Over the past 10 years I have participated in countless spiritual ceremonies, rituals and practices. Though diverse in their origins, each one, at it's core, held an invitation for me to directly experience truth. The deepest truth of my existence as a spiritual being having a physical experience plus other truths related to various aspects of life such as love, trust and connection with all of life.
I've learned, through direct experience that spirit never dies, it simply changes form. Some of the most visceral illumination experiences I've had of this truth came through my participation in Family Constellation work.
During a Constellation, co-participants are invited to 'stand-in' or 'assume' the role of a family member or an aspect of a causal situation. I feel fortunate to have had my first Constellation experience be one in which we were working to help clear disruptive energy patterns from a horse. I stood in the role of the 'issue' and felt myself immediately begin to shrink and hide. I curled up into a ball on the floor, hiding my face and doing my best to be invisible. Through questions by the facilitator and feedback from the other participants, I began to notice my thoughts and feelings and what I expressed was that I felt like a fetus who did not want to be born into the world my mother was living in. I had the sense that if I refused the birthing, I could take my mother's pain away. She was being mistreated by the people who were her caregivers.
As the situation was explored and we began to understand what occurred and how everyone involved felt, I noticed myself feeling lighter and lighter. I had the sense of expanding like a hot air balloon and I floated up from the floor, my arms wide and reaching up. I felt huge. I felt free and happy.
When we had completed the Constellation, we went outside to see all but two members of the 30 or so in the herd, were standing in the riding arena, surrounding the horse we'd been focused on. It seemed the whole herd was helping hold the space for healing and fully supporting this horse. It was beautiful. We asked the ranch owner if the horses often went into the arena like that and she said "No, never."
Similar experiences occurred for me during subsequent Constellations. Once I took on the role of 'the family secret'. As the Secret, I felt close to some members of the family members and I could sense which ones knew the secret and which ones did not. When the details of the secret were finally revealed and positions were understood, I felt myself disintegrate. I literally felt as though I turned to dust - collapsing to the floor. Exposed, the secret held absolutely no power - it dispersed into thin air.
I have discovered there is something to be gained from every Constellation and that it isn't just the one who is the subject of the work who comes away enlightened. Another Constellation I participated in was for a fellow who had been struggling with making good decision because he couldn't discern between ideas and promptings from his ego mind those from his higher mind. I was asked to be in the role of 'Trust' during this Constellation. What I noticed right away was an attraction to the person who was representing the higher mind. I practically glued myself to this one and my thoughts kept going out to the fellow saying "Trust comes with the higher mind. Embrace the higher mind and you automatically get Trust in the bargain." I got very clearly the idea that not trusting another is really just me not trusting myself - my higher Self. In the end we all came together and I've been curious to know how this shift has played out for the fellow since we did the Constellation.
I am looking forward to participating in another series of Family Constellations on June 4th at Mystic Waters Ranch in Langley. This workshop is an enlightening and enjoyable experience I'd recommend. If what I've shared has piqued your curiosity about Family Constellations work I'd love to have you join us for this next one, or for a future one.
Check my web calendar (www.totallytaylord.com) for upcoming workshops and visit Brenda Brown's site: www.healingthefamilywaters.com or call Brenda at 604-788-7524
