THE SEVEN DIRECTIONS: A LIVING MAP OF OUR WORK
Many people ask us about the name of our School: Seven Directions Breathwork, with a desire to know more about the meaning of the name and the reasons for this choice.
The Seven Directions offer a dynamic moving and living ‘map’, supporting us to move toward living in ‘right relationship’ with the earth - the trees, rocks, crystals, flowers, four legged, two legged, winged ones, finned ones and the creepy crawlies - all of life in fact.
Many of us move quickly through life, all too often ‘taking’ from the earth and our fellow humans without considering the impact of our actions and choices. Bringing conscious awareness to how we live our lives is the same as bringing conscious awareness to our breath, our words, our relating and beyond. It’s hard to hold onto projection, blame and victimhood when we begin to take radical responsibility for our experiences and our choices.
So, in the cosmology in which we work, The Seven Directions are: North, East, South, West, Above, Below and Centre. Different traditions and tribes will place different emphasis on the qualities, animal totems and elements in these directions according to their practices, and these practices may be Druidic & Celtic, Pagan, North and South American, Mexican, Australian, Sami, and Mongolian to name just a few.
Bringing conscious awareness to each direction can teach us a great deal about our own relationship to life.
In The North we see the element of AIR (wind, breath) and our connection to the Ancestral Realms, sometimes referred to as the Star Nations. Typically, this direction relates to the ‘white haired ones’ or Elders and Wisdom Carriers, to our spirit guides, and to our own ancestors, living and in Spirit. The Buffalo and the horned creatures here represent our connection between Earth and the Cosmos, their horns serving and antennae between both. The North may represent Leadership, Vision, and Clarity. It also represents our connection to our higher self and is governed by discernment of thought, and mind. Went out of balance we may be far too focused in the mind or our mental health may suffer, or we may act like a “know it all”.
In the East we move towards the element of FIRE, and our connection to spirit, and to our waking dreams and intentions Here we get to look at our inner fires, and how and why they sometimes dim, where our personal truth lies, and how to really listen to the voice of the heart in order to make manifest those personal dreams and desires. Where do we get stuck or limit ourselves lost in the detail that stops us expanding into our greatness? Where do we dim our light? This direction represents the feminine aspects of birthing and seeding, and is carried on the wings of the bird nations, the creature able to fly closest to the sun, carrying our prayers for us. When out of balance, we may get stuck in fantasy and being consumed by the fire of spirit, burning us out if not mindful.
Next we move to the South, to the element of WATER and the frequency of our emotions. In this direction we are commonly working with the essence of the inner child and our ability to feel, to de-armor the heart and come back to innocence and trust. The child in their natural state sees the world through the lens of awe and wonder and the south teaches us how to come back to that place in spite of life’s hardships and challenges. When out of balance we may get locked in fearfulness, and/or close our hearts to life and to each other. It takes great courage to be truly vulnerable.
In the West, we connect to the element of EARTH. In this direction we are commonly working with the essence of intuition, dreaming and the physical body. It’s here in this direction of the setting sun and dusk where we acknowledge what we may perceive as our shadow aspects as our teachers. Shadow emerges from trauma so when we can sit with these parts of ourselves that have formed around our ‘traumas’, recognising them as protective mechanisms, we get the chance to learn from them rather than fear them, hide them or reject them. We learn about rest, hibernation and silence, guided by bear, owl, badger, the bat who teach out how to see through the darkness and become still when we need to replenish ourselves. When we are in the shadow of the West direction, we may drop into inertia and stagnation, become immobilised or numb ourselves.
The last three directions relate to the ABOVE (Grandfather Sun, Grandmother Moon, Star Nations, Ancestors and guides), the BELOW which relates to the Earth, our first Mother, and ourselves in the CENTRE.
As we move through life, circling around the Sun Wheel relating to the directions, we will continue to spiral in and out, around and through, meeting different lessons and teachings on each iteration and each cycle. This awareness supports us in evolving our self awareness to the point we can own our experiences, and commit to becoming the Sacred Human rather than a simple two legged living without commitment to our fellow humans, animals and communities, without care for the generations yet to come and never really understanding why we are here and what we can contribute.
We hope you enjoyed reading this short summary of the meaning and relationship we hold to this living map of the Directions - a system of guidance for living well, staying well and being well.
For All Our Relations we commit to this work.
The link below has been shared with respect and appreciation. Different cultures, traditions and communities may relate to the Seven Directions in different ways, or with different placements of elements, animals and seasons, but the 7 Directions themselves always remain the same.
