A practice in intimacy…
Intimacy.
Here is a word we so often reserve to describe the quality of our relationship with our human kind, or ourselves. But what if there were entire worlds we could explore the art of intimacy with?
I believe one aspect of our individual and collective journey towards wholeness is to remember how to soften into intimate conversation with the more-than-human world(s).
Below is a practice to support you in deepening into this quality of intimacy by building a more genuine communion, not only with yourself, but with the richness and bounty of sentience all around you.
And please do remember, all intimacy begins from listening…
To start, bring yourself to a place where there is some connection to the more-than-human world. Be that a rock, a forest, a mountain, a stream, or a city park. Even a tree outside your window or an indoor plant will do. Any place that allows for you to connect with some aspect of the more-than-human.
Begin your connection by taking a few moments to shift consciousness. What practices support you in doing so? Breath, meditation, singing, drumming, and many other tools can be supportive. One simple way would be to start with ten rounds of seven-count breathing. Breathe in for seven seconds, take a momentary pause, breathe out for seven seconds, take a momentary pause, and begin again... The longer the practice, the greater the shift.
Now take anywhere from ten to fifteen minutes (or more if you’re called) to connect with this place. Begin by engaging full presence sensing. With your eyes soft-focused, settle into your sensory experience. Notice all that is present: the breeze, the sunshine, the temperature, the feeling of the ground, tastes, smells, the qualities of light, and the sensations throughout your body. Here, your only task is to simply feel and sense the world around and within. This is the path to presence and intimacy with the sacred other. There is nothing to do or get to other than to be with what simply is. A variety of thoughts and sensations may rise and fall, but continue the exploration of full presence sensing.
As you continue your full presence sensing with the environment, begin feeling further into your intelligent body — an embodiment that is designed for this quality of communication. The willingness to be present with the body opens the way for more presence with the sacred other. What emotions or sensations arise? Can you amplify even the subtlest of sensations? There is nothing that should or should not happen here. Simply stay with your breath and embodied presence.
As you settle in further, begin attuning to any images or stirrings of the heart that pass through your field of awareness. Full presence sensing often gives rise to images, colors, symbols, and offerings from the depths of our perception. You may also find more awareness coming from the stirrings or longings of the heart. Remember, nothing needs to be logically understood. Rather, let yourself be touched and guided by the essence of what moves through your presence.
Allow for yourself to be in the essence of this practice for as long as you are called. When the time to complete arrives, you may choose to take a few more long breaths with your full presence sensing. Whether this practice was subtle or transcendent, it can be a beautiful offering to express gratitude in some way to this sacred other before crossing over the threshold and back into everyday consciousness.
When you feel complete, take a few minutes to journal about your experience. You can free-write, poetically express, or you can choose to explore the following questions: What did you notice? What sensations, emotions, images, feelings, or thoughts passed through your field? Did you receive any messages or guidance — even if subtle? How did the quality of your perception to the more-than-human world shift with this practice of full presence sensing? It can be a very powerful practice to also explore other forms of expression. So in addition to, or rather than writing, some may be called to song, dance, or another expressive offering that carries the essence of your intimacy.
Let this be an ongoing practice that moves you into closer proximity to what Steven Buhner calls the metaphysical backdrop of the world. Let yourself continue to slip past the veils and into deepening intimacy with the soul of all-life. The more we arrive to the sacred other in the essence of presence, the more we enter into a true conversation.
Remember, there is no goal here, but rather an arrival of another kind. This innately human capacity to be in intimacy with the more-than-human has widely atrophied, but we can truly expand our relationship with the vast universe around us through this simple practice of full presence sensing. In doing so, our listening expands, intimacy reveals itself, and we create more space to live as offerings of balance and alchemy to all our relations.
Providing you would like to continue to soften into this experience of intimacy, invite yourself back again and again, and engage in the practice with friends and community.
May your intimacy grow with every breath.
