This week I have been watching gatherings across the world associated with the film ‘The Eternal Song’, a film that “reveals how modernity severs our connection to nature, each other, and the ancestral realm … As we are drawn into the intricate web of kinship and honouring the living presence of Mother Earth, we awaken a remembrance. A sacred dance comes to life and we begin to hear the eternal song of Life itself, calling us back to belonging”. It has been inspirational and affirming. Indigenous ways of knowing and being are being re-membered and it brings me great hope. It has me reflecting on my own journey and the contributions I am hoping to make … bare with me for a bit of a ramble …
At 17 my first yoga class was a wake up call, a clear invitation to inhabit my body, and to connect with something much bigger than what my mind could know. At 20 the call to offer wholistic healing modalities to others led to a lifelong listening for what my contribution, my part, is. From hands on bodywork to yoga teaching to now … it is a layered spiral composed of mystery, humility, and grace.
In many ways nothing has changed in the essence of my work in the last more than 40 years. What is being asked now is what has always been asked, to hold safe enough and trustworthy enough space for others to hear the inner knowing that is part of a much larger wisdom.
Being a body worker, a yoga teacher, a teacher trainer, all have been working on my own (though always informed and guided by the mystery and interconnectedness). Where I find myself now is most often alongside others, co-facilitating sessions, or trainings, or retreats. I have learned so much in this process of collaboration, I have been able to experience trust and belonging which has been a game changer for me. Feeling a sense of connectedness, an acceptance of all that I am and all that others are, that has been truly healing. It’s true … we heal together.
The collaborative opportunities are about holding space, often in circles of people, in a way that is informed by deeply held values of respect, trust, kindness, reciprocity, love, and courage. When offering sessions, or trainings, or retreats, having clear group agreements in the form of ‘touchstones’ allows the creation of community that makes it possible for each participant to access inner knowing of embodied intelligence, to hear themselves in such a way that living life attuned and informed by values and guided by deep knowing becomes possible, what Parker Palmer would call ‘living on the mobius’. In these somewhat counter cultural group spaces the magic is that each of us (facilitators and participants) supports the other, we heal together, and yet no one person is the healer, there is nothing to be fixed or changed, we become a welcoming presence for ourselves and for others.
Practicing being together in this way somewhat counter to modern western culture. The practices and principles we awaken echo out into relationships, families, work places, communities, and to our world. I heard Parker Palmer speak to this recently, how the values, principles, and practices of such communal spaces are so needed if we are, as humans on this planet, to enact the change so many of us seek.
So, what opportunities are coming up to experience this?
September 19 – 21 Anita Pryor and myself are offering a weekend retreat themed ‘Embracing the Ebb and Flow’. Anita and I have been co-facilitating Foundations of Outdoor Health Therapy tranings together (along with others) for the last 5 years. Anita embodies connectedness to nature in all she engages with. I have learned so much from her and am honoured to be bringing ‘Embracing the Ebb and Flow’ to life with her. We will gather where the river meets the sea at Steele’s Island near Nipaluna (Hobart). This retreat could be for you if: You seek to connect deeply with yourself and with nature (and with yourself as nature); You are navigating change and seeking a trustworthy compass; You feel a call to be in caring and safe community; You want to experience welcoming in an embodied way. Here is a link to the webpage with more information.
October 17 – 19 Noela Maletz and I will co-facilitate ‘Heart Matters’ in the Adelaide Hills. You can find out more here.
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