Hi,
I'm Ashley Nguanta and I'll be your guide today.
I want to open by saying thank you for being here and if it helps think of me as a background guide.
Your wisdom is already within you.
I'm simply helping you find it.
And also before I begin,
When I say the word poet I'm addressing all creatives.
Painters,
Musicians,
Interior designers.
No one's excluded.
We have the opportunity to experience flow,
Rhythm,
And heart in all creative paths.
And now I'm going to begin to read to you.
And as I read to you I invite you to close your eyes and just stay with your breath and be in your body and notice what you feel in your body as I read.
To be human is to be part of the natural world.
I stood at the edge of the marsh and there a red-winged blackbird at the tip of a tree and behind a hundred lilies blooming in black water and above a rain cloud so big it could hold everything we ever were and ever would be.
While it's so important to honor and celebrate a human connection to the natural world,
I'm slowly learning that to be human is to be part of the natural world.
And listening to my body is as sacred as listening to a tree or the movement of a bird.
In a way I think listening for a spark in our bodies is a lot like honoring our instincts.
I like to think of trees honoring their sparks by speaking to one another in their root language,
Helping each other defend against predators.
I like to think of birds fulfilling their sparks by carefully building nests,
By mating for life.
When I give care to my body,
Mind,
And spirit,
I am creating care.
I believe an animal can feel this care exude from me when I walk beside them on my hikes and I believe the trees do too.
And by existing simply,
Not to be confused with easily,
The trees and plants and insects and animals share the joy of life with us humans.
There are so many ways we inherently have a symbiotic relationship with the natural world.
Poet,
Listening to your body is as sacred as listening to a tree or the movement of a bird.
If you feel frustrated or bored by your writing practice today or any of your creative practices,
I invite you to bring to mind the sacredness.
From there,
I invite you to feel the sacredness in your breath,
Your body.
And now as I read to you this affirmation,
Dear poet,
Always remember to first connect to a part of yourself that already knows this affirmation is true.
Here is the affirmation.
Listening to my breath,
My body,
My mind,
And my spirit is a sacred practice.
It is one of the most important things I can do.
I'll read it to you one more time.
Listening to my breath,
My body,
My mind,
And my spirit is a sacred practice.
It is one of the most important things I can do.
And now I hope you'll find some pages to record memories of experiencing the sacredness.
This way,
If you get lost,
You can come back here and remember how connecting with your sacred light has impacted you.
Thank you so much for being here and listening to me read to you.
I wish you everything well and wonderful with your creative journeys,
And I hope to to see you soon.
Bye.
