you.

Dates: Sign up for EITHER Monday afternoons from 1:30 – 3:15 pm (EST) OR if evenings are better, Tuesdays from 6:30 – 8:15 pm (EST)

Choosing the payment option you are able to manage in the spirit of reciprocity:

Cost:  $300 plus HST (this works out to $25 +HST /session for 12 sessions)

Reduced Rate (Tiered Pricing) $180 plus HST (this works out to $15 +HST/session for 12 sessions)

This includes 12 live 90-120 minute virtual sessions, downloadable recordings of each session so you have lifetime access, poems, songs, journal prompts, plus other bonus’s and access to special classes.

If these payment options are not accessible to you at this time but you hear the call, please send me an email at amber@suryadaya.ca and we can discuss options. Sliding scale and limited full scholarships are available as no one will be turned away due to finances.

Please note: Your camera can be on or off for our live sessions, there will never be any expectation to share, this is intended as time for you to go within.

If you can’t make a scheduled gather, no worries, Each session is recorded and sent out to all registrants within 48 hours of the live session. You’ll receive a video link to revisit our time together as often as you’d like, with the option to download for unlimited lifetime acce

Start date: My November 2023 offering is full and registration is now closed

Upcoming dates: New session starting November 2024, I already have a waitlist so let me know if you’d like to be notified when dates are posted.

Starting next week I’ll also be starting a weekly online gentle movement and relaxation class Thursday mornings from 11:00 – 12:00. You can check out my schedule here

Click here to learn more about my rates

To register, Simply click on the dates you’d like to join me and fill out your name and email, or you can send me an email with any questions at amber@suryadaya.ca

“A reminder: You are not a Before and After story. You don’t need to turn every experience of your life into wisdom, or prove to anyone how far you’ve come, or rush your way toward some other version of yourself. You don’t need to dissect yourself endlessly in order to extract your life for the consumption of others. You don’t need to be a beacon of hope or an example of overcoming. You don’t need to minimize your struggles OR your joy for the comfort of someone else’s story of you. You don’t need to bypass what’s true and real by performing what you think you’re supposed to be. You don’t need to be beyond what you teach or what you share, what you offer or what you give. You don’t need to deny when things are hard OR when things are easy, or when things feel right in the middle. You can let yourself be human, no matter what roles you play or what identities others hold you to, no matter what others expect of you or anticipate from you. You get to be human. You get to be human. You get to be human.”

Lisa Olivera
Autumn Equinox Blessings

Autumn Equinox Blessings

Amber_Young


The Autumn equinox is a time of transition, as we move through the next few months preparing us for a time of deep rest and nourishment in the cycle of the year.  A time of balance between the light and the dark and the contrasting energies in each of us. Accepting all these parts as integral to who we are, necessary in our growth and our becoming over our lifetime.  Resting in the ground of holy hereness, honouring where you find yourself right now – at this time in your life.  

We are also moving through a time of harvest, as we witness and celebrate the growth of the seeds we may have planted in the spring, witnessing this miracle of creation.  A time of gratitude for these miracles, for being here and also for the ways we are supported. 

The Autumn is also a time that we consider shifting our self care regime, honouring the changes in the season and allowing ourselves to live in resonance with our natural world.  Our self care routines are a way to build our own self trust.  When we show up for ourselves, it changes us.  We question ourselves less, we hear our own voice as important, and we thrive – so we can be who we truly are in the world.  If we can’t trust ourselves and listen to the wisdom within us, then what’s the point. This life is not a dress rehearsal.  Take time for yourself, everyday, honour yourself and show yourself the gentle care and love I sense you offer out so easily.  It has to start within. 

 Contemplative and introspective practices, including quiet time in nature, gentle movement, meditation and yoga, will allow us to work with sensations in our bodies and patterns we witness in our mental and emotional bodies through the changing seasons.  Through these practices we learn to trust ourselves, we learn what self love feels like, and we also start to understand what is necessary to put down and no longer carry forward.  


