Hi friend,
Welcome to this practice of embodied listening.
I will be reading the lyrics of the song From the Ground Up by Isla Nereo.
From the ground up,
Side by side,
We build it.
Let's see what our hands can make.
This is the topic and the energy of this song.
And here,
Together with you,
I reimagine this powerful song by reading it as a poem,
A prayer,
A mantra,
A declaration for a brighter future that we build together from the ground up.
So I invite you into an open meditative state.
With this embodied listening practice.
So what's that and how?
Okay,
First embodied means be in your body.
So we want to be in our body while we're listening.
That that is an intention.
It's easy as saying.
I now intend to listen to this practice and I intend to be in my body while I listen or I intend to be embodied while listening.
That's an intention.
And by doing so,
You direct the energy and you make a declaration for yourself which also helps focus your attention into the body.
So you connect with your whole being.
All layers of your body,
Your wholeness and your heart.
While listening and it can help to place your hands on the heart.
Or on the belly,
Or your lap,
Or your knees.
Feel what feels natural for you in this moment.
Feel into what feels supportive.
Where you want to place your hands.
I like one hand on my belly,
Over my belly button.
And one hand in the center of my chest,
Where the heart center is.
And then you want to feel into your feet,
Feel into your legs,
Your knees,
Your feet.
Feel that you are dropping into this moment,
Into your body.
Become grounded here with me.
You can match what I'm doing and you notice my voice is also dropping as I relax into this moment here and now with you.
So all of this will guide your attention and therefore your energy into a more grounded state when you focus on your feet.
And as a fun fact,
Below the soles of your feet,
In the middle of the feet,
Between the balls of your feet,
The palm,
Foot soles.
Sorry,
English sometimes as a foreigner.
Yeah,
In the middle here is a soft spot and it's called the bubbling spring.
I learned it from Qigong and practicing with Maketa Foley and I've also learned about this point from Helen Hansen,
A brilliant kinesiologist on this app.
Check both of them out,
They're amazing teachers.
So this point,
The bubbling spring,
Is a point where You can imagine life force bubbles into your body through your connection with the earth,
So it's really powerful.
That's one of the reasons why I love focusing on the soles of our feet,
The ground or the surface beneath the feet.
The meeting between the earth and our body,
Our physical body.
And if you're lying down while listening to this you can still feel into this point,
This spot.
And you can feel other areas of your body touching the surface below you.
This will also help you ground into your body.
Essence and your presence in this moment.
Okay,
So now back to the track where we were going with this embodied practice.
As you listen,
Remain in this grounded state.
Continue to soften the muscles.
Allow your body to relax.
Invite relaxation in your body.
And presence.
And allow your being to breathe naturally.
Allow the breath to flow.
And simply notice what you notice as I read the lyrics as a poem.
Maybe the words move or stir something in your body.
Allow it,
Let it move,
Let it breathe.
If something feels uncomfortable,
You can send your breath into that area and imagine you create more space with your breath.
And you let the energy breathe and move and flow and simply notice without clinging.
It might change and shift or maybe not.
Either way it's okay.
We're simply noticing,
That's what we're practicing here.
We are in our body and we're noticing what sensations comes up.
Perhaps you notice that there's a texture to the sensation or a shape or a direction of the movement or perhaps you get a sense of a color.
Or maybe not.
Either way.
.
.
Whatever your experience.
It is all well.
And remember we are practicing practicing.
We're practicing,
We're playing with the experience.
So allow.
You can only get it right,
Okay?
So you can always come back to the practice and practice again.
Simply notice what is there.
Perhaps a thought comes up.
Take note and let it float by.
And you can trust and intend to remember it afterwards if you want to.
Write it down.
You can.
So you might want also to sit with the experience afterwards,
Perhaps journal about it how the words spoke to you.
Or simply allow it to be what it is,
A practice experienced.
Hmm,
So.
Taking three breaths together and then we begin.
Breathing in through your nose.
Allowing space between your teeth.
