Episode 13: The Tree: Finding Security Within Yourself

Jennifer and Tava discuss the importance of grounding, calming, and centering oneself, especially during the hectic holiday season and times of societal tension. They highlight tools and techniques like meditation, using ice for anger release, and the importance of finding a safe mental space. The conversation also touches upon Maria Montessori’s concept of normalization in education, emphasizing the need for safety before intellectual engagement, and suggests practical daily tasks to lessen emotional overwhelm. Spiritual messages from Archangel Michael and Samael stress the importance of living in the present, being at peace, and the value of inner work over external distractions. Tava shares a profound dream about a healing tree, encouraging listeners to find similar personal spaces of rejuvenation. The podcast aims to provide ongoing support, guiding listeners to maintain their center amidst external chaos.

Links to places mentioned in the podcast:

Peace and Release Free Recording: https://www.willowridgereiki.com/recordings

How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing by KC Davic, lpc

Amazon link for more info: https://www.amazon.com/How-Keep-House-While-Drowning/dp/1668002841/ref=asc_df_1668002841?mcid=f74306d186a531519dfe64dcb7120196&hvocijid=14746815363688951438-1668002841-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=718258855821&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14746815363688951438&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007571&hvtargid=pla-2281435179498&psc=1

Thank you joining us today, remember to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to keep up to date with your tribe.

Connect with your Hosts!

Tava Baird: tavabaird.com or https://darkflowerbooks.etsy.com.

Jennifer Taylor: Willow Ridge Reiki and Healing Arts https://www.willowridgereiki.com/

Transcript

Jennifer Taylor: [00:00:00] Hello 

Tava Baird: Jennifer. 

Jennifer Taylor: Hello Tava. I am looking forward to a really, calming, centering kind of podcast today. 

Tava Baird: Yeah, boy, could we use it. There's a lot going on and we're also about to launch into the holiday season when there will be even more going on for people. This is the perfect time to talk about trying to ground and calm and center and take care of yourself.

Tava Baird: Peace. 

Jennifer Taylor: Yeah, so we're, very much hoping that this will be a podcast that you can return to, again and again, when you feel like you need a space outside of the space of the rest of the world to just be reminded of, your tools, reminded of how it is that you can come back into a really centered place, no matter what is going on in the outside [00:01:00] world around you.

Tava Baird: yes, 

Jennifer Taylor: with that in mind, I will step into a sung invocation. my intention is to really draw in this energy that we're talking about, a grounding, centering, finding ourself in that safe, sacred space kind of energy. 

Tava Baird: Yes, please. Please sing us in. I think that would be absolutely lovely. 

Jennifer Taylor: [00:02:00] [00:03:00] 

Jennifer Taylor: Was really lovely, thank you so much, I really needed that today. we started recording today, I was talking about how scatterbrained and overwhelmed I was feeling, because of scheduling of my own doing.

Tava Baird: [00:04:00] And I have a horrible tendency in my early fifties to believe that I have the same boundless energy that I did when I was 21 and, that apparently I can bend space and time. So,it's a very good thing to be able to be here and to hear Jen sing and to be able to, move towards my center again,with her song.

Tava Baird: it brought in Sigmael who reminded me of something he would like me to share. he said, take them to the tree, Umshar, tell them of the tree. And Jen, I think I shared my story about the tree with you several years ago. So hopefully we'll find some time for that today as we continue to talk.

Tava Baird: we wanted to give you all a little context about when this podcast is happening, case you're listening [00:05:00] to it four years from when we recorded it first. Jen, do you want to talk a little bit about what's going on right now? 

Jennifer Taylor: Sure. Yeah. So we are almost a week out from the presidential election and obviously other others were being elected as well.

Jennifer Taylor: and we're, definitely feeling a lot of energy and a lot of emotions are really strong right now for a lot of people in a lot of different ways. for ourselves, we've been using this week to really, be reminded of how important it is for us to be able to keep our center and.

Jennifer Taylor: Keep our focus and our grounding and our faith, regardless of how much is going on outside of ourselves. regardless of, perspectives on the election, I think it still stirs up a lot of things for a lot of people [00:06:00] and changes always something that is challenging for us as humans.

Jennifer Taylor: And, You know, in change tends to come fear, regardless of whether we think that it's going to be a good change or a negative change, any kind of change is difficult on our systems. And especially when there's a lot of people saying a lot of things that enhance that fear. And I know that Tava and I've talked about that a lot.

Jennifer Taylor: so, we really, wanted to. just speak to that, the energies and emotions that we are feeling and seeing circulating in mass the foundations of which seem to be rooted in fear. And so we wanted to. Just sort of speak to that a little bit so that we can move through that feeling and find, a place of safety?

Jennifer Taylor: How do we be in a place of solution and healing? And in our discussions earlier in the week, Tava had shared something that Maria [00:07:00] Montessori, um, has discovered and talks about. And so we thought that might be kind of a good place to start. 

Tava Baird: Maria Montessori, the educator for whom the Montessori schools are named because it was her inventions that started that educational system. One of the things that she. talks about is the state of mind that human beings must be in, in order to learn. Now, I would say it's probably at least the first six weeks, depending on the child and depending on the group of children. Those first weeks are a process Montessori called normalization. And the idea behind normalization is that you're not trying to teach multiplication tables and you're not trying to get them to memorize the name of continents.

