Writing & transmissions
Music + Intuitive Movement = Grief Medicine {Grief•Flow}
If I don’t make space for my grief to flow, the greater flow of my mental and physical energy stagnates, as does my connection to the Divine and to creativity. If grief doesn’t have space to flow, I feel muted and closed off to intimacy with my loved ones, without words to express and share my heart. If I haven’t made space for grief to flow, my body and energy feel flat and my eyes tired.
Finding the ways and spaces where I feel free to really sink into grief, sometimes for 5 minutes, other times for as long as needed, has been a work in progress. I find it is so much easier to connect to it and offer it space when I don’t feel alone, when I am held in love by someone else, or by music…
If I don’t make space for my grief to flow, the greater flow of my mental and physical energy stagnates, as does my connection to the Divine and to creativity.
If grief doesn’t have space to flow, I feel muted and closed off to intimacy with my loved ones, without words to express and share my heart.
If I haven’t made space for grief to flow, my body and energy feel flat and my eyes tired.
Finding the ways and spaces where I feel free to really sink into grief, sometimes for 5 minutes, other times for as long as needed, has been a work in progress. I find it is so much easier to connect to it and offer it space when I don’t feel alone, when I am held in love by someone else, or by music.
The idea of a GriefFlow ceremony was born in Fall of 2021. As the shock of saying goodbye to my mom began to wear off slowly, 6 months later, the heaviness in my body felt stifling and unrelenting.
I was extra sensitive to stimulation and realized that music without lyrics met me in my broken-open heart with softness, in ways nothing else could. One afternoon while sitting out in the autumn sun, my Spotify ‘Discover Weekly’ playlist introduced a piece that instantly captivated me.
Within a few moments of listening I could hear the grief alive in the song - I could feel the yearning, missing, dreaming, remembering, and the connection to all that was, is and will or won’t be.
I went on a Google deep dive to find the story that went with it, and quickly learned that the artist had written it shortly after his mom passed away from cancer. I was stunned and in awe of how my body and heart could feel the source of the creation.
I played the song over and over again, and as I listened, my body wanted to move with the music. It felt so good to be held by the dancing melodies, which seemed to represent the many faces of grief, loss, hope, love, and peace.
Tears would flow in some moments, and in others my lips would form the biggest smile. I would often start the song seated, and at some point something inside of me would lead me up and into movement. Then a few minutes later, it would call me back to the floor to simply lay there and receive the medicine of the music.
The medicine of knowing I was not alone in this pain.
During the 8 minute song, I would go from feeling dull and disconnected, to feeling my body and heart fluid and alive again. Like I could breathe deeply and see life again, within and without.
Sometimes I would feel called to clean afterwards, or fold my clothes (things that were hard for me to find energy for at the time). Other times I would feel hunger rumble for the first time in days and be inspired to cook something new and fresh, or I would move to my easel and paint.
Sometimes I would just lie there and rest.
Sometimes messages would arrive, other times I would receive the nourishment of the silence.
Each tiny little ceremony the music helped me hold liberated a little bit of energy that had been suppressed, without forcing, expectation or agenda. No need to be any way or place that I wasn’t. I could let all my emotions arise and move.
As I found myself in this GriefFlow over and over again, I began to dream of a space where we could honor grief like this in community. Where lyrics and words wouldn’t be necessary, because let’s be real - grief often extends beyond what words can reach.
And here we are.
During the next GriefFlow Workshop, we will begin with a short introduction and reflection, and then I will guide you into an opening meditation that allows you to feel into any ways or places grief might be alive for you right now.
As we soften into our inner landscapes, I will press play on a curated playlist (all songs without lyrics), and then will guide you as you listen to your body, to how the music meets you and moves you. Most people will want their cameras off during this part, to feel free to be in their space as they wish.
As the music concludes (about 25 mins in total), we will transition into a time to circle and share anything that arose. There will also be space to ask questions or for guidance from me.
While I can't predict what will arise and move within you during this workshop, I can tell you that people are often surprised by how light, refreshed, grounded yet energized they feel at the end.
