February 9, 2023 • 34 mins
Finding places where your spirit feels connected, where you can recharge and spend time in nature and gratitude; these places are considered, “sacred land” Devi shares some of the dedicated areas that speak to her soul and how she’s able to recreate these energies in her personal home.
Connect: @DeviBrown
Learn More:
Jean Houston: The Hero and The Goddess
Joseph Campbell: The Hero’s Journey
Mii Amo Spa in Sedona, Arizona
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
M from grandmothers who whispered in their baby girl ill
two fathers on dimly lit street corners, instructing young soldiers
to always keep their eyes open. You be queen, you
(00:21):
were fired. You will pass through centuries on the hands
of your daughters. They called you wisdom. Proverbs on the
backs of diamond eyed school children who grew into hymnals
recited by amethyst holding urban philosophers who recited neighborhood commandments
out of the windows of restored Alchemedo chariots. To keep
the warmth of their blood. Be wise, he's smart, being black,
(00:46):
Opal Brown courts bloodstone and prayer. Be every form of
jim see. King told, scribe, scribe, told son, son, told wife,
wife told her daughter, and daughter told the as this is.
And the ancestors told me that you would come to
give wisdom. Thousands They said you would come, Dropping Dropping Hey,
(01:11):
Welcome back to another episode of the Dropping Gem's podcast,
Your Soft Place to Land. We explore all things in
our work, tangible tools, spirit ultimately in service to becoming
our fullest selves. Hollist expressions. I'm Debbie Brown. This is
(01:32):
the podcast. UM. I want to give a quick update.
Too excited to dive into this show. And big love
to everyone UM that sent messages about recent episode where
I shared my story about my experience with the whales.
I got a lot, a lot, a lot of messages
about that, and it was so beautiful to read, UM,
(01:54):
how many people got out of that story exactly what
I got out of that experience, you know, just an
awe for nature and an awe for God and an
expansion of trust and faith that things are operating in
divine time, in divine flow and we'll manifest. So again,
(02:16):
thank you so much for that. I love, I really
love hearing from you what is resonating the most and
exactly where it's landing, what it's invoking. So appreciate everyone
that shares with me. Okay, so this episode, I'd like
to share uh, some deep peace that I recently came
(02:37):
into UM and a lot of joy. I want to
share with everyone the importance of finding sacred land for yourself.
And what do I mean by sacred land? Well, very excitedly,
I think we are all in this moment in time
(02:59):
where we're traveling more than we probably ever have, especially
if you're someone who is non whiten this country. I
think vacation has become a concept that we all now
have surrendered to and realize how much we really need it,
how much we enjoy it. UM. I think on a
very mainstream level, over the last few years, we've all
(03:22):
begun to collectively expand in the desire and the need,
the longing for personal travel, even if not in a
vacation context, especially in the last few years with the
pandemic and realizing that we can accomplish work in other places.
I think many of us have either been traveling, probably
(03:44):
more than anyone has over this last ten years, or
are intrigued by it and have an intention to in
a desire to have bigger experiences than maybe the elders
in our lives might have had UM when they were
our age. You know, there have been a lot of
new possibilities and with that, and with Instagram and all
(04:04):
the ways that we've been both gifted and maybe there's
some shadow aspect to it too, but been gifted with
the chance to see so many different ways of being
and living. UM. We've all been expanded by the things
we've been able to see on the Internet in the
last ten years. We've all been expanded by the ways
(04:27):
we've been able to share with one another things that
we find beautiful and that are important or meaningful. And
so with that thought, you know, I'm someone that really
believes in taking time out to intentionally travel to sacred places.
And I mean that in two ways. The first way
that I mean that is very much there are ancient
(04:50):
sacred locations all over planet Earth, um, from so many
different civilizations, from so many different moments in human history
that we're happening at very very different times UM. And
I'm somebody that, especially as a meditator, is someone that
really really loves their advanced practice of meditation. You know,
(05:12):
I I believe in energy, and I believe in the
ways that we're able to connect with the energy that
is available in certain areas. And I'm a big believer
that you know, we have real opportunities to expand our
consciousness when we travel, and we can expand it in
a few ways. We can expand our consciousness by one
(05:34):
just the law of exposure, you know, having exposure to
see new things that stretch us, UM, that thrust us forward,
that expand our awareness. And UM, I believe that energetically
we can get really incredible downloads when we meditate UM
(05:56):
very intentionally in beautiful places and in sacred places, and
it opens us up to having breakthrough thoughts and having
so many deeper awarenesses about things happening in our lives
and also things that should be happening for our creativity
and the work that we do in the world. So
(06:16):
that's one lens of it, UM. But also sacred land,
not just in terms of actual uh ancient energetic sites
that are all over from you know, beautiful churches or
you know, if you go to Jerusalem and you walk
on the streets, that would be an example of sacred land.
You know, you go to Stonehenge, that's an example of
(06:38):
state sacred land. You go to Egypt, sacred land. UM,
so many places around the world where there was a
lot of concentrated energy. So that's one lens of it.
The other lens of it that I'm speaking to is
our individual sacred land. You know, we, through our experiences
(06:59):
and through our awareness of those experiences, UM, there are
certain areas where we might find ourselves having the opportunity
to become more of ourselves and we don't quite know why,
you know, we don't know why. Wow, every time I
go there that's the place that I can really you know, relax, restore, nourish,
(07:23):
or that's the place where I'm able to really dive
into my thoughts, or that's the place where I just
feel the most myself, you know. I think there there's
quite a few people listening right now that have had
those experiences or have them in multiple places. You just
come alive more and you don't quite know why, but
(07:44):
it's almost as if that area speaks to your soul.
