GUIDEBOOK 1 What is Guided Living? Helen Jacobs 2017-2018 1 Helen Jacobs 2018
The Guidance Wheel Guidance Intuition Spiritual Support Team Universal signs and symbols Soul Portals & Centres Four Bodies (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual) Chakras Lessons Purpose Gifts Karma + contracts Soul Blueprint Yours Others Universal Energy Self reflection: Where are you in the wheel? Which pillar are you being called to strengthen? How? 2 Helen Jacobs 2018
The Guidance Cycle Clearing Letting go Releasing Death Transitioning Manifesting Conceiving Creating Birthing Nurturing Beginning Repairing Integrating Soothing Greiving Healing Recovering Recuperating Re-energising Refueling Restoring Self reflection: Where are you in the cycle - in your life, generally? In any specific area of your life? Are you in different phases simultaneously? Where are you in relation to the Guidance Wheel? What does this tell you about the types of activities to focus on as you move forward? 3 Helen Jacobs 2018
Rhythm & Ritual It s time to cultivate stillness, silence and space within your life, to allow for your guidance to be accessed and heard. In this module, I include a range of exercises and tasks to help you explore what this looks and feels like for you. At the heart of Guided Living are these foundational practices: Meditation Journaling Observation & reflection Oracle cards. When it comes to meditation, please know there are many meditations included in this program, which will not only help you explore the course content, but get a taste of meditation if you are new to it. Please also explore any form of meditation that speaks to you as you feel called to explore it. Life will have a way of bringing you guidance on just the type of meditative practice to explore at just the right time; notice the synchronicity that turns up for you here. In this module, we ll also explore some of the rituals you can create as you lay the foundations of your Guided Living journey, like opening/birthing ceremonies, or closing ceremonies, rituals with the lunar cycles and more. 4 Helen Jacobs 2018
The Foundations of Guided Living Journaling the journey Keeping a journal is single handedly the best thing I did when I started developing my intuition and, although I didn t realise it at the time, embarking on this life changing path. My journals helped me accumulate tangible proof, highlight themes and repetition as well as identify boundaries and limitations. They will do the same for you. You don t have to be a writer to journal. You may keep a visual journal, or just dot points - whatever works for you. Some of the women I ve worked with over the years have chosen to paint or sing their way through too. For now, please just try to put pen to paper each day, so you can track the progress you make. You don t have to share your journal with anyone. It s a private conversation between you and your guidance. For the next few weeks of the program (and hopefully beyond!) carry your journal with you to note observations, hunches, awakenings as they occur. Start observing shifts in your life, as well as synchronicities and coincidences as they occur. You don t want to forget them later. 5 Helen Jacobs 2018
JOURNALLING PRACTICE Dedicate time to journal. Make it a special practice, a regular sacred ritual part of your daily routine. Record everything in the same book/series. Your journal can be used to record your observations as well as your answers to the worksheets. Keeping it all chronicled in one place helps you identify themes, patterns and of course growth over time. Try recording: The date and time. Daily dot points about what s going on in your life what s troubling you, questions rolling around in your mind, your general mood and outlook. Observations of your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual bodies. Your hunches, intuition, signs, symbols and any interpretations. Your progress with the exercises as you complete them. 6 Helen Jacobs 2018
Become an observer As you re starting to develop a new rhythm more in sync with your true self, I encourage you to become an observer in your own life. As you begin to observe yourself in new ways, new patterns, themes and indeed a new rhythm emerges. Shifting into observer mode also helps you shift your perceptions and you ll want to notice the gradual transition, so continue to record your observations in your journal. This does require you to slow down enough to capture the subtleties at play. As you ll come to see, your guidance will come in a number of ways - not just your intuition and from your Spiritual Support Team, but also through the other aspects of your Guidance Wheel - your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual/energetic bodies, for example, constantly bring information to you about your inner state, as well as how you truly feel about situations in your life. By observing your body, mind and emotions you will already have clues into your deeper self. Here are some simple observations you may wish to start with: 1. Observe your physical body: How well do you sleep? How do you feel after meals? What exercise really works for you? What happens in your physical body when you feel drawn/pulled towards something, or pushed away from something? How do emotions arise in your body? Is your body storing hurts, pains, tensions What happens when you alter these? How does your rhythm change? How does your connection to self change? 2. Observe your mental body: Does your mind run wild? 7 Helen Jacobs 2018
