Poetry and Prose

Inspired by being in the body

Fully engaged with the entire body

I can trace the energy and attention

Flowing through each limb,

to each fingertip,

to the top of my head and down to my outstretched toes.

I've never been so fully engaged.

Balance my body

Balance my mind

Ground me deeper into the earth and into myself.

E.M November 2015

Connection with the body
   Is essential, necessary….
Our bodies
   Carry us, walk with us through the world
Any wounding, trauma, grief, loving, energy
   I carry that with me,
       In MY body
This is a story, a story of healing my body, my mind, and my soul
Finding a new way, a more balanced way
   To walk through this world, this life.

E.M. March 2016

What is my body?

What makes me conscious?

I can feel you, making me feel me…
Realness, my skin
DRIPS
Beads of sweat, salt breaches my lips
I’m ALIVE

E.M. March 2016

2/06/16 I’m noticing how much the environment shapes my experience. As I spend more time here (at the park), I grow in relationship to my surroundings. Kids leave, more birds, less sun. My experience with the space grows with the changing relationship I’m developing with my body. Everything shifts. I find that I can be more present. The environment impacts my relationship to my body. The image of the center of a tornado comes to mind, be still even when chaos ensues. I know I can do this work and carry it within my being out into the world.
Like the push and pull of the oceans,
I waiver, back and forth
In and out
Side to side
My arms float like the wings of a butterfly
Delicately maneuvering, lightly caressing the universe
Holding me, keeping me grounded
And yet, I am floating.

Eye filled with tears,

I clench my body.

When all feels lost,

I turn to YOU.

When I walk the line,

Moments of spacious freedom

To move from my intuition.

It feels so home.

E.M. November 2015

11/19/15 Slacklining allows me to connect with and feel into my body, while simultaneously trying to pull myself out of my body; a place where mind and body are on the same wavelength; a beam of light flowing, oscillating in and out of my body and my mind, around me. The line invites me to engage my whole body. It mirrors back to me what strengths I’m lacking, my weaknesses. I’m balancing against myself.
I’m on the line, practicing my controlled stride. I like feeling every inch of my body engaged. I can feel the energy surge. This continues to challenge me, shows me how quick the human body can learn a new skill. I remind myself, when I fall or feel defeated, that I’m balancing against my own weaknesses. . . . With enough practice, weaknesses can be strengthened. I’m more aware of the ways I contract my muscles to hold my body in a way that feels balanced. I’m thinking about other aspects of my life that are imbalanced, such as my relationships with others and self, work, and my ability to regulate emotional responses.

Let go, be here, be present, be still. I give myself the space to walk the line. So much more, more than I expected to come forward. I move and flow through a dimension of myself, one that’s weightless, timeless, like the space between breaths.

I might have a unique perspective
Well I do,
The way I live in my body...

As a human, I am in a body
Being conscious of this state of embodiment
I look around---there are others like me---in a body
Some bodies are different---
In small ways
LARGE ways
Crooked ways
Perfect ways
But, who am I to compare
On some level, we can relate-
Appreciate what it’s like to look at the moon,
Touch a blade of grass,
Smell the sweet summer bloom
Dance under the stars.

Be.

But being, being embodied, in bodies
Bodies different, unique, not quite the same, but close…
That shapes how I see, hear, touch, experience, understand the world.
My body impacts my mind and my mind my body, and as a result, my spirit is shifted and constantly shifting.

My body is different than yours….
HOW DO YOU FEEL INTO THE WORLD?

E.M. January 2016