I have been quiet for the past year, out of necessity.  Honouring my own self care needs and offering myself love so I could heal.  This year I have traveled through the darkness cancer brought me, and also through the light.  I am so grateful for the ways I have been held in community, and for the ways I showed up for myself.  This is how we heal, and this looks differently for each of us – healing is not a cookie cutter recipe for everyone, it starts with listening within. 

I sense it has been an intense year for many, I feel that.  It’s important to mark transitions in a way that has meaning and makes sense for you. Autumn is a time in the cycle of the year that is so potent for marking these transitions in our lives.  We shed the layers we need to shed, we acknowledge who we are now, we give thanks for the growth and the healing, and we prepare for yet another cycle.  

During this chaotic time in in the world, we are all being reminded of how precious life is, can we hold ourselves and eachother with kindness and love in these changing and vulnerable times.  If perhaps you don’t feel that, then let me remind you how precious and fragile life is – and that you matter. 

I feel through my cancer journey I have been opened to a deeper calling of greater service to a world that desperately needs gentle places and healing hands.  Together we build our resilience, we can support one another to soothe and strengthen our nervous systems and to take time alone and together in community – honouring the need for balance. 

I no longer want to be resilient.  I don’t want to simply bounce back from things that hurt me or cause me pain. Bouncing back means returning to where I stood before.                                           

Instead, I want to go beyond the hurts and the darkness. The first step from genuine healing . . . when I came to trust and believe that there was a beyond.  

Now I reach for beyond every day, in every encounter, in every circumstance.  I seek to go where I have never travelled.  

I wake with the vision of a purposeful day, filled with adventures and teachings.  

Then I take the first step and try to make it beyond.

– Richard Wagamese

I look forward to meeting you in the beyond.


With So Much love
Amber 

faceless woman with basket of spilled apples
Photo by Елена Кузичкина on Pexels.com
We Begin

We Begin

Amber_Young

Were do we begin from? When life offers us opportunities for transformation and growth, how do we crack out of who we were to step more fully into who we are – now, through the evolution of a lifetime.

We begin by listening to the whispers of our inherent capacity to rise . This gives me goosebumps. YES – can you be quiet enough to listen to those whispers amidst the busyness and the energy spring brings.

What are your most recent opportunities to step more fully into who you are now? Take a moment to think about this..

It could be a simple conversation that you noticed yourself speaking words that weren’t actually in alignment with your truth, or the truth of who you are now. You know those conversations that may find patterned responses coming out with the sound of your voice. Or maybe that opportunity came in the form of that fire inside of you igniting in response to something you care about, you know those moments when your heartbeat quickens and your moved from deep inside into action and knew you needed to do something – did you? Other times we’re handed these opportunities through loss, or challenges to our health or that of someone we love.

These experiences are opportunities for us to grow, to pause and consider our words and our actions, our way of being in the world. Opportunities to consider if we’re showing up first for ourselves, independent of how others perceive us or past expectations. I wonder if you can look at these opportunities to also reflect on what you’re able to invite in, to shed, and to truly come into alignment with yourself.

Remember these experiences change us.

This time of year often brings about an awareness of patterns, some super helpful and others that drain us. I’d like to invite you to start fresh. To pause before you engage and ask yourself is this actually true for me NOW, or is this a patterned way of being in the world that is no longer supportive.

As the Springs tides wash over us and we find ourselves here at Beltane, the midpoint between the spring equinox and the coming summer solstice, we can allow the waters to wash away anything we’ve outgrown and to be bathed in all that we welcome in. As we celebrate Spring at it’s peak, and look around at the emergence of the trees and the flowers after a long slumber, can we hold ourselves with that same energy – a slow tender emergence as we reveal ourselves now – with wonder and curiosity.

I seem to be more aware of patterns as I emerge after the winter of my life, moving through 8 months of healing, shedding layers, inviting in new experiences, and pondering all the learning from my own opportunities for growth, which came in the form of cancer.

I came across this piece the other day and it is so resonate with my own process, perhaps it will spark something for someone else too, perhaps you.

