November Message: Let It Fall | Releasing What is Not Ours to Carry
Featuring Heart Leader Gabrielle Draxler, Founder of Just Bee Wellness & Yoga
Gabrielle Draxler is a 500-hour yoga teacher, meditation coach, and sound healer. An Army veteran and full-time librarian, Gabrielle brings together her passions for service, learning, yoga, and wellness. Through Just Bee Wellness & Yoga, she creates spaces that invite people to connect, learn, and experience greater well-being.
✧ Gabi hosts yoga and sound healing sessions locally in various locations. If you are interested in connecting with Gabi to explore any of her offerings, you can reach her in the following ways:
Here’s the link for the most up-to-date schedule: Local Group Offerings
Contact Gabi via email here: thejustbeehive@gmail.com
GATHERING MESSAGE
✧ We all carry things that weigh us down. Some come from the everyday pressures, expectations, and responsibilities of life. Others run much deeper, shaped by family patterns, ancestral histories, societal conditioning, and beliefs we've absorbed along the way.
Our central message for November is Let It Fall: Releasing What Is Not Ours to Carry, and on Sunday, we explored the connection between the mind and body and what it means to recognize the things we're holding, both consciously and unconsciously.
We began with a reflection on the messages we receive throughout our lives. Some come from the people closest to us. Others come from the culture and world around us. Some we accept without question, while others we resist or reject. Yet even the messages we don't believe can shape the stories we tell ourselves and the ways we come to understand who we are.
We considered how much of what we carry was handed to us before we were old enough to choose it. Our family histories and ancestral experiences can influence the ways we respond to the world, the patterns we repeat, and even how we experience stress in our bodies.
Our Heart Leader, Gabrielle Draxler, invited us to consider how these experiences can be carried forward through generations, and how becoming aware of them can open the door to doing something different. Then, she took us deeper into the mind-body connection and the role sound and vibration can play in supporting our well-being. She shared how our own voices can become powerful tools for working with the energy and emotions we carry.
One of the most interesting parts of her teaching was exploring how simple sounds can be used intentionally. Gabrielle introduced the SSSS sound, like a snake hissing, as a way to work with the breath and release energy. She also demonstrated the HUH sound, like the breath we use to fog up a mirror, as a practice for working with fear and shifting our intention toward love.
These simple practices remind us that we don't always need elaborate tools or someone else to guide us. Our breath, our voices, and our awareness are always available to us. By bringing intention to the sounds we make and the way we breathe, we can create moments to pause, shift our attention, and reconnect with ourselves.
We then experienced a restorative sound journey guided by Gabrielle. Using a nature-based meditation, and her crystal bowls, she invited us to imagine a tree releasing its leaves as autumn arrives. Just as the tree lets go of what it no longer needs while preparing for the season ahead, we were invited to consider what we might be ready to release.
Through sound, vibration, and guided imagery, we were given space to rest, receive, and simply be.
We were reminded that letting go doesn't always mean having all the answers or knowing exactly what comes next. Sometimes it begins with recognizing what we're holding, understanding where it may have come from, and giving ourselves permission to set it down.
Before we can let something fall, we first have to recognize that we’ve been carrying it.
As we enter this season of turning inward, may we remember that we don't have to carry everything we've been given. We can honor where we've come from while choosing what we want to carry forward.
PERENNIAL WISDOM SOURCES
✧ INDIGENOUS
Embers by Richard Wagamese
✧ DIVINE FEMININE
Wild Mercy by Mirabai Starr
✧ SPIRITUALLY UNBOXED
All About Love by bell hooks
SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
✧ Gabrielle introduced us to the power of our own voices as a way to work with breath, sound, and intention. You don't need to be a singer or have any special training to explore these practices. Your voice is already a tool you can use to connect with yourself.
Try these simple sounds when you need a moment to pause, release, or shift your energy:
The SSSS Sound: Take a comfortable breath in, then slowly release it while making a soft SSSS sound, like a snake. Notice the movement of your breath and the sensation of releasing the air.
The HUH Sound: Imagine fogging up a mirror with your breath. Gently exhale with a soft HUH sound. As you do, bring your attention to something you may be holding in fear and set an intention to meet it with love instead.
There is no need to force anything or make a particular feeling happen. Simply notice what you experience. Give yourself permission to use your breath and voice as a way to reconnect and release.
SPIRITUAL INVITATION FOR NOVEMBER
✧ Once a week, set aside 15–20 minutes to pause and notice what you're carrying, what feels heavy, and what you might be ready to set down, even temporarily. Then give yourself permission to do something that feels nourishing or restful. Create a little space for yourself to let something fall and remember that you don't have to carry it all.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
✧ On What We Carry: What expectations, beliefs, responsibilities, or old stories are you carrying that may no longer be yours to hold?
✧ On What We Inherit: What messages have you received from your family or the world around you that you've never stopped to question?
✧ On Letting Go: What might you be ready to set down, even temporarily, to make room for something new?
✧ On Making Space: If you weren't carrying quite so much, what might have more room to emerge in your life?
UPCOMING GATHERINGS
✧ Sun. 11/22 | 10 am–Noon: Nature Gathering
Featuring Heart Leaders, Denise Maple and our Nature Advisor, Sarah Sicard.
Location: Carver-Roehl Park | Clinton, WI
✧ Sun. 12/6 | 10 am–Noon: Dec. Indoor Gathering
Location: The Venue | Janesville, WI
ANNOUNCEMENTS & WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
✧ Help Shape What's Next: Stewardship Circles
As we look ahead to 2027, we're inviting about 20 people to help nurture the growing Ancient Hearts community. Opportunities include welcoming newcomers, supporting communications, and helping with gathering and course setup. Whether you'd enjoy a regular role or helping occasionally, we'd love to hear from you. No special experience is needed, just a desire to be part of what we're creating together.
Sign up to join a Stewardship Circle
Sign-up deadline is 11/23.
✧ Wisdom School | November 14
Join Debra Scott, PhD, for Wisdom of the High Heart, an interactive workshop exploring the inner spiritual path, the origins of Judeo-Christian teachings, and the wisdom of Sophia, often described as Divine Wisdom. The afternoon includes heart-led meditation and conversation, along with an introduction to a longer learning journey into the Way of Mastery beginning in January.
Register here by 2 pm on 11/13.
Date: Saturday, November 14 | 1–4 pm
Location: The Venue, Janesville, WI
✧ Heart-led Works Service Project | December 12
The School District of Janesville is holding its 17th annual Delivering Bags of Hope food distribution on December 12, 2026, and we will be joining them at the Dollar General Warehouse to support them. Sign up below for a time and join us:
Sign-up to volunteer here.
