IN THIS ISSUE:
- LOVE NOTE FROM CHRIS
- A Wild Woman’s Guide to the Holidays
- MOON WATCH: Waning Crescent
- ANNOUNCEMENTS: Winter Circle Leader Training + The Transformation
- WILD WOMAN CELEBRATION
- QUOTE OF THE WEEK
NOTE FROM CHRIS
Beloved,
Want to take a pause and tune inward?
What is going on in your inner world? How are you feeling?
~~~
As I emerged from a 5 day meditation retreat, I found many of my dear ones going through a lot. Their words and struggle inspired me to write this: A Wild Woman’s Guide to Holidays. Posted below.
If you are feeling challenged right now, may this help in some small way.
With great big love,
Chris
P.s~If you find this moving or helpful, please share it with your wild women.
A Wild Woman’s Guide to the Holidays
By definition, wild means: living in a state of nature. Untamed, Undomesticated.
In the heart of the wild woman lies a deep longing for truth. “Let’s drop pretense,” the wild woman says, “just tell me the truth.”
For this reason, the holidays can bring inner challenge for a woman on the wildish path.
Why?
The expectation of good cheer.
The wild woman knows that as day turns into night, as summer into fall, the sense of inner cheer ebbs and flows, like the moon. And a wild woman loves this, for she gets to experience the wholeness of life. An experienced wild woman will eventually even gain the ability to see in the dark. Therefor an expectation that she should feel happy for several weeks straight will strike the wild woman as unnatural.
The excessive shopping.
Societal norms such as the trample-you-to-get-my-new-ipad-holiday-shopping, can strike the wild woman as frivolous and wasteful, a cause for concern. Because the she is connected to the earth, sustainability is at the forefront of her mind. Why are we doing this, really? Where did the item come from and what is the true cost?
Family wounds rise to the surface at this time.
A wild woman will challenge you to find a person who carries no familial wounds. “We all have them,” she says with love. Traditional family gatherings (or lack there of) can feel challenging for the wild woman. She is committed to healing her heart, so she knows where the wounds live in her inner landscape, and can feel when someone accidentally bumps into them. Holiday time can test a wild woman’s resilience of heart.
If this sounds like you, wild woman, may the following suggestions help you stay connected to your heart, your truth, this holiday season.
1. Give yourself permission to slow down.
There is no accident that winter is a time of year(in the northern hemisphere) when days are short and nights are long. Nature is telling you something: rest, restore, conserve energy, there is no hurry. This is not production time. Sleep in, practice restorative yoga, meditate, curl up to the fire with a good book. Eat, drink. love, slowly.
2. Build alone time into your days.
Yes, even when you are visiting, or being visited by someone. A walk in the afternoon or a warm bath in the morning will suffice. Give yourself time to be quiet and alone. Remember your independence. Who you are right now.
3. Create your own holiday tradition(s).
Be a co-creator with your loved ones. How do you really want to spend this time? What feeds you? I know I don’t have to tell you this, but just in case you need a reminder: you don’t have to do what everyone else does. This is your holiday, your time. Spend it in a way that nourishes you.
4. Have a wild woman buddy.
Make an agreement with one of your soul tribe: You will be there for each other this holiday, by phone. All you have to do is text, “soul talk 911?” and the other will call you to remind you how amazing you are, how much they love you & to simply listen.
5. Do your practices in the morning.
Even if it is a 5 minute meditation. Anything helps clear you out so you can be alive, vital & open this holiday.
6. Sit with your soul family.
At least once between now & the new year, gather with you spiritual family. Come together with those you love and respect, who honor you wholly, in all your messy, exciting, deep, loving, wild woman ways.
7. Be Patient.
With others and with yourself. Do your best to love unconditionally, and forgive yourself when you can’t, just yet.
8. Pray for the whole.
Remember the power of your prayers at this time. Send them to many beings who are suffering on the planet right now. Wrap the world in the light of your heart.
This is your life, wild woman.
Your stretch of time here on earth.
Wishing you a heart-full Holiday time.
Xo
Xo
MOON WATCH
A Prayer for the Waning Moon
As the moon disappears,
Sliver by sliver,
May we savor in all that is here.
As the moon falls back,
Piece by piece,
May we stand lovingly
in the wisdom
That all things will
Indeed
Pass.
As the nights get darker
Eve by eve,
May your guidance,
Burn like a candle
In your heart,
Luminous and steady.
In the fading light of the waning moon,
May your Mind
And Heart
And Body
Be filled
With Unshakeable Trust
In the mystery of all that is here
And all that is coming.
Amen.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Apply for Winter Circle Leader Training
When you look at the world around you, are you filled with a deep desire to help make things better?
Do you see that there is a great need for more connection and kinship in your community?
Do you have a strong interest in heart-centered, feminine leadership?
Look Deeper & Apply
We will Begin January 19th.
40 Day Wild Woman Transformation
Come Alive with me in 2015
What do you want to create this year (internally & externally)?
I’m calling on women who are:
deeply committed to coming into their fullness of expression,
ready to waking up to/deepen their life’s purpose,
and interested in developing a strong relationship with their inner guidance.
The 40-Day Wild Woman Transformation is a powerful journey, perhaps the deepest I offer, because it is 1 on 1 and intensive.
The content of the program is tailored for who you are, your desires and your soulful goals.
If this speaks to you, I hope you will apply.
I have 4 seats opening January 2015.
Learn More & Apply
WILD WOMAN CELEBRATION
What people have said after their 40 Day Wild Woman Transformation
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
On the Horizon
Join an international, intergeneration group of weird and wonderful wild-hearted Women in our online Cave (which lives on an app)!
We meet weekly in Circles, Workshops, Practices to keep our wild spirits lit!
Upcoming Weekly Gatherings:
Join us for an hour-long New Moon Meditation Adventure on May 7th!
Online, from anywhere.
Using a dynamic meditation journey, we will tune into the New Moon, to your own Inner Guidance, synced up with wild-hearted women from around the world. This offering will include music, storytelling, meditation, journaling prompts & intention-setting.
Can’t make it live? No worries. All participants will receive a copy of the recording with 24 hours of the session.
We have Wild Woman Project-trained Circle facilitators is 26 countries, and 44 out of the 50 United States.
Chris Maddox is the founder of The Wild Woman Project where she teaches women how to utilize the gifts of the Wild Woman Archetype in their everyday lives & how to lead women’s circles in their local communities. She is the organizer & facilitator of the beloved annual WILD WOMAN FEST, a women’s retreat-festival hybrid which fosters a deep connection to nature, a direct experience of the divine feminine & profound spiritual sisterhood among the women in attendance.
An ever student of the great mysteries of existence and nature itself, Chris believes women are holding innate gifts & tools that society at large needs – now more than ever. She is committed to helping women remember their special magic and to bring it forward into every corner of their lives, for the greater good of the planet.