Tava Baird: You are simply trying to get child [00:08:00] comfortable. in their environment. Human beings are animals. We are animals. I have a ton of deer in my environment up here near the Appalachian Trail. And one of the things you notice about herds of deer is that if they think they're not safe, they don't eat.

Tava Baird: They just stand frozen and watch. They can't really function as long as they don't feel safe. humans are the same way, someone starts a new job or someone goes to a new school and we immediately plunge them into an academic environment and then quickly discover that those academics of the first few weeks don't actually stick.

Tava Baird: Because they are simply trying to acclimate themselves to all of the new people and new routines and new equipment around them. Maria Montessori noticed that one of the reasons why children did [00:09:00] so much better in her schools As opposed to a lot of the education that was going on around her was that she was first and foremost concerned with making sure that the children felt safe.

Tava Baird: Once they felt safe, once they had friends, once they knew where the bathroom was and how they were going to be getting snack and when mommy would be coming to pick them up and when they would see daddy again, and all of these different things, once they had those that sense of security and safety, then they could open up their minds and hearts to new things.

Tava Baird: In times of great change, we tend to try very hard in our Western society to simply rise above it, stuff down our emotions rather than saying there is tremendous change right now. Or, I have strong feelings about this change, maybe I'm [00:10:00] apprehensive, maybe I'm disappointed, maybe I'm lonely, maybe I'm sad.

Tava Baird: And we need to give ourselves time to get comfortable in the new environment before we expect a lot of ourselves. Or we will feel overwhelmed and we will feel emotional and it will take us a lot longer to ground and find our center. And so one of the things we want to do today is give you some more ideas on when you are feeling like there's too much change, or there are too many things that you can do.

Tava Baird: We're not sure you can count on your daily schedule. What are some things you can do to find the safety within yourself? The first thing I would like to suggest is a wonderful recording on Jen's website [00:11:00] that I am surprised I have not broken her website the number of times I have played it on repeat. I think my longest though so far is listening to it like seven and a half hours.

Tava Baird: Great. I had a friend who was having a challenging time and I put on the recording, I want to say the recording's only like, The initial recording, I think, is less than 15 minutes, isn't it, Jen? 

Jennifer Taylor: Yeah, I think it's, yeah, I don't think it's very long at all. I think maybe even six or seven minutes total.

Jennifer Taylor: If you go to Jenn's website. And that's, Willow Ridge Reiki and you go to the recordings and it's a free recording.

Tava Baird: So oh my goodness, get this on favorites list. It is, it's called Peace and Release and it is fantastic if you can't sleep, if you're feeling sad or anxious. [00:12:00] Every single one of my students that I mentor, I make sure they know where it is. And if they contact me and say, I'm just having a really difficult time processing things right now, I'm going piece of release, and it has helped a lot of people and it helps me as well.

Tava Baird: I don't recommend doing it while you're driving because you are about to get blissed out mellow listening to this thing.It's just infused with beautiful energy, and it will help you to come back around to the center of your circle. 

Jennifer Taylor: Yeah, and part of the way that it does that is that it has a number of energetic, processes in there that help to literally release from your system things that you are carrying around that are not in your highest good and that are keeping those.

Jennifer Taylor: patterns of things that you might be repeating to yourself in your head that are keeping those things going. And [00:13:00] so part of that release and why you feel so peaceful afterwards is that there's a lot of energy in there to help to literally release from your system and transmute these things and send them up out of your energy and into the light where they can be processed appropriately.

Jennifer Taylor: And so you do tend to feel lighter. and more autonomous when you're done. You, tend to be able to feel more like yourself again and more able to access your faculties and, the things that you know are in your highest good, but maybe are harder thoughts to get to, before listening to it.

Jennifer Taylor: and I personally use them all the time. I mean, we made that recording What a couple years ago and my husband and I still we use that recording for our own personal use all throughout the day. 

Tava Baird: I also was reminded of a book I'd like to recommend to everybody and you may have heard of it before.

Tava Baird: It's [00:14:00] called How to Keep House While Drowning and it came out shortly after COVID and it's written by a woman Who, if I remember correctly, I believe she's both neurodivergent and I believe she also has ADHD. And what she was having difficulty with was during the pandemic, she suddenly had two small children at home with her all day and a husband with her at home all day working.

Tava Baird: the systems that she'd been struggling to keep going anyway on putting away the laundry and keeping the dishes going and all of these things suddenly started to fall apart. And if you are the sort of person, I know I am, who is very much affected by the organization and cleanliness of your environment, you will love [00:15:00] this.

Tava Baird: I'm sure you can look it up on anywhere online. I'm sure your library probably has it. What she did was go back through tasks that we use to run our daily life inside of houses and say, Do we really need to be doing all of this and is there a way to open up the bottlenecks on some of the tasks that we hate to do 

Tava Baird: Is there a way to open up those processes? for example, one of the things that she recommends is she says look there are all times in life where we just need to do the easiest thing and so if you haven't started your dishwasher in four days because you're waiting for that last cup and you don't want to waste water.

Tava Baird: You know what? Run the dishwasher. [00:16:00] It's a fork. It will be fine. Don't be too attached in time of personal crisis where you're just trying to keep above water. whether or not that every cup space was spilled really isn't going to be the end all be all of everything. Run the dishwasher.

