Hello Dear Ones –
There are times, and they seem to be happening with more and more regularity, when words feel inept and even a disservice. And for someone like me who loves words and feels the potency of language that can be a challenge. But what I have also learned over the years is that often it is what is not said, the silence and space around the words, that can be just as powerful and helpful.
I didn’t write last month as the convergence of things in my personal life meant that to do so would overwhelm me and I am done pushing past my capacity. And so here I am a full moon cycle later thinking…what can I say that is worth saying amidst global catastrophe and mind numbing loss of life and land on just about every continent? How can my words help and not add to the cacophony of platitudes or dismissal? I could choose to not post again this month…that could be one form of silence and space. Or I could speak to this challenge…which I imagine I am not the only one feeling.
There is a potency in being with others and not having to speak. There is a way the space around the words of a poem gives it a different kind of juice than prose. There is a way the heart is held and heard in quiet being. And in the quiet we can find more discernment about what needs to be said and how. There is a great practice of W A I T …Why Am I Talking? The practice of pausing long enough to sense whether words are in service to another or ourselves and how silence may be the best language of care and presence.
A Sufi teacher I studied with many years ago said that silence is not the absence of sound but the absence of the little self. When we slow down and allow for space and silence, then the larger Self can emerge and share its wisdom…maybe in words and maybe not. So, perhaps we can find the ways to witness and be with all the pain with and without words. Perhaps we can trust the places of quiet and silence that are about being with rather than ignoring. And perhaps we can sense when we have said enough…like now:)
May we allow for the potency of silence amidst the cacophony of the world
May we invite space for wordless connection and presensing with others
May we sense the love that can emerge in quiet
May we bring wild blessings and fierce love to all we encounter
Practice Prompts:
- Practice W A I T …Why Am I Talking? Pause before you make a sound and consider whether words or silence or a non-language sound might be of best utterance in that moment. So often we speak for our own sake to fill in the space and don’t always let the space have its own presence.
- Sometimes the simple act of sitting/dancing/being with others without wording can be the poetry we need. The deep resonant field that we create in recognition of our shared humanity; broken hearted and soft bellied and wondrous all at the same time. There is a way we can find support, care and connection beyond language. Try it.
- Spend some time everyday in silence..without music, TV, audio books, etc. Take a walk without earbuds in. Sit on the porch without the phone. Take time to cultivate your relationship with quiet.
- 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 perceiving. 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 (no class on Oct 28, Nov 11, Dec 23 & 30)
- All Levels Yoga, Sundays… Oct 20, Nov 17, Dec 15, 9:30-11am PT, livestream through Two Dog Yoga
- On Demand Yoga Practices…All Levels… through Two Dog Yoga
- Save the Date…May 16-18, 2025…Embodying Presence; Continuum Inquiry and Deep Perceiving Retreat at Breitenbush Hot Springs!!!
Inspirational Wisdom:
A Letter from Exhaustion to me (and maybe you too.)
Dear You,
I am tired and I will not go away.
Ignoring me only causes you pain.
I’m not trying to harm you.
I simply want you to slow down.
I want you to rest enough to enjoy your life.
I want you to divorce the pace of the machines you’ve been spending too much time with.
I want you to come to ground, humble and human.
I want you to recall that deep soul knowing:
Recall snail’s pace.
Recall not scrolling, simply being.
Recall wondering.
Recall staring into space.
Recall lying down just to lie down.
Recall aimless wandering.
Recall getting off the torturous rack of doing doing doing.
Your emails will never be complete.
Your house may be clean but if you’re living there it won’t stay that way.
Rest anyway.
Rest.
Rest.
Stop pushing.
Stop overriding.
Make a long, slow exhale.
Feel me calling you to
return
return
return
to the river of a different rhythm,
One your animal body knows how to drink from.
It does not produce all the time.
When we come together – you and I – we are the seasonal cycle.
We are not separate from nature’s cycles even to align with them.
I am part of the home of your body.
I, exhaustion, am a cozy room.
I invite hygge.
I will nourish your days when you don’t ignore me.
Please welcome me back home.
Your friend,
Exhaustion