It whispers to your soul in new ways. So those
are the places that I like to think of as
our very personal sacred land. I actually have a sign
up at my house, um that I had made online
(08:05):
and it just says sacred land. And I have it
over my little outdoor fireplace area sacred land because my
home and the love that I've poured into it, and
the love that my family brings to it, and the
work we've done on ourselves there, Um, it's become very
(08:25):
very sacred land. So it's okay to call that out.
Let's go ahead and call that out. And if you
get a chance, if you even want to pause the
episode here just for a moment, pull out the notes
on your phone, or grab a journal if you have
one close, then write down the first few places that
may be coming to mind as I say that, UM.
And if you're not able to write right now, please
(08:46):
don't force it, especially if you're driving. Eyes open, take
a deep breath here, mm hmm. What places come to mind?
Just notice them and acknowledge them, UM, and just commit
them to be planted in your awareness to explore a
(09:07):
little bit later. So our personal sacred lands. Now, I
want to kind of create a few little roots and
stems that will come off of this piece. So in
our personal sacred land, there are a few tools where
if you happen to be wondering, or if maybe you
(09:27):
just haven't had the opportunity to travel, you know, really extensively,
yet you can be very intentional about where you want
to travel. And so one of the first experiences I
want to share with you is a very beautiful system
of astrology called astrological topography or astrology topography. And what
(09:48):
that is is it's your birth chart. For those that
are familiar with astrology, UM, and those that are not,
to have a few previous episodes that you could dive into. UM,
it's your personal birth birth chart. But also mapped really
with Earth's chart, Earth's birth chart, and so what you
(10:09):
see when you have an astrologer that can read that
for you, you're able to see where some of your
important lines in your chart also line up with the
planetary lines um that are surrounding Earth. And so it's
a really beautiful experience. And I'll share a story about mine.
I worked with this really awesome astrologer named Brian Um,
(10:33):
who have this system of finding your personal places of power.
And so something about me is that I have always
always felt really deeply anchored to a few places, even
without understanding why, not even realizing that it might have
(10:55):
been a place that made me come alive more. But
it was just like almost as if I felt very
loyal to these places, or I just felt like these
places where my soul mate. And so two particular places
fit that bill for me. There's a lot of places
that I would describe as sacred land, which I'll get
to a little bit later in this episode. But my
(11:17):
personal places areas that felt like my soulmates, like I
literally longed to spend an extensive amount of time in
these places Um are Los Angeles and the Baja of Mexico,
so more towards Cabo San Lucas, um really the entire
Baja Peninsula. And so that's something I've I've known my
(11:42):
feeling about l A my whole life, when I was
a little girl, and I just want to share for
those um who may be listening. The way people who
are from l A feel about l A is very
different than the way UM TV movies are popular culture
portrays l A. People from l A don't necessarily look
(12:03):
at l A. It's like, oh, l A, you know, Hollywood. Um,
it's just our home. It's where we're from, and it's
a place that has beautiful weather and we work here
where with our families there. You know, you're just living
life as everyone in the places that they live does.
And so when I connect to l A, there can
be like a certain amount of stereotypes that I think
(12:26):
people get of it, um, but it's just for me.
I've found it from my personal life to be really
special to grow up with southern California sunshine in this
way and just the melting pot of experiences like Los
Angeles is so incredibly diverse, and it's like this kind
(12:49):
of um like living merging of timelines. Like if you
drive through certain parts of l A, like you see
buildings and homes and businesses from so many different times,
you know, going back into like the mid eighteen hundreds,
and it's just so interesting to me. Um, you see
(13:10):
all the influence. You know, some buildings are art decos,
some buildings are you know, kind of those like mega malls,
and you know, some buildings are like incredible architecture from
um the early nineteen hundreds and that stuff that I
personally really really love. My mind is always investigating and
(13:31):
so l A is a feast to me. There's always
something to see, to be um considering, thinking about witnessing,
and I love it. That's where I'm from. I feel
good here. And so when I, at different points in
my life moved to other places, I always wondered why
I felt such a longing. You know, It's like, is
(13:53):
it because I'm missing the people in my life? Is
it because this? That? And I could never quite put
my finger were on it. Um. I had the chance
to live in some really amazing cities like New York Manhattan.
I lived in Houston, Texas for some time, and both
of those cities were really amazing. I had wonderful experiences
(14:14):
and UM, the food was amazing and you know, all
the things. And for whatever reason, when I lived in
both places, no matter how successful I was, no matter
how many beautiful friendships I had, I ached to be
back in l A. So that's one part. And another
area I realized that about was Cabo San Lucas. And
(14:37):
I've been going to Cabo for I don't know, math
somewhere in between ten and twelve years, and I'll never
forget the very first time that I went, I just knew.
I said, You're going to live here one day. This
place is important for you. And UM. Now I do
spilit my time. I live in both UM the Baja
(14:59):
and so Los Angeles, and in that experience, I've just
found that I have never felt more nourished, more live,
more deeply deeply connected. You know, when I get to
do a lot of the work that I do and
UM host private retreats and teach meditation in Mexico and
(15:21):
the Baja. I can't even describe to you the feeling
that it had that I have there. It's it's literally
like I am my highest best self and I'm able
to teach at the highest level possible for me and
my personal abilities when I'm there, and I just feel
(15:42):
so connected to God. It's something about the way that
desert meets ocean. It just moves me. UM. And I
feel that way about l A and all the contrasts
of where I live here in Los Angeles. You know,
it's it's a walking conflict. Everywhere you look, there are
such extremes UM, just like massive extreme wealth, massive extreme poverty, UM, mountains, capitalists,
(16:12):
It's just like it's it's mind blowing how many things
are happening at one time. And I think something about
that is really intriguing to my brain and my spirit
to always be observing and witnessing that. UM. So both
of those places I knew deep in my soul were
my places UM. And then I have this session with
(16:34):
Brian Um that astro topography, and when he mapped both
of the charts, my soul was right the whole time. UM. Energetically,
where my ley lines are the two most UM beautiful
places I could ever be, the two places that are astrologically,
(16:56):
spiritually the most nourishing for my spirit. Yah on his
UM on his reading, We're exactly where I live in
Los Angeles and also the Baja where I work, and
so it felt like beautiful confirmation. So I don't have
(17:17):
recommendations to share of who can do this reading for
you depending on where you are. I don't like UM
to necessarily offer such personalized recommendations UM because just because
I had a great experience, I don't know the inner
workings of what may be meaningful for other people UM
(17:37):
or even you know the totality of who the people
are that do these different UM sacred works. But I
do recommend that you consider googling U astrology topography and
just read about it a little bit. See how that
makes you feel. There's a couple of sites online that
I've seen UM where you can kind of do it
(17:59):
for yourself for free. UM or you can, I'm sure
find someone that that offers that work. But just put
that on your radar, plant it in your mind's eye,
even if you don't do it today, but you know,
twenty years from now you remember and you want to
check it out. It could be really interesting and if
you have it started a lot of travel yet, it
could be really beautiful to be intentional, you know, depending
(18:22):
on where those areas are showing up for you, this
may be the opportunity to really plan that trip to
have your own personal eat, prey, love and have an
experience where you let yourself be transformed and expand your awareness.
