SoulWays Body-Mind Therapy & Integrative Energywork

It can be helpful to take some time to identify some of your positive anchors, so that you can use them when you're under stress.

Important reminder...

We had a wonderful day-long InterPlay event in Ann Arbor yesterday!! There were 15 of us there, and we rotated the leadership throughout the day, so we got to experience a lovely range of leadership styles and many different forms. There was also a shared potluck meal halfway through the day, so we got to enjoy some great food and chat with folks informally as well.

Everyone really seemed to enjoy the event, and it was a great opportunity for a longer, more immersive dive into InterPlay. We all loved it so much, we're planning to do more day-long events - perhaps on a quarterly basis. So if you missed this event, stay tuned for future day-long offerings!

The only bummer is that we forgot to take a picture when all 15 participants were there. So please enjoy the attached photo of those still there when I finally remembered to take a picture after the event was over! 😄

Grief Poem by Liz Newman:

When grief
first came knocking,
I thought I had
two choices.

I could lock the door.
close the blinds.
Activate alarms
And shut it out.
But I still
lived in fear
of its intrusion,
of it finding a way
around my security systems,
around my defenses.

Or, I could invite it over
for morning coffee.
I would set the terms.
Block out the time.
I would get my house in order
and sit beside it,
let it say its piece
and send it away
as quickly as it came.

But grief doesn’t care much
for schedules
or facades.
An unexpected visitor
who comes and goes
as it pleases.

So, now I’m learning
another way.
When grief comes to visit,
I leave the door unlocked.
Sometimes, it
Frantically storms in.
Sometimes, it taps quietly on
the door waiting for
my response.

But, I’m learning to let it in.
To sit with it.
To see it.
To feel it.

So now,
When grief knocks,
I let it in.

I let it in.

~ Liz Newman

From John Roedel...

We had a heart-ful and tender InterPlay event in Ann Arbor on May 18. The theme was "Pearls from the Deep - Stories of the Heart", and it definitely led all of us deep into our hearts to bring forth the stories held there. And the final form "Invocation" was a very touching completion to the event.

"Invocation" is a form that I (Lee) learned years ago at an improv class in Seattle. So it's not technically an InterPlay form, but it works really well with InterPlay.

The structure for the "Invocation" form is that a common topic or object is chosen that each person has an example of from their own life & that they have an emotional connection with (for example, a table, a chair, a knic-knac, a dish, etc), and we then go thru the following rounds, each person taking ~45 seconds per round to focus on their object in the ways outlined below:

Round 1) Speak about the object from a third person perspective, using "it" to talk about and describe the object.

Round 2) Speak in the second person, using "you" to talk directly to the object, making it more personal and relational.

Round 3) Speak to the object in a more reverential / archetypal way, using the term "Thou".

Round 4) Speak in the first person, using "I" to speak AS the object, taking on the object's point of view.

For the May 18 event, we ended up choosing "stuffed animal" as the common object, and each person went thru the rounds focusing on their chosen stuffed animal from memory.

It was a VERY touching and profound experience. The rounds led each of us to deep and unexpected places arising out of our experience with our stuffed animal - sharing memories, perspectives, and wisdom that the animals held. We were all very moved by what arose for both ourselves and the other participants.

After the event, some of the participants sent me pictures of their animals so that I could share them. So please enjoy the attached photos, and perhaps imagine what stories might have come from the animals.

If you haven't ever gotten to experience the Invocation form at one of my events, I highly recommend trying it out with a group of friends or InterPlayers, using the description above. If anyone needs any more details to understand how the form works, just let me know.

As always, thank you to everyone for coming. It was tender and beautiful to share pearls from the depths with each of you - and I'll look forward to seeing you all again at a future event.