Do you attach to random thoughts only to find some time later your whole outlook has snowballed into something quite different from before? What are trigger points for frantic thinking? Do you allocate enough time in your routine for your mind to rest? How much rest does it really need? Are there times in your day when your mind is more active and chaotic? How do you rest your mind? When? 3. Observe your emotional body: Are your emotions on an even kilter, or do they swing around every which way? Do you allow your emotions to rise and surface, or do you try to dull them or ignore them? What substances, activities or delay tactics do you call on to dull or suppress your emotions? Are they really working for you? Can you clearly articulate your emotions? Where do you feel these emotions in your body? What happens in your body as you feel / suppress your emotions? What happens when you sit with your emotions as they rise? Give voice to them and acknowledge them? 4. Observe your energetic body: Are you aware of your chakras, your aura? Are you aware of the energy you exchange with others? Do you notice your own energy shift in the presence of certain people, topics, places? What happens? Notice how you feel in response to collective or Universal energies - like astrological events. The lunar cycle is a good place to start. How do you feel with the new and full moon? The other phases? Reflect on your presence - where is it? Inside your body or outside? Have you sent it out to the past or future? Can you call it back? 8 Helen Jacobs 2018
Over the coming weeks, you ll become more familiar with these bodies. It s enough, for now, to simply slowly ease into a practice of observing yourself physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Note everything down in your journal, along with the date and time. Set a daily reminder to check in with yourself. 9 Helen Jacobs 2018
SCAN YOUR FOUR BODIES Your four bodies, or layers, include: 1. PHYSICAL This includes what I call the 4Ps: Physical body (tangible body and may also link to diet, exercise and sleep) People (all those physically around you) Places (those physical places you frequent home, work, play, even city and country) Possessions (yours and those of other s in your physical space) 2. MENTAL Thoughts, beliefs, perceptions and understanding of the world around you. The part of you which is thinking and planning and, most likely, doubting and fearing. 3. EMOTIONAL Your current feelings towards situations, people, events; stored emotions from the past; and anticipated emotions projected onto the future. 4. SPIRITUAL Who you really are, your true self or spirit; a pure, spiritual energy. Energy at this level is quite different from physical energy. It s more subtle, under the busy surface. 10 Helen Jacobs 2018
SCAN YOUR FOUR BODIES Start to notice what s happening in each of your four bodies. Take a few deep breaths, centre yourself in quiet and stillness. When you feel ready, without over thinking, start to notice what s happening in each of your four bodies. When you feel ready, without over thinking your answers, complete these sentences: Today, / /, I feel: 1. PHYSICALLY My body feels People are affecting me this way Places I m drawn to Places I can t go near Possessions I m drawn to Possessions I feel no longer reflect me 11 Helen Jacobs 2018
SCAN YOUR FOUR BODIES 2. MENTALLY My mind and thoughts are 3. EMOTIONALLY I feel...about...because 4. SPIRITUALLY My true self feels It wants to tell me (think: calm, centred, light, grounded or scattered, tired, heavy, ungrounded ( head in the clouds ) Remember to date your answers and keep them. Complete this task several times over the coming weeks, perhaps at the end of each week or fortnight. Compare your answers to mark your progress. 12 Helen Jacobs 2018
Oracle Cards One way I extended my intuition and began receiving deeper psychic insights was by experimenting with oracle cards. Before long, I received guidance to create my own deck of cards, The Little Sage Oracle Cards. Working with oracle cards can help you receive higher guidance and develop trust in the inner nudges you re already receiving. They can also help you set intentions and reframe your thinking through positive affirmations. When it comes to working with oracle cards to help build the foundations of Guided Living, I recommend weaving their use into your own rhythm and rituals. 13 Helen Jacobs 2018
Some suggestions would be to use them as part of your: morning or evening routine ceremonies and rituals (one is included in the workbook) altars or vision boards cyclical or seasonal reflections - moon and menstrual cycles etc. We spend more time in the next module focusing on building your intuition and receptivity to guidance, but for now, here are some ideas on how to use oracle cards to help build your intuition: Ask a question and pull a card at random to answer it. Record the question, the card you pulled and any immediate impressions you have from the card in your journal. Be sure to date it, so you can refer back to it and see how the prediction unfolds. Write in your journal what you believe your intuition is telling you, then pull a card at random to see if it supports your initial feelings, or what else it lends you to fill in any gaps. Perform predictive readings for yourself (and friends) using a similar method. I like to use a three-card spread, to help tell a beginning-middleend story. Again, record the date, questions, cards and impressions in your journal... then watch as your predictions begin to unfold. While the actual practice of pulling oracle cards was useful in itself, the associated journaling also helped build a reference library of signs, symbols and additional card meanings. I gained confidence as I saw my insights and impressions come to fruition. Explore the world of Oracle Cards and begin to weave them into your own practice. If you d like to work with The Little Sage Oracle Cards, you ll find them here. 14 Helen Jacobs 2018