Tava Baird: Another thing she talked about was the idea of folding all of our laundry, folding our sheets. She said, you know, most laundry does not need to be folded. Do t shirts really need to be folded? Does underwear need to be folded? What she noticed was there were piles of things building up at her laundry room because everybody was avoiding the folding when soon her laundry room was in such a state that she couldn't function.

Tava Baird: When she suggested instead, you know, pulling out the three or four things that you really had to hang up or iron, [00:17:00] you know, work shirts. dress clothes, but you weren't wearing a lot of those during the pandemic anyway, and she instead set up bins in her closet. Where she could just throw all the underwear and socks in one bin, throw all the t shirts in another, throw all the jeans in another and it is broke up the bottleneck of laundry so that she could have a functioning laundry room again.

Tava Baird: I actually tried it and it worked really well during the pandemic. Who needs their pajamas folded?So she goes through all of these different ideas of when you need your energy to heal yourself and to make sure everyone around you is in a good place. energetic place. What are things you can do to get rid of the little tasks that are sapping your energy during the day?

Jennifer Taylor: Yeah, I like that. and I think, mentally too, there are so many [00:18:00] things that tend to start spiraling around in our minds and some of it are, Pieces of things that we keep hearing on the news or bits and pieces of things that people have told us, or, we get mentally cluttered and mental bottlenecks, I think, too, where energetically there's just too much that we're carrying in our systems.

Jennifer Taylor: There's too much that we're trying to manage and not all of it needs to even be addressed. A lot of those thoughts and a lot of the things that are coming at us these days. And Need to more be sent on their way and not held. And, in a little bit, I will get to sharing.

Jennifer Taylor: Some of the things that Archangel Michael had said to me about this this week. And I think of that as well as just ways of letting it keep going without getting all clogged up in your system. And like, Tava said, stopping and just listening to the peace and release and letting go of of energetic dust bunnies that you're carrying around and if you're [00:19:00] listening to this podcast and you just feel like right now, like there is.

Jennifer Taylor: a bunch of anger or a bunch of intense feelings that are balled up in you. And it's like, I can't, I can't get to that, that safe, quiet peace, kind of place right now, because I have all of that definitely move it through. And this is a technique. I don't think that I've talked about it on the podcast before.

Jennifer Taylor: But we use this in our house and it's really good because we don't, like Tava was saying, we don't want to stuff down the feelings in order to try to get to a peaceful place. We want to let them flow through us in a healthy way and then we can access these things. But it's a very simple thing. So you get like a container of ice.

Jennifer Taylor: and take it outside and you just need some sort of hard surface that you can be on. If you can't do it anywhere, you can do it in your shower or if it's, just too cold outside or whatever the weather you can do it like in your shower. But what you're going to do is you're [00:20:00] going to take a piece of the ice and hold it in your hand and really focus on what is it that you're feeling.

Jennifer Taylor: And this is a really good one for anger. And so just say, you know, I am so angry that. and really stay and let yourself access that anger and imagine putting all of it into that ice cube and then throw it down onto the hard surface and let it shatter. And if you have really put all of that energy into it, it will shatter into a million pieces.

Jennifer Taylor: If you have sort of it and you've sort of been like, okay, I'm mad about whatever. And then you try to throw it, it will bounce. It is absolutely incredible. if it bounces, go grab it and do it again. And then really put that energy into it. And it's amazing by the time you get through that container of ice, you're likely to be.

Jennifer Taylor: [00:21:00] feeling like things are moving through. And if not, go get another one and keep going. But it's really, really effective, but you must. identify what it is that you're angry about. You really need to be specific in order to move these things through. but I highly recommend it. The other thing you can do is just stand and shake, just shake your whole body all over and literally shake it out.

Jennifer Taylor: And you can feel free to listen to the Taylor Swift song, shake it off, shake it off, you know, like as you go, but wild animals do that. Like if a deer gets hit by a car or something, not in an obviously like life threatening way, or, you know, something traumatic happens, they'll lay there and then they'll stand up and they'll just shake.

Jennifer Taylor: all over, like just like shiver, like shake all over and shake literally all of that emotion and trauma out of their system. And then they'll run off. And so we need to release these things instead of letting them build [00:22:00] up. So if you're in a place where you're like, I really can't hear that right now, pause this, do one of these exercises and then come back.

Jennifer Taylor: I would say play Peace and Release do the ice and, or. Do the shaking and then try coming back. 

Tava Baird: There's also times when you start to feel overwhelmed in times of great change, the feeling, sometimes the feeling of helplessness will creep and The other thing that happens is we live in a very global culture in the West where the internet is telling us every single bad thing that is happening all over the world The 24 hour news cycle allows us to access oh no moments all day long. There doesn't really seem to be a 24 hour great news cycle [00:23:00] to help balance it out. So one of the things you also, and this was something I've had to do recently, is say, I've developed a habit Constantly checking in the news and what I'm getting is repeats of things that do not serve me.

Tava Baird: I end up in a state of hyper vigilance about things. That I have absolutely no control over and if I'm constantly in a state of vigilance, but can't do anything about it, that leads a lot of times to feeling of hopelessness. So we have to understand that it's time perhaps to remove ourselves from turning all of our attention externally.

Tava Baird: And start to think a little bit more like our [00:24:00] ancestors. Our ancestors knew what was going on in their village, or their town, and their family, This is where you can create change. You can get together with someone who's not feeling fantastic, and laugh. You can cook a meal for someone who needs some nurturing.

