honour your nest
For the past few weeks, I’ve been in a clearing flap. I could feel another shift coming in the earth’s energy, and my own… this deep knowing that new energy is coming in. And I decided to take this time to feel into it, honour it, as I would encourage a mother to in the weeks before birth and enable myself to ground the new energy coming in.
As I flung things out, I remembered one of those wonderful lessons at school when a teacher talks about something completely unrelated to the lesson you’re supposed to be learning and those words end up sticking in your mind forever. She was giving us advice on “Flapometer.”
This was the term she used to refer to papers and admin that one has piling up on one’s desk that you know you need to get to, but keep putting it off or being pulled away from it, and it weighs on your mind. I kind of understood what she was talking about. Well I thought I did. But as a mother I now KNOW what she was talking about. We all have it.
We all have physical and emotional “flapometer” lurking somewhere. And some of the physical things carry an emotional burden too.
Freeing yourself of the energy that is weighing you down, frees you up to focus on grounding in what you’re really here to do.
I have moved country 7 times in the past 16 years, and while many see that as deeply unsettling, each move has been cleansing in many ways. Each packing up process has been an opportunity to clear away what I no longer need on my journey, and evolve. Some things will be recycled, other possessions passed on to people who will find value in them. Think of it like a tree in Autumn, shedding its leaves, ahead of the new life coming in.
The last few weeks before having a baby are no different. If you are having a physiologic birth, the rising desire to go inwards and nest is actually a beautiful way of knowing that birth is coming closer. It is something your intuitive body naturally nudges you to do, clearing clutter in your nest that you suddenly see no longer resonates with you as you await the arrival of your fledglings.
Whether it’s actual fledglings or fledgling ideas, the process serves you far more deeply than you know. Clearing dense or stagnant energy makes room for new lighter energy to flow in to your life. Resisting it only creates frustration and tension.
I am reminded of my own HypnoBirthing instructor telling me the story of her second birth. She was heavily pregnant and very much due and her husband was busy trying to finish off a course he had been studying. He had one assignment left. The day he finished, she walked into his study to see how he was going. He put his hands on her belly and said to the baby: “I’m finished.” Her surges began that very moment.
This story is such a beautiful reminder that the new energy was already waiting. It was there. It just needed the room.
This is why “nest” clearing is a foundational part of my birth work and the Daily Ground series.
Your nest is a sacred space. A space to honour your family and your evolution. Keep the energy high.
40 Days 40 Things
For 40 days try a little exercise of getting rid of up to 40 things each day. This may sound like a lot, but it could be anything from handbag receipts to old shoes that you just can’t see yourself walking out of lockdown in.
If you have children… Get them involved. For little ones, make it a counting activity. While you’d expect them to want to cling to every thing, when you sort through art or toys and ask them what they no longer love or need, they may surprise you with how open they are to making space. Do it on their terms and they will feel empowered in the process.
And remember, when you have children you’re doing Mommy Kondo not Marie Kondo. During this season in your life, that pile of toilet roll holders, water bottle lids, stickers, matchsticks and playdough might scare some people, but you know that that pile just might just save your life. Mine certainly did in lockdown. This is home and another person’s mess is magic in the eyes of a child.
If the thought of clearing makes you feel anxious. Consider this needs vs wants project my daughter was given last year.
HOMEWORK: Imagine you have to go and live on a new planet. What would you need and what would you want to take with you?
I am positive that once you have done this you will see everything in your home in a different light. And while you do it, it is also a great exercise to consider your attachment to certain things. The process can indeed feel unsettling at times and as though you’re caught up in a bit of a whirlwind, and 2020 has left many people being forced to let go of possessions that are dear to them, so I have added the following meditation that you can do to honour this process, bring closure and create a space for higher energy to flow in.
Space Cleansing Meditations
Sit or stand wherever you are
Place your feet firmly on the ground
Breathe in a nice big full breath
Then exhale fully, releasing any tension or heavy emotion
Allow any emotions to be felt fully
It may be sadness, it may be sentimentality…
Just breathe
Don’t judge any emotions that come up, just feel them
Inhale
And as you exhale say verbally or mentally,
I release the old with love and gratitude and I welcome the new
Inhale and exhale again
And when you’re ready, bring your hands to your heart
Thank yourself for honouring yourself and your space.