Self Love & Self Care As you continue to establish a practice of observation, reflection and journaling, you re not only naturally reworking your own internal rhythm, but you ll also begin to tap into your own sense of self, which will naturally (at some point) bring you to the state of your relationship with yourself. Self love and self care are integral to Guided Living, yet, they are often the first to go out the window when we are out of sync or alignment with ourselves and our guidance. In fact, just to start carving out time for such reflection and little rituals may be challenging at first - for many, dedicating time to yourself is a new concept, let alone doing it consistently. As you deepen your relationship and love for self, you will naturally also deepen your intuitive ability. You are more likely to trust and honour your guidance when you trust and honour yourself. A love for self and honouring your truth will lead you deeper into your path and purpose. As I continue to embrace me my unique composition, purpose and truth the deeper my intuition and psychic ability has become. We must all love, forgive and accept ourselves just as we are, before you can expect others to do the same. The quality of love in your life (not only in your relationships, but also in your work, home, creativity) will mirror the love you hold inside. Finding an inner love for yourself creates a deeper reflection of love in your outer world. Self-love and self care enable a depth to your relationship with your guidance and improve your trust and fluency in its language. Cultivating self love and practicing self care is more a state of being, than an action. It has more to do with acceptance of self and forgiveness of self, honouring your truth and listening to your own wise counsel. Following your own wisdom and guidance is more difficult if you re not willing to put yourself first. To love and honour what is right for you means you must love and honour yourself. The good news is you just need to love yourself enough to at least start. And the fact that you re here, in this program, suggests you re ready. 15 Helen Jacobs 2018
Self Reflection: What s the state of your current relationship with yourself? How could you cultivate more self love and self care in your life? The connection between self love and guidance You are who you are in accordance with your soul blueprint. To wish you were someone or something else denies the magic that is you. And this world needs you and the purpose you ve incarnated with. As you move through the Guidance Wheel and the Guidance Cycle, you will ride waves of feelings for and about yourself. Please always try to practice compassion and non-judgement for what you find; we are all doing our best in any moment. Please remember to practice: Self acceptance Self forgiveness Self compassion Patience Non-comparison to others Honour your truth and live it with integrity Be your own best friend. Practicing self-care The way in which we each practice self care is as varied as we are. Frequent acts of self care, no matter the size, add up to some very big changes. Starting small allows you to ease into a new relationship with yourself, to take your time to get to know yourself. The way we each practice self-care will of course be reflective of our own selves and our stage and phase of life. I ve certainly adjusted and tweaked this over the years as my life has changed in many ways - especially since becoming a mother to two children. First and foremost, this is about being in the present moment and asking what it is you really need and honouring that. Self reflection: What do you need most in this moment - in this minute, this month, this phase-of-life? 16 Helen Jacobs 2018
Remember to practice self-care across your four bodies. Take a look over the examples below, and intuitively select one or two to focus on this week. Please add to this list and explore your own self care tools. 1. Physical self care: Intuitively nourish your physical body with the foods, exercise and sleep its asking for Surround yourself with people, places and possessions that are true to you and help you feel good and supported Declutter your space Purchasing items that align with your Soul, letting go of those that don t Massage, personal grooming, clothing etc. 2. Mental self care: Think kindly and compassionately about yourself and others Use positive affirmations Rest your mind - meditate, do nothing, read, book a holiday. 3. Emotional self-care: Express your emotions in healthy ways; don t bottle them up Creative self expression - playing, dancing, singing, dressing to reflect/ change your mood Sit with your emotions and allow them to be present. 4. Energetic self-care: Meditation Chakra clearing and balancing Grounding and protecting energy and aura Deeper, regular energy work Connect with nature Energetically clear your space. Seek guidance on the people and/or practitioners to support you in your self care. Work with the Go Date Yourself worksheet over the page to explore your love of self and working with the Self Love Meditation. Self Love Meditation 17 Helen Jacobs 2018
