I have been reflecting deeply on the concept of “all my relations.” Viewing the world as a continuum of sacred relationships is a vision that awakens every fiber of my being. If humans honored the sacredness of building, nurturing, and maintaining right relationships within our physical and spiritual realms of being, we could collectively eradicate pain and suffering on so many levels. However, being in right relationship is predicated upon listening, listening to the divine voice within, and the divine voice of each living being.

To be present in the moment, actively listening to one’s story, honors their divinity. You are in essence saying to them; I see you, I hear you, I acknowledge you, I honor your truth. It sounds so simple, yet it is so profound. At the end of each yoga class I teach, I say the mantra, “the divine in me, honors and acknowledges the divine in you.” Hence, I am honoring our sacred relationship. They have shared their body stories and energies with me throughout the class. As an active teacher and listener, I am acknowledging that they have been heard.

Relationships must be nurtured, and thus require us to be actively engaged not only in the communications process, actively and passively speaking and listening, but also in the work to heal, restore, and make whole our broken relationships. In Dwellings, Linda Hogan explains that the purpose of ceremony is to mend the broken relationships with other people, with animals, and with the land. Ceremony is the point of return that “takes us toward the place of balance, our place in the community of all things.” I contend that we must all actively engage in some form of personal and communal ceremony to repair our broken spirits, homes, communities, and our social, political, and governmental systems. What does ceremony represent for you? Are you actively engaging in ceremony with self, family, and community? Reach out to me for ideas on how to begin a practice of ceremony to nurture and sustain right relationships in your life.