March 2019: Shadow and Light
By Christina Wilke-Burbach PhD, RMT, CA
Mind, Soul, and Self LLC
mindsoulandself.com
2019 is going to be a journey into the world of non-verbal healing here at Mind, Soul, and Self LLC. The theme of my women’s wellness retreats this year is ‘Art, Music, and TranscenDANCE.’ We will explore music, art, dance, meditation, and bodywork as doorways deep into the psyche to facilitate healing and personal growth. I also have a new Spiritual Psychology Program starting in 2019 that will explore the powerful modalities of Spiritual Psychology that are largely non-verbal: art, music, dance, bodywork, and energy work. I have come to understand, true ways to heal psychologically and emotionally are non-verbal: through art, music, movement, meditative states, and bodywork/energy work. The language of the soul/psyche is symbols, images, colors, vibrations, sensations, and patterns; we communicate this non-verbally. Many times talk therapies are Band-Aids and do not get to the root of the problem. Non-verbal modalities help individuals discover the underlying root issues causing their challenges and symptoms and enables them to gently resolve them; thus moving them closer to wholeness and wellness.
I have been on an incredible personal growth journey of my own the past few years into the world of art. I have become very involved with John Michael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC) in Sheboygan, WI. I am the chair of the JMKAC Indoor Gardens, a member of the Friends of the Arts Council, and a museum docent (teacher/tour guide). I try to take a new art class every month. Coincidentally, my old office space was located in an art gallery and my current office space is in an entire building of art studios. My preferred social media has become Instagram. I have enjoyed experimenting with art and photography as ways to express myself. So I have decided to have a photo blog this year to complement this personal and professional journey that I am on.
This month is the spring equinox (March 20) the midpoint of spring when light and dark are in balance. The spring equinox (also known as the vernal equinox) is the time in the earth’s annual cycle around the sun in which the day and night are equal in length, before the days finally start to get longer after the dominance of darkness during winter and life springs forth from death. Its deeper spiritual significance reveals the mysteries of spiritual resurrection. The sun’s visual journey throughout the course of the year signifies a universal journey which has been understood and undertaken by people through the world and throughout time; the journey to enlightenment. Through the world, the spring equinox is a time of great confrontation between the forces of dark and light, in death and resurrection.
Spring Equinox is celebrated as the first day of Spring, when day and night are equal in both hemispheres. The power of the Sun is increasing, the days are lengthening and the nights are shortening. At this point we are poised between opposite forces, light and dark, receptive and active, unconscious and conscious, inner and outer. These can be united within us so that we are whole and balanced individuals. This gives birth to actions that come from the heart. I am obsessed with shadows and have come to understand, the bigger the source of light, the bigger the shadow. Below are some shadow pictures I have taken. This month, I ask you to explore shadow and light; both in your physical world and in your spiritual world.
