Co-creating The New Emerging Masculine!

Masculine Feminie Soul - Drawing by Ingrid Cryns

Masculine Feminine Soul – Drawing by Ingrid Cryns

Awakening to mankind’s responsibility to heal the inner wound of our collective wounded masculine, also heals the wounded relationship with the feminine.  As we all learn how to relate differently in a way that is more inclusive, this paradoxically allows more individuality to co-exist.  With a commitment to our personal growth, together we are co-creating the new emerging masculine.

Like the need for bio-diversity to strengthen the resilience of inter-dependent micro systems on the planet, our collective need to learn how to operate in a way that includes an ability to respond and support all of our needs – men, women, children, elders, plants, animals, water and more!  We can ultimately also shift our profound and primary relationship with the Earth.

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The Negative Mother Archetype

Copyright Mimi66 _ Dreamstime.com - Hag With Tomcat Photo

The Negative Mother archetype is represented in our culture often as the archetypes of the Hag, the Witch, the Evil Sorceress, the Seductress, the Black Madonna, the Prostitute and the Raging Bitch! 

An archetype is defined as a form of consciousness that is understood as a more collective aspect of awareness. Often these darker feminine archetypal forms include an awareness of the intuitive side of the feminine as well – that was feared and often attacked in the past –for example, witches were burned for their deeper wisdom.  Or Christian religions tried to blame Eve for the first Sin in seducing Adam, and sexuality was denigrated as a negative desire – and the Prostitute was born.  Or Islamic religions hid women’s faces and bodies, because men could not be blamed for their sexual desire to want women, so women have to hide their sensual feminine nature.  The Hag is seen as old, harshly critical and cranky, split off from the power of her deeper wisdom, no longer being valued.

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Facing my Fears………of Being Alone: Part 1

click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge

Initially in my journey to find myself, who I am, or why I even exist, I often went up north to Algonquin Park, or the Frost Centre area (Haliburton, Dorset, Minden in Ontario) and did many solo trips.  I consciously did this to meet my great fear of being ALONE.

On my very first trip, I was so bold, naive and rash that I didn’t even know how to carry the canoe all by myself.  I found myself at the first portage and suddenly realized how I forgot to figure this out and learn it before I left.  After my initial panic & despair, I relaxed a little, slowed down, took some deep breaths and looked carefully at the canoe.  I then lifted it up at one end, jimmied myself up to the middle underneath it, put it on top of my head, turned around until I was facing out and then lifted it up onto my shoulders. I did it!  Then I started walking on the portage.  Except that I forgot to check the map and somehow there was a fork in the road – AND I TOOK THE WRONG FORK!

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Feeling Betrayed: Part 1 – The Experience of Deception

Broken Betrayed Heart,
Drawing by Ingrid Cryns

I met a woman on the weekend and I was moved by how angry and intense she sounded.  I listened to her story until I saw why her soul was expressing its outrage.  She had been following her dream and after 4 years, now she is almost bankrupt.  She had experienced deception and felt deeply betrayed, and I saw how her heart was achingly breaking.  She had dreamed of becoming a farmer with no background or experience in it. She cashed out her city life and moved into the rural country to make a go of it.  In the end, she realized how completely unsupported the farmers are by the government and how many of them, including herself, are working so, so hard and are still losing money. Many of them are living on the poverty line.

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A New Year: A Sacred Intention Ritual

sacred rituals with candlesStarting a new year, we all want to feel fresh and let go of what might be holding us back.  A new year marks a time to rekindle the desire for new beginnings and set new intentions… perhaps with a sacred ritual.  The winter solstice of Dec 22 marking the shortest day of the year, also marks a kind of death of a cycle; an ending that sets the stage for a rebirth, or where seeds can be planted to grow into new directions.

I like to set an intention for my own personal goals and inspirations at these magical times of year when the solstice or equinox marks a shift in the earth energies.  Although it is more powerful to do this on the energetic surge of the exact day and times of these calendar dates, a day before or after also holds the energy well too.  And, when you miss that, do this whenever it feels right for you. It is always a powerful way of marking and holding a new intention or direction.  It helps significantly to change an old habit if you can mark a new positive intention in a simple ritual.  I find myself doing these a few times a year.  Here is what I like to do and I thought it might be inspiring for some of you to try as well:

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Top 3 Ways to Receive Love During the Christmas Holidays

bigstock-Happy-family-with-shopping-bag-52055461The Christmas Holidays are a time focused on finding the time to buy gifts, arranging the dates of how to get together for family meals and taking some down time to relax.  For many of us, taking in and actually receiving the gift of love can sometimes get lost in the busy-ness of the season.  Here are the top 3 ways that you can consciously focus on to expand your capacity to receive love each day.  This is my holiday gift to you; to offer you a growing heart vocabulary to receive the many facets of love, a day;

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The Dark Soul

Dark Soul Heart, by Ingrid Cryns

Dark Soul Heart
by Ingrid Cryns

Wondering where the light is? The Dark Soul is the other side of life that we all want to avoid, distract, dissociate from, numb out or just plain ignore. And here is where you will find the richer parts of you.  Yes, sometimes it is a bit of a confusing, muddy, sticky and stinky swamp in there!  Or maybe there is a really painful bit of deep grief or scary abandonment feelings, or held back, repressed anger, or please don’t go there, a deep well of never ending shame!

The wholeness of your being is in embracing both the dark and light aspects of yourself.  Most of us want to only think of ourselves in a positive light; where we are only successful, kind, generous, with great relationships and good health.  But the reality of it is a much more complex picture.  Our personality has an Ego that wants to only see things that are flattering and deny things that are shameful or painful. The truth is that when we can make friends with our dark side, or our shadow self as Carl Jung would call it, we paradoxically become more whole in our being, and more whole in our soul!

