BEING WOMAN
Creating Balance in a Stress-Filled World
Copyright ~ Sophia Breillat©
mentor at the Wise Woman University
http://www.wisewomanuniversity.org/
Woman’s home has always represented her nest,
her womb, her sanctuary, her heart, hearth, palace.
As a reflection of the feminine psyche, this is a sacred
space where she needs to feel safe, nurtured, protected,
sustained and balanced.
In ancient times, the Goddess Vesta of Roman matriarchal
civilisation embodied the heart of the home, and her
round temple, symbolising the womb, or female centre
of life and creation, was the centre of the city. Within
this temple burned her Sacred Fire, representing the
flame of divinity within every woman. Vesta, her name
meaning “hearth” or “earth”,
also embodies the home place, or wellspring of nurturing,
for every man. He deeply and intrinsically needs his
woman and his home to be his sacred place of loving,
relaxation and nourishment, balancing his outer worldly
life with inner peace and fulfilment.
Vesta represents woman’s wisdom, that indefinable
and intuitive feminine knowing that arises from the
depths of her innermost being. When a woman is connected
to her divine flame, heart or hearth within, she knows
serenity, contentment, strength and balance.
Every woman carries within her psyche the collective
suppression of female power and divinity that has insidiously
seeped through many generations. Every woman also carries
within her psyche the potential to awaken the mystical,
divine and sacred qualities of the Goddess within her
heart. She can never become truly free, truly who she
is, until she fully embraces her love, her truth, her
grace, her perception, her clarity. Without consciously
merging with her sacred wellspring of inspiration, she
will always feel unbalanced.
In ancient cultures, woman was revered as the embodiment
of the Goddess in all her glory. Her heart, her hearth,
her womb, her home, all represented her divine centre
of balance. The richly dancing glow of the hearth is
rarely the focus of the modern home, where television
and computer have now frequently replaced this heart
centre of the family. Contemporary civilisation has
dragged woman far away from her inner hearth, into a
world that increasingly demands busyness, attainment
and achievement.
Through becoming separated from her inner sustaining
fire, she has lost her harmony and equilibrium. Among
the many things that create havoc with the delicate
balance of the female psyche are lack of true love and
lovemaking, lack of honouring or acknowledgement, too
much busyness, not enough nurturing, not enough stillness
or quiet space for enjoying the beauty and simplicity
of being.
DEAR WOMAN
You, beautiful Goddess, are out of balance because you
have stopped listening. You have stopped listening to
your heart, your intuition, your body, your love. You
have abandoned the intrinsic wisdom of your profound
depths to a shallow world that dictates how you should
look, dress, work, live and love. And so, you suffer,
not really knowing why you feel so emotional, insecure,
doubtful, stressed or tired. You are unbalanced because
you are living in a world that is unbalanced, a world
where it is difficult for you to find your true place.
SACRIFICING WOMAN
For many years, woman has become so immersed in the
role of primary caregiver and nurturer that she has
forgotten how to nourish herself in the simple ways
that keep her heart open, her love flowing and her passion
alive. If she cannot tenderly, sincerely and openly
embrace all that she needs to be, she will feel unbalanced.
If she lives a life of outer distraction, where many
other things have become more important than love, this
imbalance will create deep emotional pain. Although
she may pretend, repressing this pain with busyness
or addictions, eventually it will surface, masked as
inexplicable moodiness, despondency, eating disorders,
pre-menstrual tension, post-natal depression or distressing
menopausal symptoms.
When she sacrifices her soul to live through others,
she lives in denial of her own intrinsic needs, repressing
her innate wildness, creativity and power. This lack
of balance then creates emptiness, resentment and lack
of fulfilment, particularly if she sacrifices her natural
need of loving for emotionalised concepts of security,
comfort, prestige or recognition.
When she is truly loved, she glows, shining like the
sun, radiating a joyful presence of openness that is
ageless. Everything in her life then flows, everything
is then balanced, simply because her body and being
are alive with love.
NURTURING WOMAN
For the contemporary woman, life has become a stress-filled
balancing act where partner, children, home, work, creativity
and leisure time all tug at her heartstrings, each crying
out for her full attention. Pulled simultaneously in
many directions, she is frequently stretched far beyond
her inherent capacity for giving, becoming mentally
frazzled, emotionally unbalanced and physically exhausted.
The media, that illusory contemporary God of power,
creates extra pressure through preying upon her self-doubt,
seducing her into believing that to be a real woman,
she must become perfectly beautiful, perfectly functional,
perfectly achieving and perfectly thin. After long exhausting
hours at the office, she is expected to create a perfect
body at the gym, cook a perfect nutritious dinner for
her family, help with her perfect children’s homework,
clean her perfect house and make perfectly passionate
love with her partner.
The external world creates too many complicated and
unreal pressures, forcing her to fit into rigid time
schedules that are not aligned with the natural flowing
rhythms of her body and being. When a lack of worthiness
creates imbalance in woman, she has difficulty embracing
the enjoyable pleasures of relaxing with nature, giving
fully in lovemaking, spending money on pampering herself,
or simply melting into the sweet bliss of doing nothing
at all.
