Bodypsalm for Listening

Posted in BODYPSALMS, LINKS on November 18th, 2022 by Celeste

Artwork: WADING IN by Dobee Snowber

There are habitats beyond
the one you live in
beneath you in the magma
beside you in the wind
with you in the water
inside you in dreams

layers exist within the archaeology
of your body’s knowing
it only takes a drop
of insight to remember
there is another way

where the answer to issues
is not another meeting
change of direction, drive or data
but a realignment to the inward pool
listening through the body
an intuitive’s call

the researcher may look for data
but there is a data of the body
spiritsongs of the cells
beckoning you to come alive

turn towards the threshold
of muscles and tissues
let light in the shadows
break into humility
and embrace beyond
what is known.

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Bodypsalm for Existence

Posted in BODYPSALMS, LINKS on April 28th, 2020 by Celeste

Artwork – “Shift in Direction” by Dobee Snowber

In a time of distancing
retreat to the interior
wake to existence
imbued with birdsong.

Underneath the visible
lies a wellspring of reserve
bordering the invisible.

Drink the nectar
sweet liquid of the infinite
where the soul can blossom.

Even in the midst of sorrow
inside our deepest yearnings
we are pollinated by love.

Imperfect prayers
nested in the body
are a portal to the holy.

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Bodypsalm for Uncertainty

Posted in BODYPSALMS on March 15th, 2020 by Celeste

Artwork: Shift in Direction by Dobee Snowber

May the plans you cancel
return you to another life
the one waiting as a patient lover
wondering when you will arrive
to the shore of your inner ocean.

In the midst of restrictions –
self-isolation and social distancing
take some ingredients for the journey
probiotics for the soul
the curiosity for small things
quince and daffodil blooming
sipping tea slowly
the free range of kindness
daily practices of breathing deep
reading poems and calling a friend

Drink in kindness and compassion
as you live in a time of not-knowing
become intimate with shadow
live creatively in dangerous times
alive to what comes
a meditation on wonder
calling you to soften
to the unknown.

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Bodypsalm to allow for the fallow

Posted in BODYPSALMS on January 3rd, 2019 by Celeste

Artwork  “New Chapter” by Dobee Snowber

The present moment offers
inner immensity
through times of transition.

Let yourself be astonished
when you are halted
to a moment of wonder
when your old routine dissolves

Release your sinews through all –

hope, loss and comfort

Know the creative life
calls for another order

Allow for the fallow
circle back to the quiet

deep within your body
wooing you
to a new chapter.

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Bodypsalm for Veriditas

Posted in BODYPSALMS on September 18th, 2016 by Celeste
in the UBC Botanical Garden, Vancouver

Acer Davidii Bark in the UBC Botanical Garden

A found poem from Hildegard of Bingen’s words in the 12th c.

Your light cannot be contained by space
You are a shadow of the Living Light
no depth, height, or breadth can hold you

You hold us, radiant one
I shutter in your midst

Veriditas

awakening and greening
all that lives
glittering, glistening, luminous
You stir everything into quickness
dying and rising in everyday life
Here is Fecundity

You are
a fiery life in the essence of God
the flame above the beauty in fields
You shine in the waters
burn in the sun, moon, stars

What a miracle
to be awake
inside your breathing.

May we be kissed
by you
in our innermost regions.

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Bodypsalm for the New Year

Posted in BODYPSALMS on January 4th, 2011 by Celeste

Out Any Window                            Dobee Snowber

 

The New Year is not outside you
inside is a thousand new years
built of syllables and sentences
of a new way of seeing

It is not the weight on your body you need to lose
but the thoughts which carry far more gravity
than any pounds or kilos of extra flesh
you are being called
to a flesh of heart – a heart of flesh
where body, mind & soul
usher you to a season of compassion

for everything and everyone
you could imagine or not imagine
your own unmet expectations and judgements
unfinished projects and dashed hopes
your untidy home or heart

Now is the time to eat and drink
the small beauties within and beyond you
become wide awake to the life you are in
so take off your socks or put on your socks
and step into this New Year
with the only life you have.

Live the glorious imperfect.

 

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