This is a difficult, yet wakeful, sorrowful time … between politics, intensified systemic racism, covid and the election, many of us are aching and overwhelmed while feeling the unraveling of the planet.
And, there is medicine for each of us when we drop in, connect with the above and below, in a circle of beloved community. This beautiful Body Trust community has been built on being with each other in the flesh: skin to skin, sweat and tears flowing, hearts opening. Our community of embodied explorers has been painfully impacted by the pandemic, our bodies now in isolation, this hurts my heart and every cell of my being. I crave being back in circle with you all. So, let’s gather….. to ground, meditate and share from the portals of our being in a community of body trusted folks.
We will begin each gathering with a guided grounding and meditation led by Lizz and then have a portal sharing circle weaving our community thru embodied presence.
Will you join me?
Dates: October 31st: November 21st, December 19th
Time: 10:00am PT/1:00pm ET
Duration: 60-75 min
Cost: $20 each (drop in once or come to all)
*no one turned away for lack of funds
To register please go here: https://forms.gle/1pmWjeHHt8UiZ1EDA
Author: Lizz
Categories
To Rest is Radical
Yoga Nidra: A practice of resting into the center of your being, into form and formlessness.
Hello Beloveds!
The veil is thin and the days cooler, shorter and darker. Rest beckons yet we may resist. Recently I went to a Yoga Nidra event led by a teacher from the UK, Uma Dinsmore-Tuli PhD. It rocked my world! The approach she uses is very feminine, circular, non-prescriptive and inviting. The intention of the practice is to assist ourselves in coming home. I did not fall asleep, which is a common use of Yoga Nidra. I actually experienced an awakened awareness that connected me to my form and formlessness in an exquisite container of softness.
Here’s a sample by a student of Uma’s I really like. See what you think!
With all the business of life, a practice of conscious rest can be considered a form of activism.
With love,
Lizz
Categories
Eat, taste, smell
The summer has been hot and dry and hard and amazing
The eclipse happened and is still happening
Mama earth continues to provide incredible smells, tastes and sights
Our bodies moan, writhe, cry and explode
Sometimes I feel so damn good!!!!
And other times, well….
What’s bringing me so much undeniable pleasure is making things in my kitchen-Pickling, dehydrating, steeping, drying, soaking, …what else?
Here’s a few of my favs right now:
1.Refrigerator “pickles” out of any vegetable growing: Recipes from my
new favorite cookbook: SIX SEASONS: A NEW WAY WITH VEGETABLES
by Joshua McFadden
https://www.joshuamcfadden.com/sixseasons/
2. Cassava tortillas: Grain-free, gluten-free, nut-free.
The Guide to Allergen-free Baking by Cara Reed’s cookbook:
3. Zucchini Chips: Some of us have zucchini growing out our ears.
Here’s something to do with them…
http://glowflowchefs.com/blog/dehydrated-salt-vinegar-zucchini-chips
4. White Peach and Kombucha Ica Cream Float. Holy Yum!
I have not tried this yet but am dying too.
Sending love and yummy mouth pleasures,
Lizz
Categories
Sweet Darkness . . .
Sweet Darkness
BY DAVID WHYTE
When your eyes are tired the world is tired also. When your vision has gone, no part of the world can find you. Time to go into the dark where the night has eyes to recognize its own. There you can be sure you are not beyond love. The dark will be your home tonight. The night will give you a horizon further than you can see. You must learn one thing. The world was made to be free in. Give up all the other worlds except the one to which you belong. Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you. Happy summer, Lizz
Yesterday’s conscious engagement with the earth was Tantric.
A demonstration and re-enactment of the inner marriage on the physical plane was consciously held. Menstrual blood was used to anoint a piece of heavy equipment, intended to capture and slow down the movements of nutrients on my dear friends land. As the Backhoe (AKA excavator) strokes and penetrates HER with consciousness, we bring the earth into harmony and balance.
This was a magical experience and expression of the inner marriage on both a microcosmic and macrocosmic plane. And I’m grateful.
Happy spring,
Lizz
Very few people ever manage what nature manages without effort and mostly without fail. We don’t know who we are or how to function, much less how to bloom. — Jeanette Winterson
You’re Invited to Dedicated To Your Body for Women in Seattle
With the shifting of our world, our bodies need tending more than ever, away from lovers, partners, children and media. This workshop gives us that time to listen deeply to our needs and desires.
In a safe, respectful, generous and joyful community of women* discover and connect with the aliveness and potency of your body. This workshop is designed for women* interested in the conscious cultivation and exploration of embodied presence and sexuality. You will slow down enough to listen to what your body really wants and needs, witness and be witnessed, receive on your terms, and go with your own flow. This workshop offers you deep honoring, full choice, and total permission to be exactly where you are in your body now and to explore where you might want to go.
