Sara Brooke is a soul medicine therapist, Reiki master, teacher and ceremonialist. Sara helps women come home to their bodies, and connect their heart and spirit. I’m thrilled Sara is joining me in this week’s podcast to talk about anchoring ourselves in ceremonial practices, working with the elements to ‘come home’ to ourselves - and the earth.
Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast and more.
Broadcast: April 02, 2021
Duration: 51:49
Here’s a snippet of our conversation…
The power of a group.
Amy: What an incredible combination and gift that you bring to the world, all of these amazing skills. And so the ceremonies that you hold, which I'm eager for you to share a little bit more about, they are obviously with groups of women?
Sara: Right. When you've got a group of more than three people, there's a power and an amplification that starts to happen in this space. We’ve all got individual intentions of what we want to call into our life and things that we're wanting to release… When that's witnessed and held in a group container, it's kind of like adding a whole lot of extra batteries into the energy. So it's going to supercharge what we're doing. And it's a really incredible cultural experience. Like we've all felt it when you go to a concert or a sporting match, where you've got a big group of humans coming together for a shared intention - that energy is palpable for all. So when that's actually used in a very positive and clearly discerning way, it creates a lot of power. It's your invitation to come out of the everyday mundane habits and routines and have time just to tune out of all of that and to tune into the self and the deeper self and the infinite self to nature.
Align to the truth of who you are.
Amy: That takes me to a quote from your website that I wanted to share: “In this age of hyper-connection and over-stimulation, I’ve noticed something. Most of us are plugged into everything possible but the one power source that serves our deepest nature. Is it little wonder we feel so disconnected from our true nature, when we are cut off from the cycles and rhythms of the natural world? We rush through life trapped in old programs of achievement addiction, unconscious acquisition and external validation. Life loses its pleasure and joy as we chase after goals that do not align to the truth of who we really are.”
Sara: Yes… For me, I'm someone that tends to be quite in the mind, quite heady. I have a really strong logical mind. I'm fascinated and want to know. So my brain likes to absorb a lot of information. So I already know, because of my constitution, I've got to really work or focus on grounding and being in my body, coming into my heart, coming into more of a receptive space. But it's been working with the plants that has actually made that a lot more easeful, a lot more joyful. What I started to do was have plant baths in the evening. So I'd make a really beautiful bath, put heaps of Epson salts in it. And then I would choose either an oil or I love actually putting plant materials in there. So I'll put full flowers and leaves. I love like basil or the kitchen herbs, or scrunched up slices of lemon. It’s a really sensual, engaging experience. And then when I'm in that bath, my phone is nowhere near. It might be in the bathroom to play some nice music. So I'm creating a really sensual experience, but it's not in reach. So, for that 10 or 20 minutes, it's central for me to come into my body, to smell the aromas, to look at the colours and to engage my senses. Which then has this impact on my nervous system to go ‘I'm safe. It's relaxing time. It's time to shift gears and come back into my body.’ So for me personally, that's more powerful than me trying to sit there and do breath work or stillness or a mindfulness meditation.
Take a moment to stop.
Amy: So, for someone who doesn't have a bath, what could they do as an alternative? What else could we do?
Sara: Herbal tea! If you go to your local health food shop, most shops will have a whole section of really lovely teas and just go for ones that smell nice to you that you're drawn to. And you can turn that into a tea shower, or a foot bath having herbal tea. Like sitting there, with a cup of aromatic tea, and just taking that time to breathe in the aroma and drink it really slowly and with presence. And as you're drinking it, literally feel the heat from the tea, moving through your body, coming into your body, really inviting the presence of the plant spirit into your field. So you might have a cup of lavender tea, then you might anoint yourself with some lavender oil or make yourself up a mister and mist it over yourself. But I think the key is to actually just take a moment to stop, to feel the senses and the sensations of it. Really anchoring your presence in the moment. Pleasure is key for it to actually have a really good impact. I love that it really takes us back to that sense of embodiment.
Ask your inner guidance.
Amy: Amazing. We all really need this message at the moment.
Sara: And I think particularly, you know, as we're going into a new year and coming out of the pandemic… Like the world as we know it has changed and it's not going to be going back to exactly the same way. And I think it can be very easy to get swept up in the hype, the fear, the worry, and the concern around all of the worst case scenarios about what may or may not happen. So to be able to have a practice of relaxation and restoration, where you can come out of it and ask your inner guidance, like your inner wisdom. Your intuition knows what you personally need to do. Then you can start to access. The solutions of what's important for you or your new dreams and desires and new ways of living that you want to create… It’s found and resourced in moments of relaxation and peace and stillness. It's not often found when we're in a reaction or reactivity.
Amy: Yeah, that's interesting as a therapist, something that I’ve worked with a lot of my clients is that need to know how everything's going to work out. ‘I just need to know, I need to find my purpose. I need to get clarity. I need to find out what's next.’ The letting go, the trusting, and the trusting in the flow of the universe and trusting in every year, everything is at ease right now, exactly as it's meant to be, and letting go of the attachment.
Gone are the days of planning and knowing.
Sara: Definitely. And I think for all of us, after the year of uncertainty - and they are also sick of even hearing that - but you know, it really was. I think moving forward, our capacity to be adaptable is really a direction where we're all going, because I think gone are the days of trying to forecast or plan something like years in advance and being like ‘This is what I'm going to do’ because things are changing so rapidly. I feel that there's going to be a lot more technological advances where it's going to be this point of asking ‘How do I dance with technology, but also remain true to my organic nature and not get swept up in, in all of the technology?’ Cause that moves so quickly, to be able to come back out of it and to be really choosing ‘How am I wanting to better my life with this and not be ruled by it?
Amy: Thank you for being here.
