Elul Activities
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A mama goat with a baby on her back nuzzling her ear and one nearby
Elul Activities
by Rebekah Erev
Elul is the last month of the Hebrew year. A time for reflection and introspection of the past year. These activities are suggestions for how you might embody and actualize the spirit of this month.
Suggestions for invoking the container to do the holy work of Elul:
Take a few breaths (light a candle and herbs/ cedar). We take some moments to come into the fullness of ourselves. We call open our hearts, beckoning the glory of our authentic selves forward, to do this important soul work of Elul. Take a moment to feel your body, remembering you are the earth. Bring in the intentions and support of your immediate community, close friends and family, your greater community, the struggles for justice you are involved in. Bring these in as your allies and accomplices, into your somatic field - your body, emotions, and spirit. Breath into your gut. Feel yourself surrounded by all that loves you, keep your eyes wide open or close them. This is the holy time of introspection and forgiveness.
Each day wake up and greet the day with gratitude. Wash your hands, this is a Jewish tradition of cleansing away any “demons” that may have stuck to you during sleep. As the water runs over your palms, sense into what you most appreciate about your life. These can be simple or profound (or both simultaneously!), big or small, the gifts we receive with ease and the “fucking” gifts- the lessons that can be hard to swallow but help us grow into the fullness of ourselves. In this practice of gratitude we cultivate the parts of our lives we want to bring into the coming year.
You are perfect, just the way you are. You are also a changing, forever morphing and evolving animal. You spiral back and forth through time. Taking time and intentionally reflecting is a trait human animals have been given, to cultivate our spirits and heal our world. This is Elul work.
Before bed, journal or contemplate these questions. You can do one or two a night or add your own:
Where was I last year this time emotionally? How have I grown?
Where was I last year this time spiritually? How have I grown?
Do I have any regrets from this past year? What are they? If I imagine doing something differently, what would it have been?
How am I most hard on myself? How might I soften?
What were the highlights of this past year? What do I want to relish?
What were some times I felt aligned with my integrity this past year?
What were some times I felt lost or uncertain?
Go through each month and try to write down one moment you felt connected to truth and your true essence for each month.
How do I want to grow emotionally this coming year?
How do I want to grow spiritually this coming year?
How do I want to grow intellectually this coming year?
What habits or rituals do I have that serve me? (this could be drinking water, brushing teeth, praying before bed etc.)
What is a habit or ritual I wish to cultivate?
What work did I do well this last year?
What work do I wish I did? How can I reach out and cultivate the support I need to follow through on this work in the coming year?
What are ways I was really kind to myself this past year?
In what ways have I harmed myself in this past year?
What are ways I showed love to those I care about personally this year?
What are ways I showed love to my community this year?
How do I want to be more loving in general?
Do I need more support in my life? If so, who can I talk to about this and build tools for more support?
When I think back on the past year, where can I see I need more nurturing from others (plants, animals, the wind, people)?
How have I been ingenious about being alive in this time right now given the pandemic?
Name one animal you admire or feel connected to. Reflect on characteristics of this animal that you admire. Contemplate how this animal may assist you in cultivating these qualities.
Name one plant you admire or feel connected to. Reflect on characteristics of this plant that you admire. Contemplate how this plant may assist you in cultivating these qualities.
Name an element (wind, fire, water, earth) you feel connected to in this moment. How can this element support you in being more of your most authentic self?
Name an element you feel more resistant to. What does this element have to teach you.
Some notes on resentments, amends and apologies:
Resentments help us understand our growing edges, give us potent medicine to expand. What resentments do you hold? These can be towards people, places or things. List each one in columns. Next to each one, write why you are resentful-let it all out-this is cathartic and helps move the resentment out of you. In another column write how you might let go of the resentment (praying about it, making an amends of some kind, changing some way you interact with it). Contemplate what might replace the feeling of resentment. What would it feel like to be free of these thoughts? The resentments may have led to behavior that was hurtful to yourself or others.
Have I hurt anyone unintentionally this year? How might I make amends?
Have I hurt anyone intentionally, not being my best self? How might I make amends?
Who or what do you need to forgive? Who do you want to ask forgiveness from?
Before making any apologies directly, council with a trusted friend, mentor or therapist. Contemplate if these apologies would do more harm than good. Is it an apology that would make you feel better but make the other person feel uncomfortable? Perhaps they don’t want to rehash a painful situation unecessarily. Contemplate the most kind way to amend a hurtful situation (this includes ways to be more loving to yourself). It may not be a direct apology but instead a change in behavior. It may be a simple acknowledgement of harm in an email or in person. It could be that the person is no longer alive, so a letter to them that you read in private to their spirit may be appropriate. Educate yourself about cultural protocols of the person you would like to apologize to. A direct apology may not be appropriate for every situation.
Some of us have a tendency to avoid apologies, some of us over apologize. Meditate and be kind to yourself. Pray for right action (which is sometimes no action). Trust your body.
There’s much more to say on how to make a good apology, some very basic protocol: keep it centered on your behavior, not the other persons. Be humble. Be open to hearing if they have feedback or more information that could help you grow. Understand that you are not your actions. You are good through and through. Making mistakes is imperative to our growth. In fact our ancestors encouraged us to make mistakes and learn from them. They teach us that it’s better to make a mistake and learn and grow from it then to have never made the mistake in the first place.
Find a time to make a collage or art about the world you want to see come into form this year, both individually and collectively.
