AFFIRMING Place, Space, Body, Heart  --
Post-session offering to add more depth and breadth to the conversation of letting go...

Tending to the biology of survival & well-being
Before the actions and inactions of letting go, we affirm what stays/what we claim as and for ourselves. 

There is an inherent biological signaling that occurs at the preverbal level that any loss is cause for alert/alarm. Even if we are willingly letting go, biologically a loss is also registered.

How our minds interpret loss and what we do with those interpretations are partially fed by unconscious patterns of survival. Sometimes the alert is so strong that any form of letting go is read by the body as "everything is ending; save yourself at all costs!" Sometimes "saving at all costs" results in us holding on to relationships, jobs, (trauma masquerading as) personality traits, habits, and more...even while we're also acknowledging that the previous is destructive/no longer working for us.

Our minds can also learn to interpret the biological alert as "slow down, pay attention", as a sign of fresh possibilities arising, as a creative surge generating new life.

When we first affirm the basics of survival — gravity and breath — we anchor ourselves to right here, right now. Within these foundational conditions, that which is attuned towards biological well-being registers our okay-ness ("I am here, and I am ok."). We can then settle more deeply into a fuller connection with our hearts and with our creative capacities to meet all that comes with loss/letting go. Our agency is awakened and allows us to remain substantively present in the midst of dissolution and release ("I am ok, and I have a choice in what happens next.").

As we affirm our presence and well-being, we also signal to our biology that we have the capacity to hold multiple possibilities simultaneously (even seemingly conflicting ones!). I can experience loss while also experiencing renewed tenderness and intimacy. I can grieve what’s ending even as I also rejoice in it. I can feel confusion at the same time that I’m learning discernment. I can be mystified while relinquishing. I can hold both a felt-sense of annihilation and the wonder of what will newly emerge in this time of transition.

Thank you for your presence here.
~ Jeni

Let Go, Let Be, Let Come -- guided somatic orientation
Furl/Unfurl: fiddlehead fern & flower blossoming images
Starting position options: stand while leaning against a wall for support; sit in a chair with feet on ground; or begin by kneeling, seated on heels or on bolster/cushion.

Exploration: Inner step deeper into yourself > support back of head (occiput) with hands to lengthen upwards before cascading up-over-and-downwards > Soften forehead and face, begin to roll down incrementally (release hands whenever feels natural). Allow what is above to soften and curl/furl downwards towards what is just below (forehead to eyes, eyes, to nose, to jaw, to throat, collarbones, etc) > Pause as your eyes arrive opposite your heart center >Breathe here, turning gaze to heart, heart to gaze > Press downwards into the ground to rise back up (root to rise) before returning to center and/or continuing further upwards, heart center and gaze unfurling towards the sky (support head/occiput with hands). Begin again. This time continue to the next place: eyes across from belly; repeat the same breathing/turning towards process. Root to Rise, Unfurl & Blossom. Continue this process, pausing at pelvis, at the space between your legs, at the ground.

After your final Unfurl & Blossom, find an easy REST-ing position. Be Here.

Being With: Heart
Call up the memory-sensations-tones-gaze of your body when turned towards a being whom you love fully and completely. Note at least three details about them that light you up. Note your bodily response to those details.

Allow these sensations and this love to fill your entire being. From this shining presence, turn towards your own heart.

As yourself to tell you about the essence of your heart, to share more of what you claim as your own, to reveal details of the qualities that make you so truly you. Invitation to ask another (or other) question(s) that will meet your heart right where you are, right now.

REST.

POEM, I -- The Thing Is by Ellen Bass (see above)

Forms of Letting Go -- exploring rhythms-textures-shapes-sounds of letting go...
Group naming of various forms of letting go: cleansing, shaking, crying, trembling, wiping, gripping until releasing, wailing, walking, throwing my hands up to the sky or down to the ground to release, leaving behind walking away, packing away and leaving elsewhere, brushing off, ‘thawing’ (animal friend shakes), shivering, deconstructing, shouting, roaring, dripping, a long breath out, spitting, going to the bathroom lol, (laughing!), shedding, sighing, sleeping, forgiving, squeezing and wringing...

Exploration: Take several minutes to explore one or more of the above, really follow it for awhile. Play with pace, texture, rhythm, and more. Towards end of exploration, dial this way up or way down from how you've been moving (approx 30 secs of "all in"!).

As you come to a rest from this last dynamic invitation, feel the sensation of something (you don't have to know what it is) falling into the palms of your hands. Let it arrive there -- experience the weight, temperature, color, shape, density, etc. Bring this shape with you (or the emptyness of your hands, if it's already fully dissolved) to the group. BE HERE with your shape and with the group shapes.

POEM, II -- Excerpt of mini-essay by Ross Gay (below)

Closing & Moving into the Week -- See below for Outer Landscape, Inner Landscape, & Daily Life invitations (OLs, ILs, & DLs). Thank you for you.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENCE HERE.