GO DATE YOURSELF Think about the start of a new relationship, whether romantic or platonic. When it is all brand new and exciting, you pay attention to the likes and dislikes of your new mate and most likely try and find ways to honour that. Oh, you like (insert band/movie/food here)... well, why don t we do that on Friday night? you might catch yourself saying. When was the last time you did this for yourself? Choose one activity you love and take yourself on a date to enjoy that activity. Mark in your calendar (right now) either an hour or two sometime in the next week to take yourself on this date. It must be something you really love or enjoy this isn t so much about the amount of time for you, as it about listening to your interests and creating time to action them. Do one thing, slightly outside your comfort zone, which listens to your interests and spoils yourself to an experience you wouldn t ordinarily do. You must do this by yourself. Journal afterwards how it felt. Note what comes up what resistance do you have? What events pop up, trying to keep you from your date? Don t stand yourself up! 18 Helen Jacobs 2018
Intention Setting Setting an intention is about focusing your energy with your thoughts/beliefs, emotions/feelings and actions aligned. With focused repetition, this alignment of mind-body-spirit will manifest and become your future state. Setting an intention is about creating a balance across physical, mental, emotional and spiritual layers or bodies, to move you in your entirety towards your desired future point. It is about commitment and choice - and the energy of this must ripple across all parts of your being. Previously, you may have thought about setting intentions as merely an end goal or a mental act of determining some result or action. While this is important, when I talk about setting an intention, it is more about the energy associated with that direction. In other words, setting an intention is about the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energy with which you begin your journey, rather than just where you want to end your journey. To move in the direction of a particular aim, goal or outcome, you must first set your energy, emotions, beliefs, thoughts and actions to the same frequency, matched to your desired end goal. You need to feel, think and act now how you would if you had already achieved your outcome. Know how you want to feel, then try and hold that feeling as often as possible, now. All of life is energy. Your actions, emotions, beliefs, thoughts all have an energy too. By setting a deliberate intention, you ensure your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual bodies are in balance and working towards the same goal. Check if your energetic intention is from a place of love (open, accepting, spacious, non-judgmental, pure) or is it from a place of fear (lack, doubt, judgment). 19 Helen Jacobs 2018
Now consider it through the lens of each of your four bodies: 1. Physical intention: Your actions are energy. Are your actions supporting you to live intuitively? Are your actions in line with what you want to achieve? Are you moving from love, intuition? 2. Mental intention: Your thoughts and beliefs are energy. Are your thoughts positively framed around the possibilities or are they limited by fears? Do your thoughts and beliefs support your intention? 3. Emotional intention: Are your emotions conducive to your intention? How do you really feel about the possibility of guided living? Allow yourself to experience feelings as they arise, even anger, resentment, jealousy. There are no bad or negative emotions; all are valid. Clear the way for emotions supporting your intention. Learn from those that aren t. 4. Spiritual intention: Does your energy, the vibration of your being, resonate with your intention? In order to manifest, you must set your energy to feel as if you ve already achieved the goal. Are you prepared to open yourself to the vibration of the best life for you, and live as if you ve already got there? Work with the exercise below to help set your intentions aligned to your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual layers. 20 Helen Jacobs 2018
HOW TO SET YOUR INTENTION To set your intention for this course, reflect on the following: THOUGHTS What do you think about building your perfect life? Will it be easy or hard? Will others accept you and your dream? How would creating your dream life feel? BELIEFS Do you truly believe it is really possible to build a life you love? Do you truly believe you are intuitive, part of the divine, worthy of a life you love? Do you believe you are worthy of living a life you love? ACTIONS Do your actions reflect your beliefs, or go against them? What actions can you begin to change? You will break down many of these barriers throughout the course but, for now, please at least set the intention that it is possible. 21 Helen Jacobs 2018
