Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Begin.
Over the next three issues, I invite us to explore the construct of Home and collectively redefine not only what it is, but how we take action to create the homes we need. This series will explore our connection to home through the land we live on, the communities we co-exist with, and the bodies we experience life through.
At this moment in time, we are existing in an intensely fabricated world. Imagined boundaries have been drawn with blood on land that isn’t ours to own. The powers that be are bloated with ego, money and dominance, giving them the faux responsibility to tell us how and where we are allowed to belong, to find refuge, to be at home.
Though I wish there was a breath technique, a yoga class, or a meditation I could offer that would dissolve the injustice, the harm, the hate that infects this land, I do not. Though perhaps, if those in power practiced mindfulness and were surrounded with unconditional love earlier, we wouldn’t be here now – but I digress. What I can offer is space and practice for you to feel whole and safe: on this land that yearns for reciprocity, in communities starving for connection, and in your own body, mind, and soul.
Summer is a season of dreaming, blossoming, harvesting, and abundance. May we acknowledge our wants and needs, affirm their possibility, and manifest them into being.
Each piece in this series will offer invitations for reflection and reclamation. The ongoing attacks on love and connection may be out of our control, but the ways in which we find home within and around us are not. May we rebel through connection and love.
At Home with Nature
According to Merriam-Webster, home is “a place where one resides permanently or for a long period of time.” What a narrow measure, when we remember that humans were once migratory beings, moving in sync with the land to find nourishment, safety, and renewal. That natural way of living is now wrapped in paperwork and rules, boundaries and bureaucracy.
Humans, like all animals, are meant to live in deep connection to the land. The movement of seasons inspires the movement of life. Though we migrate for different resources now, choosing the places that sustain us for the time that they do is still natural.
When I asked myself what home could be in a world rooted in connection and love I envisioned a place that teaches, accepts, and offers safety, exploration, and community connection. I saw a bird’s nest. Birds don’t build nests just anywhere though, they listen. To the wind. To the trees. To the ecosystem they are part of. And so must we.
To be at home with nature is not only to walk barefoot or picnic under the sun, though those are beautiful beginnings. It is to be in relationship with the soil, the plants, the waters, the sky, and with the histories layered beneath our feet. It is to acknowledge the ancestors of the land. To remember that the Earth does not belong to us we belong to the Earth.
We are not separate from nature. We are nature.
And if home is to become a place of belonging, then we must return to the land with reverence and readiness to listen.
Invitation to Practice: Land Listening
Find a quiet spot outside. Sit, stand or lie down with minimal distraction. This could be a park, a patch of wild growth or a tree in your neighborhood.
1. Arrival
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Greet the land. You might say: “Hello. I’m here. I’m listening.”
2. Sense
Close your eyes. What do you hear, feel, and smell? Don’t name, just notice.
3. Remember
Open your eyes.
Ask: Who lived here before me?
What in this land feels older than memory?
4. Offer
Leave a small token: a breath, a whisper, a strand of hair. Not to give back, but to honor the moment.
5. Reflect
What did the land teach you about home? About your place in it?
Jasmine Linane-Booey of Kazuko Wellness is a Somatic Energy Guide with certifications in Reiki, yoga and meditation, and somatic energy work. She is also a trained psilocybin guide and wellness coach. Contact: hello@kazukowellness.com | www.kazukowellness.com