~Ambrose Redmoon
When I look up 'labor' in the dictionary, it means to engage in a productive activity, or a job or task that must be done. I recently attended a Pre-Natal Yoga Training and since that training have found myself smitten with the idea of 'birthing' and 'laboring.' I'm not a mother, but I am a woman who is passionate about living and creating. When I bring the concept of birthing into my own life, I truly feel we all have within us the power to 'give birth' to an idea, a new thought, a new way of being, or to bring forth a gift that we have yet to share with the world.
I can only image what the experience of 'labor' is like for a mother. I have heard multiple women's experiences, and as I gaze into my own life, I feel like I have been laboring in many ways myself. How about you? It seems to me that living life is labor intensive because we are engaging in a productive activity. We are busy building dreams. Loving partners. Birthing babies. Envisioning empires. Crafting professions. Quieting our minds. Becoming one with nature. Moving through the stages of labor isn't limited to motherhood. Male or female, we all have the divine feminine living inside us. The part of us that nurtures and fosters love.
In the midst of labor I think we must also acknowledge that there is a death occurring. To not acknowledge this death would be to dismiss life. This simultaneous process is making way for something new. A death of our old ways of being, a death of outdated beliefs, and a death of our identity. When we can hold these two stories with equal amounts of compassion, I feel that we will move heaven and Earth. Laboring invokes a sense of profound respect for the body and spirit.
Shift into the 'labor' intensive areas of your life...I invite you to sit with this question, "What would be different in your life if, 1 year from today, if your life was exactly like you would like it to be?" We must have a willingness to bring the unseen into the seen, to share our hearts, and to honor the precious gift of our lives.
May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude,
Sarah