So I just wanted to offer that it might it
might feel really good. So that's an aspect of UM
(19:02):
connecting to ways to find your personal sacred land as well.
So as you're thinking of those places, places you go
that make you come alive or after an astro topography,
places that you know make you come a live, creating
some intention around really bringing what is invoked in you
(19:25):
in those spaces into your actual daily life. UM. And
that could look like a few ways, like maybe when
you're on those vacations or you're taking those trips, it's
finding intentional pieces that you keep in your home and
not necessarily the touristy pieces that have like the name
of the place on it, but that could be cool too,
(19:47):
depending on your style. UM. But it could also just
be something that you remember you got there. It could
be a mug, it could be a plate, It could
be a piece of cloth or fabric, candle, as seashell, um,
whatever resonates with your unique spirit and really intentionally placing
it in your home. So for me, when I'm in
(20:08):
l A, I have this little area in my meditation
space where I really like to invoke Cabo and so
I have photo that I love of the Sea of
Cortez there and then I just have some candles around it,
some crystals. But it feels really nourishing, um to kind
of transport myself there. And another another way to do
(20:32):
this could be to plan some intentional trips. You know,
if you know, you really recharge and become more of
yourself someplace and you have the opportunities and and some
of the financial freedom to do that. In this moment,
maybe it's saying, you know, once a year, that's where
I go. Once every five years, that's where I go. Um.
(20:58):
There's something really special about letting yourself evolve over time
in places that are meaningful for you. You know, you
kind of get to track your growth in those places
as well. It's like you have a few different timelines
that you're living in and it can be beautiful. I'm
(21:19):
really enjoying that in this moment of my life. Um.
And there are other places that I kind of have
those relationships with. So another area that I have that
relationship with and this is the story that I wanted
to share more nature. Another sacred place for me in
(21:39):
the USA, UM particularly is Sedona, Arizona. Wow. Sedona many
know and for those that don't, Sedona is an It's
it's known and celebrated as an incredibly spiritual place. Um.
There is such an energy in Sedona that for me,
(22:01):
the way it's physically felt for me in my body,
it's almost like I'm I'm sitting in an ultra sonic machine.
You know those machines that they clean your jewelry in.
It's like you see this really fast kind of vibration
in the water and it just shakes the dirt loose,
and then your jewelry becomes cleaner and you can ever
imagine it. Um, That's how I feel when I'm there,
(22:24):
Like I feel like I have this like constant vibrational
frequency happening. Uh. And when I've talked to other people
that have gone or those that you know, story you'll
here when you go to Sedona quite a bit is
everyone is like, yeah, I moved here ten years ago,
moved here twenty years ago, twelve years ago, I was
(22:45):
living here. I visited here and never went home. I've
literally heard that from at least a hundred people UM
that I've met in Sedona. So there's something to that. UM.
And the red rocks, my god, it's much grounding energy.
One the color you really come alive with the burnt
(23:06):
deep reddish orange and reddish browns, very grounding colors. You're
connected to the earth. There's a lot of ancient energy there,
a lot of indigenous people roaming that land and use
that land as a sacred container. So many vortexas UM,
you're randomly fine cave dwellings there when you're going on
(23:28):
hikes or you'll see that, UM, there were dwellings there,
you know, like places where people live. Do you see
these carvings, these drawings, and it's incredible, it's mind blowing,
it's humbling. Um. You see the stars like you could
(23:48):
never imagine their places like Sedona, Santa fe Um. What
you can get out of the sky is so profound,
it's so I mean, there's no light pollution, you know,
you just look up, there's no smog. You just look
up and you see thousands of stars lit up. You
(24:11):
see shooting stars. While I was out there, there was
actually a comment um that was moving through the air
it's just like wow wow, and you get to in
bed with nature. And so Sedona my very first time
going to Sedona. I actually went on a Choper retreat
and I want to say this was maybe maybe eight
(24:35):
years ago, um, and they had this retreat that no
longer exists, but it was called Summoning the Sacred, and
Caroline Mice spoke at the retreat. DEPOC spoke at the retreat,
and um, Jeane Houston spoke at the retreat. And if
you're not familiar with some of those names, please take
(24:55):
a second and look it up. Um, especially if you're
familiar with Joseph Camp was the Hero's Journey. Jean Houston
has a book called The Heroine's Journey, and she really
speaks to goddesses and she speaks to the invocation of
the sacred, divine, feminine and beautiful work, beautiful, beautiful teachers.
(25:17):
So I went for that event and it was my
first time and in Sedona. Um. Okay, wait, so what
you here with that? It might have been ten years ago,
It was some time ago, but it was my first
trip to Sedona. And I went for that really beautiful
course retreat, that teaching retreat, and the second I got there.