The grief that moves and transmutes in these workshops may be everything from the loss of a loved one, or a relationship, to the loss of a home or homeland, a season of life, job, a dream, of health, or the grief of living in an imperfect world as imperfect humans.
I believe we all harbor grief in one or more ways.
This workshop is for everyone that is willing to open to it, even if you don’t consciously know the where, why, and how.
I invite you into the mystery and all that awaits, with deep trust it will be nourishing to your soul and beyond.
Ep #7. Recalibrating Our Bodies to Be Vessels for Emotion + An Autumn Energy Read and Prayer {Podcast}
This is one of those episodes that feels like a meditation or a transformational session**. The energy current that's flowing right now is one that is calling us to presence, to slow down, to open ourselves to FEEL, and be in awareness of our bodies, thoughts, emotions, and the conditioned contractions of our inner system. I start off the episode by offering an energetic read for this season and what I feel we are being called toward.
This is one of those episodes that feels like a meditation or a transformational session**. The energy current that's flowing right now is one that is calling us to presence, to slow down, to open ourselves to FEEL, and be in awareness of our bodies, thoughts, emotions, and the conditioned contractions of our inner system. I start off the episode by offering an energetic read of this season and what I feel we are being called toward. Then I share a prayer* that helps me empty and make space to be fully present in my day.
The second half of this episode is all about learning to recalibrate ourselves to our emotions, and allowing our bodies and energy systems to be clear and open vessels through which emotion can flow. I speak to how to begin this recalibration, beginning with Awareness and then using the breath to gently unblock the body and create safety to experience what we are feeling more fully.
*Prayer goes from 11:00-19:58 minutes. Please note I do use the word God. I often pray like this in more specifics to me as I walk in the morning. Feel free to adapt to your needs.
**Helpful Note: This episode is RICH, and the cadence of it is slower than usual. As I was editing this one, it didn't feel right to shorten the pauses like I usually do. I highly recommend listening to it as is, but if you need to, feel free to increase your player to 1.1x+ speed if it's easier for you to take in that way.
Full Episode Show Notes
WORKSHOP ANNOUNCMENT:
I am so excited to start offering workshops to deepen into the topics I share about here, live and in community. The first two are on the calendar:
October 11 @5pm ET / 4pm CT / 2pm PT: GriefFlow LIVE Workshop - REGISTER HERE
October 25th @5PM ET / 4pm CT / 2PM PT: Embodied Acceptance LIVE Workshop - REGISTER HERE
REGISTER FOR BOTH WORKSHOPS & SAVE $10 HERE
Use the special code only for podcast listeners, FOUNTAINLOVE5 for $5 dollars off when you register for one or both workshops.
I would love to hear what arises for you as you listen, and anything specific you'd like to hear on the show. Shoot me a note via email (hello@ellieflow.com), or respond to the episode directly via the feature on your podcast app.
Book your exploratory session with me here
Join my newsletter
Find me on instagram
Episode Music credit:
Embrace by Sappheiros | https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
Music promoted on https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Guided ‘Explore Your Essence’ Meditation
This centering meditation is a gentle and connective practice that is perfect to use any time (even daily) during the 'Emergence' or 'I am ALIVE' spheres of transformation, as explored in the last episode (episode 6) of The Fountain with Ellie Thomas podcast. Along with relaxing music, this meditation leads you through a simple visualization practice to release energy that isn't yours, call your energy back to your body, and then attune to what's ready to emerge and what's ready to release.
*Scroll down to listen to the meditation
This centering meditation is a gentle and connective practice that is perfect to use any time (even daily) during the 'Emergence' or 'I am ALIVE' spheres of transformation, as explored in the last episode (episode 6). Along with relaxing music, this meditation leads you through a simple visualization practice to release energy that isn't yours, call your energy back to your body, and then attune to what's ready to emerge and what's ready to release.
This practice will support your awareness in what's brewing energetically for you, and help you move throughout the day in connection to your body and energy. Use daily or as you'd like.