Now is not the time for apathy or regret, not the time for keening in sorrow. It is time for swift feet and gentle fingers. Time for cracked open hearts and wild tears. Time for delight and determination to twine back together, eyes open to where we are and what can still be done.

We begin – like the crow daring to peck away at what confines us, cracking out of the shell, persistent in our knowing. We begin like the snake, feeling the tightness that no longer suits us, stretching beyond our edges until we shed our shape and become reborn. We begin with a smile, with tears, with blood and possibilities, we begin by listening to the whispers of our inherent capacity to rise.

Molly Remer from her piece titled Beltane, from We’Moon 2023

This human journey can be utterly confusing, painful and layered, and at the same time beautiful, tender and so very sacred, AND Every moment allows us the opportunity to begin again, with eyes and heart wide open.

Sending you Beltane Blessings, wrapped with so much soul support and love, as you begin

Till next time

Amber

Stay tuned for some future practice opportunities, as the tides wash in waves of inspiration, after a long healing sabbatical.

shallow focus photography of bird
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Soul Seeds

Soul Seeds

Amber_Young

What does 2023 have in store for each of us? For some folks we look at the New Year starting at the end of October/early November – with Samhain, offering us the transition of autumn into winter; to let go, compost and rest in the season of hibernation – when our dreams start to take form. For others following the solar calendar, January 1st beckons us to a new chapter with greater clarity, a fresh canvas, welcoming in the energy of a New Year.

I’m not one of these people that’s going to ask you your new years resolutions, but I am a person that will ask you what pulls you forward, and how can you listen to the urgings of your soul.

The last day I worked, before my life took a bit of an unexpected turn, was ironically a day retreat about self love and self care – I think a wee bit of an omen for my own journey. An important and beautiful day, a day held in love.

Can you honestly say you love yourself? Your whole self?

Can you honestly acknowledge that you ensure your own needs are met first before looking outside of yourself? When you move in this way, you actually have so much more to offer the world and the potential to enjoy the journey more fully.

How often do you do things you love, just for the sake of doing something that feels good?

A very special group of souls gathered that day, on the land at Carp Ridge. We moved through the forest, walking mindfully and honouring the sun, we respectfully explored the way our breath and bodies flow and move, we journaled, welcomed in healing foods, held safe space nourished by sound and relaxation practices, and we planted some seeds of our own that afternoon.

I wonder, wherever you are in cycle, what feeds your soul? This isn’t just something we should consider once a year, at the threshold, but it’s something to anchor you on a daily basis. We planted 9 seeds that day and imbued them into a mala, holding the energy of our commitment to offer ourselves experiences on a daily basis that feed our souls.

What makes your life worth living??

What rituals or practices do you do on a daily basis that help you to remember that you belong, that help you to feel at home in your body, that connect you to what matters in your life?

For some these questions may be really hard to answer, hold that with gentleness. I urge you to give yourself space and patience to explore and understand what it is you need.

What experiences make your life worth living??

I wear my mala everyday, and hold my own seeds in my hand knowing that I have the power to hold them as simply great ideas, or to take action to welcome them into my life. To live with passion and wonder.

When did we get so busy in our lives? So distracted?

When did we stop having enough time for ourselves?

Since being diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer this past October, I’ve learnt alot – and yes, that learning will never stop. It shouldn’t take getting stopped in your tracks to TRULY start listening to the longings of your soul and to honour what brings you joy. Often it’s the most simple acts that feed us the deepest – as simple as your morning coffee or tea.

Now when I unroll my mat I do that with an increased awareness of every sensation in my own body, and every single sacred breath – it is one of my soul seeds, my daily yoga. That time everyday is teaching me to love my body and all the layers of my being, it is undistracted time to simply listen deeper within – and to practice the act of listening within first. My yoga practice has changed considerably since my surgery, and I think the most important change is the gentleness and tenderness I now tend to myself with – not for my students or planning my next class – but for myself. We are constantly evolving, and with that evolution the seeds that feed our souls, and the way we approach those seeds will also out of necessity change, remember that.

