I am not the body
I am also the body

Jeannie discusses allowing the body to be softened by deep silence. She invites us to rest as a paradox of spacious presence and embodied form wedded together, inviting us to question the paradigm that the body is all we are. Jeannie acknowledges the energies and capacities of the body that may rise to be met and to guide us. 


Exchanges

Exchange 1: Participant is exploring the difference between not giving attention to negative thoughts and noticing the sudden rising of feelings especially in their first waking moments. Jeannie talks about experimenting with noticing the habitual thoughts that kick up when we first wake up and see if we can feel some of what’s underneath. Participant asks, “Is it possible to cry it all out?” Jeannie talks about the different aspects of weeping and her personal experience with embodied crying.

Exchange 2: Participant has entered a dark night after an exhausting period of heartbreaking work and feels totally done with humanity and everything. Jeannie affirms that there is a way through, and she talks about the healing support of things like nature, solitude, poets, and tears.

Exchange 3: Participant asks if it’s better to cry with a loving presence since some traumas have to do with being alone. Jeannie answers briefly including how crying evolved for her over the course of her life.

Exchange 4: Participant noticed that the state of the world and rise of authoritarianism creates a trauma response and asks without exchanging with Jeannie how to stay present in the face of this fear. Jeannie recommends trauma resolution work.

Exchange 5: Participant noticed that violence she experienced from her family has been playing out through her in her romantic relationship. Jeannie talks about empowering the participant’s partner to stop her, to express some of the “predatory” energy non-verbally, and then to come back together with conscious touch and connection.

Exchange 6: Participant from the 4th exchange comes on to talk with Jeannie. Jeannie talks about how to shift from the stories to the body when meeting people’s material in healing arts practice. 

Exchange 7: Participant’s painful menstruation brings up a sense of deep isolation and disability, but they are afraid to reach out or support themselves in a different way. Jeannie says this level of yin begs for someone to hold the space, and she explores the possibility of allowing oneself to have that space held by a close friend.