When a woman cannot find enough space in her busy life
for stillness, nurturing and replenishment, she is already
swimming in the danger zone of excessive imbalance.
Every woman, in her innermost being, is a fragrant flower
whose delicate petals need sensitive nurturing. She
is intrinsically of nature, of the earth, not of the
world and its forceful demands.
She is not naturally attuned to the mechanical pressure
of clocks, timetables, deadlines and schedules, as these
separate her from the wisdom of her ancient primordial
timeless knowing.
When she loses her connection with Mother Earth’s
natural rhythms, she loses a vital part of her divinity,
creating an imbalance that disrupts her menstrual cycle,
her hormones, her emotions, her body and her psyche.
Woman’s natural place is in the deep, in the vastness
of her being. She does not inherently belong in the
world’s shallow waters. Yet she constantly struggles
to retain inner balance whilst being too busy, doing
too many things at once, taking care of too many people,
moving too fast. Although it is her sincere delight
and intrinsic joy to offer nourishment, warmth, compassion,
tenderness, she will frequently over-extend and exhaust
herself as an attempt to validate her existence or increase
her self-esteem.
As embodiment of the Earth Mother, woman naturally
loves to nurture, to give selflessly, but when she continually
gives and gives and gives without receiving acknowledgement,
her life quickly slips out of balance. She can graciously
work in the world, she can easily embrace many tasks,
but if she becomes depleted or sick through taking on
too much, she loses her power, and the virtue of divine
integrity or sacred purpose in whatever she is doing.
to be continued...
Copyright ~ Sophia Breillat© ~ not to be reprinted
without author’s permission
Sophia is a woman who lives, writes and paints from
the heart ~ she may be contacted at: wullegurra@hotmail.com
Online Courses
with Roslyne Sophia Breillat
Dawning of Wisdom
http://www.herbalmedicinehealing.com/store/item_view.asp?estore_itemid=1000232
Are you ready to awaken more deeply to your female power and intuitive wisdom through fully embracing the profound transformation of menopause? This course offers gentle encouragement and loving wisdom for the woman who is beginning or approaching her menopausal journey.
Through welcoming the first signs of inner change that stir her wise whisperings we will explore how to consciously embrace the sacred mystery of this natural transformation. And through honouring the grace and strength of the menopausal woman we will celebrate her awakening power.
Welcome to “DAWNING OF WISDOM ~ Beginning the Journey of Menopause”… This is the first of a series of courses with Sophia that consciously embrace the deeper spiritual purpose of menopause. Through focusing upon the initial dawning of the menopausal call to wisdom we will explore the mysteries, joys and fears of this profound change. We are living in a society that dishonours, denies and ignores the sacred beauty, integrity and purpose of the wise woman elder.
Price: $49.95
find out more and REGISTER...
http://www.herbalmedicinehealing.com/store/item_view.asp?estore_itemid=1000232
BEING WOMAN - She of the Earth…
http://www.herbalmedicinehealing.com/store/item_view.asp?estore_itemid=1000417
This course provides a sacred and nurturing space where woman can learn to surrender more deeply to the natural receptivity of the female psyche. Throughout this series of lessons she will learn to trust the innate flow of her intuitive nature and to listen more intimately to the wellspring of her inner source. And we will explore together how to live more fully as the embodiment of the feminine essence within the structures of a masculine civilisation.
This course is a series of lessons that honour the fluid nature of the female psyche. Woman has forgotten who she is and the world has forgotten who she is. Her female truth has become clouded and polluted like her beloved Mother Earth. She has imbibed so much maleness that she has lost confidence in the sweet mystery of her receptive nature. She has become angry, forceful and self-doubtful because she is not seen, heard or loved as the creative power of the feminine spirit. It is time for her to stop sleeping. It is time for her to awaken from the dream of unreality that diminishes her true power. It is time for her to become who she really is, in the deep, in her mystery, in her sacredness.
Price: $49.95
find out more and register....
http://www.herbalmedicinehealing.com/store/item_view.asp?estore_itemid=1000417
About the Mentor:
Sophia (Roslyne Sophia Breillat) is a woman who lives, writes and paints from the heart. The inner richness and profound healing of her life experiences are inspiration for her flowing creativity. Her articles and art embrace the beauty, power and sensuality of the feminine essence and celebrate the natural flow of woman’s transformational cycles. Her website offers a sacred space for woman to dive into the deep, to open to her true nature, to be who she really is.
Sophia’s training and experience includes primal therapist, intuitive massage, reconnective healing, writing, art, illustration, design, astrological counselling, instructional skills, training program design and teaching within the Aboriginal community. She has also facilitated many creative workshops and courses.
Sophia’s writing and art is featured extensively on international websites and her articles and illustrations have been published in many national and international magazines. She is acknowledged as a sensitive and honest writer with deep perceptions and penetrative insight. She is currently creating a series of books that honour the power and wisdom of the feminine spirit.