This is an original meditation. Music for this meditation can be found here.
If you prefer to meditate through the Insight Timer app, you can find this meditation there as well.
WORKSHOP ANNOUNCMENT:
I am so excited to start offering workshops to deepen into the topics I share about here, live and in community.
The first two are on the calendar:
October 11 @5pm ET / 4pm CT / 2pm PT: GriefFlow LIVE Workshop - REGISTER HERE
October 25th @5PM ET / 4pm CT / 2PM PT: Embodied Acceptance LIVE Workshop - REGISTER HERE
REGISTER FOR BOTH WORKSHOPS & SAVE $10 HERE
Full Episode Show Notes
This is an original mediation that supports connecting to, honoring, and releasing your pain in a healthy way.
Always make sure you are in a safe place, and not operating a vehicle, when playing meditations such as this. Music used in this meditation can be found here.
Book your exploratory session with me here
Join my newsletter
Find me on instagram
Episode Music credit:
Embrace by Sappheiros | https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
Music promoted on https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
EP #6. The 5 Spheres of Inner Transformation {Podcast}
This is such a special episode because it is my first public teaching of the process of transformation, and the five spheres that comprise it, which I received in the middle of the night 9 months ago. These five spheres (Release, Dancing with the Unknown, Emergence, I am ALIVE, Here I am) each carry potent and powerful teachings that will ground you in your process, and I hope offer reflection, permission, guidance, clarity, hope, and grace in your current moment.
This is such a special episode because it is my first public teaching of the process of transformation, and the five spheres that comprise it, which I received in the middle of the night 9 months ago. These five spheres (Release, Dancing with the Unknown, Emergence, I am ALIVE, Here I am) each carry potent and powerful teachings that will ground you in your process, and I hope offer reflection, permission, guidance, clarity, hope, and grace in your current moment.
Each sphere carries its own energy and asks us to surrender to our process in new ways as we reclaim and align with the soul.
In this episode I break it all down for you. I can't wait to hear how it lands.
In a few days I will post another supportive meditation that compliments this process.
Full Episode Show Notes
WORKSHOP ANNOUNCMENT:
I am so excited to start offering workshops to deepen into the topics I share about here, live and in community. The first two are on the calendar:
October 11 @5pm ET / 4pm CT / 2pm PT: GriefFlow LIVE Workshop - REGISTER HERE
October 25th @5PM ET / 4pm CT / 2PM PT: Embodied Acceptance LIVE Workshop - REGISTER HERE
REGISTER FOR BOTH WORKSHOPS & SAVE $10 HERE
Use the special code only for podcast listeners, FOUNTAINLOVE5 for $5 dollars off when you register for one or both workshops.
I would love to hear what arises for you as you listen, and anything specific you'd like to hear on the show. Shoot me a note via email (hello@ellieflow.com), or respond to the episode directly via the feature on your podcast app.
Book your exploratory session with me here
Join my newsletter
Find me on instagram
Episode Music credit:
Embrace by Sappheiros | https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
Music promoted on https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Meditation for Emotional release
The Meditation for Emotional Release is incredibly gentle, soothing, and offers guidance to begin to feel into parts of you that might be more ready to surface and be expressed than you realize.
*Scroll down to listen to the meditation
This Meditation for Emotional Release is incredibly gentle, soothing, and offers guidance to begin to feel into parts of you that might be more ready to surface and be expressed than you realize.
When I first shared this meditation in a program I led in 2021, one of the participants said she began to sob halfway through, releasing deep sadness she didn't even realize she was carrying, and felt so much lighter afterward.
The magic of release is partly about basking in the fertile emptiness and silence that is created by our letting-go, and this meditation will help you access this space within.
Full Episode Show Notes
This is an original mediation that supports connecting to, honoring, and releasing your pain in a healthy way.
Always make sure you are in a safe place, and not operating a vehicle, when playing meditations such as this. Music used in this meditation can be found here.
