This is one of my favorite times of year, filled with the warmth of summer but also with a cozy taste of autumn. From the point of view of Chinese medicine, these few weeks constitute a fifth season between summer and fall. It is a time of year to be deeply nourished and tune into the earth’s support.
This is also a season which supports healing anxieties. Many people have shared with me the anxieties they feel right now. I’ve been struck by how little the person’s political view matters, so many of us are feeling alarmed by current events and worried about how we and our children will make it through.
It’s nearly impossible to reason with anxiety.
We need more than simply an ability to calm ourselves. We need to be able to trust that we will find a way through. This is why embodied spiritual practice is about much more than body-mind connections. It is about tapping through the body to wisdom beyond ourselves.
There is no skipping over needing to calm the nervous system. More and more people are interested in movement practices that help the body’s vagus nerve regulate our fight or flight response. Breathing, singing, dancing, moving – these practices soothe the nervous system and get us back into a creative and responsive (rather than reactive) frame of mind.
Once you tune into your body you start accessing your inner intelligence. That migraine headache becomes a signal that something about the situation is off. The bellyache signals that something is not lining up with an inner truth. The tight throat signals something that needs to be expressed.
Our lives become authentic and powerful when we align ourselves with our body’s wisdom.
Embodied spiritual practice is about something even MORE.
Yes is calms the body. Yes we tune into ourselves. But something even bigger is possible.
When we connect our whole bodies to the body of Mother Earth, to the body of the Universe, we tap into a much bigger whole. We tap into wisdom beyond ourselves.
Every time I dance or practice qigong, I am cultivating my relationship to the whole of life. There is another energy that comes. A heat, a tingling, or a sweetness in my mouth. Solutions to problems just pop into my head. The discipline of listening is integrated to every part of the practice.
With time, the small sensations grow into a fuller signal; practice brings us into connection with guidance from the universe. We develop our intuition. We can learn to move through every part of our lives, no matter the circumstances, with a feeling of deep connection and support.
If we know that we are guided and supported every moment of our lives, there is so much less reason to be anxious. The situation may seem impossible, but the next right step will be clear to us. We won’t be alone. We know and trust life. These are the gifts of embodied spiritual practice that I wish for you and every person.
With big love
emily
Befriend the darkest season – be a part of Dancing into the Dark Mysteries
As we enter into the realm of the dark, we honor the ancestors that are with us. They are our guides and support. We will be making our annual collective ancestor altar and dance together into the darkest season of the year. Learn more and register.
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