HOW TO SET YOUR INTENTION Now, explore your answers to the following: What results do you want to achieve from this course? Do you believe it is actually possible to achieve these results? Try to identify what might be stopping you we ll explore this in more detail later too. For now, hold the intention you are open to changing this belief, or unblocking any blockages. Commit to taking actions which match the feeling you re trying to create. Following this reflection, it s time to cast ahead. How would you like to feel after this course? Now hold this intention, or feeling, or energy in your heart. Fill your whole body with it. Observe how your thinking, beliefs and actions may support or prevent the feeling from lasting. Congratulations. You ve set your intention for this course. Keep this feeling with you as often as you can. Why not write it out in your journal, or post it near your workspace? 22 Helen Jacobs 2018
Creating rituals Introducing small acts of self care, reflection and deliberate intention start to create key moments for ritual and celebration. In and of itself, this starts to set a new rhythm, a new meter to which you move - but before we move onto the rhythms of Guided Living, let s further explore the rituals. Creating rituals helps to anchor you into the present moment, instil a sense of sacredness to your practice and cultivates a devotion and dedication to the inner work and indeed the divine nature of the guidance you re seeking. 23 Helen Jacobs 2018
Explore and create your own rituals - some of mine are suggested below, but please explore what feels good to you. Opening, birthing or intention setting ceremonies Closing, releasing or completion ceremonies Observation of lunar and/or menstrual cycles and marking key points with ritual Creating an altar Reflection at key points - lunar, birthdays, monthly, end/start of year etc. In simple terms, we can create rituals to also help us become more mindful - look at the ritual of tea ceremonies - and even the little rituals you instill in your day, perhaps without noticing. Often, I have a ritual before I write - to light a candle, pull an oracle card and journal. Self reflection: Dedicate some time to exploring the rituals you already have in place and those you d like to consciously cultivate. Included below is my suggestion to work with creating an Intention Ceremony - perfect for setting your intentions for your work with Guided Living. 24 Helen Jacobs 2018
HOW TO CREATE A BIRTHING RITUAL If this is your first time with a ritual such as this: DON T WORRY! You may feel like you re not sure how to follow all the steps just yet (you may wonder if you re really connecting, or questioning if you re doing it right) just allow this to unfold in its own way. With practice, you ll become far more familiar with these types of practices. A birthing ritual or intention ceremony is a beautiful way to shower light and love on your intentions for the new. Think of it as a baby shower for your new conceptions or anticipated new arrival, or in this case, the commencement of a new phase in your soul journey (ie working with this program). Below is how I perform a birthing ritual - you can follow this exactly, or simply tweak it and make it your own if you re guided to. THE RITUAL 1. Dedicate time. Ensure you are alone (or perhaps get a group of girlfriends together if that s your intention) and will not be interrupted. 2. Turn off the phone. In fact, don t be anywhere near electronic devices if you can. Don t be rushed. This will take as long as it takes. 25 Helen Jacobs 2018
HOW TO CREATE A BIRTHING RITUAL 3. Dedicate space. Clear the energy of the space. Be sure to protect your space with white light, simply by visualising it and intending it into your space. 4. Create an altar. This is whatever you want it to be. Yours may include candles, incense, crystals, oracle cards and an intentional object. I tend to have some combination of this a few more intentional items too objects to represent what I wish to attract into my life, or reflect my intention. What s your intention as you engage with this program? 5. Create a vision board. This is optional and may take more time than the ceremony itself. I like to think of it as an extension of my altar, placing it above or on my altar. You may not need it for the program, but it may be nice at other times, like new moons or a new year, or similar. 6. Set an intention. Feel into your intention, so it bubbles up in your body. We ll spend more time on this later, but for now, just allow something to come forward. Then frame the feeling into a sentence, or simply hold the name of the feeling. For example: It is my intention to align myself with my highest truth and bring this forward in manifest form. Or, if you re just using the word to name the feeling, it may be Truth. 26 Helen Jacobs 2018
HOW TO CREATE A BIRTHING RITUAL Feel this deep in your being before moving into the next step and use the worksheet from this module to guide you. 7. Light your candle. Once the intention is radiating through my body, I strike the match. The flame becomes a physical representation of my desire and intention. 8. Write it out. I dedicate a journal entry to what I wish to manifest. I try and keep it to just a few intentions, dreams or desires. Again, you may feel it enough to simply state your intention. 9. Meditate. At this point, I ask my Spiritual Support Team to join me. I ask my spirit guides, angels, archangels, ascended masters or any other beings of light to join with me, to provide guidance and insight. I ask them what I need to know regarding my intentions and desired beginning. I sit in quiet meditation, or may use a guided meditation to assist me (like the New Moon Manifesting, Meet Your Spirit Guide or Meet Your Higher Self meditations - which you ll receive throughout the program). I then record in my journal any insights or impressions. I allow lots of time here. 10. Turn oracle cards. While I m still working with my Spiritual Support Team, I ask them 27 Helen Jacobs 2018
