May You Be Well - Embodied Listening

Dear Rest Friends,

5D

Embodied Listening

Credit Google Images

Dear Rest Friends,

How are you welcoming the change in seasons? Are you feeling a new rhythm settling in yet? Fall is my favorite time of the year. I love the colors, scents, and the crisp morning air. Since the air quality has improved, I am enjoying the outdoors as much as possible. Blanca loves it and is taking much-appreciated time sniffing along during our walks. We have been making the walks more luxurious by slowing the pace and listening with all our senses.

I am currently savoring a practice that expands the capacity to listen. Lately, the internal and external noise is so loud I can barely hear anything at all! Most things land in the too-much-for-me-right-now pile. This new way to listen is giving me more room for me inside. 

So, today I want to share this practice with you. It is what I call embodied listening. It is an engaging practice that brings me fully to the here-and-now, enlivens me, and teaches me another way to approach listening.

The practice comes from the Gratefulness Organization. The recording is my interpretation - and the version I will lead in my classes and workshops. I hope you find it useful and nourishing.

I will be resting (more) in the quiet because that is where I listen best. Fluff up the rest nest, rest cave, or favorite couch and let the season pull you to deeper listening. We have a new world to reinvent. And this requires a lot of rest and deep, deep listening.

Be extra good to yourself.

And, Rest and Be Well.

Love,

Marcela

A couple of favorite sniffing spots and happy face to show for it … plus a post-walk rest photo, because I love the frog leg pose.

Listening/Reading/Learning/Supporting

This TED talk, How to Truly Listen, is by deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie. In this talk she invites us to explore different ways to listen to music, she points out the importance of listening to each other, and she encourages us to think of our bodies and resonating chambers. She is a gifted musician with an inspirational life story.

Making Sense of the World Several Senses at a Time is a captivating Scientific American article recommended by Gratefulness.org. The article illustrates the complexity of our sensory system. The embedded short videos of the researcher demonstrate how we listen with our eyes in a very convincing way. There are several additional interesting videos embedded in the article.

I have been listening to poetry on the Poetry Unbound Podcast and the On Being with Krista Tippett Podcast. Here is the link to “Generous Listening” by Marilyn Nelson - a beautiful poem I hope you enjoy.

Clara’s House is a no-cost clinic for people without health insurance. In addition to adult primary care medical services, they offer education and health monitoring related to diabetes care, nutrition, chronic disease self-management, and health promotion. In their words, they are “disrupting poverty, disrupting disease and enabling health”. They have been working very hard to deal with issues related to Covid-19. They have adapted quickly to continue providing services under trying circumstances. The organization is run mostly by volunteers and a small staff. The late Sr. Claire Graham, my beloved spiritual director (or my Queen Nun, as I called her), had been on the board of directors and told me about their work. I have been supporting them ever since. The work they do has a significant impact on the lives of those with great need and few if any resources.