(25:44):
I mean I couldn't sleep for days. I was literally
just a buzz but I wasn't tired. Um. It just
shifted things in me, and I ended up that after
that visit in that very first year, I probably went
to Sedona six more times in that one year, UM,
(26:06):
and I deep into my meditation practice there. I hiked,
I visited the vortexas hot air balloons, UM wrote, read, lived, healed. Uh.
It was really profound for me. And so that's a
place Sedona that I consider sacred land for myself, and
(26:26):
so I make it a point for a long time.
I made it a point to get there at least
once a year, and I hadn't been in a few
years and a couple of weeks ago. Really surprisedly I
had to. I tried to clear some time in my
schedule because I had been traveling so much, and so
(26:46):
I kind of wiped my schedule for about a week
so I could catch up on some things. And one
of my personal heroes called me out of the blue,
UM and said, hey, I, UM, something has come up
for me. I have an emergency. But I'm supposed to
(27:08):
teach this retreat in about two days in Sedona. Um,
could you please cover it for me? You know, which
you consider going and teaching in my place. So, first
of all, even though I cleared my week, you know,
I was noticing the whispers of God, and I said, well,
this is my hero, one of you know, one of
the people I admire. That's a sentence, but someone I admire,
(27:32):
someone whose work deeply, deeply moved me. So it's someone
that I admire who is asking this of me. I
would love to do this for them. And it's in
my favorite place, one of my favorite places. And I
had just happened to be literally dreaming about Sedona for
(27:54):
a few weeks. Um, Sedona had just come so deep
in my awareness, and I kept thinking about it, and
I was going through my photo albums looking at pictures
of my first visit there, and so I remember saying
to myself, God, you gotta make it back to Sedona.
You gotta make it back to Sedona. When are you
going to get there? And then I had looked at
my calendar and I was like, you are booked the
(28:16):
four Like there is no free space for just kind
of a random trip like that. So I sighed and
I was just like, Okay, well set your intention for
next year. And so when she called and she asked that,
and she said where it was, and then she said
it was actually at my favorite favorite favorite resort and
(28:43):
Vortex in Sedona Enchantment Resort. And me almost spa um
two places that I went repeatedly on my journey in
Sedona to heal places where I was so moved. I said, Okay,
this is God. So I said, yes, Um, packed my
bag and then I caught a flight to Sedona and
(29:05):
I ended up teaching there for about a week. And
I just had this beautiful opportunity to deepen my practice
and to also say thank you to this sacred space.
You know, when I think about what it actually um,
the opportunity that was in front of me to be there,
it felt like a very much a bookend experience, you know, UM,
(29:28):
a moment to really reflect significantly on the ways that
I have transformed and loved my life over the last decade.
And I took spikes, I meditated. I taught a really
wonderful group of about forty women, and we just had
a phenomenal time. We studied the divine feminine, we meditated,
(29:51):
We romanced our lives a little bit we hiked and
it was gorgeous. It's really beautiful energy wor done. Um
me almost spa is just phenomenal. And one of my
girlfriends even flew in, one of my very very close
friends who lives in Atlanta. We don't get a chance
(30:12):
to see each other that often, but it's really important
to both of us that we make the time. And
so she happened to hit me and she's like, where
are you What are you doing? I was like, I'm
in Sodona. Come for a day. And she had the
freedom in her schedule to do so, and so she
caught a flight popped up on me in Sedona. And
so one of the days after I finished teaching, um,
(30:36):
we just went on this long, long, hours long hike
in the sun, had dinner, caught up on life, shared
you know, dreams and visions for things coming, and then
we parted ways and I headed back home. And you know,
I thought, sacred land. This is sacred land. Those places
(30:58):
you go there's no real concept of time. Your soul
feels recharged, your soul feels nourished, and there's opportunity for spontaneity.
You know, when you think about these places or where
could be sacred land for you. It's also a place
that not just invokes your you know, higher self, it's
(31:20):
a place that lends you an energy to have really
extraordinary random experiences, you know, very synchronistic, serendipitous experiences. So
if there's any place you're thinking of, let this be
a signed to book that trip, UM, or at least
spend some time really thinking about it, you know, get
(31:43):
a book about it, print some pictures from the internet
about it and put them up. Let yourself reconnect to
that part of you and know that you can bring
that version of you when you feel your best in
these places. You can bring that version of you home.
You just have to be intentional about it. So thank
(32:04):
you for listening to this episode. Big Big, Big, Big,
Big Love. UM. I have some exciting things to share
with you in a couple of weeks, so I'm looking
forward to that as we relaunched the podcast, UM, if
you get a chance, please drop a five star review
and if you have an extra moment, would mean the
world to me if you kind of expanded that thought
(32:27):
and shared a comment as well after the review. All right,
you're soul work today, UM, spend some time thinking about
your sacred land, whether it's a vacation of family members, home,
an area you traveled for work, someplace you happen to
(32:48):
find yourself, but it really resonates with your spirit as meaningful,
as important, as extraordinary. I want you to think about
that place, want you to write it on paper, and
I want you to write how you feel when you're there.
If you don't yet have sacred land, I want you
to dream. I want you to really think about the
(33:11):
kind of places that feel good to you. And it
could be Wow, I really love how I feel in
the desert, or I love how I feel in the
snow when I'm with trees. That's when I'm my best self.
When I'm by the ocean, when I smell that salt
in the air, when I feel that sand, that's it.
