This week I’m here to share with you one of the foundational exercises we practice in the Embodiment, Boundaries, and The Ancestors online course (I’ll be back with the next installment of the Journey of the Witchy Healer in about two weeks).
It’s an exercise I call Your Space, Shared Space and it is the first step in recognizing who you are as distinct from energies/others surrounding you. It is also a crucial first step in beginning to discern who is welcome in your space which is key to setting appropriate boundaries.
Your Space, Shared Space.
Let’s step back in time to when I was first learning about ritual (over a decade ago). Then, I was studying with students of Malidoma Somé, West African Elder, teacher, and author and eventually, for a couple of years, with Malidoma Somé himself.
During that time, I was taught to create ritual space through outlining the the territory where the ritual was going to happen with sticks.
This boundary of sticks clearly delineated the ritual space and then those (both human and other-than-human) who were participating in the ritual were invited into the circle of sticks. All those not participating in the ritual (again, both human and other-than-human) were asked to remain outside of the boundary of sticks.
Your Space, Shared Space operates similarly.
Imagine there is a circle of sticks (or stones, or a wall, or a fence – whatever feels good to you) surrounding your physical body at about arms length out from you.
You can play as well with having the circle be closer or further away from your body. Notice the distance that allows your body to feel the most relaxed and allow the circle of sticks/stones etc to rest there.
Take a moment and pause here, letting yourself notice in general how it feels to have a circle around you that delineates your space from shared space.
Now, notice specifically how it feels in your body to have space that is solely yours – where you get to decide who or what is in the circle with you.
For many taking this course, just this can be a profound experience…
…to have an experience of their body and the space surrounding them being just for them.
Especially for highly empathic people, it is rare to have an experience that is just ours; instead, we are constantly buffeted by the feelings and emotions of others, including the collective at large.
And/or, we’ve built the boundaries/walls around us so high (in order to block out all the static from others) that we don’t have a sense of ourselves in relation to the shared space (the greater collective) around us.
Awareness of both your space AND shared space is needed.
Both are needed, the knowing/claiming of our space AND the ability to be in relationship with shared space surrounding us.
From this foundation of Your Space, Shared Space we
- build awareness of how we feel in our space,
- notice how what we are feeling changes in relation to others, and
- learn how to say Yes and No from an embodied space when different people or energies seek to enter our space.
You are invited!
Embodiment, Boundaries, and The Ancestors takes participants on a profound journey and I warmly invite you join us!
There are openings for 25 new-to-this-course participants (there will be a few re-taking the course to further deepen in these skills). The class is already a fifth of the way filled and, as most people tend to register in the final 24-hours, I suggest securing your space in advance. 🙂
If you have any questions, reach out! I’m here.
with love,
Larisa
ps. know someone who might be a good fit for this course? I’d love it if you helped spread the word. Feel free to share this post or simply share the direct link to the course: www.larisanoonan.com/
All love + gratitude to you!
Owl image by Erik Karits from Pixabay.
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