Book your exploratory session with me here
Join my newsletter
Find me on instagram
Episode Music credit:
Embrace by Sappheiros | https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
Music promoted on https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
EP #5. The Power of Emotional and energetic release {Podcast}
Fall is officially here in the US, and as we begin to explore the slow loosening and letting go of this season, I'm sharing all about The Power of Emotional + Energetic Release on the podcast this week (along with a bonus meditation on the podcast feed).
In episode 5 of the podcast, I take you on a journey, exploring the importance of releasing stuck and repressed emotion in order to: liberate VITALITY, tap into CREATIVITY, and connect with YOUR AUTHENTIC ENERGY.
*Scroll down to listen to the episode below
Fall is officially here in the US, and as we begin to explore the slow loosening and letting go of this season, I'm sharing all about The Power of Emotional + Energetic Release on the podcast this week (along with a bonus meditation on the podcast feed).
In episode 5, I take you on a journey, exploring the importance of releasing stuck and repressed emotion in order to:
⛲️liberate VITALITY,
⛲️ tap into CREATIVITY, and
⛲️ connect with YOUR AUTHENTIC ENERGY.
I personally have a loooonnnnggg history of repressing emotion – I'm talking almost 30 years of holding lots in, pushing pain down, overriding my needs and feelings in the (subconscious) name of survival.
A certain circumstance in my life right now reminded me of how important finding a safe way to release is in order to arrive at clear energy and live from deep Self connection.
In this episode, I share what the process of unraveling this has been like for me over the last 7ish years, how different I feel in my body now, and I also break down the energetics and alchemy of safe emotional expression and the rejuvenation it offers each of us.
I believe this episode is powerful for everyone, and I'd especially like to dedicate it to the sensitive, deep feelers that have not felt safe to show and share your emotions.
Full Episode Show Notes
In this episode I take you on a journey, exploring the importance of releasing stuck and repressed emotion in order to liberate vitality, tap into creativity, and connect with who we really are. I share what this process has been like as a client and a coach, and break down the energetics and alchemy of safe emotional expression and the rejuvenation it offers each of us, especially deep feelers or those of us that have not felt safe to show and share our emotions.
I work with many high achieving women that have learned how to cut off or override their flow of emotion as a survival strategy. If this is you, this episode is extra pertinent.
If the pulse of this episode hits your heart, try out the meditation for pain I have added to the podcast feed, and book your exploratory session with me here.
To explore my work more, visit www.ellieflow.com.
I would love to hear what arises for you as you listen, and anything specific you'd like to hear on the show. Shoot me a note via email (hello@ellieflow.com), or respond to the episode directly via the feature on your podcast app.
Book your exploratory session with me here
Join my newsletter
Find me on instagram
Episode Music credit:
Embrace by Sappheiros | https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
Music promoted on https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
EP #4. Allow Your Inner Wisdom to Emerge (+ Guided Meditation) {Podcast}
Last night I had the pleasure and honor of leading a short contemplative meditation at a community dinner. Afterwards, my seat mate asked me how I got into meditation and mindfulness. I shared with him that early in my conscious transformational journey, about 5 years ago, guided meditation really helped me connect with parts of myself beyond my (very active and quick) mind - which was in constant panic and overwhelm at the time.
I also shared with him that now in my own practice, and in my work as a facilitator, I've learned that all I need to do is create space to return to (and attune to) the heart.
THE REST WILL UNFOLD NATURALLY…
Last night I had the pleasure and honor of leading a short contemplative meditation at a community dinner. Afterwards, my seat mate asked me how I got into meditation and mindfulness. I shared with him that early in my conscious transformational journey, about 5 years ago, guided meditation really helped me connect with parts of myself beyond my (very active and quick) mind - which was in constant panic and overwhelm at the time.
I also shared with him that now in my own practice, and in my work as a facilitator, I've learned that all I need to do is create space to return to (and attune to) the heart.
THE REST WILL UNFOLD NATURALLY.