Blessings to each and every one of you during this season of introspection and hibernation, so grateful to be on this wild human journey, filled with mystery and opportunities for growth. Thanks for sharing my thoughts.

‘Till next time

Love Amber

Photo by Pixabay

Just a note to remind you that all community classes and healing sessions are temporarily on hold while I navigate my own healing journey. Stay tuned for updates, I look forward to holding healing space for you in the not to far away future.

In The Blink Of An Eye

In The Blink Of An Eye

Amber_Young

Unstoppable they called her, but I saw her stop

I saw her stop many many times

Sometimes I thought she had stopped for good

but no, she always found a way to resurrect

To rise again

Not the same, never the same

Each time a little more determined, and a little less vulnerable

Unstoppable they said, but I think it was in the stopping

that she found her power.

– Donna Ashworth

A very dear friend sent me this just this morning, it seemed kind of perfect to sit down and write this update today. I know it’s been a while since I’ve arrived in your inbox, and for many good reasons.

Life hands us challenges that sometimes we feel are insurmountable and impossible to see our way through – when the path gets a wee bit blurry. We can lose sight of the strength we contain, the ability to rise, as well as the way we are being held in seen and unseen ways.

It’s been hard for me to get on here, and to write this.  But I have been feeling a strong call to connect – and perhaps depending on your life circumstances offer you the reminder that you to are not alone.

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions and medical procedures – which continue in the coming week.  I’m still processing the fact that I had spinal surgery, never mind the additional diagnosis of cancer – in the blink of an eye, our lives can change and do change, remember that.  I very suddenly started losing the ability to walk (interestingly the day my eldest son and I sat with an owl in the cedar grove – whispering wisdom of slowing down). My body had also been speaking to me in quiet and loud ways over the past few months. October 5th I was admitted to hospital and underwent emergency spinal surgery for a tumor in my spinal canal, on the spinal cord from T7 to T11.  

The tumor that took up residence in my spinal canal was found to have malignant cells and they were unable to remove the whole tumor in surgery – due to its location it was partially inoperable.

In the meantime, I rest in this liminal space, protective of quiet time and connecting deeply with what is being asked of me in this healing. I am sooo grateful to recover from step one here in the forest.  

Relearning to walk, supporting my spine as the bones mend and the dura heals, healing mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually – while at the same time building my reserves for next steps.

My family and I are keeping pretty quiet, this is needed right now for so many reasons – my deepest need is to cocoon.  I have been viscerally reminded of how fragile and truly precious life is – In many ways I’m only now just realizing how truly precious and sacred life is.

An unexpected turn on the path, one that will only bring greater strength and compassion.  Perhaps a forced sabbatical, finding my own way on this life journey.

I wonder what helps you to rise when you fall – perhaps that’s a person, or a place. Make a list, right now if you can – written or in your mind, what helps you rise when you fall?

With so much love and respect, ’till next time

Amber

gray owl perched on a tree stamp
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Transitions

Transitions

Amber_Young

It always amazes me, how there seems to be a quickening of the summer as we approach mid-August. I wonder what this time in cycle is like for you?

I feel lots of movement, it’s like this inherent knowing that soon we’ll be back in the routines of fall. Deep inside there seems to awaken this urge to clear space, get my hands in the dirt and reassess.

I’m a mother of 2 young boys, my summers are filled with MUCH less structure and a very different energy, which I love, but feel it deep in my bones when I know that our routines will once again be shifting. The summer offers a welcome disruption and break in routines, which has the potential to give us a little more clarity.

This time of year I also seem to notice that whatever was left neglected in the spring seems to raise a red flag of needing to be acknowledged, well or ignoring I suppose is another option – but while easy, ignoring doesn’t make it go away.

Self care seeds for the fall begin to whisper as well, we change with the seasons, remember to give yourself permission to check in with how your self care needs perhaps are asking for a shift as well. This is super important to reassess throughout the year.