HOW TO CREATE A BIRTHING RITUAL to lead me through an oracle card reading. I may ask for guidance on how the desired beginning will unfold, anything I need to know regarding the beginning, or simply any guidance they wish to provide. Again, I keep notes in my journal. What insights do you have for the program ahead? 11. Close the ceremony. When I feel ready, I close down the ceremony. I start by giving thanks for what s transpired and for any guides, angels and masters who worked with me. I blow out the candle. And I sage (or clear the energy) of the space again. With a birthing ceremony, I usually leave the altar on display (high on a shelf, away from my toddler s hands!) in my office, right by my desk. I see it everyday to remind me of the intentions and energy I wish to bring into physical form. Then I stay open to my Spiritual Support Team to guide me on any further blocks, beliefs or limitations I need to release to clear the way. I also invite in daily guidance on the immediate next steps to take to move forward. 28 Helen Jacobs 2018
Developing your own rhythm As you spend more time journaling, reflecting, observing and tuning into your heart space, you may begin to realise the busy pace at which you ve been hurtling doesn t truly allow you the space and stillness needed to begin fostering a relationship with your intuition. The more you slow down, listen and reflect, the more you ll start to notice a new rhythm emerge from within you. You begin tapping into your own feminine wisdom, the same wisdom of your intuition, flow, creativity and, of course, rhythm. As you connect with your own inner wisdom and feminine energies, you will naturally also begin to explore these feminine principles. While this is a huge discussion in and of itself, we are merely scraping the surface here. Allow your own explorations to unfold. I ve outlined below a few of the things I turned to many years ago as I reset my rhythm (and have returned to with each change in my own beat). Seasons & cycles A simple and rather obvious place to start is by beginning to tune into Mother Nature s cycles, the very essence of the feminine! Self reflection: Ask yourself: What is your relationship to the seasons? Do you honour each in turn? Do you adjust your routines and practices according to the current season? (Where I live, the change in seasons is so subtle, that I ve had to actively work on this) Are you aware of the seasons of your own life cycle? Which life season are you currently in? Are you living and adjusting to your life season accordingly? (It s incredibly difficult to be fertile/creative during your own winter, for example) Observing myself in relation to the seasons took some time, but I began to 29 Helen Jacobs 2018
notice huge shifts over the course of many years which greatly impacted how I run my business and what projects I work on throughout the year. We can experience these seasons within other cycles too, such as our menstrual and lunar cycles, which I go into just a little later. Of course, there are the more obvious (and shorter) cycles of our days, weeks, months. Daily, weekly, monthly cycles When I first consciously looked at how I spent my days, weeks and months, I realised I was treating them as a rather linear, constant trajectory, rather than the repeating cycle they actually are. I used to approach my day, from sunrise to sunset, as pure production and output. And, focusing on such a linear trajectory felt exhaustive and never-ending. When I switched to looking at the cycles (and cycles within cycles) everything felt more abundant and selfreplenishing. By the time I started experimenting with my days, weeks and months, I d already been working with the tools I ve suggested in this module for some time. I had already developed a rhythm of journaling, meditation and self care that was working. But that rhythm was calling for more to sync up outside of those rituals I d created. I started to look at my days, weeks and months for the natural rise and falls, peaks and troughs. Where were the natural points for output (work, activity, movement) and input (sleep, rest, nourishment, play)? Were they balanced? Was this carried through to balance my weeks (I ve never been a fan of a 5 day work week - that doesn t seem balanced to me!). What about over the course of a month or year? Self reflection: Ask yourself: Where are the natural peaks and troughs in your day? Do you honour them? What do you use as a transition between them? What are the rituals or markers you use each day - eating lunch, time 30 Helen Jacobs 2018
