Embracing Uncertainty: Finding Beauty in the Unknown

How does it affect you when you're confronted with uncertainty?

Before you deep dive into the hymn book of anxiety, worry, and doubt...let me present a different posture to this question.

For most of our time as human beings on this planet, uncertainty has brought us closer to God, to the Great Mystery, to the acknowledgement of a much greater force at work in the world and in our lives. When we're uncertain, and we can't find resolution, it's an opportunity to lean into something much greater than ourselves.

While unsettling and full of potential doubt in oneself and the future, uncertainty can also be deeply moving and beautiful. Uncertainty breaks down our defensive structures, creating cracks and space for the new. It helps us to question our identity, our beliefs, our current mode of operating. Uncertainty creates the conditions for new maps, a new consciousness.

Uncertainty can also inspire prayer, an invocation, the planting of a seed of a new vision. It can inspire a grounding into the present moment and a desire to BE ALIVE RIGHT NOW. If the future is unknown (as it always has been), and you can't do much about it (which has always been true), what choice do you have than to be fully grounded, responsible, and present with what you have right now? Taking one step at a time, walking with integrity, cultivating trustworthiness, and tending to the life you have.

Finding Grace in Life's Transitions

In a recent consultation I had with a patient, she talked to me of the great uncertainty she feels herself in. She's a single mom whose daughter just left for college. She was laid off a few months ago. She's fallen in love. And she's in the transitional time of perimenopause. Any single one of these would be enough to rock the boat.

In this zone, she's feeling all of the familiar robbers at the door. The ones that say she's not good enough. The ones that speak of self-doubt. The ones who're reminding her of past failures, in relationship, in work, in mothering.

We talked about how this uncertainty could be reframed as an exciting time—a time to call in the support of steadying practices such as breathwork, Qi Gong, and daily meditation. We explored neurolinguistic programming, a fancy way of saying that how we talk to ourselves affects how we relate to the world—and that a few simple changes in her languaging would create a dramatic internal shift in this transformational process she's in.

We talked about how indigenous and Native communities, and the lineages we all herald from, have ceremonies and rituals to honor these rites of passage—to close the door on an old way of knowing ourselves and to move forward in a gracious, sovereign way towards the new life that is calling us.

Ancient Wisdom for Modern Transitions

One of these rituals from the Nahuatl traditions of Central America and Mexico is the Becoming an Elder ceremony. When someone turns 52, the community comes together to honor their passing into a new stage of life.

There are different pieces to this ritual. One is to gather 52 sticks, each stick representing each year of life. These sticks eventually get offered to a ceremonial fire, burning and letting go of anything that no longer serves from those years. Another part is to ask representatives of the different stages of life to speak about what that stage is like. (Each stage is 13 years.) And then our new Elder gives advice or counsel, based on the wisdom of their years, to each of those representatives.

It is a ceremony of respect, a community witnessing the passing of time, an honoring of age and the maturity this brings, and an invitation to step into a new way of being and knowing oneself. It is a ritual that invites grace and dignity. I've witnessed deep psychological shifts in those I know who've gone through this process. It is very powerful.

Navigating Your Uncertainty

If you're uncertain, and there are many reasons you could be, strengthen your invocations and prayers now. Take good care of your physical well-being. Talk and write out strong emotions. Remember we have an incredible capacity to heal and to be healed by each other. Be cautious with your exposure to the news—observe how it affects and even manipulates you.

Each one of us, every human being, lives within a unique and complex story within a rich diverse web. The situation we collectively find ourselves in is much more than the media will tell you. Don't get lost in anger, outrage, or despair. Ground in the abundance of what you know: Family. Love. Service. Kindness. Generosity. Curiosity.

And perhaps maybe, it's time for you to do a ritual of transformation for yourself.

Ritual Space Creation: Honoring Your Life Transitions

In our modern world, we've lost many of the ceremonies that once helped us navigate life's profound transitions. Yet the need for marking these passages remains deeply embedded in our psyches and souls.

As a naturopathic physician, Chinese medicine practitioner, and ritual space creator with over two decades of training with indigenous healers from the Shipibo, Mayan, Moshica, Daoist, and Quechua traditions, I offer personalized ceremonies to honor your unique life transitions.

My approach weaves together ancient wisdom with modern understanding of the body-mind-spirit connection. Through shamanic Qi Gong transmission and practices drawn from diverse healing traditions, these rituals create powerful containers for transformation that address both the tangible and subtle aspects of your being.

These ceremonies can support you through transitions such as:

• Entering a new decade of life

• Experiencing the empty nest as children leave home

• Moving through career changes or retirement

• Navigating relationship beginnings or endings

• Entering perimenopause, menopause, or other biological transitions

• Healing from illness or trauma

• Embracing a new identity or letting go of an old one

• Marking significant achievements or milestones

  
  

Each ritual is co-created with you, drawing upon elements that resonate with your particular journey and cultural background. This might include:

• Fire ceremonies for release and transformation

• Earth-based practices for grounding and renewal

• Movement and breath work to embody the transition

• Sound healing and invocations

• Community witnessing when appropriate

• Integration practices to carry the experience forward

  
  

The question that guides my work is: "How are we becoming the elders our children are yearning for?" This inquiry invites us to approach our transitions not just as personal passages but as opportunities to develop the wisdom, presence, and compassion that our families and communities need.

Through intentional ritual, what might otherwise feel like chaotic change becomes a sacred journey—one with meaning, purpose, and profound healing potential. These ceremonies offer both psychological reframing and spiritual connection, helping you to honor what has been while embracing what is emerging.

If you feel called to mark your transition with intention and ceremony, I invite you to reach out. Together, we can create a ritual container that honors your unique passage and helps you step into your next chapter with clarity, purpose, and grace.

I offer these services through my private practice in the Hudson Valley of NY, with options for both in-person and virtual ceremonies depending on your needs and location.

Please reach out to begin this sacred work together.

You can find a link here for more information.