I want you to just start daydreaming about that more
(33:34):
and setting the intention that your mind, heart and soul
will be able to have that experience. All right, big love,
no mistakes. Hey find me on social Let's connect at
Debbie Brown. That's Twitter and Instagram, or go to my
website Debbie Brown dot com. And if you're listening to
(33:54):
the show on Apple podcasts, please please Please don't forget
to rate, review, and subscribe, and send this episode to
a friend. Dropping Jams is the production of I Heart
Radio and The Black Effect Network. It's produced by Jack
Please and Me Debbie Brown. For more podcasts from my
heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
(34:17):
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
M from grandmothers who whispered in their baby girl ill
two fathers on dimly lit street corners, instructing young soldiers
to always keep their eyes open. You be queen, you
(00:21):
were fired. You will pass through centuries on the hands
of your daughters. They called you wisdom. Proverbs on the
backs of diamond eyed school children who grew into hymnals
recited by amethyst holding urban philosophers who recited neighborhood commandments
out of the windows of restored Alchemedo chariots. To keep
the warmth of their blood. Be wise, he's smart, being black,
(00:46):
Opal Brown courts bloodstone and prayer. Be every form of
jim see. King told, scribe, scribe, told son, son, told wife,
wife told her daughter, and daughter told the as this is.
And the ancestors told me that you would come to
give wisdom. Thousands They said you would come, Dropping Dropping Hey,
(01:11):
Welcome back to another episode of the Dropping Gem's podcast,
Your Soft Place to Land. We explore all things in
our work, tangible tools, spirit ultimately in service to becoming
our fullest selves. Hollist expressions. I'm Debbie Brown. This is
(01:32):
the podcast. UM. I want to give a quick update.
Too excited to dive into this show. And big love
to everyone UM that sent messages about recent episode where
I shared my story about my experience with the whales.
I got a lot, a lot, a lot of messages
about that, and it was so beautiful to read, UM,
(01:54):
how many people got out of that story exactly what
I got out of that experience, you know, just an
awe for nature and an awe for God and an
expansion of trust and faith that things are operating in
divine time, in divine flow and we'll manifest. So again,
(02:16):
thank you so much for that. I love, I really
love hearing from you what is resonating the most and
exactly where it's landing, what it's invoking. So appreciate everyone
that shares with me. Okay, so this episode, I'd like
to share uh, some deep peace that I recently came
(02:37):
into UM and a lot of joy. I want to
share with everyone the importance of finding sacred land for yourself.
And what do I mean by sacred land? Well, very excitedly,
I think we are all in this moment in time
(02:59):
where we're traveling more than we probably ever have, especially
if you're someone who is non whiten this country. I
think vacation has become a concept that we all now
have surrendered to and realize how much we really need it,
how much we enjoy it. UM. I think on a
very mainstream level, over the last few years, we've all
(03:22):
begun to collectively expand in the desire and the need,
the longing for personal travel, even if not in a
vacation context, especially in the last few years with the
pandemic and realizing that we can accomplish work in other places.
I think many of us have either been traveling, probably
(03:44):
more than anyone has over this last ten years, or
are intrigued by it and have an intention to in
a desire to have bigger experiences than maybe the elders
in our lives might have had UM when they were
our age. You know, there have been a lot of
new possibilities and with that, and with Instagram and all
(04:04):
the ways that we've been both gifted and maybe there's
some shadow aspect to it too, but been gifted with
the chance to see so many different ways of being
and living. UM. We've all been expanded by the things
we've been able to see on the Internet in the
last ten years. We've all been expanded by the ways
(04:27):
we've been able to share with one another things that
we find beautiful and that are important or meaningful. And
so with that thought, you know, I'm someone that really
believes in taking time out to intentionally travel to sacred places.
And I mean that in two ways. The first way
that I mean that is very much there are ancient
(04:50):
sacred locations all over planet Earth, um, from so many
different civilizations, from so many different moments in human history
that we're happening at very very different times UM. And
I'm somebody that, especially as a meditator, is someone that
really really loves their advanced practice of meditation. You know,
(05:12):
I I believe in energy, and I believe in the
ways that we're able to connect with the energy that
is available in certain areas. And I'm a big believer
that you know, we have real opportunities to expand our
consciousness when we travel, and we can expand it in
a few ways. We can expand our consciousness by one
(05:34):
just the law of exposure, you know, having exposure to
see new things that stretch us, UM, that thrust us forward,
that expand our awareness. And UM, I believe that energetically
we can get really incredible downloads when we meditate UM
(05:56):
very intentionally in beautiful places and in sacred places, and
it opens us up to having breakthrough thoughts and having
so many deeper awarenesses about things happening in our lives
and also things that should be happening for our creativity
and the work that we do in the world. So
(06:16):
that's one lens of it, UM. But also sacred land,
not just in terms of actual uh ancient energetic sites
that are all over from you know, beautiful churches or
you know, if you go to Jerusalem and you walk
on the streets, that would be an example of sacred land.
You know, you go to Stonehenge, that's an example of
(06:38):
state sacred land. You go to Egypt, sacred land. UM,
so many places around the world where there was a
lot of concentrated energy. So that's one lens of it.
The other lens of it that I'm speaking to is
our individual sacred land. You know, we, through our experiences
(06:59):
and through our awareness of those experiences, UM, there are
certain areas where we might find ourselves having the opportunity
to become more of ourselves and we don't quite know why,
you know, we don't know why. Wow, every time I
go there that's the place that I can really you know, relax, restore, nourish,
(07:23):
or that's the place where I'm able to really dive
into my thoughts, or that's the place where I just
feel the most myself, you know. I think there there's
quite a few people listening right now that have had
those experiences or have them in multiple places. You just
come alive more and you don't quite know why, but
(07:44):
it's almost as if that area speaks to your soul.
It whispers to your soul in new ways. So those
are the places that I like to think of as
our very personal sacred land. I actually have a sign
up at my house, um that I had made online
(08:05):
and it just says sacred land. And I have it
over my little outdoor fireplace area sacred land because my
home and the love that I've poured into it, and
the love that my family brings to it, and the
work we've done on ourselves there, Um, it's become very
(08:25):
very sacred land. So it's okay to call that out.