outdoors, practicing a hobby or meditation? Are there cycles within your day? For example, do you see the cycle from morning to noon, then noon to dusk, then dusk to midnight and midnight to sunrise? Do you transition between them? How? As I started to play with this, I realised moments like driving my kids to school/daycare were transition periods, following the busy-ness of my morning getting everyone ready. These transition moments presented a change in pace and I began to treat them differently. There were other pockets of time that emerged as important - I noticed that by putting my meals (and preparation) and rest into my day as non-negotiables (and yes, there are times they haven t been), my work had to slot in around it - not the other way around. Suddenly, my day had a clear rhythm of activity, rest and play that went on repeat between sunrise and sunset. I d found my own feminine flow in my day, which soon spun out into my weeks and months. Self reflection: What s the rhythm that wants to emerge in your day? Your week? Your month or year? Following the rhythms of lunar cycles As I started to play with the rhythms of my months, I came to the natural monthly cycles of the moon and my menstruation. I ve now been working with these cycles since 2012 and have noticed an explosion in materials on the subject since. (I highly recommend Red Moon by Miranda Gray for information on the seasons of our menstrual cycle, as well as the work of Claire Baker at This Is Lifeblood). There are similarities between our menstrual cycle and the lunar cycle, so for ease I ll share a little on the lunar cycle for you to work with. Please know this only just touches the surface, and if you are feeling called to come into more of your own rhythm and femininity, this is a great area to further explore (especially if you re guided to!). At different phases of the lunar cycle (as with our menstrual cycle), there are 31 Helen Jacobs 2018
optimal times to focus on inner work and reflection, other times better for releasing and healing and others again for birthing new ideas and concepts into the world. There are times we will be more introverted and require more self-care while other times we may be more extroverted and fueled to give more outwardly. I found that by observing and harnessing this greater rhythmic energy, so much of the force, exertion and effort of my life dropped away, which helped me flow with the bigger power underpinning all of life. I started to let that power support me where I needed to go (without giving away my power to it completely). Here s a snapshot of how to harness the energy of the lunar cycle: First Quarter Full Moon Last Quarter Waxing Crescent Waxing Gibbous Waning Disseminating Waning Balsamic Waxing Moon From new moon to full moon: the moon is getting brighter and bigger, representing the illumination of ideas, concepts and creativity. This is likely to be the strongest time for creative sparks, ideas and generating new materials. This two-week period is known as a waxing moon and is typically the most fertile both creatively and reproductively. The full moon brings the largest and brightest phase of the cycle, a time for illumination. 32 Helen Jacobs 2018
Moon phases within this period: New moon: self-discovery and revelation; new beginnings. Perfect for starting new projects however, not all information will have yet come to light. Crescent: open to information, insight and intuition. Begin to see a plan or course of action pertaining to your new idea or project. First Quarter: trust your own way, your own unique perspective. Focus on your unique creative expression while trying to separate from judgments (your own and others). Gibbous: you re likely to have insight or confirmation on how to proceed, however, the entire picture may still not yet be clear. Revisit what you ve gained this far to determine your next steps. Trust. Waning Moon From full moon to new moon: as the waning moon decreases size and light, the shadow comes into play. This is the time to turn inward, begin exploring your own shadow or darker side perfect for contemplation, journaling and meditation. By the time this two-week cycle culminates in the next new moon, there is a sense of release and completion. Moon phases within this period: Full: illumination! The dark side and shadows are revealed. Now you can tweak your plans and efforts you have a clearer picture and understanding of the project (or its lessons). This is a perfect time for working with others, gaining their input on your ideas. Disseminating: share and work with others as much as possible. Let your ideas out into the world, whether as a launch, or sharing the concepts. Last Quarter: this phase is about completion and transitioning. Intuition is again strong. This is the last final push towards finalising the original idea or goal. Balsamic: release and move your attention to the future, to the new moon. What must be left behind and what will you carry forward? You are likely to feel withdrawn and once again turn inward at this point. 33 Helen Jacobs 2018
Look up the moon phases for the coming month and mark them into your diary (there s a Google Calendar plugin as well as many apps that update you with the moon phases.) Experiment with planning your creative work and social engagements to the moon and journal your results you ll be amazed at the difference it makes. To get you started, I ve included my New Moon Manifesting Meditation and Full Moon Illumination Meditation. New Moon Manifesting Meditation Full Moon Illumination Meditation 34 Helen Jacobs 2018
Create your Own Rhythm + Ritual You now have many materials to explore and experiment with for the coming weeks. Be guided to the ones you most want to explore now and know you can always come back to the others when the time is right. Be sure to observe, journal and reflect on your progress with the exercises. 35 Helen Jacobs 2018