a weekly anchoring practice to stay rooted in seasons of change // week 11
Welcome to this weeks segment of making space for ritual. As I set out to make space for our Intuitively Wild home IRL (SIGN UP FOR THE WAITLIST HERE!) I am committing myself to staying present, intentional, and soft.
Devoting ourselves to a life of spaciousness amidst a huge life change and the chaos of a crazy world takes daily commitment and remembering. So here we are - showing up and making the space for that intention, together. (Make sure to check out the other posts in the series for context and depth: announcement post. week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4, week 5, week 6, week 7, week 8, week 9, week 10
I’ve never been so aware of being in the process of actively becoming someone new.
I feel as if I’m watching the old skin shedding and gathering at my feet, the new skin still raw and soft and not yet hardened and fully set into place. I’m in this inbetween version of myself - I want to lean into this awareness even deeper and watch my releasing and becoming happen. be fully present with and in it.
curiosity. acceptance. trust. confidence
this inbetween version of me will only be here for so long, I’m going to be with her.
I’m learning to be comfortable in the messy middle of the becoming. everything is shifting. everything is shedding. it’s subtle yet intensely felt.
the only way to move through it, is to make space for it.
HOW I MADE SPACE
🫖🕯️
—> LESSONS LEARNED
There is something transitional about life right now.
Everything in my life feels liminal.
It’s hanging in the morning air as I wake up and realise I have to put on a jacket for our sunrise walks. It’s caught in my words as I watch myself speaking in ways that felt true to me last week, but no longer do. It’s tracked in my planner as I notice how my needs, priorities, desires are shifting, impacting my day to day schedule.
Leaving behind one chapter, and yet, also still in it. Entering a new chapter, and yet, not quite in it. This liminal space feels so muddy that I don’t even know what the old chapter was and what the new chapter we’re entering is.
It is as if I turned the page in a fairy tale book only to realise the next page suddenly thrust us into a whole new world, a new energy pouring out of the pages, encompassing me.
I don’t know if it’s the shift into Virgo season, eclipse season starting, the drop in temperatures or some other energetic, magic, inexplicable or very practical reason - but it is felt. It’s felt so deeply and profoundly I know I can’t be alone. This transition feels different than any usual seasonal shift or cycle completion. Why this particular transition feels so big, I don’t quite know yet, but I can’t escape the feeling that something is happening.
It is such a stark, profound, felt sense that I keep trying to grasp the title of each chapter, feeling like I should have a reason, a way to conceptualise this moment. Like there should be an obvious delineation between these story lines that I am expected to know. It feels like it’s on the tip of my tongue, a dream faded that I’m trying to bring back into focus. Each time I try it slips through my fingers.
So I release and relent. I allow for the liminal. Maybe I will have more clarity and understanding of this moment in the future, but right now, I don’t quite know what this transition means, what it is asking me to leave behind or trying to lead me towards.
I can tell, though, that the last chapter was a shedding period. Looking back on August it is clear - there has been an exorcism, a clearing, a forest fire. Like the dust and rubble that had been lingering on a stone statue was finally swept away by the wind. Whatever wasn’t solidly and firmly set into place turned to debris, leaving only the true core, the necessities, the simple essence.
This shedding has felt primal. Not only needed but natural, done without requiring conscious realisation. This clearing doesn’t feel complete quite yet. The embers are still burning, moving through the forest floor. The wind is still searching for any lingering broken pieces, desperate to cause the final breaks.
I feel like I’m preparing for something… but I don’t know exactly what I’m preparing for. Without knowing what I’m preparing for, I can’t know how to prepare, and therefor the Universe started the process for me. I’m learning to let it all fall away, to not grasp onto anything, to let it be revealed to me and let the natural process unfold.
It was so sneaky and subtle I didn’t even see the shedding in the moment, until I took a breath to pause and reflect - now the release is blaringly obvious. I can see how much fell away, how much was put into question and review, how much got tested and tried. Now, the shedding is unavoidable.
Now that I have been made aware of the shedding process, the urge and need has only intensified. The desire to clean and clear and cut out all the excess overwhelming.
I’m learning - preparing for the new requires the old to fall away.
