(excerpt from Liz’s Spring 2020 Newsletter)

Spring Equinox is almost upon us!  A time of renewal of life on our great Mother Earth in the northern hemisphere. A time of less  darkness of winter days and more of  lighter longer days of spring.  Everywhere I look life is pushing up through the soil to be nourished and awoken by the sun.  

In our Toltec community, I was introduced to a practice by don Miguel Ruiz many years ago that I have continued to do annually along, with many others that I have passed it on to. 

It is an “Emotional and Physical Cleanse” for about 7 weeks.  It is a practice of awareness of ourselves on every level;  physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.  

• We eat a vegan diet and exclude processed foods, sugars and alcohol.
• We become aware of our emotions and allow ourselves to be with those feelings without the feelings dominating our life experiences.
• We sit in silent meditation each evening, observing our thoughts coming and going and maintaining our focus on our breath or a chosen mantra.
• We up our level of self-respect and connect with our own Divinity by taking the best care of ourselves, with all our love and attention.

How aligned my cleanse is feeling, considering these mysterious and strange times we are in regarding the Covid-19 virus that is circulating among us. 

 In my stillness, I am reflecting and reminded of another impactful
time in my life when an unknown illness began to arise in my community, in my friends, in my co-workers, and fear became a powerful force of separation and rejection for many of those that I knew.  

AIDS was a chapter of much sorrow and grief in my lifetime.  And through the fear and unknown, I experienced an extraordinary coming together of those of us that decided to choose love over the permeating fear that was as strong a force as the virus itself.  

I experienced compassion and respect simultaneously with all the heartbreak of saying goodbye and letting go of many dear friends.  A strength in community and a bonding that changed our community in ways that are still spoken of and lived today.   

My hope is to remember what I  learned from the AIDS chapter of my life and choose the love over the fear in today’s experience of this new unknown.  I encourage us all to be aware, to keep ourselves healthy, AND to put all of our attention on the love.

Leave the fear and chaos to diminish without our nourishment.  

Omateotl.