Tava Baird: You can receive a hug from someone who's willing to give it. I think after the pandemic, a lot of us got so used to being in our houses and not touching people We didn't necessarily go find those opportunities to do those things the way we did before the pandemic. But this is the time for you to get people together for a finger painting session.

Tava Baird: Or, you know, read a book aloud to a child. Or go out camping for the weekend with a friend. I have a [00:25:00] quote right here that was posted. By Toni Morrison's publisher and someone sent it to me the other day and it is what I have been doing to refocus myself from constantly clicking on the news and instead try to think about my community.

Tava Baird: This is the quote. This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal. So if you are looking at the state of the world or what have you and feeling, I don't know how to help everyone who needs help.

Tava Baird: We need you to start small for that local charity that could use a donation [00:26:00] or a gift of your time and effort and look at the people around you who could use a little bit of support and who might be able to offer you support as well because that at the grassroots level is the beginning of how civilizations heal.

Jennifer Taylor: I love that. And I think, there are kind of two main ways I think that we're Talking about finding these ways forward, you know, one is that reaching out that Tava was just talking about the reaching out to others for support for yourself and to be that support as well.

Jennifer Taylor: And there's definitely a lot to be found in that and a really important thing in that community. The other, Aspect of this that I think that we can all find regardless of our current situations. You know, we're listening to Maria Montessori talk about the environment and how important it is to be able to [00:27:00] have that.

Jennifer Taylor: kind of environment where the kids feel safe and they feel like, okay, I know how everything's going to be. And so I can move forward. You know, if you can create that for yourself, that is wonderful. That is ideal. And that is going to really help. If you're in a situation where your outer circumstances are not something that you have any control over, or that it appears that you don't have control over, and you're in a state where you can't create that.

Jennifer Taylor: outside of yourself. something that I really want to. instill is the idea that you can create that within yourself and you can find that regardless of the external circumstances. It is more challenging and sometimes the hardest thing to get through is the idea that it is even possible. But that's one of the things that Archangel Michael has been reminding me of.

Jennifer Taylor: this week. And so I wanted to share his words [00:28:00] with you, because I had asked I'd said, you know, we're going to be doing this podcast. What would be in the highest good to share with those who are listening and, how can we best be of service? What do you want to say?

Jennifer Taylor: And so I have some words from him and so I'll start with that. And then we can kind of speak about them. And even though he's saying, Umshallah, he, um, He is addressing everyone. So all of these words are being directed specifically to you. And he starts with. "Sing, sing and be merry, for all is not lost.

Jennifer Taylor: There is always hope, umshala. As long as there is breath, there is hope. Call on me as you wish to bring comfort, sovereignty from the messages of hate and fear. Find your own space to occupy in which [00:29:00] you control the narrative.

Jennifer Taylor: In which you choose the direction, the vibration, the alchemy of things that bring you peace. Wings out, Umshala. You must find your own ground before you can help others. Know who you are and where you stand. Choose hope over fear. Choose change over stagnancy. Choose movement over freeze. Embrace the opportunities that are presenting themselves.

Jennifer Taylor: Embrace the chance to choose anew the path you will take, as individuals and as a collective. Embrace each other. Find and. Release or. I will help. When you seek to be [00:30:00] free of the old paradigms, I will cut them away. When you seek with an open heart to find sovereignty within yourselves and be freed from the grips of fear and control, I will be here.

Jennifer Taylor: I use my sword to protect and to free and defend the righteous." And I asked for some clarification on what he meant by righteous. And he said "those in right relationship to the whole. Those who seek justice for all, not just the few. Those who seek vengeance will find no help in me. I am a defender of the light and those who champion it."

Jennifer Taylor: So before I go on to the next part, I wanted to just reflect on a few of the things that he said that may not make sense to you if you haven't heard them before. So there was an episode when Tava and I were talking about, um, angels and that I [00:31:00] had learned a long time ago that we actually have.

Jennifer Taylor: like energetic wings on us as humans that we can open up and unfurl and use as energetic support. And if you imagine that you have these giant wings that come out between your shoulder blades, that you can open up and stretch out and flap them. it's a great, exercise to just envision.

Jennifer Taylor: These giant wings opening and then flapping your wings and you can because where he said "wings out Umshallah" It's stretch out your wings And then you can use them also to wrap them around yourself to help to create a safe space a sacred space for yourself And, just as, Tava was talking about, stepping back from all of the news and all of the things that are happening in the world when you can, that's [00:32:00] what he was kind of talking about 

Jennifer Taylor: "find your own space to occupy in which you control the narrative, in which you control the direction, the vibration, the alchemy of things that bring you peace." So that, I feel like he's talking about that, step back from these other things, step back from all the messages and the things that are creating that fear in you and give yourself space to know what is you and what is the outside.

Jennifer Taylor: And Archangel Michael is a wonderful ally to call in to help you with that. And he actually helped with creating the peace and release. recording, but when you can create that space and within that, find your own sense of peace and that, you know, all is well within this one little moment, within this one space that I'm creating for myself, then, you know, you're in a place to move [00:33:00] forward.

Jennifer Taylor: I 

Tava Baird: A lot of times when we're emotional, our perspective can become a bit skewed as well. If you can, it's very good to have a sounding board. Whether it's your partner or your friends, sometimes they will say to you, this may not be as bad as you think it is.

