Breathwork Epiphanies- Lessons from Somatic Breathwork Practice

Let Us Revel in the Wisdom of Roots

Roots of wisdom; new grounding in the old

I have felt the paradox of deep gratitude and grief as we have moved out of winter and into spring. In Colorado this last year we had a very mild winter with some February days reaching an alarming 85 degrees. As someone who has lived in CO most of my life, and traditionally loved the invitation of spring, this year the early budding and flowering felt out of balance. It felt like things were moving too fast. This prompted curiosity about the function of winter in our eco-system. In nature the balance of winter has an important and often overlooked place: 

The colder temperatures provide time for plant dormancy; crucial for the conservation of energy and to prepare for the new growth of spring. 

Time for hibernation; crucial when there is scarcity of resources. 

Time for snow and ice accumulation; crucial for replenishment of rivers and recharging underground aquifers. 

I realized as spring popped into action, in March, that my human form was out of balance. Over this last winter, it seemed that things never slowed down or went dormant. In my personal life, I had been moving at full summer speed. There has been no abatement in the news or of harm caused by systems of oppression. Resources over the winter have felt scarcer without the promise of replenishment following the snowmelt; both on our mountains and economic landscapes. I came into spring yearning for stillness, cold days with a cup of tea in hand, and more moments to replenish. 

Then, the cool came. Heavy snow on bowing budding trees and thirst-quenching rain. Yet, I worried. Will the limbs break? Will this impact the harvest? Will the freeze make things worse? Will…..? Exhausting. Since I noticed this imbalance and the amplification of exhaustion from my worry, I have been looking to Mother Nature for inspiration around trust. I was reminded that when life becomes too rigid, I need to bend, as nature has done this spring. The trees have continued to flower, the baby birds still fledging in the park, and our drought trodden land expressing gratitude with greenery. I have been looking to bend and tend to balance that I have been missing, just as the trees under the weight of white wonder. I have been slowing down, connecting with my heart and needs, naming where resources are helpful, where play will propose sustainability, and where watering my gardens is most needed. 

Trusting and holding balance- this is liberation work. Just as our eco systems are feeling the shifts of climate change there is ancient wisdom of how to continue to find the balance and bloom. Somatic breathwork practices help in reminding me of this. We are feeling our own shifts of change in our socio-political climates, and it can be so hard to remember to take breaks, to tend to our gardens, to feel hopeful about the harvest. This is crucial to bloom. 

I will leave you with a poem I wrote last year sitting under a tree following a spring breathwork retreat with a beloved mentor, Jen Phippens. It seems to ring even more true for me a year later. 

The Wisdom of Roots

She is Maiden, Mother, and Crone

Dressed as a slow exhale 

Accumulates in gusts of awe

Peeking petite green demands

Sprightliness from the stagnant 

She escalates her truth shared with the sun

Aged mothers, still just a dimple in time

Bowed limbs strongly dancing in unity to the rhythm of blows

Wisdom comes from knowing not to turn away

Rather, revel in the lessons of roots. 

With her, a universal song plays

The track followed by ants

Treading a measure through mountainous valleys of bark

In her most primal wisdom, she is often overlooked.

What some would consider muck beneath their feet.

Here, she devours endings and feeds beginnings  

Power so rich in her soil

There is no need for external validation

For she knows, this is where all things beautiful are born

Be well friends and hope to see you in some capacity this month! 

With Love,

Renee