‘If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.'
Emily Dickinson
Now we've passed the Imbolc threshold on February 1st, the ancient Celtic celebration marking the first awakenings of Spring and a liminal time of slowly leaving Winter, Robin is one of the first 'risers' out of hibernation.
Robin as an avian wisdom bearer displays a certain kind of somatic magic - that of expanding into your bold feeling heart.
Recently on a meditation retreat at Gaia House I encountered Robin Medicine on several occasions, right when I was landing in deep periods of inner awareness and grief tending.
During walking meditations outside Robin landed close by and I instantly noticed with my retreat-honed sensitivity how beautifully intense this tiny creature can be.
A bold-hearted bird with a sparking tight song, a pioneer of Winter. I felt my breath exhale out on the wind staring at his bright warmness.
And to see the daring outward shape of chest and colour, a glowing unapologetic shade of burnt-orange, both inspires and fascinates me.
We often hunch under duress, creating caves of stuck somatic memory. I know this thoroughly as a body worker.
Press the burrow between a human’s collarbone and shoulder deltoid with awareness and waves of old emotional time can rise like a burst virulent boil.
When we open up our chest area with tender awareness, often during physical practices such as dance, yoga or breathwork, it can feel vulnerable, for the heart has a powerful electro-magnetic field.
Scientific studies have shown that when we cultivate positive emotions of appreciation, love, and compassion the oscillations of our heart rhythm are shown as being more coherent (see the HeartMath Institute).
Often to access those states we have to feel through what is truly in our deepest hearts and step up to a threshold, to be present with courage.
“The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths it has its pearls too” ― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh
We are in times when the urge to cave down, hide or freeze is strong.
But to be Robin is to dare to expand in the chaos and feel it all from our hearts again, to open our diaphragm like a sail in a storm and feel the wind of life blowing through.
And to realise that in the natural world - of which we belong - there is much grounding, orientation and mirroring magic to support us when we dare to connect with our true heart.
So be bold! And expand like dear bright Robin.
Thanks for reading ✨