I thought I knew who I was and what I was doing before Covid hit our shores.
When the pandemic arrived it caused sensational shock with jarring reverberations that cracked an already crumbling tower.
EACH collective crisis associated with our time -- political, social, economic, environmental -- deepens fissures in the structures that hold us as dissonances between beliefs and reality split us apart. As the virus spreads, so does fear which is even more infectious.
Uncertainty is insidious.
THE teachers, speakers, leaders and healers that inspire me describe our time in history as one of unknowable transformation. -- a time of radical regeneration.
They teach that this moment calls for compassionate presence.
We are being called to action -- to use our voices, our bodies, our entire essence to mobilize for justice along the spectrum.
We are being asked to reevaluate how we think about things individually and collectively -- to look at where and how our beliefs were seeded.
We are being called to see, to witness, and to feel -- to feel so deep we reach the pains that have remained in the darkest recesses of our being for years or decades or perhaps even for generations: regret, remorse, shame, guilt. Grief.
The courage to feel is the courage of the spirit warrior.
What helps?
SEEING/FEELING/KNOWING The Truth AND BEING with It
While I could see the tower was crumbling, I did not — could not — have anticipated what it would feel like as the foundations of life shake and rumble. I have days of intense feeling. I have days of intense numbing. That is to be expected. Gratefully, embodiment practice keeps me going.
Slowing down is the first thing I did to help me get through the initial shock of the pandemic.. My embodiment practice helped my nervous system to settle down. Through simple presence practices, I received the gift of life’s simple and subtle pleasures: the sensation of my breath inside my body; getting outside for a walk; eating; resting; washing. Noticing who and what is here with me now. Somatic practice helped me deal with back, shoulder and neck pain, the heartache of accumulated grief, and facilitated a deeper integration of intention into action.
Gratitude and prayer also help. Appreciating who and what is here with me now, and offering my heart in prayer for the pains I cannot tend to, touch or hold.
BEING OF SERVICE
Like so many of us, I’ve been motivated to step up my good citizen game. Doing something for someone else is indeed a balm for an aching heart.
If you feel like you need to do something now but don’t know how to get started, I am happy to help you as I can, including connecting you with resources.
EMBODY LOVE
Love embodied is expressed through action. It is expressed through affect. It is expressed through tone. Through body language. Through presence.
Embodied love also means being in a state of being loved. How do we know we are loved? When we feel safe. Feeling safe is a product of receiving love.
How is love embodied? Meaning, how else do we know that we have integrated being loved?
When we feel grateful without shame. Being in humble gratitude is an expression of being loved. Gratitude felt without shame, is a gratitude filled with grace.
Feeling free to express ourselves is a product of feeling loved.
When we have energy and strength.
How else do we experience being loved?