Tava Baird: And of course, I'll double down and say, Oh, it's every bit as bad as I think it is. But remember that sometimes just hearing others and asking them how they are dealing with difficult times can give you tools and help balance you out a bit. I will give you an example of perspective.

Tava Baird: several months ago, I did a painting of Arachne and she was, she had webs coming out of her hands and her feet. And I, I [00:34:00] modeled the pose on hanged man cards from the tarot deck. So she was also suspended upside down. And when I started taking prints to markets, I would say, this is Arachne, she's in the midst of a web.

Tava Baird: And I was surprised at the number of people who said, well, to me, it looks like she's emerging from a cocoon. So we're looking at the exact same picture, but I saw it as a web. They saw it as an emergence, not as a place where one was enclosed or trapped in any way. sometimes a slight shift in perspective from talking to other people can help.

Jennifer Taylor: Absolutely. I love that perspective. And I think truly. Every situation that we have that we find [00:35:00] ourselves in can be looked at from another perspective. And quite often I find eagles will come in for me when I need to take that higher perspective. It's like the, the universe's way of reminding me that I need to step back from the place where I'm really personally embroiled in really wrapped up and rolling around in my own misery of whatever the situation is.

Jennifer Taylor: And I need to back up and look at this from a bigger perspective, from a, from a higher perspective and yeah, it's like, am I, am I wrapped up in a web or am I emerging from a cocoon? And there are so many situations in our lives when that's the case. 

Tava Baird: It's also important to remember, and I had a very clear lesson on this several days ago, that it's okay to [00:36:00] enjoy yourself and have moments of joy, Even when you're concerned about the welfare of others, I know I sometimes think, Oh, there are these people suffering, how dare I have a good time?

Tava Baird: It seems wildly inappropriate. I was, very much caught up in my own head. I think it was about five days ago when I went to the pharmacy and it was a pharmacy I had never been to before. I needed to go in and pick up my prescription and I was not functioning well that day. I had missed the same turn to the same location like four times in a row with the GPS on.

Tava Baird: I was just not in a good headspace. And of course, Samuel is appearing in the passenger seat, and he's offering words of wisdom, which I just couldn't hear. I was so caught up in my own emotion. And, believe it or not, I know, what was I thinking? as [00:37:00] I was getting to the pharmacy, I sort of snapped at the seraphim.

Tava Baird: I got out of the car and I walked into the pharmacy and I suddenly realized that the pharmacy was much bigger than I had anticipated it, and that there were multiple counters, and there was all this furniture for sale in there for people with different disabilities and ailments, and I did not know where to go.

Tava Baird: So I'm already in emotional turmoil. I'm already snappish and short. And now I'm standing just inside the door and I don't know what to do. And this man came up to me and I would have expected him to say, can I help you? But instead he said, gee, how are you doing? And I said, you know what? I'm hanging in there, which was true.

Tava Baird: I was barely hanging in there. And he said, yeah, aren't we all. And then this total stranger reached out and put his hand on my shoulder. And he said, You need to go get in some trouble, which is a strange thing for [00:38:00] a random pharmacy employee to say to you. He was very tall, and he was very smiley, and he was very peaceful.

Tava Baird: And I looked at him and I said, what? And he said, you need to go get in some trouble. And all I could think was, okay, I'm not listening to Samael. He's trying to get a message to me in a different way. So I said to the man, I've never been in here before. I don't know where to go. And he pointed out to me the back counter and he said, go right back there.

Tava Baird: They'll help you out. So I went back and the people there were so kind and they were so nice. And he comes walking back past me again. And he said, remember what I said, you need to go get in some trouble. And I had a lot of different thoughts and emotions at this moment. I realized how much I was feeling sorry for myself.

Tava Baird: And I realized how I was both afraid. And at the same time angry at myself for having a [00:39:00] normal human emotion like fear and that he was right. What I really needed to do instead of just being stuck in this loop of negative emotions was go get in some trouble, go have some fun. remember what it was like to have a moment of rebellion and irreverence and joy.

Tava Baird: So after I picked up my prescription on the way out, I saw him and I said, I want to thank you for what you said to me. I'm going to go get in some good trouble. And he said, counting on it. And I left, and the rest of my day went much better. I got back in the car, and I looked at Samuel, and I said, Did you do that?

Jennifer Taylor: I remember you, sharing this afterwards and how beautiful the story was. And I think I remember him saying that in the, get into some trouble that he had specified, you know, like go [00:40:00] do something that just brings you joy and had like some specific things that were definitely a, a good kind of trouble.

Jennifer Taylor: Like, you know, kind of let yourself off the hook, do something that's just fun or indulgent or. You know, just out of the out of the normal, just to, to bring yourself some joy, 

Tava Baird: something to get out of the loop. And of course, a lot of you know that the phrase good trouble has been a civil rights,expression for a long time as well.

Tava Baird: so now I'm waking up every day and saying, find a little bit of good trouble.If it's okay, Jen, I would like to share a little bit about the tree. That's all right. Oh yeah, absolutely. since that's Samuel's request today, So, several years ago, andI don't even remember exactly what was going on at the time, but I found myself in need of comfort.

Tava Baird: I was probably running myself ragged and overwhelmed because,[00:41:00] As I previously pointed out, I have a tendency to overschedule myself and take on too much. do you ever have those days where you feel like you'd be okay with getting arrested if it meant you could sit by yourself in a cell and stare at a wall for a couple of hours undisturbed?