I strongly believe that everything we need to thrive is available to us through the gifts of the earth, including witnessing the wisdom in the changes around us through the seasons. This requires deep listening and patience. This year I seem to be even more aware of this truth, and intend to welcome in more space for quiet time in nature, simply listening, and reconnecting – I know this is sometimes easier to say than experientially do. I’m personally setting this intention pretty solidly. I know in my heart this teaches us to live with a little more flow and harmony, and this is certainly something I welcome. 

white petaled tree during daytime

With lots of love on your wellness journey

Amber

I’ll be teaching a few outdoor classes over the next few months.

This Thursday night from 5:30 – 6:30 pm under the oak in Almonte (contact: undertheoakyoga@gmail.com)

Saturday morning we’ll be joining in the forest with our sacred gong from 9:00 – 10:30 am up near Clayton (this class is presently full).

Through September I’ll be offering a sound and yoga forest immersion Thursday mornings from 10:00 – 11:15 am, and to honour the transition from Summer to fall, October 1st I have a day retreat of self love and self care at Carp Ridge EcoWellness Centre (our day retreat is full, but I am starting a list for a spring retreat).

These offerings feed my soul, and are part of my responsibility to help support folks to come back into balance and remember our relationship with our breath and our Mother Earth.

To find out more or to join me send an email to amber@suryadaya.ca

My next online offering of Because You Matter starts Monday, October 17th, you can find out more details here.

For those of you who have inquired about massage therapy, my bookings for the fall are almost full. I practice at Carp Ridge EcoWellness Centre Tuesdays, and do home visits / mobile sessions Wed – Friday. I do have a waiting list, and am focusing my care on complex care, breast health, and palliative care. Email me at amber@suryadaya.ca if you’d like more information.

The Wise And Well Voice Within

The Wise And Well Voice Within

Amber_Young

“There will never be a voice outside of you that is wiser than your soul-voice or holds more authority over what is best for you.  You need guidance and support not to follow someone else’s truth but to remain loyal to your own.  The voice that will guide you to your highest potential is within you.“

– Meggan Watterson

This quote gives me goosebumps, and every part of me shouts YES! I’m about to take a wee technology break (which I am SO excited about), however I couldn’t do that until sending this post. These words strongly wanted to be shared and I am guessing that’s because at least one of you needed to hear them.

I didn’t grow up learning to listen to that voice, did you? But I am learning, and I am also learning the spectrum of reasons where much of the guidance I did receive was rooted from. I hold it all with compassion.

Finally now, in this chapter of my life, I know this truth deep in my heart. I hope I can teach my children to start here, within themselves, to trust their intuition and the wisdom they hold deep inside.

You are a wise being and you have come here in this body, for your own unique reasons. Sometimes we have to move through the muck and the entanglement of vines, the darkness and the obstacles, to live our way into those reasons – I am understanding this is part of what it means to be human.

Listen with compassion, first to your self. I believe the more we can do that, remembering our humanness, the more easefully we can dance this ebb and flow of life.

I won’t be online much for the next few weeks, taking some needed time to reconnect with the Earth, our great Mother.

Know I hold you in my heart,

With Love, Amber

xo

Soul Wisdom Self Reflection cards, a little extra heart centered support on your journey.

August teaching:

I’m so excited to be teaching Under the Oak (in Almonte, Ontario) from 5:30 – 6:30, on Thursday, August 18th – email them directly for more details and to register: undertheoakyoga@gmail.com This is a weekly class held throughout the summer. Lindsey and Alex are dear friends, and hold this weekly space, I’m honoured to join them!

 Saturday, August 20th, from 9 – 10:30 I have a special forest yoga planned! Space is limited. If you’d like more details send me an email at amber@suryadaya.ca. 

September and October bring a 4 week forest series, the return of in person/zoom classes, and a day wellness retreat held at Carp Ridge EcoWellness Centre. Lots of soul nourishing offerings to support you to connect with the earth, your sacred heartspace, and the wise and well voice within.

Soul Wisdom Self Reflection cards, a little extra heart centered support on your journey.