Curating Our Values
For a solid foundation
Season: Winter
Element: Water
Moon: Last Quarter
Happy Winter Solstice!
Tomorrow is the last quarter moon in the the element of water. Winter is now officially here after the winter solstice today. I want to thank all of you who joined the first Rest Walk this morning. Although it was extremely cold, my heart was warmed by your presence and energized by your insight. And walking in Noble Silence along the snowy path and through the white frosted trees at Seidman Park, was so yin and filled me with an immense sense of calm. A big, big thank you also to Katelyn for being my collaborator in this new curation. You are a brilliant guide and I am so grateful for you!
This post starts the year-long series on the five elements and their energies. We will be exploring topics that are internal (physical, mental, and emotional or spiritual body) and external (physical body and space). To provide a solid foundation for these topics, I thought it would be best to first curate our values — the foundational beliefs that are most important to us. Values help us find our way in the dark and fill us with a feeling of purpose. They determine how we view and interact with the world and influence our behavior, motivations, perceptions, and personality. Values also serve as the structure that determines what matters most and often drives our decision-making.
On the Rest Walk today, we asked participants to prepare for the walk by curating their values. If you are also interested in curating your values, you can learn more by listening to the Living Into Our Values episode of Brené Brown's Unlocking Us podcast. There is also a free Living Into Our Values PDF which provides valuable prompts and questions to identify 2 personal values and guides you on how to integrate your values into behaviors. If you can’t be fussed to click on the link above, you can curate your values by answering these 3 questions:
Does this value define me?
Is this who I am at my best?
Is this a filter that I use to make hard decisions?
If you need more guidance, you can reflect on moments when you felt most fulfilled, proud, or happy, then identify the underlying principles or qualities that contributed to those experiences. You can also ask yourself questions about what’s truly important to you, what you spend your time on, and what kind of person you want to be in life, to pinpoint your core values. And if you need a list of values for reference, please click on the Living Into Our Values PDF link (see page 3).
By curating our values, we can create the foundation on which all the yearlong topics can be built upon. I will try to scaffold these topics throughout the year, in order to break down, model, and connect topics but will also make them interactive through Rest Curations and Rest Walks. Values are not only the foundation for this scaffolding, but also provide powerful energy, just like the water element. Although it is the most yin of all the elements, water can move around any obstacle in its path without losing its essential nature. It is flowing, it is calm, but it is also has a quiet power. Remember, in time water can dissolve the hardest of mountains.
While living in Hong Kong, I loved seeing bamboo scaffolding constructed on the exteriors of skyscrapers. I was always in awe at how a wood structure assembled with zip ties could hold the weight of hundreds of men working many, many stories up. Hong Kong continues to use bamboo scaffolding even to this day due to its flexibility and strength. Bamboo is much lighter than steel, making it easier and faster to erect and dismantle. I hope that the topics covered this year will help bring a solid foundation (values) to your life but also a flow, a calm, and a power like water and flexibility and strength like bamboo (wood).
Information on upcoming Rest Curations, Rest Walks, and Sound Curations are at the bottom of the post. And please pass this Substack onto a friend or family member to broaden this amazing CRC community and to give the gift of rest to those who need it. If you don’t live in West Michigan and want to hold a Rest Curation in your local community, please email me at abby@cascadefengshui.com for the script and music information. Or email me if you would like to organize a private Rest Curation for friends, family, or colleagues.
Note: Rest products are still in the works, but I am leaving the paid subscriber Rest Readings, Rest Recipes, Rest Rituals, and Rest Recordings on the newsletter for a month or so. If you want to contribute, consider becoming a paid subscriber through Substack:
REST READING
Check out all of the rest reading recommendations in Resources on my Substack page.