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15 Tools to Living Wisely in These Crazy Times! – Part 1

Soul River of Life Pencil Crayon Drawing by Ingrid Cryns

Soul River of Life
Pencil Crayon Drawing by Ingrid Cryns

To live ‘wisely’ in these times, it is important to develop tools that help to ground and centre you for the many dramatic shifts that are occurring around us on a variety of levels – including emotional/spiritual/energetic as well as physical illnesses. To be ‘Resilient’ to these changes, it requires a body and mind to be strongly grounded in this reality while remaining open & flexible to be able to quickly shift or change as required.  Resiliency work is about building up your healing systems and healing team to assist you through difficult times on many different levels. In this 2 part blog series, I will give you 15 tools to help you navigate these crazy times.

Below is what represents the breadth and depth of holistic and healing modalities that I have personally explored and continue to highly recommend. I often still use many of them myself at different times on my own soul work journey. Some of these methods are also regularly included in my webinars, presentations, workshops or group retreats. Here are the first 7 tools to support your soul to grow with courage and clarity;

  1. To begin with, please start with signing up for my Newsletter on the right side bar.  This will not only keep you in touch with many current trends in how to live more wisely,  but you will receive a 7 page download of a very comprehensive collection of 15 other tips to help manage overwhelm and high anxiety called; Calming Chaos: 15 Soul Secrets for Holding Balance in These Crazy Times. (If you are already on my email list and do not have this download, just send me an email and I will send it to you then).
  2. Donna Eden’s Energy medicine – is a really great body of work that helps to balance the right and left sides of your body and energy system as well as keep you in a good daily balance and increase resiliency.  I highly recommend to learn how to do the 5 – 10 minute daily routine
    1. 5 minute routine –  Video
    2. triple warmer calming technique – Method 1 & Method 2
    3. Basic Energy Medicine Kit
  3. EFT – Emotional Freedom Technique – is such a handy self-help tool to immediately shift an intense emotional reaction to something and to help change old habits
    1. Basic Protocol 1Basic Protocol 2 & Basic Protocol 3
    2. Free Google ebook by EFT Founder, Gary Graig – The EFT Manual
    3. for anxiety – Free download – Audio & script
    4. for insomnia – Basic Instructions & Good General Article
  4. Meditation – there are a  very large variety of methods;
    1. Tibetan buddhist forms, teaching heart centered & present moment living;
      1. Shambhala.org
    2. Zen meditation forms.  The following is a more modern influence with integrates western psychology awareness work with voice dialog and Zen Buddhist consciousness work toward enlightenment!
      1. Big Heart, Big Mind – bigmind.org
    3. Hindu meditation forms
      1. Sahaja Yoga – great free online video courses are very helpful here
    4. Shamanic journeying forms
    5. Guided audio and/or visual meditation forms
    6. Walking meditation
    7. Body felt sense tracking
  5. YOGA, YOGA, YOGA – I can’t say enough about the importance of stretching and strengthening the body slowly and carefully through the various forms of yoga.  My personal favourites are Moshka & Hatha forms, but there are many others that are also very good
  6. Tong Ren – is a fascinating long distance healing method
  7. Access Consciousness – wonderful consciousness clearing and inspiring work

I can support you to find ways to get in touch with your un-conscious or shadow self through symbols and dream work interpretation or unique emotional art drawings.  And I can help you to heal the pain of your deeper soul wounds that will create a greater congruency of your body and mind through body psychotherapy. Click on the green contact tab below to the right and let’s begin to heal your unique soul story together!

The Soul vs Spirit vs Self

Heart Rock - Painted Art & Photo by Ingrid Cryns

Heart Rock
Painted Art & Photo by Ingrid Cryns

I like to define ‘Spirit’ as the life force essence of your physical body & personality in this lifetime.  It is intangible, invisible and made up of something that is hard to quantify scientifically or define absolutely.  Some religions say that the spirit is what possesses the body and if you don’t have a belief in their religion, then you may not believe in having any ‘spirit’ at all!  The Spirit is seen as a form of energy  that connects one to God, the Source or the Mystery – that magical link that gives us life that we don’t truly understand in the end how that is really possible. If you are an atheist or existentialist, then do you have a spirit or a soul, even if you don’t believe in this?  I say that you do, despite your belief system that denies its existence.

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The Soul – Speaks in the Poetic Language of the Senses

SOUL Drawing - Oil Pastel by Ingrid Cryns

SOUL Drawing
Oil Pastel
by Ingrid Cryns

Our senses are how we take in and receive the world; through our eyes (sight), our ears (sound), our touch (hands or skin), our smell (nose) and our taste (tongue/mouth).  Our body’s senses are also how we can find clues as to the distinct characteristics of our soul. Our body may be experienced as the medium of a painter’s pallet on the canvas of the soul.  Or, the depth of meaning through a poet’s expression of words can be seen as a window into the soul. The soul speaks in the colourful and poetic language of our body’s multiple senses.

Not only is our body able to teach us information about what we may like or dislike through our senses, it also has a unique quality of combining two or more senses together to cross-reference clues as to what is good or healthy for us or what is something we should be warned about to stay away from.  This can sometimes be understood as a ‘sixth’ sense! That intangible quality that we can’t put our finger on ‘why’ we might not feel comfortable about something. However, our body is giving us that ‘gut’ instinct feeling to protect us from something. Learning how to decode these messages and how to listen to them in ways to empower yourself is what the work of Building SOUL is all about.

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