Let's go ahead and call that out. And if you
get a chance, if you even want to pause the
episode here just for a moment, pull out the notes
on your phone, or grab a journal if you have
one close, then write down the first few places that
may be coming to mind as I say that, UM.
And if you're not able to write right now, please
(08:46):
don't force it, especially if you're driving. Eyes open, take
a deep breath here, mm hmm. What places come to mind?
Just notice them and acknowledge them, UM, and just commit
them to be planted in your awareness to explore a
(09:07):
little bit later. So our personal sacred lands. Now, I
want to kind of create a few little roots and
stems that will come off of this piece. So in
our personal sacred land, there are a few tools where
if you happen to be wondering, or if maybe you
(09:27):
just haven't had the opportunity to travel, you know, really extensively,
yet you can be very intentional about where you want
to travel. And so one of the first experiences I
want to share with you is a very beautiful system
of astrology called astrological topography or astrology topography. And what
(09:48):
that is is it's your birth chart. For those that
are familiar with astrology, UM, and those that are not,
to have a few previous episodes that you could dive into. UM,
it's your personal birth birth chart. But also mapped really
with Earth's chart, Earth's birth chart, and so what you
(10:09):
see when you have an astrologer that can read that
for you, you're able to see where some of your
important lines in your chart also line up with the
planetary lines um that are surrounding Earth. And so it's
a really beautiful experience. And I'll share a story about mine.
I worked with this really awesome astrologer named Brian Um,
(10:33):
who have this system of finding your personal places of power.
And so something about me is that I have always
always felt really deeply anchored to a few places, even
without understanding why, not even realizing that it might have
(10:55):
been a place that made me come alive more. But
it was just like almost as if I felt very
loyal to these places, or I just felt like these
places where my soul mate. And so two particular places
fit that bill for me. There's a lot of places
that I would describe as sacred land, which I'll get
to a little bit later in this episode. But my
(11:17):
personal places areas that felt like my soulmates, like I
literally longed to spend an extensive amount of time in
these places Um are Los Angeles and the Baja of Mexico,
so more towards Cabo San Lucas, um really the entire
Baja Peninsula. And so that's something I've I've known my
(11:42):
feeling about l A my whole life, when I was
a little girl, and I just want to share for
those um who may be listening. The way people who
are from l A feel about l A is very
different than the way UM TV movies are popular culture
portrays l A. People from l A don't necessarily look
(12:03):
at l A. It's like, oh, l A, you know, Hollywood. Um,
it's just our home. It's where we're from, and it's
a place that has beautiful weather and we work here
where with our families there. You know, you're just living
life as everyone in the places that they live does.
And so when I connect to l A, there can
be like a certain amount of stereotypes that I think
(12:26):
people get of it, um, but it's just for me.
I've found it from my personal life to be really
special to grow up with southern California sunshine in this
way and just the melting pot of experiences like Los
Angeles is so incredibly diverse, and it's like this kind
(12:49):
of um like living merging of timelines. Like if you
drive through certain parts of l A, like you see
buildings and homes and businesses from so many different times,
you know, going back into like the mid eighteen hundreds,
and it's just so interesting to me. Um, you see
(13:10):
all the influence. You know, some buildings are art decos,
some buildings are you know, kind of those like mega malls,
and you know, some buildings are like incredible architecture from
um the early nineteen hundreds and that stuff that I
personally really really love. My mind is always investigating and
(13:31):
so l A is a feast to me. There's always
something to see, to be um considering, thinking about witnessing,
and I love it. That's where I'm from. I feel
good here. And so when I, at different points in
my life moved to other places, I always wondered why
I felt such a longing. You know, It's like, is
(13:53):
it because I'm missing the people in my life? Is
it because this? That? And I could never quite put
my finger were on it. Um. I had the chance
to live in some really amazing cities like New York Manhattan.
I lived in Houston, Texas for some time, and both
of those cities were really amazing. I had wonderful experiences
(14:14):
and UM, the food was amazing and you know, all
the things. And for whatever reason, when I lived in
both places, no matter how successful I was, no matter
how many beautiful friendships I had, I ached to be
back in l A. So that's one part. And another
area I realized that about was Cabo San Lucas. And
(14:37):
I've been going to Cabo for I don't know, math
somewhere in between ten and twelve years, and I'll never
forget the very first time that I went, I just knew.
I said, You're going to live here one day. This
place is important for you. And UM. Now I do
spilit my time. I live in both UM the Baja
(14:59):
and so Los Angeles, and in that experience, I've just
found that I have never felt more nourished, more live,
more deeply deeply connected. You know, when I get to
do a lot of the work that I do and
UM host private retreats and teach meditation in Mexico and
(15:21):
the Baja. I can't even describe to you the feeling
that it had that I have there. It's it's literally
like I am my highest best self and I'm able
to teach at the highest level possible for me and
my personal abilities when I'm there, and I just feel
(15:42):
so connected to God. It's something about the way that
desert meets ocean. It just moves me. UM. And I
feel that way about l A and all the contrasts
of where I live here in Los Angeles. You know,
it's it's a walking conflict. Everywhere you look, there are
such extremes UM, just like massive extreme wealth, massive extreme poverty, UM, mountains, capitalists,
(16:12):
It's just like it's it's mind blowing how many things
are happening at one time. And I think something about
that is really intriguing to my brain and my spirit
to always be observing and witnessing that. UM. So both
of those places I knew deep in my soul were
my places UM. And then I have this session with
(16:34):
Brian Um that astro topography, and when he mapped both
of the charts, my soul was right the whole time. UM. Energetically,
where my ley lines are the two most UM beautiful
places I could ever be, the two places that are astrologically,
(16:56):
spiritually the most nourishing for my spirit. Yah on his
UM on his reading, We're exactly where I live in
Los Angeles and also the Baja where I work, and
so it felt like beautiful confirmation. So I don't have
(17:17):
recommendations to share of who can do this reading for
you depending on where you are. I don't like UM
to necessarily offer such personalized recommendations UM because just because
I had a great experience, I don't know the inner
workings of what may be meaningful for other people UM
(17:37):
or even you know the totality of who the people
are that do these different UM sacred works. But I
do recommend that you consider googling U astrology topography and
just read about it a little bit. See how that
makes you feel. There's a couple of sites online that
I've seen UM where you can kind of do it
(17:59):
for yourself for free. UM or you can, I'm sure
find someone that that offers that work. But just put
that on your radar, plant it in your mind's eye,
even if you don't do it today, but you know,
twenty years from now you remember and you want to
check it out. It could be really interesting and if
you have it started a lot of travel yet, it
could be really beautiful to be intentional, you know, depending
(18:22):
on where those areas are showing up for you, this
may be the opportunity to really plan that trip to
have your own personal eat, prey, love and have an
experience where you let yourself be transformed and expand your awareness.