I’m learning - part of this liminal space is watching it unfold around me.
I’m learning - big new chapters require big transitional processes.
I’m learning - I am not afraid of this shedding.
In fact, I’m begging for it.
I’m ready for eclipse season to expedite and emphasise this process even more.
—> CHALLENGES NAVIGATED
This week, as these learnings landed for me, I have felt an overwhelming pull to be with this transition. To support myself through the process and really be in it, in order to avoid avoiding it, sabotaging it, detaching from it. This has proved a challenge.
My natural inclination is to replace what has shedded with more doing. To immediately fill the empty space with different productivity, noise, external connection. One thing that did not survive my forest fire, though, was the desire to feed this dynamic any longer. I’m ready to live differently. I want to allow myself to be with the empty space, with the in-between, with this moment I am in. I want to allow myself to not only rest into safety here, but to feel joy here.
Even though the desire and need for this dynamic fell away, there are still lingering actions that are engrained in my being. The ones that tell me it is not safe to rest, the ones that tell me it is shameful to feel joy, and that spur me into old behaviours immediately. This is what has brought up challenges. This is what has needed attention.
My medicinal prescription? To ritualise this liminal time for myself as much as possible. When I lean into ritual, I lean into my present moment self. I give myself space to enforce who she is and is becoming, with the softness, devotion, attention required.
Ritualising big transitions encompasses a few steps —> process, pause, integrate, embody.
process - we need to make the space to assess all that happened in the last chapter, and really acknowledge all that is shifting and coming up for us as we move away from it.
rituals to support this: silent walks (and more silence in general). meditation. speaking with others about what we are moving through. journaling. scheduling time in the calendar to just be.
pause - instead of rushing to move into the next chapter or fill the empty space from what was released, we must actively choose to stay in this in-between, be in the pause, and fully release and rest here.
rituals to support this: clearing out any unnecessary plans or appointments on the schedule. being radically discerning about how we spend our time and energy. lighting a candle or incense as we move from one moment to the next. marking the passing of time ceremonially (ringing a bell every morning, putting on a song and dancing every evening, playing meditation music in the afternoon).
integrate - take all that we learned and start to weave it into our present moment self. acknowledge the version of ourselves we’re leaving behind, and the version of ourselves we are stepping into.
rituals to support this: journaling about this transition, what you want to leave behind and what you want to bring with you, and tangible ways you can do so. creating a ceremony to mark this transition and shedding (choosing a symbol from this last chapter and burying it outside, burning what you are releasing safely in a fire). creating a ceremony to welcome in the new (setting your intentions and placing them on your altar, pick a card from a tarot deck to symbolise the chapter you are entering into).
embody - show up new. weave these new ways of being into your day to day life, actively choose new actions and activities and plan them in your planner. walk through the world with confidence and self assuredness, knowing what came and left has prepared me for what is to come.
rituals to support this: imagine slipping off old shoes and stepping into new ones as you get out of bed in the morning, feeling yourself step into the energy of who you are becoming. create and decorate a new calendar with the energy of this next chapter, creating a vision board while also putting new plans and intentional action steps into your life. every time you catch yourself slipping into old behaviours, or find yourself wanting to step into someone new, write it down, acknowledge it, take steps to walk away from or work towards it.
committing to these rituals of transition has forced me to slow down.
it has forced me to be present with this moment.
it has allowed me to be with who I am becoming and intentionally become her.
—> (SELF)APPRECIATION
Specifically since Virgo season started, I’ve been feeling different. Better, lighter, more hopeful and alive. The evidence of the shedding process revealing itself.
With this increased energy, capacity, lightness, I am feeling drawn to even more slowness and spaciousness in my day. Even more shedding, even more excavation, simplicity, minimalism. More presence in each moment. Although slowing down and being more still might sound counter intuitive to increased energy and capacity, it has felt the exact opposite. It has felt so incredibly necessary. Like a ritual in and of itself. A devotion to who I am becoming. Who this whole process is preparing me to be. I feel more alive and have more life within me, and so I want to be with and in my life more fully. More capacity for life allows for less distractions needed.