Workshop highlights:
- How to have clear boundaries and self-trust
- Connect with erotic energy in your pelvis as a source of generative power
- Learn how to ask for what you want
- Uncover the power of giving and receiving without losing yourself
- Explore states of embodiment, from subtle to bold, through conscious touch, movement, meditation and ritual
- Develop a relationship with your whole body that serves as a foundation for everything in your life
- Experience the potency of connecting with eros.
Location: Seattle, WA
Date: Friday, May 26th through Sunday, May 28th (attendance at all days required)
Time: Friday 7pm, ending by 10pm; Saturday & Sunday 9:30am-6:00pm
Facilitated by Lizz Randall, hosted by Meg
Pre-registration required. Limited to 18 women*
*This retreat is open to all self-identifying women of any expression, including but not limited to straight women, queer women, trans women, cis women, masculine of center women, butch women, femme women, genderqueer women.
Click here & register for Dedicated To Your Body now
My tantra teacher, Rudy Ballentine, always suggested trying a detox when I didn’t feel well. And, I must admit, I was always resistant to this idea. I didn’t want too because it triggered feelings of being deprived and controlled around food, from my childhood.
Alas, I started doing detoxes about 10 years ago and whenever, AND I REALLY DO MEAN WHENEVER I did one I always felt better!!! But, big sigh, I am still resistant to doing them. Every spring I try to talk myself out of doing a detox. Ideally we would detox twice a year….once in the fall and once in the spring, every 6 months.
And guess what! Spring is kind of here. And I’m saying out loud, to you all, that I am going to do a detox in April or early May. Ok? And I will support anyone else who wants to do one, seriously.
Because you are experiencing:
-inability to concentrate/brain fog
-fatigue and lack of energy
-digestive complaints
-muscle weakness
A grounds keeper at the Himalayan Institute said, “Machinery doesn’t break down because it’s old. It breaks down because of dirt that collects inside. That’s what wears out the moving parts and ruins it. If you keep it clean, it will last almost forever.”
This is a quote from the detox chapter in Rudy’s book, Radical Healing. I highly recommend reading this, it’s wonderful and explains detoxification in a thorough way. Once you understand what needs cleansing you can choose the right type of detox for you.
Here’s to a lighter us!
Lizz
Categories
What’s Coming Alive?
Germination is the theme for February! It is: The process of something coming into existence and developing after a period of dormancy.
Where are you in your germination process and what might be coming alive right now?
AND, how the heck might you find out if you don’t know?
For me, getting out of my head and into my body helps me know what’s coming to life inside myself.
Practices to try that all get you out of your head and into your body……and please, feel free to share other practices that work for you!
- Breath of Fire/Kapalabhati Pranayama : helps one to think better and make decisions quickly
- Sun Salutations: Gets your blood and breath flowing so new and spontaneous creations may come alive
- Ecstasy/Pleasure: Find an opportunity to create ecstasy because it can strengthen and potentize your physical/energy body.
And! This Sunday there is a new moon AND solar eclipse. Lena Stevens from The Power Path says: “Surrender is your ticket into playing the crucial game you signed up for ~ learning to trust Spirit, your intuition, your heart, trust in the goodness of others.”
Spring is coming, and that’s a good thing.
Deep breaths and love to you,
Lizz
Categories
Survival Strategies
Dear community,
I’m still integrating from being at the Seattle march on Saturday. And, I just don’t know. I just don’t know how to be or what to do. But I carry on. And here’s a few things I’ve been doing to get through it all:
Baking:
Paleo Chocolate Chip Blondies
Essentail Oils:
I have found using protective blends on a energetic and physical level to be VERY helpful right now. I like this one:
Music:
I’ve been listening to Levon Minassian. His music transports me into a magical and calming zone.
My advice: Make a list of what’s getting you through right now: identify some pleasures, centering practices, places in nature, people to be around that feed your soul in some way. We gotta keep going.
With heart,
— Lizz
Categories
Embodied Strategic Planning
Dear Beloveds!
Body Trust met this past weekend in Oakland—we were both productive and had lots of fun together! We went to a spa in San Francisco and got scrubs at the same time and were reminded that none of us are masochists! They threw us around and scrubbed our skin off! But we were loopy and glowing and all slept well.
We planned most of 2017 and have some juicy new projects and offerings coming your way….to be announced soon.
Most importantly, we continue to be dedicated, inspired and committed to our mission.
— Lizz
Mission Statement
Body Trust is a sacred somatic collaborative dedicated to the body as a laboratory for transformation. We offer workshops and teachings (and other accessories) to inspire increased capacity for embodiment in order to serve the microcosm of our bodies and the macrocosm of the planet.We honor the divine wisdom within every body’s journey, the power of the erotic realm for healing and integration, and the value of access to all realms of human experience. We operate within the principles of radical inclusivity, sustainable business, circle technology, and post-modern queer Tantra.