So I just wanted to offer that it might it
might feel really good. So that's an aspect of UM
(19:02):
connecting to ways to find your personal sacred land as well.
So as you're thinking of those places, places you go
that make you come alive or after an astro topography,
places that you know make you come a live, creating
some intention around really bringing what is invoked in you
(19:25):
in those spaces into your actual daily life. UM. And
that could look like a few ways, like maybe when
you're on those vacations or you're taking those trips, it's
finding intentional pieces that you keep in your home and
not necessarily the touristy pieces that have like the name
of the place on it, but that could be cool too,
(19:47):
depending on your style. UM. But it could also just
be something that you remember you got there. It could
be a mug, it could be a plate, It could
be a piece of cloth or fabric, candle, as seashell, um,
whatever resonates with your unique spirit and really intentionally placing
it in your home. So for me, when I'm in
(20:08):
l A, I have this little area in my meditation
space where I really like to invoke Cabo and so
I have photo that I love of the Sea of
Cortez there and then I just have some candles around it,
some crystals. But it feels really nourishing, um to kind
of transport myself there. And another another way to do
(20:32):
this could be to plan some intentional trips. You know,
if you know, you really recharge and become more of
yourself someplace and you have the opportunities and and some
of the financial freedom to do that. In this moment,
maybe it's saying, you know, once a year, that's where
I go. Once every five years, that's where I go. Um.
(20:58):
There's something really special about letting yourself evolve over time
in places that are meaningful for you. You know, you
kind of get to track your growth in those places
as well. It's like you have a few different timelines
that you're living in and it can be beautiful. I'm
(21:19):
really enjoying that in this moment of my life. Um.
And there are other places that I kind of have
those relationships with. So another area that I have that
relationship with and this is the story that I wanted
to share more nature. Another sacred place for me in
(21:39):
the USA, UM particularly is Sedona, Arizona. Wow. Sedona many
know and for those that don't, Sedona is an It's
it's known and celebrated as an incredibly spiritual place. Um.
There is such an energy in Sedona that for me,
(22:01):
the way it's physically felt for me in my body,
it's almost like I'm I'm sitting in an ultra sonic machine.
You know those machines that they clean your jewelry in.
It's like you see this really fast kind of vibration
in the water and it just shakes the dirt loose,
and then your jewelry becomes cleaner and you can ever
imagine it. Um, That's how I feel when I'm there,
(22:24):
Like I feel like I have this like constant vibrational
frequency happening. Uh. And when I've talked to other people
that have gone or those that you know, story you'll
here when you go to Sedona quite a bit is
everyone is like, yeah, I moved here ten years ago,
moved here twenty years ago, twelve years ago, I was
(22:45):
living here. I visited here and never went home. I've
literally heard that from at least a hundred people UM
that I've met in Sedona. So there's something to that. UM.
And the red rocks, my god, it's much grounding energy.
One the color you really come alive with the burnt
(23:06):
deep reddish orange and reddish browns, very grounding colors. You're
connected to the earth. There's a lot of ancient energy there,
a lot of indigenous people roaming that land and use
that land as a sacred container. So many vortexas UM,
you're randomly fine cave dwellings there when you're going on
(23:28):
hikes or you'll see that, UM, there were dwellings there,
you know, like places where people live. Do you see
these carvings, these drawings, and it's incredible, it's mind blowing,
it's humbling. Um. You see the stars like you could
(23:48):
never imagine their places like Sedona, Santa fe Um. What
you can get out of the sky is so profound,
it's so I mean, there's no light pollution, you know,
you just look up, there's no smog. You just look
up and you see thousands of stars lit up. You
(24:11):
see shooting stars. While I was out there, there was
actually a comment um that was moving through the air
it's just like wow wow, and you get to in
bed with nature. And so Sedona my very first time
going to Sedona. I actually went on a Choper retreat
and I want to say this was maybe maybe eight
(24:35):
years ago, um, and they had this retreat that no
longer exists, but it was called Summoning the Sacred, and
Caroline Mice spoke at the retreat. DEPOC spoke at the retreat,
and um, Jeane Houston spoke at the retreat. And if
you're not familiar with some of those names, please take
(24:55):
a second and look it up. Um, especially if you're
familiar with Joseph Camp was the Hero's Journey. Jean Houston
has a book called The Heroine's Journey, and she really
speaks to goddesses and she speaks to the invocation of
the sacred, divine, feminine and beautiful work, beautiful, beautiful teachers.
(25:17):
So I went for that event and it was my
first time and in Sedona. Um. Okay, wait, so what
you here with that? It might have been ten years ago,
It was some time ago, but it was my first
trip to Sedona. And I went for that really beautiful
course retreat, that teaching retreat, and the second I got there.
