As with almost all Jani Franck's brilliant free e-courses, I start "5 Days of Enchantment" 3 days late. Shameful, I know. But yesterday I found some time and a relatively quiet corner and got started.
For those of you who have no idea what I'm on about, here's a heads' up. "5 Day of Enchantment" is a mini e-course with video tutorials, 1 for each day. Using the 4 traditional elements - earth, air, fire and water - as a point of focus, Jani shares three exercises each day to help access everyday enchantment.
As airy fairy as all of that sounds (and I know it does, I've just read it back!), what I love about the exercises I've done so far is that they help keep you in the present and connected.
So, here's how I've been getting on with Day 1 and 2.
Day 1: Earth and Grounding
So,whilst spending the whole day (so far) barefoot, I've been on a little adventure to the patch of grass behind my block of flats. My mission: to hunt for pebbles. And pebbles I've found!
I'll admit using the pebbles as a connection didn't really work for me; to be fair they are from a building I've only lived in for a year and a bit and that I'm moving out of soon. But feeling the grass under my feet and the heat from the ground was lovely, both calming and energising. All my stress and anxiety seemed to melt, so I should probably do that more often!
The creative exercise was to list words associated with Earth and Grounding, which is quite a lot of words. I decided to brainstorm rather than list. I'm not sure why I prefer brainstorming, possibly because lists are meant to be ordered and thinking of random words really isn't for me. Here is one I made earlier:
Day 2: Air and Breath
Lack of wind unfortunately made my rooftop wind bath a bit of a wind drought, which was a shame. I was, however, able to open my living room window, which is often necessary as my flat gets very warm.
The creative exercise was a breathing exercise, except with each inhale I "breathed in" something, and with each exhale I "breathed out" something. While I'm more than used to deep breathing, both for singing and for relaxation, I found this task quite difficult. I feel this is mostly because I focus of creating calm and/or positivity rather than getting rid of negativity. but I persevered and here is my list:
The main thing I've been learning so far is the difference small actions can make when done mindfully. I've walked barefoot on grass loads of times but even noticing the feel of the carpet, or the heat of the earth, or the breeze when I open a window can help make me feel much more centred.
I'll be posting day's 3 and 4 tomorrow. Until then, hasta luego!