ANTICIPATION

We’ve all experienced that feeling of excitement as we look forward to something new. Perhaps it’s a special event, a career change, a new relationship, or a move.

We may feel curious, giddy, nervous, or other emotions such as enthusiasm, excitement, and passion. Maybe a combination of them all!

Currently I am buzzing with the powerful and positive emotion of ‘anticipation’ —like something good is about to happen. I can feel this in my body as butterflies in my stomach, a tingly sensation throughout my body, and a faster-paced breath.

This anticipation relates to a travel adventure that I have been looking forward to since early in 2020! The trip has been cancelled and delayed twice over the past two years, and now it looks like it will finally happen.

It isn’t a regular kind of holiday. It’s a special kind of trip, where I’ll have the opportunity to hit the pause button, to take a deep dive into myself and learn, practice, and develop my Ayurveda skills.

This retreat is being held in Ecuador, in the foothills of the Andes. It is my first trip to South America, so there was lots of planning and preparation. I look forward to all the new experiences that await!

I am travelling solo. This is a big step in my journey of self discovery. I usually ask a friend or my sister to join me on my travels. The last retreat I went to I had a girlfriend join me. There is something about travelling solo I have admired in others, and I anticipate having this experience for myself.

It’s time to unplug from my daily life, work responsibilities, and social activities and take a deep dive into my own rhythms and inner voice.  It is a time to give space for serenity to flourish.

The retreat itself is a wonderful combination of leisure and learning. I’ve been waiting, dreaming, planning, hoping, and trusting that it will happen. Now I’m in full-blown anticipation of finally being there in person.

The accommodations are simple. I’ll be staying in a rustic cabin at an off-grid retreat center surrounded by nature. We have been warned of the patchy cell service. This will be quite an adjustment for visitors who are so accustomed to being attached to their technology.

My sleeping bag is coming with me! This thought and feeling takes me back to childhood and summer camping trips. The symbol of a sleeping bag brings us one step closer to nature. When we abandon some of the everyday comforts that we take for granted and realize how little we need.

I anticipate the feeling of calm. I’m ready to embrace this sacred land and the space that it will provide to allow me to tune inwards and accept myself where I am in my Life journey.

As well, I am deeply anticipating the teachings that will be shared by two indigenous teachers on natural healing practices. I am interested to see what commonalities there are with different indigenous backgrounds. One instructor is coming from Canada from the Cayuga area, and the other instructor is from Ecuador. We will have an interpreter.

Our society is hungry for ways to reconnect to our innate wisdom, to support inner healing and to live in greater harmony with nature. I look forward with anticipation to bringing back my newly acquired knowledge and perspectives. Along with implementing them into my own life, I’ll share it with others and our Women’s Wellness Circle community.

In a way, I am looking at this experience as an extended time in Circle. I will travel and meet others as we share common interests, learn, absorb nature, and then move forward again into our own lives with fond memories and an everlasting connection.

I’m also certain there will be several ‘full circle’ moments that clarify, re-direct, expand, and affirm the path that I am on.

Like our Women’s Wellness Circles, I anticipate being in the company and sharing experiences with other wonderful women. We know from our time in circle how connections can be made, how insights can be shared, and how emotions can be stirred.

This ranges from joy and sadness to anger and passion. This especially happens when we join with others to create the sacred space in which we can be vulnerable and open and when we allow the wellspring of energy and feelings that we have within to surface and flow.

Anticipation sits on the emotional wheel, partnered with feelings such as optimism, vigilance, and joy. What is your experience with emotions like this? Do you have outlets to express how you feel?

As I prepare for my journey to South America, I simultaneously hold joyful anticipation of the time when I will be sitting in person back in New Brunswick, Canada, in the Hampton Women’s Wellness Circle. I anticipate providing a space where all emotions are welcome, and our healing and wellness journeys are prioritized.

Until that time – I anticipate with a full heart.

Jennifer Bruder

Women’s Wellness Circle Host

Hampton, New Brunswick