Navigating the river of life

Two things that feed and nourish my soul are ceremony and animals.  I also take delight in playing with people and animals in exploring animals communication and intuition.  Combining the three of them is heaven for me.  The past two weekends was a slice of this heaven as I  lead Salmon experiences which entailed opening sacred space for people to listen to the wisdom of the salmon as they returning home to Piper’s Creek to spawn.  The creek was wildly different each weekend.  The first weekend it was calm, clear and shallow we saw many salmon navigating their way up the creek.  The second weekend was fast, murky and high.  It was hard to see the salmon and there were not as many as the previous weekend, yet each participant got something from the salmon.
Listening to the wisdom required presence and being open and receptive while holding an intention to learn from the salmon.  Messages came in many ways such as thoughts, feelings, body sensations, knowingness, images and hearing words.  As humans, we are constantly sending and receiving messages and part of these experience was gaining understanding just how each person received messages differently thus strengthening their intuition and ability to speak with the animals.
For me after a ceremony, I have observed anything that is not in alignment with the information or messages or deep work I did during the ceremony presents itself to be dealt with.  Kind of like upgrading your wardrobe and having to get rid of all the old clothes that no longer fit or are your style.  My ceremonies also have an energetic container that offers support for three days after the ceremony with the intention of easy body integration and receiving other messages via dreams or guides.  Today when I was out of sorts I knew the teaching of the salmon of to continually return to my own deep river of inner knowing was stirring the pot of where I had not been listening to my own intuition, my own river.  I was so stuck the pull of the old story of the spaces and places I had not listened to myself and self-judgment had me spinning and flailing, I knew the salmon were offering me another teaching and I couldn’t hear it because I just felt like I was going under.  Leaning back into the container I listened for guidance on how to continue up the river and I heard “ASK FOR HELP.”
So I reached out for support from a mentor to navigate this river of life and she gently and wisely reminded me that  “Elemental awareness can give support: the light-filled sky and the water and earth below seen through the salmon’s eye.  They breathe and move and negotiate every obstacle one thing at a time because all we can be in is the present moment after all.  The salmon love to come home and they are focused on this and stay present.  They are transformed by the present moment allowing the creek to move them back when they need to rest, catching the undercurrent to move forward.  Honoring life, movement and the moment.”    This settled my nervous system and allowed me to refocus on the present moment.
The salmon continue to teach me about returning home to myself with compassion and tenderness and staying present in the moment.