Take it all in

Taking It All In: A Soulful Pause on Haida Gwaii

by Tamoah Burton

There’s a moment when you stop walking…

The forest quiets with you.

The ocean, still singing, holds your breath.

And the land whispers:

“Let it in.”

I’ve found myself on the edges of the world — Haida Gwaii, this wild, mystical archipelago off the northwest coast of Canada. A place where raven wings echo truths, moss grows like memory, and the mist moves like a veil between worlds.

Here, I’m remembering something many of us forget:

Healing doesn’t always ask for effort.

Sometimes, it just asks us to take it all in.

Breathe it in — A Soulful Practice

We spend so much of our lives exhaling stress, performing, caretaking, holding it together.

But what if you paused — right now — to fully receive?

- Close your eyes.

- Inhale slowly through your nose.

- Let the breath travel deep into your belly, softening you.

- Whisper to yourself: I receive. I soften. I allow.

- Exhale gently.

- Repeat.

This simple ritual realigns you with the feminine rhythm of replenishment — and reminds your body that it’s safe to let life in again.

The Ocean as Oracle: Emotional Cleansing & Feminine Flow

Standing at the edge of the Pacific, I can feel it in my bones — the ocean doesn’t hold back.

She moves. She releases. She flows.

This is the medicine we forget.

In midlife, many women feel emotionally clogged, energetically brittle, hormonally overwhelmed.

The cure isn’t in tightening up. It’s in softening, surrendering, and washing through.

Try this:

When you shower or bathe, imagine the water carrying away old emotions. Visualize it washing your energy field as well as your skin. Say, “I release. I return to flow.”

Water heals more than we know.

Forest as Temple: Healing with the Trees

The cedar trees here don’t shout. They simply stand in their sacredness.

I’ve sat with them — forehead to bark, spine to trunk — and asked nothing.

Still, I’ve received everything: grounding, safety, ancestral whispers.

In many Indigenous teachings, cedar is the Great Cleanser — used to purify, protect, and bless.

If you’re feeling emotionally overloaded or energetically slimed, imagine sitting beneath a giant cedar tree.

Ask it to take what no longer serves.

Feel your system recalibrate to stillness and strength.

Ancestral Land, Living Wisdom: Honoring the First Peoples of Haida Gwaii

As I walk these wild shores and forest paths, I do so with deep reverence for the Haida Nation — the original stewards of this land, who have lived in sacred relationship with the land, sea, sky, and spirit world for thousands of years.

Every cedar I pass, every tide I witness, feels infused with stories and songs from ancient times.

The Haida people have long understood what many of us are just beginning to remember:

That the land is alive.

That spirit is in everything.

And that healing begins with relationship — not control.

Being here reminds me that healing is not just personal. It’s ancestral. Collective. Interwoven.

This land holds wisdom we can humbly receive when we walk with care, gratitude, and listening hearts.

Plant Allies of Haida Gwaii: Sacred Earth Medicine

In the spirit of honoring this land, I want to share a few of the native plant allies that have stood out to me — each one carrying both physical healing and energetic medicine.

Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata)

Known as the Tree of Life, cedar has been used by Indigenous communities for purification, protection, ceremony, and spiritual grounding.

- Energetic medicine: Clears dense energy, anchors spirit, connects us to ancient knowing

- Physical support: Antimicrobial, respiratory clearing, used in steam baths and smudge bundles

- Ritual tip: Place cedar sprigs around your space or add to a bath to release heaviness and restore clarity.

Devil’s Club (Oplopanax horridus)

A powerful and sacred plant of the Pacific Northwest forests, Devil’s Club is revered for its spiritual and boundary-setting properties.

- Energetic medicine: Wards off negativity, strengthens personal power, ancestral protection

- Physical support: Traditionally used to support blood sugar balance, pain relief, and immunity

- Ritual tip: Carry a small piece (ethically harvested) for energetic shielding; use in boundary-setting meditations.

Seaweed & Kelp

Harvested from the rich intertidal zones, seaweeds have nourished coastal peoples for generations.

- Energetic medicine: Ocean wisdom, hormonal rebalancing, feminine flow

- Physical support: Mineral-rich, supports thyroid and adrenal function — vital during perimenopause/menopause

- Ritual tip: Add a few strips of dried kelp to your bath and invite the ocean’s energy to cleanse and restore you.

These plant beings are not trends or ingredients — they are elders.

They are sacred.

They ask us to come into right relationship — with ourselves, the Earth, and the people who have tended these medicines since time immemorial.

Living in Rhythm: Let the Land Mirror Your Midlife

There is a quiet, feminine intelligence in this landscape.

The slowing tide.

The mist that hides and reveals.

The trees that decay and grow in the same breath.

Midlife is not a crisis.

It is an invitation to come back into rhythm — with your body, your soul, and the Earth.

Let the land show you how to:

- Move slower

- Feel deeper

- Receive more

- Control less

You are not broken. You are becoming.

A Gentle Prompt for You

Ask yourself today:

What beauty, message, or emotion have I not yet let myself fully receive?

Let this land, or the one beneath your feet, heal you.

Let the tree, the tide, the fog, or the fire show you how.

Healing may not always be about doing more.

Sometimes, it’s about softening enough to let life in.

With breath, beauty, and mystery,

PS. If you would like to go deeper, I invite you to journey with me through my 3 month program "Blossom into your feminine Awesome" - a practical and powerful journey to reconnect with your body, balance your energy and feel like yourself again.

Read more about it here