By Louise Havell and Tara Rivero Zea
Exciting Prospects Coming Soon - Tara Rivero Zea
Happy Easter to all our lovely customers and we hope that you got a nice break however you chose to celebrate. I was with my friends and family for the first camp of the season in lovely Norfolk. It was so great to be back in a field and to feel the hint of good times to come now that the wheel has turned once more following the equinox.
We have some VERY exciting plans to announce that will be coming soon. I have been working hard behind the scenes with our wonderful therapists building some online courses to launch at the end of April. I have been studying my own Breathwork modality for the past year (qualifying soon!) and will be offering this online, but it made me realise we have so much to offer here online which can reach a wider audience.
Watch this space for the launch of our new online offerings including Moon Circles, online Tarot Reading, TMJ massage techniques to learn at home, the fantastic Belly Dancing Classes (I can personally recommend these! So much fun and great exercise too), Fertility and Menstrual Health though a Chinese medicine lens, Crystal Healing, Reiki Healing, Sound Baths and much more!
In addition, I have always loved crystals, I have been drawn to them since I was a small child, and I have decided to source some ethical suppliers of jewellery and statement pieces as well as smaller worry, palm and tumble stones. I am very excited to say that I have got the first stock pieces, and these will be available to buy live on instagram and also displayed throughout the clinic so it will raise the vibration while you are having your treatments. I already regularly sage and reiki charge the space and the doors, and the placement of so many crystals will further charge the space. It was very important to me that these are all ethically sourced so that they carry that vibration with them when you buy them. All of them will be individually cleansed and reiki charged before they are displayed. I even charged some of them this weekend on the beach in Norfolk (pictured above).
All this coming soon so watch this space and keep an eye on our instagram page for live updates!
Journey into Darkness: Exploring the Shamanic Practice of Útiseta - Louise Havell
Now that we are into spring and the light is returning, I wanted to talk about a Shamanic practise called útiseta or ‘sitting out’, which involves sitting alone in nature overnight and staying awake. Through awareness one can reconnect with the earth, with oneself; it offers an opportunity to receive insight and wisdom.
I had chosen to ‘sit out’ in early October when the nights had begun to lengthen, meaning I would spend a good proportion of my time in darkness. I chose a wild spot where I knew I wouldn’t be disturbed, and opted to sit beneath some ancient oak trees. Autumn was yet to take full effect so the trees were still thick with leaves.
As darkness fell I could see the moon to one side of the woods slowly rising but as the darkness increased, I realised how little of the night sky I could see through the thick canopy above. I knew the stars were out but I couldn’t see them and as the moon rose higher I began to lose sight of it. Slowly I became engulfed in total darkness, so complete I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face.
Immersed in this blackness I began to crave light in a way I’d only previously experienced when being in a cave. Every now and again I’d look to the sky for a glimpse of star or moonlight but there was nothing but the void in front me.
It was a long, long night. I sat and searched for peace and security within myself, to spirit, to trust that I was safe. However, my craving for the light didn’t let up, and as I sat with this need I became aware of my relationship with light in a way I had never previously appreciated. I realised deeply, how light gives us hope, a reason to survive. Without light, we cannot survive and thus there is no hope. I understood the importance of light for growth and life to exist on earth, in the practical sense, but here I understood on a very primal level our psychological, spiritual and soul relationship with light. Thus the peace a candle can bring us, or the guiding light of a warm-lit home on a cold winter’s night.
When the sun finally began to rise, I could once again ‘see’, on multiple levels. I suddenly appreciated the old sayings, ‘the break of dawn’ and ‘first light’. Our ancestors, living much closer to nature understood our connection to earth’s cycles with a depth we have lost; these sayings have meanings that tell a story, a way of living we no longer live by.
In sitting out I gained insight into something that wasn’t new exactly, but through this practise I experienced a deep re-learning of a knowledge that is within us all; that light gives us deep hope and a willingness to withstand the dark.
So with the spring comes the awakening in our bodies and minds, and that of course is what we keep in mind over the winter months, the wish for and knowing that the light will return.
We love to hear from you, so if you have any questions or suggestions please just email us at: hello@healingspacehackney.co.uk