This is the essence of everything I share on The Fountain podcast, and this week's episode, called Allow Your Inner Wisdom to Emerge, especially focuses on the process of creating space to be a loving witness to the needs and tones of our intellects, physical bodies, emotional selves, and spiritual selves.
In my experience, in order to hear the greater wisdom of our beings and beyond, we often need to release of the energy, thoughts and tensions that keep us occupied and looping in the same way over and over again.
As the space for release, without an agenda, is created, we are able to touch into a stillness – a fertile emptiness – through which greater wisdom can emerge, be heard, received and integrated.
The second half of this week's podcast episode is a 16-minute guided meditation/practice that will help you create this space and allowance.
It my version of the simple, yet profound, guided journey that my mentor used with me as I was slowly tapped into my heart-centered flow and opened to greater connection with myself, and beyond.
This is a practice you can do daily, even while walking, with a journal, or anyway that (safely) helps you attune to the subtleties of your energy.
Full Episode Show Notes
In this episode I share lingering thoughts on opening to our fullness that came up after the last episode, then I dive into my first invitation into feeling my fullness 5 years ago and what that looked like. I reflect on the power of being guided into connection with our intellect, physical bodies, emotional selves, and spiritual selves, and how it can help you begin to understand and feel into your wholeness more. I also speak on the power of learning to listen deeply to our many dimensions, and how it frees up space to allow your intuition and greater wisdom and energy to emerge and guide you.
The guided 4 Part Meditation for Wholeness begins at 15:30 (FYI it purposely does not have music so that you can simply listen to yourself and anything happening for you more acutely).
Book your exploratory session with me here
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Episode Music credit:
Embrace by Sappheiros | https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
Music promoted on https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
EP #3. Open To Your Fullness {Podcast}
Welcome back to The Fountain! This episode is an exploration inspired by a session with one of my clients and gets into the energetics of "making space again" after periods of massive inner (and life) shifts, grief, and loss.
I explore the importance of allowing ourselves to fully grieve and mourn, to fully be in our process of release, to arrive into the gift of opening to life again. I touch into the nuances of what this opening can feel like, and how to observe and work with the energy of "making space again" when it arises for you.
What does opening to our fullness even mean or look like?
This episode of the fountain explores what our "fullness" even means, reclaiming it from the idealized vision that is often touted in the current personal growth or spiritual world, and offering space to invite pieces of yourself that you've shut out to slowly reincorporate. The episode begins and ends with a brief meditative and breathing practice to anchor into your energy and to embody this message in your own way. I also explore energies of resistance, expansion, flow, and letting go.
You can enjoy the Fountain Flow Playlist here (on Spotify).
Please note: there is a tiny bit of static at the beginning and end of the episode that I was not able to edit out fully, but it only lasts a few seconds - continuing to work on improving sound quality for you!
Book your exploratory session with me here
Join my newsletter
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Episode Music credit:
Embrace by Sappheiros | https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
Music promoted on https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
EP #2. Making Space Again After Grief, Loss, and Immense Inner Shifts {Podcast}
What does opening to our fullness even mean or look like?
This episode of the fountain explores what our "fullness" even means, reclaiming it from the idealized vision that is often touted in the current personal growth or spiritual world, and offering space to invite pieces of yourself that you've shut out to slowly reincorporate. The episode begins and ends with a brief meditative and breathing practice to anchor into your energy and to embody this message in your own way. I also explore energies of resistance, expansion, flow, and letting go.
Welcome back to The Fountain! This episode is an exploration inspired by a session with one of my clients and gets into the energetics of "making space again" after periods of massive inner (and life) shifts, grief, and loss.
I explore the importance of allowing ourselves to fully grieve and mourn, to fully be in our process of release, to arrive into the gift of opening to life again. I touch into the nuances of what this opening can feel like, and how to observe and work with the energy of "making space again" when it arises for you.
Book your exploratory session with me here
Join my newsletter
Find me on instagram
Episode Music credit:
Embrace by Sappheiros | https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
Music promoted on https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/