(25:44):
I mean I couldn't sleep for days. I was literally
just a buzz but I wasn't tired. Um. It just
shifted things in me, and I ended up that after
that visit in that very first year, I probably went
to Sedona six more times in that one year, UM,
(26:06):
and I deep into my meditation practice there. I hiked,
I visited the vortexas hot air balloons, UM wrote, read, lived, healed. Uh.
It was really profound for me. And so that's a
place Sedona that I consider sacred land for myself, and
(26:26):
so I make it a point for a long time.
I made it a point to get there at least
once a year, and I hadn't been in a few
years and a couple of weeks ago. Really surprisedly I
had to. I tried to clear some time in my
schedule because I had been traveling so much, and so
(26:46):
I kind of wiped my schedule for about a week
so I could catch up on some things. And one
of my personal heroes called me out of the blue,
UM and said, hey, I, UM, something has come up
for me. I have an emergency. But I'm supposed to
(27:08):
teach this retreat in about two days in Sedona. Um,
could you please cover it for me? You know, which
you consider going and teaching in my place. So, first
of all, even though I cleared my week, you know,
I was noticing the whispers of God, and I said, well,
this is my hero, one of you know, one of
the people I admire. That's a sentence, but someone I admire,
(27:32):
someone whose work deeply, deeply moved me. So it's someone
that I admire who is asking this of me. I
would love to do this for them. And it's in
my favorite place, one of my favorite places. And I
had just happened to be literally dreaming about Sedona for
(27:54):
a few weeks. Um, Sedona had just come so deep
in my awareness, and I kept thinking about it, and
I was going through my photo albums looking at pictures
of my first visit there, and so I remember saying
to myself, God, you gotta make it back to Sedona.
You gotta make it back to Sedona. When are you
going to get there? And then I had looked at
my calendar and I was like, you are booked the
(28:16):
four Like there is no free space for just kind
of a random trip like that. So I sighed and
I was just like, Okay, well set your intention for
next year. And so when she called and she asked that,
and she said where it was, and then she said
it was actually at my favorite favorite favorite resort and
(28:43):
Vortex in Sedona Enchantment Resort. And me almost spa um
two places that I went repeatedly on my journey in
Sedona to heal places where I was so moved. I said, Okay,
this is God. So I said, yes, Um, packed my
bag and then I caught a flight to Sedona and
(29:05):
I ended up teaching there for about a week. And
I just had this beautiful opportunity to deepen my practice
and to also say thank you to this sacred space.
You know, when I think about what it actually um,
the opportunity that was in front of me to be there,
it felt like a very much a bookend experience, you know, UM,
(29:28):
a moment to really reflect significantly on the ways that
I have transformed and loved my life over the last decade.
And I took spikes, I meditated. I taught a really
wonderful group of about forty women, and we just had
a phenomenal time. We studied the divine feminine, we meditated,
(29:51):
We romanced our lives a little bit we hiked and
it was gorgeous. It's really beautiful energy wor done. Um
me almost spa is just phenomenal. And one of my
girlfriends even flew in, one of my very very close
friends who lives in Atlanta. We don't get a chance
(30:12):
to see each other that often, but it's really important
to both of us that we make the time. And
so she happened to hit me and she's like, where
are you What are you doing? I was like, I'm
in Sodona. Come for a day. And she had the
freedom in her schedule to do so, and so she
caught a flight popped up on me in Sedona. And
so one of the days after I finished teaching, um,
(30:36):
we just went on this long, long, hours long hike
in the sun, had dinner, caught up on life, shared
you know, dreams and visions for things coming, and then
we parted ways and I headed back home. And you know,
I thought, sacred land. This is sacred land. Those places
(30:58):
you go there's no real concept of time. Your soul
feels recharged, your soul feels nourished, and there's opportunity for spontaneity.
You know, when you think about these places or where
could be sacred land for you. It's also a place
that not just invokes your you know, higher self, it's
(31:20):
a place that lends you an energy to have really
extraordinary random experiences, you know, very synchronistic, serendipitous experiences. So
if there's any place you're thinking of, let this be
a signed to book that trip, UM, or at least
spend some time really thinking about it, you know, get
(31:43):
a book about it, print some pictures from the internet
about it and put them up. Let yourself reconnect to
that part of you and know that you can bring
that version of you when you feel your best in
these places. You can bring that version of you home.
You just have to be intentional about it. So thank
(32:04):
you for listening to this episode. Big Big, Big, Big,
Big Love. UM. I have some exciting things to share
with you in a couple of weeks, so I'm looking
forward to that as we relaunched the podcast, UM, if
you get a chance, please drop a five star review
and if you have an extra moment, would mean the
world to me if you kind of expanded that thought
(32:27):
and shared a comment as well after the review. All right,
you're soul work today, UM, spend some time thinking about
your sacred land, whether it's a vacation of family members, home,
an area you traveled for work, someplace you happen to
(32:48):
find yourself, but it really resonates with your spirit as meaningful,
as important, as extraordinary. I want you to think about
that place, want you to write it on paper, and
I want you to write how you feel when you're there.
If you don't yet have sacred land, I want you
to dream. I want you to really think about the
(33:11):
kind of places that feel good to you. And it
could be Wow, I really love how I feel in
the desert, or I love how I feel in the
snow when I'm with trees. That's when I'm my best self.
When I'm by the ocean, when I smell that salt
in the air, when I feel that sand, that's it.
I want you to just start daydreaming about that more
(33:34):
and setting the intention that your mind, heart and soul
will be able to have that experience. All right, big love,
no mistakes. Hey find me on social Let's connect at
Debbie Brown. That's Twitter and Instagram, or go to my
website Debbie Brown dot com. And if you're listening to
(33:54):
the show on Apple podcasts, please please Please don't forget
to rate, review, and subscribe, and send this episode to
a friend. Dropping Jams is the production of I Heart
Radio and The Black Effect Network. It's produced by Jack
Please and Me Debbie Brown. For more podcasts from my
heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
(34:17):
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Host
Devi Brown
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