Lips closed and breathing out through the nose.
Breathing in again.
And breathing out.
Landing again in your body and a third breath breathing in through the nose.
And gently allowing the breath to flow out through your nose again.
From the Ground Up by Ayla Nerio.
As a wave across the land.
We are moving,
Moving,
Save no face.
The change these bodies make and the way they are.
Facing forward,
Shoulder to shoulder,
Shoulder to the stone,
Telling of moving it.
Takes one step,
Takes one voice,
Takes your voice,
Saying.
.
.
I am not hearing if you are not naming it.
I am not stopping if you are not changing it.
Here are my hands.
Let's see what they're making.
In the morning.
And the rise up.
There's a bridge.
From all it's been.
And in the dawning The vines are pushing through the pavement.
We are born of burning hearts.
We are tearing off the reins.
We are moving from the ground up.
We will build it.
From the clouds above.
Will reign it.
And from the crowd up,
We will raise it.
From the ground up.
Hold your spade.
Turn new soil.
For the coming grace,
You hold the plans.
No hands,
But our hands.
We lead our children.
All that will feed you is a fierce prayer.
It's this fierce prayer saying,
I am not hearing if you are not naming it.
And I am not stopping if you are not changing it.
Here are my hands.
Let's see what they're making.
In the morning,
In the rise up,
There's a bridge from all that's been.
In the dawning,
The vines are pushing through the pavement.
And we are born of burning hearts.
We are tearing off the reins.
From the ground up we will build it.
From the clouds above will rain it.
From the crowd up,
We will raise it from the ground.
Remember to breathe,
My friend.
In this life.
We are.
And in this life,
We see so many things.
We see so many things and sometimes our heart may start to bleed.
Our heart might start to bleed a bit.
And still,
I choose this.
I choose this life and I'm going to lead it.
I'm going to lead this life and I must give my hands.
So I give my hands to make it.
In the morning,
In the rise up,
There's a bridge from all that's been.
And in the dawning,
The winds are pushing through the pavement.
From the ground up.
We are building it.
From the clouds above we reign it.
From the crowd up we will raise it.
We will raise this and we will build it and we are the ones to turn the soil.
We were born of burning hearts from the clouds above.
And from the crowd up,
From the ground up.
We will build it.
From the clouds above will rain it.
From the ground up,
We will build it.
From the crowd up.
For we are born of burning hearts.
And we are the ones to make the change.
Thank you,
Dear friend,
For listening.
Let's take a breath together again.
Breathing in.
And sighing it out loud.
Allowing all of that energy to land.
It's a powerful one,
Right?
It's a powerful song.
It's a really powerful song and a powerful lyric.
And I'm so grateful that you choose to spend this time with me practicing embodied listening.
Perhaps reflect afterwards.
Where did you feel something move?
How did this.
.
.
?
These words.
How did these words move you?
Sorry about that.
Perhaps an exclamation mark.
I believe that nothing is random and nothing is coincidence.
That there was a message coming in there.
Maybe there's something,
Another layer to ponder on.
So the invitation is,
What's the message for you?
How can you bring this energy into your life?
Do you want to bring this energy into your life?
Do you perhaps?
Feel called to turn some soil,
Build something,
Move something.
Where do you want to stand shoulder to shoulder?
And put shoulder to the stone,
Moving it.
Where is your heart?
What does your burning heart tell you?
Hmm.
And there might be no answer and that's okay too.
So allow,
Simply allow everything to land exactly where it wants to land.
Feel your feet again.
Feel the bubbling spring.
With life force filling you from the feet of your soul.
And bring your soul into your body.
Filling up all of you.
Allow yourself to take up space.
I appreciate you so much.
And I wish you all the best for the rest of your day,
Rest of your night,
Wherever you are.
May you be well.
May all beings be well.
And may we build.
A brighter,
Stronger future together.
For we are born of burning hearts.
So let our hearts lead with love.
Thank you,
Thank you,
Thank you.
Blessed be.