REST RECIPE
Last year at this time, I participated in The Energy Cleanse facilitated by Tracy Keough, which was a 5 day online course about energy work. Tracy believes “energetic vibrancy creates a fluency in life from which all else comes into creation. Understanding your true Self - your energetic imprint and vibration, allows you to understand when your energy is off, therefore in the impact of something or someone else.” I loved this course because it was simple and practical. In preparation, Tracy recommended dry brushing and making solé water, which is a tonic made with minimally processed salt that provides vital minerals to set your system up for easy energy clearing. I had never heard of this water before the course, so I was keen to try. And since water and salt are both examples of the water element, I wanted to share it with you all. So, here is the recipe for Solé Water*:
12 ounces of water
Himalayan salt chunks
Glass bottle or mason jar
Place a large salt chunk into the bottle or jar, cover it with the water, and then seal with a lid. Let the salt dissolve for at least 24 hours. The crystal should shrink, but remain visible after 24 hours. This indicates the salt has fully saturated the water. If the salt crystal dissolves completely, add a second salt crystal and allow it to rest in the water for another 24 hours. Add a teaspoon to your morning glass of water to rehydrate after a night's rest, or try it after a workout to help replenish lost electrolytes.
*Because it contains salt and trace amounts of other electrolytes, solé water functions similarly to electrolyte drinks that people take to replenish lost minerals and rehydrate the body.
REST RITUAL
At today’s Rest Walk, we asked each participant to select a folded paper snowflake to write their values or intentions on. We instructed participants to keep the snowflakes folded and we carried them in our pockets or in our gloved hands as we walked as a visual or physical reminder. If our minds wandered we could touch or look at the snowflake and return to our values or intentions and a calm mind. At the end of the walk, we unfolded the snowflakes to gaze at the beautiful designs and, for those who felt comfortable, could share their values or intentions in the circle.
Although our snowflakes were made of paper, they were representations of real snowflake made of water. Now that we are in the element of water, snowflakes are a wonderful model to show how values create a structure or foundation. Each one shows us how water comes together to form a beautiful structure that is unique for every snowflake. As they say, no two snowflakes are alike. Our values are like the structure of a snowflake — beautiful and unique. The way we interpret and live our values is unique to each of us but they also have an impact on our community and on the collective. Curating and living our values at the personal level (micro) can help the collective (macro) by creating a stronger sense of community, fostering trust and collaboration, guiding decision-making towards shared goals, and promoting positive social change. If you want to make your own snowflake as a visual representation of your values, check out How to Make Paper Snowflakes from One Little Project. Display it on a window with tape or on a Christmas tree.
Thank you so much for reading! I hope this has been enjoyable. May you have a restful weekend.
Below are the upcoming 2024 - 2025 Cascade Rest Curations (links to Eventbrite are underlined):
REST CURATIONS
Guided body scan, energy clearing, vagus nerve reset, yoga nidra exercise, rest / sleep, wake up, and meditation over an hour and a half. All Rest Curations will take place on the Sunday near the new moon at the Liebestraum Chalet in Alto, Michigan:
Rest Curation - Sunday, January 5, 2025 from 1:30pm - 3:00pm
Rest Curation - Sunday, February 2, 2025 from 1:30pm - 3:00pm
Rest Curation - Sunday, March 2, 2025 from 1:30pm - 3:00pm
REST WALKS
Monthly dynamic walks to bring both energy and relaxation. These guided walks will start with a circle to stretch and to set an intention to ponder based on the element of the season. The first 30 minutes of the walk will be in noble silence and the last 30 minutes will be open to conversation and observation. The walk will finish with a circle to reflect, share, integrate, and finally stretch. If you have been hesitant to join a Rest Curation, please consider signing up for a Rest Walk since this a more active entry into yin energy. All Rest Walks will take place on the Saturday near the full moon at a park near Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Rest Walk - Saturday, January 18, 2025 from 10:00am - 12:00pm
Rest Walk - Saturday, February 15, 2025 from 10:00am - 12:00pm
Rest Walk - Saturday, March 15, 2025 from 10:00am - 12:00pm
SOUND CURATIONS
Join us to celebrate the element of each season with sound immersions by Kara Markovich at the Liebestraum Chalet in Alto, Michigan:
Sound + The Element of Water - Friday, January 24, 2025 from 6:30pm - 8:00pm
SAVE THE DATE: Wood Sound Curation - Friday, March 21, 2025 from 6:30pm - 8:00pm
SAVE THE DATE: Fire Sound Curation - Friday, June 20, 2025 from 6:30pm - 8:00pm
And if you are interested in my feng shui and interior design services, please see my website at www.cascadefengshui.com and contact me at abby@cascadefengshui.com. I’m also on Instagram at cascade.feng.shui.