Jennifer Taylor: I think as a, as a mother, there are definitely a lot of people or father who have a lot of those feelings. Thanks. But 

Tava Baird: I just want to stare at the wall for a while.

Tava Baird: I was in one of those places. And I had this dream. And in the dream, I was walking in a dark forest and I was exhausted. And I was carrying all of these, suitcases or trunks, I don't know exactly what they were, but I was carrying burdens with me, and a lot of responsibility, and a lot of weight, and a lot of sadness.

Tava Baird: And I felt like I couldn't, I was running out of steps [00:42:00] that I could still take, and that all around me was loss. I didn't know which way to go. I didn't know where there was a refuge to go to, and I needed some assistance. 

Tava Baird: as I journeyed along, I saw a path ahead of me. And it was better than wandering in the dark forest by myself for a long time.

Tava Baird: So I took the path, dragging all of my luggage with me. And then ahead of me, I saw a massive tree. Its top branches were so tall that I couldn't see where they ended. It extended up through the canopy, of the rest of the forest towards stars. And there were lights all around it there were areas that were clearly designated for certain activities.

Tava Baird: And three women came out in [00:43:00] front of the tree to greet me. And I looked at them and said, I need help. And they said, well, you need to put those things down. And I said, I'm not sure how to do this. And they came forward and relieved me of my baggage, had me set it down and told me that it would be taken care of later.

Tava Baird: And I was very grateful to be given the permission to simply set things down I felt better that I had left some things behind and these three women were, very calm. They were peaceful. They were also happy and joyful. And I could hear that even though there were hushed voices in the environment around me, that It wasn't a diminishment of [00:44:00] joy.

Tava Baird: there was song that I could hear in the forest and I was led back behind the tree and in the space behind the tree, there were these roots coming out from the tree with beds were placed over top of the roots in a huge circle at different intervals. some of the beds were empty, but some of the beds were occupied with people who were resting.

Tava Baird: And I was taken to a bed, and I took off my shoes and I laid down it had the most wonderful, soft, heavy down comforter. And these. pillows that you could sink into. And I gave myself permission to lay there in a safe space. and recover.

Tava Baird: And there were little brooks running along [00:45:00] through the roots that the healers would simply step over as they went from bed to bed. I could hear. the movement of the water, and at times I could hear the wind in the upper branches of the tree. And I realized as I was lying there in the bed, had its legs straddling one of the roots, the energy from the tree was coming to me and rejuvenating me.

Tava Baird: And the healers would come around and they would talk to each other. And then one of them came and sat at the foot of my bed and asked me, to tell my story of why I was wandering in the forest alone. And in the telling of that story, I realized which baggage I did not need to pick up again when I left.

Tava Baird: And [00:46:00] I realized what other things I wanted to journey out and look for and I also realized that there were times that I needed to give myself to rest and unload and that I had to acknowledge in myself that I had difficulty doing that in the modern world and taking that time for myself and in letting others care for me just a little bitI eventually found the energy that I needed to rise and go on.

Jennifer Taylor: And I feel like I remember you telling me that since that time you have revisited that tree a number of times when you were in a place of needing healing. 

Tava Baird: Absolutely. I have loved this image so much that I actually wrote [00:47:00] it into a scene in one of my books. and then expanded on it of a time when one of my characters nearing the end of her rope and is full of questions and burdened with responsibilityAnd she actually goes and visits this tree. And from there, decides how many things she actually can carry and what is important. And spends the rest of the time saying, I can't, I can't move forward if I carry all of this. There are so many things that I need to put down. I was talking to, The grandmother of one of the people that I mentor the other day, and she was talking about how sad she was to get older, she was telling me about all of these different things she used to run for her church, and how she used to be in charge of all of [00:48:00] them and all the information was in her head, and how sad she was that now she couldn't keep up that pace anymore.

Tava Baird: And I understood in her that desire to serve. But I also said to her, well, isn't it lovely now that you've set such example. Now others are going to have the opportunity to Pick up what you've set down and learn to serve as well. And you'll just get to show up and enjoy it. And she stopped for a minute and thought about it.

Tava Baird: And she said, I suppose I could attend and just enjoy it. And I said, yes, haven't you done enough? And won't it be wonderful to see the unique and beautiful flavor that new people who are walking [00:49:00] down the path that you have blazed will bring to it as they add parts of themselves. You're creating opportunity for other people to be allowed the joy of being of service.

Tava Baird: Now, I sound all smart, but then watch me try to set certain things down. 

Jennifer Taylor: It's always easier to, uh, to explain that to others. I find half the time when I'm explaining something like that, I hear it in my voice and I'm reminded, I'm like, I think I'm most being given the opportunity to help someone else with this because I needed to hear myself saying these words and remind, you 

Tava Baird: dark flower has stepped up a big level and now I have bigger projects and greater reach in my upcoming year than I've had when the business started two years ago.

Tava Baird: But it also [00:50:00] means that it is time for me to set down some of the things. that I did so that I can focus my energy on this new path, but that in the setting down, I am giving up controlI'm giving other people the chance to take something that I started and fashion it into something that serves a whole new generation of the community.

Tava Baird: And that can be a challenging thing to do. Everybody wants to feel needed and important. And a lot of us are in communities that are wonderful, but we do have to follow those natural rhythms and seasons of our lives. And rather than thinking of it as loss, it as opportunity for others. To lead and perhaps find solutions to things that you never could find solutions to.

