Hello my friends,
I’m delighted to share a nugget of nourishment from my professional friends at the Nazrudin conference, which I attended last month.
Nazrudin is an annual gathering of like-minded souls in financial planning. It begins with no structure other than a date and location. Can you feel how utterly unique that is for any professional conference?
The agenda is built on the spot, using an open architecture, art-of-hosting method. This simply means a fluid structure where personal choice reigns and personal responsibility flourishes in service of everyone. Communities thrive in this setting. (More of this everywhere, please!!)
As I shared the exciting news about my debut book, The Body of Money, with my colleagues, (information below on how to pre-order!!!), I accidentally offered to present a second session to the group, a session I did not plan yet trusted would be of benefit. With no preparation, I went to the best place I know for inspiration, my body, to guide the experience. The book’s Somatic Finance® practices invited the participants to welcome their body intelligence and meet the current nugget in their life seeking somatic attention.
I could try to fully describe what happened as our group of 25+ people gathered in the experience of welcoming our bodies.
But I don’t know if I have sufficient words.
So, let me simply say, folks were moved.
They settled in their bodies.
They accessed their breath.
They felt their hearts.
They brought to the surface what’s alive, their nugget.
They listened to their hearts.
They gained ahas and insights.
They cried and released their grief and sadness.
They wiggled and jiggled with their fears.
They became more whole and in love with themselves.
As for me, I was moved, too, and felt waves of ease and joy the entire time.
I ended by reading one of my favorite poems by John Roedel from his book, Remedy
[Find John’s work here: https://www.johnroedel.com/ ]
John has yet to formally title his poem, he hasn’t titled any of his work as far as I know, but I am going to send him a suggestion based on our Nazrudin experience.
Part of the poem goes like this:
“if you are exhausted about
your heart’s obsession with
the fixed past and your mind’s focus
on the uncertain future
your lungs are the perfect place for you
there is no yesterday in your lungs
there is no tomorrow there either
there is only now
there is only inhale
there is only exhale
there is only this moment
there is only breath”
(Click here to listen to me read the entire poem. And get this: John generously gave me permission to reprint it in The Body of Money.)
After the session, there was a buzz.
To be honest, it was kind of cool — people coming up and whispering how the session impacted them and how so-and-so was blown away.
I acknowledge I created the container, offered my passion for Somatic Finance, and connected deeply to the beautiful people around me. The deeper truth is that the participants made that buzz. Their appreciation toward me was in part self-appreciation, rising from their willingness and courage to explore, engage, and go further.
Later, a conversation with a longtime friend sparked and sprayed my joy to the horizon.
She said, “I overheard a conversation about your session. Two people were talking afterward, and the first one asked, How are you doing?
“The second one said, I’m in my lungs.”
I almost wept. I decided to dance.
If you are not in your lungs now, breathe. There is only now. Inhale. Exhale. There is only this moment.
Living in my lungs,
P.S. And to John, who will read this letter too, if you have not named your poem yet, here’s my suggestion, courtesy of The Body of Money session at the 2022 Nazrudin gathering.
Drumroll, please…
In My Lungs.
P.S.S. I’ll continue my ecstatic dance if you preorder my book, The Body of Money – link here:
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
Tiny Body Practice
In My Lungs
Let’s try a version of this and that, two ways of engaging the same object but from different views. I invite you to practice reading or listening to the poem from your head and then reading or listening to the poem from your heart.
Preparation:
Listen to or read John’s Poem #1.
Notice how his writing impacts you.
Register your Head response.
Journal your notes if desired.
The Practice
Take 3 minutes to settle into your body.
Minute 1:
Locate your body in space.
Where are you seated, what is around you in the room, connect to your seat.
Minute 2:
Come inside the envelope of your skin.
Breathe into your pores and feel the container of your body.
Minute 3:
Connect to your heart center as you rest deeply into the earth.
From your pelvic floor, root down; Relax and release tension into the earth.
Feeling settled, bring your attention to your heart center.
Breathe into the center of your chest visualizing a white crystal with many facets.
Breathing in, feel the potency of your heart crystal.
Breathing out, see the rays of light shine in all directions.
- Inhale – intensify
- Exhale – shine bright
- Inhale – intensify
- Exhale – shine bright
- Inhale – intensify
- Exhale – shine bright
From an open energized heart, read or listen to the poem.
What happened in your experience?
Register your Heart response.
Post Practice
Write in your journal or notebook responses from your head and your heart to your experience of the poem. Use these sentence stem prompts to guide you.
- From the viewpoint of my head, the poem….
- From the experience of my heart, the poem…
Deepening Practice
In My Lungs
by Gayle | Oct 27, 2022
Hello fabulous, you are special,
I’m in my lungs. How about you?
As the autumn season takes hold in New England, leaves turning and shedding, daylight shortening, I’m keenly aware of time passing and 2022 moving to the end. In my lungs helps me to be present to the richness of now, and the preciousness of my body holding my experience. Our body, all the beautiful (and challenging) parts, is our ally in enjoying all moments we call life.
In this deepening practice, we continue to engage John’s poem from our head and our heart; and we add a third listening from our whole body.
The beauty of this practice is the immediacy of connection. Right now, as you read, cherish your breath, in your lungs… your belly, your back, your thighs, your elbow, and all the spaces under your skin.
Tiny Body Practice
In My Lungs
Let’s try a version of this and that, two ways of engaging the same object but from different views. I invite you to practice reading or listening to the poem from your head and then reading or listening to the poem from your heart.
Preparation:
Listen to or read John’s Poem #1.
Notice how his writing impacts you.
Register your Head response.
Journal your notes if desired.
The Practice
- Take 3 minutes to settle into your body.
Minute 1 – Locate your body in space.
Where are you seated, what is around you in the room, connect to your seat.
Minute 2 – Come inside the envelope of your skin.
Breathe into your pores and feel the container of your body.
Minute 3 – Connect to your heart center as you rest deeply into the earth.
From your pelvic floor, root down; Relax and release tension into the earth.
- Feeling settled, bring your attention to your heart center.
- Breathe into the center of your chest visualizing a white crystal with many facets.
- Breathing in, feel the potency of your heart crystal.
- Breathing out, see the rays of light shine in all directions.
Inhale – intensify
Exhale – shine bright
Inhale – intensify
Exhale – shine bright
Inhale – intensify
Exhale – shine bright
- From an open energized heart, read or listen to the poem.
What happened in your experience?
Register your Heart response.
- Now read or listen to John’s poem from your whole body. Listen with love and appreciate all your thoughts, emotions, and sensations – held so truthfully in your body.
Post Practice
Write in your journal or notebook responses from your head, your heart, and your whole body to your experience of the poem. Use these sentence stem prompts to guide you.
- From the viewpoint of my head, the poem…
- From the experience of my heart, the poem…
- From the experience of my whole body, the poem…