Taking a Breather...

Hello everyone 👋🏾

I do hope you are all well and enjoying this seasonal weather…. (that’s me trying to be inclusive for the international crew!)

Like many of you who are based in the UK my brain has turned rather mushy since this extended heatwave, and left me pretty scuppered in terms of finding words to write for you. You could call it writers block or simply a brain needing to cool down. Even the trees are quiet! This ‘wordless’ situation I find myself in here my dear Substack subscribers is also compounded by me writing a new book. Eek! I have a very tight deadline to complete the book, so by the time I’ve written my word quota each day, if I'm honest there’s not a lot left in the tank.

I would LOVE to share with you the details about this new book but I'm not allowed to (yet). But what I will say is that it is about simple and accessible ways to create a spiritual foundation for your life that will support you in these turbulent times we find ourselves in. And it will be out next year. Exciting! Soon as I can share more with you I will, I promise.

So, after much efforting trying to get back into my creative flow on here (the irony), I have decided to press pause on Substack until I have something of value to offer. I do hope you will gift me the grace of a couple of weeks resting from writing for you on here, and not immediately unsubscribe. (Some folks are brutal). I have taken a very old post and amended it below as a kind of ‘upcycled’ offering about the importance of rest and why the patriarchy no likey likey. I hope you enjoy it.

Also some old posts that you might have missed and want to check out whilst I’m away, as well as some summer snaps of what I’ve been up to.

I will be back very soon. Until then, stay cool….in every sense.

All Love

Donna xxx

I am taking some time off to rest, recharge and pray. Even just writing that sentence feels radical, like I am at risk of being rejected from a club that I never wanted to be a member of.

The Busy Bee Club. (BBC)

This is the club where all the members rush around feeling stressed and disconnected - over working, over giving, over thinking, over… everything; where all the joy has been sucked out of our lives and we barely have a moment to breathe. Even self-care feels like another box to tick, yet another chore to complete. Gym tick. Walk Tick.

We keep going because we feel that we must (I mean who else will do it?!), and because it’s what we’ve been indoctrinated to do. To just keep swimming, even though many of us often feel like we’re drowning, (and even that as women, we must do quietly and quickly.) So, we do as we are told and soldier on. Warrior style. We make excuses and resist or deny the signs and symptoms that our body so generously waves at us.

‘Look over here at this headache, backache, neck ache, lump. I’m trying to get your attention. Help.’

But we are too busy to look, to notice. Until…

…one kind day we reach a state of complete and utter exhaustion. Total burn out. We are finally being brought to our knees, and even then, some of us will still try to resist. (the Warriors). Grabbing at anything and anyone on the way down, desperate to stay upright. To at least give off the illusion of still coping. “It’s ok, I just stumbled, I’m fine. really.” But if you continue to ignore your body’s red flags waving ever desperately at you, and you refuse to get down on your knees when Life is asking this of you, the Universe herself will stage an intervention and force you to, because that’s how much she Loves you.

I got my membership early for the BBC. I was raised with 2 parents who were true grafters and the work ethic in my family was strong. Fear of scarcity and experience of poverty are a great motivating combo for that. No matter how drunk my father got of an evening, he would still get his arse up and go to work the next day. Not working or doing something was considered lazy in our house. If you sat on the sofa too long, you were called a lazy oaf, and that was far worse in my family than being considered a drunk!

These patriarchal shackles keep us, if not tied to the kitchen sink, certainly tethered to something. A desk or gadget perhaps. I do sometimes wonder if we are meant to be kept busy and exhausted so that we become less resistant, more subservient, compliant and easier to manipulate? I know when I’m exhausted and go for a massage and there’s that horrible plinky plonky music playing in the background, I will not ask them to switch it off, (when usually I’d ask immediately!) Instead, I will lay there weak, tense and resentful. Feeling powerless. Exhaustion will do that to you. Not quite the same I know, but you get my gist. I do believe our collective exhaustion is a very powerful tool of control though. We are often simply too tired to care.

So I guess this is my long winded way of saying I’ve had enough of overworking. I’m over it. Handing back my well-worn BBC members card. I am pressing pause to spend more time in nature and hanging out with my peeps with no doubt some extended periods on the sofa staring out of the window (Lazy oaf).

And of course, I know it’s not easy for everyone to press pause on their lives (me neither), but it’s a commitment I feel we must endeavour to make in Phase 2 of Life. To press pause…..be still……silent…..to stop. A precious moment to not only rest, but also to reconnect with that which is bigger than our own ego. Because this much I know. The Divine doesn’t shout and she doesn’t run either, and neither does your own Soul.

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“Do you ever get anywhere?!” asked the Hare with a mocking laugh. ‘Yes’ replied the Tortoise, ‘and I get there sooner than you think.”Aesop

Some questions you might wish to contemplate:

• What is your relationship to pressing pause in order to honour the endings and beginnings of your life’s journey?

• How do you actively rest, grieve and seek guidance?

• What outdated ‘poisoned arrow beliefs’ do you carry about resting, relaxing and wintering?

• How might you create more space to simply BE?

Dark Winged Angels

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July 12, 2024

Some people (including Abba), believe in angels and who are we to judge?

• Beneath the Elder Tree - a FREE event in Hove, 23rd September with myself and Jasmine Harsono, Beneath the Elder Tree All welcome. Book early to reserve your seat.

• Healing Through Relationships - a 1 day workshop to explore ways of being in our relationships that are healing rather than rewounding. 17th October. £195 pp. Healing Through Relationships

• Soul-Full Sunday - 25th October in East Sussex - FREE and all welcome. Soul-Full Sunday

For all my offerings, including working with me 1:1 on your Spiritual Awakening in 2027 -Donna Lancaster

I also have a What’s App group called Soul-Full Sisters to keep you updated on events, so email with your number if you wish to be added.

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