Tava Baird: And won't that be wonderful to see? 

Jennifer Taylor: Absolutely.[00:51:00] given that you have been to this tree multiple times and that Samuel was encouraging you to share this. I'm, I'm wondering your perspective on this, but I feel like.

Jennifer Taylor: What I've found is that oftentimes when in maybe a dream or an altered kind of state of meditation, we find ourselves in a really healing location like that. That it is incredible the number of people across the planet who have also visited that place. And that it is a place that actually exists. It may not have a, you know, a specific GPS location.

Jennifer Taylor: But it exists on another plane of existence. And for people who are listening to this and thinking, Oh my goodness, I would love to just go and lay down and be tended to by these beautiful, aspects of the divine [00:52:00] feminine and learn. These lessons and be cared for. I, I believe that you can, summon this place.

Jennifer Taylor: You can access this place. Um, it just requires most likely just requires, you know, taking time to go into yourself. and breathing and centering, maybe doing, you know, like the three groundings kind of thing that I've talked about a lot of, you know, having, turning into a tree like yourself, you know, with sending roots deep down into the earth, reaching your branches up to the heavens and breathing in and out of your heart space, just coming into yourself and then asking, You know, please take me to the tree and visually, you can imagine yourself walking down that path in the forest and finding that space and walking up and seeing this tree and, just imagine, walk yourself through it as though you [00:53:00] were Tava, as she described it in her experience.

Jennifer Taylor: And I think you will be really amazed. I genuinely believe that you can access that space and access that healing for yourself. I have a little more Samuel expanding on what you've just said. He said, this place, this is the real tree of knowledge. It is not forbidden. It is necessary. You can journey there yourselves.That sounds wonderful. 

Tava Baird: And if you do, Decide to lay down tonight and put on peace and release on that glorious, glorious loop and hurl up in your blankets and give yourself permission to acknowledge that you have strong emotions and that they are [00:54:00] human emotions to have and that you are allowed to work through them and you are also allowed to let them go.

Tava Baird: And if you put down some of that baggage and visit the tree, I would really love to know about your experience there, and I'm sure Jen would too. And if you go to, our podcast website on West Sprout, and I know a lot of you listen to it through that website, there are places to contact us and we would love to hear from you.

Tava Baird: And about your visit to the tree. 

Jennifer Taylor: Yes, yes, yes. And another thing that I wanted to bring up because I feel like this transition into laying things down and what can we put down. And also the experience that Tava was, talking with, the [00:55:00] older woman about that she was having of this feeling that because she can't do as much now, That she's not able to have as much of an effect in the world.

Jennifer Taylor: And I wanted to address that And this is a very central message that I am repeatedly getting because I'm just like, many of the rest of us, you know, have that sense of accomplishing something or to make change happen. I have to do things and I am repeatedly told by my guides that being has a stronger effect in the world.

Jennifer Taylor: You know, definitely when you are divinely inspired and you have that, I just have to do this because I am filled with inspiration. That kind of doing is. incredible and essential and will feed you as well, but not to get caught up in the [00:56:00] concept that doing things is the only way to have an effect. And often who we are inside, you know, our, our meditating, our sitting and sending out the vibration of peace, our just being the vibration.

Jennifer Taylor: of peace has a much, much greater effect in the entire cosmos than you could possibly imagine. And this actually leads me into the second half of the things that Archangel Michael had told me, and I feel like this is really sort of the perfect lead in for that because that's part of what he's talking about.

Jennifer Taylor: what he's recommending isn't just because it will bring you into a place of greater peace, but that When we bring ourselves into that place, it has a cascading effect throughout the rest of the planet.

Jennifer Taylor: And that that is [00:57:00] immensely powerful as well. So I'm going to read to you, the next section of what he said. I asked, I said, what else would you have me share with those needing direction, comfort and reason for hope? And he said, "lean on me, use your wings for protection of yourselves and others.

Jennifer Taylor: Sing to me when you are frightened. It uplifts and draws me closer." And I had a very strong feeling that the it uplifts was not just that you're singing to him because it's uplifting him, but that it uplifts you as you sing to him. So again, "it uplifts and draws me closer. You do not need to be vigilant, but gently awake to current situations. Do not take them in, but allow them to pass in and out of your [00:58:00] understanding as you would thoughts during meditation. Do not hold on, let things flow. Movement is key. Know that awakening to your true self is still the answer. Still the ultimate focus.

Jennifer Taylor: Do not be distracted by outer occurrences or happenings. Your work is still your work. To awaken to the truth within yourself. To your divinity. To the divinity in all. When you can do that, you can operate from a different vantage point, and your path will be more clear. Do not be distracted by the smoke and mirrors.

Jennifer Taylor: it is still all just a projection from within. We are all seeing that which we are projecting out into the world. When we can heal [00:59:00] what is within, we will change what we project and therefore what is without. Your work has not changed, simply the sense of urgency with which you approach it.

Jennifer Taylor: The time is now. It has always been. This is the only time there is, the present. Do not wait for things to change, to see what will happen, to act tomorrow. Do your work today. And today, and today, and today, in the now is your place of power. Do not worry about the future for it will never come. The present is all there is.

