Poetic Antidotes in Movement
your body is political, here we will be able to explore how.
I’m announcing something very special at the end of this newsletter, don’t miss it!
(Optional) Ritual:Â
I invite you to write to your body with love, if you could speak to your legs, mouth, nose, arms…what would you thank them for? I myself wrote one here.
As a drink, I suggest green tea if it is morning, and chamomile, lavender, and rose tea if it is nighttime. You can also choose to dance.
As usual, here is this week’s musical pick.Â
This week, as I tried to write about the body for this newsletter, something was not clicking. I read articles, listened to podcasts, and watched Ted Talks; but despite the effort, nothing came. Something was off, so I stopped trying. I have to admit that writing for this newsletter has definitely played with my ego, creating a close community of people who read my words is incredibly rewarding and exciting. My ego lives in my mind, obviously. It creates overwhelm and pressure to please and satisfy, that fear creates a hole, and I try to fill it with more knowledge, and more brain power. But this time it wasn’t working. To change direction, I danced. Yes! I put on my dancing playlist, and I boogied. As I moved, I finally realised why the writing wasn’t coming: how did I expect to write about the body, without my body?Â
In the last couple of years, I have had the opportunity to get close to many people who use their bodies as language, and as part of the process of decolonising my body and my mind, I am learning to do it myself. I am not a dancer, but I have a body, and this body — containing my mind, heart, intestine, bones, lungs to breathe and all my emotions — is the one thing I have that is only mine.Â
A society that does not allow time for rest and restoration- which we have come to think of as luxuries rather than rights- is a society that is organized against the body. Here, learning to be with your body is a revolutionary act. In a society that prizes logic over emotion, the rational over the irrational, restlessness over rest, and the scientific over the spiritual, your body care is, as Audre Lorde would say, an act of political warfare.
Tell me, when was the last time you truly looked at your whole body with love?
I don’t blame you, especially if you are female-identifying, queer or trans. I know as a woman, loving my body is something that took a long time, still today I often have to remind myself about my body and its functions. It seems still today that the decisions over women’s bodies belong to everyone but women, our bodies are battlefields. A week ago, as I watched my naked dancing body in the mirror, I thought “how permanent is this freedom? Probably as permanent as the next government - sidenote I had been watching Handmaid’s Tale.Â
Abortion laws, the rape pandemic, and the objectification of our bodies lead to one conclusion. Our bodies are not really free; in some countries, we may have more rights, yes, but there are constant attempts to control women’s bodies everywhere, subtle and less. Whatever gender you may identify with or not, our bodies are constantly policed. The medical, scientific and social institutions in place in most societies do not support the decision to change our bodies for example. On the other hand, the cosmetic surgery market is valued at around 65 billion USD (the conditioning to change our bodies is also a way to police it). With all this confusion, learning to use our body as a channel and conduit is a necessary act. In times of crisis, touching our bodies, and feeling our aliveness, can be incredibly reassuring, and as we are bombarded with distractions that distance us from feeling, being in our senses is fundamental. Your body is political.
Embodying the revolution, resting, slowing down, and learning to be in your body are necessary acts. With this in mind, I wanted to create a space where we could do exactly that, embody poetic antidotes. As I do not have the professional experience to guide embodiment in others, but still wanted this to happen, I asked for help. The first Wave Collaboration! I am partnering with a very special human called Kindra Calonia and we are creating a series called: Poetic Antidotes in Movement.Â
Kindra defines herself as a wellness artist. Words, movement, and art are her healing tools to support individuals who are seeking to turn their wounds into wisdom. Coming from a postcolonial research background she seeks to explore the identity-building process through the embodiment of language, the investigation of lineage & ancestry, and decolonizing practices of yoga. As a wellness alchemist, Kindra’s deepest intention is to hold space for others so that they may reclaim their voice and be sovereign in their healing process.Â
This society has wounded our bodies, and we must turn the wounds into wisdom! This series will feature one movement class per month where Kindra will teach a series of movements to embody a particular theme. You will be able to access the class whenever you want, and it will be catered to all bodies.
I truly believe that the only way of truly shifting our mindset is to use our bodies to become the body.
This series will be only for paid subscribers, the paid subscription is now 7$ a month, consider supporting it.
Take this series as a gift to your own body. What if we could seduce ourselves to liberation?
May you unapologetically move what your surroundings have made static.
Much love,
V