tears that become rain…
Holding space for 5Rhythms practice, a unique calling. In the days preceding a session, I root through the mud of my life, digging for what’s most alive and juicy. Then I massage this little tender fragment into the shape of embodied inquiry. All this, before I find the right music and step through the door, in all vulnerability, to offer a group investigation. It has been the perfect prescription for my own growth.
And there was plenty of growth this last week. The collage pictured above was created on my birthday morning. The Buddha with upturned palms came first and then the Thich Nhat Hanh quote leapt off the page at me. It’s almost like a koan, is it not? “ The tears I shed yesterday have become rain.” So many ways that might work its way inside you. That’s what happened inside me all week. By Sunday that quote was the alive, juicy, tender thing I brought to offer.
That fragment shaped into an embodied inquiry with the L Map. I love the L Map. You can actually sit quite still at your computer and feel this very quote filter through heart and mind with this map. You’ll arrive somewhere. But if you’re willing to move your body, maybe even get up on your feet, maybe even turn on something with a beat…you will arrive someplace different. Because the body not only doesn’t lie, it is full of surprising truth. Ready?
Let it in: (if this quote doesn’t intrigue you, let in anything that is fresh and arising now.) Inhale, feel your body mull over these words. Cruise through each body part and allow the question, quote or whatever is arising to chime in. How is your breath? This quote landed in my belly and then leapt to my heart and brought memories of the tears I shed in the wake of my sister’s death. And, as I moved, stories about this experience emerged from the depths. I let it all in. Uncensored.
Let it out: Take whatever you feel inside and allow it to become visible. Let it shape you. What body gestures happen on repeat? Move as if you were in a conversation about it but had only your body as express agent, no words. Communicate clearly. This quote moved me in bursts of angry intensity, softened into tender clarity.
Let it go: How convenient. The element of chaos, the third rhythm, is water. Ocean of tears. Buckets of rain. What happens if it all melts, liquefies, dissolves? Release the story’s weight, surrender to the mystery. I shook it out, a wet dog emerging from that ocean, quaking, shuddering. I touched history that has shifted in me, shaped me, released what no longer serves. How much still softly nests intact.
Let go of letting go and then let it happen: It is a practice to let go of letting go. Sometimes met with reluctance. It feels good to shake loose. But once we cease letting go, the big whatever has room to appear. We can be so friggin’ serious. We might try lightening up. Shape shift: be the rain, be the tears, be whatever is next. I felt the perfection of my sister’s life, the integral way it weaves with mine forever, how deeply my life has been moved by her touchstone.
Let it be: Can you allow it to simply settle? Feel and breathe into the way it has shaped you because:
“….That’s what we’re looking for:
not the end of a thing but the shape of it.
Wisdom is seeing the shape of your life
without obliterating (getting over) a single instant of it.”
Albert Huffstickler
If you’re still with me, take a pause here. I love the L Map. Apply as needed. The body not only doesn’t lie, it is full of surprising truth. I hold space for that no matter where we meet. Wednesday, Friday, Sunday are on the regular:
This week I’ll be up front for Wednesday Waves , an inquiry about gateways: resistance and surrender. On Friday Kim Wagaman holds us in Release & Realign. The above poem excerpt was from her class last Friday; we are so often on the same page. Sunday Sweat celebrates Mother’s Day. Majica Alba, my partner extraordinaire, is absolutely the best facilitator for this offering. Please bring your children (free) and mothers.
I am a bit amazed about how much is on the near and distant horizon. It feels like old times….but not. If you know what I mean.
Feet First Saturday May 13 1:00-3:00 Summer Moon
When your feet hurt, life is miserable. Our birthright: strong flexible feet that carry us wherever we need to go without being encased by Nike max-support. Think Kenyans running barefoot across the savannah. Many foot problems heal with dynamic intervention based in the principles of loose, long and strong. Learn to deep release adhesions in lower leg; fine-tune stretching; build foot power that connects to your core. All props provided for this fundamental work that will pay dividends over a lifetime.
Roll & Release Saturday May 27 5:00-6:30 Harbin Hot Springs
Yeah…back teaching at Harbin. Like old times. Make your reservation for a day pass or overnight. I’ll have all the toys for this practice that really meshes with the hot soaks.
Sweat Your Prayers Sunday May 28 noon-1:30 Harbin Hot Springs
Long time since I’ve played waves in these parts. Wanna come?
Rhythm & Release Wednesday July 5 6:30-8:30 Clara Auditorium
A moving dialogue between myofascial roller release and 5Rhythms dance. Release feet and legs, ground into fluidity. Free up hips and shoulders, release into natural power. Unleash spine and head, feel the surrender. A two hour breathing moving journey into the joy of healing self-care and expressive movement. Varying density one foot rollers provided or bring your own long one.
Roll & Release Saturday July 8 11:00 & 4:00, July 9 11:00 Wilbur Hot Springs
Just like Harbin…but so much more mellow. Make your reservation for a day pass or overnight. I’ll have all the toys for practice on their incredible yoga deck. What a great match with the hot soaks.
So many tears, especially in these last few astonishing years. So much rain, especially in this last soggy year. Makes me wonder. Makes me believe that all those tears we’ve shed may very well have become rain…
❤️Bella