Jennifer Taylor: Change your perspective in this moment. Shift your awareness now. Raise your vibration now. Be the change you [01:00:00] wish to see in the world. Be it. Don't do it. Just be it and everything else will fall into place. Do not think of what others are doing or seeing or thinking or being. That is distraction. That is procrastination of doing your own work that is taking you out of your place of power, your present moment, your center, your connection, your grounding.

Jennifer Taylor: Be here now" and I realized, the' be here now 'is by popularized by,

Something that has been popularized by Ram Dass. 

Jennifer Taylor: And is a, deep spiritual truth that has been around for a long time as is. The, be the change that you wish to see in the world. But I think he's bringing these things in to remind me and to remind you [01:01:00] of these, truths.

Jennifer Taylor: And I think the more that we can find our center and really be in the present when we can be here now, typically the moment that we are in is okay. It's the fear of what's coming. And the memory of what's passed that takes us out of that. And just by that being, there is so much transformation that happens.

Jennifer Taylor: You know, we, we get so stuck in our outer perceptions of the world and everything seeming so solid and so important. And I think our discussions in the past weeks have been talking about, you know, that everything is vibration 

And when we can step back from that illusion of the physical world. And really be present in our place of power and be the vibration that we wish to see and experience in that so-called physical world. When we can [01:02:00] really be that. That it is 

Tava Baird: much more profoundly powerful than we, we tend to think a lot of these, ideas you'll find, among, Zen Buddhism.

Tava Baird: I was lucky 

Tava Baird: enough to belong to a Zen Buddhist community for many years. there's the idea there that what we're actually trying to get rid of is suffering and attachment.

Tava Baird: And when we say we're getting rid of attachment, we're not saying that you don't have relationships. We're talking about getting overly attached to an idea to the point where we're gripping it so tight that we can't conceive of setting it down. the idea of living in the moments and just doing what you can in the moment.

Tava Baird: Is is all through Zen Buddhism, I was reminded of a story that was actually told to me, by the owners of the Montessori school where I worked for several years. So on the very first day that I met [01:03:00] them, we were both delighted to discover that we were all three of us big fans of a gentleman named Sri Swami Satchidananda.

Tava Baird: And if you happen to live in Virginia, you may have heard of Yogaville before. And he was a founder of Yogaville. he was also the person who gave one of the opening blessings at Woodstock, back in the 60s. there's a story about him when they were clearing the land to put up some buildings in Yogaville, which is this massive retreat.

Tava Baird: It's wonderful if you live in Virginia and you get a chance to go. a bunch of the people who were working on the property ran across this massive stone. That was right where they needed to put the foundation for a building that was going in. And they managed to remove the earth from the sides of the stone.

Tava Baird: And there were about 20 people out there with their shirts off, sweating in the sun, trying to get crowbars under this stone. And no matter what they did, as soon as [01:04:00] they started to lift the rock up, it would just fall back down into the hole. And everybody was getting extremely frustrated with the process and starting to think they should just give up.

Tava Baird: On putting a building there at all. And then Swami Satchidananda showed up to see how things were going. And he didn't strip off his shirt and get off a crowbar Instead, he walked around the stone several times. Looking at its shape and looking at how it interacted with the earth and bringing his years of experience to bear, he pointed finally to a particular place in the pit that they had made, and he said, just there, the bar just there.

Tava Baird: And they did. And we're able to get underneath it and remove this giant stone that had been plaguing them all day. So he wasn't in there [01:05:00] as the muscle. He was there as the wise one, as the calming force at the center of all the activity. And when you were talking a little bit earlier, Samuel, when you were reading what Michael had to say, Samuel Talking on this subject as well, it said the world needs sages, the world needs calm anchors at the center of the storms of activity, the world needs examples of those who just be, I do not move the material when I visit, are my visits then of no value? Life cycles, rise and fall, construction and destruction, never doubt.

Tava Baird: We move forward, all of us. So I would like to say it's true. He doesn't come and do the yard work. Not orchestrating [01:06:00] things on the material plane, but I would say his visits are of great value to me. 

Tava Baird: to me as well. Well, I'm thinking that it might be time for another song.

Jennifer Taylor: Absolutely, 

Tava Baird: I would be happy to. If you would be up for it. we've, shared a lot of the things that we do or think in order to find joy. Safe spaces and paths to our threes, and we would love to hear from any of you, if you have any of your own to add that we might share.

Jennifer Taylor: ( singing)

Jennifer Taylor: [01:07:00] Uh, [01:08:00] Uh, 

Jennifer Taylor: 

Tava Baird: That was beautiful. Thank you so much. And I wanted to thank you too for sharing your [01:09:00] experience with Michael. That was really wonderful. I'm so glad that he was with you this week. 

Jennifer Taylor: thank you for, uh, for hearing it. And. Being such a good safe space to, to share.

Tava Baird: I am very, very grateful to have you as a friend and to, for all of the sense of inspiration and safety that you give me and, to everyone listening, we want to thank you for tuning into us again this week, perhaps 

Tava Baird: we'll see you at the 

Tava Baird: tree. 

Jennifer Taylor: Absolutely. And it is our intention to share in the show notes, some additional resources and to also create some additional resources for you to use this week as well.

Tava Baird: So be on the lookout for either bonus material or, [01:10:00] links in the show notes to, additional supports and resources Thanks so much, everybody. 

Tava Baird: We'll see you next week. 

Jennifer Taylor: Sending you so much love