I need help getting started, staying focused?

[WitchyMermaid95]

Hello,

I'm pretty new to the craft and for a while when I first began (about 6 months ago) I was practicing different rituals for the full moons, preparing spells and filling my book. I was feeling wonderfully spiritually and I was really beginning to understand the craft and the ideas behind it, I was learning a lot. However, a few months ago I became occupied with work and a few personal things and I stopped practicing, I stopped paying attention to my book and I feel as though I've lost focus and now I can't seem to get back into it. Another issue for me, is the space, my family doesn't know about my practice and I don't often have the house to myself. I live in a big city and there aren't too many places nearby that I can go to be with nature as I really want to. I feel that this is another reason I've lost touch with the craft in the past couple of months.

Does anyone have any tips for me? How can I become more motivated to start again, and what can I do about my space issue?

[Xiao Rong]

It's normal to have phases where you're very spiritually engaged, and then you get into a rut. Sometimes it takes a while to get back in, but you're on the right track just by noticing your spiritual needs. Just be patient; it'll come with time.

I grew up in the suburbs where there wasn't a lot of "wilderness". However, I always felt an intense reverence for weeds like dandelions and daisies, and I always loved observing squirrels, earthworms, birds, etc. Even though it may not look like the forest grove of our dreams, I think that nature manifests itself in different ways in the city; the wild carves a space out for itself despite all our best efforts.

[SpiritTalker]

I like what Xiao Rong has written. Just quietly observing what's right under our noses, or in the bush by my window, is as close as i often can get to nature. Have you ever tried two minute sunrise & sunset greeting? In addition, so far you've gotten familiar with moon rituals and some spell work. How about some form of meditation? or 10 minute stream of consciousness journaling just before bed, and that sort of thing...does it appeal to you? Reflect on the connections you recall during the rituals. Revisit in your mind and identify the source of the power you may have sensed. Journal about it...was it as anticipated or different? How? What would you want different? Write as much of an outline as you can in 10 minutes, then set it down and return to it the next day for another 10 mins. If you give yourself just 10 minutes every day on any one idea, you'll be surprised. All the stuff you've been learning takes on deeper meaning, and breaks through the doldrums.

It's possible you put so much effort and activity into the first wave that you were over balanced, and when ordinary life caught your attention again, you swung back the other way, expecting the momentum to keep the swing going, like a pendulum. Introduce balance by reducing the length of the swing. Shorten the time spent on spiritual interests but make them daily, just as mundane issues are done daily.

[WitchyMermaid95]

Thanks for both responses, I really like what you have written here..

I will definitely try to pay more attention to the nature I do have access to. And i do agree that I may have thrown myself a bit off balance by putting too much energy into the first few months of practice. As for the meditation, I have tried but I just can't seem to stay focused on the meditaion for more than a minute at a time.. and unfortunately I kind of give up. I keep trying but when it doesn't "work", I don't feel motivated to continue.

[SpiritTalker]

So plan to meditate for two minutes. There are no prizes or extra points for agony.

[smogie_michele]

I go through periods of extreme witchiness to what I call "spiritual burnout." When this happens, I try to get myself back into things by doing little things: praying over a great smelling candle just before lighting it after a busy day, while walking to my car before work noting at least one beautiful thing, changing your morning coffee or tea with positive, productive energies, and so on.

As far as meditation goes, you can find free apps that have guided meditations that actually teach you how to mediate. They are really great.

[MsMollimizz]

When I start, I relax my body, draining my body
of all stress and tension. Feeling it drain from the
top of my head down my body and letting it drain
into the Earth to be recharged. Then I drop my
"grounding cord" deep into the Earth until I feel
it reach the core. My Base Chakra will get warm
when I reach it.
I myself have a hard time getting my mind quiet...
Focusing on my breath worked for a little while.
What worked for me was focusing on my chakras,
feeling(easier than seeing for me) them one at a time.
Your Base Chakra can make you tingle down there...
Once I feel them I sweep them of any debris/gunk
that they acquired. After sweeping them I can almost
see them, but I can feel them more. I'm not saying this
will work for everyone, but I hope it will work for some.
After I have swept them all, I draw energy up from
Mother Earth thru my grounding cord. Recycling the
energy in my body...the "old" energy coming out of
the top of my head like a fountain to flow back into
the Earth; all the while fresh energy fills me anew.
NEVER FORGET TO PULL UP GROUNDING CORD
BEFORE YOU MOVE !!! I have felt a tug on my spine
when I space pulling it up.

Gentle Light
MsMollimizz