* this exercise was originally shared to my patreon on 12/14/21. it references the year change but this excercise can be used during any time of transition personal or collective.

Threshold Ecosystem

The gregorian year is coming to a close. The winter solstice in the northern hemisphere is fast approaching. The longest night of the year and an opportunity for tender integration and release. To reflect with the darkness and take a moment to beam forward and backward from the threshold, holding our soft earthly selves as the fulcrum of our experience within the full spectrum of our reality. I call this mapping exercise a casting image. We find space for our experience, reflect on what has transpired, and make any meaning of that we desire; then purposefully pivot to the other edge of the transition and set conscious intentions for the full spectrum to come. 

The Threshold Ecosystem is a place to wrap up where we've been, what we've learned and the intentions we want to carry into the new year. In this exercise i invite you to really let yourself be opened; to not see an intention as a fixed point, a thing at the top of a pole we are trying to reach.  Rather, relax the eyes into a softgaze and let an intention resonate as an ecosystem, a playing field, a vast landscape to be explored rather than the blue of distance which can never be reached (shoutout to Rebecca Solnit's A Fieldguide to Getting Lost).

Allow the intention to be big and wide, living and breathing. For example, instead of an intention to exercise more, wide open intentions might be to be better tuned with the whole body, or to practice some type of movement everyday that feels juicy and desirable. Or instead of a resolution to paint more perhaps an intention to be deeply tuned with the body's pull towards expression and not having rules around it. Sometimes it helps to identify the part of something that feels really hard and then reframe that part of the intention. So in the case of exercise which might feel like a chore, shifting it to doing movement that's juicy and desirous reframes the feeling of chore by inviting desire as a necessary part to movement pursued. 

Activities and rituals of reflection provide deeper opportunity to be in awareness of our own cycles and growth patterns. This may be a fun exercise to revisit or repeat the following year or at different moments of personal transition. In the summarized words of Priya Parker* -- we can't hope to move on if we don't know what transpired here.

The first image is a printable version for your use. The second image is a key for where to put what. You can also use these instructions if you prefer step-by-step. As always, plz adapt this practice to suit your needs. Play with & alter/altar as needed <3

Instructions:

- take a paper and fold it in half

- at the top write either:

• Reflections (2021) // Intentions (2022)
  (where i've been / where i'm going)

- fill out the dual sides of your ecosystem

• (spiral) cycles completed // ongoing cycles

• (mountains) challenges overcome // challenges to overcome

• (rivers) new ease & connections // planned new ease & connections

• (deep waters) personal stuff, trauma healing, realizations, artist development, spiritual exploration

• (trees) development, deep growth & relations // planned growth, development & relations

• (detritus) grieved, released, processed // intend to release, grieve or process
  
  

*link to Priya's interview on the Finding Our Way Podcast