About Embodied Witnessing
Integrating Native American 7 Direction Teachings
Wholeness ~ Compassion ~ Alignment ~ Creativity
The Embodied Witnessing image draws strength and inspiration from the Native American medicine wheel.
The medicine wheel is an ancient symbol and teaching which is interpreted in various ways by different Tribes.
My work references four qualities correlating with the four cardinal directions:
Wholeness is to the West, Compassion to the South, Alignment to the North, and Creativity to the East.
Including all seven directions:
Witnessing connects to Above, Embodying to Below,
and the Inner Direction is represented in interdependent and overlapping circles
of the flower blooming and becoming through the center.
The medicine wheel is an ancient symbol and teaching which is interpreted in various ways by different Tribes.
My work references four qualities correlating with the four cardinal directions:
Wholeness is to the West, Compassion to the South, Alignment to the North, and Creativity to the East.
Including all seven directions:
Witnessing connects to Above, Embodying to Below,
and the Inner Direction is represented in interdependent and overlapping circles
of the flower blooming and becoming through the center.
Wholeness
Embodied witnessing practices support nervous system settling and strengthen an inner ground of safety and availability for authentic connection. As we deepen our grounding, we become more available to sense our inter-connection and our felt sense of innate wholeness.
Compassion
Turning towards our embodied experience with compassion creates intimacy with our emotional bodies. As we listen to and befriend our emotions, what was previously held apart can re-join the flow of our inner wholeness, which allows for inner movement, healing, growth, and development.
Alignment
As we presence our somatic experiences with dignity, respect, and generosity, insights emerge which bring understanding. This fresh information refines our alignment. New narratives honor where we've been, what is essential for us now, and who we are becoming.
Creativity
As we integrate, we become freer to recognize and receive what we need, and to move into empowered creativity. We build our capacity to intentionally and powerfully create more connection, abundance, collaboration, shared power, and love.
Embodied witnessing practices support nervous system settling and strengthen an inner ground of safety and availability for authentic connection. As we deepen our grounding, we become more available to sense our inter-connection and our felt sense of innate wholeness.
Compassion
Turning towards our embodied experience with compassion creates intimacy with our emotional bodies. As we listen to and befriend our emotions, what was previously held apart can re-join the flow of our inner wholeness, which allows for inner movement, healing, growth, and development.
Alignment
As we presence our somatic experiences with dignity, respect, and generosity, insights emerge which bring understanding. This fresh information refines our alignment. New narratives honor where we've been, what is essential for us now, and who we are becoming.
Creativity
As we integrate, we become freer to recognize and receive what we need, and to move into empowered creativity. We build our capacity to intentionally and powerfully create more connection, abundance, collaboration, shared power, and love.
What is Witnessing?
Witnessing consciousness is described in ancient traditions as an ascendant (or top-down) practice, where we reside in inner stillness and enough spaciousness to be conscious of experience without getting stuck in reactivity, fusion, or avoidance. Ascendant practices are correlated with the masculine principle, Father Sky, and the capacity for discernment, and can also be understood as opening to what is possible, emergent, and not yet manifest.
What is Embodiment?
Embodying connects us with the fullness of life through our bodies: sensing, feeling, subtle inner movement, and our interconnection with each other and all of life. Embodying includes how we connect and relate interpersonally with each other. Embodiment is a descendant (or bottom-up) practice which is correlated with the feminine principle, Mother Earth, and rooting or grounding. Embodying connects us with wisdom integrated from the past: individually, ancestrally, collectively, and historically.
Witnessing consciousness is described in ancient traditions as an ascendant (or top-down) practice, where we reside in inner stillness and enough spaciousness to be conscious of experience without getting stuck in reactivity, fusion, or avoidance. Ascendant practices are correlated with the masculine principle, Father Sky, and the capacity for discernment, and can also be understood as opening to what is possible, emergent, and not yet manifest.
What is Embodiment?
Embodying connects us with the fullness of life through our bodies: sensing, feeling, subtle inner movement, and our interconnection with each other and all of life. Embodying includes how we connect and relate interpersonally with each other. Embodiment is a descendant (or bottom-up) practice which is correlated with the feminine principle, Mother Earth, and rooting or grounding. Embodying connects us with wisdom integrated from the past: individually, ancestrally, collectively, and historically.
7th Direction - Inner Direction
The inner direction is a movement of inner connection: a synthesis of being, belonging, and becoming. Inner connection is related to interconnection, how we engage in our world and how we engage with the beings we share this experience with. The 7th direction is a mystery which is enfolded within, and unfolds through us.
The inner direction is a movement of inner connection: a synthesis of being, belonging, and becoming. Inner connection is related to interconnection, how we engage in our world and how we engage with the beings we share this experience with. The 7th direction is a mystery which is enfolded within, and unfolds through us.
