About a year ago some guidance came to me through an intuitive drawing. When we allow ourselves to sit down with paper and art supplies with the intention of allowing any image that needs to come through us, we get surprising and powerful insights into the subconscious, and are able to tap into an inner wisdom which has much to teach us.
I created this particular drawing (shared below) during a time when I was intensely researching education to be a home birth midwife. When I came out of my doodling trance and noticed the image, I understood that it had a powerful message for me but was unsure of what it meant. I folded it up and put it in my pocket, and proceeded to pack up my life, travel halfway across the globe and back before unfolding it again this past week.
A few days ago I visited a prominent midwifery school in Maine, and left with the unsettled feeling that my original dream had shifted; something was off and I felt both equally drawn and pushed away from pursuing midwifery.
Around this same time I stumbled across a photograph of the plant mugwort. I have been working with plant spirit medicine for some time, and had, for some strange reason, never seen, touched or worked with mugwort. Ever.
Upon seeing the photograph I was immediately flooded with the memory of my picture; I knew that the plant in my picture was mugwort and that this image was mugworts way of coming to me now, asking for me to work with her.
Mugwort is a powerful plant often associated with spiritual quests, astral travel, visions and lucid dreaming. Physically it has powerful sedative and nervine qualities and is a part of the Artimisia family, of which Wormwood, (a powerful anti parasitic and anti Lyme herb) is a part.
In the image I drew, its almost as if mugwort is saying "get back down to earth" or "Get your head out of the stars and change your vision."
Mugworts message.
I'm excited to see what her medicine brings me in the form of my dreams and aspirations for my life and future. I will share an update with you when the time comes.
I share this story with you because it is helpful for others when we share our individual experiences of synchronicity and guidance on our individual paths, and because creative expression can be such a powerful tool to allow us to uncover messages from our body and psyche: parts of ourselves we oftentimes don't even know have something to express.
Below is a Kundalini Yoga and art exercise for connecting with your creativity and waking up the body. My teacher Hari Kirin Kaur Khalsa also has a beautiful book dedicated to these practices called .
Kundalini Exercise for generating creative energy
Sit in a comfortable seated position. Tune in by chanting the mantra Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo 3 times
- Sit in frog pose: come into a squatting position balanced on the balls of your feet with your knees out to the side and your finger tips tented on the floor in between your knees. Straighten your spine to the best of your ability and tuck your chin in so that the back of your neck is flush with the rest of your spine. Inhale, and then exhale into the following movement.
- Exhale as you lift your buttocks up, straighten your knees, and bring your head down towards the floor in a forward bend, while keeping your heels lifted and your fingers touching the floor.
- Alternate between these two positions as you inhale and exhale.
- To End, inhale into the squatting position and suspend your breath for as long is comfortable, while squeezing the muscles of your pelvis and imagining you are lifting nutrients up from the earth through your root chakra. Exhale, and relax.
- Now, tune into your drawing again. With a relaxed and playful mind, begin drawing any sensations, thoughts or feelings you have as they might translate into images. Don't judge your work, just let it flow.
- When you feel a sense of completion take a step back and take in what your body/inner guidance has shared with you. Accept whatever answers have come onto the page with love, and keep this image handy for later reflection. You can practice this daily for several days and notice the story which begins to unfold through your images.
Once you do this exercise, I'd love to hear from you, what came up for you? Take a photograph of your image and share it in the comments below- we all benefit from witnessing each others creativity.
Blessings,
Anja