Real talk.
I had a plan for this week to do a deep dive into planning for the fall after spending the summer intentionally slowing down. Planning out marketing, an upcoming launch, and mapping out the next few months.
The body doesn’t lie….my back went completely “out”.
I truly believe how we listen and treat our bodies reflects how we treat the earth- and vice versa. We are Earth. The earth is us.
With that in mind, I soften a bit. The body is so freaking wise, as is this beautiful planet we get to call home. Both body and earth have ways of calling us in if we are able to listen. And we have the agency to be the change when we listen to both.
The past year has been a humbling experience in chronic pain- how to work with it, how not to let it take me out completely, and how to heal something that potentially might not heal. As a dancer, movement practitioner, and coach, I have a million tools at my disposal and yet, I am still completely thrown off when my back goes "out". Add in chronic pain, and well I feel completely out of alignment, literally and figuratively. As a recovering people pleaser, my initial response would be strategizing for how to “get through” sessions. Today I found myself doing that until I realized this is exactly the opposite of my what I would tell my clients.
So much of the inner work necessary to support the changes we need requires unlearning systems and ways of being that are no longer working, internally and externally.
So I ask myself:
what is my body trying to tell me?
what if this is the way through?
And then pause. And listen. And be with.
Because being on your back has a way of requiring just that…!
Ironically I’ve been working on finding more ease, allowing things to emerge as they come, and generally operating from a more grounded place. Apparently here’s a chance to practice.
I share all of this to normalize how much we are all being asked to hold right now. When it comes to engaging with the climate crisis and the barrage of events unfolding on a daily basis, this summer has been a doozy, even more so for those on the frontlines. We are living in wild, uncharted waters. Tending to body and earth and each other is more important than ever.
If you find yourself having to suddenly shift gears, experiencing symptoms of burnout, or need a little reminder to take space from the insanity of it all, here’s an invitation to:
Pause
Find your breath.
Where can You create space? in your body, in your day?
Bring your questions into nature.
Spend time with her. See what emerges.
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