I’m proud of myself for leaning into this, allowing this, practicing this. I’m proud of myself for moving through the above challenges arising, and incorporating the transitional rituals into my life. It feels like integrity. It feels like truth.
It feels like becoming who I am becoming.
—> GRATITUDE FELT
I have such gratitude for the way the space is unfolding, and all those who are helping me with the process. This week there were several big furniture deliveries made to the space, and several people came and helped me set up all that has arrived so far. Floors were swept, boxes unboxed, furniture set up, garbage & clutter taken away.
It’s far from perfect; it’s not all set up yet, there’s still pieces to buy, details to lock in, tasks to check off (permits to figure out), but on Sunday I walked into the space and my heart starting racing. It’s coming together. It’s happening. gratitude overwhelm.
This moment — walking into the space and seeing it all set up - I have been visualising, dreaming of and waiting for this moment for months.
(more details & pictures to come but here’s a sneak peak…)
—> LOCAL HIGHLIGHT
Today I have to talk about Chelsea McGowan, this weeks podcast conversation guest. Chelsea is a long time local to the Hudson Valley and a strategist, coach, and creative entrepreneur. Connecting with her for this months tea time talks episode was so special - full of insight, integrity and guided by intuition, this conversation with Chelsea is for anyone learning to trust the mess that is following your own path.
— With a background in real estate and over a decade of experience in social media and brand strategy, she helps real estate agents simplify their online presence and attract aligned clients through her coaching program, The Magnetic Agent Method. Chelsea also channels her passion for movement and community into teaching Pilates. Across both digital platforms and physical spaces, she empowers others to lead with authenticity and build deeper connections.
Listen on apple, spotify (or anywhere else you like to listen to your podcasts) and watch on youtube —
—> RITUAL
This week, while I was ritualising my transitions and finding some space in the in-between, I found myself sitting on the grass in my backyard. I mindlessly picking at the grass, noticing all of the three leaf clovers, processing and feeling and reflecting. I watched a thought pass through my head, with no attachment and no emotion - I’ve never found a four leaf clover, one day I’ll find one. Then, suddenly, I looked at the clover in my hand and noticed - I FOUND A FOUR LEAF CLOVER. My first one ever. It was right in the middle of reflecting on choosing trust over fear and magic over manifestation (more on this later, perhaps?). My body immediately was covered in chills. It honestly felt like a really important, meaningful moment. And it only happened because I was present in the pause, ritualised the in-between, paid attention to the mundane magic. It will now live on my altar forever.
So our ritual for this week is to choose at least one of the above mentioned rituals, and schedule it into your day. Commit to it. Devote yourself to it. Do it ritually this week (ie. regularly, with intention & presence).
the most powerful ritual = noticing. paying attention. finding magic in the mundane.
—> INTENTIONS DECLARED
pay attention —> actively choose to find magic in the mundane, mark its’ meaning, pause with its’ power
speak with clarity & confidence —> not shutting down or quieting my voice, trusting what needs to be said and not hiding out of fear of others receptions
integrity —> aligning my actions, words and beliefs with my core truth, embodying who I am becoming
tend —> take care of myself and those in my life with the devotion, discernment, and desire required
poems podcasts prompts plants stories songs statements people places ponderings - pieces of life - … that grounded me this week
this podcast by two of my favourite astrologers (and friends)
& about Virgo Season (they are also - co-hosting Constellations - a support group of sorts to walk people through eclipse season!!! I highly recommend checking it out).this candle I lit immediately upon it becoming virgo season and have been obsessed with ever since
this pondering: what happens when you act radically different than anyone expects you to? what happens if you intentionally choose to try on a new behaviour, belief, personality?
I just finished this book whose story feels like a portal into a whole new world, pulling you into a family lineage in a way that is relatable, dynamic, and profoundly impactful. will be feeling this one for a while.
& this quote I found that actually made me tear up immediately -
Can’t wait to reflect and make space together next week.
See you then xx,
Rachel
This appreciation of liminal space - I love how you've explored it here! I know we've chatted about how much there is to learn from the gray areas, and seeing your demonstration of that exploration, in so many nuanced ways, is super inspiring. Love this share, as always, and thank you for the shout out :) xo