Ambrosial Hours and Alcohol Free
Rewind to one year ago today. I woke up hung over and feeling like shit (although to be fair I had a really fun night the night before!). I was into the physical practice of yoga, but knew very little about the spiritual side (still know very little, but I'm learning). I kept saying I was going to write more, and find a creative community to workshop with.
Today marks 1 year since I've had any alcohol. Giving up booze was really supposed to be a temporary thing (3 months specifically - see my Sober Curious post), but the benefits have outweighed my desire to return. Deciding to not drink has given me more time and more money (quitting smoking really helped on that front too) and I've used the increase in both to get serious about my writing, book a Creative Rehab Retreat to Bali, and grow a little more comfortable (after the initial discomfort) in my own skin without liquid social lubricant. I can't believe some of the things I've been brave enough to do stone cold sober (participating in an art project that left me feeling completely exposed and vulnerable for one).
I've always been someone who tries new things so I probably would have found my way to salsa-dacing and crochet eventually (right now I'm currently interested in learning guitar and horseback riding lessons), but this @sobergirlsociety meme had me laughing so I'm sharing:
One of the new ventures I've picked up is a more vested interest in spiritually and wellness as a whole. Yesterday I woke up at 3:33 am and drove 25 min to attend Aquarian Age Sadhana at Pop Life (I freakin love that space - I mean how can you not!)
As I walked to my car in the freezing cold, I looked up at the moon, and I was struck by how much people can change when they want to, and when they are ready. I was also struck by how much I didn't know I didn't know and still don't know. Here are some of the things I learned just in the past day.
- Sadhana is a basically a personal spiritual discipline - Kriya is a form of meditation focusing on internal work (the outer work is karma)
- There is something called AMBROSIAL HOURS or amrit vale! - talk about more signs from the universe that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be ;) (I've always loved the early morning pre-dawn hours, but I didn't know they were actually "a thing" and one that shares my last name to boot). Ambrosial hours are the hours between 4-6 am and two hours before the sun rises near the equator. To learn why and how we can benefit from them check out the following:
And I certainly didn't know anything about the Age of Aquarius beyond the song; I attempted to do some research on this, but got overwhelmed with all the talk of conjunctions, earth energy, and movement out of the Piscean Age to the Aquarian Age (Cary/Angie maybe you can help me makes sense of all this and the links below! I feel like I'm getting conflicting info. or else I'm just not understanding what I'm reading.)
- 2020 A new era begins - older article, but interesting nonetheless
Anyways - this is neither here nor there. My post isn't an astrology lesson, it is not a call to quit drinking, or an urge to get you to take up yoga - what it is is a plea to allow yourself to grow in whatever ways make sense for you in this moment.
And maybe you don't know what makes sense - that's cool too. Sometimes we seek out change, but just as often we stumble into it.
This is a reminder that the world is more mystical then we often remember, and that there is always more to explore.
I hope you will be open to the adventure - wherever it leads.
Special shout-out to my noble friend J. Dacar here! Thank you for walking the path with me!
