Hello Beautiful SoulBodies –
I am dancing with the potent reminder of how precious this life of embodiment is. How magnificent, heartbreaking, beautiful and fragile we are…as humans, as a web of life. Death will do that, if we let it. It will gather us up and remind us to remember and be present for each moment. To show up for this experience…whatever it may be…pain, joy, connection, grief, beauty…with all our senses alive for this is the gift of embodiment. And it also reminds us that this is a finite journey and all too often we run around on automatic pilot giving our half-assed attention to everything and missing most of it.
I recently had a young friend and student die after a harrowing 12 hour surgery. I spoke with her the day before and was showered with her light spirit and willingness to show up for her own journey of life. And now she is taking the journey we will all take one day…beyond this body. I think of her parents grieving for the loss of their 40 year old daughter, of the moments we shared and how I won’t hear her laugh anymore. I am aware of the importance of grieving and remembering…riding the waves of delight and loss that tangle together and seem to buoy me up and drown me at the same time. A ride I am committed to staying on and not bypassing.
In my work with others we often explore survival physiology and how it can get stuck in our nervous system. We have moved on from the moment of impact yet our nervous system is still convinced we are in danger so then everything can feel dangerous. When we are in survival mode we are not in savoring mode and loose out on the nuances and possibilities of the current moment. When we take the time to complete these defensive responses we can become more present more of the time…showing up for the here and now that is so precious and includes grief and pain. Often we come to the realization that being present with the pain as well as the joy is the magic of being alive fully.
I think of all the stolen moments of those running for their lives around the globe and how they deserve the opportunity to savor this life and not have to be fighting for survival day in and day out. From my place of safety, how can I offer my resilience and presence to them? I can witness without flinching, I can hold their humanity as the same as mine and I can keep offering moments of beauty and connection in hopes that they will one day have the opportunity to move out of survival and join me. I can mourn and I can lean into the aliveness I have and that I want for them and ask how can I help in obvious ways and not so obvious ways. I can make a sacred offering of my awareness of life moment to moment.
May we show up for the moments of our day, fully and completely
May we remember that this life is finite and precious and act accordingly everyday
May we honor life by acknowledging death and its ever present gift of N O W
May we bring wild blessings and fierce love to all we encounter
Practice Prompts:
- Take a moment to pause and consider how you would like to show up for the next conversation, interaction, opportunity, moment… knowing that we don’t truly know when this magnificent life with all it’s challenges will end?
- Look for opportunities to help another being, human or other, and see how this might bring more aliveness to your system and how you might share this with the world.
- Practice slowing down and showing up in small and big ways for the full spectrum of life close in and farther away. When we slow down that can open us up to noticing more and feeling more and being more!
- I offer one to one sessions, in-person in Bend, Oregon, and virtually all over the world. These sessions are centered on supporting you find nervous system capacity and resiliency through various practices including but not limited to Somatic Experiencing, embodied movement and sensory perceptions. Please email me or schedule a free 20 minute Exploratory Session.
Live Streaming Practice Opportunities:
- Yoga for Resilience, Mondays, 9:30-11am PT, livestream through Body of Insight
- All Levels Yoga, Sundays… May 12, Jun 23, Jul 21, Aug 18, 9:30-11am PT, livestream through Two Dog Yoga
- On Demand Yoga Practices…All Levels… through Two Dog Yoga
Inspirational Wisdom:
How the worst day of my life became the best.
When I realized the storm was inevitable,
I made it my medicine.
Took two snowflakes on the tongue in the morning,
two snowflakes on the tongue by noon.
There were no side effects,
only sound effects.
Reverb added to my lifespan.
An echo that asked:
What part of your life’s record is skipping?
What wound is on repeat?
Have you done everything you can
to break out of that groove?
By nighttime, I was intimate with the difference
between tying my laces and tuning the string section of my shoes made a symphony of walking away from everything that did not want my life to
sing.
Felt the love for myself so consistent metronomes tried to copyright my
heartbeat.
Finally understood I am the conductor of my own life and will be even
after I die.
I, like the trees, will decide what I become.
Porch swing.
Church pew.
An envelope that must be licked to be closed.
Kinky choice.
But I didn’t close.
I opened
and opened
and opened
until I could imagine the pain was the sensation
of my spirit not breaking.
That my mind was a parachute that could always open in time.
That I could wear my heart on my sleeve and never grow out of that
shirt.
That every falling leaf is a tiny kite
with a string too small to see held by the part of me in charge of making beauty out of grief.