Hello Fellow Embodied Souls –

I have a delicious new morning practice. It is simple and it has profoundly changed how I emerge into the day and engage with life. 

After I am dressed, I take my steaming mug of tea in my hands and I step outside. I do not put on any extra layers to protect me from the cold. I want to be with the cold and light and the sounds. I stand on my porch and I feel the bracing cold air, gaze at the sky and trees, and listen to the sounds of the morning. As Brain Swimme once offered…one of our purposes here as humans is to witness the magnificence all around us. And as I do this I also allow myself to be reflected back in the movement of nature around me. I let my senses drink in the freshness of each unique morning and I am somatically reminded that I am nature. That I am part of this wild and beautiful organic being of the earth with her sun and clouds, chirps and whistles, thrumming and humming. That I am nature and rhythmic and pulsing and that is how I wish to engage with my day. 

The electric kettle, toaster oven, phone and computer are all incredibly helpful and allow me some ease and access and they are machines. I am not a machine but a living, evolving, organic being and the more I am enclosed and cut off from the wild nature that is me, the more isolated I can feel. So, taking the time to step outside my four walls and intentionally offer my attention to my siblings of nature allows me to reclaim an older and bigger sense of Self; one that is individual and simultaneously interconnected with all. I get a sense of the mood of the day in my small corner of the world and I track the sun, the moon and seasons more readily; all of which I share with you and all on this planet.

I am enjoying doing this when I travel as it invites me to be informed by the landscape and the hue in that place and not just the walls and floor of wherever I may be staying. Many traditional cultures remind us that we are deeply informed by the landscapes we are born in and that we inhabit. So when I was in Bozeman, Montana recently I took in the different slant of the sun, the church bells and then murmuration of birds as I stood in the cold crisp air saying good day to my family of being. It seems to be all the more important these days with the incredible stress that travel has become. It helps to remember and connect to the wisdom of place and the larger sense of being that can help anchor me (us) into our true Self.

I invite you to take up this practice and see how it impacts you and informs your day. How might it help you remember your deep humanness and connection to the living vibrant natural world?

May we open ourselves to the reminders of our inherent being of nature

May we listen to the world around us and hear the echo of belonging inside

May we take time to slow down and allow ourselves to reclaim our wild humanness

May we bring blessings and presence to all we encounter

Practice Prompts:

• Take a moment, right now, while you are reading to drop your attention down and feel your weight on the earth. Feel this place that you are occupying and sense that it is connected to all the other spots occupied by humans and more than humans. Notice that you are embedded in this world and as a result are so much more connected and supported than you might often feel. Feel how this informs how you continue through your day and evening.
• Take time in the morning to step outside, just for a few moments, and allow your senses to drink in your larger body of landscape. Feel the temperature of the air, listen to the sounds of waking up, look to the sky and the orbs of light and the dance of clouds, smell the dry or the wet or that whatever is there, taste it and bring it inside with you. Perhaps refresh this conversation throughout your day.
• Slow down and notice your own pulsing, organic being of tissue and soul and sense and presence. Can you bring this juiciness to your next conversation with a co-worker or family member? Can you remember your vastness even while navigating all the inner places of buildings and machines?
• I offer one to one sessions in person in Bend, Oregon and virtually all over the world. If you would like to learn more about my offerings please email me or schedule a free 20 minute Exploratory Session.

Live Streaming Practice Opportunities:

• Yoga for Resilience, Mondays, 10-11:30am PT, livestream through Body of Insight
• All Levels Yoga, Sundays…Jan 22, Feb 26, Mar 26, Apr 23, 10-11:30am PT, livestream through Two Dog Yoga
• Tending the Nervous System Workshop Part II, Monday, January 30, 5:30-7:30pm, livestream through Two Dog Yoga
• On Demand Yoga Practices…All Levels… through Two Dog Yoga (practice with me anytime, anywhere!)

Inspirational Wisdom:

YES, THAT’S WHEN

I like my body when I’m in the woods
and i forget my body, I forget that arms
that legs, that nose. I forget that waist,

that nerve, that skin. And I aspen. I mountain.
I river. I stone. I leaf. I path. I flower.
I like when I evergreen, current and berry.

I like when I mushroom, avalanche, cliff.
And everything is yes then, and everything
new: wild iris, duff, waterfall, dew.

~ Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer